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                         NUCLEAR POLICY
 
1 BBC: 'Serious flaws' in Iraq intelligence 
2 Guardian Unlimited Inquiry: U.K. Iraq Intelligence 'Flawed'
3 UK Independent: Iraq intelligence 'seriously flawed' says Butler
4 UK Independent: Butler report: The key findings
5 UK Independent: Report shows need for full inquiry says Kennedy
6 UK Independent: No-one lied, no-one made up intelligence, says Blair
7 Guardian Unlimited: Blair sexed up the evidence to justify his 
8 Las Vegas SUN: Iran Plans to Continue Nuke Program Work
9 Xinhuanet: UK veterans accuse officials of refusing to attend indepe
 
                         NUCLEAR REACTORS
 
10 US: NRC: NRC Advisory Committee on Nuclear Waste to Meet July 20 - 2
11 US: NRC: Notice of Availability of Environmental Assessment and Find
12 US: NRC: Department of Energy; Establishment of Atomic Safety and 
13 US: toledoblade.com: Davis-Besse filter-change procedures restructur
14 Indian Express: 3-stage nuclear power programme evolved
15 US: TheDay.com: Storage Work Under Way At Millstone
16 US: TheDay.com: Millstone Re-licensing Must Be Publicly Aired
17 US: Brattleboro Reformer: Fuel rod pieces found at Yankee
18 Tri-Valley Herald:  Bill would clean up, recycle water 
19 US: BostonHerald.com: Pilgrim nuclear plant strike is off
 
                          NUCLEAR SAFETY
 
20 Gulf Syndrome Victims Heard in UK
21 [du-list] Radioactive dust is radioactive dust - scrap and
22 [DU-WATCH] Defense Worker: "I am a mutant"
23 [du-list] more on US troops improvising radioactive armour
24 [du-list] US troops harden vehicles with scrap metal
25 [du-list] Iraqi scrap metal to Iran
26 [du-list] more on US troops improvising radioactive armour
27 [progchat_action] UK: Gulf syndrome victims are heard at last
28 Haaretz: Workers file NIS 5.3 million damages suit against Haifa 
29 Aljazeera.Net: High radioactivity recorded in Israel           
30 US: Daily Press: Battling the rising costs of new subs 
31 US: TheDay.com: Cancer Rates Around Nuclear Plant Are High
 
                         NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE
 
32 U.S. to proceed on Nevada waste site despite ruling 
33 Yucca Nevada Waste Site Plan to Proceed Despite Ruling 
34 Reuters: Nevada Waste Site Plan to Proceed Despite Ruling           
35 The Australian: PM 'leadership failure' on N-dump 
36 US: NRC: NRC to Hold Public Meeting July 21 on Decommissioning Plans
37 AFP: Australian government forced to drop nuclear waste dump
38 US: NRC: Advisory Committee on Nuclear Waste; Notice of Meeting
39 US: Las Vegas SUN: DOE says court ruling won't slow Nevada nuclear d
40 Las Vegas RJ: Despite ruling, DOE says Yucca work will continue 
41 Guardian Unlimited: Dumping on Yucca Mountain
42 Las Vegas SUN: Columnist Jeff German: Yes, we can stop the nuke dump
43 Las Vegas SUN: Rural areas unfazed by Yucca ruling
44 US: Las Vegas SUN: Letter: Beware Edwards' flip-flop on nuke waste d
45 US: Bradenton Herald: EPA offers expertise for cleanup
46 US: heraldtribune.com: Politicos push feds to hustle on Tallevast cl
47 US: Guardian Unlimited: Neb. Commissioner Survives Recall Attempt
48 AU ABC: Gallop says no to nuclear waste 
49 AU ABC: No nuclear plans for proposed Mallee waste site. 
50 AU ABC: Dump decision 'no setback' for new Lucas Heights reactor.
51 AU ABC: Sth Aust environmentalists welcome nuclear waste decision
52 AU ABC: NSW Greens concerned nuke waste heading west. 
53 AU ABC: Labor backflips over Woomera waste relocation. 
54 AU ABC: Hunt back on for nuclear waste dump
55 AU ABC: What will become of existing nuclear waste?
56 AU ABC: SA plans nuke waste dump site 
57 AU ABC: NSW Govt 'opposed' to nuke dump site. 
58 The Australian: Howard looks offshore for N-dump 
 
                         NUCLEAR WEAPONS
 
 
                        US DEPT. OF ENERGY
 
59 U.S. Newswire: DOE: Office of Science INCITE Program Seeking 
60 Daily Texan - Opinion: LANL security flaw may help UT - 
61 Oak Ridger: Sick workers debate continues 							 							 							
62 Oak Ridger: DOE extends lease on Energy House 							 							 						
63 Oak Ridger: ORNL nabs role in fusion project 							 							 							
64 Daily Texan: Private companies likely to bid on Los Alamos lab - 
65 Oak Ridger: Former energy secretary to lead Fisk University 							 
 
                          OTHER NUCLEAR
 
66 Google News Alert - nuclear
67 Mos News: No Russian Nukes Planned for Space — Army Official - 
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                         FULL NEWS STORIES
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 1 BBC: 'Serious flaws' in Iraq intelligence 
 
  Last Updated: Wednesday, 14 July, 2004
 
[British troops]                                
The war divided public opinion from its start                                                          

Key intelligence used to justify war with Iraq has now been shown 
to be unreliable, the Butler Report says. 

The 196 page report says MI6 did not check its sources well 
enough, and sometimes relied on third hand reports. 

It also says the 2002 dossier should not have included the claim 
Iraq could use weapons of mass destruction within 45 minutes 
without further explanation. 

Tony Blair told MPs he "accepted" the findings and that Iraq may 
not have had WMD stockpiles when the war started. 

Caveats removed 

Mr Blair said he took "full responsibility" for any mistakes 
made, saying that they were in "good faith". 

"No one lied. No one made up the intelligence. No one inserted 
things into the dossier against the advice of the intelligence 
services," he told MPs. 

But Conservative leader Michael Howard said the "question he must 
ask himself is - does he have any credibility left?" 

Lord Butler's main findings were: 


+ The limitations of the intelligence in the September 2002 
dossier were not "made sufficiently clear," with important 
caveats removed 

	
        Butler Report in full (1014K)


[http://news.bbc.co.uk/nol/shared/bsp/hi/pdfs/14_07_04_butler.pdf 
] Chapters 1-4 (240k)


[http://news.bbc.co.uk/nol/shared/bsp/hi/pdfs/14_07_04butler_chap 
s1to4.pdf] Chapters 5-6 (422k)


[http://news.bbc.co.uk/nol/shared/bsp/hi/pdfs/14_07_04butler_chap 
s5to6.pdf] Conclusions (118k)


[http://news.bbc.co.uk/nol/shared/bsp/hi/pdfs/14_07_04butler_conc 
s.pdf] Annexes (326k)


[http://news.bbc.co.uk/nol/shared/bsp/hi/pdfs/14_07_04butler_ann. 
pdf]                             Most computers will open PDF 
documents automatically, but you may need to download Adobe 
Acrobat Reader.         Download and install the reader here 
[http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html] Key points 
of report            

	 	 
+ The 45 minutes claim was "unsubstantiated" and it should not 
have been included without clarification - doing so led to 
suspicions it was there because of its "eye-catching character" 


+ Intelligence was pushed to its "outer limits" but not beyond - 
and there was no deliberate distortion by politicians, any blame 
was "collective" 


+ JIC chairman John Scarlett should still take up post of MI6 
chief - but future intelligence chiefs should be "demonstrably 
beyond influence" 


+ Since the war key claims based on intelligence from agents in 
Iraq, including claims the Iraqis had recently produced 
biological agents, had had to be withdrawn because they were 
"unreliable" 


+ There had been an "over-reliance" on dissident Iraqi sources 
and human intelligence in general 

The report said "more weight was placed on the intelligence than 
it could bear," and Lord Butler criticised the government for 
publicly stating the JIC had "ownership" of the dossier, lending 
it more credibility than it might otherwise have had. 

He added: "Language in the dossier and used by the prime minister 
may have left readers with the impression that there was fuller 
and firmer intelligence than was the case. 

"It was a serious weakness that the Joint Intelligence 
Committees' warnings on the limitations of the intelligence were 
not made sufficiently clear in the dossier." 

Mr Blair told MPs he accepted mistakes had been made. 

"The evidence of Saddam's weapons of mass destruction was indeed 
less certain and less well-founded than was stated at the time," 
Mr Blair said. 

Their qualif judgements became his unqualified certainties 
Michael Howard Tory leader's reaction

[http://3893827] Charles Kennedy's reaction              

But he said he had fully expected Iraq's WMD to 
be discovered by coalition forces. 

And he added: "I cannot honestly say I believe getting rid of 
Saddam was a mistake at all. Iraq, the region, the wider world is 
a better and safer place without Saddam." 

He said the decision to commit British troops was the "hardest he 
had ever made". 

But he had became convinced after the 11 September attacks that a 
stand had to be taken against rogue states with WMD and "the 
place to make that stand was Iraq". 

With "hindsight", Mr Blair told MPs, the case against Saddam 
Hussein would probably have been made in a different way, with 
separate reports from the JIC and the government, but the end 
result would have been the same. 

'False intelligence' 

Liberal Democrat leader Charles Kennedy said the remit of the 
Butler inquiry had made it impossible for it to deal with the 
most important issue of the political judgment that informed the 
decision to go to war. 

    
LORD BUTLER                                                                             
M weight was placed on the intelligence than it could bear                
[ src=] Lord Butler The inquiry's remit                                     
Profile: Lord Butler            

Former cabinet minister Robin Cook, who resigned 
over the war, said "the unavoidable conclusion of the content of 
the Butler report (is) that we committed British troops to action 
on the basis of false intelligence, overheated analysis and 
unreliable sources". 

Speaking on BBC Radio 4's World Tonight, he called for a full 
parliamentary debate on the report's findings. 

Mr Blair said Saddam had the "clear intention" of wanting to 
rebuild his arsenal, as outlined in Lord Butler's report. 

The report says intelligence agencies and ministers should have 
re-assessed the information as it become increasingly clear that 
UN Inspectors were not finding any WMD in the months immediately 
before the war. 

But Lord Butler told a news conference there was no evidence of a 
deliberate attempt by Mr Blair to mislead the public. 

"It would have been very foolish thing indeed for him to have put 
something in the dossier which he knew or believed to be untrue, 
when the consequence of the war was going to establish the truth 
pretty soon," he told reporters. 

Dr Kelly 

The Butler Report also criticised the "informality" of 
decision-making in No 10, with oral presentations relied on which 
made it impossible for Cabinet ministers to have advance notice 
of issues to be discussed. 

Speaking at a news conference, Lord Butler agreed his committee 
had been less critical than other inquiries, for example in the 
US, but he insisted that they had criticised some of the 
procedures for assessing intelligence. 

On the 45 minute claim, Lord Butler told reporters it had been an 
"uncharacteristically poor piece of assessment." 

He said his inquiry had looked at whether the claim had been spun 
by the government but he decided it had not. It had been seized 
on by the media because it was new and striking, he added. 

Lord Butler was asked by No 10 to look at the accuracy of 
Britain's pre-war intelligence after the failure to find weapons 
of mass destruction in Iraq. 



The report follows a US Senate inquiry severely criticising 
American intelligence agencies for the quality of their pre-war 
information. 

In January Lord Hutton's inquiry into the death of Dr David Kelly 
cleared the government of inserting material it "probably knew to 
be wrong" against the wishes of the intelligence community in its 
dossier on Iraq's alleged weapons of mass destruction. 





*****************************************************************
 2 Guardian Unlimited Inquiry: U.K. Iraq Intelligence 'Flawed'
 
From the Associated Press        

[UP] 

Wednesday July 14, 2004 2:01 PM

AP Photo LON117 

By ED JOHNSON 

Associated Press Writer 

LONDON (AP) - An official inquiry into the quality of British 
intelligence on Iraqi weapons of mass destruction said Wednesday 
that some sources were ``seriously flawed'' or ``unreliable'' but 
found no evidence of ``deliberate distortion or culpable 
negligence.'' 

Prime Minister Tony Blair said he accepted the conclusions in 
Lord Butler's report in full, but that ``getting rid of Saddam 
Hussein'' was not a mistake. 

``Any mistakes made should not be laid at the door of our 
intelligence and security community,'' Blair told the House of 
Commons after the report was released. 

``They do a tremendous job for our country. I accept full 
personal responsibility for the way the issue was presented and 
therefore for any errors made,'' he said. 

Contradicting a central claim made by Prime Minister Tony Blair, 
Lord Butler's report said that before the war, Iraq ``did not 
have significant, if any, stocks of chemical or biological 
weapons in a state fit for deployment or developed plans for 
using them.'' 

The report said the government's claim in a September 2002 
dossier that Saddam Hussein could use chemical and biological 
weapons on 45 minutes notice was potentially misleading because 
it did not explain that it referred to battlefield weapons. 

However, the report backed the government's claim that it had 
intelligence that Iraq had sought uranium in Africa, and that the 
claim was not based on forged documents. 

``No one lied, no one made up the intelligence, no one inserted 
things into dossier against the advice of intelligence 
services,'' Blair said. 

``Everyone genuinely tried to do their best in good faith for the 
country in circumstances of acute difficulty. That issue of good 
faith should now be at an end.'' 

The report said a key dossier prepared by Blair's government on 
the threat posed by Saddam Hussein pushed its case to the limits 
of available intelligence. 

``Language in the dossier may have left with readers the 
impression that there was fuller and firmer intelligence behind 
the judgments than was the case,'' the report said. 

``The clearest evidence that the British government hadn't got an 
intention to mislead is that it would have been a very foolish 
thing to do to say that these weapons were there, when as a 
result of the war the fact that whether they were or not was 
going to be established so soon,'' Butler said at a news 
conference following the release of his report. 

His report repeated the assessment of a previous inquiry that the 
45-minute claim was potentially misleading because it was not 
made clear that it referred to battlefield munitions. 

Butler said there was a suspicion the 45-minute detail, mentioned 
four times in the Blair government's September 2002 dossier, had 
been included because it was ``eye-catching.'' 

However, Butler's five-member committee, which interviewed Blair, 
senior Cabinet figures and key intelligence officials, said that 
in general intelligence material had been correctly reported. 

``We should record in particular that we have found no evidence 
of deliberate distortion or of culpable negligence,'' the report 
said. 

``We do regard it as a failing, a serious failing, in the dossier 
that there were not the warnings which were in the Joint 
Intelligence Committee assessments about the thinness of the 
evidence,'' Butler told a news conference. 

``But we have no evidence that the government did not itself 
believe the judgments which it was placing before the public.'' 

The report supported Britain's controversial claim that Iraq 
sought to purchase uranium from Niger. The U.N. nuclear watchdog, 
the International Atomic Energy Agency, said documents supporting 
the uranium claim were forgeries. 

But Butler said Britain had intelligence from ``several different 
sources.'' 

``The forged documents were not available to the British 
government at the time its assessment was made, and so the fact 
of the forgery does not undermine it,'' it added. 

The report was highly critical of British intelligence-gathering 
in Iraq. 

``Validation of human intelligence sources after the war has 
thrown doubt on a high proportion of those sources and of their 
reports, and hence on the quality of the intelligence assessments 
received by ministers and officials in the period from summer 
2002 to the outbreak of hostilities,'' it said. 

The report acknowledged that its conclusions would probably lead 
to calls for the resignation of John Scarlett, who as chairman of 
the Joint Intelligence Committee drew up the dossier. He has 
since been appointed the chief of MI6, Britain's secret 
intelligence service. 

The report, however, said it hoped Scarlett would stay on. ``We 
have a high regard for his abilities and his record,'' it said. 

The informality of the procedures within Blair's government for 
forming policies on the risks posed by Iraq ``reduced the scope 
for informed collective political judgment,'' the report found. 

``There was as a result of the process some strain between the 
desires of the government to have a dossier which helped to 
support the case they were making and the Joint Intelligence 
Committee's normal standards of objective assessment,'' Butler 
told a news conference. 

``No single individual is to blame. This was a collective 
operation in which there were the failures we have identified but 
there was no deliberate attempt on the part of the government to 
mislead.'' 

Blair has weathered three previous inquiries, all of which 
cleared his government of misusing intelligence on Iraqi weapons 
of mass destruction as it built a case for war. 

``Tony Blair should admit that he was wrong about the size, scope 
and capacity of Iraq's WMD arsenal,'' Charles Kennedy, leader of 
the opposition Liberal Democrat Party, said Tuesday. ``It's time 
he acknowledged his mistakes and took the blame.'' 

Blair was in a bullish mood Tuesday after receiving an advance 
copy of the report. Asked if he believed he had been fed ``duff 
intelligence'' that had made him look foolish, he replied: ``I 
don't accept that at all.'' 

The prime minister's personal ratings have fallen since the war, 
and newspapers constantly speculate about the end of his run in 
power. But he remains in a strong position. A recent poll asked 
whether respondents would rather have Blair or opposition 
Conservative leader Michael Howard as prime minister, and Blair 
was favored by 47 percent to 31 percent. 

The 45-minute claim has caused the government the most trouble. 

In May 2003, the British Broadcasting Corp. claimed Blair's 
office had ``sexed up'' the dossier by inserting the detail 
against the wishes of spy chiefs and probably knew it was wrong. 

The man identified as the BBC's source, weapons scientist David 
Kelly, committed suicide. 

Two parliamentary committees - the Foreign Affairs Select 
Committee and the Intelligence and Security Committee - cleared 
the government of ``sexing up'' the dossier. Both said the ``jury 
was still out'' on the existence of WMD in Iraq. 

Iraq's interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi, whose Iraqi National 
Accord group supplied Western intelligence agencies with 
information on Saddam's weapons, said Wednesday that the 
45-minute claim ``really related to using such weapons against 
Iraqi troops if they moved against him.'' 

Blair received some supportive words Wednesday from former U.S. 
President Bill Clinton, who said Britons needed to remember that 
``it was very difficult in the aftermath of 9/11 for any world 
leader not to act on his intelligence.'' 

``And the British intelligence, whatever Lord Butler says about 
it, was clearly even more forward-leading than the American 
intelligence in believing that Saddam (Hussein) was trying to get 
nuclear materials, in believing that Saddam had some kind of 
relationship with al-Qaida,'' Clinton told British Broadcasting 
Corp. radio. 

Butler noted that British intelligence had not suggested there 
was evidence of cooperation between Saddam Hussein and Osama bin 
Laden's al-Qaida network. 

``The (Joint Intelligence Committee) made clear that, although 
there were contacts between the Iraqi regime and al-Qaida, there 
was no evidence of cooperation.'' 
  
      Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2004
*****************************************************************
 3 UK Independent: Iraq intelligence 'seriously flawed' says Butler
 
By Gavin Cordon, Whitehall Editor, PA News
 
14 July 2004

Intelligence on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction in the run–up
to war was "seriously flawed" and "open to doubt" Lord Butler's
inquiry declared today. 

The ex–Cabinet Secretary's 200–page report said Prime Minister
Tony Blair's September 2002 dossier should not have included its
controversial claim that Saddam Hussein could deploy WMD within
45 minutes. 

And it said Mr Blair's statement to the Commons on the dossier
may have "reinforced the impression" that there was "fuller and
firmer" intelligence behind the assessments in the dossier than
was actually the case. 

But the report said chairman of the Joint Intelligence Committee
John Scarlett should not step down from his new post as chief of
MI6, despite finding that JIC included some information in the
dossier should not have been included. 

The report says of Mr Scarlett: "We have a high regard for his
abilities and his record." 

The failings were not his "personal responsibility" but
collective ones. 

The inquiry said that when the Government began considering
military action against Iraq in March 2002, the intelligence was
"insufficiently robust" to justify claims that Iraq was in
breach of United Nations resolutions requiring it to disarm. 

And it said that since the conflict, key claims based on reports
from agents in Iraq, including claims that the Iraqis had
recently produced biological agents, had had to be withdrawn
because they were unreliable. 

The report also said the Government's controversial dossier went
to the "outer limits" of the available intelligence. 

Lord Butler later told reporters it was a "serious failing" that
the dossier did not contain warnings and caveats about
intelligence known to the JIC. 

Lord Butler also said "more weight was placed on the
intelligence than it could bear" and criticised the Government
for publicly stating the JIC had "ownership" of the dossier,
lending it more credibility than it might otherwise have had. 

But he stressed there was "no deliberate attempt on the part of
the Government to mislead". 

The Butler report also criticised the "informality" of
decision–making in No 10, with oral presentations relied on
which made it impossible for Cabinet ministers to have advance
notice of issues to be discussed. 	           


UK Independent Ltd.
*****************************************************************
 4 UK Independent: Butler report: The key findings
 
By Neville Dean, PA News
 
14 July 2004

 	 

These are key findings of the Butler report into the use of
intelligence in the run up to the war in Iraq 

* In March 2002 the intelligence available was "insufficiently
robust" to prove Iraq was in breach of the United Nations'
resolutions. 

* Validation of intelligence sources since the war has "thrown
doubt" on a high proportion of these sources. 

* Some of the human intelligence about Iraq's weapons of mass
destruction was "seriously flawed" and "open to doubt". 

* The Joint Intelligence Committee should not have included the
"45 minute" claim in the Iraq dossier without stating what
exactly it referred to. 

* But the Butler report found no evidence of "deliberate
distortion" of the intelligence material or of "culpable
negligence". 

* The language of the Government's dossier on Iraq's weapons may
have left readers with the impression that there was "fuller and
firmer" intelligence behind its judgments than was the case. 

* Tony Blair's statement to MPs on the day the dossier was
published may have reinforced this impression. 

* The judgments in the dossier went to the "outer limits",
although not beyond the intelligence available. 

* Making public that the Joint Intelligence Committee had
authorship of the Iraq dossier was a "mistaken judgment". 

* This resulted in more weight being placed on the intelligence
than it could bear, the report found. 

* John Scarlett, the head of the JIC in the run-up to the Iraq
war should not resign, the authors of the report said. 

* The Butler report said it would be a "rash person" who claimed
that stocks of biological or chemical weapons would never be
found in Iraq. 

* The report found no evidence that the motive of the British
Government for initiating military action in Iraq was securing
continued access to oil supplies. 

* The report raised concern about the "informality and
circumscribed character" of the Government's policy–making
procedures towards Iraq. 

The report was highly critical of intelligence–gathering in
Iraq. 

"Validation of human intelligence sources after the war has
thrown doubt on a high proportion of those sources and of their
reports, and hence on the quality of the intelligence
assessments received by ministers and officials in the period
from summer 2002 to the outbreak of hostilities," it said. 

The report disclosed that one MI6 "main source", while reporting
authoritatively on some issues, had simply been passing on what
he had heard from "within his circle" on other issues. 

Reporting from a "sub source" to a second MI6 main source, which
had led to important JIC assessments on Iraqi possession of
chemical and biological weapons, "must be open to doubt", the
report said. 

Reports from a third MI6 main source had been withdrawn as
"unreliable" while reports from two further main MI6 sources
which were regarded as reliable had been notably "less worrying"
about Iraq's chemical and biological capabilities. 

A report from what was described as a "liaison service" on
Iraq's production of biological agents had been so "seriously
flawed" that the grounds for the JIC's assessment that Iraq had
recently produced stocks of biological agents no longer existed. 

One of the reasons that so many reports turned out to be
"unreliable or questionable" could have been the length of the
reporting chains. 

"Another reason may be that agents who were known to be reliable
were asked to report on issues going well beyond their usual
territory," the report said. 

"A third reason may be that because of the scarcity of sources
and the urgent requirement for intelligence, more credence was
given to untried agents than would normally be the case." 

The report said that the assessment staff who analysed the
intelligence produced by MI6 had not been fully aware of the
access and background of key informants and therefore lacked the
material to understand their motivations. 

It also said that the assessment process tended to lead to the
repetition of earlier errors. 

"We detected a tendency for assessments to be coloured by
over–reaction to previous errors. As a result, there was a risk
of over–cautious – or worse – case estimates, shorn of their
caveats, becoming the 'prevailing wisdom'," the report said. 

It said that the inquiry had shown the "vital importance" of
effective scrutiny of human intelligence sources in the
preparation of JIC assessments and in giving high quality advice
to ministers. 

The report disclosed that the Government had first considered in
March 2002 that its previous policy of "containment" of Saddam
may not be adequate and that stronger action – although not
necessarily military action – may be needed. 

While there had been grounds for concern given Iraq's previous
record, the report said that there was "no recent intelligence
that would itself have given rise to a conclusion that Iraq was
of more immediate concern than some other countries". 

It said that ministers were advised that military action against
Iraq could only be justified if the country was held to be in
breach of previous UN Security Council resolutions requiring it
to disarm. 

Officials also warned that for the Security Council to back the
view that Saddam was in breach of his obligations it would need
"incontrovertible" proof that Iraq was engaged in "large scale
activity". 

However, the Butler report said that ministers were advised by
officials "that the intelligence then available was
insufficiently robust to meet that criteria". 

Lord Butler told reporters it would have been "foolish" for the
Government to deliberately give a false impression on Saddam's
WMD when the truth would be discovered after the war. 

On the dossier, the report said that it was a "serious weakness"
that the JIC's warnings on the limitations of the intelligence
underlying its judgments were not made sufficiently clear. 

While it said that the JIC had sought to offer a dispassionate
assessment of the intelligence, the Government's demand for a
document which it could draw on in its advocacy of its policy
had "put a strain on them (JIC) in seeking to maintain their
normal standards of neutral and objective assessment". 

The report went on: "In translating material from JIC
assessments into the dossier, warnings were lost about the
limited intelligence base on which some aspects of these
assessments were being made. 

"Language in the dossier may have left readers with the
impression that there was fuller and firmer intelligence behind
the judgments than was the case. 

"Our view, having reviewed all of the material, is that the
judgments in the dossier went to (although not beyond) the outer
limits of the intelligence available. 

