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NUCLEAR POLICY
1 Las Vegas SUN: N. Korea to Skip Added Nuclear Meetings
2 BBC: N Korea pulls out of nuclear meeting
3 Xinhuanet: Chinese, DPRK diplomats meet for nuclear issue
4 Xinhuanet: DPRK urges US to clarify its stand on nuclear issue
5 AFP: North Korea expects "nothing" from new six-way nuclear talks
6 AFP: US plays down North Korean hints on not attending new round of
7 US: Government to End Public Nuclear Updates
8 Daily Times: Nuclear proliferation: US keeping an eye on high-tech s
9 JoongAng Daily: Cold War confrontation still grips us
10 Times of India: Special force to be set up for Nukes, Biological eme
NUCLEAR REACTORS
11 The Herald: Concern over future for British Energy
12 Slovak news: Energy law is missing
13 ITAR-TASS: Chernobyl invalids resume suspended hunger strike
14 US: NRC: NRC Confirms Nuclear Plants' Operational Preparedness with
NUCLEAR SAFETY
15 [DU-WATCH] U.S. bombs poisoned troops
16 US: [FOODIRRADIATIONCA] Press Release: USDA Should Correct
17 US: Really [Nano]Mini-Nukes
18 Guardian Unlimited: Gulf war inquiry seeks legal advice on doctor's
NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE
19 US: LJWorld.com: Radioactive-waste disposal at critical stage
20 US: LJWorld.com: Nebraskan has no regrets on dumping dump
21 Las Vegas SUN: Letter: Kerry cannot be trusted on Yucca Mountain dum
22 Las Vegas SUN: NRC outlines proposal to test nuke waste casks
23 Salt Lake Tribune: Yucca slips, Skull Valley stock rises
24 Charleston.Net: Opinion: Editorials Stay the course on N-waste site
25 National Review Online: Jonah Goldberg on Yucca Mountain
26 National Review Online: Jonah Goldberg on Yucca Mountain & John Kerr
27 NFRO: MOUNTAIN VIEWS: YUCCA MOUNTAIN MAY SWING NEVADA FROM THE RED
28 US: Boston.com: Tests to continue on Tewksbury's water supply
29 AFP: French state company denies nuclear shipment is US military plu
30 PittsburghLIVE.com: Nuclear legacy studied -
NUCLEAR WEAPONS
31 UPI: Japan submits nuclear disarmament proposal -
32 Xinhuanet: IAEA to set up forum on creating nuclear-free Mideast
33 AFP: Middle East nuclear disarmament on agenda in January - IAEA chi
US DEPT. OF ENERGY
34 Rocky Mountain News: Jeffco firm takes on finding 'dirty bombs'
35 DOE: Environmental Management Site-Specific Advisory Board, Paducah
36 DOE: Environmental Management Site-Specific Advisory Board, Savannah
37 DOE: Environmental Management Site-Specific Advisory Board, Rocky
38 AP Wire: Idaho National Laboratory may pick up plutonium project
39 Oak Ridger: Running a weapons plant
40 Oak Ridger: Fate of Y-12 contract to be decided soon
41 Oak Ridger: K-25 cleanup contracts awarded
42 PISJ: INEEL director of safety to address Rotary Club
43 WATE: Bechtel Jacobs awards new contracts for uranium cleanup
44 DOE: Office of Fossil Energy; Methane Hydrate Advisory Committee
OTHER NUCLEAR
45 Google News Alert - nuclear
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FULL NEWS STORIES
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1 Las Vegas SUN: N. Korea to Skip Added Nuclear Meetings
By BURT HERMAN ASSOCIATED PRESS
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - North Korea's government said Monday it
would not attend working meetings ahead of six-party talks on its
nuclear program and blasted the United States for demands that
the North fully disclose its nuclear activities.
The North's Foreign Ministry said Washington was still showing
hostile intentions toward the communist nation.
"It is clear that there would be nothing to expect even if the
DPRK sits at the negotiating table with the U.S. under the
present situation," an unnamed ministry spokesman said in a
statement carried by the state-run Korean Central News Agency.
DPRK stands for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the
North's official name.
The United States has said it would like to convene a working
party meeting of participants in the six-nation talks as soon as
possible to prepare for the next session, expected by the end of
September. Along with the United States and North Korea, the
talks include South Korea, China, Japan and Russia.
At the latest talks in June, North Korea offered to freeze its
nuclear program in exchange for energy, lifting of U.S. economic
sanctions and removal from Washington's list of state sponsors of
terrorism. It said the freeze would be a step toward eventual
dismantling of the program.
The U.S. wants the North to go further and disclose all nuclear
activities, help dismantle facilities and allow outside
monitoring. Under the plan, some benefits would be withheld to
ensure the North cooperates.
On Monday, North Korea repeated claims that the United States was
reserving the right to use force to disarm the country, although
U.S. officials have said they have no intention of launching an
invasion. Pyongyang also denied it was seeking to delay the
nuclear talks to wait for results of the U.S. presidential
election in November.
North Korea claimed the "hastily" proposed working talks ahead of
the full negotiations indicated "that the U.S. is, in actuality,
not interested in making the dialogue fruitful but only seeks to
give an impression that it makes efforts to solve the issue."
"A nuclear freeze is possible and it can lead to the
dismantlement of the nuclear program only when the situation
develops in the direction of the U.S. dropping hostile acts
against the DPRK," the ministry official said. "On the contrary,
these acts are escalating. This prevents the DPRK from freezing
its nuclear facilities, much less dismantling its nuclear
program.
"The U.S. has destroyed itself the foundation for the talks,
making it impossible for the DPRK to go to the forthcoming
meeting of the working group," the official said.
The reclusive North Korean government in the past has regularly
heightened its rhetoric ahead of key talks.
The nuclear dispute flared in 2002 when U.S. officials said North
Korea admitted running a secret nuclear program in violation of
international agreements.
On Sunday, South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun urged North Korea
to peacefully resolve its standoff over its nuclear ambitions and
make a decision to disarm soon.
Meanwhile, South Korea's intelligence agency warned of possible
"retaliatory terror" from North Korea after the mass defection of
some 460 people sparked angry condemnation from the communist
state.
"Although there are no specific signs of terror, we issued the
warnings as a precautionary measure," an official at the National
Intelligence Service said Monday on condition of anonymity.
South Koreans living or traveling in China and Southeast Asian
countries, along with activists helping North Korean defectors
abroad, need to pay "special attention" to their safety, the
agency said in a brief statement issued last week.
North Korea lashed out at South Korea over last month's mass
defection, accusing Seoul of "planned kidnapping."
It was by far the largest defection in what has become a steady
stream in recent years of North Koreans fleeing repression and
hunger in a country that has depended on outside help to feed its
22 million people since 1995.
--
*****************************************************************
2 BBC: N Korea pulls out of nuclear meeting
Last Updated: Monday, 16 August, 2004
[North Korean spent nuclear fuel rods in Yongbyon]
The nuclear dispute has been raging for 22 months
North Korea has said it will not attend a working meeting ahead
of the next round of six-party talks on its controversial nuclear
programme.
A spokesman told state news agency KCNA that the US was "not
interested in making the dialogue fruitful".
He said Pyongyang had been stunned and disappointed by
Washington's view that there could be no reward for North Korea
freezing its nuclear programme.
The working group was due to meet later this month in New York.
It was to have discussed the next round of six-nation talks -
which include South Korea, China, Japan and Russia as well as the
US and North Korea.
Those talks are expected to take place by the end of September.
"It is clear that there would be nothing to expect, even if the
DPRK (North Korea) sits at the negotiating table with the US
under the present situation," an unnamed North Korean spokesman
told KCNA on Monday.
"The US has destroyed... the foundation for the talks, making it
impossible for the DPRK to go to the forthcoming meeting of the
working group."
The statement described Washington's stand as "unreasonable", and
insisted that the US was reserving the right to use force to
disarm North Korea.
"A nuclear freeze is possible... only when the situation develops
in the direction of the US dropping hostile acts against the
DPRK. On the contrary, these acts are escalating," the North
Korean statement said.
At the latest six-party talks in June, North Korea offered to
freeze its nuclear programme in exchange for fuel aid and talks
on lifting US sanctions.
It said the freeze would be a step towards the eventual
dismantling of the programme.
But the US wants the North to go further, and disclose all its
nuclear activities and allow outside monitors into the country.
The nuclear dispute flared up in 2002, when US officials accused
North Korea of running a secret nuclear programme in violation of
international agreements.
Since then there have been a series of talks in an effort to
resolve the crisis, but a deal has yet to be reached.
A senior South Korean official told Reuters news agency that he
expected the working group talks and the main six-party talks to
go ahead as planned, despite Pyongyang's statement.
"This is the North Koreans putting on pressure," he said. "I
wouldn't want to say that this thing is about really quitting the
six-party process or the working-group talks."
Meanwhile, South Korea's intelligence agency warned on Sunday
that Pyongyang might launch a terrorist strike in revenge for the
recent airlift of more than 400 North Korean defectors, who had
fled to Vietnam, into the South.
The National Intelligence Service said there were no specific
signs of a threat, but the warning had been issued for
preventative purposes, according to the South Korean newspaper
Choson Ilbo.
*****************************************************************
3 Xinhuanet: Chinese, DPRK diplomats meet for nuclear issue
www.xinhuanet.com
www.chinaview.cn 2004-08-16 00:24:15
BEIJING, Aug. 16 (Xinhuanet)-- Diplomats from China and the
Democratic People's Republic of Korea met here Monday to discuss
the Korean nuclear issue.
Shen Guofang, assistant foreign minister of China, met with
Li Gun, head of the DPRK delegation to the working group of the
six-party talks on the DPRK nuclear issue.
Prior to the meeting, Ning Fukui, ambassador for the Korean
Peninsula of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, held working
consultations with Li, who is also deputy director-general of the
American Department of the DPRK Foreign Ministry, and exchanged
views on related issues.
The first and second working group meetings were held in
Beijing in May and June and forged new steps for the goal of
denuclearization on Korean Peninsula. Enditem
Copyright ©2003 Xinhua News Agency. All rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
4 Xinhuanet: DPRK urges US to clarify its stand on nuclear issue
www.xinhuanet.com
www.chinaview.cn 2004-08-16 21:20:27
PYONGYANG, Aug. 16 (Xinhuanet) -- The Foreign Ministry of the
Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on Monday urged the
United States to clarify its will to participate in the six-party
talks and to reward the DPRK's nuclear program freeze.
Accusing the US of adopting a hostile stance towards the
DPRK, of destroying the foundation for talks on its nuclear
program and of making it impossible for the DPRK to attend the
forthcoming meeting of the working group, a ministry spokesman
said the US should drop hostility towards the DPRK and lay a
foundation for negotiations.
He said the US should clarify its willingness to participate
inthe talks, reward the DPRK's freeze of its nuclear program and
give up hostile policy toward the DPRK.
The US side should clarify its policy of "no reward for
freeze," he said.
Noting that the normalization of the DPRK-US relations was
overshadowed by the issues of human rights, missiles and
conventional armed forces even after the settlement of the
nuclearissue, the spokesman said "the present development stuns
and disappoints the DPRK".
"It is clear that there would be nothing to expect even if
the DPRK sits at the negotiating table with the US under the
present situation," he said.
The spokesman said the United States, which "hastily proposed
ameeting of the working group for the six-party talks in New
York,"is "actually not interested in making the dialogue
fruitful."
The US "only seeks to give an impression that it makes
efforts to solve the issue," he said.
"A nuclear freeze is possible and it can lead to the
dismantling of the nuclear program only when the situation
develops in the direction of the US dropping hostile acts against
the DPRK," the spokesman said.
"The US has destroyed the foundation for the talks, making it
impossible for the DPRK to go to the forthcoming meeting of the
working group", he said.
The six-party talks, attended by China, DPRK, Japan, South
Korea, Russia and the United States, had been held three times in
Beijing. Enditem
Copyright ©2003 Xinhua News Agency. All rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
5 AFP: North Korea expects "nothing" from new six-way nuclear talks
WAR.WIRE [http://www.spacewar.com/]
SEOUL (AFP) Aug 16, 2004
North Korea said Monday it "had nothing to expect" from a fresh
round of six-nation talks because of what it calls a hardline US
policy on a stand-off over the communist state's nuclear drive.
Such skepticism from the North's foreign ministry spokesman came
after a third round of talks ended in Beijing in June without
tangible progress. A new round is due by the end of September.
The spokesman told the state-run Korean Central News Agency a
series of tough US stances on the nuclear stand-off "stuns and
disappoints" Pyongyang.
"It is clear that there would be nothing to expect even if the
DPRK (North Korea) sits at the negotiating table with the US
under the present situation," the spokesman told the agency
monitored here.
He hinted that Pyongyang might fail to attend a working-group
meeting to prepare for new talks, if Washington keeps refusing to
reward the freezing of North Korean nuclear facilities while
toughening terms and conditions.
"The US has destroyed itself the foundation for the talks, making
it impossible for the DPRK to go to the forthcoming meeting of
the working group."
But the spokesman fell short of threatening that North Korea
would scupper the preparatory meeting or the full-session talks,
saying Pyongyang would "make sustained efforts for the peaceful
settlement" to the issue.
The stand-off over North Korea's quest for nuclear weapons
erupted in October 2002 when the United States accused Pyongyang
of operating a nuclear weapons program based on enriched uranium,
violating the 1994 nuclear freeze of its separate plutonium
producing program.
Pyongyang has denied running the uranium-based program, but has
again fired up its once-mothballed plutonium-based program.
Little progress has been made at the previous three rounds of
talks which brought together the United States, the two Koreas,
China, Japan and Russia in Beijing in an effort to resolve the
impasse.
US intelligence authorities say North Korea is believed to
possess at least one or two nuclear bombs.
WAR.WIRE
*****************************************************************
6 AFP: US plays down North Korean hints on not attending new round of
nuclear talks
WAR.WIRE [http://www.spacewar.com/]
WASHINGTON (AFP) Aug 16, 2004
The United States on Monday downplayed hints from North Korea
that it might not attend an expected upcoming round of
multi-party talks aimed at ending the nuclear standoff on the
Korean peninsula.
The State Department said Washington was proceeding with the
assumption that a "working group" meeting between officials from
the six countries involved would go ahead as planned sometime
before the end of next month.
"Where we are today is pretty much where we've been in the past,"
said Tom Casey, a department spokesman.
"At the last round of six-party talks, everyone agreed in
principle that we would hold a plenary before the end of
September and we'd hold working group meeting presumably sometime
before then.
"We haven't heard anything for the North Koreans at this point
that would change our assumption about holding those talks," he
told reporters. "At this point, we're working with the Chinese,
with the other parties and think that we'll be moving forward on
this shortly."
Earlier Monnday, North Korea said it "had nothing to expect" from
a fresh round of six-nation talks because of what it called a
hardline US policy on the stand-off and hinted that Pyongyang
might not attend the working-group meeting.
A spokesman for the North Koreign foreign ministry told the
state-run Korean Central News Agency a series of tough US stances
on the nuclear stand-off "stuns and disappoints" Pyongyang.
"It is clear that there would be nothing to expect even if the
DPRK (North Korea) sits at the negotiating table with the US
under the present situation," the spokesman told the agency
"The US has destroyed itself the foundation for the talks, making
it impossible for the DPRK to go to the forthcoming meeting of
the working group."
But the spokesman fell short of threatening that North Korea
would scupper the preparatory meeting or the full-session talks,
saying Pyongyang would "make sustained efforts for the peaceful
settlement" to the issue.
The stand-off over North Korea's quest for nuclear weapons
erupted in October 2002 when the United States accused Pyongyang
of operating a nuclear weapons program based on enriched uranium,
violating the 1994 nuclear freeze of its separate plutonium
producing program.
Pyongyang has denied running the uranium-based program, but has
again fired up its once-mothballed plutonium-based program.
Little progress has been made at the previous three rounds of
talks which brought together the United States, the two Koreas,
China, Japan and Russia in Beijing in an effort to resolve the
impasse.
WAR.WIRE
*****************************************************************
7 Government to End Public Nuclear Updates
Date: Mon, 16 Aug 2004 19:10:02 -0500 (CDT)
Posted on Thu, Aug. 05, 2004
Government to End Public Nuclear Updates
MALIA RULON
Associated Press
WASHINGTON - Citing a need to keep information from terrorists, regulators said
Wednesday the government will no longer reveal security gaps discovered at
nuclear power plants or the subsequent enforcement actions taken against plant
operators.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission announced the change in policy during its
first public meeting on power plant safety since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist
attacks. It drew barbs from critics who said the secrecy would erode public
confidence in the agency.
Until now, the NRC has provided regular public updates on vulnerabilities its
inspectors found at the country's 103 nuclear power reactors, such as broken
fences or weaknesses in training programs.
"We need to blacken some of our processes so that our adversaries won't have
that information," said Roy Zimmerman, director of the commission's Office of
Nuclear Security and Incident Response, which was created after the attacks.
NRC spokesman Scott Burnell said commissioners voted to take the step March 29,
but kept it quiet as agency staff worked to implement the plan. The vote itself
was revealed Wednesday and had nothing to do with this week's warnings that
terrorists had surveyed U.S. financial institutions, Burnell said.
"We deliberated for many months on finding the balance between the NRC's
commitment to openness and the concern that sensitive information might be
misused by those who wish us harm," commission Chairman Nils Diaz said in a
written statement.
Michele Boyd, a lobbyist for the consumer group Public Citizen, said the NRC
had not struck that balance.
"The public has zero confidence in NRC and making this information completely
out of the public, not available, does not bring any more confidence," Boyd
told the commission.
Rep. Ed Markey, D-Mass., a longtime critic of the nuclear industry, said the
policy will "further deepen public skepticism of the commission's performance
and calls into question whether the commission is doing what it must do to keep
nuclear reactors safe from terrorist attacks."
Zimmerman of the NRC said the agency is considering providing general
information on security vulnerabilities that would not include plant names or
other details.
Protection at the nation's nuclear power reactors - located at 64 sites in 31
states - has been boosted since the Sept. 11 attacks. Since then, the
commission has been guarded about revealing specifics of the security efforts.
That has not stopped accusations of inadequate guard training and other
security lapses.
Congressional investigations have found problems such as a guard falling asleep
on the job and falsification of security logs. Reports from the Energy
Department's inspector general noted other problems at sites run by that
agency, such as guards being warned of upcoming security exercises and
inconsistent training from site to site.
