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                         NUCLEAR POLICY
 
1 [NYTr] Iran to Hit Dimona if Israel Attacks
2 AFP: Iran warns of preemptive strike to prevent attack on nuclear si
3 AFP: Australian FM wraps up North Korea visit
4 US: News Journal: Del. cities pursue renewable energy
5 US: PTC: Battling the Big Shots and Winning
 
                         NUCLEAR REACTORS
 
6 Daily Yomiuri: KEPCO: 11 pipes never inspected 
7 US: Portsmouth Herald: Contract for plant outages at Seabrook
8 Bellona: Report: Nuclear power a bad source of hydrogen for CO2
9 US: Tri-City Herald: Energy Northwest's return to service still not 
10 US: Brattleboro Reformer: Entergy CEO cancels VY visit; negotiations
11 US: Rutland Herald: Yankee strike hinges on issue of health benefits
12 US: toledoblade.com: Notice is slim as NRC tells activists no
13 US: YDR: Exelon gets refund - 
14 US: Newsday: Giuliani to speak on behalf of Vermont Yankee owner
15 New Scientist: Cheating Chernobyl                                   
16 US: NRC: NRC Approves Request by Utah to Amend its Agreement with Ag
17 US: NRC: FY 2004-2009 Strategic Plan, NUREG-1614, Volume 3; Notice o
18 US: NRC: Nuclear Management Company, LLC; Monticello Nuclear Generat
19 US: Platts: NRC denies appeal for hearing on Davis-Besse restart
 
                          NUCLEAR SAFETY
 
20 [du-list] DU cleanup in Iraq
21 US: [FOODIRRADIATIONCA] Press Release:  USDA Should Correct
22 US: [du-list] Dennis Kyne taking on the DoD on DU
23 [du-list] vieques bomb targets proposed for superfund listing
24 US: [DU-WATCH] soldier's new mission is exposing risk of depleted
25 OneWorld: Vieques Bombing Range Being Investigated For Possible Cont
26 US: BoiseWeekly.com: The Forgotten Downwinders
27 US: TheDay.com: Anti-Millstone Coalition Pushes For 2nd Hearing
 
                         NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE
 
28 [DU-WATCH] vieques bomb targets proposed for superfund listing
29 US: Lowell Sun: Tewksbury water testing continues
30 Taipei Times: Island residents scared by mock nuclear waste TRAINING
31 US: Las Vegas RJ: Scientists propose using train, fire to test nucle
32 Post Gazette: Editorial: Kerry's mistake / Threatening to scuttle 
33 US: Tri-City Herald: Vit plant, construction help jobs 
34 US: Tri-City Herald: Opinions Incinerator made safer by public parti
35 ULNHS: Jonah Goldberg: Nothing could be safer than Yucca, Nev. 
36 The Australian: N-waste dump ban 'sensible' 
37 US: Las Vegas City Life: Glowing receptions
38 US: Albany Democrat-Herald: I-5 rail corridor cut by tunnel fire
39 US: Morgan Hill Times: Olin files appeal on clean-up order
40 Pantagraph.com: Opinion - Kerry is playing politics with nuclear 
41 AU ABC: Martin pushes for nuclear dump ban. 
42 US: AU ABC: Govt urged to release Ranger mine inquiry report. 
43 Pahrump Valley Times: Bush defends stance on Yucca Mountain 
 
                         NUCLEAR WEAPONS
 
44 Vanunu Interview on Democracy Now!
45 [DU-WATCH] Mordechai Vanunu defies ban on speaking to
 
                        US DEPT. OF ENERGY
 
46 SDUT: FBI agent: Ex-nuclear weapons plant not safe for wildlife refu
47 Tennessean: 8 Oak Ridge protesters called repeat offenders - 
48 thedailypress: LANL Cowbow scientists
49 courier-journal: Contractor hired to aid ill nuclear workers assaile
50 CBS: FBI Muzzles Agent Who Planned To Go Public About Rocky Flats Li
51 Suffolk Life Newspapers: Meetings Scheduled Re: Reactor Cleanup
52 lamonitor.com: LANL offers water expertise 
 
                          OTHER NUCLEAR
 
53 Google News Alert - nuclear
54 [du-list] DU in the news - 18th Aug. 04
55 Newswise: New Book Documents Wide-ranging Science of Enrico Fermi
*****************************************************************
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                         FULL NEWS STORIES
*****************************************************************
*****************************************************************
 1 [NYTr] Iran to Hit Dimona if Israel Attacks
 
Date: Wed, 18 Aug 2004 08:29:53 -0500 (CDT)

 
Via NY Transfer News Collective  *  All the News that Doesn't Fit
 
AFP via Al Jazeera - August 18, 2004
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/B19236FC-6A23-4FB4-B499-E7AF900949DE.htm

Iran to hit Dimona if Israel attacks

Iran will strike the Israeli reactor at Dimona if Israel attacks the
Islamic republic's nuclear facilities, a commander of the elite
Revolutionary Guards has said.

"If Israel fires one missile at Bushehr atomic power plant, it should
permanently forget about Dimona nuclear centre, where it produces and
keeps its nuclear weapons, and Israel would be responsible for the
terrifying consequence of this move," General Muhammad Baqir Zolqadr
warned on Wednesday.

The general's comments, reported by the Iranian press, mark an
escalation in an exchange of threats between Israel and Iran in recent
weeks, leading to speculation that there may be a repeat of Israel's
strike against Iraqi nuclear facilities at Osirak in 1981.

Iran's attempt to generate nuclear power at its plant being built at
Bushehr is seen by arch-enemies Israel and the United States as a
cover for nuclear weapons development.

But Iran insists that its nuclear intentions are peaceful, while
pointing at its enemy's alleged nuclear arsenal, which Israel neither
confirms nor denies possessing.

Israel within range

Dimona, in the Negev desert, is allegedly where Israel produces
weapons-grade plutonium for its estimated 200 nuclear warheads.

Revolutionary Guard chief Yad Allah Javani warned on Sunday that "the
entire Zionist territory including its nuclear establishments and
atomic munitions are now within the range of Iran's advanced
missiles".

The statement came a few days after the Islamic republic conducted
what it called a successful test of an upgraded version of its
conventional medium-range Shahab-3 missile.

The missile is considered the mainstay of Iran's military technology
and portrayed as defensive and dissuasive, but also specifically as a
weapon against Israel.

Threats dismissed

The Revolutionary Guards, or Sepah-e Pasdaran, to whom the Shahab-3
has been entrusted, exist in parallel to the regular armed forces.
They are well equipped and have a navy and air force as well as ground
troops.

Zolqadr, however, considered that "given the internal crises in the
Zionist regime and its military, security and geographical
vulnerability, Israel is not capable of attacking Iran and its threats
are only propaganda".

The threats, said General Zolqadr, were intended to deprive Iran of
its "indisputable right" to nuclear technology for peaceful ends.