"The Prime Minister's description, in his statement to the House
of Commons on the day of publication of the dossier, of the
picture painted by the intelligence services in the dossier as
'extensive, detailed and authoritative' may have reinforced this
impression." 	           


UK Independent Ltd.
*****************************************************************
 5 UK Independent: Report shows need for full inquiry says Kennedy
 
By Jon Smith, Political Editor, PA News
 
14 July 2004

 	 

The Liberal Democrat leader Charles Kennedy today said he was
not surprised by Lord Butler's findings and called for a full
public inquiry into the run-up to the Iraq war. 

Mr Kennedy said: "We are not terribly surprised by Lord Butler's
conclusions. 

"He was asked to look at systems and institutions rather than to
look at the judgments of individual political players and the
interface between those players and the intelligence services -
and that's what he did. 

"It's these political relationships which remain the unopened
Pandora's box in the middle of all this, and that continues to
underline the need for a proper public inquiry into the
political judgments made about this war and how they were
arrived at." 	           


UK Independent Ltd.
*****************************************************************
 6 UK Independent: No-one lied, no-one made up intelligence, says Blair
 
By James Lyons, Political Correspondent, PA News
 
14 July 2004

 	 

Tony Blair today welcomed the Butler report saying it showed the
Government and intelligence services acted in "good faith". 

The Prime Minister told MPs the report showed errors were made
in drawing up the September 2002 dossier on Iraq's weapons. 

But Mr Blair said: "No-one lied. No-one made up the
intelligence. No-one inserted things into the dossier against
the advice of the intelligence services. 

"Everyone genuinely tried to do their best in good faith for the
country in circumstances of acute difficulty. 

"That issue of good faith should now be at an end." 

Mr Blair told the Commons he had expected to find "actual usable
chemical or biological weapons shortly after we entered Iraq". 

He noted Lord Butler's conclusion that it would be "rash" to
state that they did not exist or would never be found. 

"But I have to accept, as the months have passed, it seems
increasingly clear that at the time of invasion Saddam did not
have stockpiles of chemical or biological weapons ready to
deploy," he said. 

That raised the issue of whether, even if his Government had
acted in good faith, the war had been misconceived and therefore
unjustified, he told MPs. 

"I have searched my conscience, not in a spirit of obstinacy but
in a genuine reconsideration in the light of what we know now,
in answer to that question," he said. 

"As I shall say later, for any mistakes made, as the report
finds, in good faith I of course take full responsibility but I
cannot honestly say I believe getting rid of Saddam was a
mistake at all. 

"Iraq, the region, the wider world is a better and safer place
without Saddam." 	           


UK Independent Ltd.
*****************************************************************
 7 Guardian Unlimited: Blair sexed up the evidence to justify his 
own decision
 
Comment 
		
To put the blame for war on the intelligence services
would be a travesty 		
 		
David Clark Tuesday July 13, 2004 The Guardian 
[http://www.guardian.co.uk]                
 		
On the eve of the publication of Lord Butler's report into the 
intelligence failure that formed the basis of the government's 
case for war against Iraq, the demands for answers grow louder 
and more insistent. How could the intelligence services have been 
so wrong about Saddam Hussein and weapons of mass destruction? 

That question is certainly high on the list of issues that need 
to be resolved if the report is to succeed in drawing a line 
under the affair. Public confidence in the integrity and 
competence of our intelligence gathering and assessment process 
is vital to national security, yet it has never been lower than 
it is today. The gap between what we were told to expect and the 
evidence that has emerged on the ground in Iraq is simply too 
wide to be dismissed as an excusable margin of error. No 
stockpiles of chemical or biological weapons have been uncovered. 
The mobile weapons laboratories have turned out to be nothing 
more than a figment of the imagination. Even evidence of ongoing 
weapons of mass destruction programmes has proved elusive. 

To be quite blunt, the intelligence services were wrong in just 
about every significant judgment they made. Given that Iraq by 
that stage had been one of Britain's top intelligence targets for 
over a decade, their performance can only be described as 
woefully inadequate. Without thorough-going reform, there is a 
risk that they will never be believed again. The conse quences of 
this should not be dismissed lightly. If there is one thing more 
dangerous than acting on a false alarm, it is the failure to act 
against a threat that is real. The credibility of British 
intelligence matters and the Butler report must set out the steps 
needed to restore it. 

But that is not all it must do. A report that ignored the role of 
politicians and laid all the blame at the door of the 
intelligence agencies, as the Senate intelligence committee did 
last week, would be a travesty of justice. The faulty assessments 
produced by the joint intelligence committee (JIC) were not the 
only, or even the main, reason for the decision to go to war. For 
that we must look elsewhere. Consider for a moment one of the 
government's favourite lines of defence. Tony Blair claims that 
if his belief that Saddam retained a weapons of mass destruction 
capability was mistaken, it was one shared by many other world 
leaders. There is certainly truth in that argument, but it raises 
the obvious question of why most of them nevertheless opposed 
America's decision to launch an immediate, pre-emptive invasion. 
The answer is that the intelligence picture, distorted though it 
was, simply did not justify it. 

What's more, evidence unearthed by the Hutton inquiry reveals 
that the government knew this perfectly well. An email circulated 
within Downing Street recorded the horrified response of one 
official who read an early draft of the September dossier and 
realised the paucity of the intelligence case for war: "Very long 
way to go. I think. Think we're in a lot of trouble with this as 
it now stands." Jonathan Powell, Blair's chief of staff, noted in 
another email that a later draft "does nothing to demonstrate a 
threat, let alone an imminent threat from Saddam". These concerns 
were also evident in the rather desperate last-minute plea issued 
by Sir John Scarlett for the intelligence agencies to scrape the 
bottom of the barrel for anything they might have overlooked. 

It was the realisation of how shaky the government's case was 
that led to the second, more important stage of Britain's 
intelligence failure on Iraq: the one that became famous over 
allegations of "sexing up". In part, this involved the systematic 
filtering out of anything that might point to a conclusion other 
than the one the government wanted us to reach. At Powell's 
behest, a key phrase revealing the JIC's assessment that Saddam 
would use chemical or biological weapons only in self-defence was 
struck. The observation that he did not have the capability to 
strike Britain was similarly removed. 

At the same time there was intense pressure on the JIC, starting 
with Alastair Campbell's instruction for it to come up with 
something "new" and "revelatory". It was in this heightened 
atmosphere that the notorious 45-minute claim and other 
intelligence purporting to show that Iraq was continuing to 
produce chemical and biological weapons was passed on to Downing 
Street without being properly examined by the intelligence 
officers best placed to assess it. Much of this is now said to 
have been withdrawn, although ministers have yet to correct the 
parliamentary record. It is significant because it was this 
information that allowed Blair to strengthen the language in the 
dossier and claim in his foreword that the threat from Saddam was 
"current and serious". 

The government's supporters argue that all Downing Street did was 
insist that the case against Iraq should be as strong as the JIC 
was willing to make it. But this misses a rather significant 
point. Had Blair been genuine in his belief that Iraq posed a 
serious threat, all he needed to do was publish a declassified 
version of the intelligence reports on which his conclusions were 
based. There would have been no need for anything "new" and 
"revelatory". What had convinced the prime minister ought to have 
been sufficient to convince the rest of us. It is the very 
existence of the dossier and the process that led to its 
publication that exposes the biggest untruth of the whole Iraq 
saga: the pretence that the decision to go to war was evidence 
led. 

In order to promote a war he had decided to fight with America 
come what may, the prime minister and his staff took intelligence 
that was sketchy and circumstantial and transformed it into 
something that appeared compelling and definitive. He can 
certainly argue that it was already faulty when it reached him. 
What he should not be allowed to do is evade responsibility for 
the way it was embellished once it reached his desk. Without this 
final step the case for war would have collapsed. 

In a strange way, the success of yesterday's spending review, far 
from diminishing Blair's problem, merely compounds it. All the 
things that are good about this government are now personally 
associated with his chancellor, while all the things that are bad 
about it are associated with him. If Labour loses one or both 
by-elections on Thursday, there will be little doubt about who is 
to blame. 

The smart money still backs Tony Blair to survive this week and 
go on to fight the next election. But to do so in the sort of 
shape that would make it worth his while, he needs to drop his 
self-righteous pretence that he did nothing wrong over Iraq and 
show that he has learned from his mistake. If he refuses, the 
call to back him or sack him will begin to look more like an 
invitation than a challenge. 

· David Clark was a special adviser at the Foreign Office from 
1997 to 2001 

dkclark@aol.com [dkclark@aol.com] 
	
Chronology Iraq timeline: Feb 1 2004 - present 
[http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/page/0,12438,1151021,00.html] 
Iraq timeline: July 16 1979 - Jan 31 2004 
[http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/page/0,12438,793802,00.html] 

Interactive guides Click-through graphics on Iraq

[UP] 

      Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2004
 
*****************************************************************
 8 Las Vegas SUN: Iran Plans to Continue Nuke Program Work

 By ALI AKBAR DAREINI ASSOCIATED PRESS 


TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - 

Iran remains committed to its suspension of uranium enrichment,
but nothing stands in the way of building centrifuges for its
nuclear program, President Mohammad Khatami said Wednesday. 

"Technical work such as building and assembling centrifuges is
for executive organizations to do. There is no impediment to
doing this work," Khatami told reporters after a Cabinet
meeting. 

His comments were the closest to an acknowledgment that Iran has
resumed building centrifuges after saying in June it would do so
within days. 

Iranian officials have adopted an ambiguous policy in recent
weeks on the issue. 

Sources at state-run television told The Associated Press on
Monday that Iran's top nuclear negotiator, Hasan Rowhani, said
Iran restarted building centrifuges June 29 but that the
broadcaster was told not to show it. Apparently, there were
concerns about international criticism of Iran. 

Mohamed ElBaradei, head of the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog, the
International Atomic Energy Agency, said last month he hoped
Iran would reverse its decision to restart building centrifuges. 

The United States accuses Iran of trying to build nuclear
weapons. Iran has rejected the accusations, saying its atomic
program is entirely peaceful and geared toward producing energy. 

Iran suspended uranium enrichment and agreed to allow unfettered
inspection of its nuclear facilities last year under
international pressure and in a deal with Britain, Germany and
France that extracted a European promise to make it easier for
Iran to obtain advanced nuclear technology. 

"We haven't violated any of the agreements we made with the
Europeans in Tehran despite (the fact that) our European friends
have been slow in fulfilling their commitments," Khatami told
reporters Wednesday. 

But Khatami said Iran was no longer committed to its promise to
stop building centrifuges. "We are not committed any longer to
the promise to expand the suspension to include building
centrifuges because they (Britain, Germany and France) failed to
keep their promise of closing Iran's dossier," he said. 

Khatami said the three European powers promised to work toward
closing Iran's file with the IAEA by June if Iran stopped making
centrifuges. Iran stopped doing so in April, but the IAEA
rebuked Iran at its June meeting in a sharply phrased resolution
indicating it felt too many unanswered questions remained. 

Khatami also lashed out at the United States, accusing it of
blindly supporting Israel. 

"In the international arena, America's capital is Tel Aviv, not
Washington. It's the Zionists who dominate the United States.
It's contrary to the dignity of the great American people. The
American people should rise up," Khatami told reporters. 

-- 



*****************************************************************
 9 Xinhuanet: UK veterans accuse officials of refusing to attend independent
probe   

  www.xinhuanet.com

  www.chinaview.cn 2004-07-14 19:13:03   

    LONDON, July 14 (Xinhuanet) -- British veterans of the 1991 
Gulf war and their supporters accused government officials of 
"chickening out" of attending an independent inquiry into 
illnessesthat have affected more than 6,000 former soldiers, the 
British Guardian newspaper reported Wednesday. 

    The British government has decided not to allow its 
ministers, civil servants and members of the armed forces to 
attend the investigation led by Lord Lloyd of Berwick into the 
so-called "Gulf War Syndrome." 

    It would be "inappropriate" to accept invitations to the 
unofficial hearings chaired by the former Lord Justice of Appeal, 
the Ministry of Defense said. 

    However, the ministry promised instead to provide "a pack of 
appropriate documents" to help Lord Lloyd understand the complex 
issues involved. The Department of Health was bound by the same 
decision. 

    The three-week hearing headed by Lord Lloyd aims to take 
evidence from 30 ex-servicemen, medical experts and government 
representatives to establish the facts about Gulf War illnesses 
and resolve the long-standing dispute over their causes. 

    Thousands of British veterans say they have suffered from 
unexplained ailments including kidney pains, memory loss, chronic 
fatigue and mood swings. They blame the cocktail of tablets and 
vaccinations they were given to protect them against nerve 
agents,anthrax and botulism. 

    Exposure to depleted uranium munitions has also been 
identifiedas a possible cause of the illnesses. 

    However, it has never been accepted that the illnesses have a 
common cause arising from the Gulf War, meaning that hundreds of 
veterans have not been able to claim compensation. 

    The British government has never acknowledged the existence 
of "Gulf War Syndrome." The Ministry of Defense maintains that 
the illness are so varied that there can be no distinct syndrome 
or a specific cause. Enditem   

    
  Copyright ©2003 Xinhua News Agency. All rights reserved. 
*****************************************************************
 10 NRC: NRC Advisory Committee on Nuclear Waste to Meet July 20 - 22 in Rockville, Maryland
 
News Release - 2004-08
U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION   
  Office of Public Affairs     Telephone: 301/415-8200   
  Washington, DC 20555-0001     E-mail: opa@nrc.gov
  No. 04-085     July 14, 2004   
  


The Nuclear Regulatory Commissions Advisory Committee on
Nuclear Waste will hold a public meeting July 20 - 22 in
Rockville, Md. The Committees agenda includes, among other
items, a report on the NRCs proposed Package Performance Study
of spent nuclear fuel transportation casks, and discussion of
plans to use risk information in inspections of the potential
high-level nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain, Nev. 

The bulk of the meeting will be held in Room T-2B3 of the
agencys Two White Flint North Building, at 11545 Rockville
Pike. The meeting will begin at 10:00 a.m. on July 20, and at
8:30 a.m. on July 21 and 22. The Committee will meet with the
NRC Commissioners from 9:30 a.m. - 11:30 a.m. on July 21 in the
Commissioners Conference Room, One White Flint North. A portion
of the meeting on the afternoon of July 21 may be closed to
discuss organizational and personnel matters. 

A complete agenda will be available on the NRCs Web site at
this address:
http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/acnw/agenda/2004/
[http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/acnw/agenda/2004/]
 . For additional information or schedule changes, please
contact Howard Larson at 301-415-6805, between 7:30 a.m. and
4:00 p.m. EDT.   



  


 	Last revised Wednesday, July 14, 2004 	   
*****************************************************************
 11 NRC: Notice of Availability of Environmental Assessment and Finding
 
                        FR Doc 04-15918 
[Federal Register: July 14, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 134)] 
[Notices] [Page 42219] From the Federal Register Online via GPO 
Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr14jy04-140]                         
 
of No Significant Impact for License Amendment for U.S. 
Department of the Army's Facility in Fort Detrick, Frederick 
County, MD AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
 
ACTION: Notice of Availability of Environmental Assessment and 
Finding of No Significant Impact.
 
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John D. Kinneman, Nuclear 
Materials Safety Branch 2, Division of Nuclear Materials Safety, 
Region I, 475 Allendale Road, King of Prussia, Pennsylvania 
19406, telephone (610) 337-5252, fax (610) 337-5269; or by 
e-mail: jdk@nrc.gov [jdk@nrc.gov] .
 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: I. Introduction The Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission (NRC) is considering issuing a license amendment to 
the U.S. Department of the Army (Army) for Materials License No. 
19-01151-02, to terminate the license and authorize release of 
its facilities at the U.S. Army Garrison in Fort Detrick, 
Frederick County, Maryland for unrestricted use. NRC has prepared 
an Environmental Assessment (EA) in support of this action in 
accordance with the requirements of 10 CFR part 51. Based on the 
EA, the NRC has concluded that a Finding of No Significant Impact 
(FONSI) is appropriate. The Army's request for the proposed 
action was previously noticed in the Federal Register on April 
30, 2003 (68 FR 23163), along with a notice of an opportunity to 
request a hearing. The amendment will be issued following the 
publication of this notice.
 
II. EA Summary The purpose of the proposed action is to terminate 
Byproduct Materials License No. 19-01151-02 and release the 
licensee's Fort Detrick facility for unrestricted use. The Army 
was authorized by NRC since 1954 to use radioactive materials for 
research and development purposes and for collection, storage, 
and disposal of radioactive wastes from tenant facilities at the 
site. On March 26, 2004, the Army provided the results of the 
final task in the decommissioning of the facility and requested 
that NRC release the Fort Detrick facility for unrestricted use. 
The Army has conducted surveys of the Fort Detrick facility and 
determined that the facility meets the license termination 
criteria in subpart E of 10 CFR part 20. The NRC staff has 
prepared an EA in support of the proposed license amendment.
 
III. Finding of No Significant Impact The staff has prepared the 
EA (summarized above) in support of the proposed license 
amendment to terminate the license and release the facility for 
unrestricted use. The NRC staff has evaluated the Army's request 
and the results of the surveys and has concluded that the 
completed action complies with the criteria in subpart E of 10 
CFR part 20. The staff has found that the environmental impacts 
from the proposed action are bounded by the impacts evaluated by 
the ``Generic Environmental Impact Statement in Support of 
Rulemaking on Radiological Criteria for License Termination of 
NRC-Licensed Facilities'' (NUREG- 1496). The staff has also found 
that the non-radiological impacts are not significant. On the 
basis of the EA, the NRC has concluded that the environmental 
impacts from the proposed action are expected to be insignificant 
and has determined not to prepare an environmental impact 
statement for the proposed action.
 
IV. Further Information The EA and the documents related to this 
proposed action, including the application for the license 
amendment and supporting documentation, are available for 
inspection at NRC's Public Electronic Reading Room at 
http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html 
[http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/leaving.cgi?from=leaving 
FR.html&log=linklog&to=http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html] 
(ADAMS Accession Nos. ML023380577, ML023500461, ML030840097, 
ML030900332, ML041630081, ML031350586, ML032260400, ML032660361, 
ML041630070, ML032830344, ML041030414 and ML041880474. The PDR 
reproduction contractor will copy documents for a fee. These 
documents are also available for inspection and copying for a fee 
at the Region I Office, 475 Allendale Road, King of Prussia, 
Pennsylvania 19406. Persons who do not have access to ADAMS, 
should contact the NRC PDR Reference staff by telephone at 1- 
800-397-4209 or (301) 415-4737, of by e-mail to pdr@nrc.gov 
[pdr@nrc.gov] . Dated in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania this 7th 
day of June 2004.
 
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
 
John D. Kinneman, Chief, Nuclear Materials Safety Branch 2, 
Division of Nuclear Materials Safety, Region I.
 
[FR Doc. 04-15918 Filed 7-13-04; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590-01-P

 
*****************************************************************
 12 NRC: Department of Energy; Establishment of Atomic Safety and 
 
                        FR Doc 04-15920 
[Federal Register: July 14, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 134)] 
[Notices] [Page 42218-42219] From the Federal Register Online via 
GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr14jy04-139]                         
 
Licensing Board Pursuant to delegation by the Commission dated 
December 29, 1972, published in the Federal Register, 37 FR 28710 
(1972), and the Commission's regulations, see 10 CFR 2.300, 
2.303, 2.318, 2.321, 2.1000, and 2.1010, and the Commission's 
July 7, 2004, order (CLI-04- 20, 60 NRC -- (July 7, 2004)), 
notice is given that an Atomic Safety and Licensing Board is 
hereby established to preside over the following proceeding: U.S. 
Department of Energy, High-Level Waste Repository: 
Pre-Application Matters.
 
As specified in the Commission's July 7, 2004 order (CLI-04-20, 
60 NRC at --
 
[[Page 42219]] (slip op. at 2-4), this proceeding concerns 
matters relating to the Licensing Support Network (LSN) arising 
during the pre-license application phase prior to the filing of a 
license application by the United States Department of Energy 
seeking authorization to construct a high-level radioactive waste 
repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada.\*\ 

---------- \*\ Unless and until additional licensing boards or 
other presiding officers are appointed to rule on individual 
pre-license application phase issues, or classes of issues, 
relating to the LSN, all requests for Pre-License Application 
Presiding Officer consideration of LSN-related problems should be 
submitted to the Licensing Board constituted by this issuance.
 
The Board is comprised of the following administrative 
judges: Thomas S. Moore, Chair, Atomic Safety and Licensing Board 
Panel, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 
20555-0001.
 
Alex S. Karlin, Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel, U.S. 
Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001.
 
Alan S. Rosenthal, Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel, U.S. 
Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001.
 
All correspondence, documents, and other materials shall be filed 
with the administrative judges in accordance with 10 CFR 
2.1010(d). Issued in Rockville, Maryland, this 8th day of July 
2004.
 
G. Paul Bollwerk, III, Chief Administrative Judge, Atomic Safety 
and Licensing Board Panel.
 
[FR Doc. 04-15920 Filed 7-13-04; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590-01-P

 
*****************************************************************
 13 toledoblade.com: Davis-Besse filter-change procedures restructured
 
Wednesday, July 14, 2004 

OAK HARBOR, Ohio - FirstEnergy officials said last night that 
they have changed a procedure for replacing reactor-coolant 
filters at the Davis-Besse Nuclear Power Station to prevent a 
recurrence of the radioactive "burp" recorded inside the plant 
two weeks ago.

A pressure buildup July 1 resulted in the release of 0.00005 
millirems of radioactive iodine during replacement of one of two 
filters used to sift out airborne particles in the plant that 
settle in the reactor's coolant water.

No gasses were released to the atmosphere and no employees were 
exposed to harmful levels of radiation, according to the utility.

During a meeting with the nuclear regulatory commission's 
Davis-Besse oversight panel,

plant manager Barry Allen said the ventilation monitors detected 
a release of "very low levels" of iodine after workers removed 
the filter from the coolant system and placed it in a transfer 
cask.

Mr. Allen said plant officials studied the incident and decided 
in the future to have workers wait at least 72 hours after 
switching a filter from service before removing and storing it. 
That amount of time would allow any amount of iodine to 
dissipate, he said.

"What we learned by changing the filter so quickly was that we 
could do the job more efficiently by waiting a few days," Mr. 
Allen said. "Now we recognize there's value in waiting."

The radiation level detected in the plant was below regulatory 
limits. Whole body counts, which measure both skin contact and 
inhalation, were taken from two plant employees with potential 
exposure, and neither showed levels beyond background exposure, 
according to the NRC.

"There's more radiation in a home smoke detector than what was 
detected in the plant," said Todd Schneider, a FirstEnergy 
spokesman.

In response to a question from Christine Lipa, branch chief of 
the NRC's Region III office in Lisle, Ill., Mr. Allen said 
Davis-Besse has experienced no similar radiation releases during 
filter replacements.

The reactor-coolant filter involved in the July 1 incident had 
been changed twice earlier this year without any trouble, Mr. 
Allen said.

After the meeting, Ms. Lipa said she was "satisfied" with 
Davis-Besse's handling of the incident, but added that the agency 
would continue investigating what happened.

"We do have inspectors who are planning on following up later and 
getting more of the details," she said.

Davis-Besse has encountered relatively few problems since gaining 
approval from the NRC on March 8 to restart the plant after a 
two-year shutdown. The plant went offline in early 2002 after the 
discovery that its reactor head had come perilously close to 
developing a hole.

Jack Grobe, chairman of the NRC oversight panel, told FirstEnergy 
officials that they had done well since the April restart to keep 
the plant on line without another shutdown.

"The plant has been operating reliably for 107 days," Mr. Grobe 
said. "That's noteworthy. That's absolutely noteworthy. … The 
plant has been operating safely."

        © 2004 The Blade.The Toledo Blade Company, 541 N. 
Superior St., Toledo, OH 43660 , (419) 724-6000 
*****************************************************************
 14 Indian Express: 3-stage nuclear power programme evolved
 
   [http://www.expressindia.com]     

Wednesday, July 14, 2004   

 Press Trust of India
 Posted online: Wednesday, July 14, 2004 at 1327 hours IST

 New Delhi, July 14: To utilise large reserves of thorium, a 
"carefully balanced" three-stage nuclear power programme has been 
evolved by government, the Lok Sabha was informed on Wednesday.

Under this, from the spent fuel of the first stage in which 
natural uranium is used, plutonium is extracted and used as fuel 
in the second stage in fast breeder reactors, minister of state 
in the PMO Prithviraj Chavan said.

In the third stage, uranium-233, produced by irradiating thorium 
in nuclear reactor, is used as fuel, he said. Thorium by itself 
is not fissionable.

The minister said the third stage for large-scale exploitation of 
thorium can be launched only after a sizeable base capacity of 
the second stage is built up.

The three stages have fuel cycle linkages and hence have to be 
gone through sequentially, he said.

Chavan said the target of nuclear power generation for 2003-04 
was 17,200 million units and the achievement was 17,783 mus.

In addition, 78 mus were also generated from Rajasthan atomic 
power station unit-1, he said observing India has abundant 
resources of thorium. 

              © 2004: Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
*****************************************************************
 15 TheDay.com: Storage Work Under Way At Millstone
 		 		 		
Wednesday, Jul 14, 2004   								   									 										
												 												 												 										 										
Site will have capacity for 135 bunkers of spent fuel

By PATRICIA DADDONA Day Staff Writer, Waterford Published on 
7/14/2004

Waterford  Contractors are pouring concrete into a crater about 
half the length of a football field and up to 18 feet deep to 
form a base for the new dry storage facility at Millstone Power 
Station. 

On Tuesday, 70 cement trucks drove to the pit on a staggered 
schedule. A large pump on a separate truck spat a thin column of 
wet cement into the pit. Engineers manipulating a crane-like arm 
by remote control layered the concrete like frosting on a wedding 
cake.

 On Friday, contractors had laid 750 yards of concrete, said a 
site engineer who would not give his name.