Nuclear activists expressed concerns at the meeting about the adequacy of guard
training, fire protection, the security of pools containing spent nuclear fuel,
and planning for different kinds of attacks.
They also raised concerns about the agency's plans to allow the security firm
Wackenhut Corp. to run mock terrorist attacks on the plants, nearly half of
which are protected by Wackenhut security guards.
"When you have Wackenhut test Wackenhut, nobody is going to believe those
results," said Peter Stockton, senior investigator with the Project on
Government Oversight, a research group.
NRC's Zimmerman said the agency would closely monitor the exercises to make
sure no information about the timing or methods of the mock attacks is leaked
to plant personnel.
In the weeks after the Sept. 11 attacks, operators at the nation's nuclear
power plants posted more guards, added security patrols and reduced access to
the installations' most sensitive areas.
Military planes at nearby bases stood ready to intercept any suspicious
aircraft; the Coast Guard patrolled the Great Lakes near power plants to keep
ships away; and many facilities enlisted the help of National Guard troops.
Some critics say more needs to be done.
"The vulnerabilities at a lot of the reactors in this country have not been
addressed," said Jim Riccio, a nuclear policy analyst for Greenpeace. "Here we
are nearly three years from the attacks and I don't see anything they've done
except extending the perimeters of these facilities."
NRC spokesman Eliot Brenner disputed that assessment, saying the agency has
aggressively pushed plant owners to, among other things, sharply upgrade
security programs and training; conduct more realistic tests of plant defenses;
and communicate better with the intelligence community, law enforcement and
emergency response agencies.
The energy sector contributed $3.7 million, more than half of which came
directly from nuclear and electric power companies, to Democrats during the
2004 election cycle. Republicans got $9.2 million from energy sources,
including $2.7 million from power companies.
*****************************************************************
8 Daily Times: Nuclear proliferation: US keeping an eye on high-tech states
Tuesday, August 17, 2004
By Wajahat Ali
WASHINGTON: The United States is keeping an eye on
high-technology states with greater nuclear knowledge but weaker
export controls to check non-proliferation’s problems, a State
Department official who asked not to be named, told a group of
journalists from India and Pakistan.
Washington has also taken up the issue of stricter export
controls with Pakistan and India, she said, adding that the
dialogue began even before the A Q Khan scandal made headlines.
The official claimed the key supplier states in Europe, Asia and
the US introduced strong export controls over the last ten years,
closing the loopholes previously exploited by nuclear
proliferators.
The potential miscreants were now turning to states like India
and Malaysia where it is easier to procure nuclear material.
She said that the US was striking a delicate balance in South
Asia by fulfilling its global commitment towards
non-proliferation as well as taking a pragmatic approach towards
Pakistan and India.
The official said the people of India and Pakistan were smart
enough to handle the nuclear technology, but the US was still
concerned about the possibility of an accidental use of these
weapons. She added that policymakers in Washington were not even
sure if nuclearisation of South Asia had enhanced the security of
the region or not.
Recognising that India and Pakistan were not rushing to build
arms, she said that there was a “forward momentum”, partly
“because of domestic reasons”.
The US official urged both states to determine where their
respective nuclear programs were leading them.
She demanded the two governments determine the implications of
these programmes both on regional security and relations with
other states.
The two countries must “have an end in mind – not an end to the
programme, but an end to the acceleration of the programme”.
Asked if the US ever tabled a formal proposal, asking the two
states to consider it, she said “it is not our place to tell
India and Pakistan what they should do, but a dialogue is in
order”.
However, she said the US was expecting the two countries to
enhance export controls and give license to companies dealing in
goods that could “raise suspicion”. Besides, the two states
required to improve legal systems to prosecute people trying to
undermine the non-proliferation regime, she added.
She said India and Pakistan should introduce more intense nuclear
risk reduction measures as well to avoid crisis situations.
The State Department official said it was in the interest of the
two countries to abide by the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty
(NPT) and control the onward proliferation of nuclear technology,
material and know-how.
She said it was nearly impossible to proclaim India and Pakistan
de jure nuclear weapons states since it would require amendments
to the NPT signed by almost every country in the world.
Preventing the spread of nuclear and other weapons of mass
destruction and their means of delivery is one of the highest
foreign policy and national security priorities of the United
States. It has set up the Bureau of Non-proliferation for that
purpose that works under the US State Department. Home | National
Daily Times - All Rights Reserved Site developed and hosted by
WorldCALL Internet Solutions [http://www.wcis.com.pk]
*****************************************************************
9 JoongAng Daily: Cold War confrontation still grips us
August 17, 2004 KST 11:14
The following is an edited text of President Roh Moo-hyun's
Liberation Day address on Sunday. -Ed.
Fellow citizens and overseas compatriots, along with all
citizens, I celebrate the 59th anniversary of National
Liberation and pay homage to the lofty spirit of our patriotic
forefathers. We can now take pride in our position precisely
because of the shining spirit of those who stood up to
imperialist Japan without caving in to injustice and oppression.
The Republic of Korea today owes its standing to the sacrifices
and dedication of our patriot forebears. I pay profound tribute
to them for staking their all in a bid to leave an independent
nation and indomitable national spirit. I have deep respect for
those who contributed to national independence and to the
bereaved families of those who gave their lives.
Fellow citizens, for the past half century, we have been
endeavoring to build the prosperous and powerful nation our
forefathers dreamed of.
Yet our potential does not end there. We are poised to face
fresh challenges in a bid to lift the Republic of Korea onto a
higher plane. The people have come forth confidently as the main
actors in politics. They have cast away the yoke of directives
and control they suffered over past decades. On the strength of
the people, transparent and clean politics has been taking
shape. Unfolding now is an age when no one can prevail over the
people, when all people actively participate and lead the way,
and when the people assert their sovereignty.
Our economy has been changing in keeping with the progress in
democratization. The age of a government-led economy has passed,
and the nation has been bolstering the spontaneity and
creativity of the market economy. We are committed to building a
fair and transparent market by rooting out government-business
collusion, unfair transactions and the tyranny of monopoly.
Henceforth, the kind of market that competes with real strength
will be built. Law-breakers and privilege-seekers will find no
ground. Those businesses which continue to innovate and nurture
talented individuals will succeed. In that way, the economy will
bolster competitiveness and consolidate the fundamentals.
Although there are numerous tasks ahead of us, the Republic of
Korea has been changing at a stunning pace. It is charging forth
for a better tomorrow. I am confident that rebuilding the
Republic of Korea in this way upholds the will of our
forefathers and rewards their sacrifices.
Fellow citizens, as much as we feel respect for our ancestors,
however, we also feel ashamed, and it will be difficult to hold
our heads high because the remnants of pro-imperialist Japan
sentiments have not been cleared up even now, ahead of the 60th
anniversary of liberation, and the truth of history has not been
fully revealed.
Acts of betrayal in support of imperialist Japan and colonial
rule at the same time our patriotic forefathers were staking
their lives in the fight for the nation are still hidden in the
shade of history.
What is more shameful is that the independence fighters who
followed the right path of history and their descendants have
been plagued by poverty and alienation and have been persecuted
by those who curried favor with imperialist Japan and
subsequently became social leaders.
It would be realistically difficult to punish the anti-national,
pro-Japanese elements or to deprive them of their vested rights.
It is never intended to go back to the past, either. It is
intended to create the right path to the future. History is the
root of the future. Our children will only be able to make a
bright future when they have been taught history correctly with
justice and a sense of conscience. Herein perhaps lies the
reason why we are gathered here today to reminisce about the
meaning of liberation 59 years ago.
There are people who are concerned over division and friction.
But I cannot understand why opinions are split and confrontation
has surfaced over the job of clarifying the truth. Truth should
be clarified by pooling wisdom. We should not neglect it even if
shameful things may be uncovered. That is the genuine way to
unite the power of people.
Fellow citizens, the anti-national activities of the
pro-imperial individuals alone are not the only target of the
clarification of the truth. The encroachment on human rights and
the illegal acts perpetrated by past administrations should also
be targeted. Truth should be clarified so as to preclude the
recurrence of similar things.
I propose the formation of an ad hoc parliamentary committee to
deal comprehensively with matters that have become contentious
throughout history. Already, the National Assembly has been
preparing thirteen bills related to the task of clarifying
relevant events. But the bills involve different criteria and
conflicts of interest among political parties, making it hard to
deal with them individually.
If the National Assembly agrees on the principle of the need to
clarify historic issues, the details of the method can be
hammered out through consensus by sounding out public opinion.
Every time that investigations have been launched, alleged
cover-ups and lack of cooperation on the part of government
agencies have become an issue. This time, however, no such
controversy should be allowed. Of course, the task is
burdensome. Yet, the truth should not be buried any longer. The
job has been deferred for decades. Now is the last chance for
those who experienced the shackles of history to testify
vividly. By doing so, I sincerely hope we will be able to
celebrate the 60th anniversary of liberation in full confidence
that a distorted understanding of history is being rectified.
Fellow Koreans, the division and confrontation that we are
experiencing now was in fact caused by the distortions of our
history. Particularly, the dictatorial regimes deepened distrust
and conflict by dividing regions for political manipulation and
repeating discriminatory and exclusionary measures. Now, we have
to put an end to the history of national division.
More than anything, we have to firmly establish a mature
democracy in which every citizen respects others and tries to
solve differences through dialogue and compromise. We have to
rectify unfair, discriminatory practices and pay more attention
to socially vulnerable persons and minority social groups.
The current electoral district system has largely been
responsible for Korean politics that pit one region against
another, fomenting antagonism. Again, I appeal to political
circles to take a drastic measure to come up with a new
electoral district system that will replace the current system.
The imbalance between the Seoul metropolitan and provincial
regions constitutes a serious barrier to national development
and unity; this should not be left unattended. This problem must
be solved at all costs before it becomes worse or even
irreversible.
When the construction projects for the new administrative
capital and other measures for balanced development of the land
are carried out, the Seoul region will be able to develop
qualitatively while the provincial areas will make viable
progress in accordance with their characteristics.
Fellow citizens, today, we are overwhelmed with the memory of
the joy of liberation, but at the same time we feel sorry before
our ancestors because we are still divided into south and north.
The wall of Cold War confrontation broke down more than a decade
ago, but the Korean Peninsula is still overshadowed by it.
It is difficult to realize national unification overnight.
However, until the day of unification, we cannot afford to pause
for a moment in our endeavor to eliminate the danger of another
war and to expand inter-Korea exchanges and cooperation. The
participatory government is steadily taking steps according to
the spirit of the historic South-North Joint Declaration of June
15, 2000.
For the first time since the country was halved, the two Koreas
held general-level officer talks and laid a foundation for
building mutual military trust. Gone are the loudspeakers from
the DMZ that have been blasting propaganda broadcasts day and
night for 50 years since the Korean armistice.
It is not strange anymore to see athletes from South and North
Korea march hand in hand at the Olympic Games.
Some time ago, the two Koreas met in Gaeseong in North Korea to
start a historic economic joint project. The Gaeseong Industrial
Complex will open a pilot project at the end of this year. When
the complex is completed in 2012, the two Koreas will have
created a viable foundation for common prosperity in an area 10
times the size of Yeouido island in Seoul.
When the complex is in full operation, both Koreas will reap
substantial economic benefits. At the same time, the danger of
war on the peninsula will have decreased, and Korea's
creditworthiness will be bolstered in the international
community. This is like killing three birds with one stone.
Before autumn passes, the Gyeongui Railroad Line linking Seoul
and Shinuiju as well as inter-Korean highways will be
reconnected. This represents the re-linking of blood ties that
have been cut for half a century. This will also make it
possible for us to travel through China and Russia to Europe by
land.
To bring about such a bright future for all, the North Korean
nuclear issue has to be resolved peacefully and at an early
date. We have already clarified that we have comprehensive,
concrete plans to support Pyeongyang in its efforts to reform
and open its doors once the nuclear issue is settled. Now is the
time for the Pyeongyang authorities to make a resolute decision.
All 70 million Koreans on the peninsula should join hands and
together forge a path of peace and prosperity.
Parallel with these efforts, the Republic should be able to
develop a new framework of cooperation for peace and prosperity
in Northeast Asia based on the invaluable experiences shared at
the six-party talks with North Korea, the United States, Japan,
China and Russia.
Koreans, what we now need most is self-confidence. We will have
to carve out our destiny on our own.
Koreans in their 50s, 60s and 70s created something literally
out of nothing. During the IMF bailout period caused by the
foreign exchange crisis, Korea turned around sooner than many
other nations. Nevertheless, some negative side effects still
linger, but they can be used as a catalyst for changing the
national economy for the better.
The Japanese economy is about to make a turnaround after 10
years of stagnation. The Korean economy too has undergone a
viable restructuring process in the past few years and is
transforming fast into one that is driven by reform and
creativity.
We should not only be envious of the Chinese economy that has
accomplished high growth. We have high technology that will give
us a competitive edge in the future. We also have an efficient
market system and democratic culture. We have all the
ingredients that will allow us a bright future.
Despite that, we do not seem to have self-confidence about our
future. There is a tendency to evaluate China very highly in
term of its prospects and to accord Japan the same evaluation
for both its current status and future prospects. But we tend to
underestimate our own possibilities and accomplishments. We
should never be self-complacent, but at the same time we should
evaluate our own strengths fairly. Based on that, we should
remain confident in ourselves. We have to continue to march
vigorously with the expectation and attitude that we can do it.
It is also necessary for us to have an accurate understanding
of the status of our security. Korea today is not the Korea of
100 years ago, when it was divided into pieces sandwiched in the
power struggles between China, Japan and Western powers. We now
have sufficient power to maintain our history and territory.
Depending on where the Korean people want to go, the order in
Northeast Asia is bound to be affected. The choices made by the
Korean people will continue to be essential in the business of
predicting the future of Northeast Asia.
There still are people who interpret the argument for a
self-reliant defense posture as running counter to the ROK-U.S.
alliance. This is probably because they do not have confidence
in our enhanced capabilities. A self-reliant defense posture and
the ROK-U.S. alliance are not contradictory but are mutually
complementary. In order to further solidify Korea-U.S.
friendship and develop it into a future-oriented partnership,
the pursuit of a self-reliant defense stance is especially
necessary.
Blind opposition to the United States will not work either.
This attitude seems to reflect the thinking that the United
States is responsible for all the past, present and future
problems of the Republic. But conversely, this thinking also
reflects a belief that big powers decide everything for lesser
countries. Through this kind of thinking, we will never be able
to come up with our own viable ideas for our future.
Negotiations between Korea and the United States over the
transfer of the U.S. military garrison in Yongsan have been
dragging on for over 10 years. Recently, the two sides were able
to make a final agreement as Korea made goodwill efforts to
settle the issue, and the United States also demonstrated a very
positive, cooperative stance to reach the agreement. The Yongsan
site initially was used as a base by Qing troops and by the
Japanese colonialists as its military headquarters. This piece
of land in the center of Seoul that has served as a base for
foreign troops for more than 120 years has finally been returned
to Koreans.
If we want to make our future bright, we have to have
determination and keep our hopes up today. We need to give
ourselves more credit and forge our future with more confidence.
Fellow Koreans, the road we are walking is clear. It is the way
that will lead the entire Northeast Asian region to peace and
prosperity. In this region, there are unlimited resources and a
huge market, with a population four times larger than Europe's.
In the years to come, we can make Korea a dynamic economic hub.
Let us gather our wisdom together and pool our strength. On the
basis of that unity, let us carve out our destiny on our own.
Let us make a Republic of Korea that will be steered by
ourselves.
Let us strive to become the proud master of our own history.
2004.08.16
Copyright by Joins.com, Inc. Terms of Use |
*****************************************************************
10 Times of India: Special force to be set up for Nukes, Biological emergencies -
[http://www.indiatimes.com]
PTI[ MONDAY, AUGUST 16, 2004 04:16:24 PM
NEW DELHI: Government is proposing to set up a National
Emergency Response Force (NERF) for dealing with calamities
related to nuclear, biological and chemical disasters.
Eight battalions of Central Para Military Forces comprising two
each from CISF, ITBP, BSF and CRPF have been earmarked for
development of fully trained and specialist response teams,
according to the annual report of the Home Ministry for 2003-04.
Four of these eight battalions would also be trained to handle
Nuclear, Biological and Chemical (NBC) related emergencies, the
report said.
Training of trainers for CISF and ITBP had been completed and 16
teams comprising 45 personnel each had already been trained.
Sanction for purchase of equipments for one battalion each for
natural and NBC calamities had been given, it said. These eight
battalions were proposed to be constituted into a force and would
be designated as NERF, it said.
The government also proposes to strengthen one training institute
each for the four Para Military forces and the states had been
advised to have their own specialist teams, it said and added
that 10 states and Union Territories had already initiated action
in this regard.
The trainers of the state police force would be trained at the
training institutes of Para Military Forces and the states had
also been authorised to utilise 10 percent of the annual
allocation made in the calamity relief fund for purchase of
equipment, the report said.
The trainers of the state police force would be trained at the
training institutes of Para Military Forces and the states had
also been authorised to utilise 10 per cent of the annual
allocation made in the calamity relief fund for purchase of
equipment, the report said.
The report said that 14 Regional Response Centres were proposed
to be set up in different parts of the country where essential
search and rescue equipments and relief materials would be stored
so that the specialist response teams could respond to any
disaster in the neighbouring state immediately.
A steering Committee had been constituted in the Union Home
Ministry to oversee the creation of capabilities for emergency
response. The Government also proposes to set an Incident Command
System (ICS) which will provide for specialised Incident Command
Teams with an Incident Commander and Officers trained in
different aspects of Incident Management.
In order to further strengthen the capacity for response, the
fire services are proposed to be developed into multi-hazard
response units. A project had been drawn up and would be taken
for implementation as soon as the resources were mobilised, the
report said and added that it is proposed to provide multi-hazard
response units under this project upto the sub-divisional level.
The report said that 14 Regional Response Centres were proposed
to be set up in different parts of the country where essential
search and rescue equipments and relief materials would be stored
so that the specialist response teams could respond to any
disaster in the neighbouring state immediately.
A steering Committee had been constituted in the Union Home
Ministry to oversee the creation of capabilities for emergency
response.
The government also proposes to set an Incident Command System
(ICS) which will provide for specialised Incident Command Teams
with an Incident Commander and Officers trained in different
aspects of Incident Management.