Israel in July tested an improved version of its Arrow II anti-missile
system, aimed squarely at fending off any attack by Iran. -AFP
       
                                *
Search the NYTr Archives at:
http://olm.blythe-systems.com/pipermail/nytr/

To subscribe or unsubscribe or change your settings via the web, visit:
http://olm.blythe-systems.com/mailman/listinfo/nytr

=================================================================
  NY Transfer News Collective   *   A Service of Blythe Systems
           Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us
              339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012
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================================================================= 
*****************************************************************
 2 AFP: Iran warns of preemptive strike to prevent attack on nuclear sites

WAR.WIRE [http://www.spacewar.com/
 
DOHA (AFP) Aug 18, 2004

 Iranian Defense Minister Ali Shamkhani warned Wednesday that 
Iran might launch a preemptive strike against US forces in the 
region to prevent an attack on its nuclear facilities.

"We will not sit (with arms folded) to wait for what others will 
do to us. Some military commanders in Iran are convinced that 
preventive operations which the Americans talk about are not 
their monopoly," Shamkhani told Al-Jazeera TV when asked if Iran 
would respond to an American attack on its nuclear facilities.

"America is not the only one present in the region. We are also 
present, from Khost to Kandahar in Afghanistan; we are present in 
the Gulf and we can be present in Iraq," said Shamkhani, speaking 
in Farsi to the Arabic-language news channel through an 
interpreter.

"The US military presence (in Iraq) will not become an element of 
strength (for Washington) at our expense. The opposite is true, 
because their forces would turn into a hostage" in Iranian hands 
in the event of an attack, he said.

Shamkhani, who was asked about the possibility of an American or 
Israeli strike against Iran's atomic power plant in Bushehr, 
added: "We will consider any strike against our nuclear 
installations as an attack on Iran as a whole, and we will 
retaliate with all our strength.

"Where Israel is concerned, we have no doubt that it is an evil 
entity, and it will not be able to launch any military operation 
without an American green light. You cannot separate the two."

A commander of Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards was quoted in 
the Iranian press earlier Wednesday as saying that Tehran would 
strike the Israeli reactor at Dimona if Israel attacks the 
Islamic republic's own burgeoning nuclear facilities.

"If Israel fires one missile at Bushehr atomic power plant, it 
should permanently forget about Dimona nuclear center, where it 
produces and keeps its nuclear weapons, and Israel would be 
responsible for the terrifying consequence of this move," General 
Mohammad Baqer Zolqadr warned.

Iran's controversial bid to generate nuclear power at its plant 
being built at Bushehr is seen by arch-enemies Israel and the 
United States as a cover for nuclear weapons development. 

The latest comments mark an escalation in an exchange of threats 
between Israel and Iran in recent weeks, leading to speculation 
that there may be a repeat of Israel's strike against Iraqi 
nuclear facilities at Osirak in 1981.

Iran insists that its nuclear intentions are peaceful, while 
pointing at its enemy's alleged nuclear arsenal, which Israel 
neither confirms nor denies possessing.

Shamkhani told Al-Jazeera it was not possible "from a practical 
standpoint" to destroy Iran's nuclear programs because they are 
the product of national skills "which cannot be eliminated by 
military means."

He also warned that Iran would consider itself no longer bound by 
its commitments to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) 
in the event of an attack.

"The execution of such threats (to attack Iran's nuclear 
installations) would mean that our cooperation with the IAEA led 
to feeding information about our nuclear facilities to the 
attacking side, which (in turn) means that we would no longer be 
bound by any of our obligations" to the nuclear watchdog, he 
said.

Diplomats said in Vienna Tuesday that the IAEA would not say in a 
report next month whether Iran's nuclear activities are of a 
military nature, nor will it recommend bringing the case before 
the UN Security Council.

The IAEA board is due to deliver the report on Iran's nuclear 
activities during a meeting at the organization's headquarters in 
Vienna from September 13 after the last of a group of IAEA 
inspectors returned from Iran last week.

The UN's nuclear agency is conducting a major probe into Iran's 
bid to generate electricity through nuclear power.

The Islamic republic has agreed to temporarily suspend uranium 
enrichment pending the completion of the IAEA probe, but is 
working on other parts of the fuel cycle and has recently resumed 
making centrifuges used for enrichment.

  WAR.WIRE
*****************************************************************
 3 AFP: Australian FM wraps up North Korea visit

WAR.WIRE [http://www.spacewar.com/] 

SEOUL (AFP) Aug 18, 2004

 Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer on Wednesday 
wrapped up his two-day North Korea visit focusing on a stand-off 
over the communist state's nuclear ambitions, state media said.

Downer, who flew to Pyongyang Tuesday, held separate talks with 
his North Korean counterpart Paek Nam-Sun and parliamentary head 
Kim Yong-Nam, the official Korean Central News Agency said.

"At the talks both sides exchanged views on a series of issues of 
bilateral concern including the nuclear issue," the agency said 
without elaborating.

At a press conference held before departing Pyongyang, the 
Australian foreign minister said, "views on solving the nuclear 
issue on the Korean peninsula were exchanged at the talks" held 
Wednesday in the capital.

Downer's North Korea visit came as Pyongyang expressed skepticism 
about attending a preparatory meeting for the next round of 
six-nation talks due next month in an effort to end the nuclear 
stand-off.

Downer had asserted that Australia had an important role to play 
in resolving the near two-year impasse over the North's nuclear 
weapons drive.

Australia is one of a few US allies which maintains diplomatic 
ties with North Korea.

A third round of talks which brought together the United States, 
the two Koreas, China, Japan and Russia in Beijing ended in June 
without tangible progress.

The nuclear stand-off flared up in October 2002 when the United 
States accused North Korea of operating a nuclear weapons program 
based on enriched uranium, violating a 1994 nuclear safeguard 
accord.

  WAR.WIRE
*****************************************************************
 4 News Journal: Del. cities pursue renewable energy

www.delawareonline.com 

 Amount sought would supply 20,000 homes 

By STEVEN CHURCH Staff reporter 08/18/2004

 Nine Delaware cities are trying to buy 20 megawatts of green 
power, enough electricity for about 20,000 homes. 

The cities, which make up the Delaware Municipal Electric Corp., 
have asked power companies to tell them how much it would cost to 
provide that much electricity from renewable sources such as 
wind, solar power or tidal-powered turbines. 

Green power experts said the request is unusual because there is 
no mandate forcing cities to buy renewable electricity. Most 
power companies wait until state law forces them to buy green 
power before taking such steps, said John Byrne, director of the 
Center for Energy &Environmental Policy at the University of 
Delaware. 

"This is quite exceptional," Byrne said. "I think they are to be 
commended." 

The Delaware Municipal Electric Corp. provides power to about 
50,000 residential and business customers in nine cities, making 
it the smallest of the state's three power companies. The 
corporation buys power on behalf of Dover, Newark, New Castle, 
Smyrna, Seaford, Lewes, Milford, Middletown and Clayton. 