 That was a good day, he said.

 The concrete pad will be 173 feet long and 23 feet wide and has 
the capacity to support up to 135 bunkers the size of one-car 
garages. Each bunker will house a steel cask filled with 
radioactive spent fuel rods. The bunkers are slated to arrive on 
barges this fall, and the first bunker will be put into place in 
February after it is loaded with spent fuel, said Pete Hyde, 
spokesman for Dominion Nuclear Connecticut.

 Dominion, the company that owns Millstone, obtained permission 
from the state in May to install no more than 49 bunkers through 
2025. The company was allowed, however, to build a pad that could 
accommodate as many as 135 bunkers, the maximum number Dominion 
estimates it may one day need. 

Of the three reactors located on the peninsula that juts into 
Long Island Sound near the mouth of the Niantic River, two are 
operating and one is being decommissioned. 

Spent fuel at each of Millstone's three power plants is normally 
stored in deep pools of water, where uranium pellets housed in 
long, finger-width metal rods cool after having been heated in 
the reactor core to produce electric energy. Dominion decided to 
build dry storage in part to avoid losing full core reserve  
that is, the capacity to remove all spent fuel from the reactor's 
pools. 

The closest resident is about 1,000 feet away from the storage 
site, which is being built on the southeastern edge of the power 
station, where a parking lot used to be, Hyde said.

 Contractors began digging the enormous hole in early June, after 
the state awarded Dominion permits for the facility, and started 
filling the pit with wet concrete on Friday, said Hyde. A 
drainage pipe bisects the crater, which is between 13 and 18 feet 
deep, depending on where contractors hit bedrock as they dug.

 The concrete must be poured on bedrock in order to make the 
strongest base possible for the bunkers that will sit on top of 
it, at grade level, said Hyde. Contractors had to scour the 
bedrock and remove dirt to ensure that the concrete will adhere, 
he said.

 The site was muddy from rain Tuesday, and water pooling in the 
pit will have to be siphoned out later, a site engineer said. 

Each concrete bunker is 20 feet high, 81/2 feet wide, and 20 feet 
deep with an added five-foot layer of concrete as extra 
protection against radioactive emissions.

 The bunker features a covered opening into which the dry cask 
will be loaded; the bunkers will look like front-loading washing 
machines. 

When the pad is finished and cured sometime in October, each 
bunker will be loaded with a steel canister that has been filled 
with spent fuel. The bunkers will then be placed side by side on 
the concrete pad in two rows.

 Spent fuel must have cooled in the spent fuel pools for five 
years or more before it can be loaded into dry storage 
containers. 

Hyde declined to say how much the company is spending on the 
project.

 p.daddona@theday.com   

442-2200  |  Â© 1998-2004 The Day Publishing Co. You are 1 of  
*****************************************************************
 16 TheDay.com: Millstone Re-licensing Must Be Publicly Aired
 		 		 		
Published on 7/14/2004

Letters To The Editor:

As we assess the impact of re-licensing of our nuclear power 
plants on the health of Connecticut citizens, we need to address 
the little-known but very significant issue of routine releases 
from Millstone.

With every day of continued operation of nuclear-power stations, 
radioactive materials are being released into the air through the 
venting of radioactive gases. These gases decay into solid 
radioactive particles, which are then released and fall to the 
land and into the water.

This effect is cumulative and long-lasting. These toxins decay 
into strontium-89. cesium-137 and cesium-135 as well as tritium. 
Of particular concern is Millstone's ongoing release of tritium 
directly into the air and water  almost 13,000 curies between 
1991 and 2001. Tritium is a known cancer-causing radioactive 
toxin, causing birth defects and genetic damage for as long as 
120 years after being released.

In addition to this current and ongoing cumulative health 
problem, we face the grave danger of accidents at our aging 
plants and/or a terrorist strike. A Chernobyl-type accident could 
render our state uninhabitable. I urge readers of The Day to do 
everything within their power to halt the re-licensing of 
Millstone Units 2 and 3. 

Judi Friedman Canton

The writer is the chairwoman of People's Action for Clean Energy.  

1998-2004 The Day Publishing Co.   	 	
*****************************************************************
 17 Brattleboro Reformer: Fuel rod pieces found at Yankee
 
[http://www.reformer.com/]   

July 14, 2004 Brattleboro, VT                                                                                 
 			 								 					
By DAVID GRAM 
Associated Press

MONTPELIER -- Two highly radioactive pieces of spent nuclear fuel 
were found Tuesday where they belong, in the Vermont Yankee 
nuclear plant's spent fuel pool, three months after they were 
reported missing.

 The discovery was made by engineers using a special tool to open 
a container in the pool, which houses thousands of spent nuclear 
fuel assemblies from the plant's 32 years of operation, a Nuclear 
Regulatory Commission spokesman said.

 Two earlier robotic searches of the pool had failed to turn up 
the container. Its existence became known last week, when Entergy 
investigators found a record at a General Electric laboratory in 
California that the container had been shipped to Vermont Yankee 
sometime during the 1980s. 

"We earlier had checked all the containers in the pool, but when 
we learned that General Electric had designed and sent a 
pipe-like cylinder for the fuel-rod pieces, we rechecked the 
videotapes," said Jay Thayer, Entergy's site vice president in 
charge of the Vermont Yankee plant.

 "That's when we noticed that what was previously thought to be 
part of an existing in-pool structure could very well be the 
canister that GE sent here," he added.

 News that the radioactive spent fuel segments, likely lethal to 
anyone exposed to them, were unaccounted for came during a 
refueling outage at Vermont's lone nuclear plant in April, and 
was greeted with alarm by state and federal officials.

 And it came at a sensitive time for the 32-year-old reactor, 
which has a request to boost its power output by 20 percent 
pending now before the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

 Neil Sheehan, spokesman for the NRC's Northeast regional office, 
said the agency was withholding judgment on the latest 
developments at the Vermont plant.

 "It would absolutely be good news if this is in fact the missing 
fuel," Sheehan said. "This is not material that should be 
unaccounted for and certainly should not be anywhere in the 
public domain."

 The discovery of the GE records prompted engineers at Vermont 
Yankee to design and build a special tool that could go into the 
spent fuel pool, open the container and check its contents.

 "Our search team designed a detailed search plan that explored 
every possibility from three different angles," Thayer said. 
"They looked visually with the cameras, they searched the 
documents, and they talked to people who were on the scene 25 
years ago," when the fuel pieces had last been accounted for. 
"They deserve a tremendous amount of credit," he added.

 The container was described as a 40-inch-long cylinder about 
four inches across -- easily large enough to hold the two fuel 
pieces, described as 9 and 17 inches long and about as thick as a 
pencil.

 After the announcement that the fuel segments were missing in 
April, plant officials said they believed that the missing fuel 
segments were in cylinders welded to a bucket at the bottom of 
the 40-foot-deep spent fuel pool.

 Raymond Shadis of the nuclear watchdog group New England 
coalition said Tuesday that the discovery of the fuel rods in a 
separate cylinder raised questions about what had been in the 
bucket and what had become of it.

 "The burning question is what was in there (the bucket)?" Shadis 
said. "These kinds of open questions, they don't give anyone any 
feeling of security with respect to how they handle spent nuclear 
materials."

 Vermont Yankee spokesman Robert Williams said discussions about 
the fuel having been in the bucket were "speculation early in the 
investigation."

 "We've done a thorough search of the pool and this completes the 
inventory," Williams said. "These were the only segments that 
were not accounted for."

 The NRC's Sheehan said his agency planned to launch its 
investigation when Vermont Yankee declared its own finished. 
Asked whether Vermont Yankee should have had a receipt record to 
match GE's shipping record on the cylinder where the material was 
found, he said, "It's still an unanswered question whether their 
records should have noted that they received this" container from 
GE.

 Reacting to Tuesday's announcement, David O'Brien, commissioner 
of the state's Department of Public Service, said, "The most 
important thing is to cite the word 'relief.' I say that because 
... the spent fuel rods are in the spent fuel pool. Public health 
and safety has never been put at risk."

 O'Brien cited his satisfaction with the "systematic" 
investigation in which records were reviewed, former and current 
staff were interviewed, and visits were made to facilities 
related.

 He said his only caveat is that "Entergy demonstrate as the 
manager of this facility that this sort of thing is not going to 
happen again. Now, we need to focus on the future."

 Reformer staff contributed to this report. 

Copyright © 2004 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This 
*****************************************************************
 18 Tri-Valley Herald:  Bill would clean up, recycle water 
 
  7/14/2004   
 
$225 million a year to be spent on research to reuse finite
water supplies 


By Ian Hoffman, STAFF WRITER
 Senators and congressmen of two western states are lining up
behind a billion-dollar bill directing scientists to work on
novel ways of cleaning up and reusing finite water supplies to
sate farms and fast-growing cities. 

Congressional aides familiar with the bill, to be announced
today, say it would devote as much as $225 million a year for
five years to work at nine U.S. Department of Energy labs. Eight
would team with a university and tackle uniquely regional water
problems. 

Backers say the legislation, if approved, would deliver the
first major cash infusion in more than 20 years for new
water-treatment technologies. 

Federal water-treatment research has been flat since the late
1960s, at about $700 million a year, eroded annually by
inflation. 



Sen. Pete V. Domenici, R-N.M., whose hometown in Albuquerque
relies on uncertain groundwater supplies for drinking water and
a dwindling Rio Grande for irrigated croplands, plans to
introduce the bill today on the Senate side. 

Rep. Richard Pombo, a Tracy Republican, will introduce its
companion in the House. 

The two men's districts both struggle with increasing
concentrations of trace contaminants from agricultural and
natural sources, such as selenium in the Central Valley and
arsenic in the lower Rio Grande Valley. 

They have drawn support from Sens. Dianne Feinstein of
California and Jeff Bingaman of New Mexico, two influential
Democrats on a key Senate committee, and Rep. Ken Calvert,
R-Riverside, chairman of the House water and power subcommittee
that oversees federal water rights. 

Sandia National Laboratories, headquartered in Albuquerque,
would serve as a national center. Lawrence Livermore National
Laboratory would serve as the Pacific regional water lab. 

Sandia has been exploring new desalination technologies,
including some powered by renewable energy sources and ways of
disposing of the salt. 

Livermore scientists, drawing in part on precise measurements
made in past nuclear tests, are expert in finger-

 printing water by its makeup of different hydrogen isotopes and
using the technique to trace contaminants. They also are
designing membranes for water treatment, capable of targeting
and removing select contaminants. In Southern California and the
Central Valley, cities are struggling with groundwater
contamination by nitrates, often from leaking septic tanks, and
by perchlorate, a common by-product of work on rocket fuels,
explosives and other pyrotechnics. 

"If you didn't have to remove every single salt and ion, then
maybe you don't have to use so much energy," said Robin Newmark,
a geophysicist who heads water and environment research in
Livermore's energy and environment directorate. 

The bill would encourage scientists to move technologies off
their lab benches and into experimental trials and commercial
production. 

"At the lab, the staff is very excited to be working on water,
It's a compelling societal need and a challenging intellectual
problem," Newmark said. "I think it's something people feel
really good about."

Tri-Valley Herald All Rights Reserved
*****************************************************************
 19 BostonHerald.com: Pilgrim nuclear plant strike is off
 
By Jay Fitzgerald

Wednesday, July 14, 2004The owner of the Pilgrim nuclear power 
plant in Plymouth and a major union reached a tentative contract 
accord early yesterday, averting a strike that workers threatened 
to extend into the Democratic National Convention week at the end 
of this month.

     Negotiators worked through early morning hours to hammer
out a pact, which was made public at about 7 a.m. yesterday.

     ``It's a good day,'' said David Tarantino, a spokesman for 
New Orleans-based Entergy Corp., Pilgrim's owner and the nation's 
second-largest nuclear plant owner.

     Details of the four-year pact were not disclosed, pending a 
vote by union workers tomorrow, officials said. Issues of pay and 
health benefits were among the main bargaining issues.

     A spokesman for Utilities Workers Union of America, Local 
369 in Braintree, which represents the Pilgrim workers, would 
only confirm a tentative four-year deal had been reached. Gary 
Sullivan, head of the local, could not be reached for comment 
yesterday.

     The union had threatened a strike that was to begin today if 
a deal wasn't in place for the nearly 300 workers. The union was 
prepared to push a strike right through this month's Democratic 
National Convention in Boston, though Entergy officials said they 
were confident managers and other workers could keep the 
680-megawatt plant running.

     Two other locals with a combined 80 workers are still 
without contracts. But Tarantino said both sides had agreed to 
keep talking.

© Copyright by the Boston Herald and Herald Interactive
*****************************************************************
 20 Gulf Syndrome Victims Heard in UK
 
Date: Wed, 14 Jul 2004 21:46:20 -0500 (CDT)

 
Forwarded with Compliments of Government of the USA in Exile (GUSAE):
Free Americans Resisting the Fourth Reich on Behalf of All Species.
NOTE:  Thanks to Lisbeth West for this.   --  kl, pp

         UK:  Gulf Syndrome Victims Are Heard at Last

  By Terri Judd
  13 July 2004

  Veterans were "dismissed as trouble-makers" when they complained of
a range of debilitating illnesses after the Gulf War in 1991, the
first day of an independent inquiry into the suspected syndrome was
told yesterday.

  The three-week hearing in London, headed by the former Lord Justice
of Appeal Lord Lloyd of Berwick, will take evidence from 30
ex-servicemen, medical experts and government representatives in an
attempt to establish the facts about Gulf War illnesses.

  The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has always denied the existence of
"Gulf War Syndrome", insisting there was no single cause of the
illnesses suffered by veterans of the conflict.

  Flight Lieutenant John Nichol, who became a familiar face during the
war when he was captured by the Iraqis and paraded on television,
told the inquiry yesterday that more than 637 previously young and
fit servicemen had died since the end of the war. Of the 5,585 who
had been granted disablement, 1,388 had specified conditions related
to Gulf War illness, he said.

  He said that those afflicted had been rebuffed and treated like the
enemy. "When the veterans were begging for advice, begging for
answers, they were being fobbed off and dismissed as trouble-makers,"
he said. He added that the MoD had failed to heed warnings about the
dangers of the cocktail of drugs given to servicemen and women in
1990 and 1991.

  Flt Lt Nichol, a former RAF Tornado navigator and president of the
Gulf Veterans branch of the Royal British Legion, said he considered
himself lucky not to have returned with the same health problems as
many of his comrades. He said many had been "assaulted" by multiple
inoculations programmes, including anthrax and plague, mass use of
nerve agent pre-treatment tablets, heavy use of pesticides,
atmospheric pollution from burning oil wells, possible exposure to
nerve agents when storage facilities were destroyed and depleted
uranium dust.

  Sufferers displayed a variety of symptoms - chronic fatigue, memory
loss, depression, mood swings and aching joints - and some developed
cancer. Of the 53,000 servicemen and women deployed, about 6,000 had
complained of health problems, the inquiry heard, while others
suffered in silence.

  Flt Lt Nichol said the MoD had spent #8.5m researching the illnesses
since 1997, approximately the same amount as its annual entertainment
budget.

  Lord Lloyd also heard from Samantha Thompson, whose husband, a naval
officer, died two years ago of motor neurone disease, a condition
which is more than twice as prevalent among Gulf War veterans than
others of their age-group. She said the authorities in America
recognised that the disease was attributable to the conflict. "For my
daughter Hannah, I want her to see her father's death has been
thoroughly investigated," she said.

  Shaun Rusling, who won an important ruling two years ago when a War
Pensions Agency tribunal officially recognised Gulf War syndrome as a
disease, also appeared at the inquiry.

  The inquiry, which is independent from the Government, is funded by
an anonymous donor and cannot demand evidence from the MoD or the
Department of Health. Lord Lloyd has written to the departments
requesting they take part in the hearings, but they have yet to
respond. Lord Lloyd said: "I hope very much they will co-operate with
this inquiry. It seems to me they have nothing to lose from doing so."

  Lord Lloyd, 75, will sit alongside Dr Norman Jones, treasurer of the
Royal College of Physicians, and Sir Michael Davies, formerly clerk
of the parliaments. The donor, who is meeting the costs of between
#50,000 and #100,000, is said to be concerned about the welfare of
ex-servicemen and women.

  The MoD and the Department of Health said they were considering
whether to give evidence to the inquiry, which was described by
Charles Kennedy, the Liberal Democrat leader, as "long overdue".

  The inquiry was adjourned until next Monday.

  'EVERY WEEK YOU HEAR OF SOMEONE ELSE WHO HAS DIED'

  Major Christine Lloyd considered herself 100 per cent fit when she
volunteered to go to the Gulf in 1990 as a nursing officer; two
months later, she returned exhausted, permanently aching and unable
to concentrate long enough to administer medication.

  Yesterday she told the independent inquiry that she attributed her
continuing ill health to the cocktail of vaccines and drugs she was
given.

  Ms Lloyd was a 43-year-old reservist when she answered a call for
medical volunteers. Before she left Britain in January 1991 she was
given seven inoculations, including one described as "biological",
which she later realised was anthrax.

  Two weeks later she arrived in Saudi Arabia to help set up a field
hospital and prepare for what they believed would be a major influx
of casualties. She noticed that the area was being sprayed with
pesticides, including organophosphates, the safety of which is now
questioned.

  The stress of Scud missile alerts was compounded by the poor
facilities, she said. Many of the drugs dispatched to the field
hospital were out of date, she claimed, while the equipment looked
like something more suited to the Second World War.

  She began taking nerve agent pre-treatment (Naps) tablets and
immediately became disoriented and dizzy. "The side effects of the
Naps tablets continued: diarrhoea, frequency of urination and
headaches," she added.

  But there were more vaccines to come. In February she was given
another series, including inoculations against anthrax and plague.

  In mid-March she returned home. "After three weeks leave I returned
to work. I was always exhausted. I had headaches. I couldn't
concentrate. I was becoming a danger giving out medication. I had
short-term memory loss. I could no longer walk up hills and
mountains."

  In October 1992 she was declared unfit for work, and still suffers
from a range of problems. "Every week you hear of another colleague
who has died ... We need to get to the bottom of this," she said.

===============================================================

) 2004 Independent Digital (UK) Ltd

--
to the source:
*****************************************************************
 21 [du-list] Radioactive dust is radioactive dust - scrap and
 
Date: Wed, 14 Jul 2004 14:28:45 -0700

 
<x-flowed>
Whether Iraqis or the occupying forces use torches and welders to
makeshift defensive postions from scrap metal or clean and recycle
vehicle parts from the Highway of Death, the dust is resuspendable,
inhalable and therefore a health hazard. It is incorrect to say
salvaging and recycling of these materials is not problem.



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 22 [DU-WATCH] Defense Worker: "I am a mutant"
 
Date: Tue, 13 Jul 2004 23:33:34 -0500 (CDT)

 
http://www.westpress.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=146049&command=displayContent&sourceNode=145779&contentPK=10576238
I AM A MUTANT  
Western Daily Press

09:30 - 12 July 2004  
A Former defence worker has won legal aid to sue an
aerospace firm over claims he was poisoned by depleted
uranium at a West factory, it emerged yesterday.
Richard "Nibby" David suffers from health problems,
including breathing difficulties and a serious kidney
condition as well as skin, bowel and joint disorders.

He worked for Normalair Garrett in Yeovil between 1985
and 1995, during which time his health declined to the
point where he was forced to give up work.

The former Somerset county councillor believes his
debilitating condition was caused by exposure to
controversial depleted uranium (DU) at the factory.

Yesterday, Mr David, 49, told the Western Daily Press
that his life was "a living hell", but the legal aid
at last gave him a chance to argue his case.

He says medical tests have revealed mutations to his
DNA and chromosome damage, and hopes to recruit
world-famous barrister Michael Mansfield to fight his
case.

US firm Honeywell, which now owns the factory, denies
depleted uranium was ever used at Yeovil and the case
is heading for a 10-day hearing at London's Royal
Courts of Justice.

The landmark case is set to send shockwaves through
the armaments trade and provide hope for many Gulf War
veterans who claim DU has damaged their health.

Nineteen years ago, Mr David was physically fit and an
aerobics instructor in his spare time.

He told the Press yesterday his health first began to
decline soon after starting work at the Yeovil factory
in February 1995.

"Within three weeks of working there, I had a
horrifically sore throat," he said. "That soon became
a permanent feature. I felt like I was going down with
flu.

"I felt a complete change in my personality, my
outlook and my emotions. Every doctor I saw said I was
imagining it." His health continued to decline until
in 1995 he says he was paralysed with pain and said:
"The hospital were concerned. They were trying to work
out what I had been exposed to. They thought I had
caught a mysterious viral infection, which I hadn't."

A chance viewing of part of a TV programme which
featured a Gulf war veteran struggling with apparently
similar symptoms, led Mr David to wonder if there was
a link.

"I thought she must have what I've got. You could tell
the pain she was in," he added.

Urine samples revealed high levels of uranium and
tests in 2001 also showed damage to his chromosomes,
according to Mr David. This suggested exposure to
radiation.

After leaving his job as a component fitter in 1995,
Mr David moved from his home near Yeovil to Seaton, in
Devon, where he had a boat.

He fell in love with and married Jane in 1998, but his
condition has put huge strains on their private life.

"It is a living hell, for myself and my family," he
said. "The stress on my family is phenomenal."

According to Mr David other former colleagues have
also become mysteriously sick.

"A lot of my work mates were simply ill," he said.

He believes exposure to DU at work is the cause of his
many ills.

A spokeswoman for Honeywell declined to comment beyond
saying DU was not used at Yeovil.

Daily Press Fact File 

Depleted Uranium is what is left over after ordinary
uranium has been enriched for use either in nuclear
weapons or in reactors. It is a dense, heavy metal
used for warfare in shells and projectiles to enhance
their armour-piercing capacity.

When a DU round strikes a solid object like a tank, it
bursts into a burning spray of radioactive dust. This
dust can remain on site for years and is claimed to
have caused disease in soldiers using the munitions
and in the local populations.

According to the MoD, two kinds of DU ammunition are
used by UK forces: 120mm anti-tank rounds fired by the
Army's Challenger tanks, and 20mm rounds used by the
Royal Navy's PHALANX Close-In Weapon System, a missile
defence system.

The MoD insists no satisfactory alternative material
provides the level of penetration needed to defeat
modern battle tanks and says many of the claims about
the effects of DU are "groundless".

 

	
		
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 23 [du-list] more on US troops improvising radioactive armour
 
Date: Wed, 14 Jul 2004 14:28:51 -0700

 
<x-flowed>

"With up to 80% of the Uranium Munitions turning into nonmeter length 
shards of sticky ceramic uranium oxide flakes.."

   (Apart from the particles  in crevasses)
There  must be some info.  of  how sticky  the  Uranium oxide Nanoparticles 
are and for how long they might  stay there.. and where  and how they might 
be  washed, worn, or burnt off. This is a surface coating.
Dr Rokke may have something on this.


db


----- Original Message -----
From: <mailto:bobnichols@cox.net>Bob Nichols
To: <mailto:du-list@yahoogroups.com>du-list@yahoogroups.com ; 
<mailto:davidbroatch@xtra.co.nz>David Broatch
Sent: Thursday, July 15, 2004 8:35 AM
Subject: Re: [du-list] more on US troops improvising radioactive armour


David,

Thank you for the email on the scrap metal.

Absolutely, we missed the boat on this one. 4,000 scrapped Iraqi tanks and 
thousands of other metal parts are laying all over Iraq. The scrap merchants
with their cutting torches can't see the radiation, they just cut it up for 
scrap.
Well, count them as contaminated.

You said: I don't think  melted or partly melted steel remnants will have 
fused  with DU, so scrap  steel plating, even with a DU created hole will 
not be  dangerous.

I disagree. "With up to 80% of the Uranium Munitions turning into nonmeter 
length shards of sticky ceramic uranium oxide flakes.." David, that is how 
the usual description goes. If that is true. This stuff is sticky and 
almost bonds with everything.

It is too small even for gas masks and protective clothing. So, the 
Troopers trying to protect themselves from the extravagant unarmed jeeps 
($60,000 Hummveessss) we sent over there are using radioactive armor to sit 
on (rectal cancer) and are shipping the radioactive metal all over the world.

This just keeps getting worse.

I don't think  melted or partly melted steel remnants will have fused  with 
DU, so scrap  steel plating, even with a DU created hole will not 
be  dangerous.

Bob

PS. Fahey is  "Sonderkommando."



-------Original Message-------

From: <mailto:davidbroatch@xtra.co.nz>David Broatch
Date: 07/14/04 14:52:52
To: <mailto:du-list@yahoogroups.com>du-list@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [du-list] more on US troops improvising radioactive armour

I am not a trained  nuclear physicist, but I have a feeling that the 
primary radioactive DU elements will have long  irrevocably dispersed to 
mainly to the air, some then to  mainly horizontal surfaces especially in 
the vicinity of impact, then generally diluted throughout, variously 
redistributed through  via the foodchain especially. The DU aerosol will 
be  all sorts of particles mixed with DU, and will have  lodged in 
crevasses in  damaged  vehicles and buildings etc. so demolition of these 
will be  dangerous, especially without  attempted  protection.

  Viz., the  unusual dust storm that  followed immediately after the USUK 
attack will have stirred up  a lot of DU dust from the first USUK attack.. 
especially along the "highway of death", as retreating  civilains and 
surrendering Iraqi conscripts were  picked off in the so-called Turkey 
shoot, vehicles left  alongside  the road and in the median strip would 
have resulted in  much DU (not immediately dispersed) being  sedimented  at 
some  layer in the  soil, which  naturally forms a  hard surface layer. 
This would have been broken up  by the wide USUK invasion convoys of the 
second USUK attack, and other  military overtaking busy 
traffic.  This  will have  exposed the  DU layer which was then 
further  very widely dispersed by the  exceptional sand storm that followed 
within days, combined with new DU from the  second invasion itself.