In order to further strengthen the capacity for response, the
fire services are proposed to be developed into multi-hazard
response units. A project had been drawn up and would be taken
for implementation as soon as the resources were mobilised, the
report said and added that it is proposed to provide multi-hazard
response units under this project upto the sub-divisional level.
Copyright © 2004 Times Internet Limited. All rights reserved. |
*****************************************************************
11 The Herald: Concern over future for British Energy
Web Issue 2072 August 16 2004
Herald [http://www.sundayherald.com/]
BEN GRIFFITHS August 16 2004
CONCERN is mounting over whether nuclear power generator
British Energy can persuade the government it has a future
against the backdrop of rising electricity prices.
According to a report in the Observer, concerns centre on the
need for the troubled group to put cash aside to cover
liabilities to its electricity customers who bought up almost
all of its output for the next year.
British Energy must hold cash so that, if it ceases trading, it
has funds to pay customers who must meet their needs in the open
market. If energy prices are high, more money is required to
cover the group's liabilities. However, British Energy's
cashflow does not rise alongside increases in electricity prices
because it has already sold forward its output.
The newspaper quoted an anonymous source as saying that
officials from the department of trade and industry had concerns
over the collateral.
Mike Alexander, British Energy's chief executive, said in the
company's annual report that the collateral requirements had
risen to between £270m and £320m as prices have risen. Prices
are forecast to rise again this winter.
British Energy, which generates around a fifth of the UK's
power, is going through a life-saving financial restructuring
after being pushed to the brink of administration by a slump in
wholesale electricity prices. It is waiting for a key decision
by the European Commission, now expected in September having
been put back due to a government delay.
The company has secured the agreement of banks and bondholders
to write off £1.3bn in debt, while around 235,000 shareholders
remain investors from its privatisation in 1996.
Elsewhere, a report by Oxera Consulting for British Gas owner
Centrica warned that the UK must invest up to £18bn over the
next five years to secure its energy supplies.
The report concludes the country needs to spend around £10bn to
£18bn and advises that more than half of the investment needs to
go into the gas industry as the country becomes dependent on
imports. Some 85% of that will need to be spent on ensuring
supplies from abroad as gas reserves from the North Sea and the
Irish Sea start to dry up.
The report says: "Over the last 15 years, the UK energy
industry has developed and adapted to privatisation and
competition largely cushioned against world energy markets due
to the UK being a producer of oil and gas from the North Sea and
the Irish Sea.
"As the gas reserves deplete, Britain will become gas import
dependent. At the same time, more and more gas is being used as
it replaces less environmentally friendly fuels such as coal and
oil to generate electricity, and increasingly takes the place of
closing nuclear power stations."
Copyright © Newsquest (Herald & Times) Limited. All Rights
*****************************************************************
12 Slovak news: Energy law is missing
Slovakia's English language newspaper August 16 - 22,2004,
Volume 10, Number 31
THE ECONOMY ministry is late in preparing the key law on
decommissioning Slovakia’s nuclear power plant. The law is an
inevitable part of the sale of a 66 percent share in the
Slovenské elektrárne (SE) power plant.
The law should be in place from January 1, 2005, but the ministry
has not yet started its preparation, the daily Pravda wrote.
The power plant is valueless without the law, as potential
investors will not know the source of the Sk90 billion (€2.3
billion) needed to finish the decommissioning process.
Potential investors are currently offering between Sk40 billion
(€1 billion) and Sk19 billion (€475 million) for the stake in SE.
If they were also required to pay the cost of decommissioning the
power plant, they would likely rethink their bids.
Compiled by Marta Ïurianová from press reports
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the
information presented in its Flash News postings. [8/16/2004
10:33:44 AM]
Copyright © 1998-2003 The Rock spol. s r.o. All rights
*****************************************************************
13 ITAR-TASS: Chernobyl invalids resume suspended hunger strike
[ITAR-TASS News Agency of Russia]
16.08.2004, 17.10
GUBKIN (Belgorod region), August 16 (Itar-Tass) - Chernobyl
invalids from the city of Gubkin in Russia’s Belgorod region
have resumed a hunger strike, which they suspended about three
months ago after the authorities had promised to meet their
demands, the coordinator of the action, Alexander Shokhin, told
Itar-Tass on Monday.
Shokhin said they have resumed the strike “as local officials
have failed to fulfill their promise to meet their demands
within three months.”
The first hunger strike began in Gubkin on May 31, 2004.
Chernobyl cleanup workers demanded that they be granted
apartments, to which they are entitled as participants in the
liquidation of the Chernobyl disaster, as well as receive other
benefits, envisaged by the federal legislation.
However, on June 5, the hunger strike was stopped as the local
authorities had promised to consider their demands within three
months. “However, things have remained at a standstill since
then,” the striker said.
Fifteen liquidators of the disaster at the Chernobyl nuclear
power plant in 1986 live in Gubkin. The disaster left then
disabled.
© ITAR-TASS. All rights reserved. You undertake not to copy,
*****************************************************************
14 NRC: NRC Confirms Nuclear Plants' Operational Preparedness with Respect to Electric Grid
Reliability
News Release - 2004-09
U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
Office of Public Affairs Telephone: 301/415-8200
Washington, DC 20555-0001 E-mail: opa@nrc.gov
No. 04-096 August 13, 2004
The Department of Energy (www.doe.gov [http://www.doe.gov]
[exit icon] ) today issued a follow-up report on actions taken
to reduce blackout risk following the August 14, 2003, electric
grid outage. As part of the Nuclear Regulatory Commissions
response to the outage, the NRC inspected all 103 operational
nuclear power plants to assess the licensees procedures and
protocols for evaluating the reliability of offsite power and
the use of that information to adjust plant activities
accordingly.
During last years blackout, affected nuclear plants responded
as designed to grid conditions and shut down safely. These
plants did not cause the blackout nor contribute to its spread.
NRC Chairman Nils J. Diaz was a member of the joint
U.S./Canadian task force established to investigate the causes
of the blackout and ways to reduce the possibility of future
outages, and was co-chair of its nuclear working group. The task
force reported that nuclear plants were maintained in a safe
condition following the grid outage through the use of their
on-site emergency diesel generators. It recommended a number of
actions to reduce the risk of future blackouts. The progress on
these actions is reported on in the Department of Energy
follow-up report.
Based on our inspections to assure compliance with NRC
regulations, assessment of licensee responses, and assessments
completed to date of the results of the audits conducted by the
North American Electric Reliability Council, the NRC believes
that effective actions are being taken to enhance the
availability of offsite power for safe nuclear power plant
operation, said Chairman Diaz.
The NRC is responsible for regulating nuclear reactor safety. In
Regulatory Issue Summary 2004-05, "Grid Reliability and the
Impact on Plant Risk and the Operability of Offsite Power,"
issued in April, the NRC reminded all plant licensees of how the
availability of offsite power can affect nuclear power plant
operations and safety. In addition, the NRC pointed out the
importance of establishing reliable communications between
plants and their transmission system operators, to increase
awareness of overall grid conditions.
In parallel, the North American Electric Reliability Council
(NERC) conducted readiness audits of grid coordinators to ensure
that operators of the bulk electric systems have the tools,
processes, and procedures in place for reliable operation (
www.nerc.com [http://www.nerc.com] [exit icon] ).
The NRC will continue to communicate with those external parties
responsible for grid reliability and will continue to encourage
and support efforts to make the grid more reliable in order to
ensure these aspects of nuclear safety.
Last revised Monday, August 16, 2004
*****************************************************************
15 [DU-WATCH] U.S. bombs poisoned troops
Date: Sun, 15 Aug 2004 23:59:50 -0500 (CDT)
8/6/04
Gulf war veteran says U.S. bombs poisoned troops; feds disagree
By Thomas Watkins/Aspen Daily News Staff Writer
Dennis Kyne started getting sick in 1992, not long after he returned
from the Persian Gulf. Diarrhea, vomiting, cramps and a never ending
cold dogged him incessantly.
The 34-year-old veteran now takes scrupulous care of himself and most
of his symptoms have improved, but many of the soldiers he served
with from the 18th Airborne Division during Operation Desert Storm
have not fared so well. Some have died, others are still sick.
Kyne, who will speak tonight in Glenwood Springs, and Saturday night
in Carbondale, believes he and his fellow soldiers are victims of the
military's use of a cocktail of vaccinations, pesticides and other
agents that were used during the first Gulf war. The illnesses he has
witnessed are described collectively as Gulf War Syndrome, something
the Department of Defense questions exists at all.
"In 1991, we were all displaying signs and symptoms," Kyne said. "All
of the front line was sick. It was not the glorious combat (leaders
said it was)."
Almost a third of the 700,000 U.S. soldiers who served in the first
Gulf war are now collecting disability payments, according to the
National Gulf War Resource Center.
Kyne, originally from Santa Fe, Calif., served in the Army for 15
years and was honorably discharged in 2003. During Desert Storm, in
his capacity as a sergeant and a medic, Kyne witnessed many of his
troops exhibiting strange symptoms.
"Everyone was vomiting, they were pale as a ghost," he said. "Some
were walking around with a 1,000 yard stare."
Other soldiers had joint pain, nausea and runny noses, he added.
"We were just barfing and shitting ourselves all the way to Saudi
Arabia," he said.
Kyne believes the anti-chemical warfare drugs he and his unit were
given played a part in the troops' deteriorating health, as well as
large quantities of pesticides that were sprayed around his camp to
keep a snake and rodent infestation under control.
But the most likely culprit for the ongoing health problems of the
servicemen and women, Kyne says, is a kind of metal shell coating
that was first used in combat during the Gulf War - depleted uranium
(DU).
The metal is used on the tips of many of the military's conventional
weapons, including anti-tank missiles and bunker-busting missiles.
It's high density means it is extremely effective at piercing thick
armor - a missile with a depleted uranium tip will burn its way
through a tank's protective skin, enabling the payload of the weapon
to explode inside the vehicle.
Depleted uranium is also radioactive, and will deteriorate into a
fine dust when exploded on the end of a missile. Kyne believes that
it is this radioactive dust that is making Gulf War veterans, and the
people of Iraq, sick.
"We started walking into depleted uranium and everyone just started
melting," he said, describing his unit's march into the neutral zone
on the border of Saudi Arabia.
Dr. Michael Kilpatrick, deputy director of the Department of
Defense's Deployment Health Support Directorate, said that Kyne is
mistaken, and adverse effects of depleted uranium have not been
proven.
He said that although animals exposed to high levels of depleted
uranium can suffer damage to their kidneys, there is no evidence of
the same thing happening in humans. Other studies have shown there is
no link between depleted uranium and cancer, he said.
About 320 tons of depleted uranium were dropped during the Gulf War,
said Kilpatrick, and so far about 100 tons have been dropped in
Operation Iraqi Freedom.
"It cannot hurt your body, it has to be internalized," said
Kilpatrick, explaining the effects of depleted uranium in the
environment. He added that most of the 250,000 plus returning Gulf
War veterans were subsequently granted disability payments by the
Department of Veterans Affairs because of routine impairments, such
as hearing loss and joint injuries. They could have sustained these
at any time during their service, Kilpatrick noted, and not just
during the Gulf War.
Kilpatrick added that there technically is no such thing as Gulf War
Syndrome, as the variety of symptoms soldiers exhibit varies so
wildly. Research is ongoing to establish a cause of certain illnesses
in veterans, he added, but it is believed stress is the main cause of
unusual symptoms.
Despite the government's assertions that depleted uranium is not the
cause of Gulf War Syndrome, Kyne remains convinced that the substance
does serious harm. He now tours the country full-time, giving talks
about his beliefs and experiences.
Kyne will be talking at 7 p.m. tonight at the Blue Acacia at 901
Colorado Ave., Glenwood Springs; and Saturday night at 7 p.m. at the
Carbondale Council on Arts and Humanities, 645 Main St.
Visit www.denniskyne.com
Kyne's talks are presented by the Roaring Fork Peace Coalition
Dennis Kyne
Support the Truth
www.denniskyne.com
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16 [FOODIRRADIATIONCA] Press Release: USDA Should Correct
Date: Mon, 16 Aug 2004 18:30:51 -0700
For Immediate Release: Contact: Tony Corbo
(202) 454-5131
Aug. 16, 2004 Erica
Hartman (202) 454-5174
Public Citizen Repeats Call for Correct Information on Irradiated Food
in School Lunch Program
Letter to Dept. of Agriculture Lists Multiple Errors in Promotional
Materials
WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is
still misleading consumers with incorrect information posted on its Web
site and in its publicity materials about irradiated meat in the
National School Lunch Program, despite repeated efforts by Public
Citizen to fix the factual errors, according to a letter sent today by
the consumer advocacy group to the Undersecretary for Food, Nutrition
and Consumer Services at USDA.
This is Public Citizen's fourth attempt to persuade the
government to provide accurate information in its materials for states
and school districts regarding irradiated beef, which became available
in January 2004 through the National School Lunch Program. Food service
directors and school officials in each district can choose whether to
purchase irradiated ground beef for their schools.
"Even though the USDA has opened the door to permitting
irradiated food in the National School Lunch Program, we believe that
parents and students deserve to have all of the information on the
technology so that they can make an informed choice," said Wenonah
Hauter, director of Public Citizen's food program. "Parents and school
officials reading these materials - which are riddled in errors - would
be unable to make an informed choice because they aren't being told the
facts."
Among Public Citizen's concerns:
* The agency's "Irradiated Commodity Beef: Frequently Asked
Questions" Web page notes that "Nearly two dozen supermarket chains now
provide irradiated meat for their customers in some 30 states across the
country." However, when Public Citizen recently called 15 major
national supermarket chains that previously sold irradiated beef, all of
them said they had stopped carrying the product.
* The site also notes that "Two major restaurant chains offer
irradiated meat products in 145 establishments in the Upper Midwestern
States." Public Citizen assumes this refers to Dairy Queen and Embers
America, the two chains that advertised using it last year. On Aug. 5,
2004, Public Citizen called the corporate headquarters for both
companies and was informed by their officials that they no longer offer
irradiated meat products in their restaurants.
* According to the "Public Relations Tool Kit" for schools that is
linked to the USDA site, "The most common irradiation procedure in use
today involves electronic beams using ordinary electricity, not
radioactive materials." However, the company that used the e-beam
technology to irradiate food, SureBeam, went bankrupt in January and is
no longer in business. Instead, the USDA has selected Qualipaq Meats to
be the sole vendor of irradiated meat to the National School Lunch
Program. Qualipaq Meats is using an irradiation firm that treats its
meat with the radioactive isotope cobalt-60 - not electronic beams.
* The materials cite a pilot program carried out last year in
Minnesota as an example of a "model procedure" on how to disseminate
information on irradiated foods to parents and students. But the
program was mired in controversy and its end result was that none of the
three school districts selected for the pilot project even chose to
offer irradiated beef to their students.
These errors also may lull readers into a false security about
irradiation because they gloss over the controversy surrounding
irradiated food and don't provide concerns about the long-term health
effects of consuming it.
"We urge the USDA to correct its materials and provide the truth, not
marketing gimmicks designed to trick consumers into believing that
irradiated food is a widespread and common consumer product," said
Hauter. "Given that the National School Lunch Program feeds our
nation's most vulnerable children, it is vital that meals served at
school are healthy, nutritious and safe - and that parents know what
their children are eating."
Public Citizen has written the USDA three times previously, twice in
2003 - on March 18 and April 17 - and once earlier this year on July 1,
requesting that their materials present a fair and accurate overview of
irradiation. Each time, the organization has offered suggestions on how
to develop materials that will present both sides of the issue of
irradiation. Although a USDA representative has twice met with consumer
groups, including Public Citizen, so far none of their input has been
included in the materials.
To read Public Citizen's letter to Undersecretary Bost, please go to
http://www.citizen.org/cmep/foodsafety/food_irrad/schoollunch/articles.cfm?ID=12196.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tracy Lerman
Senior Organizer
Public Citizen, California Office
1615 Broadway, 9th Floor
Oakland, CA 94612
ph: 510-663-0888 x 103 f: 510-663-8569
tlerman@citizen.org
http://www.citizen.org/california
Keep irradiated food out of your child's lunch!
Visit http://www.safelunch.org to find out more.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
**********
If you do not wish to recieve these emails in the future, please send a
email to tlerman@citizen.org with "unsubscribe foodirradiationca" in the
subject line.
*****************************************************************
17 Really [Nano]Mini-Nukes
Date: Mon, 16 Aug 2004 14:37:11 -0400
http://www.janes.com
http://www.janes.com/security/international_security/news/jcbw/jcbw040813_1n.shtml_
Researching the weapons of the future:
Omicro-fusion¹ weapons
August 13, 2004
By Andy Oppenheimer
Advances in nanotechnology, genetics and nuclear
isomers are permitting the
production of a new generation of weapons intended
to maintain future US
military superiority and deter Orogue states¹ and
terrorists.
Forced to consider how to deter threats to its
security from Orogue states¹,
terrorist organisations and other groups
undeterred by its massive nuclear
stockpile, the US is now considering the
development of a new generation of
weapons.
Most notably, the Bush administration is in the
process of trying to develop
a new generation of Olow-yield¹ nuclear weapons
with yields at or below five
kilotons. Development of these weapons would give
the US the means to
destroy hardened bunkers containing Ohigh value
targets¹ and possibly
chemical and biological weapons.
But what lies beyond the Omini-nuke¹? What kind of
arsenals will the US have
in the next five to 25 years? An array of
futuristic-sounding weapons is
moving beyond the imaginations of scientists and
military officials into the
arena of government and commercial research
laboratories. The consequences
of the uses of these weapons are yet to be
examined fully.
Nanotechnology (NT), the science of designing
microscopic structures in
which materials are machined and controlled atom
by atom, has the potential
to produce further miniaturisation of weapons. The
ability to build large,
complex devices to atomic precision using
molecular machine systems was
first recognised by US physicist Richard Feynman
more than 40 years ago.
Assembler-based NT has implications far beyond the
Pentagon¹s current vision
of a Orevolution in military affairs¹, although
its applications to advanced
weaponry are certainly fertile ground for fantasy.
Proponents of
Omicro-fusion¹ nuclear weapons insist that they
are the only types of
warheads capable of retaining relatively high
yields of energy through the
process of miniaturisation.
The impetus for creating these systems arose from
the need to develop
extremely rugged and safe arming and triggering
mechanisms for smaller
nuclear weapons such as atomic artillery shells.