The state's other power companies, Conectiv and the Delaware 
Electric Cooperative, are studying the possibility of providing 
green power but have not taken any formal steps to start 
providing it. 

Corporation president Patrick E. McCullar said the cities hope to 
accomplish several goals if their request is realized, including 
to spur development of clean power generation in Delaware and to 
help Dover Air Force Base get some of its electricity from 
renewable sources. A federal program aims to increase the use of 
renewable energy sources at military bases. The city of Dover 
supplies electricity to the Dover base. 

The corporation also is responding to an effort by state 
lawmakers to require Delaware utilities to buy a small percentage 
of their power from renewable sources. That effort died at the 
end of the General Assembly session this summer when the House 
failed to take up the matter for a vote. The bill is expected to 
be debated when the General Assembly reconvenes in January. 

Conectiv and the Delaware Electric Cooperative, which is owned by 
its customers, also are talking about buying power from renewable 
sources, but have not taken any formal steps like the corporation 
has with its request for proposals. 

Conectiv, which has about 284,000 customers throughout Delaware, 
said it is discussing the issue with state regulators. The 
cooperative, meanwhile, said it is talking with its electric 
provider about providing renewable generation for its 59,000 
customers who live south of the Chesapeake &Delaware Canal. 

McCullar said he expects any green electricity bought under the 
program to cost customers more than power generated from 
traditional sources, such as coal, natural gas or nuclear 
reactors. 

A study earlier this year by the federally funded National 
Renewable Energy Laboratory found that green power makes up less 
than 1 percent of the total electricity generated in the United 
States, and costs residential users 2 cents to 3 cents more a 
kilowatt hour, or about $5 extra a month. In Delaware, 
residential customers typically pay 9 cents to 10 cents a 
kilowatt hour for traditional power, said Byrne of the UD energy 
policy center. 

The study found that as long as the additional cost of green 
power is kept at such a relatively low level, consumers are 
willing to pay for cleaner electricity. 

Newark attorney Ray Otlowski said he is willing to pay a few 
dollars more for renewable electricity, "but not a whole lot 
more." 

"It's something we've got to have," he said. 

Once proposals come back from green power generators this fall, 
the Delaware Municipal Electric Corp. will conduct a survey to 
find out how much extra customers are willing to pay for clean 
power, McCullar said. A handful of Newark residents already are 
paying extra to have green power delivered to them, he said. 

McCullar also said he did not know how much, if any, green power 
the corporation ultimately would buy. The 20 megawatts it is 
considering equals about 10 percent of the company's total peak 
demand. 

Unless green power plants are built in Delaware, the renewable 
energy would have to come from out of state, Byrne said. That is 
because there is no significant source of clean electricity in 
the state, he said. Building clean-electricity plants in Delaware 
would make the state less dependent on outside suppliers, but 
would not likely have a big impact on how much green power costs 
customers in the short term. 

Reach Steven Church at 324-2786 or  [schurch@delawareonline.com] 

Copyright �2004, The News Journal.
*****************************************************************
 5 PTC: Battling the Big Shots and Winning

Pulse of the Twin Cities PulseTC.com

        Wednesday 18 August @ 10:59:09 [Hightower] by Jim 
Hightower</b></i> [http://www.jimhightower.com] 

For those who sit around whining that the Powers That Be are just 
too powerful, so there�s no use even bothering with battling the 
bastards��take note and take heart in not one, not two, but three 
big court victories by grassroots battlers. 

First is a coalition of environmental and citizen groups in the 
West Virginia area that has been battling the coal industry 
giants. For years, these groups have been trying to stop the 
industry from using a devastating, disgusting, and just plain 
dumb mining practice called �mountaintop removal.� Instead of 
tunneling into the mountains to get at the coal, the corporations 
simply blow up the top third of the mountains, shove the rubble 
into valleys and streams below, then scoop out the coal. Not only 
is this unbelievably destructive, but, thanks to the coalition�s 
determined push, a federal judge has now ruled that the 
permitting process that rubber stamps this abomination is 
illegal.

Next, a never-say-die coalition of environmental groups and 
Nevada officials have stunned the nuclear power giants who had 
concocted a cockamamie scheme to bury all of America�s high-level 
nuclear waste in Nevada�s Yucca Mountain. The cockamamie part is 
that this is an earthquake zone, the standards for protecting the 
public from long-term radiation leaks are absurdly inadequate, 
and the hot stuff would be hauled for years on trucks and trains 
running right through our population centers. Now a federal 
appeals court has ruled in favor of the coalition, at least 
slowing this corporate rush to nuclear-powered insanity.

Third, a coalition of community radio broadcasters and citizen 
groups took on the media giants that had gotten lapdog regulators 
to allow the giants to grow ever larger, shrinking media 
competition, diversity, and our democracy. But now, a federal 
appeals court has ruled against the media Goliaths��in favor of 
the local Davids. 

These battles are far from over, but grassroots forces are 
winning! To connect with all three of these fights, go to my 
website, jimhightower.com.

�Court Sets Back Federal Project On Atom Waste: Site�s Safety 
Over Eons Is Focus of Decision.� The New York Times, July 10.

�FCC Media giants lose in court ruling in expansion case.� Austin 
American-Statesman, June 29.

�Federal Judge Rejects U.S. Application Process for Mountaintop 
Mining: The Army Corps of Engineers is told its permits violate 
the Clean Water Act.� The New York Times, July 9.

Jim Hightower is the best-selling author of "Let's Stop Beating 
Around the Bush," on sale July 19 from Viking Press. 

For more information, visit JimHightower.com 
[http://www.jimhightower.com] . 

Copyright � Pulse of the Twin Cities and Hosting Ave LLC 
[http://hostingave.net] This site is powered by GNU GPL 
[http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html] code                      
*****************************************************************
 6 Daily Yomiuri: KEPCO: 11 pipes never inspected 

Yomiuri Shimbun 

Kansai Electric Power Co. said Wednesday it had never inspected 
11 water or steam pipes at three nuclear power plants in Fukui 
Prefecture and it had suspended operations of one of them as a 
precautionary measure. 

This brings to 17 the number of such pipes at nuclear power 
plants that KEPCO has never inspected. Since the death of four 
workers in the Aug. 9 leakage of steam from a ruptured pipe at 
KEPCO's Mihama No. 3 nuclear power facility, the company has been 
checking whether pipes at other nuclear power plants have been 
inspected. 

In the wake of the Mihama accident, in which seven other workers 
were injured, Tokyo Electric Power Co., Japan Atomic Power Co. 
and all other electric power companies have checked for 
uninspected water or steam pipes at nuclear power plants or 
large-scale thermal power plants generating more than 1,000 
kilowatts. 

None of these companies found any uninspected pipes, according to 
the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency of the Economy, Trade 
and Industry Ministry. 

KEPCO and other power companies checked pipes similar to the 
ruptured pipe at Mihama No. 3 nuclear power plant. The carbon 
steel interior of those pipes is said to be vulnerable to 
thinning because of abrasion and corrosion caused by irregular 
flows of high-temperature, high-pressure water or steam.   