See the photographic evidence at 
<http://www.digitaljournalist.org/issue0212/pt04.html>http://www.digitaljournalist.org/issue0212/pt04.html

Here is a description of this  US operation to give some idea of the scale....
from 
<http://www.thewinds.org/1997/02/war_crimes.html>http://www.thewinds.org/1997/02/war_crimes.html

" One of the most graphic and heinous crimes of the Gulf War occurred on 
the highway between Mutlaa, Kuwait and Basra, Iraq, also known as "The 
Highway of Death." As the U.S. began its land assault, Iraq announced that 
it would comply with U.N. resolution 660 and withdraw from Kuwait. Iraqi 
soldiers as well as Iraqi, Palestinian, Jordanian and other civilians piled 
into whatever vehicles they could commandeer, including a fire truck, and 
fled north towards Iraq. U.S. planes disabled vehicles at both ends of the 
convoy, creating a 7-mile long traffic jam. U.S. planes then began to bomb 
and strafe the entire line of some 2,000 vehicles for hours, killing tens 
of thousands of helpless soldiers and civilians while encountering no 
resistance and receiving no losses to themselves. "Another 60-mile stretch 
of road to the east was strewn with the remnants of tanks, armored cars, 
trucks, ambulances and thousands of bodies following an attack on convoys 
on the night of February 25, 1991. The press reported that no survivors are 
known or likely. One flatbed truck contained nine bodies, their hair and 
clothes were burned off, skin incinerated by heat so intense it melted the 
windshield onto the dashboard." (ibid). These atrocities were in direct 
violation of the Geneva Convention of 1949, common article 3, which outlaws 
the killing of soldiers who are "out of combat", not to mention civilians.

     Among the illegal weapons used by the U.S. during the Gulf War was a 
fuel air device known as the BLU-82, a 15,000-pound device capable of 
incinerating everything within hundreds of yards. Napalm and other 
phosphorus bombs were also used in violation of international law. One 
illegal fuel air device that was used is designed to consume all oxygen in 
a designated area, causing all personnel on the ground and within range to 
suffocate. "
  Metereologically, this unusual storm may have actually been created by 
the USUK invasion itself through   thermal effects of contrails 
and  other  pollutants  from  bombing and missile attacks, burning oil 
wells etc., which may have led to  unusual thermal  conditions.

  I don't think  melted or partly melted steel remnants will have 
fused  with DU, so scrap  steel plating, even with a DU created hole will 
not be  dangerous.

  I would be  grateful  for possible correction or other opinion here.

Kind Regards, David Broatch, Environmental Futures Research
<mailto:efr@xtra.co.nz>efr@xtra.co.nz
http://www.eco-expo.org/EFR_Consulting.htm
----- Original Message -----
From: <mailto:jonathan@trifast-systems.co.uk>Jonathan Chowns
To: <mailto:du-list@yahoogroups.com>du-list@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Thursday, July 15, 2004 5:23 AM
Subject: [du-list] more on US troops improvising radioactive armour

another article confirming that US troops are improvising armour plating, 
*possibly* from radioactive scrap metal.

<http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2004/01/31/wwmd131.xml&sSheet=/news/2004/01/31/ixnewstop.html>http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2004/01/31/wwmd131.xml&sSheet=/news/2004/01/31/ixnewstop.html
Mr Kirkweg's son-in-law, who is serving in Iraq, sent pictures of crude 
armour his unit had tried to make in the field after scavenging parts from 
a Baghdad scrap heap.

an article showing that much of the scrap has been cleared up allready- so 
probably a little late to stop the spread of contamination. Dammit, we 
should have forseen this and been on top of it from the start.


<http://www.cbc.ca/news/viewpoint/vp_hill/20040608.html>http://www.cbc.ca/news/viewpoint/vp_hill/20040608.html

Another underreported surprise: last spring the roads and towns were full 
of military ordnance. Entering Baghdad from the west was to pass the 
remnants of battle with a dozen flamed-out tanks on the edge of the 
highway. In the city streets were abandoned armoured personnel carriers. In 
fields anti-aircraft guns pointed futilely at the sky.

Now, they are mostly gone.

There are more signs of destruction from war in Kosovo four years on than 
in Iraq one year after the war. On the road north of Mosul up to the 
Turkish border, there is a checkpoint run by a faction of Massoud Barzani's 
Kurdistan Democratic Party. In front of the checkpoint are dozens of trucks 
loaded to the gunnels with guns and missiles turned into scrap metal. It is 
ironic. As guerrilla war wages and terrorists roam free – the metal 
merchants are making a fortune by turning arms into scrap.

*******
another reference to scrap leaving the country. The more I look the more I 
find. I'll try and keep it more focussed in future posts.

<http://www.blogjam.com/wires/>http://www.blogjam.com/wires/

Along the roadside are trailers laden with the scrap metal from the war. 
Leaving Iraq bound for Aqaba in Jordan, then on by ship to either Japan or 
India to be melted down. Dozens of them. So much twisted and destroyed metal.


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 24 [du-list] US troops harden vehicles with scrap metal
 
Date: Wed, 14 Jul 2004 14:28:26 -0700

 
<x-flowed>
I think this is quite interesting- obviously not all the scrap they used 
would have been salvaged from Iraqi armoured vehicles, but perhaps some of 
it was, and therefore is probably radioactive.

<http://www.picayuneitem.com/articles/2004/07/13/news/01guard.txt>http://www.picayuneitem.com/articles/2004/07/13/news/01guard.txt

Hargett said A Company was the first unit to harden its own vehicles with 
scrap metal, a practice which then swept across Iraq as other units sought 
ways to protect its soldiers from improvised explosive devices that were 
placed along roads to attack passing U.S. and other coalition vehicles. He 
said A Company was given 850 missions, all of which it successfully completed.

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 25 [du-list] Iraqi scrap metal to Iran
 
Date: Wed, 14 Jul 2004 14:28:35 -0700

 
<x-flowed>
Sorry, I don't thave the URL, I think the original story is for subscribers 
only.

500 trucks per day, 50 tonnes each. Anyone got any estimates on how many 
rounds of DU get used on the average tank? anyway to estimate the 
contamination?

I am trying to contact customs authorities throughout the middle-east, but 
speak no arabic or Farsi, and have no official capacity to add wieght to my 
warnings. Anyone else think there is value in trying to alert border guards 
and recycling plants etc to this?

 From the sounds of it there is a lot of money in the trade, and invisible 
radiation is a distant threat for hungry people... anyone want to write to 
their MP's about this?

Peace, Jonny

27 May 2004
Financial Times

Pride of Saddam's army recycled as scrap metal

By Gareth Smyth in Penjwin, northern Iraq
Published: May 26 2004 20:00

At the border crossing of Bashmakh, in Kurdish-held northern Iraq,
over 500 trucks yesterday were queuing to cross the frontier into Iran
and unload their cargoes.

Each was carrying up to 50 tonnes of scrap metal, which once upon a
time was the pride of Saddam Hussein's army. Burned-out tank turrets,
tracks and hulks are all that is left of the former dictator's fleet
of tanks and armoured vehicles. Today, they are being sold as scrap
metal to his arch-enemy Iran.

For the drivers, the business is an unexpected boon.

"It started three months ago, but is busier in the last few weeks,"
said Mohammad Qadr, eating a kebab in a recently opened tented
restaurant.

The scrap is collected all over the country from Iraqi army bases that
were heavily bombed in last year's US invasion. Since the US
authorities earlier this year closed almost all the southern border
crossings into Iran, the metal comes north to Kurdish dealers in
Suleimaniya, the largest city in north-east Iraq.

Kurds then drive the trucks up the winding 100km road to Bashmakh, for
pay of about $15 (.12, ?8) a ton.

Trucks must also pass the Iraqi border post. IBP, the English letters
for Iraqi Border Police, has been painted on several concrete blocks,
but checks were carried out by armed and uniformed members of the
Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, the Kurdish party controlling this part
of Iraq.

Drivers said customs officers checked the loads and confiscated
anything usable. They also levied a tax of 10 per cent of the $60 a
ton the metal would fetch just over the border.

Drivers felt both apologetic about their work and philosophical about
Saddam Hussein's tanks ending up as scrap in Iran, which he invaded in
1980 at the start of an eight-year war that left 1m people dead.

"Sadly our country has no factories that can do this," said Mr Qadr.
"We import everything - tyres, cars, even petrol. Our wealth was spent
on what is now scrap."

The tank metal is highly prized, even after having been blasted by US
missiles and bombs. World prices for steel have gone up by as much as
70 per cent since last October, and Iran has recycling and
manufacturing capacity.

A government official in Tehran said most of the scrap metal was
heading to the Zobe Ahane recycling plant in Isfahan.

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 26 [du-list] more on US troops improvising radioactive armour
 
Date: Wed, 14 Jul 2004 14:28:37 -0700

 
<x-flowed>
another article confirming that US troops are improvising armour plating, 
*possibly* from radioactive scrap metal.

<http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2004/01/31/wwmd131.xml&sSheet=/news/2004/01/31/ixnewstop.html>http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2004/01/31/wwmd131.xml&sSheet=/news/2004/01/31/ixnewstop.html
Mr Kirkweg's son-in-law, who is serving in Iraq, sent pictures of crude 
armour his unit had tried to make in the field after scavenging parts from 
a Baghdad scrap heap.

an article showing that much of the scrap has been cleared up allready- so 
probably a little late to stop the spread of contamination. Dammit, we 
should have forseen this and been on top of it from the start.


<http://www.cbc.ca/news/viewpoint/vp_hill/20040608.html>http://www.cbc.ca/news/viewpoint/vp_hill/20040608.html

Another underreported surprise: last spring the roads and towns were full 
of military ordnance. Entering Baghdad from the west was to pass the 
remnants of battle with a dozen flamed-out tanks on the edge of the 
highway. In the city streets were abandoned armoured personnel carriers. In 
fields anti-aircraft guns pointed futilely at the sky.

Now, they are mostly gone.

There are more signs of destruction from war in Kosovo four years on than 
in Iraq one year after the war. On the road north of Mosul up to the 
Turkish border, there is a checkpoint run by a faction of Massoud Barzani's 
Kurdistan Democratic Party. In front of the checkpoint are dozens of trucks 
loaded to the gunnels with guns and missiles turned into scrap metal. It is 
ironic. As guerrilla war wages and terrorists roam free the metal merchants 
are making a fortune by turning arms into scrap.

*******
another reference to scrap leaving the country. The more I look the more I 
find. I'll try and keep it more focussed in future posts.

<http://www.blogjam.com/wires/>http://www.blogjam.com/wires/

Along the roadside are trailers laden with the scrap metal from the war. 
Leaving Iraq bound for Aqaba in Jordan, then on by ship to either Japan or 
India to be melted down. Dozens of them. So much twisted and destroyed metal.


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 27 [progchat_action] UK: Gulf syndrome victims are heard at last
 
Date: Wed, 14 Jul 2004 12:54:35 -0500 (CDT)

 
UK:

Gulf syndrome victims are heard at last

By Terri Judd
13 July 2004

Veterans were "dismissed as trouble-makers" when they complained of a 
range of debilitating illnesses after the Gulf War in 1991, the first 
day of an independent inquiry into the suspected syndrome was told 
yesterday.

The three-week hearing in London, headed by the former Lord Justice of 
Appeal Lord Lloyd of Berwick, will take evidence from 30 ex-servicemen, 
medical experts and government representatives in an attempt to 
establish the facts about Gulf War illnesses.

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) has always denied the existence of "Gulf 
War syndrome", insisting there was no single cause of the illnesses 
suffered by veterans of the conflict.

Flight Lieutenant John Nichol, who became a familiar face during the war 
when he was captured by the Iraqis and paraded on television, told the 
inquiry yesterday that more than 637 previously young and fit servicemen 
had died since the end of the war. Of the 5,585 who had been granted 
disablement, 1,388 had specified conditions related to Gulf War illness, 
he said.

He said that those afflicted had been rebuffed and treated like the 
enemy. "When the veterans were begging for advice, begging for answers, 
they were being fobbed off and dismissed as trouble-makers," he said. He 
added that the MoD had failed to heed warnings about the dangers of the 
cocktail of drugs given to servicemen and women in 1990 and 1991.

Flt Lt Nichol, a former RAF Tornado navigator and president of the Gulf 
Veterans branch of the Royal British Legion, said he considered himself 
lucky not to have returned with the same health problems as many of his 
comrades. He said many had been "assaulted" by multiple inoculations 
programmes, including anthrax and plague, mass use of nerve agent 
pre-treatment tablets, heavy use of pesticides, atmospheric pollution 
from burning oil wells, possible exposure to nerve agents when storage 
facilities were destroyed and depleted uranium dust.

Sufferers displayed a variety of symptoms - chronic fatigue, memory 
loss, depression, mood swings and aching joints - and some developed 
cancer. Of the 53,000 servicemen and women deployed, about 6,000 had 
complained of health problems, the inquiry heard, while others suffered 
in silence.

Flt Lt Nichol said the MoD had spent #8.5m researching the illnesses 
since 1997, approximately the same amount as its annual entertainment 
budget.

Lord Lloyd also heard from Samantha Thompson, whose husband, a naval 
officer, died two years ago of motor neurone disease, a condition which 
is more than twice as prevalent among Gulf War veterans than others of 
their age-group. She said the authorities in America recognised that the 
disease was attributable to the conflict. "For my daughter Hannah, I 
want her to see her father's death has been thoroughly investigated," 
she said.

Shaun Rusling, who won an important ruling two years ago when a War 
Pensions Agency tribunal officially recognised Gulf War syndrome as a 
disease, also appeared at the inquiry.

The inquiry, which is independent from the Government, is funded by an 
anonymous donor and cannot demand evidence from the MoD or the 
Department of Health. Lord Lloyd has written to the departments 
requesting they take part in the hearings, but they have yet to respond. 
Lord Lloyd said: "I hope very much they will co-operate with this 
inquiry. It seems to me they have nothing to lose from doing so."

Lord Lloyd, 75, will sit alongside Dr Norman Jones, treasurer of the 
Royal College of Physicians, and Sir Michael Davies, formerly clerk of 
the parliaments. The donor, who is meeting the costs of between #50,000 
and #100,000, is said to be concerned about the welfare of ex-servicemen 
and women.

The MoD and the Department of Health said they were considering whether 
to give evidence to the inquiry, which was described by Charles Kennedy, 
the Liberal Democrat leader, as "long overdue".

The inquiry was adjourned until next Monday.

'EVERY WEEK YOU HEAR OF SOMEONE ELSE WHO HAS DIED'

Major Christine Lloyd considered herself 100 per cent fit when she 
volunteered to go to the Gulf in 1990 as a nursing officer; two months 
later, she returned exhausted, permanently aching and unable to 
concentrate long enough to administer medication.

Yesterday she told the independent inquiry that she attributed her 
continuing ill health to the cocktail of vaccines and drugs she was given.

Ms Lloyd was a 43-year-old reservist when she answered a call for 
medical volunteers. Before she left Britain in January 1991 she was 
given seven inoculations, including one described as "biological", which 
she later realised was anthrax.

Two weeks later she arrived in Saudi Arabia to help set up a field 
hospital and prepare for what they believed would be a major influx of 
casualties. She noticed that the area was being sprayed with pesticides, 
including organophosphates, the safety of which is now questioned.

The stress of Scud missile alerts was compounded by the poor facilities, 
she said. Many of the drugs dispatched to the field hospital were out of 
date, she claimed, while the equipment looked like something more suited 
to the Second World War.

She began taking nerve agent pre-treatment (Naps) tablets and 
immediately became disoriented and dizzy. "The side effects of the Naps 
tablets continued: diarrhoea, frequency of urination and headaches," she 
added.

But there were more vaccines to come. In February she was given another 
series, including inoculations against anthrax and plague.

In mid-March she returned home. "After three weeks leave I returned to 
work. I was always exhausted. I had headaches. I couldn't concentrate. I 
was becoming a danger giving out medication. I had short-term memory 
loss. I could no longer walk up hills and mountains."

In October 1992 she was declared unfit for work, and still suffers from 
a range of problems. "Every week you hear of another colleague who has 
died ... We need to get to the bottom of this," she said.

  ) 2004 Independent Digital (UK) Ltd

-- 
to the source:
http://news.independent.co.uk/low_res/story.jsp?story=540458&host=3&dir=59

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"'No, no!' said the Queen.
*****************************************************************
 28 Haaretz: Workers file NIS 5.3 million damages suit against Haifa 
Chemicals
 
Homepage [http://www.haaretz.com]          

July 14, 2004 Tamuz 25, 5764    Israel
    
  By David Ratner [ratner_d@haaretz.co.il]   	 
    
A damages suit for NIS 5.3 million was filed in Haifa District 
Court against Haifa Chemicals on Monday. One plaintiff, M., 
contracted cancer during his employment and had a leg amputated, 
and damages were also filed on behalf of the widow and son of H., 
who died of cancer while working at the plant.      

The plaintiffs charge that the cancer both men suffered was a 
direct result of "negligence and the violation of obligations on 
Haifa Chemicals" toward its employees.

The claims were filed by attorneys Eliezer and Eliyahu Fichman, 
and attorney Yael Moreh-Fichman, from Haifa. Although the suit is 
filed for two workers who suffered cancer, a further 20 are named 
as contracting cancer because of their work at Haifa Chemicals.

The suit is interesting partly for offering a rare glimpse into 
procedures involving the use of hazardous materials, and for the 
disposal of such materials. It is the first suit filed by senior 
Haifa Chemicals employees against their own plant for diseases 
they allege resulted from their work, and so the court case is 
likely to disclose previously unknown facts.

For the first time, the public can learn how uranium, mercury, 
arsenic and other hazardous materials are handled in a factory, 
how they stream toward the Kishon River, and also - if the 
allegations in the suit are correct - how the materials damage 
the health of factory workers. 

Haifa Chemicals is in the Haifa Bay area, close to refineries and 
to the Kishon. There are dense concentrations of workers in 
industrial areas within a one kilometer radius from the Haifa 
Chemicals facility.

The first plaintiff M. worked as an assistant to the factory's
head chemist. As a young worker, he climbed the ladder to become
director of standards at the plant, responsible for the
development and production of various products. H., the second
plaintiff who passed away in 2000, worked as an electrician at
Haifa Chemicals for 31 years. 

Haifa Chemicals strictly guards its industrial secrets and
journalists typically find that access to its managers, or even
to former factory workers, is blocked. 

The suit filed on Monday joins with huge damages claims made by
fisherman and former naval commandos who worked and trained in
the Kishon area, and who allege that they contracted cancer from
pollution in the river. 

Haifa Chemicals has been sued both by the fisherman and by the
naval commando veterans in actions that are currently under
review by the Haifa District Court. 

In these cases involving fishermen and naval commandos, Haifa
Chemicals has denied responsibility for the cancer cases. It has
yet to respond to the damages filed on Monday. "Once a copy of
the claim reaches us we will study it, and respond in court," a
Haifa Chemicals spokesman said yesterday.

According to the damages claim, H. died in July 2000 at the age
of 62 due to stomach cancer. As an electrician he worked in
different parts of the Haifa Chemicals facility and before his
death, he was acting director of the factory's electricity
department. 

The claim alleges that during his 30 years of work at Haifa
Chemicals, he was exposed to "the toxic, damaging influence of a
long list of dangerous chemicals and radioactive materials that
are carcinogenic."

The claim presents a portrait of a factory in which potentially
dangerous substances such as arsenic, cadmium, lead and aluminum
are not contained safely on the premises. Among other things,
the plaintiffs charge that the soles of employees' shoes
dissolved due to contact with chemical puddles in some area of
the plant. 

Also, toxic fumes waft around parts of the plant, the plaintiffs
charge, harming workers' health. Chemicals render protective
clothing and gloves useless - rips and holes in the gear have
often been caused by contact with chemicals.

The claim alleges that Haifa Chemicals' negligence was
responsible for health damage to 20 workers who contracted
cancer, in addition to the two main plaintiffs in the case. The
plant failed to provide workers with protective clothing and the
gear that is required in factories where hazardous, carcinogenic
materials are used in production, the claimants charge. 

M. worked as a top employee at the plant between 1968 and 1999,
and was often involved in the production of fertilizer for
agriculture. He was injured in a work accident in the 1970s when
a scalding potassium compound leaked from a vat, and burned him
badly - he returned to work at the plant, but a cancerous growth
later appeared in the leg that was injured in the accident. His
leg was amputated in 2001 after a series of failed operations.

  The plaintiffs claim the factory is responsible for their
cancer.   

  © Copyright  Haaretz. All rights reserved   
*****************************************************************
 29 Aljazeera.Net: High radioactivity recorded in Israel           
               
Wednesday 14 July 2004, 13:29 Makka Time,

The Dimona nuclear plant is situated in the Negev desert
																   															 														
Worringly high levels of radioactivity have been discovered in
southern Israel's underground water table. 											

According to scientific research published on Wednesday, the 
soaring radioactivity levels measured in the Negev Desert and in 
the Arava valley are caused by natural radioactive elements such 
as uranium and radon gas. 

But Professor Avner Vengosh, who co-authored the study by Ben 
Gurion University, dismissed any relation between the abnormal 
findings and the nearby nuclear plant of Dimona, also in southern 
Israel. 

Contaminated water? 

"This phenomena has spread throughout the area," he said, 
referring to Jordan and Egypt's Sinai desert. 

"We discovered concentrations of radium reaching up to 10 times 
the normal average in (Israel's) water table," he added. 

Officials in the environment ministry have advised local fish 
farmers not to use the water for fear it will contaminate fish 
destined for human consumption. 

The agriculture ministry insisted however that no contaminated 
fish had been found in the area.                                                                                                                                                                                                

Â© 2003 Aljazeera.Net
*****************************************************************
 30 Daily Press: Battling the rising costs of new subs 

[http://dailypress.com/]             

HAMPTON ROADS, VA.                       
July 14, 2004 8:27 PM

The first two Virginia-class ships are an additional $183.5M
above projected budgets and they're running late.
 
[pdujardin@dailypress.com] 
 	 		247-4749
 	 	
NEWPORT NEWS --                 The Navy's newest submarine 
program is still trying to contain costs - and is struggling to 
meet deadlines, too.

The first two ships in the class, the Virginia and the Texas, are 
about $183.5 million above the Navy's most recent projection 
provided to Congress earlier this year that already were well 
above the initial 1998 price tags.

"We have got to get ahold of costs," Adm. Vern Clark, the Navy's 
chief of naval operations, said during his Senate confirmation 
hearings July 8, when he disclosed the new increases in the 
Virginia-class costs. His statement prompted the Navy to further 
outline some of the increases.

In February, the Pentagon projected the cost of the first four 
boats in the class to be $10.62 billion - or $2.65 billion per 
boat. That was up 13 percent from the $9.4 billion, or $2.35 
billion per boat, the Navy predicted they would cost in 1998.

Although the Navy had said earlier this year the new targets were 
realistic, the hikes Clark referred to last week were on top of 
the February projections. The Virginia, also known as the 
SSN-774, is getting its final assembly at General Dynamics' 
Electric Boat's Groton, Conn., headquarters. It's about three 
months late in meeting its original June 30 delivery date, with a 
time frame now slated for early October, the Navy said. The 
commissioning ceremony is shifting from August to Oct. 23. The 
Navy said that time frame still is within the predicted delivery 
window, between June and December of 2004.

The Texas, which is getting its final assembly at the Northrop 
Grumman Newport News shipyard, is expected to be delivered to the 
Navy about six months after the original target of June of 2005, 
the Navy said.

The Navy and shipyards' ability to demonstrate they can hold 
costs down is important as Congress and the Pentagon decide how 
many of the subs will be needed in the future. The Pentagon is 
studying whether the existing fleet of 55 should be increased or 
reduced.

Any major cuts could lead to a reduced workload at the New 
England and Newport News shipyards. The latest $183.5 million in 
cost increases comprises $42 million on the Virginia sub, raising 
its price tag by 1.1 percent; and $141.5 million on the Texas, a 
5.7 percent increase.

The Virginia's cost increases, the Navy said, have been caused by 
"first-of-class construction issues encountered during final 
assembly and testing, in addition to unanticipated labor issues."

The Navy did not immediately specify what construction and labor 
issues it was talking about. Neil Ruenzel, a spokesman at 
Electric Boat, declined to elaborate, referring all questions to 
the Navy. Typically, the first ship of a class encounters the 
most construction problems as the yards work out initial kinks, 
according to the Navy.

Newport News has reported similar problems.

"These difficulties have been exacerbated by Northrop Grumman 
Newport News' decade-long hiatus from submarine construction," 
the Navy said.

Although Electric Boat kept its submarine construction business 
intact in recent years with the Seawolf class, the last submarine 
built at the Newport News shipyard was a Los Angeles-class sub, 
the USS Cheyenne, commissioned eight years ago.

Newport News shipyard spokeswoman Jerri Fuller Dickseski declined 
to comment, but yard officials have in the past said that the 
learning curve is steeper after a long time away from 
construction. But the officials emphasized that they were making 
great strides on the North Carolina, the fourth boat in the 
class. The Virginia-class subs, envisioned as a group of 30 
ships, are a replacement for the Los Angeles-class subs. They 
were designed to be a less-expensive alternative to the Seawolf 
class, which was originally designed to replace the Los Angeles 
class. The Seawolf subs, however, were aborted after only three 
were built because they were deemed too expensive. Despite rising 
costs, there has been no discussion of canceling the 
Virginia-class program.

For the first 10 boats, Electric Boat and Newport News, former 
competitors, are operating under a unique team arrangement in 
which each yard builds certain parts of all of the subs and then 
takes turns on the nuclear plant installation and final assembly. 
The partnership is meant to help keep the companies in the 
submarine-building business. 

Copyright ©2004 Daily Press 
*****************************************************************
 31 TheDay.com: Cancer Rates Around Nuclear Plant Are High
 		 		 		
Wednesday, Jul 14, 2004   								   									 										
            
  Steam vents from Unit 2 at the Millstone Nuclear Power Station
in Waterford in March.  
  