In such warheads, the
nuclear explosive and its trigger undergo extreme
acceleration upon their
use. This forced weapons designers to make the
trigger¹s crucial components
as small as possible, for smaller
electromechanical systems are more
enduring and resistant to exogenous stresses.
Controlled microexplosions
could be used in weapons if suitable compact
triggers were developed.
369 of 1,172 words
[End of non-subscriber extract.]
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18 Guardian Unlimited: Gulf war inquiry seeks legal advice on doctor's claims
Gulf war inquiry checks evidence for libel
James Meikle, health correspondent
Tuesday August 17, 2004
The Guardian [http://www.guardian.co.uk]
The independent inquiry investigating whether illnesses among
veterans of the first Gulf war were related to their service is
taking legal advice about whether it should publish claims from a
doctor who said many veterans he examined on behalf of the
Ministry of Defence were liars.
Tony Hall, employed for a year on the MoD's medical assessment
programme, said many veterans were obese, smoked nicotine or were
alcoholic when he presented evidence to Lord Lloyd's inquiry.
Others smoked cannabis, had criminal records for violence after
drinking or had difficulty keeping jobs.
He named individuals, prompting the inquiry secretariat to
examine whether he had committed libel in his written statement
and slander in his oral evidence last week.
The MoD, which has refused to allow any serving ministers,
officials or service personnel to give oral evidence, said it had
contacted the inquiry and "discussed" Dr Hall's evidence.
"Our interest stems from a complaint received from a veteran who
is named in Dr Hall's evidence who was concerned about medical
confidentiality."
A spokeswoman added: "We would not want to influence Lord Lloyd
in any way."
She said Dr Hall's views were "not the views of the MoD".
The inquiry is being held in public and journalists have been
regularly handed copies of written evidence, although the
Guardian and other media did not attend the session at which Dr
Hall spoke. He sent his evidence to the Daily Telegraph. The
Guardian has also seen a copy.
Dr Hall trained in London but moved to the US and was drafted
into the army. When he returned to Britain he joined the MoD's
medical assessment programme to investigate whether there were
Gulf-related illnesses at St Thomas' hospital in London.
In his evidence he said he had taken detailed histories of 460
veterans and measured the height, weight and body mass of 222 of
them. Of these, 60% were overweight "and indeed 20% were obese".
He called for a ban on contact sports, "smoking nicotine,
cannabis, cocaine, magic mushrooms and the use of any other
recreational drugs" and alcohol on military premises.
He continued: "The Gulf war syndrome ... is not due to physical
disease. A few individuals may have developed a disease due to
such factors as vaccinations, depleted uranium, etc, but the
plight of Iraqi civilians is much more acute than that of
soldiers who spent four days in a war zone. The Gulf war veterans
who have complained to the press, thereby breaching their own
right to confidentiality, are liars."
Dr Hall told the Guardian he had been suspended half way through
his year's contract on December 10 1997, and was sent on
"gardening leave" by the MoD after complaints about him. But the
MoD had continued to pay him £1,000 a week until his contract
ended.
His allegations were condemned as "unprofessional" by the medical
adviser to veterans who believe their illnesses are war-related.
Malcolm Hooper, who was at the hearing, said: "He exposed the
medical assessment programme as the sham it was."
Focus The British army The Royal Air Force The Royal Navy
Useful links British army [http://www.army.mod.uk/] Royal Navy
[http://www.royal-navy.mod.uk/] RAF [http://www.raf.mod.uk/]
Ministry of Defence [http://www.mod.uk/] Nato
[http://www.nato.int/home.htm] United Nations
[http://www.un.org/]
[UP]
Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2004
*****************************************************************
19 LJWorld.com: Radioactive-waste disposal at critical stage
[LJWorld.com | The Lawrence Journal-World]
By Scott Rothschild, Journal-World
Monday, August 16, 2004
A settlement last week over where to dump Kansas' radioactive
waste settled nothing and leaves Kansas and the nation with
dwindling options for disposal of low-level waste, officials
said.
After a failed appeal and months of negotiations, a compact of
states agreed to let Nebraska pay $141 million to be relieved of
its obligation to build a regional depository within its
borders.
The decision by the Central Interstate Low-Level Radioactive
Waste Compact ended years of litigation and a decadeslong effort
to build a dump site in Nebraska for radioactive waste produced
there and in Kansas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana.
"It is frustrating," said Ron Hammerschmidt, director of the
Division of Environment at the Kansas Department of Health and
Environment.
"The compact system hasn't worked. Congress needs to go back to
the drawing board and figure out how to handle this on a
national basis," he said.
Running out of space
In 1980, Congress told states to put together regional compacts
to develop dumps for low-level radioactive waste, such as
contaminated tools and clothes that are produced by nuclear
power plants, hospitals and research centers.
Kansas currently sends its low-level radioactive waste to sites
in South Carolina and Utah. But the South Carolina facility has
told the Central Interstate compact it is closing its doors in
2008 to waste from states outside its region. The Utah site has
ample capacity but doesn't accept the more highly contaminated
low-level waste, officials said.
Hammerschmidt said Kansas and other states would have time to
find a solution. "We're not going to see it show up on bags on
street corners," he said.
But given that it has been more than 20 years since the compact
system was launched and not one site has been developed anywhere
in the country, officials point out that time is running out.
‘Back to square one'
Warren Wood, general counsel for the Wolf Creek nuclear plant
near Burlington, noted the license application for the Nebraska
site was submitted in 1990. Then Nebraska officials sought to
back out of the deal, kicking off a controversy that brewed in
the courts for most of the 1990s.
"There was a lot of time wasted," Wood said. "We're back to
square one."
Now some of the states in the compact are looking toward Texas,
where a license has been filed to build a waste disposal
facility in sparsely populated Andrews County. But previous
efforts to locate radioactive dumps in Texas have been met with
waves of opposition.
"Nobody wants to have a facility in their back yard," Wood said.
"Wherever there is an effort to get one developed there is
typically opposition, and so far the opposition has succeeded."
The money Nebraska is to pay in the settlement goes back to the
compact, officials said. Utilities that have contributed to the
compact probably will seek to get the money returned to them.
Nebraska in a bind
The settlement with Nebraska ended a lawsuit in which a federal
judge in Lincoln, Neb., found that former Nebraska Gov. Ben
Nelson, now a U.S. senator, had tried to stop the dump from
being built for political gain. Nebraska officials argued they
didn't license the facility because of environmental concerns.
The compact of states voted 3-1 for the settlement. Nebraska
wasn't allowed to vote. Kansas was the lone vote against it.
James O'Connell, Kansas' representative on the compact, said the
settlement "signals a failure of the compact system when there's
no present and complete alternative site in place."
The decision has Nebraska officials scurrying to find ways to
pay off the debt amid a tight budget.
Reports have indicated Nebraska has offered to pay Texas a flat
fee of $25 million to accept the compact's waste, raising alarms
by some opponents of the waste facility in Texas. They worry
that if Texas opens to states outside its compact, it could
become the dumping ground for the entire nation.
Meanwhile, the few current facilities continue to fill up.
"We will eventually get to the point that we have to do
something," said Wood. "There is going to have to be a solution
eventually."
Journal-World. All rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
20 LJWorld.com: Nebraskan has no regrets on dumping dump
[LJWorld.com | The Lawrence Journal-World]
By Margery Beck - Associated Press Writer
Monday, August 16, 2004
Omaha, Neb. — U.S. Sen. Ben Nelson does not regret state
officials' decision six years ago to deny a license for a
low-level nuclear waste dump in northeast Nebraska, he said
Saturday.
"I still believe the decision made by state regulators to deny
the license for the Boyd County site was the right decision,"
the Nebraska Democrat, who was governor at the time, said in a
written statement. "In the end, scientists determined the site
wasn't safe. Not even the federal court is willing to say it
was."
The dump was to hold radioactive waste from member states of a
compact Nebraska belongs to, which also includes Kansas,
Arkansas, Louisiana and Oklahoma.
Those states sued when Nebraska denied the license.
In 2002, U.S. District Judge Richard Kopf said Nelson and the
state acted in bad faith in refusing to license the facility,
which was to hold radioactive waste from the five states.
After a failed appeal and months of negotiations, Nebraska
settled the lawsuit last week, agreeing to pay $141 million to
the multistate group. As part of the agreement, Nebraska was
relieved of its obligation to build the waste site, although the
state and compact officials must jointly explore possible sites
to store their waste.
Nelson said the settlement "marks the end of an ugly chapter in
Nebraska that has lasted more than two decades and impacted four
administrations."
Building the dump would have required state officials to work
around or ignore environmental and geological problems at the
site, which could have threatened Nebraska's land and water,
Nelson said, reiterating a stance he has maintained since the
license was denied.
"'Beautiful Nebraska' was expected to act like ‘Dutiful
Nebraska' -- serving at the pleasure of the federal government,"
Nelson said. "I won't say we couldn't have done that. But I
don't regret that we didn't."
He added that the announcement of the settlement was not likely
to quell debate over what role Nebraska should have played
regarding the dump.
"There will be those that believe it should have been built.
There will be those that believe it's worth the costs of the
settlement not to build it," he said.
"The governor (Mike Johanns) says it's the best deal he could
get, and I accept that. I have no reason not to take him at his
word," Nelson added.
Reached by phone Saturday, Nelson declined to discuss the impact
the issue could have on his presumed bid for re-election in
2006. State Republicans have publicly called for Johanns to
challenge Nelson in that race, and the governor has hinted that
he is considering doing so.
"I'm not going to comment on any future elections," Nelson said.
"I'm focused on '04."
[http://ljworld.com/site/new_copyright.html] 2004 The Lawrence
Journal-World. All rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
21 Las Vegas SUN: Letter: Kerry cannot be trusted on Yucca Mountain dump
Today: August 16, 2004 at 8:55:12 PDT
Regarding Yucca Mountain, John Kerry told a Sun reporter during a
visit to Las Vegas that, "I've actually voted to stop it. I have
voted against it." ("Kerry, in LV, pledges to fight Yucca dump,"
May 17, 2004).
Unfortunately, Kerry's selective memory only provided half of
the story. The other half begins with his vote for the "Screw
Nevada" bill in 1987. Without that critical piece of legislation,
Yucca Mountain would be a mere sentence in a history book about a
proposed project that never happened. Instead, Nevadans have
spent 20 years fighting to keep deadly nuclear waste out of our
backyard.
As if voting for the Screw Nevada bill wasn't enough, Kerry then
voted over a 10-year period to waive environmental standards,
increase funding and expedite the Yucca program. Quite ironic,
considering that he told the Sun, in the above referenced
article, that a president could stop the Yucca project by
"halting federal money going to the repository or by forcing
government branches such as the Environmental Protection Agency
to acknowledge scientific studies that show the project might be
unsafe."
Members of the press, who took Kerry at his word and apparently
made no effort to independently verify the candidate's voting
history, described Kerry's record on Yucca Mountain as "pure" and
"consistent." We have now learned that John Kerry's record on
Yucca Mountain reeks of do one thing, say another. The people of
Nevada now know better than to take John Kerry at his word.
JOHN ENSIGN
Editor's note: The writer is a Republican who represents Nevada
in the U.S. Senate.
*****************************************************************
22 Las Vegas SUN: NRC outlines proposal to test nuke waste casks
By Suzannne Struglinski SUN WASHINGTON BUREAU
WASHINGTON -- The government could test nuclear waste
containers destined for Yucca Mountain by running a train into
one and then engulfing it in fire.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff sent a proposal to the
three commissioners on July 27, outlining a latest plan to test
nuclear-waste containers, known as casks, that could transport
nuclear waste to Yucca Mountain, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas.
State officials, who are still evaluating the proposed plan,
say the tests will do nothing to help understand the casks.
In May the commissioners asked their staff for a plan on how to
test shipping containers using real scenarios. The commission
now usually relies on computer models for safety tests required
for a cask to get approval for use.
The staff has proposed colliding a locomotive with a rail cask
attached to a rail car, then the cask would be placed in "a
fully engulfing fire" for 30 minutes.
"The staff notes that the probability of occurrence of a
real-world accident with a spent nuclear fuel cask similar to
the proposed demonstration test scenario is small," according to
a staff memo.
Bob Halstead, Nevada's transportation consultant, said the
proposal does not satisfy what the state and the public have
requested of the commission.
"This is not a test, really it's a demonstration," Halstead
said. "This isn't going to provide the data needed to benchmark
the computer models. This is the kind of thing that looks good
in a film."
Halstead also pointed to the absence of truck cask testing.
Truck casks are different than rail casks and would need their
own tests, he said. It is much more likely the waste will be
moved to Nevada via truck because a new rail line may not be
built in the state on time and 25 nuclear power plants will need
to move their waste via truck to a rail line to get it to Nevada.
Commission spokeswoman Sue Gagner said it is not known exactly
when the commissioners will each vote on the proposal. Their
votes will not be cast at a meeting, but instead are "notation
votes," which means each commissioner will write how they voted
and why.
It is also unclear how much a test would cost and how much
money the Energy Department would give to the commission to
conduct the test.
*****************************************************************
23 Salt Lake Tribune: Yucca slips, Skull Valley stock rises
[http://www.sltrib.com]
for Nevada site mean more nuclear waste in Utah?
By Judy Fahys The Salt Lake Tribune
Two miles into the Yucca Mountain tunnels in August 2000
are experimental sites designed to simulate heat given off by
nuclear waste packages. Recent setbacks for the proposed nuclear
repository have raised the profile of the Skull Valley site in
Utah as a temporary storage option. (Paul Fraughton/Tribune file
photo)
The latest round of face-to-face presentations are under
way on licensing a nuclear waste storage site in Skull Valley,
about 50 miles from Salt Lake City.
The hearing is taking place behind closed doors in Washington
to protect sensitive nuclear safety information from getting
into terrorists' hands. But the real action on the nation's
nuclear-waste problem continues to play out in plain view in the
dynamic between the temporary Skull Valley storage site and the
federal repository planned for Yucca Mountain, Nev.
That's where the federal government wants to build
underground disposal for up to 77,000 tons of reactor waste and
the highly radioactive discards from nuclear bomb-making
programs.
The thinking goes that further delays on Yucca Mountain would
increase pressure on the federal government to allow the Utah
project, a joint venture of the Skull Valley Band of Goshute
Indians and a consortium of out-of-state utilities called
Private Fuel Storage, or PFS.
And lately, Yucca Mountain has run into a few potential
obstacles.
The possible snags affirm what proponents of the Skull Valley
site have said all along: The nuclear industry needs an interim
alternative to Yucca, which has been under discussion for more
than 20 years.
"It points to the need for temporary storage," said PFS
spokeswoman Sue Martin. If the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board
signs off on the Skull Valley project after this new
round of hearings, waste could start coming to Utah by 2007.
Meanwhile, even though the Energy Department has promised to
open the Nevada repository by 2010, many doubt the federal
government will be able to meet the deadline.
Martin calls the Energy Department's effort to license Yucca
Mountain in four years "extremely optimistic." The PFS proposal,
though temporary and far less complex than plans for the
permanent Yucca repository, recently entered its eighth year of
federal licensing review - PFS originally expected it to take a
couple of years - and the earliest the Nuclear Regulatory
Commission (NRC) could issue the license is next January.
Bob Loux, head of the Nevada state government office devoted
to derailing the Yucca Mountain plan, bluntly doubts that Yucca
Mountain can secure a license in half the time.
"I don't think there's any way in the world that the NRC is
going to be able to complete this [licensing] hearing process in
four years," he said.
Loux has many reasons to believe there will be more delays
for Yucca Mountain, including:
l A Washington, D.C., appeals court last month rejected a
regulation requiring the Energy Department to build the
repository so that it would be safe for 10,000 years, saying
that it should stand up even longer. Two past changes to that
standard have each delayed the site by eight months, Loux said.
l A funding squeeze looms because the Energy Department
wanted $880 million for next year's work on Yucca but the Bush
administration budgeted only $131 million.
l The Energy Department has failed to complete an electronic
document system that must be done to the NRC's satisfaction at
least six months before commissioners will accept a license
application for the Yucca Mountain project.
l The nation may have a new president next year in Democrat
John Kerry, who restated his opposition to the Nevada repository
while stumping last week in Nevada.
As these events unfold around Yucca Mountain, Skull Valley
rarely comes up as an alternative, even though PFS continues to
advertise storage space in the nuclear industry trade media.
The consortium has always billed itself as a solution to a
backlog of reactor waste that is accumulating at more than 60
sites around the nation.
As planned, the facility would be big enough to hold up to
4,000 steel-and-concrete containers of spent fuel - about 10
million rods - on concrete pads sprawling across 100 acres of
the Skull Valley Goshute reservation. The waste would be shipped
over rail lines, mostly from reactors east of the Mississippi.
Utah political leaders have been the Skull Valley project's
most aggressive and vocal critics. But so far they have not
succeeded in stopping it.
Lawmakers passed anti-waste legislation in 1998 and 2001, but
last month a federal appeals court struck them down.
Republican 1st District Rep. Rob Bishop has sponsored federal
legislation that would use wilderness protections to block rail
shipments from traversing the eastern edge of the Cedar
Mountains. The legislation, first conceived by then-Rep. Jim
Hansen, R-Utah, appears to be bogged down in a Senate defense
bill.
"It took a great deal of effort by the delegation to get to
where we are right now," said Adam Elggren, spokesman for U.S.
Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, "and I understand that negotiations
are in a delicate stage."
Hatch, along with fellow Utah Republican Sen. Bob Bennett,
voted two summers ago to override Nevada's objections to Yucca
Mountain and get that project going on the premise that the
sooner the Nevada dump is built, the less likely the Skull
Valley storage would be needed.
State Rep. Stephen Urquhart, R-St. George, is not sure what
the state will do next. He criticized then-Gov. Mike Leavitt for
a "bet-the-farm legal strategy."
"It's now looking like that bet is not very wise," he said.
"Where does that leave us?"
He worries that even if the Legislature steps in to deal with
Skull Valley soon, it may be too late to have any control over
the site because it's on sovereign lands.
Utah may also have missed the chance to negotiate
financial benefits for living with the risks it poses.
Still, he said, "I am not pessimistic. I'm not fatalistic."
Ultimately, it could be that Skull Valley never materializes
into a viable option because the licensing process falls through
or the numbers don't add up for potential customers.
Rod McCullum, who follows waste management for the Nuclear
Energy Institute, an industry group, wonders how many companies
would want storage in Skull Valley, regardless of what happens
to Yucca Mountain. He notes that the storage crisis PFS is
banking on has instead become more of a financial and legal
crisis for the federal government.