Copyright 2004 The Yomiuri Shimbun 
*****************************************************************
 7 Portsmouth Herald: Contract for plant outages at Seabrook
 
Wednesday, August 18, 2004

SEABROOK - FPL Energy and Westinghouse Electric Company have 
reached a $27 million contract that calls for Westinghouse to 
provide outage services at Seabrook Station. 

The six-year, four-outage agreement covers steam generator and 
reactor coolant pump services, a reactor vessel 10-year 
in-service inspection, split pin replacement, reactor vessel head 
penetration inspections and ISI/FAC services. 

FPL Energy Seabrook Station spokesman Alan Griffith said Seabrook 
Station is pleased with the agreement. 

"It helps Westinghouse and Seabrook Station plan for these 
refueling outages," he said. "It certainly makes sense to have 
these types of agreements in place to facilitate the planning 
process." 

Westinghouse plans to perform the first outage services work for 
Seabrook Station in the spring of 2005. 

"This long-term contract is a �win-win� for FPL Energy and 
Westinghouse," said George Dillon, vice president of U.S./Asia 
Operations for Westinghouse Nuclear Services, in a press release. 
"The enhanced ability to plan will allow us to apply heightened 
focus to quality of execution. For FPL Energy, they will not have 
to contend with outage-to-outage contracting or worry about 
resources not being available to support plant outage needs." 

- Rochelle Stewart 

  Seacoast Online is owned and operated by Seacoast Newspapers.
  Copyright � 2004 Seacoast Online. All rights reserved. Please
*****************************************************************
 8 Bellona: Report: Nuclear power a bad source of hydrogen for CO2
capture natural gas better
 
Hydrogen from nuclear power produces relatively low CO2 
emissions, but comprises a host of environmental burdens in a 
whole range of other areas when compared to the use of natural 
gas with CO2 capture and storage, concludes a recent thesis 
issued by the Norwegian University of Science and Technology.

By Gunnar Grini and Isak Oksvold, 2004-08-18 11:30

The study, written by Christian Solli, was carried out on the 
initiative of the Bellona Foundation, and the foundation�s 
opinion of the results, therefore, is that hydrogen should not be 
produced with the help of nuclear power plants. 

But hydrogen use as a fuel for both land and marine based 
transport may, in the long term, contribute to a more renewable 
and energy efficient transport sector. However, hydrogen does not 
exist freely in nature and must be produced from other energy 
resources. Currently, there is an ongoing political debate 
concerning the availability of environmentally friendly resources 
for hydrogen production. 

The recent Norwegian University of Science and Technology thesis, 
entitled �FISSION OR FOSSIL? A Comparative Hybrid Life Cycle 
Assessment of Two Different Hydrogen Production Methods,� 
describes the environmental effects of hydrogen production from 
natural gas and from nuclear power. 

Where does hydrogen come from? Hydrogen can be produced from any 
source of energy, such as hydropower, wind power, oil, gas and 
nuclear power. However, in the short to medium term future, the 
hope of supplying hydrogen from renewable energy sources only is 
unrealistic. This is due to the currently low production of 
renewable energy. Therefore, many countries are likely to choose 
to produce hydrogen from the sources of energy that are most 
readily available, namely fossil fuels such as oil and gas or 
nuclear power. 

For some years now, the nuclear industry has argued that by using 
nuclear power for hydrogen production, CO2 emissions from the 
production phase can be avoided. This has sparked a debate in 
many EU countries about hydrogen from nuclear power. However, the 
industry itself rarely debates the environmental detriments 
caused by nuclear power. 

Natural gas cleaner overall 

The results from the Norwegian University of Science and 
Technology thesis show that despite the lower emissions of 
greenhouse gases from nuclear power, this technology gives rise 
to high environmental concern in other areas. In comparison to 
hydrogen production from natural gas with CO2 capture, nuclear 
power is particularly bad news when it comes to radioactive 
waste, depletion of the ozone layer and the pollution of 
ecosystems, for instance in fresh and salt water. On the whole, 
the natural gas option comes out the best in eight of 11 
environmental categories. 

It is methodologically difficult to compare the different types 
of environmental effects, and the Norwegian University of Science 
and Technology thesis does not choose a �winner� among the 
alternatives. Even so, the thesis is significant, as it provides 
an overview over how the various methods of production compare on 
the basis of their strengths, weaknesses and scope for 
improvement. 

The thesis discusses neither the risks of accidents nor the waste 
disposal problem, which arises from used fuel from nuclear power 
plants. This waste and nuclear power�s attendant risks comprise a 
particularly grave environmental problem. 

In the thesis, hydrogen produced from thermo-chemical 
water-splitting with nuclear power is compared to hydrogen 
produced from the reformation of natural gas with CO2 capture. 
Thermo-chemical water-splitting in nuclear reactors is still a 
technology of the future, while reformation of natural gas with 
CO2 capture is somewhat better developed. 

As the thesis is based on technology that is not currently 
available, one can expect hydrogen from nuclear power to be 
produced via electricity and through electrolysis in the short 
term. In practice, this will reduce energy efficiency. The total 
environmental burden from nuclear power would then increase 
accordingly. 

The thesis 

The thesis was written by Solli at the Institute for Industrial 
Ecology (www.indecol.ntnu.no  [http://www.indecol.ntnu.no ] ) at 
the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Norway, and 
was carried out after an initiative from the Bellona Foundation. 
The thesis is a life cycle analysis of two different methods of 
hydrogen production. The Bellona Foundation plans further 
cooperation with the Norwegian University of Science and 
Technology for future theses in this field. 

Read the whole diploma thesis here: 
www.indecol.ntnu.no/indecolwebnew/publications/mastertheses/Chris
tian%20Solli%20var04/masterthesis.pdf 
[http://www.indecol.ntnu.no/indecolwebnew/publications/masterthes
es/Christian%20Solli%20var04/masterthesis.pdf]   

  Publisher: Bellona Foundation [bellona@bellona.no] , President: 
Frederic Hauge [frederic@bellona.no] Information: info@bellona.no 
[info@bellona.no] , Technical contact: webmaster@bellona.no 
[webmaster@bellona.no] Telephone: +47 23 23 46 00 Telefax: +47 22 
38 38 62  * P.O.Box 2141 Grunerlokka, 0505 Oslo, Norway
*****************************************************************
 9 Tri-City Herald: Energy Northwest's return to service still not known 

This story was published Wednesday, August 18th, 2004 

By Chris Mulick Herald staff writer 

Energy Northwest's expensive outage could enter its 20th day 
today. 

The nuclear plant's operators still were not predicting Tuesday 
when it will return to service. 

The Columbia Generating Station could be restarted as early as 
today, though attempts Sunday and again Tuesday morning were 
foiled by problems with the pumps and pipes that push water 
through the reactor. 