Letters To The Editor:

The Day's report on the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board's 
hearing concerning the proposed relicensing of Millstone, as well 
as recent letters, mentioned the January 2004 Connecticut Tumor 
Registry report, Cancer Incidence in Connecticut Counties 
1995-1999.

The Day correctly reported that this document revealed that 
during that time period, New London County had the highest 
age-adjusted cancer incidence rate for females in the state and 
the second highest such rate for males.

The Day's readers might be interested in knowing that this report 
indicates high rates of particular kinds of cancers in New London 
County as well.

Specifically, New London County had the highest rates in the 
state for cancers of the breast, uterus, cervix, other female 
genitalia, bladder, rectum, colon, and colon and rectum for 
females. For males in the county, the rate was highest for 
cancers of the bladder, liver and esophagus.

For multiple myeloma in females, New London County and Fairfield 
County were tied for first place.

New London County had the second highest state rates for six more 
kinds of cancers, third highest for an additional five kinds and 
fourth highest for seven more.

Whether Millstone's 34 years of radioactive releases into our 
communities have contributed to these high rates needs to be 
publicly debated at length before the NRC decides if Units 2 and 
3 should be allowed to operate beyond the limits of their present 
licenses. 

The issue of the health of our communities should be the most 
important thing in making this decision, and until the causes of 
the high cancer rates in New London County have been determined, 
no decision should be made. Our health and well being are the 
most important things, not Dominion's bottom line. 

Michael Steinberg Niantic

The writer is the author of Millstone and Me: Sex, Lies and 
Radiation in Southeastern Connecticut.  

1998-2004 The Day Publishing Co.   	 	
*****************************************************************
 32 U.S. to proceed on Nevada waste site despite ruling 
 
Date: Wed, 14 Jul 2004 07:32:09 -0500 (CDT)

 
ENN News Story - U.S. to proceed on Nevada waste site despite
rulingWednesday, July 14, 2004
By Chris Baltimore, Reuters

http://www.enn.com/news/2004-07-14/s_25811.asp

WASHINGTON - The Bush administration will proceed with a plan to build a
nuclear waste site in Nevada this year, despite a court decision ordering it
to prevent radiation leaks for more than 10,000 years, a senior Energy
Department official said on Tuesday.
Critics of the project, including Senate Minority Whip Harry Reid of Nevada,
say this recent federal court ruling could permanently derail a plan to
build a massive underground storage depot beneath Yucca Mountain about 90
miles (150 km) northwest of Las Vegas.
However, the administration said that it does not intend to slow down.
"We are still on track toward submitting a license application in December
of this year and opening the repository and beginning waste acceptance in
2010," Deputy Energy Secretary Kyle McSlarrow told a Senate Energy Committee
hearing on nuclear energy.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia last week rejected
Nevada's attempt to block the plan to store 77,000 tons (70,000 metric tons)
of waste on constitutional grounds.
However, the court also said the administration wrongly ignored a
recommendation from the National Academy of Sciences to ensure safety from
leaks for well beyond 10,000 years. Radioactive releases could peak in
300,000 years, and the administration must assure safeguards on that scale,
the court found.
Republican Sen. Pete Domenici of New Mexico, a long-time nuclear industry
proponent, said assuring safety over that timeframe is "impossible" and that
the industry will "stand or fall" on how the court's objection is addressed.
Spent fuel from the nation's nuclear plants is piling up; there are more
than 50,000 tons (45,500 tons) of it stored at over 100 interim locations in
*****************************************************************
 33 Yucca Nevada Waste Site Plan to Proceed Despite Ruling 
 
Date: Thu, 15 Jul 2004 02:25:21 -0400

 



http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/26032/story.htmNevada
Waste Site Plan to Proceed Despite Ruling
--------------------------------------------------
------------------------

      Mail this story to a friend | Printer
friendly version

      USA: July 15, 2004


      WASHINGTON - The Bush administration will
proceed with a plan to build a nuclear waste site
in Nevada this year despite a court decision
ordering it to prevent radiation leaks for more
than 10,000 years, a senior Energy Department
official said.


      Critics of the project, including Senate
Minority Whip Harry Reid of Nevada, say this
recent federal court ruling could permanently
derail a plan to build a massive underground
storage depot beneath Yucca Mountain about 90
miles northwest of Las Vegas.
      The administration said, however, that it
does not intend to slow down.

      "We are still on track toward submitting a
license application in December of this year, and
opening the repository and beginning waste
acceptance in 2010," Deputy Energy Secretary Kyle
McSlarrow told a Senate Energy Committee hearing
on nuclear energy.

      The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District
of Columbia last week rejected Nevada's attempt to
block the plan to store 77,000 tons of waste on
constitutional grounds.

      However, the court also said the
administration wrongly ignored a recommendation
from the National Academy of Sciences to ensure
safety from leaks for well beyond 10,000 years.

      Radioactive releases could peak in 300,000
years and the administration must assure
safeguards on that scale, the court found.

      Republican Sen. Pete Domenici of New Mexico,
a long-time nuclear industry proponent, said
assuring safety over that timeframe is
"impossible," and that the industry will "stand or
fall" on how the court's objection is addressed.

      Spent fuel from the nation's nuclear plants
is piling up - there are over 50,000 tons of it
stored at over 100 interim locations in 39 states
within 75 miles of 161 million people.




      Story by Chris Baltimore


      REUTERS NEWS SERVICE

*****************************************************************
 34 Reuters: Nevada Waste Site Plan to Proceed Despite Ruling                                        Tue

Jul 13, 2004 07:12 PM ET                                                                

By Chris Baltimore 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Bush administration will proceed with
a plan to build a nuclear waste site in Nevada this year despite
a court decision ordering it to prevent radiation leaks for more
than 10,000 years, a senior Energy Department official said on
Tuesday. 

Critics of the project, including Senate Minority Whip Harry
Reid of Nevada, say this recent federal court ruling could
permanently derail a plan to build a massive underground storage
depot beneath Yucca Mountain about 90 miles northwest of Las
Vegas. 

The administration said, however, that it does not intend to
slow down. 

"We are still on track toward submitting a license application
in December of this year, and opening the repository and
beginning waste acceptance in 2010," Deputy Energy Secretary
Kyle McSlarrow told a Senate Energy Committee hearing on nuclear
energy. 

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia last week
rejected Nevada's attempt to block the plan to store 77,000 tons
of waste on constitutional grounds. 

However, the court also said the administration wrongly ignored
a recommendation from the National Academy of Sciences to ensure
safety from leaks for well beyond 10,000 years. 

Radioactive releases could peak in 300,000 years and the
administration must assure safeguards on that scale, the court
found. 

Republican Sen. Pete Domenici of New Mexico, a long-time nuclear
industry proponent, said assuring safety over that timeframe is
"impossible," and that the industry will "stand or fall" on how
the court's objection is addressed. 

Spent fuel from the nation's nuclear plants is piling up --
there are over 50,000 tons of it stored at over 100 interim
locations in 39 states within 75 miles of 161 million people. 		
		
*****************************************************************
 35 The Australian: PM 'leadership failure' on N-dump 

[July 14, 2004]

VICTORIAN Health Minister Bronwyn Pike today condemned the 
Federal Government for a failure of leadership after it abandoned 
plans for a nuclear waste dump in South Australia.

Earlier, Prime Minister John Howard said the states must now look 
after their own nuclear waste because they had not co-operated in 
an agreement to establish a national repository.

 Ms Pike said it was Mr Howard's constitutional obligation to 
deal with nuclear waste, 90 per cent of which was produced by the 
Commonwealth.

 "The decision by the Federal Government to abandon an 11-year 
process about the siting of a low-level nuclear waste dump shows 
an absolute lack of leadership," she said.

 "They've had an 11-year process. They've made a decision 
(earlier) that's in the best interests of Australia. 

"Now they're reneging on that decision because they're more 
interested in the electoral fortunes of the Liberal Party."

 Mr Howard told ABC Radio the Federal Government would search for 
Commonwealth land either onshore or offshore for a dump to 
contain medium and low-level nuclear waste produced by federal 
government sources and would force the states to find sites for 
their own waste.

 The Commonwealth dump would not be in South Australia because of 
an earlier promise not to store intermediate waste there.

 "If the states are refusing in practice to co-operate, if they 
are adopting this destructive attitude, then I will thrust back 
on them the responsibility for looking after their own waste.

 "If they want to play sovereign state politics, not-in-my-state 
politics, okay, they can do that, but they will have to look 
after their own waste."

 Ms Pike said the small amount of low-level waste produced by 
Victorian hospitals treating cancer patients and from medical 
research would continue to be stored safely in medical precincts 
and universities.

 She did not accept Victoria would now have to begin looking for 
its own nuclear dump site.

 "This is a matter for the Commonwealth; it's their 
responsibility.

 "The public in Victoria and right around the country should be 
demanding that John Howard fulfils his obligations.

 "It's a constitutional obligation that he has to deal with 
nuclear waste." 
		 			 	 	   		 		
  privacy            © The Australian   
*****************************************************************
 36 NRC: NRC to Hold Public Meeting July 21 on Decommissioning Plans for
       Thorium-Contaminated Sites Near Bay City, Michigan
News Release - Region III - 2004-04
 U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION 

Office of Public Affairs, Region III
  No. III-04-042           July 13, 2004   
  CONTACT:     Jan Strasma (630) 829-9663
 Viktoria Mitlyng (630) 829-9662     E-mail: opa3@nrc.gov
[opa3@nrc.gov]   
  


The Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff will hold a public
meeting July 21 in Bay City, Mich., to discuss its cleanup and
decommissioning requirements for two nearby sites which have low
levels of thorium, a naturally occurring radioactive material. 

The meeting will be at 7 p.m. EDT in the Bay City Community
Center, 800 John F. Kennedy Drive, Bay City. 

The sites, which are located at Kawkawlin, contain thorium
contamination that resulted from the production of a
magnesium-thorium metal alloy by a company that has gone out of
business. 

One 3-acre site is part of the Tobico Marsh State Game Area,
owned by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. It was
formerly known as the Hartley and Hartley Landfill. A second
3-acre site is owned by S. C. Holdings. 

The purpose of this meeting is to explain the NRCs process for
reviewing the decommissioning plans for the two sites, said
Daniel Gillen, Deputy Division Director in the NRCs Office of
Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards. We are seeking the
views of the public on what issues they believe should be
covered during our review. 

The meeting will include presentations by the NRC staff on its
decommissioning requirements and by both the Michigan Department
of Natural Resources and S. C. Holdings on the decommissioning
plans for their sites. Following these presentations, members of
the public may comment and ask questions about the plans. The
time for the individual comments may be limited by the time
available. 

The thorium-contaminated waste material at the two sites is
encapsulated with a clay cover and walls to prevent the movement
of groundwater through the wastes. Other hazardous chemical
wastes are also present at the sites. There are no immediate
radiological hazards at the sites. 

The plans for decommissioning the two sites were submitted to
the NRC in November 2003 for the S. C. Holdings site and January
of this year for the state-owned site. The ultimate goals of the
decommissioning activities are to release the state-owned site
for recreational uses and the S. C. Holdings site for industrial
purposes. 

The decommissioning plans submitted for the two sites and
related documents are available in the NRCs Public Electronic
Reading Room at
http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams/web-based.html. 

The documents may be located using accession numbers assigned to
each document. For the state site, the accession numbers are:
ML040790356 which contains the January 30, 2004 application for
license amendment and the decommissioning plan, and ML041110650
which contains the April 22, 2004 NRC acceptance review letter.
The accession numbers for the documents related to the S.C.
Holdings site are ML033430565, ML033430567, ML033430568 and
ML033430570 which contain the November 23, 2003, application for
license amendment and the DP, and ML040570438 contains the March
1, 2004, NRC acceptance review letter. 

Additional information on the NRCs decommissioning program for
sites containing radioactive materials is available online at:
http://www.nrc.gov/materials/decommissioning.html.   



  


 	Last revised Wednesday, July 14, 2004 	   
*****************************************************************
 37 AFP: Australian government forced to drop nuclear waste dump

WAR.WIRE [http://www.spacewar.com/] 

SYDNEY (AFP) Jul 14, 2004

 The Australian government was forced Wednesday to abandon plans 
for a national radioactive waste dump on a remote outback site as 
the political price proved too high in election year.

The site was to have been built on a sheep station acquired for 
the purpose near Woomera in South Australia, but after months of 
wrangling with state authorities, Prime Minister John Howard said 
his government had dropped the plan.

The decision came after Howard's Liberal colleagues expressed 
fears over the electoral implications of foisting the dump on 
South Australia in which three key marginal seats are under 
threat at the election due by the end of this year.

Howard blamed a recent Federal Court ruling against the forced 
acquisition of the land and the failure of the states to 
cooperate with Canberra in finding a national solution.

He handed responsibility for storage of waste back to the states, 
saying they had all accepted the need for safe and secure 
disposal, in one place. "But no-one wants it in their back yard," 
he said.

He said Canberra was committed to taking responsibility for the 
low-level radioactive waste, adding: "The states and territories 
now have a responsibility to do the same in relation to their 
waste and as a matter of priority."

Howard's conservative government purchased the land over the 
objections of the Labor-controlled state government, the land's 
owner and local Aboriginal communities.

The state government appealed against the acquisition of the land 
and the Federal Court upheld the appeal, finding there was no 
"urgent necessity for the acquisition".

It rejected federal government arguments that a dump would have 
presented no safety hazard and it would have been contrary to 
public interest for the purchase to be delayed.

Opposition Labor leader Mark Latham said Howard had spent eight 
years pushing for a waste site in South Australia, only to change 
his position in the run-up to an election.

"It's another example of Mr. Howard saying one thing before the 
election and getting ready to reverse the decision when the 
election is out of the way," he said.

  WAR.WIRE
*****************************************************************
 38 NRC: Advisory Committee on Nuclear Waste; Notice of Meeting
 
                        FR Doc 04-15919 
[Federal Register: July 14, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 134)] 
[Notices] [Page 42219-42221] From the Federal Register Online via 
GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr14jy04-141]                         
 
The Advisory Committee on Nuclear Waste (ACNW) will hold its 
152nd meeting on July 20-22, 2004, Room T-2B3, 11545 Rockville 
Pike, Rockville, Maryland.
 
The entire meeting will be open to public attendance except for 
portions that will be closed to discuss organizational and 
personnel matters that relate solely to internal personnel rules 
and practices of the ACNW; information the release of which would 
constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy; 
and information the premature disclosure of which would be likely 
to significantly frustrate implementation of a proposed
 
[[Page 42220]] agency action pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 552b(c)(2), (6) 
and (9)(B). The schedule for this meeting is as follows: Tuesday, 
July 20, 2004 10 a.m.-10:10 a.m.: Opening Statement (Open)--The 
Chairman will open the meeting with brief opening remarks, 
outline the topics to be discussed, and indicate items of 
interest.
 
10:10 a.m.-11:30 a.m.: Package Performance Study (PPS) 
(Open)--The Committee will hear a report from representatives of 
the NRC staff on the proposed package performance study which 
will demonstrate the resistance to impact and fire of a spent 
nuclear fuel rail shipping cask.
 
11:45 a.m.-12:45 p.m.: License Termination Rule (LTR) Analysis of 
the Use of Intentional Mixing of Contaminated Soil (Open)--The 
Committee will hear presentations by and hold discussions with a 
representative of the NRC staff regarding SECY-04-0035--the LTR 
analysis of the use of intentional mixing of contaminated soil.
 
1:45 p.m.-2:45 p.m.: Risk-Informing Yucca Mountain Inspection 
Systems (Open)--The Committee will hear presentations by and hold 
discussions with a representative of the NRC staff regarding the 
status of plans to risk-inform the inspection system at Yucca 
Mountain.
 
2:45 p.m.-3:15 p.m.: Japan Trip (Open)--The Committee will be 
briefed by a Japanese exchange engineer on its August 2004 visit 
to Japanese waste management facilities. Member presentations 
during the visit will be discussed.
 
3:15 p.m.-5 p.m.: Preparation of ACNW Reports (Open)--The 
Committee will discuss proposed ACNW reports on matters 
considered during this and prior meetings regarding reports on 
Geosphere Transport Working Group, Treatment of Uncertainties in 
Hydrologic Models, License Termination Rule Analysis of Use of 
Intentional Mixing of Contaminated Soil, Risk-Informing Yucca 
Mountain Inspection System and Package Performance Study.
 
5:15 p.m.-6:30 p.m.: Preparation for Meeting with the NRC 
Commissioners (Open)--The Committee will meet with the NRC 
Commissioners at 10 a.m. in the Commissioners' Conference Room, 
One White Flint North on July 21, 2004. The Committee will review 
its presentations.
 
Wednesday, July 21, 2004 8:30 a.m.-8:35 a.m.: Opening Statement 
(Open)--The Chairman will make opening remarks regarding the 
conduct of today's sessions.
 
8:35 a.m.-9:15 a.m.: Preparation for Meeting with the NRC 
Commissioners (Continued) (Open)--The Committee will discuss the 
following topics scheduled for the Committee meeting with the NRC 
Commissioners: (1) Overview (2) Risk Insights Activities (3) ACNW 
Working Group Sessions --Biosphere (MTR) --Geosphere (GMH) (4) 
Other Committee Activities --NRC/CNWRA Research --NMSS 
Decommissioning Programs (5) Closing Comments 9:30 a.m.-11:30 
a.m.: Meeting with the NRC Commissioners, Commissioners' 
Conference Room, One White Flint North (Open)--The Committee will 
meet with the NRC Commissioners to discuss items noted above.
 
1 p.m.-2:15 p.m.: Integrated Safety Assessment (ISA) Background 
Briefing (Open)--The Committee will receive a background briefing 
by a member of its staff on the general ISA approach, examples of 
its use and lessons learned thus far.
 
2:15 p.m.-3:15 p.m.: Health Physics (HP) Issues (Open)--The 
Committee will hear presentations by and hold discussions with a 
representative of the NRC staff regarding activities for the ICRP 
recommendations review, and an overview of those recommendations.
 
3:30 p.m.-4 p.m.: Site Visit and Igneous Activity Working Group 
(Open)--The Committee will finalize its proposed activities for 
the September Nevada field trip and the agenda for the Working 
Group in Las Vegas, NV during the 153rd ACNW Meeting, September 
22-24, 2004.
 
4 p.m.-4:30 p.m.: Committee Retreat (Open/Closed)--The Committee 
will discuss its plans on technical topics it intends to examine 
over the next 12 to 18 months and ACNW activities and related 
matters as it integrates recently approved activities into its 
action plan.
 
The retreat is currently scheduled for September 24, 2004.
 
[Note: This session may be closed pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 552b (c) 
(2), (6) and (9) (B) to discuss organizational and personnel 
matters that relate solely to internal personnel rules and 
practices of the ACNW; information the release of which would 
constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy; 
and information the premature disclosure of which would be likely 
to significantly frustrate implementation of a proposed agency 
action.] 4:45 p.m.-6:30 p.m.: Preparation of ACNW Reports 
(Open)--The Committee will discuss proposed ACNW reports on 
matters considered during this meeting.
 
Thursday, July 22, 2004 8:30 a.m.-8:35 a.m.: Opening Statement 
(Open)--The Chairman will make opening remarks regarding the 
conduct of today's sessions.
 
8:35 a.m.-11:45 a.m.: Preparation of ACNW Reports (Open)--The 
Committee will continue its discussion of the proposed ACNW 
letter reports.
 
11:45 a.m.-12 Noon: Miscellaneous (Open)--The Committee will 
discuss matters related to the conduct of Committee activities 
and matters and specific issues that were not completed during 
previous meetings, as time and availability of information 
permit.
 
Procedures for the conduct of and participation in ACNW meetings 
were published in the Federal Register on October 16, 2003 (68 FR 
59643). In accordance with these procedures, oral or written 
statements may be presented by members of the public. Electronic 
recordings will be permitted only during those portions of the 
meeting that are open to the public. Persons desiring to make 
oral statements should notify Mr. Howard J. Larson, Assistant 
Director for ACNW/Team Leader (Telephone 301/415-6805), between 
7:30 a.m. and 4 p.m. e.t., as far in advance as practicable so 
that appropriate arrangements can be made to schedule the 
necessary time during the meeting for such statements. Use of 
still, motion picture, and television cameras during this meeting 
will be limited to selected portions of the meeting as determined 
by the ACNW Chairman. Information regarding the time to be set 
aside for taking pictures may be obtained by contacting the ACNW 
office prior to the meeting. In view of the possibility that the 
schedule for ACNW meetings may be adjusted by the Chairman as 
necessary to facilitate the conduct of the meeting, persons 
planning to attend should notify Mr. Howard J. Larson as to their 
particular needs. In accordance with subsection 10(d) Pub. L. 
92-463, I have determined that it is necessary to close portions 
of this meeting noted above to discuss organizational and 
personnel matters that relate solely to internal personnel rules 
and practices of the ACNW; information the release of which would 
constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy; 
and information the premature disclosure of which would be likely 
to significantly frustrate implementation of a proposed
 
[[Page 42221]] agency action pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 552b(c)(2), (6) 
and (9)(B). Further information regarding topics to be discussed, 
whether the meeting has been canceled or rescheduled, the 
Chairman's ruling on requests for the opportunity to present oral 
statements and the time allotted therefore can be obtained by 
contacting Mr. Howard J. Larson.
 
ACNW meeting agenda, meeting transcripts, and letter reports are 
available through the NRC Public Document Room at pdr@nrc.gov 
[pdr@nrc.gov] , or by calling the PDR at 1-800-397-4209, or from 
the Publicly Available Records System (PARS) component of NRC's 
document system(ADAMS) which is accessible from the NRC Web site 
at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html 
[http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/leaving.cgi?from=leaving 
FR.html&log=linklog&to=http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html] 
or http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/ 
[http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/leaving.cgi?from=leaving 
FR.html&log=linklog&to=http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collecti 
ons/]  (ACRS & ACNW Mtg schedules/agendas).
 
Videoteleconferencing service is available for observing open 
sessions of ACNW meetings. Those wishing to use this service for 
observing ACNW meetings should contact Mr. Theron Brown, ACNW 
Audiovisual Technician (301/415-8066), between 7:30 a.m. and 3:45 
p.m. e.t., at least 10 days before the meeting to ensure the 
availability of this service. Individuals or organizations 
requesting this service will be responsible for telephone line 
charges and for providing the equipment and facilities that they 
use to establish the video teleconferencing link. The 
availability of video teleconferencing services is not 
guaranteed.
 
Dated: July 8, 2004.
 
Andrew L. Bates, Advisory Committee Management Officer.
 
[FR Doc. 04-15919 Filed 7-13-04; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590-01-P

 
*****************************************************************
 39 Las Vegas SUN: DOE says court ruling won't slow Nevada nuclear dump plan

Today: July 14, 2004 at 8:57:16 PDT 

ASSOCIATED PRESS 

LAS VEGAS (AP) - A top Energy Department official told Congress
that the government's plan to bury nuclear waste in Nevada won't
be slowed by a court ruling on a radiation safety standard. 

The department intends to pursue a waste repository license
while scientists and designers adapt to new standards ordered by
the court, deputy secretary Kyle McSlarrow told the Senate
Energy and Natural Resources Committee on Tuesday. 

Three U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
judges ruled Friday that the Environmental Protection Agency was
wrong to set a 10,000-year radiation protection standard after a
National Academy of Sciences study commissioned by Congress
indicated the standard should be thousands of years longer. 

In the Energy Department's first detailed remarks since the
ruling, McSlarrow said the Yucca Mountain project can continue
"absolutely." 

The Energy Department's No. 2 official said there was no reason
the department could not file a license application with the
Nuclear Regulatory Commission by the end of the year as planned,
containing its safety projections for 10,000 years. 

He said Energy Department and Nuclear Regulatory Commission
conferred Monday, "and they don't see a reason why we can't
either." 

NRC spokeswoman Sue Gagner on confirmed talks between the
agencies, but could not confirm details. 

With an NRC license review scheduled to take three or four
years, McSlarrow told senators the Energy Department believes it
could supplement its application with new performance data if
the EPA issues a new radiation standard. 

Some senators said there was a possibility that Congress could
pass a law reversing the court and keeping the 10,000-year
standard. 

Yucca opponents who declared victory when the court issued its
ruling scoffed at the department's attempt to rebound. 

"My comment is, good luck. I don't think this is going to fly in
anyone's book," said Bob Loux, chief of Nevada's state Agency
for Nuclear Projects. 

Loux said it would be difficult for EPA to issue a new radiation
standard in three or four years, and said Energy Department
efforts would probably end up back in court. 

The Energy Department wants to open the repository 90 miles
northwest of Las Vegas in 2010. It plans to collect 77,000 tons
of highly radioactive spent nuclear reactor fuel and military
and industrial waste from sites in 39 states and entomb it in
tunnels 1,000 feet beneath the ground. 

Yucca opponents "will make hay with what they got" from the
court, McSlarrow told the senators. But he called the ruling
overall "an enormous victory" for the government. 

Judges rejected constitutional and procedural challenges by
Nevada, environmental groups and the nuclear industry. 

After the hearing, McSlarrow said the Energy Department has
assurances that the Yucca program will get enough money this
year to avoid layoffs. 

Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham had said as many as 1,700
workers might lose their jobs this summer because of a possible
congressional funding shortfall. 

--- 

On the Net: 

Yucca Mountain project: http://www.ymp.gov [http://www.ymp.gov] 

Nuclear Regulatory Commission: http://www.nrc.gov
[http://www.nrc.gov] 

Nevada's Agency for Nuclear Projects:
http://www.state.nv.us/nucwaste
[http://www.state.nv.us/nucwaste] 

--- 

Information from: Las Vegas Review-Journal, http://www.lvrj.com
[http://www.lvrj.com] 

-- 



*****************************************************************
 40 Las Vegas RJ: Despite ruling, DOE says Yucca work will continue 
 
Wednesday, July 14, 2004
 

Scientists, designers will adapt to court's standards, official
testifies to Congress By STEVE TETREAULT
STEPHENS WASHINGTON BUREAU
 
WASHINGTON -- Trying to rebound from a legal setback, a top
Energy Department official told Congress on Tuesday that the
government's bid to bury nuclear waste in Nevada won't be
stopped by a court ruling on a health standard.
 