Reactor owners have filed 65 suits against the Energy
Department for missing its original disposal-site deadline in
1998. They already have won one of those cases.
Meanwhile, many have expanded storage at their reactors to
avoid the expense of moving it before the government is ready to
haul it away. There is room for more than 500 casks at 28 sites
now.
"The companies don't have a crisis," McCullum said. "The
government does."
Finally, there is the possibility that the state will succeed
in shooting down the license before the Atomic Safety and
Licensing Board. The three-person panel, an expert review board
of the NRC, is analyzing arguments that the waste
casks will hold up even if a military jet crashes into the site.
Skull Valley is on the path of thousands of flights between the
Utah Test and Training Range and Hill Air Force Base.
Washington, D.C., attorney Joe Egan warns that a license for
PFS is no sure bet. A member of Nevada's legal team that has
worked with Utah in trying to derail the PFS project, he said
Utah's lawyers have a strong case. Even with political and
economic pressure to deal with the waste backlog, the consortium
might not be able to prove the casks will withstand the impact
of a crash, he said.
"If they can't make the numbers, the licensing board is not
going to give them a license," Egan said. "It's not political
pressure. It's the regulations."
He added: "Anyone who thinks it's over is deluding
themselves. It's not over.
fahys@sltrib.com
© Copyright 2004, The Salt Lake Tribune.
*****************************************************************
24 Charleston.Net: Opinion: Editorials Stay the course on N-waste site
08/16/04
President Bush should be applauded for his continued support of a
permanent nuclear waste repository in Nevada, where polls suggest
it is widely opposed. In a speech in Las Vegas last week, Mr.
Bush described his support of the project as "based upon
science."
Meanwhile, Sen. John Kerry, who has voted both for and against
the nuclear repository at Yucca Mountain over the last 16 years,
declared that if elected "there's going to be no nuclear waste at
Yucca Mountain."
In comments quoted by the Las Vegas Review-Journal, the
Democratic presidential candidate said the nation "deserves a
president who believes in science. It's not just the science of
Yucca Mountain, it's the science of global warming, it's the
science of stem-cell research and the possibility of the future."
Sen. Kerry should be relieved that scientists recently concluded
that metal alloy casks in which waste would be stored would not
be subject to corrosion at Yucca Mountain, as reported last year.
The Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board told Department of
Energy officials last week that further study had convinced them
that casks being corroded by calcium chloride, which was their
initial fear, "appears unlikely," according to The Associated
Press.
The remote site has been studied exhaustively for two decades,
and while its absolute perfectibility as a storage site for all
eternity can't be guaranteed, it is certainly a far better
location than the dozens of scattered sites where nuclear waste
is now stored.
And the federal effort to provide a safe national repository for
nuclear waste follows a congressional mandate for such a site.
Because of extensive delays toward that end, the federal
government is being sued by power companies that generate
electricity at nuclear plants, and are having to maintain waste
storage on site.
The repository also would provide for storage of defense waste,
including 37 million gallons of highly radioactive waste at
Savannah River Site near Aiken. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C.,
noted that Sen. Kerry's position "would destroy over two decades
of work on a national repository to provide secure, long-term
storage of nuclear waste materials." He added, "From an
environmental and national security perspective, it is imperative
we have a central repository to store our nuclear waste."
The president's position on Yucca Mountain isn't likely to help
him in a state that is viewed as up for grabs in the election. It
is, however, all the more persuasive for that.
There are still numerous regulatory hurdles for the Yucca
Mountain project to surmount before it can serve as a waste
repository. It shouldn't be scuttled after years of study because
of political opportunism.
Copyright © 2004, The Post and Courier, All Rights Reserved.
webmaster@postandcourier.com [webmaster@postandcourier.com]
*****************************************************************
25 National Review Online: Jonah Goldberg on Yucca Mountain
E-mail Author [jonahnro@aol.com]
August 16, 2004, 10:12 a.m.
Dead and Buried
The crazy debate over Yucca Mountain and nuclear waste.
EDITOR'S NOTE: This piece appeared in the April 8, 2002, issue
of National Review.
The year, by the old A.D. reckoning, is 12,002. But Lothar has
no way of knowing that, since Western civilization — and
calendars — had gone the way of the dodo thousands of years
before his grandfather was born. Lothar is the leader of a tribe
looking to settle down and try their hand at agriculture. He has
steered well clear of what used to be Las Vegas, because a
fearsome people lives there — amidst the ruins of what all
assume was a noble civilization, due to the fact that everyone
seemed to eat out of one long communal buffet table. Lothar
finds a spot in the shadow of a rust-colored low-slung mountain
covered with lizards, scrub brush, and rocky soil. The gods have
told him through a vision that this arid and desolate solar
anvil is the perfect place for his people to start a new life.
They dig many wells, but they all come up dry; finally, they
find water. They use it for their crops and drinking water.
And here is the news that scientists, environmentalists, and
Nevada senator Harry Reid feared ten millennia earlier: By
settling down on a spot no human society found acceptable during
the last 10,000 years, Lothar and his people will have increased
their exposure to radioactivity by less than the amount you or I
receive when flying in an airplane for twelve minutes.
Seriously: Critics of constructing a subterranean repository for
nuclear waste in Nevada's Yucca Mountain argue that if the
fictional Lothar decides to live in this godforsaken patch of
desert 100 centuries from now, he must not be exposed to more
radiation per year than you or I receive from a single chest
x-ray. The Environmental Protection Agency and the Nuclear
Regulatory Commission agree: Their minimum standard is for
containment of the waste for no less than 10,000 years — at
which point, even if the waste did seep into the groundwater and
make its way back into the environment, its radioactivity would
have decayed enough to be safe.
A little perspective is helpful. The first known city-state, in
Mesopotamia, was formed about 5,000 years ago. Human beings
switched from their hunter-gatherer existence, it is believed,
somewhere between 6,000 and 8,000 years ago. The lifetime of the
United States, from the Declaration of Independence to the
latest Britney Spears album, constitutes 2 percent of that time
span. Which is to say: A lot can happen in the next 10,000
years.
"I hope you wore lead underwear," said a blackjack dealer when I
told him I had just visited Yucca Mountain. A cab driver in Las
Vegas implored me, in his best X-Files stage whisper, to "tell
the world" what was going on "out there in the desert."
Critics of Yucca Mountain are fond of saying the site is "just
90 miles from Las Vegas" (though the more hysterical opponents
start dropping the number of miles or saying it's "just outside
Las Vegas"). But the truth is, Yucca Mountain really is "out
there in the desert." Ninety miles of classic desert nothingness
separate Yucca Mountain and Las Vegas. You don't pass through
miles of suburbs or small towns, just Joshua trees, mountain
ranges, the occasional coyote, and — what the hell was that?!
"Those are the Thunderbirds, they practice here," explained my
guide as a squadron of F-16s blew by in tight formation. That's
another thing you pass on the way to Yucca Mountain: Nellis Air
Force Base, the self-described "home of the fighter pilot."
Nellis is essentially where the Air Force practices blowing
things up and killing things with the flying portion of
America's arsenal of democracy. (From everything I've read,
they're very good at it.) Nellis is the home of the Air Warfare
Center, the Air Force Weapons School, and the international
combat-training exercise known as "Red Flag."
I bring this up for two reasons. First, the Thunderbirds were
really cool. Second, if you are concerned about terrorists
getting their hands on nuclear waste, where would you want to
keep it? Option A: Scattered across 39 states, in 131 locations,
near dozens of population centers, and accessible by thousands
of roads and waterways? Or Option B: Stored neatly in a
defensible pile under thousands of feet of rock 30 seconds from
a squadron of F-16s and B-52s? Yucca Mountain is already secure
from al-Qaeda types because it abuts the highly classified
Nevada Test Site, where we have blown up hundreds of atomic
bombs. To date, the only way to breach security at such a
facility is to make a lavish contribution to Bill Clinton's
reelection campaign and, thankfully, that's no longer a likely
scenario.
Nevada's leading politicians — including Democratic senator
Harry Reid and Republican governor Kenny Guinn — claim that
terrorism is an ad hoc, post-9/11 excuse for storing nuclear
waste in their state. They're probably right, considering the
administration's tendency to see everything through the prism of
terrorism. But just because it's convenient doesn't mean it's
not valid. People who advocated tightened air defenses on
December 6 could hardly be faulted for including Pearl Harbor in
their arguments after December 7. Every day, we hear new
revelations about how much al-Qaeda wants a "dirty" nuclear
bomb.
And besides, the last people who should be complaining about
arguments made out of desperation are opponents of Yucca
Mountain. The politics of the issue are straightforward:
Nevadans don't want nuclear waste in their backyard and
environmentalists don't want nuclear waste anywhere. The bizarre
upshot of this marriage of convenience is that environmentalists
are disparaging the normally sacrosanct EPA and lauding
federalism, while generally pro-nuclear Nevada sounds more like
the Sierra Club every day.
Their desperation is understandable. The logic and necessity of
putting this waste in Yucca Mountain is, basically, an
unstoppable force. America's 103 nuclear power plants provide 20
percent of our electricity. Roughly 42,000 metric tons of
nuclear waste have piled up around the country like dirty socks
in a bachelor's apartment. The federal government is required by
law and necessity to do something with the stuff. Since the
1950s the U.S. has owned all nuclear waste; in 1998 the Supreme
Court let stand a lower-court ruling that the federal government
has an "unconditional obligation" to take the waste off the
hands of utilities. In short, the waste can't stay where it is
for much longer; and, as a nuclear-waste lawyer explained it to
me, there are 98 senators who don't want the junk in their
states, but only two senators who don't want it in Nevada.
There's one more inconvenient fact for the opponents of Yucca
Mountain: "There is no Plan B," says Allen Benson, the spokesman
for the Yucca Mountain Project, during our 7 a.m. orientation
the day of my tour. By this he means: If Congress says no to
Yucca Mountain, there won't be another hamper for our
radioactively dirty laundry available for decades. Indeed, even
if all opposition ceased tomorrow, it wouldn't be until 2008
that the first canisters would make it into the tunnels of Yucca
Mountain. So, for a new site to be chosen, studied, and approved
— with an anti-nuke movement emboldened by success at Yucca —
could easily take 50 years.
This would probably deliver a mortal blow to the nuclear-power
industry, because the old plants are getting, well, old (there
hasn't been a new one built since 1979); and nobody's going to
build any new plants until the question of how to deal with
waste is settled. If this problem can be solved, there will be
lots of new, cleaner, and more efficient plants — in no small
part because the U.S. is under pressure to emit fewer greenhouse
gases, and nuclear energy emits none. Environmentalists still
hate it and have actively lobbied to exclude nuclear from any
formulas for reducing greenhouse emissions. Both the nuclear
industry and the anti-nuclear industry understand all of this,
which is why Yucca Mountain has become, in effect, a proxy war
over nuclear energy in general.
This is why the arguments have become so shrill and, often,
absurd. Opponents claim that the area is "geologically
unstable," in the words of The Nation. Britain's Independent was
hysterical: Under the headline, "Bush to Dump Nuclear Waste in
Earthquake Zone," the "reporter" called Yucca Mountain a
"geological nightmare" and lambasted Bush for flying in "the
face of scientific opinion."
In fact, almost no credible scientist in the world considers
Yucca Mountain unstable, and, as the Energy Department is fond
of pointing out, the Yucca Mountain Project has been the most
scientifically studied and reviewed enterprise in human history.
True, there are earthquakes in the region. But the
scientifically illiterate don't understand that earthquakes
don't do much damage 1,000 feet below solid rock. Think of a
whip cracking: The tip flails about, but the handle barely
moves.
Opponents also point out that there has been volcanic activity
in the past in the area. Again, no credible scientist is
particularly concerned about that either. In fact, it's good
news that there's been volcanic activity in the past, because
that makes it a lot less likely there will be some in the
future. The forces responsible for eruptions are moving
westward, away from Yucca Mountain. "Don't buy property in
Bishop, California, in 40,000 years," explains my guide, a
senior engineer at Yucca Mountain.
Nevada politicians and other opponents are also trying to scare
the bejeebers out of the rest of the country by decrying the
"mobile Chernobyls" that would carry the waste to Yucca
Mountain. This is the reddest of all herrings. There've been
over 3,000 nuclear-waste transports since 1964, without a
radioactive release. (FYI: Nuclear waste doesn't "spill,"
because it's cooked into dry little pellets.) Some critics try
to conjure a terrorist threat to the transports, but these are
actually less of a target than the current temporary facilities
— because they aren't sitting ducks. Even if some group were to
catch up with a transport, and then hold off the U.S. military
for a prolonged period, they still couldn't get at the waste:
Even with all of the right tools, it takes a full day to get
these things off their transport beds.
Yucca scientists — and the thousands of kibitzers looking over
their shoulders — have run every conceivable scenario through
their models. Huge planes crashing into Yucca Mountain, nuclear
attacks, tsunamis, catastrophic failures of every kind, even the
return of disco. Nothing scares these guys — except water: Water
is the enemy. For a week, a year, a century, we can keep water
out of almost anything. But when you start talking about a drip
like the one from your kitchen sink lasting thousands of years,
water can get through rock. And, even more inconvenient,
neutrons — and other particles thrown off by radioactivity —
love water more than Chesapeake Bay retrievers do.
This is why almost all of the manmade stuff intended for Yucca
Mountain is designed to stop water. On its own, Yucca's rock can
fend off the earthquakes and nuclear attacks. But technology is
needed to slow the pace of water. Yucca Mountain was selected
because all scientists agree that a geologic repository must be
dry. Sitting next to Death Valley, Yucca Mountain gets, on
average, seven inches of rain a year. Ninety-five percent of
that rain either evaporates or is consumed by the ecosystem.
Some of the remaining 5 percent — less than four-tenths of an
inch per year — can, after at least a thousand years, reach
repository depth. Indeed, almost all of the serious concerns
about Yucca Mountain revolve around how long it will take that
water to reach the containment area.
And, even according to the alarmists, it will take a very long
time. First of all, the rock and tuff around Yucca has been dry
for millions of years. Water, especially under very little
pressure, doesn't move through dry rock very well. Also, because
the containment area is surrounded by fissures and faults that
serve as natural rain gutters, most of that tiny amount of water
would move around the container, not into it. To date,
scientists have found no evidence that any water actually makes
it into the tunnels at repository depth; also, remember, the
actual waste packages will be very hot for the first few hundred
years — around 400 degrees — and extreme heat repels water.
But let's assume that, after a few thousand years, the
incredibly unlikely happens and some water manages to penetrate
the containment area. This water would then hit a thick titanium
drip shield. It would have to eat through that. It would then
hit the waste canisters. Current designs for these things
include a wad of corrosive-resistant metal, and then another wad
of stainless steel. Okay, let's assume Super Water makes it
through that. It would then hit the waste. The nuclear waste
itself consists of water-resistant ceramic pellets with metal
cladding. But let's assume the water dissolves the pellets and
the now-radioactive water eats through the bottoms of the waste
packages and hits the floor. It would then have to go through
800 feet of dry rock and tuff, which contains minerals called
zeolites, which are natural filters of radioactivity. After 800
feet the nucleotides would hit 1,000 feet of wet rock; and then,
finally, they'd hit the water table.
Uh-oh.
Well, not really. Another attribute of Yucca Mountain is that it
sits on a completely self-contained "hydrologic basin." The
water under Yucca doesn't go anywhere. Sure, there are a few
hundred people living around Yucca, but we'd have an
early-warning system of, say, 5,000 years to get them evacuated
if there were a problem. But even if the groundwater were
contaminated, the worst that would happen is that someone living
18 kilometers from Yucca Mountain, drinking the water and eating
crops grown in the ground, would receive about 150 additional
millirems of radiation a year. That's a bit less than the
radiation you would get from living in La Paz.
And another thing: The best projections say that this worst-case
scenario would only take place 480,000 years from now. You see,
this waste isn't particularly dangerous after the first few
hundred years. Moreover, the whole project is intended to make
the waste retrievable for anywhere from 50 to 300 years after
it's put in the ground. Most scientists believe we'll get better
at making nuclear waste less dangerous; if scientists discover a
better way to store or neutralize it, we will be able to go back
in and get it.
This is why Sen. Reid and other opponents are so dishonest when
they cite a recent study from the Nuclear Waste Technical Review
Board that declared some of Yucca's scientific modeling "weak to
moderate." Reid said, "I can't believe the administration would
settle for weak to moderate science as a basis for this
decision." But the review board was looking at the modeling for
thousands of years from now; of course we don't know for sure
how these waste packages will hold up in 10,000 years (though
the Yucca scientists believe all of their models are very
conservative). Reid's position is essentially that until we test
a waste package for that long we can't be confident it will
work.
What's more important is that the review board said there was no
reason not to move forward with the Yucca project. Reid, who has
all but accused Dick Cheney of using Enron executives to smuggle
hazardous nucleotides into the Cheerios of Nevada's children,
should be applauded for wanting to protect constituents like
Lothar tens of thousands of years from now. But I have bad news
for him: Lothar's a Republican.
To subscribe to National Review, click here. To subscribe to the
digital version of the magazine only, click here.
*****************************************************************
26 National Review Online: Jonah Goldberg on Yucca Mountain & John Kerry
E-mail Author [jonahnro@aol.com]
August 16, 2004, 12:43 p.m.
It was H. L. Mencken who said of Truman's 1948 campaign, "If
there had been any formidable body of cannibals in the country,
Harry Truman would have promised to provide them with free
missionaries fattened at the taxpayer's expense."
As John Kerry continues to talk tough on foreign policy, his
promise to block the Yucca Mountain Project shows that he's
running as a Truman Democrat on domestic policy, too.
Yucca Mountain, Nevada is the intended resting place of roughly
77,000 metric tons of deadly nuclear waste, which is currently
strewn across the country like socks and beer cans in a frat
house. The goal is to put the stuff in a single, safe location.
Nevadans like the idea, except for the part that involves keeping
it in their state.
In 2000, President Bush promised them he wouldn't support the
Yucca Mountain Project unless science said it was safe. Kerry
says Bush broke that promise when the president okayed Yucca in
2002 — even though Kerry himself has voted in favor of procedural
measures that advanced the project. Kerry responds that his only
"substantive vote" in favor of the Yucca Mountain repository was
in 1987, and it simply authorized further study of the most
studied parcel of land in the known universe.