In the meantime, it's costing ratepayers $1 million a day in lost 
power sales -- money that could otherwise help lower Northwest 
electric bills. The Bonneville Power Administration, which buys 
all the power from the 1,150-megawatt plant and supplies most of 
the electricity consumed in the Tri-Cities, plans to announce a 
new fall rate decrease today. 

"This doesn't help our plan," said BPA spokesman Mike Hansen. 

The plant was shut down July 31 when a pressure build-up inside 
the reactor vessel was detected because of a faulty digital 
device controlling a valve on pipes that deliver steam from the 
reactor. 

Since then, crews have repaired the device, performed unplanned 
maintenance on two other massive steam pipe valves and determined 
the plant did shut down properly July 31. A pair of devices that 
initially indicated otherwise have been replaced. 

Crews began to restart the plant over the weekend before a pump 
delivering water to the reactor tripped offline, forcing another 
shutdown. A second restart was halted Tuesday when problems were 
detected with a newly installed valve in the water delivery 
system, said Energy Northwest spokesman Brad Peck. 

The outage couldn't come at a much worse time. The market value 
for power on the West Coast is highest in July and August when 
air conditioners in the Southwest drive peak demands. And lagging 
surplus power sales have been a key reason why Bonneville hasn't 
been more aggressively lower massive rate increases imposed three 
years ago. 

"It's not as if it's eating into profits," Hansen said. "It's a 
direct loss to Northwest ratepayers." 

Bonneville assumes in its budget the plant will spend some time 
in an unplanned outage, and Hansen noted the plant was coming off 
its longest-ever run of operations. But the outage has lasted 
longer than expected. 

Bonneville has had to release more water from Grand Coulee dam to 
make up for the deficit -- water that won't be available to 
generate surplus power later. 

"We're sensitive to the fact this is a lot of power that could be 
being produced, and that's truly unfortunate," Peck said. "We're 
going to get the plant healthy again before we think about 
running it." 

If the plant can get back online soon without further problems, 
the rate decrease Bonneville plans to propose should be 
sustainable, said BPA spokesman Ed Mosey. He wouldn't say how far 
the proposal would lower rates if approved. 

"It's going to be significant," Mosey said.

� 2004 Tri-City Herald, Associated Press &Other Wire Services
*****************************************************************
 10 Brattleboro Reformer: Entergy CEO cancels VY visit; negotiations with union 
set for today 

By CAROLYN LORI� Reformer Staff                                                                          
 		 		
Wednesday, August 18, 2004 - BRATTLEBORO -- Entergy CEO J. Wayne 
Leonard will not be coming to Vermont Yankee this Thursday as 
planned.

 According to Brian Cosgrove, director of public affairs, plant 
officials decided to cancel the visit, which was slated to happen 
on the same day that 148 employees belonging to the International 
Brotherhood of Electrical Workers will be voting on a contract 
offer.

 If the offer is rejected, the workers will strike at midnight, 
when the current contract expires.

 In addition to ongoing negotiations with the union, the plant is 
in the middle of an engineering assessment by the Nuclear 
Regulatory Commission.

 The inspection, ordered by the Vermont Pubic Service Board as 
part of its conditional approval of the 20 percent power 
increase, began on Aug. 9 and will continue until the end of the 
month.

 Workers at the plant are also engaged in placing new security 
barriers around the plant.

 Cosgrove also said that managers began "shadowing" employees who 
may be striking, in order to step into the roles should the 
strike occur.

 Among the workers who may be picketing on Friday morning are 
reactor operators, auxiliary operators, instrument and control 
technicians and radiation protection technicians.

 Leonard planned to hold an all-employee meeting during his 
visit, but with all the activity currently taking place at 
Vermont Yankee, plant officials said it seemed unlikely that it 
would be well-attended.

 "It became evident that a lot of folks would not be able to be 
there," said Cosgrove.

 Corey Daniels, chairman of IBEW Local 300, Unit 8, was critical 
of the last-minute cancellation.

 "It's too bad when the CEO of a company can't look people in the 
eye and tell them how little they're worth, because that's 
exactly the message that we've all received," said Daniels.

 Plant officials said they remain optimistic that a strike can be 
averted.

 "We're going to continue to try with all our might," said 
Cosgrove. "We're talking in an atmosphere of mutual respect."

 Daniel was less sanguine.

 "I'm not confident we'll reach a resolution," said Daniels, 
adding that employees had lost faith in Entergy.

 Contract negotiations resume today at 9 a.m. and a vote on the 
contract will happen late Thursday afternoon.

 If the contract is rejected, Daniels said union members not 
working at midnight will await colleagues walking off the job 
just outside of the plant.

 "There's no way we'd let them walk out of that gate without a 
reception," he said.

 		 	   


*****************************************************************
 11 Rutland Herald: Yankee strike hinges on issue of health benefits
 
August 18, 2004 

By Susan Smallheer [susan.smallheer@rutlandherald.com] Herald
staff   
  			 
PUTNEY � The Vermont head of the International Brotherhood of 
Electrical Workers was walking around the lawn of the Putney 
Federated Church, his back stained with what looked to be blood, 
a large plastic sword sticking out of his back.

That's George Clain's way of saying that Entergy Nuclear has 
broken promises it made to the union two years ago, when the 
union supported Entergy's purchase of Vermont Yankee from a group 
of Vermont-led utilities.

"This isn't a clown act," Clain said, recalling the weeks he 
spent two years ago during the regulatory hearings before the 
state Public Service Board, supporting the sale. "It hurts 
terribly, and it makes me look foolish," he said of what he calls 
broken promises.

"We were shoulder to shoulder on the purchase," said Clain, 
president of the statewide labor union.

While the company is making millions of dollars in its nuclear 
division, which includes Vermont Yankee and three other plants in 
New York and Massachusetts, it is asking for significant 
concessions from its workers, he said.

Clain came from Burlington to lend his support to the local IBEW 
members, who gathered Tuesday evening during one of U.S. Rep. 
Bernard Sanders' town hall meetings, where about 100 supporters 
turned out for a supper of Japanese noodles and chicken paella, 
salad and salsa.

About a dozen of the members of Local 300, Unit 8 of the IBEW 
found themselves breaking bread, so to speak, with a group of 
anti-nuclear opponents.

Nuclear politics these days make strange bedfellows.

Sanders' signature issue is health care, and that's the issue 
that brought the nuclear union members to Putney: Entergy has 
demanded that its highly skilled technical workers, the people 
who run the plant on a day-to-day basis, kick in a sizable 
increase in their payments for health care.

Corey Daniels of Chesterfield, N.H., an experienced reactor 
control room operator and chairman of the local union, said a 
mediation session slated for today between the union and the 
company would determine whether his union votes to strike 
Thursday.

IBEW's contract with Entergy expires that night.

"I've seen the plant go through a lot of transitions," Daniels 
said. "Thursday, we're making a decision on Entergy's integrity."

Daniels and his other local members were wearing grey T-shirts, 
and the back read: "Best Performance, Worst Compensation."