 DOE intends to pursue a waste repository license while
scientists and designers adapt to new standards ordered by the
court, deputy secretary Kyle McSlarrow told the Senate Energy
and Natural Resources Committee.
 
 The Yucca Mountain Project can continue "absolutely," McSlarrow
said as he outlined an emerging strategy in DOE's first
substantial remarks after the court's ruling Friday.
 
 A three-judge panel in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the
District of Columbia Circuit ruled the Environmental Protection
Agency was wrong to set a 10,000-year radiation protection
standard when a National Academy of Sciences study commissioned
by Congress indicated it should be thousands of years longer.
 
 Despite the ruling, McSlarrow, the DOE's No. 2 official, said
there was no reason the department could not follow through on
its plan to file a license application with the Nuclear
Regulatory Commission at the end of the year containing its
safety projections for 10,000 years.
 
 He said DOE officials spoke with NRC counterparts on Monday,
"and they don't see a reason why we can't either."
 
 With an NRC license review scheduled to take three or four
years, McSlarrow told senators, DOE believes it could supplement
its application with new performance data if the EPA devises a
new standard covering a different length of time.
 
 There is also a possibility, some senators said, that Congress
could pass a law in the meantime reversing the court and
allowing the 10,000-year.
 
 Yucca opponents who had declared victory when the court issued
its ruling scoffed at the department's attempt to rebound.
 
 "My comment is, good luck. I don't think this is going to fly
in anyone's book," said Bob Loux, executive director of Nevada's
Agency for Nuclear Projects.
 
 Loux said DOE officials "are presupposing they will be able to
meet some EPA standard in the future." He also said it will be
it would be difficult for EPA to issue a new radiation measure
in three or four years.
 
 Loux said the DOE's actions are more likely to land the
department back in court. 
DOE has targeted 2010 for a repository opening. There was no
mention Tuesday how the changing landscape might affect that
goal, which a number of experts believe is a long shot to begin
with.
 
 Among them, Ed McGaffigan, a member of the NRC, has predicted
years of delay if DOE tried to amend its license application in
the midst of an agency review.
 
 NRC spokeswoman Sue Gagner on Tuesday confirmed ongoing talks
between the agencies although she could not confirm details.
 
 "There have been and there will be several discussions on
process issues growing out of the court decision," she said.
"DOE is always free to make their best judgement and submit a
license application to us, and at the time we will decide
whether to docket it depending on the circumstances." 
Yucca opponents "will make hay with what they got" from the
court, McSlarrow told the senators, but the ruling overall was
"an enormous victory" for the government. Judges cleared away
most of the challenges filed by Nevada, environmental groups and
the nuclear industry.
 
 After the hearing, McSlarrow said DOE has won assurances that
the Yucca program will be allocated enough money this year to
avoid layoffs. Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham had said as many
as 1,700 workers, most of them in Nevada, might receive job loss
notices this summer because of a possible shortfall.
 
 McSlarrow said employment is no longer a concern.
 
 Energy Committee chairman Pete Domenici, R-N.M., a nuclear
power advocate, said he might look favorably on the plan
outlined by McSlarrow. 
"If we can get the money, it would be a very good approach,"
Domenici said. Though the court's ruling was troublesome, he
said, there is an immediate need for Congress to come up with
about $500 million to keep the project afloat into the next
fiscal year. DOE had requested $880 million but Congress so far
has found only $131 million for the project.
 
 Domenici said he is concerned the ruling could derail the
growth of nuclear power as an energy source for U.S. consumers.
He said most scientists believe it is unrealistic to model the
repository's performance for hundreds of thousands of years,
longer than there has been civilization on the planet.
 
 "I hate to make it sound ominous, but something terribly wrong
has been done here and we must fix it," he said of the court
decision.
 
 Domenici said he was contemplating legislation to overrule the
court and allow the 10,000 year health standard to remain
intact. 
Anticipating such a move, Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., said he put
out word during a Senate Republican lunch on Tuesday that he
would stand in the way of any Yucca Mountain bill.
 
 "This does not surprise me," he said. "I would have predicted
exactly what they are doing. But I don't think they can put
something together."
 
 Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., said the DOE's path will lead to a
dead end. As Domenici noted during the hearing, scientists don't
believe models can confidently project that far into the future,
Reid said.
 
 "The DOE has a right to file a license application but this
application they are filing is worthless until they get this
worked out," Reid said.
 
 Reid said the continuing Yucca Mountain drama is why Nevadans
should vote for John Kerry, who has promised to terminate the
Nevada repository if elected president.
 
 Sean Smith, a Kerry campaign spokesman in Nevada, said he
needed to consult with higher ups before he could say
specifically how Kerry would react to the prospect of a new
health standards bill. 
"With Harry Reid in the Senate, this is probably something that
President Kerry is not going to have to worry about," Smith
said, referring to Reid's history of attacking pro-Yucca bills.
 
 
Copyright Las Vegas Review-Journal
*****************************************************************
 41 Guardian Unlimited: Dumping on Yucca Mountain
 
Native Americans lose their land as our presidential
hero revives old-time nuclear tensions with Moscow 		
 		
AL Kennedy
Wednesday July 14, 2004
The Guardian [http://www.guardian.co.uk]  		
 		
So glad that our Tony has now slithered himself a plucky and 
important millimetre away from Bush - "I now feel I can only 
agree absolutely with 99% of what the lovely president thinks and 
does". Sturdy chap, our premier. But if he's looking to improve 
his personal popularity - we can hardly expect him to be acting 
out of conscience - he still has to deal with the difficulty that 
if Bush and Blair together are the Laurel and Hardy of demonic 
foreign policy, Bush and Blair apart are quite evil enough to 
provoke spontaneous vomiting in small children. 

Now, like many British citizens, I'd rather not think about our 
ghastly leader, but Bush is rather harder to blot out. It's that 
whole terror thing. I've been waking up screaming since I was 
five, so I find I am slightly susceptible to terror. Not the 
$60bn-earmarked-for-next-year, civil-rights-dissolving, Orange 
Alert type of terror - I mean real terror. 

And it's not as if the genuine terror of Bush is hard to notice. 
Within hours of coming into office, he'd started approving oil 
exploration in national parks, cutting support for disadvantaged 
children, raising the levels of arsenic in drinking water... 
Being an utter bastard with numbing consistency is his only 
speciality beyond mangling his native language and playing golf 
like an unhinged Muppet in times of crisis. 

But Team Bush could never be happy just tormenting its own 
(non-millionaire) citizens - the misery must spread. So we in the 
rest of the world get to be alarmed by the whole sabotaging Kyoto 
thing, the murdering strangers for fun and profit thing and the 
screwing the Middle East in hopes of Armageddon thing. But what 
gets slightly less attention is the reviving the cold war arms 
race thing. 

It seemed momentarily puzzling when the US withdrew from the 
anti-ballistic missile treaty and started developing cuter, 
smaller types of "battlefield" nukes when there didn't seem to be 
a cold war any more. These things were of little or no help 
against mobile terror cells and the Pentagon had proved itself 
completely unable to protect even its own troops from the 
radiation produced by existing DU weapons. But, of course, all 
this lucrative US nuclear development was bound to alarm the 
Russians and therefore justify itself retrospectively. Hence, Mr 
Putin's obliging announcement that his scientists have developed 
a vigorous response to America's ballistic missile defence. The 
fact that BMD won't work as advertised is, of course, balanced by 
the fact that it gets nukes very close to Russia and is supposed 
to be pre-emptive not defensive. Don't worry if this doesn't make 
sense - it makes money, which is much more important. 

And the new cold war is why US military nuclear facilities (which 
have been closed down as unsafe by the FBI in the past) are now 
immune from environmental legislation. Better yet, plans for the 
Nevada test site now include sexy, actual testing of nuclear 
weapons. Needless to say this is really pleasing everyone in Las 
Vegas, which is only 65 miles away, and everyone in Utah - soon 
to be renamed Downwind, the Malignantly Mutating State. 
Naturally, attempts to amend the relevant Defence Authorisation 
Act failed. 

But the Bushies' joy doesn't end there, because the Nevada test 
site isn't even on United States land - it's on territory which 
belongs to the Western Shoshone nation and is protected by treaty 
(should you feel that treaties between the US and indigenous 
peoples are in any way binding). The Yucca Mountain site 
earmarked for America's nuclear waste depository is also on 
Western Shoshone land, as is the planned Federal Counterterrorism 
Facility. And what is probably the world's third largest 
gold-producing area. 

Which is why Karl Rove and George W have both visited Nevada 
lately and why seizures of Shoshone livestock have already 
started. Despite formal opposition from 80% of the Shoshone 
population, Amnesty International and the National Congress of 
American Indians, Congress has just passed the Western Shoshone 
distribution bill - which distributes 15 cents on the acre for 
huge tracts of land in four states, whether the owners intended 
to sell or not. 

So with one bill, the neo-cons can ensure cancer misery on an 
epidemic scale, mindlessly polluting mineral extraction, 
increased efficiency in the belligerent surveillance of an entire 
population, world war three and one in the eye for them pesky 
redskins. Recent Irish revelations suggest that George is in his 
jimjams by 5pm and now we know why. His days are full of such 
knee-trembling thrills that it's a miracle he ever gets up off 
his back. 

Talking of miracles, Bush was recently quizzed about his special 
relationship with Jesus and carefully assured his questioner that 
it "doesn't make me a better person than you". His delivery 
didn't convince. When he can do whatever he wants, whatever the 
consequences, surely that makes him better than all of us. 

· More on the Shoshone defence of their territory can be found at 
wsdp.org [http://www.wsdp.org] 
	
 	
[UP] 
Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2004
*****************************************************************
 42 Las Vegas SUN: Columnist Jeff German: Yes, we can stop the nuke dump 

July 13, 2004 

Columnist Jeff German: Yes, we can stop the nuke dump Jeff 
German's column appears Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays 
in the Sun. Reach him at  [german@lasvegassun.com] or (702) 
259-4067.

 We're just beginning to feel the fallout from last week's 
federal appeals court decision in the battle over Yucca Mountain.

 The stakes in the presidential race have been raised, the Bush 
administration is re-examining its faulty safety standards, 
appeals to the U.S. Supreme Court are being considered and 
Congress may be asked to undermine the court's decision.

 No one knows how it will all play out.

 But the one thing we do know is that the process of sending the 
nation's high-level waste to Yucca Mountain by 2010 is going to 
be delayed, which is a victory for everyone in the trenches here.

 We also know that, as long as we're willing to keep fighting, we 
have an opportunity to win this epic war.

 If John Kerry, the Democratic presidential challenger who has 
pledged to kill the dump, is elected in November our chances of 
prevailing will be even greater.

 So those who think Yucca Mountain is inevitable had better think 
again.

 It isn't inevitable, and the court proved that with its 
decision. The court found that the Environmental Protection 
Agency violated the law when it ignored the scientific community 
and devised unsafe standards to store nuclear waste at Yucca 
Mountain.

 The decision provided us with the best evidence yet that 
President Bush and the Republican-controlled Congress, who are 
beholden to the wealthy nuclear industry, are determined to send 
us the nation's radioactive waste without any regard for our 
well-being.

 The court last week put the evildoers on notice to change their 
ways.

 The truth, it turns out, has become our best weapon in this 
fight, which makes me wonder why some among us still think we 
should give up.

 I understand why former Gov. Bob List, the spokesman for the 
naysayers, wants us to raise the white flag and seek benefits for 
Yucca Mountain.

 List is a well-paid consultant for the Nuclear Energy Institute, 
the nuclear industry's Washington-based lobbying arm, which is 
pushing the multibillion-dollar project. His job is to spread 
disinformation and help the industry undermine Yucca Mountain 
opposition on the homefront.

 Last week List's reaction to the ruling reminded me of the 
propaganda-driven Iraqi information officer who boasted that his 
country was winning the war with the United States as American 
troops closed in on Baghdad.

 While Nevada leaders on Friday were hailing the court decision 
as a victory, List called it a "very broad and sweeping win for 
the Yucca Mountain program."

 On Monday I gave the former Republican governor a chance to 
discuss the decision after he had a weekend to think about it. 
But true to his pocketbook, he said he was more convinced than 
ever that the dump is coming here.

 "This is not a show-stopper," List said from France, where he is 
vacationing.

 The court, he said, shot down the state's biggest legal argument 
-- that it was unconsitutional to single out Yucca Mountain.

 But the minute the court concluded that sound science played no 
role in choosing Yucca Mountain, it gave us reason to keep 
fighting -- and to say shame on the Bob Lists of the world.

 

*****************************************************************
 43 Las Vegas SUN: Rural areas unfazed by Yucca ruling

By Stephen Curran and Kirsten Searer <searer@lasvegassun.com 
[searer@lasvegassun.com] > LAS VEGAS SUN

 A federal appeals court decision last week that could set the
planned nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain back
indefinitely went almost unnoticed in rural Nevada by some of
those most affected by the ruling.

 Henry Neth, chairman of the Nye County Commission, said Monday
afternoon that he had not yet been briefed on the decision,
which came after the court found that the federal Environmental
Protection Agency's 10,000-year safety benchmark at Yucca
Mountain was incorrect.

 Neth and other rural Nevada leaders have touted the proposed
319-mile rail line to Yucca Mountain as a boon for cash-strapped
local economies.

 Further studies, he said, would only drain more money from
state taxpayers.

 "It (the appeals court decision) means nothing to Nye County,"
Neth said after being told of the ruling. "It just means more
money to the taxpayers. The people of Nevada have spoken as far
as I'm concerned. They're tired of spending money to fight this
thing when it could be a boon to the state."

 Lea Rasura-Alfano, coordinator for the Lincoln County Nuclear
Oversight Program, refused to discuss the decision and referred
calls to Lincoln County Commission Chairman Spencer Hafen.
Several phone calls to Hafen were not returned Monday.

 Work will continue on the project while appeals of the court
decision are made, but the ruling gave Nevada officials who have
been fighting the proposal to build the nuclear waste dump 90
miles northwest of Las Vegas.

 The anti-Yucca sentiment, which permeates throughout the state,
isn't as strong in the counties where there will be impacts, in
large part because of the potential economic impact of the
project -- new jobs and federal money.

 Caliente Mayor Kevin Phillips, a long-time advocate for Yucca
Mountain, called the state's efforts to stop the project
"misguided."

 "It's unfortunate we're spending the kind of money we are on
what I think is a futile cause," he said.

 Lincoln County Commissioner Tommy Rowe was out of town when the
court handed down its decision -- considered a victory by state
leaders -- and said he had not yet spoken other commissioners
about the decision.

 If built, the rail line would carve a path through Caliente and
much of rural Lincoln County before reaching Yucca Mountain,
located 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas in Nye County.

 Rowe, while never a particularly outspoken proponent of the
project, previously said the rail line is inevitable and that
the county should focus on negotiating for benefits.

 "Both sides (the state and the federal government) claim
victory so I don't know if we're in the same spot as we were
before," Rowe said of differing analysis of the court's
decision. "If it does go through we should get our benefits."

 Nevada leaders viewed the ruling as a victory for the state, as
the decision effectively put the project on indefinite hold
while scientists reassess safety concerns stemming from proposed
nuclear waste dump. The federal government, however, claimed
victory after the three-judge panel's decision to strike down
Nevada's claim that the dump was unconstitutional.

 

*****************************************************************
 44 Las Vegas SUN: Letter: Beware Edwards' flip-flop on nuke waste dump

Today: July 14, 2004 at 8:51:29 PDT 

I love reading all about Nevada's win in the courts over Yucca
Mountain, and how bad a decision President Bush made in
recommending it to Congress, or how he lied on the matter. This
is what readers learn from Sun columnist Jeff German.

 Then there is the love fest going on over John Kerry's choice
of John Edwards as his running mate, and how, in the hands of
Kerry and Edwards, Yucca Mountain will be defeated. This is what
readers learn from Sun columnist Brian Greenspun.

 I can't wait to see the obvious lack of protesters when Edwards
shows up in Nevada to campaign, and then, in a very John Kerry
flip-flop liberal way, tells us how he will vote against Yucca
Mountain after he voted for Yucca Mountain as a senator.

 Just remember, in the event of a tie in the U.S. Senate, the
future of Yucca Mountain could be in the hands of the man who
voted for it first. 

ALLEN SCOTT

 

*****************************************************************
 45 Bradenton Herald: EPA offers expertise for cleanup

| 07/14/2004 | 

KEVIN O'HORAN

 Herald Staff Writer

TALLEVAST - Federal environmental regulators plan to offer 
technical assistance to, but not take control from, Florida 
officials overseeing the project to clean poisoned groundwater 
near the former American Beryllium Co. plant. 

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency leaders made the offer 
Tuesday in separate meetings with Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., and 
Rep. Katherine Harris, R-Fla., to discuss concerns about 
cancer-causing solvents leaked into the water. 

"We have them engaged," said Nelson, who in early June started 
pushing for a meeting with EPA leaders. "We've got the attention 
of their top guy." 

Tallevast residents have been searching for help since November, 
when they first learned that cancer-causing solvents had 
contaminated the groundwater beneath - and, in many cases, pumped 
into - their homes. They have reached out for health studies, 
environmental surveys, well-water testing and, most recently, the 
idea of relocating their families. 

Tests have found trichloroethene, dichloroethene and a host of 
other chlorine-containing compounds in groundwater and a number 
of private wells in the largely middle-class community. 

Aerospace giant Lockheed Martin Corp. had first discovered 
contamination at the 1600 Tallevast Road plant in January 2000 
and alerted Manatee County regulators and Florida's Department of 
Environmental Protection. 

But officials at DEP, the lead agency for such sites, deemed the 
contamination no threat to residents near the plant and warned no 
one in Tallevast. 

EPA's top brass, including agency director Mike Leavitt and Jimmy 
Palmer, director of the agency's southwest district, plans to 
take a thorough look at the health threat posed by the site, 
Nelson said. 

The first step will come Monday, he said, when DEP leaders expect 
to finish off a report of their plan for Tallevast. EPA's 
scientists and technical experts will review the plan and offer 
suggestions, as needed. 

The agency also expects to work down the road with their 
counterparts at DEP and Manatee's environmental division, to make 
sure all the groups have crossed all the T's and dotted all the 
I's, Nelson noted. 

Beyond that, EPA also will contact other federal agencies, such 
as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, to take a 
close look at the potential health hazards for Tallevast 
residents. 

Harris noted she also has asked the U.S. Department of Housing 
and Urban Development for any help or funding that agency can 
provide, should residents need temporary or permanent relocation. 

"Before we do any of that," Harris quickly added, "we have to get 
the scientific data back. We don't want to go off half-cocked. We 
don't want to have an emotional, knee-jerk reaction." 

Nor do Tallevast residents. Though they have clamored for EPA's 
involvement, they stopped short Tuesday of declaring victory in 
getting the agency to lend assistance. 

Rather, some wonder whether they're better served by reaching out 
to the extra hands now or waiting months or years for a Superfund 
declaration - if the site is ever even eligible - that would open 
the door to federal control. 

"Sometimes waiting is advantageous, sometimes it is not," said 
Billy Ward, a Tallevast resident. "We have to look at both 
options, see what is best. We really could be shortchanging 
ourselves." 

They will have to wait to learn about relocation. The subject, 
broached early on in the saga, surfaced again this weekend when 
Harris made a quick appearance to talk with a handful of 
residents. 

EPA's Palmer told both Nelson and Harris that it is far too early 
in the process to determine whether the level of danger warrants 
moving residents out of the area - either temporarily or 
permanently. 

Lockheed leaders, who said they welcome EPA's entry into the mix, 
say relocation isn't needed. 

"We've got other projects that are similar in nature, and there 
is no negative impact to the residents," said Meredith Rouse 
Davis, a spokeswoman for the Maryland-based company. "We expect 
the same here: no negative impact to the residents, either 
physically or financially." 

That's not a popular view with Frank Williams, 78, a lifelong 
Tallevast resident. 

A slender man with pale yet piercing eyes and a firm handshake, 
Williams owns a home on a three-quarter-acre tract at 1804 
Tallevast Road, a slice of land that parallels the CSX railroad 
tracks bisecting the small community. 

"I'm ready to go," Williams said from his front porch, a 
half-dozen of his friends quickly and enthusiastically echoing 
the thought. 

"I've been here since 1926, born right down the street," Williams 
added. "It's a mess now, with contamination everywhere. I'm tired 
of it." 

A block to the north, Betty Brown was unpacking a granddaughter, 
a passel of nieces of nephews and assorted groceries as the day 
unfolded. 

At 65, she's spent the past four decades in her home in the 7600 
block of 18th Street East, shared the space and the years with 
her husband, Sylvester, four now-grown children and a 
granddaughter. 

She has no desire to tear up such deep roots in the community. 

But she summed up the attitude of many of her neighbors with one 
thought, a nod to the idea of staying in a home with groundwater 
poisoned by trichloroethene at some 80 times what Florida codes 
allow. 

"We don't want to leave, but we don't want to get sick - if we're 
not already," Brown said. "If it's as bad out here as they say, 
we should be relocated." 

TOXIC POLLUTION Officials are testing the Tallevast community's 
soil and groundwater after a leak of heavy metals and solvents 
near the former American Beryllium Co.   

*****************************************************************
 46 heraldtribune.com: Politicos push feds to hustle on Tallevast cleanup 

Southwest Florida's Information Leader

Wednesday, July 14, 2004

Nelson and Harris win assurances of help from the EPA regional
chief. By DEBI SPRINGER
 
 [debi.springer@heraldtribune.com] 

TALLEVAST -- Political one-upmanship might just benefit this 
community as U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson and U.S. Rep. Katherine Harris 
push federal officials to make pollution cleanup and testing a 
priority.

In two separate meetings Tuesday in Washington, D.C., Nelson, a 
Democrat, and Harris, a Republican, pressed Environmental 
Protection Agency Regional Director Jimmy Palmer to help 
Tallevast residents who are living with pollution left behind by 
a federal defense contractor.

Palmer assured the politicians that the agency will send 
scientists to test the area and will help design a cleanup plan.

The EPA will also enlist the Centers for Disease Control and 
Prevention and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease 
Registry to investigate how the contamination may have affected 
area residents.

Laura Ward, president of the Tallevast community group FOCUS, 
applauded the news.

"We were hoping the EPA would get involved and we would get the 
technical assistance we need," Ward said.

Tallevast residents had asked the state to assess their health, 
but officials said it would be impossible to determine how long 
the drinking wells had been contaminated and whether it affected 
anyone's health.

At least 17 private wells in the community contain potentially 
dangerous chemicals. The wells are near the former American 
Beryllium Co. plant, which for nearly 40 years made parts for 
nuclear warheads and other weapons parts for the military.

Chemicals from the plant seeped into the ground water, and 
officials are working to determine the extent of the pollution.

Residents want the federal government involved because they say 
the state Department of Environmental Protection has been 
indifferent to their plight.

The DEP first learned of the pollution in 2000 but didn't inform 
residents until earlier this year.

The state relied on officials from Lockheed Martin, which bought 
the plant in 1996 and is responsible for the cleanup, to provide 
it with information about the breadth of pollution, rather than 
doing an independent investigation.

But Harris and Nelson got involved a month ago, and things 
changed.

Harris stepped in first, sending a letter to EPA Administrator 
Mike Leavitt criticizing the DEP's oversight and asking the EPA 
to get involved. Two days later, Nelson lobbied the EPA for help, 
and announced a visit to Tallevast to get a firsthand look at the 
problem.

When Nelson showed up up in Tallevast on June 21, he was met by 
state Rep. Bill Galvano. Galvano, a Republican, said he was 
sitting in for Harris, who had to cast an important vote in 
Washington.

Harris paid her own visit to Tallevast on Saturday. And after 
Nelson announced he had scheduled a meeting Tuesday with Palmer 
at the EPA, Harris said she, too, would meet with him.

The back-to-back meetings lasted 45 minutes.

Afterward, both politicians said they had made progress.

"I'm very happy that Mr. Palmer seems to be taking personal 
charge of this," Nelson said. He also said the DEP is scheduled 
to release a report Monday on its recent ground-water and soil 
tests in Tallevast.

Harris said those and other test results will determine what 
comes next.

"Right now, we don't know what solutions are required until the 
tests are finished," Harris said.

She said residents have a right to be informed about pollution in 
their back yards.

"We have to reform how we deal with the notification and the 
decision-making process of contaminated sites, because there are 
a lot more Tallevasts," Harris said. 
*****************************************************************
 47 Guardian Unlimited: Neb. Commissioner Survives Recall Attempt
 
From the Associated Press        

[UP] 

Wednesday July 14, 2004 5:01 AM

KIMBALL, Neb. (AP) - A Nebraska county commissioner who suggested 
locating a nuclear dump in the area survived an attempt Tuesday 
to recall him from office. 

Voters overwhelmingly rejected a bid to throw Kimball County's 
Rick Soper out of office because of his comments to The 
Associated Press in March that he was open to discussing the 
prospects of a dump for low-level radioactive waste. 

The measure failed on a 942-290 vote. 

Sharlet Morgan, a resident who organized the recall, said Soper 
had dismissed citizens' concerns on other issues and his comments 
about the dump were ``the last straw.'' 

Messages seeking comment left late Tuesday at Soper's home were 
not immediately returned. 

The option of a waste site in Nebraska is reportedly part of the 
state's effort to settle a lawsuit in which it was ordered to pay 
$151 million for blocking construction of a dump within its 
borders. 

Nebraska officials argued that they refused to license that dump 
because of concerns about pollution and a high water table at the 
proposed site. 