"We were presuming at that point in time, though, that they were
going to do a safe analysis," Kerry told Nevada journalists last
week. "My opposition has been on the basis of the analysis that
has come back," Kerry said.
Now, I've been to Yucca Mountain and interviewed the scientists
there and read quite a few of the studies. And, frankly, I have
no idea what Kerry is talking about. Yucca Mountain is
indisputably the safest conceivable installation for nuclear
waste in America — and, quite probably, on the planet. If
terrorists wanted to, say, crash a 747 into Yucca Mountain,
they'd pretty much have to get past the Nellis Air Force base,
where the Air Force practices blowing things up. It's also the
home of the Air Warfare Center and the Air Force Weapons School.
It is where the Thunderbirds practice and the site of the
International combat-training exercise known as "Red Flag." Yucca
Mountain also abuts the highly secure Nevada Test Site where
we've blown up a kajillion atomic bombs.
Oh, and I should add that even if the terrorist-seized plane got
through and smacked the repository head-on, it wouldn't even
rattle the canisters under thousands of feet of Yucca Mountain
rock. In fact, a direct nuclear strike would mean next to nothing
in terms of safety.
But hey, even in the hugely unlikely scenario — and I really mean
hugely unlikely — that some nuclear material did get out, it
would still be in the middle of a godforsaken desert. Even what
little groundwater there is there — on the edge of Death Valley —
is self-contained.
Anyway, I could go on, but the science on this issue is so
settled that no one really disputes it. That's one reason why
we've heard so much hyperbole in recent years about how dangerous
it would be to transport the waste to Yucca Mountain. Once the
waste is there, it's not going to bother anybody.
The fear mongering over these so-called "mobile Chernobyls" is
bogus too. The containers can withstand virtually any imaginable
attack. In tests, they even drop the things from way up high onto
steel spikes and nothing happens. There have been more than 3,000
nuclear waste transports since 1964 without a single release.
Besides, if the fear is that terrorists can get their hands on
this material, why is it preferable to keep the ingredients for
dirty bombs at countless unguarded, disparate sites around the
country? Even if transport is risky, isn't leaving this junk
scattered across the country riskier? Kerry has criticized the
administration for not acting fast enough to collect and secure
nuclear materials in the former Soviet Union, why does he want to
prolong the process here at home?
Now, you might have heard that a recent court ruling dealt Yucca
supporters and the Bush administration a setback. Indeed, that's
probably the science Kerry is referring to when he says the Yucca
plan is flawed, since pretty much all of the other scientific and
legal questions have been resolved.
Well, the issue here is whether or not Yucca Mountain can be
guaranteed to be safe to the "public" — residing in the
facility's immediate vicinity — for only the next 10,000 years or
for the next 300,000 years. Yucca opponents say 10,000 years is
too short. Some perspective: Humans switched from
hunter-gatherers some 6,000 to 8,000 years ago. Also, if we come
up with better science in the next, say, 300 years, we can simply
go into Yucca Mountain and pull the junk out. Or if the creators
of Star Trek are right, we can beam it out.
John Kerry likes to say that the future doesn't belong to fear.
O.K., but why make America less safe today out of fear that in
10,000 years the desert near Death Valley might be slightly more
dangerous than a chest X-ray?
Copyright (c) 2004 Tribune Media Services
*****************************************************************
27 NFRO: MOUNTAIN VIEWS: YUCCA MOUNTAIN MAY SWING NEVADA FROM THE RED
COLUMN TO THE BLUE
Niagara Falls Reporter Opinion
By John Hanchette
OLEAN -- It will be interesting to learn how one science-related
element of the presidential election campaign plays out in
Western New York, and whether a snap-answer remark made by
Democratic candidate John Kerry last week more than half a nation
away can turn into a local hot-button issue that hurts President
Bush in this region.
Political experts expect Kerry to take New York state due to
overwhelming Democratic support in New York City, but a regional
glow-in-the-dark issue that is quietly ignored because of its
lack of any popular resolution has surfaced in the 2004
presidential fray. The problem is what to do with immense
quantities of nuclear waste buried about 25 miles up the road
from here in the Town of Ashford at the West Valley Demonstration
Project.
Much of the nuclear waste -- spent fuel left over from nuclear
power plants that have since been shut down -- was supposed to be
buried deep under Yucca Mountain about 90 miles northwest of Las
Vegas in Nevada in a controversial $58 billion project that would
seal off in one place similar substances from 111 radioactive
sites around the nation. The mountain would eventually sit atop
77,000 tons of spent fuel from research labs, nuclear power
plants, and reactors on Navy submarines and other ships. It would
be buried 1,000 feet deep.
George W. Bush, in the 2000 campaign, vowed he would oppose the
Yucca Mountain site unless scientists showed him it was
environmentally safe. Nevada voters, who heavily oppose situating
the rest of the nation's nuclear garbage in their wide-open
spaces, narrowly carried the state and its five electoral votes
for Bush -- largely on the strength of that promise.
Dubya was in office slightly more than a year when he quietly
reversed field and designated Yucca Mountain the ultimate
repository for dangerous nuclear waste now stored at more than
100 sites across the country, including West Valley. He said
science showed it safe, even though many scientists disagreed.
Nevada residents, including Republican leaders, howled. Legal
motions ensued. A federal court a few months ago ruled the
federal government had not set adequate standards to prevent
radioactive leaks far into the future. Bush shrugged it off and
said he would let the Nuclear Regulatory Commission or court
appeals decide the matter -- which seems headed for the Supreme
Court.
A week ago, Kerry was fielding questions in a Las Vegas library
appearance when a woman asked him about the topic.
He said, "With John Kerry as president, there is going to be no
nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain, period." Later, he lit into Bush
for "recklessness and arrogance" in approving the site while
safety and health issues are still unsettled. Bush hustled to Las
Vegas two days later to explain his decision and accuse Kerry
(and his running mate John Edwards) of flip-flopping after voting
in favor of Yucca Mountain in several Senate votes. The Kerry
campaign retorted those votes were either procedural or involved
broader general funding, and that the Massachusetts senator voted
no on the principal Yucca storage legislation.
Department of Energy studies show about 50 million Americans in
45 states live within a half-mile of planned highway and train
routes to be used for transportation of nuclear waste to Yucca
Mountain.
The flap poses a problem for Western New York Republican leaders.
They don't want to hurt President Bush's chances in a swing state
where even five electoral votes could decide the national contest
-- even if it means keeping mum about a health issue that many
constituents in this region consider vital. To praise the
permanent storage site and the White House decision might cheese
off enough Nevadans to lose a close election.
At the same time, some local GOP honchos are on the record
lauding Yucca Mountain as the solution to a vexing regional
headache and could gain local political favor by reiterating that
stance. Rep. Tom Reynolds, the regional GOP congressman currently
most concerned with West Valley, when Yucca Mountain was approved
in 2002, said, "Moving nuclear waste from temporary, stationary
sites such as West Valley to a permanent repository will make us
less susceptible to terrorist attacks, and will clear that waste
away from many sites that are near major cities and waterways."
Attempts to reach him on the Kerry comment were futile.
Indeed, West Valley has been the target of bad circumstance and
ill luck ever since it was designated more than 40 years ago as a
"temporary" repository for nuclear waste. Federal energy
authorities had quietly scheduled in mid-September of 2001 a
transcontinental train shipment of 125 highly radioactive nuclear
fuel assemblies from West Valley through 10 states to an Idaho
dump site. A few days before, on Sept. 11, terrorist hijackers
attacked the World Trade Center and Pentagon. The Department of
Energy postponed the removal due to fear the train would make a
vulnerable terrorist target.
In July of last year, the DOE quietly shipped by train the 125
irradiated fuel rod bundles from West Valley over 2,360 miles of
railroad to the Idaho site without informing local health
officials or first responders -- or the public -- in any of the
communities along the route. The seven-car train left Ashford
shortly after midnight. Again, the DOE chiefs said concern for
national security prompted the silence.
West Valley was closed in 1972 as a reprocessing facility for
spent fuel from civilian and military nuclear reactors, but not
before 5 million gallons of liquid radioactive wastes were
discharged into on-site tributaries of Cattaraugus Creek. The
Department of Energy took over the 3,345-acre site in 1981 and
was vexed with so much subsequent radioactive leakage that at one
point federal scientists considered stabilizing porous ground
sites with highly absorbent kitty litter. Currently, liquid
high-level radioactive wastes are captured and stabilized in
special glass canisters.
The overall disposal problem of this nightmare substance that was
a half-century ago hailed as the salvation of human power needs
was nicely put recently by Carol Mongerson, co-founder of the
activist West Valley Coalition on Nuclear Waste.
"There's no place that isn't somebody's backyard," she said.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
ANIMAL WELFARE -- Some months ago, I wrote a column explaining my
reasons for making charitable contributions to outfits that
advanced the good of animals, rather than humans. The
unconditional love and trust that pets show was one of them.
Great need was another. Absence of greed and thievery on the part
of animals was another.
Anyway, the column prompted a heavy flow of electronic mail, most
of it complimentary, and a couple of odd communications accusing
me of stupidly falling prey to the machinations of that great
malevolent lobby -- the vegetarians. I'm not a vegetarian, and I
don't give a hoot what other people want to eat as long as it's
not me. But cases keep coming along all the time that seem to
indicate severe neglect of animals is on the rise, not the wane.
Last November, in Fulton County in upstate New York, the local
SPCA and a rescue group called Spring Farm CARES intervened at a
farm where the owners kept more than 230 animals, including three
dozen wolf hounds, two Belgian draft horses, about a dozen other
horses, some pit bulls, rabbits, goats, donkeys, cows, sheep,
pigs, guinea pigs, chickens, peacocks, three Canada geese, and a
variety of other birds and animals.
According to Dana Campbell, a senior attorney with the Animal
Legal Defense Fund -- which later got involved -- the farm
conditions were "extremely squalid" and most of the animals were
"starving, emaciated, and some resorting to cannibalism to
survive." Half a dozen larger animals were already dead and one
of the living horses had to be put down because it was about 500
pounds underweight. Many of the animals were disease ridden.
Larger animals lay in mud, and -- reports Campbell -- smaller
animals were kept in cages with "accumulated feces, and even the
skeletal remains of animals that had died and decomposed." Some
rotting animal bodies were found in cages stacked six inches deep
in waste. The surviving animals were rescued and given veterinary
care. Some were placed in foster homes, and anti-cruelty
officials pressed for prosecution of the couple that owned the
farm for failure to provide proper food and water under New York
state's fairly strong Agriculture and Markets Law.
But by last March, the Fulton County district attorney's office
had failed to file any formal charges at all, and worse, planned
to return about 50 of the surviving farm animals back to the farm
couple. The Animal Legal Defense Fund and the New York State
Humane Association descended on Fulton County and organized
heavily publicized press conferences. The district attorney
finally filed multiple charges against the owners in May, and
publicly announced abandonment of plans to give any of the
rescued animals back to the accused farm couple.
The case is still pending, but these disturbing scenarios are not
uncommon. Campbell claims the local coverage in newspapers and on
TV "have generated calls from other animal protection agencies
and activists" in upstate New York asking for Animal Legal
Defense Fund's help with similar situations.
Joyce Tischler, executive director of the California-based ALDF,
maintains that Fulton County's response "to this horrific abuse
case is not unusual." She claims that "countless localities are
ignorant of relevant law and therefore fall short of their
responsibility to protect animals. District attorneys don't know
their legal options or, worse, can't be bothered. Law enforcement
doesn't want to invest the time, and even judges look the other
way."
What's worse, according to Tischler, is "that authorities were on
the verge of returning the animals who had been hurt so badly
back into the alleged abusers' clutches ... even when the neglect
and abuse was fully documented on film."
Sorry, I still think the cards are stacked against animals.
They can't go out and hire lawyers, or lobby the politicians, or
vote in sympathetic legislators. If we routinely treat them
badly, it's likely we'll treat fellow humans worse.
And for all you paid stooges from the beef lobby about to write
me under guise of common readers -- don't sweat it -- I'm fixing
to go out and eat a big fat steak right now.
John Hanchette, a professor of journalism at St. Bonaventure
University, is a former editor of the Niagara Gazette and a
Pulitzer Prize-winning national correspondent. He was a founding
editor of USA Today and was recently named by Gannett as one of
the Top 10 reporters of the past 25 years. He can be contacted
via e-mail at Hanchette6@aol.com. [Hanchette6@aol.com]
Niagara Falls Reporter www.niagarafallsreporter.com Aug. 17
2004
*****************************************************************
28 Boston.com: Tests to continue on Tewksbury's water supply
The Boston Globe"
August 16, 2004
A third round of testing of the town's water supply for a
chemical that can interfere with thyroid function will continue
today, and some residents have been told not to drink tap water.
The third round of testing began Saturday to determine the
prevalence of the chemical perchlorate, town manager David
Cressman said. ''I'm not sure whether this is entering the water
supply accidentally or intentionally," Cressman said. ''By this
time next week, we can inform [residents] if they can drink it or
not." Perchlorate was first spotted Aug. 3 in the water supply,
exceeding the state's Department of Environmental Protection's
interim guidelines of the substance for those who are pregnant,
under 12 years old, or have thyroid problems, Cressman said.
However, there is no official state or federal drinking water
standard for the chemical.
2004 The New York Times Company
*****************************************************************
29 AFP: French state company denies nuclear shipment is US military plutonium
WAR.WIRE [http://www.spacewar.com/]
CHERBOURG, France (AFP) Aug 16, 2004
France's state-owned Areva nuclear energy company denied Monday
that a truckload of plutonium it was sending to a subsidiary in
Belgium was US military grade, as the environmental group
Greenpeace claimed.
"It's not plutonium from the US disarmament plan," an Areva
executive, Thierry Langlois, told AFP. He described the plutonium
as civilian grade.
In a statement earlier Monday, Greenpeace said the truck, which
left an Areva factory in La Hague in western France for Dessel in
Belgium, was carrying plutonium left over from American Cold War
stocks that are being reduced.
The group said it would escort the truck and warn residents along
the roads of the radioactive cargo.
Langlois criticised the Greenpeace statement, adding "these
civilian transportations have been going on for more than 15
years" and all safety requirements were being met.
WAR.WIRE
*****************************************************************
30 PittsburghLIVE.com: Nuclear legacy studied -
KQV Radio [http://www.kqv.com/]
Monday, August 16, 2004
Professor studies island's nuclear legacy
Professor Dan Volz
Joanna Burger/For the Tribune-Review
By Jennifer Bails
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
In the icy rough waters where the Pacific Ocean meets the Bering
Sea, the island of Amchitka still bears the radioactive waste
burden of the Cold War.
In 1971, the now-defunct Atomic Energy Commission conducted the
largest underground nuclear explosion in the nation's history on
the remote Aleutian outpost to test a warhead for missile
defense.
The nearly 5-megaton bomb named Cannikin (pronounced CAN-ick-in
and meaning "airtight container") was detonated a mile beneath
the earth, lifting Amchitka one foot in the air and drowning its
rugged cliffs in waves two stories high.
Felt throughout Alaska as a massive earthquake, the thermonuclear
blast was almost 400 times more powerful than the weapon that
destroyed Hiroshima.
More than 30 years later, it's still unclear whether radioactive
particles released underground by Cannikin and two smaller
nuclear test blasts on the island are leaking from the
bomb-created glass-lined cavity where they are supposed to be
contained.
This nuclear legacy could pose a threat to marine life in the
waters around the island and to the health of people across the
world who consume fish caught there.
Two-month expedition
To assess this risk, Conrad "Dan" Volz, a professor at the
University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health, spent
about two months this summer as project director of a $3.1
million scientific expedition to Amchitka (an Aleut word
pronounced am-CHIT-kah) paid for by the U.S. Department of
Energy.
The DOE is moving to designate the island as a national wildlife
refuge under the stewardship of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service. Before this transfer can take place, the federal
government is seeking to find out whether radioactive material
from the three nuclear tests is seeping from the bomb craters
into Amchitka's marine ecosystem.
"There may not be a leak on Amchitka now, but it will leak
someday," said Volz, 51, of West Deer. "We need to get a
complete picture of what's going on so the government can
develop a plan for the island's future."
The environmental and economic stakes are high.
Amchitka is home to a diverse web of marine life that includes
kelp beds, king crab, bald eagles, puffins, halibut, cod, sea
otters, sea lions and killer whales.
Also, the waters off the island are popular with both commercial
and native fishermen.
Statewide, fish and shellfish brought in more than $1.1 billion
in revenue in 2003, along with $50 million in taxes for Alaska,
according to the state's Division of Commercial Fisheries. In
addition, more than 100,000 subsistence fishermen in Alaska
depend on what they catch to survive, Volz said.
Therefore, cancer-causing radioactive particles detected in the
heavily fished waters around Amchitka could have consequences
not only for marine life, but for the health of the Alaskan
fisheries industry, native Aleutians and seafood consumers
worldwide.
The Amchitka research study is being conducted by CRESP, the
Consortium for Risk Evaluation with Stakeholder Participation.
Launched in 1995, CRESP is an independent partnership among
university researchers, including Volz, working to help the
federal government make decisions about cleaning up the nation's
nuclear weapons sites. Dr. Bernard Goldstein, the dean of Pitt's
Graduate School of Public Health, serves on CRESP's management
board.
Volz came to the university about six years ago to pursue his
doctorate in public health after selling his Harmar-based
environmental services company. CRESP tapped him to lead the
Amchitka field expedition because of his project management and
outdoors experience.
"What Dr. Volz accomplished on Amchitka epitomizes environmental
public health practice under very challenging conditions,"
Goldstein said.
'Adventure of a lifetime'
Volz is an accomplished mountaineer and river raft guide who has
trekked across Glacier National Park in Montana, hiked the
beaches of Normandy and traversed the Paintbrush Divide in the
Grand Tetons.
But he calls his journey to Amchitka "the adventure of a
lifetime."
The seismically active island with weekly earthquakes is a few
miles from the international dateline and much closer to Russia
than to mainland Alaska. Summer days are long and cold, and
violent snowstorms aren't uncommon in the middle of July.
"You are really at the end of the earth on Amchitka," Volz said.
In the early 1960s, the government chose the 40-mile-long island
for underground nuclear tests that were too large for Nevada. No
one lives on Amchitka, although native Aleuts on Adak Island 155
miles away fish in the surrounding waters and view the region as
their historic home.