Daniels said that Vermont Yankee, which is relatively small, has 
the smallest staff of all Entergy's nuclear plants in the 
Northeast. In his mind, he said, it is "carrying" the entire 
Entergy Northeast division, which includes plants such as 
Pilgrim, outside Boston, and Indian Point, outside New York City.

He raised questions about whether the plant can be run safely 
with managers, who would replace some 148 union workers in the 
event of a strike.

While some of the managers are former union members and technical 
workers, Daniels said, that was a long time ago.

"It's not the same plant it was 20 years ago," he said.

Daniels said while the company has said it won't bring in other 
workers from other Entergy plants, who aren't familiar with 
Vermont Yankee, he said he wasn't convinced that would be the 
case.

If IBEW Local 300 does go out on strike, it won't be the first 
time, Daniels said. The local struck Vermont Yankee back in 1979, 
and the strike lasted about a week, he said.

Nationally, there was a strike last year at the Oyster Creek 
reactor in New Jersey, which is owned by another nuclear power 
company, Exelon.

Daniels said the Vermont Yankee story was all too familiar in the 
labor circles: A large national corporation buys a local company, 
then starts cutting compensation, specifically benefits and 
handing out small wage increases.

In the past four weeks of negotiations, he said, the company 
hadn't made any proposed changes in its offer.

While the union is sympathetic to the rising costs of health 
care, he said the company was doing extremely well and was 
tallying "huge profits," so much so that it was buying back 1.5 
million shares of stock for higher dividends for its investors.

"They're going to destroy the team and the unity," that has made 
Vermont Yankee a safe and well-run plant.

"This is a big company that wants to take advantage of 
Vermonters," he said. "We're not going to let it happen in 
Vermont."

Sanders said all Vermonters should be concerned about the "very 
heated" contract talks at Vermont Yankee. It's important that the 
state's only nuclear reactor have well-trained workers, where 
turnover is low.

"I can't think of a place we want that more," he said.

Contact Susan Smallheer at susan.smallheer@rutlandherald.com 
[susan.smallheer@rutlandherald.com] .
   
� 2004 Rutland Herald
[http://www.rutlandherald.com/] 
*****************************************************************
 12 toledoblade.com: Notice is slim as NRC tells activists no
 
Wednesday, August 18, 2004 

Activists who had fought against the restart of FirstEnergy 
Corp.�s Davis-Besse nuclear plant reacted angrily to the manner 
which the Nuclear Regulatory Commission chose to dismiss their 
case yesterday.

The Nuclear Information &Resource Service in Washington was upset 
that its attorney in Toledo, Terry Lodge, was given less than a 
day�s notice to get to the agency�s headquarters in suburban 
Washington for an important meeting.

The group has sought a hearing on the NRC�s decision to allow the 
Davis-Besse nuclear plant to resume operation in March. At 
yesterday�s meeting, the NRC upheld an earlier decision rejecting 
such a hearing.

Mr. Lodge said he read an e-mail about the meeting from the NRC 
at 8:30 a.m. yesterday, less than an hour before the Davis-Besse 
discussion began at 9:25.

�They have shown disregard for [public participation] before, but 
I think we set a new record,� Paul Gunter, group spokesman, said. 
A federal licensing board had rejected a request for a hearing. 
The NRC�s governing board yesterday announced its three members 
had upheld that board�s decision.

Even if Mr. Lodge had been able to make the trip, he wouldn�t 
have been allowed to speak.

Eliot Brenner, NRC public affairs director, said the meeting was 
scheduled weeks ago as one in which recent decisions would be 
announced. No public comments were accepted.

Mr. Brenner said the Davis-Besse decision was added to the agenda 
Monday. But he said the meeting met federal requirements for open 
meetings.

� 2004 The Blade.The Toledo Blade Company, 541 N. Superior St., 
Toledo, OH 43660 , (419) 724-6000 
*****************************************************************
 13 YDR: Exelon gets refund - 

York Daily Record [ydr.com]

The government will pay $80 million toward the storage of the
company's spent fuel. 

By SEAN ADKINS Daily Record/Sunday News Wednesday, August 18,
2004 

The U.S. Department of Justice and Exelon Corp. have reached a 
settlement that will shift $80 million in reimbursements to the 
utility to cover spent fuel storage costs.

        Each year, Exelon will submit vouchers to the Department 
of Justice, which will pay for all incurred costs to house and 
protect the spent fuel, said Craig Nesbit, spokesman for the 
utility.

        The spent fuel in question is stored in large, white, 
Thermos-style dry casks and kept on power plant pad sites behind 
razor wire and in view of motion detectors.

        Exelon's Peach Bottom Atomic Power Station has 21 casks; 
Dresden in Illinois has 21 casks; and Oyster Creek in New Jersey 
has eight casks.

        Should a national repository at Yucca Mountain open by 
2010 and the U.S. Department of Energy start to ship dry casks, 
Exelon believes its total gross reimbursement will be about $300 
million. 

A path to settlement

        The road to Exelon's settlement has been long and 
winding.

        In 1982, each nuclear utility signed a standard contract 
known as the Nuclear Waste Policy Act that required the DOE to 
take control of the spent fuel starting Jan. 31, 1998.

 "That date has passed," Nesbit said. "And no site is ready."

        The act directed the DOE to start looking for a permanent 
repository site, such as the one now under investigation at Yucca 
Mountain in Nevada. For their part, the utilities and customers 
started the Nuclear Waste Fund to pay for the repository 
expenses, Nesbit said.

        Since 1993, the fund has collected $24 billion with about 
$7 billion already spent to follow through with tests and studies 
at Yucca Mountain.

        In the late 1990s, it became clear that the DOE would not 
meet its national repository deadline and utilities would have to 
make other arrangements.

        Exelon invested millions to build onsite concrete pads, 
buy dry casks and pay for special equipment to move the large 
storage containers, Nesbit said.

        In 1998, Peach Bottom Atomic Power Station officials and 
the DOE worked out a deal in which the power plant would stop 
putting money toward the Nuclear Waste Fund.

        Instead, the DOE would give the plant credit toward the 
fund and the power station would use otherwise earmarked cash to 
pay for its own storage fees.

        Other utilities around the country challenged the 
agreement and claimed that national money could not be used to 
fund a private pad site.

 	 

        A federal court upheld the challenge in 2002 and Peach 
Bottom Atomic Power Station once again contributed cash to the 
Nuclear Waste Fund.

        Later that year, both the DOE and Exelon began to 
negotiate a new agreement. And last week, both parties agreed 
that all Exelon sites with nuclear waste storage issues � 
including Peach Bottom � would be reimbursed by the government.

        "We're pleased with the result," said Chris Crane, Exelon 
Nuclear's president and chief nuclear officer. "It resolves the 
litigation between parties, it eliminates a financial uncertainty 
for both Exelon and DOE, and it allows the government to meet its 
legal obligations to a sixth of the nation's nuclear power 
plants."