The dump was to be built in Boyd County in the northeast part of 
the state to hold nuclear waste from Nebraska, Kansas, Arkansas, 
Louisiana and Oklahoma. 

      Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2004
*****************************************************************
 48 AU ABC: Gallop says no to nuclear waste 

» ABC Perth » Local News
 
"Australian Broadcasting Corporation Online">
[http://abc.net.au/]     [ABC Utilities Navigation Bar]   

Wednesday, 14 July 2004 

Western Australian Premier Geoff Gallop says the Federal
Government is still looking for a site to store 
intermediate-level radioactive waste. 

He says his State Government has passed legislation in the 
Parliament to ban the storage of such waste in WA. 

"What we've done through the legislation is put a real legal 
constraint on the Commonwealth and secondly sent a clear message 
to them - if they want to try to get around that legislation and 
come to WA they'll have a real fight on their hands," he said. [ 
more news ] Last Updated: 8:21:00 AM (AWST)                  

[http://www.abc.net.au/privacy.htm]  

*****************************************************************
 49 AU ABC: No nuclear plans for proposed Mallee waste site. 

14/07/2004. ABC News Online
 	
"Australian Broadcasting Corporation Online">
[http://www.abc.net.au/]

The Victorian Government says there is no consideration being
given to using a proposed hazardous waste store in the Mallee,
in the state's north-west, to store nuclear waste.

 The Federal Government has abandoned plans for a national
radioactive waste dump in South Australia, and says individual
states will have to build their own facilities.

 A State Government spokesman says the Commonwealth generates 90
per cent of Australia's radioactive waste, and Victoria accounts
only for a small amount.

 He says the Nowingi site is proposed for moderately
contaminated "b" grade industrial waste, and has no relation to
radioactive waste, which will continue to be stored at hospitals
and universities in Melbourne. 

© 2004 Australian Broadcasting Corporation 
*****************************************************************
 50 AU ABC: Dump decision 'no setback' for new Lucas Heights reactor.
        
14/07/2004. ABC News Online
 	
"Australian Broadcasting Corporation Online">
[http://www.abc.net.au/]     

The Government organisation constructing Sydney's new Lucas
Heights research reactor says the decision to abandon the South
Australian storage project will not be a setback for the reactor.

 Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO)
spokesman Dr Ron Cameron says while individual states will now
be required to establish their own nuclear waste storage sites,
he says there is no problem with Lucas Heights continuing to
store waste on site.

 "There's no link really between the reactor and the
repository," he said.

 "The licensing of the reactor will mean we have to show we can
continue to manage radioactive waste safely on site.

 "We've done that for many years, there's no difficulty with us
doing that, into the future."

 ANSTO says the waste material in question is of very low risk
and presents very little risk to human health.

 Dr Cameron says there is plenty of capability at Lucas Heights
for future storage of low level waste, although the organisation
would prefer there just be the one location for nuclear waste
storage.

 "We maintain that a central repository is still international
best practice, it's the way that people do it around the world
and it does mean that it can be managed and looked after
appropriately at one spot," he said.

 "Having a number of repositories is obviously logistically more
difficult." 

© 2004 Australian Broadcasting Corporation 
*****************************************************************
 51 AU ABC: Sth Aust environmentalists welcome nuclear waste decision
 
"Australian Broadcasting Corporation Online">
[http://www.abc.net.au/]

The World Today - Wednesday, 14 July , 2004  12:23:45
 
Reporter: Nance Haxton
 ELEANOR HALL: Well to reaction in South Australia now.

And the State Government which has fought for years to stop the 
national radioactive waste repository from being sited there, 
says it's been surprised by the decision.

Local environmental campaigners are also apparently stunned at 
their victory, while senior Aboriginal women at Coober Pedy who 
fought against the dump for nearly a decade are also in 
celebration mode, as Nance Haxton reports from Adelaide.

NANCE HAXTON: South Australia's Environment Minister, John Hill, 
has been taken aback by the definitive nature of the Federal 
Government's decision. He says the State Government was braced to 
continue fighting against the national radioactive waste 
repository proposal for years to come.

JOHN HILL: Well I guess over the last few days it had been 
anticipated by the public statements of the Prime Minister, but 
the complete and utter backflip nature of this decision has 
astounded me. 

We have won absolutely on every front in relation to the 
Commonwealth Government. They've effectively adopted the South 
Australian position, which is that each state ought to look after 
its own waste. They've also confirmed that the 10,000 barrels of 
waste that was put into South Australia in the early 90s will be 
removed as well. So we're very pleased with the victory we've 
had.

NANCE HAXTON: Minchin has put the blame for this backflip firmly 
with the Rann Government saying that is because of the legal 
action that you took. Is that something that you wear with a 
badge of honour?

JOHN HILL: Well, absolutely. It's a badge of pride and honour for 
us. 

He can blame us if he likes, but that's really just saying that 
we've been successful and he's been unsuccessful. He's trying to 
say that the legal action has stopped the Federal Government 
obtaining this land – well that's just a nonsense. What we 
stopped them doing was using a particular provision in the 
compulsory acquisition legislation – that is the urgency 
provision. But they could have gone through the normal processes 
and given us natural justice and gone through consultation 
processes. They've chosen not to do that, but they're using that 
legal action as an excuse. 

They have made this decision based purely on political necessity. 
They were afraid of losing seats in South Australia. They can 
dress it up anyway they like, they can spin it anyway they like, 
but this is all about politics and they've lost.

NANCE HAXTON: While Trish Worth's relief at cabinet's decision is 
transparent. The federal member for Adelaide holds onto her seat 
by only 0.6 per cent, and South Australian fervour against the 
dump proposal has long been apparent.

TRISH WORTH: And I think it was good that the Prime Minister was 
in Adelaide. He was able to gauge the feeling about it. It 
provided us with some small bits of time to discuss these issues, 
and I thought at the time that he was going to go away and make a 
very sensible decision and I think he has, and I commend him for 
it. And he's taken a calm, rational approach for which I'm 
grateful.

NANCE HAXTON: Not all locals were supportive of the Government's 
position however. Prominent Eyre Peninsula environmentalist, 
Terry Krieg, says the federal government should have stuck to the 
scientific evidence, and the Rann Government is being 
hypocritical.

TERRY KRIEG: They're quite happy for Roxby Downs, Olympic Dam to 
increase the output of yellow cake threefold, but they can't sort 
of get their heads around the fact that taking a little bit of 
low-level waste to centralise it in the best location on the 
planet, doesn't make any sense to them. 

NANCE HAXTON: However, the Australian Conservation Foundation's 
local campaigner, David Noonan, says the decision to abandon the 
dump is a win for South Australia.

DAVID NOONAN: It's a big win for communities right to decide 
their own future, a recognition that community have the right to 
reject the imposition of nuclear projects. 

We have to take this problem back to the source and deal with 
that now, that the Prime Minister still essentially has the same 
plan to facilitate a new reactor risk in Sydney, he's willing to 
impose nuclear waste transport and dumping against some 
communities in Australia. As yet he's unwilling to nominate who 
he's targeting now. He's looking for a Commonwealth owned site – 
but that will only help him in the legal sense – it won't help in 
any political, public or media sense, in terms of the 
communities' right to decide their own future, somewhere else in 
Australia against this nuclear imposition.

NANCE HAXTON: The most heartfelt celebrations however came from 
the senior Aboriginal women of Coober Pedy, the Kupa Piti Kungka 
Tjuta. 

(Sound of cheering)

The women campaigned for years against the dump being sited on 
their traditional lands, arguing that it continued the nuclear 
legacy they carried from the Maralinga tests carried out nearby 
in the 1950s. Coordinator Nina Brown says the news has still not 
sunk in.

NINA BROWN: Honestly, I mean it's dragged out for so long now, it 
was really hard to have any concept of how it was going to be 
stopped, but very much a willingness to keep going. And so this 
has come as a surprise. You know, we're not sort of – yeah, it 
is. It is very much something that we didn't expect it to come 
this way. We did not expect – maybe through a Labor government 
being elected and that would have almost been by default. So to 
actually have the Federal Government cave in, back down, is very 
much like the number one scenario that could have unfolded.

ELEANOR HALL: Nina Brown, an anti-nuclear campaigner, ending that 
report from Nance Haxton in Adelaide. [ border=]     PRINT 

[http://www.abc.net.au/privacy.htm] 
*****************************************************************
 52 AU ABC: NSW Greens concerned nuke waste heading west. 

14/07/2004. ABC News Online
 	
"Australian Broadcasting Corporation Online">
[http://www.abc.net.au/]

The Greens in New South Wales are concerned that the
Commonwealth will now consider storing its nuclear waste at
sites in the state's far west.

 The Federal Government has backed down on plans to build a
nuclear waste dump in South Australia's north.

 It is leaving it up to state governments to store their own
low-level nuclear waste, and says it will search for a new site
for Commonwealth waste.

 The Federal Government says places like outback New South Wales
will bear the brunt of the decision to abandon plans for a
national nuclear waste dump in South Australia.

 Federal Member for Parkes, John Cobb, says communities in
western NSW are now likely to have a state dump.

 "The state Government will not put it along the coast, they'll
not put it near the major river systems or the major population
centres, it's quite obvious where that leaves," he said.

 NSW Greens MP Lee Rhiannon says the New South Wales Government
should frustrate the federal plans by not allowing the
transportation of nuclear waste.

 "The people of western New South Wales have every reason to be
very worried unless the Premier of New South Wales (Bob Carr)
shows some courage and does a similar thing to what we've seen
in South Australia and Western Australia," she said.

 "Those premiers took a lead, have actually campaigned as well
as used laws in their own states to stop their states becoming
nuclear states. We've got a real problem on our hands." 

© 2004 Australian Broadcasting Corporation 
*****************************************************************
 53 AU ABC: Labor backflips over Woomera waste relocation. 

14/07/2004. ABC News Online
 	
   [http://www.abc.net.au/]

Labor has announced a backflip over radioactive waste that has
been stored at Woomera in South Australia for the past decade.

 Yesterday on ABC Radio, shadow environment minister Kelvin
Thomson said a federal Labor government would leave the 2,000
cubic metres at Woomera.

 But today Mr Thomson said Labor would match the Coalition's
pledge to remove the waste.

 "When the issue was raised with me by a caller yesterday, I had
not had put to me the question of waste previously dumped," he
said. 

"Having had that issue put to me, I discussed it with
colleagues, including Senator (Kim) Carr, and the position that
we had is that the waste at Woomera would be part of a national
repository and therefore would be relocated." 


© 2004 Australian Broadcasting Corporation 
*****************************************************************
 54 AU ABC: Hunt back on for nuclear waste dump
 
"Australian Broadcasting Corporation Online">
[http://www.abc.net.au/]     [contact and search links]   

PM - Wednesday, 14 July , 2004  18:29:45
 
Reporter: Nick Grimm

 MARK COLVIN: South Australians might be breathing a collective 
sigh of relief today following John Howard's decision not to 
proceed with a nuclear waste dump in their State but now the 
hunt's back on for another site where the facility can be built 
instead.

What's more, the Federal Government's revealed that its new 
national waste facility could be located offshore and the 
Opposition has rushed to dub that suggestion "Howard's Pacific 
Solution, Mark Two".

And for those fearing that the dump could now be located in their 
backyard, the Government is also saying that it plans to build an 
even bigger storage facility than the one it had planned for 
South Australia - one that could house not only low-level nuclear 
waste but also the more dangerous "intermediate level waste", 
such as spent fuel rods.

In fact, that development seemed to catch even the Prime Minister 
unprepared today, when he appeared to contradict himself by 
saying that such a facility would not contain spent nuclear fuel 
rods.

Nick Grimm reports from Canberra.

NICK GRIMM: Intermediate level nuclear waste used to be known as 
high-level nuclear waste, but it appears that name made people 
uncomfortable. But now it seems even the Prime Minister is 
getting confused by the terminology.

This was how John Howard phrased his new stance on a nuclear 
waste dump on ABC Local Radio in Melbourne today.

JOHN HOWARD: Each State can look after its own waste, and the 
Commonwealth, which has got waste – we're talking here about, you 
know, low level waste, which is potentially contaminated gloves, 
garments, things like that, we're not talking about sort of 
nuclear rods here - that what we will do, we'll conduct a search 
to see if we can find some Commonwealth land, either onshore or 
offshore, and we'll put the Commonwealth low level waste there, 
and we'll require the States to look after their own.

NICK GRIMM: But shortly afterwards the Prime Minister said he 
plans to co-locate low-level waste with intermediate level waste, 
and that does mean spent nuclear rods. 

However, that other reference to sending the nation's nuclear 
waste offshore was no slip of the tongue. 

There it was, clearly printed in the Prime Minister's 
announcement that the Government was abandoning its plans to 
build a low-level nuclear waste dump near Woomera in South 
Australia.

Labor's Shadow Spokesman for Science, Senator Kim Carr, says talk 
of going offshore is an indication of the Government's 
desperation over the issue.

KIM CARR: The Prime Minister this morning has made it very clear 
that the Government now intends to ship Australia's nuclear waste 
offshore. There are very few external territories suitable for 
such a proposition. I can't think of any, to tell you the truth. 
Then there are, of course, opportunities, according to the Prime 
Minister, as we've seen recently with immigration, to lean upon 
our Pacific neighbours.

NICK GRIMM: And this, from Greens leader, Senator Bob Brown.

BOB BROWN: John Howard has dumped hapless human cargo in breach 
of international law in Nauru. He would be thinking about putting 
nuclear waste in Nauru. That's the level of thinking of our Prime 
Minister, but the nation won't stand by him.

NICK GRIMM: The Australian Conservation Foundation's Don Henry 
argues that environmentalists everywhere should take heart from 
the Government's back flip because, he says, it shows that 
concerted campaigns against Government policies can make a 
difference with a Government that's feeling the heat of facing 
the voters.

But as to John Howard's mooted offshore solution to the waste 
issue, Don Henry's incredulous.

DON HENRY: Well heaven forbid if we're going to cart dangerous 
long-lived nuclear waste on the high seas around to some 
unsuspecting Australian island, wherever that might be. 

I'm deeply worried that we're not talking about the root cause of 
the problem here, which is the new Lucas Heights reactor, because 
that's what produces most of Australia's nuclear waste, and we've 
got a very strong view that the Government should be halting 
construction and definitely not licensing that nuclear reactor.

NICK GRIMM: So, if the offshore plan is as absurd as many seem to 
believe, where could a national waste facility be situated on the 
mainland, now that South Australia has been ruled out of 
contention?

The problem is even more difficult for the Federal Government 
now, given the Prime Minister's decision to co-locate a low-level 
waste facility with a national store for intermediate waste.

That means building an underground storage site for low-level 
radioactive material such as laboratory equipment, contaminated 
soil, even radium painted watches and the like. Then, a special 
above ground bunker-like structure would be required for the 
intermediate level waste, namely spent fuel rods from the Lucas 
Heights nuclear reactor. 

Some argue meanwhile that a waste dump should be situated as 
close as possible to where the radioactive material is created, 
leading some to suggest that it should be situated in the far 
west of New South Wales, as close as possible to Lucas Heights.

But the Federal Member for Parkes, John Cobb, doesn't like that 
idea.

JOHN COBB: So, what, we have no choice? I'm not suggesting that 
it should go in my electorate at all. All I'm saying is that we 
had a decision under control, a very sensible decision. The State 
Governments have caused that to be aborted, so the State 
Governments now have to work out what they are going to do with 
it.

NICK GRIMM: Well the Federal Government is still looking for a 
national repository. I mean, are you prepared to offer up your 
electorate for that?

JOHN COBB: No, I don't believe that… there are far safer places 
than western New South Wales for a national repository. As the 
fact, we found one, we had one, and we'll have to find one again.

MARK COLVIN: John Cobb, the National Party Member for Parkes, 
with Nick Grimm. [ border=]     PRINT FRIENDLY    EMAIL STORY   

[http://www.abc.net.au/privacy.htm] 
*****************************************************************
 55 AU ABC: What will become of existing nuclear waste?
 
border="0" alt="Australian Broadcasting Corporation Online">
[http://www.abc.net.au/]

PM - Wednesday, 14 July , 2004  18:33:39
 
Reporter: Nance Haxton

 MARK COLVIN: What does become of the waste that's already stored 
around Australia? In particular, there are more than 10,000 
barrels of low to medium level waste stored "temporarily" at 
Woomera in South Australia's north.

In what amounts to an embarrassing back down, Federal Labor today 
bowed to the South Australian State Premier, Mike Rann, and said 
it would move the waste already stored at Woomera to whatever 
site is finally chosen for the national repository.

Nance Haxton reports from Adelaide.

NANCE HAXTON: Federal Labor has been quick to heal yesterday's 
rift over the fate of the 2,000 cubic metres of radioactive waste 
already in sheds in the Woomera protected area. 

Yesterday, Federal and State Labor fell out, with Mark Latham's 
Environment Spokesman, Kelvin Thomson, and the South Australian 
Premier, Mike Rann, at odds over whether the material would stay 
or go.

Today it was Mr Latham's Science Spokesman, Senator Kim Carr, who 
was speaking for the Federal Party. He now says Labor always 
planned to move the waste, shipped there by the Keating 
government in 1994, to whatever site is ultimately chosen for 
national disposal.

KIM CARR: Oh, I don't know what Kelvin said yesterday. What I can 
say to you is that the national position has always been and 
always will remain that we are in the business of developing a 
national strategy. We are in the business of shipping all of the 
waste out of South Australia.

NANCE HAXTON: On local ABC Radio this morning, Federal Finance 
Minister, Nick Minchin, was quick to seize the political high 
ground.

NICK MINCHIN: I was staggered to see somebody called Kelvin 
Thomson, the Labor Spokesman for the Environment, on your program 
just recently say that Labor would leave it there. I mean, this 
is extraordinary. 

One of the extraordinary things the Keating government did was 
just truck that stuff there in the middle of the night and just 
put it in a shed. We will put that waste in a proper facility 
when we build one, on Commonwealth land, a purpose-built 
facility. 

So we will remove the waste from Woomera. It appears that a 
Federal Labor government would simply leave it sitting around 
where Paul Keating left it.

NANCE HAXTON: Labor's Environment Spokesman, Kelvin Thomson, 
denies that his colleague's announcement amounts to a policy 
u-turn.

KELVIN THOMSON: I was asked a question on radio by a caller about 
an issue which had not previously been drawn to my attention. 
Having had that issue drawn to my attention, I raised it with 
colleagues, including Senator Kim Carr. He had had that issue 
drawn to his attention. The position that we've taken is that 
when a national repository is established, that all the waste 
will be removed, including the waste from Woomera, and housed in 
that national repository.

NANCE HAXTON: South Australia's State Government protested 
swiftly yesterday, when it seemed Labor was happy to leave the 
nuclear waste where it was. Today it's welcomed the news. The 
State's Environment Minister, John Hill, says they've now 
achieved all the State had wanted.

JOHN HILL: We have won absolutely on every front in relation to 
the Commonwealth Government. They have effectively adopted the 
South Australian position, which is that each State ought to look 
after its own waste. They've also confirmed that the 10,000 
barrels of waste that was put into South Australia in the early 
'90s will be removed as well, so we're very pleased with the 
victory we've had.

NANCE HAXTON: The Government's latest move may have been a back 
down from its original determination to force South Australia to 
take the waste, but with an election coming up, John Howard may 
have succeeded in driving a new wedge between Federal Labor and 
State Labor Governments.

Senator Kim Carr says Labor is still committed to one national 
nuclear waste dump, just not in South Australia, and that could 
raise the hackles of the other Labor State and Territory Premiers 
and Chief Ministers.

KIM CARR: We believe that there should be a national repository. 
We have said so for many years. There ought to be a process 
established whereby people are genuinely consulted, they're 
treated in a decent way, and they're not told what's going to 
happen to them, but they should be involved in a process to 
determine fair outcomes.

NANCE HAXTON: Is there really going to be a community in 
Australia, though, that would volunteer for such a proposal?

KIM CARR: I believe there are people who are interested in taking 
facilities of these types. When you bundle together jobs that are 
created, the infrastructure that has to be put in, there are 
advantages as well as disadvantages of sites of this type.

MARK COLVIN: Labor Science Spokesman Kim Carr, with Nance Haxton 
in Adelaide. [ border=]     PRINT FRIENDLY    EMAIL STORY   

[http://www.abc.net.au/privacy.htm] 
*****************************************************************
 56 AU ABC: SA plans nuke waste dump site 

border="0" alt="Australian Broadcasting Corporation Online">
[http://abc.net.au/]

Wednesday, 14 July 2004 

The South Australian Government has entered a formal agreement 
with WMC to examine the establishment of a radioactive waste dump 
at the company's Olympic Dam uranium mine in the state's north. 

The State Government has been holding informal talks with the 
company for several months, but formalised the investigation 
today after the Commonwealth scrapped plans for a national dump 
in favour of state sites. 

South Australian Environment Minister John Hill says the state 
has already found its waste solution. 

"We believe we have found a way of dealing with this waste," he 
said. 

"Western Mining of course does deal with waste, it's got the 
expertise there and the safety procedures in place. 

"It just makes logical sense and if you asked a person on the 
street 'where should South Australia put its radioactive waste?', 
they'd say Olympic Dam is the obvious and logical place." [ more 
news ] Last Updated: 8:20:00 PM (ACST)                  

  [ABC Online]  [http://www.abc.net.au/common/copyrigh.htm] | 
*****************************************************************
 57 AU ABC: NSW Govt 'opposed' to nuke dump site. 

14/07/2004. ABC News Online
 	
border="0" alt="Australian Broadcasting Corporation Online">
[http://www.abc.net.au/]     

The New South Wales Government says it does not want a
Commonwealth nuclear waste dump in the state, but there is
little it could do to stop it.

 The Federal Government has abandoned plans for a national waste
repository in the South Australian desert.

 New South Wales Environment Minister Bob Debus argues what the
states do with their nuclear waste is a minor issue, because 80
per cent of Australia's nuclear waste is produced at the
Commonwealth-controlled Lucas Heights reactor in Sydney.

 "It's Commonwealth-owned material, it's the Commonwealth that
must find a solution," he said.

 Mr Debus says while New South Wales is vehemently opposed to
the federal material being dumped in its backyard, legally the
Commonwealth can over-ride the states and put it where it wants
to. 

The Opposition is trying to put the ball in the State
Government's court.

 "Bob Carr has to tell us, what is his plan for nuclear waste in
New South Wales?", acting shadow environment minister Andrew
Humpherson said.

 Greenpeace's Stephen Campbell says both sides of politics have
to show their hand.

 "Both the Federal Government and the Federal Opposition need to
come clean about what they're going to do about the waste from
Lucas Heights before the federal election," he said. 

© 2004 Australian Broadcasting Corporation 
*****************************************************************
 58 The Australian: Howard looks offshore for N-dump 

[July 14, 2004]
 	 	
By James Grubel and Steve Larkin

THE Federal Government could send its nuclear waste to an 
Australian island after telling the states they would have to 
find their own nuclear dump sites today.

Prime Minister John Howard confirmed today the Government had 
abandoned plans to build a national nuclear waste dump in South 
Australia after complaints and legal challenges from the State 
Government.

 The decision ends a long-running row with the Rann Government 
and should help the Government's chances in three key marginal 
Adelaide seats in the coming federal election.

 The move means up to eight low-level waste dumps could be built 
instead of one national waste dump, which was to be sited near 
Woomera in far northern SA.

 It also heads off a possible High Court appeal by the Government 
against a Federal Court ruling rejecting the Woomera site. 

Mr Howard said all states and territories accepted the need for 
the safe and secure disposal of low-level waste.

 "But no-one wants it in their backyard," he said.

 "We'll conduct a search, see if we can find some commonwealth 
land either onshore or offshore and we'll put the commonwealth 
low-level waste there and we'll require the states to look after 
their own."

 Labor said while the decision was good news for South Australia, 
it was a cynical pre-election stunt designed to dump the waste 
back on the states.

 "It is a desperate attempt to save endangered SA marginal seats. 
Nothing more, nothing less," Labor's environment spokesman Kelvin 
Thomson said in a statement.

 Greens leader Bob Brown said Mr Howard could now look at the 
tiny cash-strapped Pacific island of Nauru, or other Pacific 
nations, as a site for the nuclear waste dump.

 "John Howard has dumped hapless human cargo, in breach of 
international law, in Nauru - he would be thinking of putting 
nuclear waste in Nauru," Senator Brown said.

 But Mr Howard said he would be looking at sites on commonwealth 
land, although he has ruled out storing commonwealth waste in SA.

 That suggests the government could be looking at territories 
such as Jervis Bay, about 200 km south of Sydney, or offshore 
locations such as Christmas Island, the Cocos (Keeling) Islands, 
or the Coral Sea Islands.

 SA Premier Mike Rann was delighted with today's decision.

 "We have won what was called the unwinnable battle, it was a 
real David and Goliath battle which was about how we define our 
state and how we define ourselves," Mr Rann said.

 But other state and territory leaders were quick to rule out 
nuclear dump sites in their states.

 They said the issue was the Commonwealth's responsibility.

 New South Wales Environment Minister Bob Debus said the state 
would oppose any nuclear waste dump in New South Wales, but 
conceded the Federal Government had the power to decide where it 
would go.

 He said 80 per cent of waste at Sydney's Lucas Heights Nuclear 
Reactor belonged to the commonwealth.

 Victorian Health Minister Bronwyn Pike said the federal 
government had failed to show leadership with today's decision.

 Ms Pike said it was Mr Howard's obligation to deal with nuclear 
waste, 90 per cent of which was produced by the commonwealth.

 "They've had an 11-year process. They've made a decision 
(earlier) that's in the best interests of Australia," she said.

 Queensland Premier Peter Beattie flatly rejected any possibility 
of a radioactive waste site in his state.

 "We don't want any dump in Queensland, end of story," Mr Beattie 
said.