Volz accompanied two teams of about a dozen scientists to the
island this summer aboard a 160-foot trawler called the Ocean
Expedition that doubled as a research laboratory and seafaring
hotel.
The first team was in charge of oceanographic bottom mapping and
land geophysics.
They used sonar to survey the ocean bottom near the blast
cavities for fractures that might have been caused by the
movement of the island chain, seismic activity or the bomb
tests. These fractures could make it easier for radionuclides,
such as cancer-causing plutonium, uranium and cesium, to escape
into the ocean, Volz said.
In addition, the team used electronic underwater probes to look
for indications that freshwater might be entering the ocean
bottom. This could provide evidence that radionuclide-containing
groundwater is flowing from the bomb cavities.
They also measured the depth of freshwater over the blast
cavities to better predict the position of potential seepages.
The second group of scientists used these physical data to
select the locations where radionuclides would be most likely to
enter the sea.
They worked day and night at these sites for about six weeks to
collect thousands of tissue samples from a dazzling menagerie of
algae, small invertebrates such as sea urchins, fish and
seabirds.
To do so, they braved storms on the open ocean with swells
taller than 40 feet and winds fiercer than 80 mph. They
rappelled down steep cliffs to a bald eagle's nest. They went
scuba diving in freezing cold waters. They trekked through
fields of waist-high tundra grass to search for ducks. They
caught 150-pound halibut off the rear of their boat.
"Life's a little too mundane now that I'm back in Pittsburgh,"
Volz said. "I keep thinking I'd much rather be at the back end
of a trawler with the waves breaking over my head."
The next steps
In the next few months, the samples of marine life collected at
Amchitka will be analyzed for radioactive contamination by
researchers at the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory and the
Vanderbilt University Department of Civil and Environmental
Engineering in Nashville.
These results will be compared to data gathered from an
uncontaminated reference island nearby.
Of particular concern are birds and mammals -- including humans
-- at the top of the food chain, which ingest all of the
contaminants accumulated in the tissues of their food.
That's why commercial fishermen in Alaska and native Aleutians
are anxiously awaiting results of the Amchitka study, which will
not be published until spring, Volz said.
"I sincerely hope that we find no difference between the animals
on Amchitka and those at our reference site," Volz said. "That
would take us into really having to define a problem that might
exist."
There is no way to plug a deep underwater radiation leak. If
higher than normal levels of radionuclides are detected in the
waters around Amchitka, the best solution would be a long-term
monitoring program, Volz said.
If contamination is found, restrictions might have to be placed
on fishing in certain areas, he said. Scientists also would have
to determine the real risk posed to human health by eating fish
caught near the island and issue warnings accordingly so people
could make informed dietary decisions, Volz said.
In Pennsylvania, for example, state agencies caution against
eating more than one serving a week of fish caught in state
waterways because of concern about mercury and PCBs.
Lessons learned in the Aleutian Islands could be put to use at
other so-called nuclear legacy sites, including those in
Southwestern Pennsylvania, Volz said.
"We want to do the things we're doing at such faraway sites
locally," he said. "There are a number of Superfund sites in the
region that need to be (cleaned up), and the Graduate School of
Public Health together with CRESP has the institutional
capability to make this happen."
Jennifer Bails can be reached at jbails@tribweb.com
[jbails@tribweb.com] or (412) 320-7991.
Images and text copyright © 2004 by The Tribune-Review Publishing
Co.
*****************************************************************
31 UPI: Japan submits nuclear disarmament proposal -
(United Press International)
August 16, 2004
Tokyo, Japan, Aug. 16 (UPI) -- Japan has decided to submit a
nuclear disarmament resolution to the U.N. General Assembly this
autumn, its 11th such resolution since 1994.
Yomiuri Shimbun reported Monday that the resolution would call on
all nations to sign and ratify the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty
quickly, and to suspend all nuclear tests until the treaty came
into effect.
The government expects the resolution, titled "The Ultimate
Elimination of Nuclear Weapons," to be adopted, as similar
resolutions submitted each year from 1994 to 1999 were adopted by
the assembly.
However, the United States, which signed but has yet to ratify
the treaty, is likely to oppose it, as has been the case since
2001. The treaty bans all nuclear tests, including those carried
out underground and in space.
The resolution will also express concern about the existence of a
black market in nuclear weapons technology.
[UPI Perspectives]
*****************************************************************
32 Xinhuanet: IAEA to set up forum on creating nuclear-free Mideast
www.xinhuanet.com
www.chinaview.cn 2004-08-16 10:43:25
CAIRO, Aug. 15 (Xinhuanet) -- Egyptian Foreign Minister
Ahmed Abul Gheit said on Sunday that the International Atomic
Energy Agency (IAEA) was preparing to set up a forum on creating
a nuclear-free Middle East.
Speaking to reporters after talks with IAEA Director-General
Mohamed ElBaradei, Abul Gheit said the forum, likely to be hosted
by Austria next January, would bring together Middle East
countries and the UN Security Council's permanent members.
"The proposed forum would be a chance to exchange views
between parties concerned and mark a step toward freeing the
region of nuclear weapons," the top Egyptian diplomat said.
He also reiterated Egypt's readiness to offer necessary
support to render the gathering a success.
For his part, ElBaradei said he had exchanged views with Abul
Gheit on a number of issues, such as security in the Middle East,
the IAEA's efforts and an international call for a nuclear-free
Middle East.
He said the envisaged forum would see the participation of all
countries in the region, including Israel.
"A durable and comprehensive peace in the region can not be
realized unless parties concerned understand the importance of
regional security and the issue of weapons of mass destruction,
including nuclear capacities," he said.
Egypt has long called on Israel to ratify the Nuclear
Non-Proliferation Treaty and make the Middle East a region free
of weapons of mass destruction. Enditem
Copyright ©2003 Xinhua News Agency. All rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
33 AFP: Middle East nuclear disarmament on agenda in January - IAEA chief
WAR.WIRE
[http://www.spacewar.com
CAIRO (AFP) Aug 15, 2004
Nuclear disarmament in the Middle East will be the subject of
talks in Vienna in January, International Atomic Energy Agency
director general Mohamed ElBaradei announced here Sunday.
"We have agreed to hold a forum on creation of nuclear-free zones
in the world, especially in the Middle East, in January 2005 in
Vienna," ElBaradei said after talks with Egyptian Foreign
Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit.
"With the participation of Arab states, Israel and other
countries in the region, the forum will be an occasion to open
talks on the necessary conditions for the creation of a
nuclear-free zone in the Middle East," he said.
ElBaradei added: "The IAEA is prepared to send observers to Egypt
and Jordan to monitor whether there is any evidence of nuclear
radiation emanating from Israel."
The press in the Arab world has for several weeks expressed fears
of contamination from the Israeli nuclear power plant in Dimona,
in the southern Negev desert.
Egyptian newspapers have even written of the dangers for the
region of Israel burying nuclear waste in the Gaza Strip.
The question of radiation from the Dimona plant "should not be
linked to the observation by Israel of the nuclear
Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) nor inspection by the IAEA of
Israel's nuclear activity", ElBaradei added.
It was necessary to distinguish between questions concerning
nuclear development for military purposes and the question of
safety, he said.
Israel has refused to discuss the question of regional safety
arising out of its nuclear programme before reaching a peace
agreement with its Arab neighbours. It remains one of the few
countries not to have signed the NPT and will not allow
inspection of the reactor at Dimona.
WAR.WIRE
*****************************************************************
34 Rocky Mountain News: Jeffco firm takes on finding 'dirty bombs'
ADA Technologies uses federal funds for work on sensors
By Jeff Smith, Rocky Mountain News August 16, 2004
JEFFERSON COUNTY - Wonder what the government is doing about
homeland security, nearly three years after Sept. 11?
ADA Technologies offers a clue.
The small Jefferson County technology company has gobbled up
more than $4 million of federal research grants and contracts to
develop a miniature weather station and sensors to detect "dirty
bombs" and chemical warfare agents.
A dirty bomb is a conventional weapon that spreads lethal
radioactive material over an area.
The portable system is being designed so data can be collected
and then sent wirelessly to personal computers at other
locations.
Emergency response teams then can evacuate people based on the
data collected about the bad stuff, and on computer models
indicating where it is likely to spread.
Depending on its proximity, the system theoretically could detect
the "signature" of a dirty bomb before it exploded and spewed
radiation into the air.
"It depends how well it's shielded, how much material it
contains, what the distance is from the sensor," said Patrick
French, ADA's instruments program manager.
Detecting dirty bombs is only one project that keeps ADA's 30
employees busy.
The company, founded in 1985, has deployed technology to extract
mercury from dental waste and reduce mercury emissions in power
plants. Other gadgets in development remove arsenic from drinking
water, detect land mines, sense when a pear is ripe and help
amputees grip objects.
A visit to the company's headquarters in a business park in the
southwest metro area offers a look at engineers and expert
tinkerers in action.
Prototypes of the miniature weather station in a can line one
cubicle near "Geek Lane." Lab and workshop space are filled with
everything from power plant pipes to an automated weather balloon
launching system.
It may be no accident ADA is partly focused on miniature weather
stations.
The winds are hardly predictable in the area and once, while the
business park was under development, a sheet of corrugated metal
came hurtling toward the building, breaking glass everywhere.
Luckily, an employee in the path of the glass was bending over to
get something from his filing cabinet at the time. His area has
been dubbed "Tornado Alley."
While ADA is best-known for mercury reduction efforts, homeland
security technology may hold the most allure.
The company already has developed a rugged, polyurethane-covered
aluminum meteorological station not much larger than a 12-ounce
beverage can.
The weather station includes pressure, humidity and temperature
sensors, a two-way radio modem, and a global positioning system.
Data are transmitted from the station to remote computer
terminals for further analysis, and weather models can be
developed.
The Department of Defense is buying 125 of the miniature weather
stations combined with satellite communications for possible
deployment around the world.
Military medical units can use the low-power, lightweight
portable units to determine weather stress such as heat strain on
soldiers.
"We're also looking at tamer stuff," French said, such as
monitoring weather conditions at sea to help guide commercial
ships away from severe storms.
That's an interest of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration, which also wants to use the portable units to
beef up data about changes in global climate.
Then there's the homeland security applications.
ADA is developing sensor modules that will attach to the
miniature weather stations to detect specific types of radiation
such as plutonium or cesium, as well as chemical warfare agents
such as the nerve agent sarin.
Clemson University is a partner, lending its scientific
expertise.
A generic interface with the weather station will allow modules
to be added and subtracted depending on what is being monitored.
ADA hopes to tap into a burgeoning multibillion-dollar homeland
security market.
The Department of Homeland Security is funding many technologies
to detect and filter harmful stuff and protect humans.
But some monitoring devices today don't distinguish between
harmful radiation and natural radiation that occurs in such
common household items as concrete, bananas and kitty litter.
French referred to a case where security agents were following
heart patients home because the agent's devices were picking up
heart treatment tracers.
ADA's systems are still in the design stage - so it's too early
for the firm to provide cost estimates.
French said the so-called Situational Awareness Monitoring
Systems (SAMS) could provide realistic scenarios to help train
emergency response teams.
The systems also could be used at high-profile events like the
Olympics or the G-8 conference of world leaders, or could be
spread in cities to help protect roads, ports, railways and other
sensitive installations.
In Denver, for example, the canisters and additional wireless
sensors could be deployed on major highways, at Denver
International Airport, the state Capitol, stadiums and other
public venues.
But ADA's units would be effective only in preventing attacks if
the harmful material isn't well shielded and is within a close
range.
"When you double the distance, the signal goes down by a factor
of four," said Cliff Brown, ADA's president and chief executive.
Anthony Kimery, a senior correspondent in Washington, D.C., for
HSToday magazine, which covers homeland security issues, said it
sounds as if ADA's technology will be most applicable "after the
fact" in terms of predicting fallout.
Kimery noted there are other companies with technologies being
used to scan cargo containers, trucks at border crossings and
monitor special events like the recent Democratic National
Convention in Boston.
For example, the much bigger Scientific Applications
International has developed devices ranging from a system that
can scan a semi-trailer in seconds to a pager-sized unit to
monitor worker radiation exposure.
One big issue is the effectiveness of any of these devices to
detect harmful stuff that is well shielded.
"If it's shielded (as it crosses the border), it probably won't
be detected," Kimery said. "If you're dealing with a very
sophisticated terrorist group that wants to explode a nuke or
dirty bomb, they might go the extra step to shield it."
But Kimery and French also both note suicide bombers are less
likely to be concerned with shielding their devices. It also is
more difficult to adequately shield an explosive in a suitcase
than in a huge van.
It remains uncertain to what extent dirty-bomb and other
detection devices will be deployed.
"There needs to be more, but a lot of the technology is very
expensive," Kimery said. "To deploy it everywhere it needs to be
deployed - I don't know if that's ever going to happen. There are
still a lot of high-risk metropolitan areas where there isn't
this kind of sensor capability."
French of ADA agreed. "Nobody really knows if they're going to
litter Denver with these or concentrate on ports of entry," he
said.
2004 © The E.W. Scripps Co. Privacy
*****************************************************************
35 DOE: Environmental Management Site-Specific Advisory Board, Paducah
FR Doc 04-18667
[Federal Register: August 16, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 157)]
[Notices] [Page 50364] From the Federal Register Online via GPO
Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr16au04-55]
AGENCY: Department of Energy.
ACTION: Notice of open meeting.
SUMMARY: This notice announces a meeting of the Environmental
Management Site-Specific Advisory Board (EM SSAB), Paducah. The
Federal Advisory Committee Act (Pub. L. 92-463, 86 Stat. 770)
requires that public notice of these meetings be announced in the
Federal Register.
DATES: Thursday, September 16, 2004, 5:30 p.m.-9:30 p.m.
ADDRESSES: 111 Memorial Drive, Barkley Centre, Paducah, Kentucky
42001.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: William E. Murphie, Deputy
Designated Federal Officer (DDFO), Department of Energy
Portsmouth/Paducah Project Office, 1017 Majestic Drive, Suite
200, Lexington, Kentucky 40513, (859) 219-4001.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Purpose of the Board: The purpose of
the Board is to make recommendations to DOE in the areas of
environmental restoration, waste management and related
activities.
Tentative Agenda 5:30 p.m.--Informal Discussion 6 p.m.--Call to
Order; Introductions; Review Agenda; Approval of August Minutes;
Election of Chair and Chair Elect 6:30 p.m.--DDFO's Comments 6:35
p.m.--Federal Coordinator Comments 6:40 p.m.--Ex-Officio Comments
6:45 p.m.--Public Comments and Questions 7 p.m.--Task
Forces/Presentations Waste Disposition Water Quality Long Range
Strategy/Stewardship--Chairs Meeting Community Outreach 8
p.m.--Public Comments and Questions 8:15 p.m.--Break 8:30
p.m.--Administrative Issues Review of Work Plan Review of Next
Agenda 8:40 p.m.--Review of Action Items 8:45 p.m.--Subcommittee
Reports Executive Committee--Proposed Membership 9 p.m.--Final
Comments 9:30 p.m.--Adjourn Copies of the final agenda will be
available at the meeting.
Public Participation: The meeting is open to the public.
Written statements may be filed with the Committee either before
or after the meeting. Individuals who wish to make oral
statements pertaining to agenda items should contact David
Dollins at the address listed below or by telephone at (270)
441-6819. Requests must be received five days prior to the
meeting and reasonable provision will be made to include the
presentation in the agenda. The Deputy Designated Federal Officer
is empowered to conduct the meeting in a fashion that will
facilitate the orderly conduct of business. Each individual
wishing to make public comments will be provided a maximum of
five minutes to present their comments as the first item of the
meeting agenda.
Minutes: The minutes of this meeting will be available for public
review and copying at the Freedom of Information Public Reading
Room, 1E-190, Forrestal Building, 1000 Independence Avenue, SW.,
Washington, DC 20585, between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m., Monday-Friday,
except Federal holidays. Minutes will also be available at the
Department of Energy's Environmental Information Center and
Reading Room at 115 Memorial Drive, Barkley Centre, Paducah,
Kentucky, between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. on Monday thru Friday or by
writing to David Dollins, Department of Energy Paducah Site
Office, Post Office Box 1410, MS-103, Paducah, Kentucky 42001, or
by calling him at (270) 441-6819.
Issued at Washington, DC, on August 11, 2004.
Rachel Samuel, Deputy Advisory Committee Management Officer.
[FR Doc. 04-18667 Filed 8-13-04; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 6450-01-P
*****************************************************************
36 DOE: Environmental Management Site-Specific Advisory Board, Savannah
FR Doc 04-18668
[Federal Register: August 16, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 157)]
[Notices] [Page 50364-50365] From the Federal Register Online via
GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr16au04-56]
River AGENCY: Department of Energy.
ACTION: Notice of open meeting.
SUMMARY: This notice announces a meeting of the Environmental
Management Site-Specific Advisory Board (EM SSAB), Savannah
River. The Federal Advisory Committee Act (Pub. L. 92-463, 86
Stat.770) requires that public notice of these meetings be
announced in the Federal Register.
DATES: Friday, September 10, 2004; 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday,
September 11, 2004; 8:30 a.m.-12 noon
ADDRESSES: Holiday Inn, One Center Street, Folly Beach, SC 29439.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Gerri Flemming, Closure Project
Office, Department of Energy Savannah River Operations Office,
P.O. Box A, Aiken, SC, 29802; Phone: (803) 952-7886.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Purpose of the Board: The purpose of
the Board is to make recommendations to DOE in the areas of
environmental restoration, waste management, and related
activities.
Tentative Agendas Friday, September 10, 2004 8:30 a.m.--Basics of
Radiation 11 a.m.--Nuclear Materials 101 Noon--Lunch 1
p.m.--Nuclear Materials 101 (continued) 2:15 p.m.--Waste 101 3:45
p.m.--Hazard, Risk and Safety at SRS 5 p.m.--Adjourn Saturday,
September 11, 2004 8:30 a.m.--Overview of DOE Organization 9
a.m.--Overview of Cleanup Decision Making 12:15 p.m.--Adjourn A
final agenda will be available at the meeting Friday, September
10, 2004.
Public Participation: The meeting is open to the public.
Written statements may be filed with the Board either before or
after the meeting. Individuals who wish to make the oral
statements
[[Page 50365]] pertaining to agenda items should contact Gerri
Flemming's office at the address or telephone listed above.