Copyright � York Daily Record 2004 122 S. George St., P.O. Box 
15122 York, PA 17405, (717) 771-2000
 				
*****************************************************************
 14 Newsday: Giuliani to speak on behalf of Vermont Yankee owner

Newsday.com   
                        		     
By TIM McCAHILL Associated Press Writer
 	 	
 	August 18, 2004, 6:36 PM EDT

 MONTPELIER, Vt. --              Former New York Mayor Rudy 
Giuliani is scheduled to speak with emergency workers in 
Brattleboro on Thursday on behalf of Entergy Nuclear, parent 
company of the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant. 

Giuliani's talk to first responders from Vermont and parts of New 
England will focus on emergency planning, Entergy public affairs 
director Brian Cosgrove said, and the "lessons learned" from the 
Sept. 11, 2001, terror attack in New York. 

The former mayor runs a consulting firm in New York. The company, 
Giuliani Partners, is contracted to work with Entergy on 
emergency planning issues, Cosgrove said. 

"He's really going to provide a sort of study in the lessons 
learned in New York City, as they were applied to any emergency 
in any city or town," Cosgrove said. 

Giuliani's appearance at the Quality Inn will come just hours 
before the deadline for contract negotiations between Entergy and 
the plant's 148 members of the International Brotherhood of 
Electrical Workers, who have said they will walk off the job if 
they don't reach a settlement. 

Around 500 employees work at the Vermont Yankee plant. 

One local activist said a rally outside the hotel was planned to 
coincide with a vote by union members on whether to approve the 
contract Thursday afternoon. 

"There will be demonstrations," Gary Sachs said Wednesday. 

Cosgrove said both sides were "in full negotiations" Wednesday to 
try to agree on a contract before the midnight Thursday deadline. 

"We're working hard with our IBEW counterparts to try to reach a 
workable solution that recognizes the realities of our business, 
while at the same time gives fair compensation for the men and 
women of the IBEW who work at Vermont Yankee," Cosgrove said. 

Corey Daniels, chairman of Local 300, Unit 8, said he was 
"hopeful but not optimistic" an agreement could be reached by the 
deadline. 

"If we reject the offer we're going on strike at midnight," he 
said. 

The union has expressed dissatisfaction with the wage increase 
proposed by Entergy and is also concerned with the company's 
contingency plan if a strike occurs. 

Daniels said the union did not plan on taking part in the rally 
at the Giuliani appearance. 

Members of the nuclear watchdog New England Coalition said the 
group also does not plan to take part in the rally but has 
instead written an open letter to Giuliani saying his Brattleboro 
appearance is part of a "public relations gimmick" by Entergy. 

"So ... you are here to shore up Entergy's credibility collapse 
by the strength of your celebrity," the letter said. 

        Copyright � 2004, The Associated Press     
*****************************************************************
 15 New Scientist: Cheating Chernobyl                                             
 
[http://www.newscientist,cin

Photo: Josh Ward 		   	 	 

Alexander Yuvchenko was on duty at Chernobyl's reactor number 4 
the night it exploded on 26 April 1986. He is one of the few 
working there that night to have survived. He suffered serious 
burns and went through many operations to save his life, and he 
is still ill from the radiation. He recently broke his silence 
for a documentary to be shown on the Discovery Channel. Here he 
speaks to Michael Bond about what happened that night                    

How did you end up working at Chernobyl? 

I chose it. It was one of the best stations in the Soviet Union, 
it was a good town to live in, and I had been there for practical 
work as part of my studies. And it was a good wage. Being a 
nuclear engineer was a prestigious career - in those days. 
Nowadays people in Russia prefer to be businessmen and lawyers. 

What were you doing the night the reactor exploded? 

I was on the night shift. When I turned up I found out that the 
safety test that had been planned for the day had been put off 
until the evening. The reactor had already been powered down and 
so we would just be overseeing its cooling, which is a very easy 
job. I was thinking that I wouldn't have much to do that night. 

What were you doing when you heard the explosion? 

I was in my office, talking to a colleague who had come in to ask 
for some paint, and reading some documents. 

What happened? 

The first thing I heard wasn't an explosion, it was a thud, a 
shaking. Then two or three seconds later came the explosion. The 
doors of my office were blown out. It was like when an old 
building is demolished, with clouds of dust, but combined with 
lots of steam. It was a very damp, dusty, powerful movement of 
air. There was a lot of shaking, a lot of things were falling. 
The lights went off. Our first thought was to find somewhere we 
could safely hide. We headed towards the transport corridor, 
where there was a small passage with a low ceiling. We were 
standing there and everything was falling around us. 

What did you think it was? 

When I heard the thud I thought it was something very heavy that 
had fallen. After that I didn't know. I thought that maybe war 
had begun. 

Did you imagine that it might be the reactor? 

I couldn't imagine it was something to do with the reactor. 
Before it happened there were no vibrations, no sounds, nothing 
to indicate there was something wrong. We were trained for 
various emergency situations. We were engineers, and we were 
trained in what the reactors could or could not do and what could 
go wrong. We were prepared for fire and other things, but we were 
not trained for this. We all thought the safety measures were 
reliable, that if you pressed the emergency stop button to lower 
the control rods into the reactor - which is what my friend 
Leonid Toptunov in the control room did that night - that it 
would stop the power as it was supposed to. But it didn't. People 
make mistakes, but we thought the safety measures would 
compensate for that. We believed what we were told in the work 
manual. 

What did you do after the explosion? 

I went back to my office and tried to ring the control room for 
reactor number 4 to find out what had happened, but there was no 
line. Suddenly the phone from control room number 3 rang. I got a 
command to bring stretchers. I grabbed the stretchers and ran. 
Outside the control room I met a friend who had been close to the 
centre of the explosion. I didn't recognise him. His clothes were 
black and his face was disfigured because he had been covered in 
scalding water. I only recognised him by his voice. He told me to 
go to the site of the explosion because there were others 
injured. This friend was being tended by others, so I got a torch 
and ran to find the other operator who had been near the huge 
coolant tanks. 

What did you find? 

I got to where I expected to find this person but I couldn't find 
anything, there was a huge mess. I found him on the other side, 
he had managed to crawl away. It was the same picture: he was 
wet, dirty, with serious scalding burns. He was standing up but 
was in an extremely shocked state, shaking. He told me I had to 
go to where the main blast happened, which was where my friend 
Valera Khodemchuk was. This guy couldn't see it, but there was 
nothing there in that direction, it was just empty space. 

What happened then? 

At this point I saw Yuri Tregub, who had been sent from control 
room number 4 by Anayoly Deatlov, Chernobyl's deputy chief 
engineer, to manually turn on the emergency high-pressure coolant 
water to flood the area. Realising that he wouldn't be able to do 
this on his own, I told my friend where to go to get help and I 
went with Tregub to turn on the water. 

Did you succeed? 