 The Australian Democrats welcomed the dump decision on 
environmental and health grounds.

 But spokeswoman Natasha Stott Despoja said the decision did not 
resolve how to deal with nuclear waste.

 "This is a blatant political decision by a government scared 
about nuclear fallout in marginal seats, that is the reason the 
Government has backed down," Senator Stott Despoja said. 
		 			 	 	   		 		
  privacy            © The Australian   
*****************************************************************
 59 U.S. Newswire: DOE: Office of Science INCITE Program Seeking 
Proposals for Large-Scale Scientific Computing
 
 7/13/2004 1:56:00 PM 

To: National Desk, Science and Computing Reporters 

Contact: Jeff Sherwood, 202-586-5806, or John Hules, 
510-486-6008, both of the U.S. Department of Energy 

WASHINGTON, July 13 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Secretary of Energy 
Spencer Abraham announced today that proposals are being accepted 
for a Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Science program to 
support innovative, large-scale computational science projects 
which will allow for high-impact scientific advances through the 
use of a substantial allocation of computer time and data storage 
at the department's scientific computing center in Berkeley, 
Calif. 

Now in its second year, the Innovative and Novel Computational 
Impact on Theory and Experiment (INCITE) program will award a 
total of 5.5 million supercomputer processor hours and 100 
trillion bytes of data storage space at the National Energy 
Research Scientific Computing (NERSC) Center at DOE's Lawrence 
Berkeley National Laboratory. The NERSC Center is the Office of 
Science's flagship facility for unclassified supercomputing. 

The INCITE program seeks computationally intensive, large-scale 
research projects. This program specifically encourages proposals 
from universities, other research institutions and industry. 
Industry is specifically solicited to propose challenging 
problems that may be solved using high performance computing 
research. There is no requirement of current Department of Energy 
sponsorship. 

The NERSC Center's staff is renowned for helping users of the 
facility - and will be available to assist researchers whose 
projects are selected for allocations of supercomputer time under 
the INCITE program. 

A small number of large awards is anticipated; in 2003, three 
projects were selected from the 52 proposals submitted. 

"These projects are clearly advancing scientific discovery in 
almost every discipline, making computational modeling as common 
and effective as theory and experiment as a scientific tool," 
said Dr. Raymond L. Orbach, Director of DOE's Office of Science. 
"Over the past year, the three INCITE projects used NERSC's 
computing resources to make significant progress in our 
understanding of the makeup of the universe, the chemical process 
by which plants convert sunlight to energy while removing carbon 
dioxide from the atmosphere, and the turbulent forces that affect 
everything from weather to industrial processes." 

"INCITE projects bring tremendous computing power to bear on 
outstanding scientific and industrial problems of major 
significance," said Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham. "We 
encourage researchers at universities, national laboratories and 
in private industry to submit their most challenging proposals 
where high-end computing resources could power breakthrough 
science and improve our quality of life and environment." 

To meet the challenge, the Office of Science is dedicating 10 
percent of NERSC's IBM supercomputer time - a total of 5.5 
million supercomputing hours - to the INCITE program. NERSC's 
6,656- processor IBM SP supercomputer has a theoretical peak 
speed of 10 Teraflop/s, or 10 trillion operations per second. 

"Making this level of computational resource available offers an 
unparalleled opportunity to many researchers," Dr. Orbach said. 
"For example, one project supported by INCITE over the past year 
increased available computer time from 500,000 to 2.7 million 
hours of computing time, allowing the researchers to achieve 
unprecedented simulations of exploding supernovae." 

Successful INCITE proposals will describe high-impact scientific 
research and will be peer reviewed both in the area of research 
and also for general scientific review comparing them with 
proposals in other disciplines. Applicants must also present 
evidence that they can effectively use a major fraction of the 
6,656 processors of the IBM SP supercomputer at the NERSC Center, 
which is one of the most powerful computers for unclassified 
research in the United States. Applicants must demonstrate that 
their codes are ready to run in a massively parallel manner on 
that computer. 

Proposals will be accepted only electronically, following 
instructions found in the Call for Proposals at 
http://www.nersc.gov/about/incitecall.php 
[http://releases.usnewswire.com/redir.asp?ReleaseID=33224&Link=ht 
tp://www.nersc.gov/about/incitecall.php] . Proposals will be 
accepted until midnight (PDT), Wednesday, September 8, 2004. 
Awards are expected to be announced by November 8. Access to the 
NERSC facilities for the awardees will be established on December 
1, 2004, and remain in effect until November 30, 2005. 

The three computational science projects selected to receive a 
total of 4.9 million hours of supercomputing time at NERSC in the 
first year of the INCITE program were: 

-- "Thermonuclear Supernovae: Stellar Explosions in Three 
Dimensions," led by Tomasz Plewa of the Center for Astrophysical 
Thermonuclear Flashes at the University of Chicago in 
collaboration with scientists there and at DOE's Argonne National 
Laboratory, which was awarded 2.7 million processor hours and is 
expected to significantly advance our understanding of the 
universe; 

-- "Fluid Turbulence and Mixing at High Reynolds Number," led by 
Professor P.K. Yeung of the Georgia Institute of Technology, 
which was allocated 1.2 million processor hours and promises to 
offer insights into the turbulent forces that affect everything 
from weather to industrial processes; and 

-- "Quantum Monte Carlo Study of Photoprotection via Carotenoids 
in Photosynthetic Centers," led by William A. Lester, Jr. of 
DOE's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the University of 
California Berkeley, which was awarded 1 million processor hours 
to study the chemical process by which plants convert sunlight to 
energy while removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. 

DOE's Office of Science is the single largest supporter of basic 
research in the physical sciences in the nation and ensures U.S. 
world leadership across a broad range of scientific disciplines. 
For more information about the Office of Science, go to 
http://www.science.doe.gov 
[http://releases.usnewswire.com/redir.asp?ReleaseID=33224&Link=ht 
tp://www.science.doe.gov] . 

The NERSC Center currently serves more than 2,000 scientists at 
national laboratories and universities across the country 
researching problems in combustion, climate modeling, fusion 
energy, materials science, physics, chemistry and computational 
biology. Established in 1974, the NERSC Center has long been a 
leader in providing systems, services and expertise to advance 
computational science. For more information about the NERSC 
Center, go to http://www.nersc.gov 
[http://releases.usnewswire.com/redir.asp?ReleaseID=33224&Link=ht 
tp://www.nersc.gov] . 

http://www.usnewswire.com/ [http://www.usnewswire.com/] 
*****************************************************************
 60 Daily Texan - Opinion: LANL security flaw may help UT - 

[http://www.dailytexanonline.com]   
			 				 			 		 		 				 
Opinion | 7/14/2004 

 By Stefan Wray 

A security breach at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New 
Mexico last week is another setback for the University of 
California's management of the nuclear weapons facility. The 
identity of the culprits is still not known. But we do know that 
the public-relations damage to the university will likely 
decrease its chances of retaining control of the lab, while 
increasing the odds for the UT System and other entities that 
announced their intent this week to bid on the laboratory's 
management contract.
 
Los Alamos officials reported last week that two computer disks 
containing classified nuclear research information were missing. 
It is the third incident of missing classified data at the 
nuclear weapons lab in the last year. The loss of classified 
information came just before the Department of Energy's Monday 
deadline for competitors to express interest in bidding on Los 
Alamos' management contract, set to expire in September 2005.
 
The energy department decided last year to open competition on 
the lab contract, in part because of poor management and security 
mishaps under the University of California System's leadership, 
which has managed the lab since 1943. This summer, the DOE's 
National Nuclear Security Administration will issue a request for 
proposals. In addition to the UC and UT systems, expected bidders 
include Lockheed Martin and Battelle Memorial Institute.
 
Given the timing of this latest incident, it makes one wonder if 
the individual or individuals behind the missing computer disks 
intentionally wanted to cast negative light on UC at the onset of 
the bidding process on the laboratory's management contract. We 
can only guess about the motives, but whether the computer disks 
were taken for personal gain or as an act of malice toward the 
university, the incident adds to UC's growing list of security 
problems at Los Alamos and will likely be a contributing factor 
when the DOE decides early next year on a new lab manager.
 
Not retaining the Los Alamos contract might at first appear to 
the UC System's loss. But the university has experienced a lot of 
grief in the past few years, with scrutiny from Congress and 
federal agencies and lawsuits from citizens groups and lab 
employees. Elements within the UC System might now think that 
managing the laboratory is more trouble than it is worth.
 
If UC leaves Los Alamos, it could take with it parts of the paper 
trail that has accumulated over the past 61 years. Some of those 
records tell an unpleasant history of environmental contamination 
and callous disregard for worker safety. It would be in the 
university's best interest to remove those documents.
 
A concern among some scientists and lab administrators could be 
that their research at Los Alamos would become the property of, 
or credited to, others if the lab management changes hands.
 
Some employees at Los Alamos have said in interviews they are 
eager for change. They view UC as an absentee landlord that 
doesn't treat workers fairly. A new manager won't necessarily 
solve the laboratory's problems, but some workers say they are 
ready to see UC leave.
 
Some companies that subcontract at Los Alamos also could benefit 
if UC were ousted. BWX Technologies Inc., which has worked with 
Oak Ridge and Idaho national laboratories, has been in talks with 
the UT System to form a partnership to management Los Alamos, 
according to one laboratory employee. The System and the company 
wouldn't comment on whether they were discussing that 
possibility. Clearly, BWX Technologies would be better off as a 
partner than as a subcontractor for UC.
 
Another beneficiary of a new lab manager would be the DOE nuclear 
weapons program itself. During a transition period of new 
management, it might be more difficult for outside oversight and 
scrutiny from opponents of new nuclear weapons development who 
wish to access information about those programs.
 
The security breaches will embolden those who want UC to lose its 
management contract.This is unfortunate for those of us in Texas 
who do not want our flagship university involved with nuclear 
weapons development.
 
Wray, a UT alum, is working with a partner on an independent 
documentary about Los Alamos called "The WMDs Are In New Mexico." 
He works with Iconmedia, Austin Center for Peace and Justice, 
Peace Action Texas and national anti-nuclear efforts.  
  	 
*****************************************************************
 61 Oak Ridger: Sick workers debate continues 							 							 							
 
Story last updated at 11:23 a.m. on July 14, 2004

HARRY WILLIAMS: 'I have every confidence that DOL can do the job 
and quite well." 

By: Paul Parson | Oak Ridger Staff paul.parson@oakridger.com 
[paul.parson@oakridger.com] 

U.S. House members are being urged to follow another legislative 
body's lead and support an amendment that could correct some of 
the problems associated with a compensation program for 
job-sickened nuclear workers.

The amendment essentially calls for moving a portion of the 
Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act 
from the Department of Energy to the Labor Department. The U.S. 
Senate unanimously passed it last month.

"DOE's ineptitude and inability to administer this program with 
any accuracy makes a mockery of the $95 million already spent, 
and only 10 people have been assisted in obtaining their state 
worker compensation claims," said Janet Michel, a local sick 
worker and member of the Coalition for a Healthy Environment.

There are two primary programs in the compensation effort. The 
Labor Department runs one program that pays lump sum benefits 
plus continuing medical coverage for former workers with diseases 
potentially related to radiation exposure, silicosis and chronic 
beryllium disease.

DOE runs the other program, which covers a much broader array of 
medical conditions and requires extensive employment history 
development to provide the workers with the best opportunity for 
claim defense. DOE's portion of the compensation effort provides 
no direct benefits, but assists workers in pursuing claims with 
state workers' compensation programs.

Sick workers and many of their advocacy groups are outraged that 
DOE and the Bush administration are against shifting the federal 
agency's portion of the compensation program to the Labor 
Department.

"That's plain ludicrous" said Harry Williams, a sick worker and 
longtime advocate for a proper compensation effort. "I have every 
confidence that DOL can do the job and quite well."

Additionally, the Alliance of Nuclear Worker Advocacy Groups 
issued a news release Tuesday that stated: "It would be a grave 
injustice to the sick workers and their families if Congress were 
to allocate additional funding to DOE and allow the current 
program to continue as is. The Senate's solution is the right 
one."

Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham reportedly discussed the sick 
worker program Monday afternoon with a couple legislators, 
including U.S. Rep. Zach Wamp, R-3rd District, and U.S. Sen. 
Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn.

In a statement released from Alexander's office, the senator 
noted that he "is disappointed with the progress the Department 
of Energy has made in helping sick workers, and he still believes 
the Department of Labor could administer the program better." 
Alexander was an original sponsor of the amendment.

While Wamp leans more toward DOE keeping the sick worker program, 
he told The Oak Ridger he would go with whatever Congress 
decides. 







*****************************************************************
 62 Oak Ridger: DOE extends lease on Energy House 							 							 							
 
Story last updated at 12:50 p.m. on July 14, 2004

By: Stan Mitchell | Oak Ridger Staff stan.mitchell@oakridger.com 
[stan.mitchell@oakridger.com] 

The Department of Energy has extended a contract with the Oak 
Ridge Convention and Visitors Bureau on the Energy House that 
sits adjacent to the American Museum of Science and Energy for 
one year.

The Convention and Visitors Bureau uses the Energy House as its 
welcome center and pays a rental rate of $2,000 a year. This cost 
represents an estimate of the annual cost to DOE to provide 
utilities and maintenance to the Energy House, according to 
information from the city.

Additionally, the Convention and Visitors Bureau provides 
janitorial service and aesthetic painting - while DOE takes care 
of any problems with the building's structure, foundation or 
plumbing.

"This is one of the good partnerships between the Department of 
Energy and the city of Oak Ridge," said Joe Valentino, executive 
director of the Convention and Visitors Bureau.

Valentino said DOE built the Energy House in 1982 as part of the 
World's Fair event in Knoxville. The Energy House was originally 
built as a display for AMSE to show off passive power, such as 
solar energy. 


*****************************************************************
 63 Oak Ridger: ORNL nabs role in fusion project 							 							 							
 
Story last updated at 12:50 p.m. on July 14, 2004

By: Paul Parson | Oak Ridger Staff paul.parson@oakridger.com 
[paul.parson@oakridger.com] 

A partnership involving Oak Ridge National Laboratory has been 
chosen to oversee the U.S. project office for a $5 billion 
international test bed for harnessing nuclear fusion to generate 
electricity.

The office will actually be located at the Princeton Plasma 
Physics Laboratory on Princeton University's James Forrestal 
Campus in New Jersey, according to Energy Secretary Spencer 
Abraham.

"The United States and our international partners are in talks to 
launch (the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor), a 
critically important experiment," Abraham stated in his Tuesday 
afternoon announcement.

According to DOE officials, a fusion power plant would produce no 
greenhouse gas emissions, use abundant and widely distributed 
sources of fuel, shut down easily, require no fissionable 
materials, operate in a continuous mode to meet demand, and 
produce manageable radioactive waste.

"Throughout its history, Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory has 
earned a reputation for the highest-quality science and 
top-flight management," Abraham stated. "Ever since fusion 
research began at Princeton University in 1951, our nation and 
the world have looked to this facility's researchers for 
scientific and engineering insights that will enable mankind to 
realize the benefits of fusion, the energy that powers the stars 
and the sun."

According to DOE officials, there are two competing sites to host 
the test bed: Cadarache, France, and Rokkasho, Japan. And, a DOE 
news release issued Tuesday stated that "the U.S. supports the 
Japanese site."

The Princeton-based office will be responsible for project 
management of U.S. activities to support construction of this 
international research facility. Construction is scheduled to 
begin in 2006.

The ORNL/Princeton proposal was one of three submitted by DOE 
national laboratories, with the other two coming from Lawrence 
Livermore National Laboratory and Idaho National Engineering and 
Environmental Laboratory. 







*****************************************************************
 64 Daily Texan: Private companies likely to bid on Los Alamos lab - 

[http://www.dailytexanonline.com]   
		 	   		 		   			
Top Stories | 7/14/2004 
 
UT System may consider working with a partner
 By Clint Johnson 

The University of Texas System will likely not be alone if it 
bids in the fall for a contract to manage Los Alamos National 
Laboratory. At least two companies are also officially 
considering a bid for the New Mexico weapons lab, currently 
operated by the University of California System.
 
Spokeswomen for Lockheed Martin Corporation and the Battelle 
Memorial Institute, a non-profit research company, said Wednesday 
they formally notified the National Nuclear Security 
Administration of their interest in the Los Alamos contract. 

The NNSA will not accept bids until it issues a request for 
proposals, which is scheduled to happen in late August.
 
The administration set a July 12 deadline for companies to submit 
written expressions of interest, but refused Wednesday to release 
information about the companies that met the deadline. The UT 
System has already expressed its interest in Los Alamos. Dan 
Saiz, a NNSA contract specialist in charge of the bidding, said 
the names and numbers of the other responders were deemed 
confidential.
 
Lockheed and Battelle spokeswomen said their companies have 
experience operating research facilities, but that it is too 
early to tell how that could influence the bidding process.
 
Battelle operates four large labs, including Oak Ridge National 
Laboratory, which it runs with the University of Tennessee, said 
spokeswoman Kate Delaney. 

Delaney said the four labs are not classified as Department of 
Energy weapons labs, but work at the facilities does include some 
nuclear research. 

"We have a long history in nuclear research, and we might be 
interested in Los Alamos," she said. 

She said Battelle also plans to compete with a partnership that 
includes Bechtel Corp. and Texas A University for a contract to 
manage Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratories. 

Bechtel spokesman Jonathan Marshall refused Wednesday to discuss 
rumors of the company's interest in Los Alamos.
 
Lockheed has operated Sandia National Labs, another DOE weapons 
lab, since 1993, said spokeswoman Wendy Owen. 

The UT System also considered a bid to manage Sandia in 2002, but 
the DOE extended Lockheed's contract until 2007. 

Lockheed spokeswoman Meghan Mariman told The Albuquerque Tribune 
in June 2003 that the extension was a recognition by the DOE of 
Lockheed's skill in managing the lab.
 
Delaney said the government has recently awarded more contracts 
to partnerships than to individual companies.
 
"The trend is to give the contracts to partnerships," she said. 
"But we haven't decided who we might consider working with."
 
The System has said it might consider working with another 
company, but officials said they have not contacted any 
companies.
 
In an April 2003 speech, U.S. Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham 
said management and security problems caused the DOE to put the 
Los Alamos contract up for bidding in 2003.
 
"The University [of California] bears responsibility for the 
systemic management failures that came to light in 2002," Abraham 
said.
 
This week, new Los Alamos security problems surfaced as security 
officials began investigating missing classified data. Owen and 
Delaney both said their companies will take the security issues 
into account as they research the possibility of managing the 
lab. UC President Richard Atkinson has said the university is 
considering its own bid, but like the other companies, it will 
wait until the fall to decide officially.                

*****************************************************************
 65 Oak Ridger: Former energy secretary to lead Fisk University 							 							
 
Story last updated at 11:38 a.m. on July 14, 2004

Associated Press

NASHVILLE - Former U.S. Energy Secretary Hazel O'Leary was named 
president of Fisk University Tuesday, the fifth person to head 
the financially struggling black institution in almost a decade.

"I'm excited to be back," O'Leary, a 1959 Fisk graduate, told The 
Associated Press. "I'm looking forward to meeting these wonderful 
students and working with an exemplary faculty that has hung on 
for so long."

Many are hoping O'Leary, 67, will be able to stabilize Fisk, 
which has dealt with money problems since its founding in 1866.

"Among the many outstanding candidates, we selected President 
O'Leary because she has the energy, leadership, wisdom and 
courage to guide Fisk into the future and the track record to 
deliver results," said Reynaldo P. Glover, chairman of Fisk's 
Board of Trustees.

"She is a person of passion, of compassion, and she cares about 
this place."

The university, perhaps best-known for the Fisk Jubilee Singers 
who got their start touring the country to raise money in the 
college's early years, nearly closed 20 years ago because of lack 
of funding.

Last October, the school's most recent president, Carolynn 
Reid-Wallace, suddenly resigned. Fisk hasn't had long-term 
stability since Henry Ponder retired in 1996 after 12 years at 
the helm.

Key issues for a Fisk leader are being aggressive at fund raising 
and able to emotionally handle a difficult situation. O'Leary 
says she's up for the challenge.

"What the world wants to see is that Fisk University is also a 
well run business," O'Leary said. "I know how to do that."

O'Leary comes to Fisk from Blaylock &Partners, an investment 
banking firm in New York. Before joining the Clinton 
administration, she worked for utility Northern States Power Co. 
at her own energy economics and strategic planning consulting 
company and as a lawyer.

O'Leary, who replaces Fisk Interim President Dr. Charles R. 
Fugate, said bringing money to the school will be a top priority 
and she's already working on ways to do it.

"Fund raising is a real business and requires matching the Fisk 
mission with program areas that foundations and wealthy donors 
will want to support," she said.

Another challenge for the university, said O'Leary, is for Fisk 
"to show why we deserve to exist."

"And I understand why," she said. "We're turning out excellent 
graduates and the world seems not to know it. The cash-strapped 
Fisk University isn't the only story here."

Trustees have said they need 1,200 students to provide a budget 
surplus with their tuition and fees. Currently, the university 
has 825 students.

O'Leary said she would like to see people from the community tour 
the campus so they can see the caliber of students.

"Many of them are legacy students who represent the fourth 
generation in their family to attend Fisk, others are young 
adults who may be the first or second in their family to be 
educated," she said. "These kids are wise, and they want to be 
leaders."

Freshman Uwem Unontuen said he's optimistic about the school's 
future with O'Leary at the helm.

"With the change in presidents we've had over the last few years, 
what we need now more than anything is consistency and 
leadership," he said. "I think she will provide that."

Besides her bachelor's degree from Fisk, O'Leary's resume lists a 
law degree from Rutgers and membership in Phi Beta Kappa.

Fisk was founded as a school for freed slaves and counts among 
its graduates leaders who have been deeply involved in the Harlem 
Renaissance and the civil rights movement.

Other graduates include W.E.B Du Bois, historian John Hope 
Franklin, poet Nikki Giovanni, and U.S. Reps. John Lewis of 
Georgia and Alcee Hastings of Florida.

On the Net: Fisk University: http://www.fisk.edu/index.asp 
[http://www.fisk.edu/index.asp]  







*****************************************************************
 66 Google News Alert - nuclear
 
Date: Wed, 14 Jul 2004 14:46:39 -0700 (PDT)

 
ADVICE sought on nuclear dump
The Australian - Australia
THE Federal Government must take the very best scientific advice when considering
where to house its nuclear waste dump facility, Incoming Environment Minister
...
<http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,10142652%255E1702,00.html>
See all stories on this topic:
<http://news.google.com/news?ie=utf8&oe=utf8&persist=1&num=30&hl=en&client=google&newsclusterurl=http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,10142652%25255E1702,00.html>

IRAN Will Not Forgo Right To Obtain Peaceful Nuclear Technology ...
Tehran Times - Tehran,Iran
TEHRAN (MNA) -- President Mohammad Khatami said here Wednesday that Iran
will not forego its right to gain access to peaceful nuclear technology,
stressing ...
<http://www.tehrantimes.com/Description.asp?Da=7/15/2004&Cat=2&Num=006>
See all stories on this topic:
<http://news.google.com/news?ie=utf8&oe=utf8&persist=1&num=30&hl=en&client=google&newsclusterurl=http://www.tehrantimes.com/Description.asp%3FDa%3D7/15/2004%26Cat%3D2%26Num%3D006>

NEW storage plan for nuclear waste is criticized
Newsday - Long Island,NY,USA
WHITE PLAINS, NY -- A coalition of organizations seeking the shutdown of
the Indian Point nuclear power plants said Wednesday that a new plan for
storing ...
<http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/ny-bc-ny--indianpoint0714jul14,0,5509840.story?coll=ny-ap-regional-wire>
See all stories on this topic:
<http://news.google.com/news?ie=utf8&oe=utf8&persist=1&num=30&hl=en&client=google&newsclusterurl=http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/ny-bc-ny--indianpoint0714jul14,0,5509840.story%3Fcoll%3Dny-ap-regional-wire>

DOE says court ruling won't slow Nevada nuclear dump plan
San Jose Mercury News (subscription) - San Jose,CA,USA
LAS VEGAS - A top Energy Department official told Congress that the government's
plan to bury nuclear waste in Nevada won't be slowed by a court ruling
on a ...
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 67 Mos News: No Russian Nukes Planned for Space — Army Official - 

MOSNEWS.COM
 
Created: 14.07.2004 17:08 MSK (GMT +3), Updated: 17:48 MSK 

Russia does not intend to put nuclear arms into space, the 
commander-in-chief of Russian Space Troops, Lieutenant General 
Vladimir Popovkin told Wednesday.

Speaking at a press conference, he added that there are several 
forces in the world who “endeavor to turn space into an arena of 
armed struggle,” Interfax news agency reported.

The task of the Space Troops is “to ensure the reliable defense 
of Russia’s orbital group of forces,” the agency quoted Popovkin 
as saying.

The general also said that space troops had begun to test new 
reconnaissance and communication systems. It is planned to launch 
a new carrier missile, he said. “The tendency of the reduction of 
the orbital group’s quantity has stopped. The conditions for a 
breakthrough in the next 3-4 years are created,” the agency 
quoted Popovkin as saying.

The Space Troops commander did not rule out the possibility of a 
space soldier flight to the International Space Station (ISS).

“Probably, Yuri Shargin will fly to the ISS in October. According 
to the assurances of the Federal Space Agency, this issue will be 
resolved in 7-10 days,” the agency quoted Popovkin as saying. He 
expressed hope that Shargin would work at the station, not being 
a tourist. Shargin “is the only member of Sace Troops among the 
astronauts.”

A change of teams at the ISS is scheduled for October. A new team 
will replace Russian Gennady Padalka and American Michael Fincke.
     
    
© 2004 MOSNEWS.COM Designed by <b>kB "Gazeta.Ru"</b> 
    
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material is distributed without profit or payment to those who 
have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for 
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information go to: 
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