Requests must be received five days prior to the meeting and
reasonable provision will be made to include the presentation in
the agenda. The Designated Federal Officer is empowered to
conduct the meeting in a fashion that will facilitate the orderly
conduct business. Each individual wishing to make public comment
will be provided equal time to present their comments.
Minutes: The minutes of this meeting will be available for public
review and copying at the Freedom of Information Public Reading
Room, 1E-190, Forrestal Building, 1000 Independence Avenue, SW.,
Washington, DC, 20585 between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m., Monday through
Friday, except Federal holidays. Minutes will also be available
by writing to Gerri Flemming, Department of Energy Savannah River
Operations Office, P.O. Box A, Aiken, SC, 29802, or by calling
her at (803) 952-7886.
Issued at Washington, DC on August 11, 2004.
Rachel Samuel, Deputy Advisory Committee Management Officer.
[FR Doc. 04-18668 Filed 8-13-04; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 6450-01-P
*****************************************************************
37 DOE: Environmental Management Site-Specific Advisory Board, Rocky
FR Doc 04-18669
[Federal Register: August 16, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 157)]
[Notices] [Page 50365] From the Federal Register Online via GPO
Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr16au04-57]
Flats AGENCY: Department of Energy.
ACTION: Notice of open meeting.
SUMMARY: This notice announces a meeting of the Environmental
Management Site-Specific Advisory Board (EM SSAB), Rocky Flats.
The Federal Advisory Committee Act (Pub. L. 92-463, 86 Stat. 770)
requires that public notices of these meetings be announced in
the Federal Register.
DATES: Thursday, September 9, 2004; 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.
ADDRESSES: College Hill Library, Room L268, Front Range Community
College, 3705 West 112th Avenue, Westminster, CO.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ken Korkia, Board/Staff
Coordinator, Rocky Flats Citizens Advisory Board, 10808 Highway
93, Unit B, Building 60, Room 107B, Golden, CO, 80403; telephone
(303) 966-7855; fax (303) 966-7856.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Purpose of the Board: The purpose of
the Board is to make recommendations to DOE in the areas of
environmental restoration, waste management, and related
activities.
Tentative Agenda: 1. Presentation on Original Landfill
Remediation Proposal 2. Educational Presentation on Comprehensive
Risk Assessment Methodology 3. Other Board business may be
conducted as necessary Public Participation: The meeting is open
to the public.
Written statements may be filed with the Board either before or
after the meeting. Individuals who wish to make oral statements
pertaining to agenda items should contact Ken Korkia at the
address or telephone number listed above. Requests must be
received at least five days prior to the meeting and reasonable
provisions will be made to include the presentation in the
agenda. The Deputy Designated Federal Officer is empowered to
conduct the meeting in a fashion that will facilitate the orderly
conduct of business. Each individual wishing to make public
comment will be provided a maximum of five minutes to present
their comments.
Minutes: The minutes of this meeting will be available for public
review and copying at the office of the Rocky Flats Citizens
Advisory Board, 10808 Highway 93, Unit B, Building 60, Room 107B,
Golden, CO 80403; telephone (303) 966-7855. Hours of operations
are 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday. Minutes will also
be made available by writing or calling Ken Korkia at the address
or telephone number listed above. Board meeting minutes are
posted on RFCAB's Web site within one month following each
meeting at: http://www.rfcab.org/Minutes.HTML
[http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/leaving.cgi?from=leaving
FR.html&log=linklog&to=http://www.rfcab.org/Minutes.HTML] .
Issued at Washington, DC on August 11, 2004.
Rachel M. Samuel, Deputy Advisory Committee Management Officer.
[FR Doc. 04-18669 Filed 8-13-04; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 6450-01-P
*****************************************************************
38 AP Wire: Idaho National Laboratory may pick up plutonium project
| 08/16/2004 |
Associated Press
IDAHO FALLS, Idaho - There are two finalists for a federal
facility to produce the fuel for batteries to enable satellites
and probes to flourish in space, an official said Monday.
The program to produce the radioactive fuel will either be housed
at eastern Idaho's Argonne National Laboratory-West or at the Oak
Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee.
The final decision depends on an environmental review by the
Department of Energy, which will determine the future production
of plutonium-238.
"That has to occur before we know whether more plutonium will be
produced," spokesman Tim Jackson said Monday.
Plutonium-238 is made by processing neptunium-237, another
radioactive element.
As it decays, plutonium generates heat which is used to make
electricity inside radioisotopic thermal generators. This process
has supplied power to probes NASA's Galileo and Cassini.
Although the Energy Department has already decided to move
neptunium-237 from its Savannah River Site in South Carolina to
Argonne-West, it is unclear when those shipments will begin,
Jackson said.
Bill Magwood, director of nuclear energy research, decided to
move the material to Argonne-West as part of the consolidation of
nuclear energy research at the future Idaho National Laboratory.
The decision, announced Friday in the Federal Register, indicates
the Idaho facility already meets stricter security requirements
and has the storage space available for the neptunium, while the
Oak Ridge site does not meet security standards.
Moving the entire plutonium project to Idaho is expected to carry
a price tag of about $200 million.
At a hearing last month on the INL, Sen. Lamar Alexander,
R-Tenn., criticized spending the money on moving the program to
Idaho. He said it would have been better spent on other projects.
Argonne-West is currently building a new radioisotopic thermal
generators for a Pluto probe, scheduled to be launched in 2006.
The Idaho National Laboratory will be created in February by the
merger of Argonne-West and the Idaho National Engineering and
Environmental Laboratory.
*****************************************************************
39 Oak Ridger: Running a weapons plant
Story last updated at 11:47 a.m. on August 16, 2004
By: Paul Parson | Oak Ridger Staff paul.parson@oakridger.com
[paul.parson@oakridger.com]
If BWXT Y-12's contract to manage the Y-12 National Security
Complex is extended, does that mean Dennis Ruddy will stick
around as the company's chief?
"I can easily see myself finishing up my career at Y-12," said
Ruddy, who'll turn 59 at the end of the month. "But, you never
know when somebody's gonna tell you that they need you somewhere
else."
Since that could happen, is Ruddy already grooming someone to
take over as BWXT Y-12's president and general manager?
"I won't bring anybody on my staff that doesn't have the
potential on that day to become my replacement," Ruddy said in a
recent interview.
One BWXT Y-12 employee who seems to be gaining responsibilities
lately is 43-year-old Randy Spickard, director of National
Security Programs. However, Spickard, who accompanied Ruddy on
the interview, denied that he's a "right-hand man" or possible
replacement for the BWXT Y-12 president.
"I'm just part of the team," Spickard said.
Ruddy suggested that Spickard's experience makes him a qualified
candidate for the top BWXT Y-12 post.
Spickard joined Y-12 from BWX Technologies in Lynchburg, Va.,
where he was a senior-level program manager with a broad
background in engineering, technology development and project
management. In addition, he has more than 15 years experience in
nuclear operations and international technical oversight.
As for his work at Y-12, Spickard said his job title - director
of National Security Programs - is a little deceptive.
"A lot of people get confused thinking I have something to do
with security, which I don't," he said.
Instead, National Security Programs is responsible for
nonproliferation activities, supplying nuclear fuel to the
Tennessee Valley Authority and the United States Navy, and
performing first-of-a-kind manufacturing for government agencies.
Y-12's public and governmental affairs activities also now fall
under this program.
Also on the Y-12 management team is Steve Liedle, who joined BWXT
Y-12 earlier this year as deputy general manager. Prior to that,
he served as head of Bechtel Jacobs Co., which oversees DOE's Oak
Ridge cleanup efforts.
*****************************************************************
40 Oak Ridger: Fate of Y-12 contract to be decided soon
Story last updated at 11:48 a.m. on August 16, 2004
SPOKESWOMAN: 'NNSA is scheduled to provide BWXT Y-12 a notice of
intent letter on any contract extension by Sept. 30.'
By: Paul Parson | Oak Ridger Staff paul.parson@oakridger.com
[paul.parson@oakridger.com]
With a final decision looming, Dennis Ruddy wants the company he
heads to continue managing Oak Ridge's nuclear weapons plant.
"You betcha," the president and general manager of BWXT Y-12 said
in a recent interview.
However, Ruddy noted the National Nuclear Security Administration
has officially remained mum on what might happen with the Y-12
National Security Complex contract. He did acknowledged that the
answer might lie in the fees and other awards the government has
bestowed on the company.
"All of those things seem real positive," Ruddy said.
For fiscal year 2003, the NNSA awarded BWXT Y-12 more than $21
million for managing the plant. The company earned $16 million
for its first 11 months and received $19.3 million for fiscal
year 2002.
Under a five-year contract, BWXT Y-12 officially took over as
manager of the weapons plant in November 2000. Typically, the
fate of a contract is decided about a year before it expires, and
there is a clause that allows for the Y-12 deal to be renewed up
to five more years.
DiAnn Fields, a Department of Energy spokeswoman, said the Oak
Ridge NNSA office has "prepared and submitted an exercise the
option recommendation package" for the Y-12 deal. The NNSA is the
quasi-independent agency within DOE that oversees the nuclear
weapons complex.
"NNSA headquarters will make the final decision as to what, if
any, period of the option period will be exercised," she said.
"NNSA is scheduled to provide BWXT Y-12 a notice of intent letter
on any contract extension by Sept. 30."
One thing that hinges on the contract renewal is BWXT Y-12's $1
million donation to the Oak Ridge High School renovation project
over a five-year period. It's a contribution that could grow to
$2.5 million.
"If we didn't get the extension, clearly we're not gonna be a
citizen of Oak Ridge," Ruddy said in the interview. "It would
hardly make sense for us to make a long-term commitment to the
high school without that commitment to us."
On the down side, Y-12 has endured some negative news this year,
with reports surfacing of 200-plus missing keys and the issuance
of an $82,500 fine for a small explosion and subsequent fire that
happened over a year ago.
*****************************************************************
41 Oak Ridger: K-25 cleanup contracts awarded
Story last updated at 12:16 p.m. on August 16, 2004
By: Paul Parson | Oak Ridger Staff paul.parson@oakridger.com
[paul.parson@oakridger.com]
Bechtel Jacobs Co. recently awarded three contracts associated
with the cleanup of two World War II-era buildings at the
historic Oak Ridge K-25 site.
Dennis Hill, a spokesman for Bechtel Jacobs, said the deals are
part of the ongoing work in the K-25 and K-27 buildings.
According to Hill, WESKEM was awarded a $4.5 million contract for
temporary utility services in the two buildings. He also said
Pangea Group got a $3 million deal to install a new security
fence around the K-25 building while MDM Services received a $1.4
million contract to sample some of the process equipment in the
two facilities.
Both the K-25 and K-27 buildings are part of the cleanup program
that Bechtel Jacobs oversees for the Department of Energy.
The U-shaped K-25 building was the original gaseous diffusion
facility at the K-25 site where uranium was enriched initially
for nuclear weapons and later for nuclear fuel. A group of
community members is currently working on an effort to save a
slice of this building's history.
*****************************************************************
42 PISJ: INEEL director of safety to address Rotary Club
Pocatello Idaho State Journal:
POCATELLO - Tim Leahy, director of nuclear safety and regulatory
programs at INEEL, will speak at the Gate City Rotary Club's Aug.
24 meeting, according to a press release.
Beginning at noon at the Holiday Inn in Pocatello, Leahy will
discuss nuclear research at the Idaho National Engineering and
Environmental Laboratory.
According to a press release, Leahy's employees are responsible
for carrying out risk, reliability and regulatory support for the
Nuclear Regulatory Commission and INEEL operations. He is a
well-known lecturer on risk topics for national and international
organizations and universities.
[schunt@journalnet.com]
16, 2004
Copyright © 2004 Pocatello Idaho State Journal
P O Box 431 Pocatello, ID 83204-0431
*****************************************************************
43 WATE: Bechtel Jacobs awards new contracts for uranium cleanup
http://WATE.static.worldnow.com
August 16, 2004
OAK RIDGE, (AP) -- The Energy Department contractor overseeing
environmental cleanup of the government's old uranium enrichment
plants at Oak Ridge has awarded new contracts.
Bechtel Jacobs awarded a series of contracts involving the
plants.
A $4.5 million award to Weskem is for construction of utility
services at the K-25 and K-27 plants. That's for temporary
service so utilities at the buildings can be turned off and
dismantled.
The buildings are being decommissioned and will eventually be
demolished.
The buildings are from the World War II era and house equipment
once used to process uranium for use in atomic weapons.
The contaminated equipment will be taken apart and prepared for
disposal. The project is scheduled for completion by 2009.
The federal site will then be converted to private uses.
Copyright 2004 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
[http://www.worldnow.com] All content © Copyright 2000 -
2004 WorldNow and WATE. All Rights Reserved.
*****************************************************************
44 DOE: Office of Fossil Energy; Methane Hydrate Advisory Committee
FR Doc 04-18666
[Federal Register: August 16, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 157)]
[Notices] [Page 50365-50366] From the Federal Register Online via
GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr16au04-58]
AGENCY: Department of Energy.
ACTION: Notice of open meeting.
SUMMARY: This notice announces a meeting of the Methane Hydrate
Advisory Committee. Federal Advisory Committee Act (Public Law
92-463, 86 Stat. 770) requires notice of these meetings be
announced in the Federal Register.
DATES: Tuesday, September 21, 2004, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and
Wednesday, September 22, 2004, 8 a.m. to 2:45 p.m.
ADDRESSES: Sea Lodge, 8110 Camino del Oro, La Jolla, California
92037.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Edith Allison, U.S. Department
of Energy, Office of Oil and Natural Gas, Washington, DC 20585.
Phone: (202) 586-1023.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Purpose of the Committee: The purpose
of the Methane Hydrate Advisory Committee is to provide advice on
potential applications of methane hydrate to the Secretary of
Energy; assist in developing recommendations and priorities for
the Department of Energy methane hydrate research and development
program; and submit to Congress a report on the anticipated
impact on global climate change from methane hydrate formation,
methane hydrate degassing, and consumption of natural gas
produced from methane hydrates.
Tentative Agenda: Tuesday, September 21 Morning Welcome and
Introductions--James Slutz, Deputy Assistant Secretary for the
Office of Oil and Natural Gas Appointment of Committee Chairman
Briefings on Methane Hydrate Research Accomplishments-- Alaska,
Gulf of Mexico, and International, and Laboratory and Global
Climate Change Studies.
Afternoon Presentation and Discussion--National Research Council
Report: ``Review of Activities Authorized Under the Methane
Hydrate Research and Development'' Report of Hedberg Conference
Session on R Issues and Needs Discussion of Future Research
Directions.
Ten minutes will be allowed for questions and public comment at
the end of each presentation.
Wednesday, September 22 Morning Discussion of Draft Strategic
Plan.
Afternoon Discussion of additional recommendations to Department
of Energy and to Congress regarding the reauthorization of
Methane Hydrate R Act of 2000
[[Page 50366]] Adjourn at 3 p.m. followed by optional tour of
Scripps Institution of Oceanography.
Public Participation: The meeting is open to the public. The
Chairman of the Committee will conduct the meeting to facilitate
the orderly conduct of business. If you would like to file a
written statement with the Committee, you may do so either before
or after the meeting. If you would like to make oral statements
regarding any of the items on the agenda, you should contact
Edith Allison at the address or telephone number listed above.
You must make your request for an oral statement at least five
business days prior to the meeting, and reasonable provisions
will be made to include the presentation on the agenda. Public
comment will follow the 10 minute rule. Minutes: The minutes of
this meeting will be available for public review and copying
within 60 days at the Freedom of Information Public Reading Room,
1E-190, Forrestal Building, 1000 Independence Avenue, SW.,
Washington, DC, between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m., Monday through Friday,
except Federal holidays. Transcripts will be available by
request.
Issued in Washington, DC on August 11, 2004.
Rachel M. Samuel, Deputy Advisory Committee Management Officer.
[FR Doc. 04-18666 Filed 8-13-04; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 6450-01-P
*****************************************************************
45 Google News Alert - nuclear
Date: Mon, 16 Aug 2004 18:11:50 -0700 (PDT)
NORTH Korea Tells US Its Hostile Policies Harm Nuclear Talks
Bloomberg - USA
... told the US its increasingly hostile policies will ensure there is
no progress in the six-nation talks on dismantling the communist country's
nuclear program. ...
See all stories on this topic:
JAPANESE power company says it missed other inspections on nuclear ...
MLive.com - MI,USA
TOKYO (AP) -- The operator of a nuclear power plant where a long-neglected
cooling pipe burst and killed four workers last week said Monday that
four other ...
See all stories on this topic:
US downplays DPRK suggestion of not attending nuclear work talks
Xinhua - China
... People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) that it might not attend the upcoming
round of six-party working-level talks aimed at ending the nuclear standoff
on the ...
See all stories on this topic:
IRAN will go ahead with nuclear programme: Khamenei
Hindustan Times - New Delhi,India
Iran is determined to proceed with its nuclear programme despite international
concern, its supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has said. ...
See all stories on this topic:
NUCLEAR proliferation: US keeping an eye on high-tech states
Daily Times - Pakistan
WASHINGTON: The United States is keeping an eye on high-technology states
with greater nuclear knowledge but weaker export controls to check non-proliferation
...
DEPARTMENT of Energy Awards Rhode Island Nuclear Science Center ...
U.S. Newswire (press release) - Washington,DC,USA
16 /US Newswire/ -- The Department of Energy (DOE) today awarded Rhode
Island Nuclear Science Center $42,000 in grants to support nuclear energy
technology ...
See all stories on this topic:
ROH urges North Korea to give up nuclear ambitions
eTaiwan News - Taipei,Taiwan
South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun on Sunday urged North Korea to peacefully
resolve its standoff over its nuclear ambitions, promising to support
Pyongyang ...
See all stories on this topic:
IAEA to set up forum on creating nuclear-free Mideast
Xinhua - China
... Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit said on Sunday that the International Atomic
Energy Agency (IAEA) was preparing to set up a forum on creating a nuclear-free
Middle ...
See all stories on this topic:
JAPAN submits nuclear disarmament proposal
Washington Times - Washington,DC,USA
16 (UPI) -- Japan has decided to submit a nuclear disarmament resolution
to the UN General Assembly this autumn, its 11th such resolution since
1994. ...
AYATOLLAHS posture for pre-emptive strike against own nuclear ...
WorldNetDaily - Grants Pass,OR,USA
... "The entire Zionist territory, including its nuclear facilities and
atomic ... Israeli warplanes successfully destroyed the Osirak nuclear
reactor in Iraq in 1981. ...
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