We weren't able to get to the taps. The coolant tanks were in a 
hall close to the reactor. There were two doors in. We couldn't 
get in the first because the walls had collapsed, so we went down 
a couple of floors to the other door. We were in water up to our 
knees. We couldn't open the door but we could see a little 
through it, and all we could see were ruins. The huge water 
containers had been blown apart. There was just a wall and a door 
left. We were looking into open space. 

Literally? 

To get a clearer idea of what had happened we walked outside. 
What we saw was terrifying. Everything that could be destroyed 
had been. The entire water coolant system was gone. The 
right-hand side of the reactor hall had been completely 
destroyed, and on the left the pipes were just hanging. That was 
when I realised that Khodemchuk was definitely dead. The place 
where I was told he'd been standing was in ruins. The huge 
turbines were still standing, but everything around them was 
rubble. He must have been buried under that. From where I stood I 
could see a huge beam of projected light flooding up into 
infinity from the reactor. It was like a laser light, caused by 
the ionisation of the air. It was light-bluish, and it was very 
beautiful. I watched it for several seconds. If I'd stood there 
for just a few minutes I would probably have died on the spot 
because of gamma rays and neutrons and everything else that was 
spewing out. But Tregub yanked me around the corner to get me out 
the way. He was older and more experienced. 

What did you do then? 

We started to make our way to control room number 4, but on the 
way we met three workers who had been ordered by Deatlov to go to 
the reactor hall and lower the control rods manually. Tregub ran 
back to the control room to report what we'd seen, and I went 
with these three to help them. I told them that the order they 
had been given was senseless because there was no reactor hall 
anymore and it was highly unlikely there were any control rods. 
But they said I had only seen it from the lower level and they 
had to see it for themselves from the upper level. 

Did you realise how dangerous that was? 

Yes, we did. 

What happened when you got back to the reactor hall? 

We climbed up to a ledge but there was very little room. Because 
I had come up the stairs last I stayed behind propping open the 
door. They took the torch from me and went in. I stood there 
listening to their reaction to what they saw, which looked like a 
volcano crater. They said there was nothing they could do, they 
had to get out. 

What happened to those three? 

All three of them died very soon afterwards. That wall and the 
door basically saved my life. I received quite a high dose 
propping open the door. We had done everything we could. That was 
the worst feeling: that there was nothing else we could do. 

At what point did you start to feel ill? 

About 3 am, one-and-a-half hours after the explosion. 

How did you feel? 

I began to feel sick. I knew one of the first symptoms of 
radiation illness was vomiting, but I was thinking, have I eaten 
something? I was trying to keep the worst thoughts at bay. Half 
an hour after the explosion I had met a man with a dosimeter, he 
was fully covered so I don't know who it was, and I asked him 
what the reading was. He showed me the counter, which was off the 
scale. That was a frightening moment. It was impossible to say 
how much radiation we were taking in, but I knew it was a large 
dose. I was taken to the local hospital at about 5 am because I 
was too weak to walk. I was taken to Moscow that evening. 

Did you think you would die? 

The most frightening thing was to lie there and hear how one 
after another the others were dying. I was thinking, when will it 
be my turn? I'm not a religious believer and I don't know any 
prayers, but I did pray every evening that I would wake up the 
next morning. 

How did they treat you? 

It was a very intensive and demanding treatment and you had to be 
very strong to withstand it. I had continuous blood and plasma 
transfusions. For a few months I lived on other people's blood. 
Then the ulcers from the radiation burns started to appear. I had 
a lot of burns. Only after a couple of months did it become clear 
that there was a chance I might live. At that point my body 
started to work on its own again. I didn't need transfusions. But 
I was on a continuous morphine drip. My wife Natasha says I had 
lost a lot of weight and looked like a dying man. She says I 
spoke very slowly and quietly, but that I always retained a 
clarity of mind. I understood what was going on. 

What kept you going? 

I was treated properly. And I was naturally strong and healthy - 
I was young, 24 at the time. 

Are you still suffering physically? 

I have to have skin grafts constantly. I still get ulcers. 
Without the burns it wouldn't be so bad. 

How do people in Russia treat you? 

I try not to talk about it. I don't want people to know about it. 
I have been given two medals, an order of honour for my actions 
that night and a medal 10 years afterwards, but everybody got one 
of those. I try to get on with my everyday life. My neighbours 
don't know who I am. There is a stigma attached to it. 

Have you been back to Chernobyl? 

Once, when they shut it down in December 2000. I was invited as a 
special guest. I wandered around the third reactor block, which 
is an exact copy of the one that blew up. I didn't feel too good. 
My knees were wobbling when I stood on top of the reactor. 

What do you think about nuclear power? 

I'm fine about it, as long as safety is put head and shoulders 
above any other concern, financial or whatever. If you keep 
safety as your number one priority at all stages of planning and 
running a plant, it should be OK. 

Alexander Yuvchenko will appear in Disaster at Chernobyl on 
Discovery Channel in Europe at 10pm (UK time) on 29 August               
		      	 	 
[http://archive.newscientist.com]                                
*****************************************************************
 16 NRC: NRC Approves Request by Utah to Amend its Agreement with Agency

News Release - 2004- 097 - 

 
  NRC NEWS U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Office of Public 
Affairs     Telephone: 301/415-8200 Washington, DC 20555-0001     
E-mail: opa@nrc.gov [opa@nrc.gov] www.nrc.gov   
  
  No. 04-097     August 18, 2004   

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has approved a request from
Utah to amend its Agreement under Section 274 of the Atomic
Energy Act to assume regulatory authority over certain
additional radioactive material within the state. Under its
Agreement with the NRC, Utah currently regulates the medical,
academic and industrial uses of radioactive material in the
state as well as commercial disposal of low-level radioactive
waste. 

Under the amendment, the NRC will transfer to Utah the
responsibility for licensing, inspection, enforcement and
rulemaking activities for uranium and thorium milling operations
and mill tailings and other wastes, known as 11e.(2) byproduct
material. Four existing NRC licenses will be transferred to
Utahs jurisdiction. Utah becomes the sixth state to assume
authority over this type of material, after Colorado, Illinois,
Ohio, Texas and Washington. 

The amendment also makes an administrative change to the
Agreement to reflect the return to the NRC in 1996 of the
regulatory authority for evaluation of sealed sources and
devices. 

An announcement of the proposed amendment was published earlier
this year for four consecutive weeks in the Federal Register for
public comment. Only one response was received, and the NRC
determined that the comments did not affect the agencys
conclusion that Utahs program for this additional material is
adequate to protect public health, safety and environment, and
is compatible with the NRCs program. 

The amendment to the Utah Agreement became effective August 16
upon signing by the governor and will be published soon in the
Federal Register. The amendment and supporting documents will be
available on the NRCs ADAMS document management system. Help in
using ADAMS is available by contacting the NRC Public Document
Room at 301-415-4737, or 1-800-397-4209, or by sending an e-mail
message to pdr@nrc.gov [pdr@nrc.gov] . These documents are also
available for public inspection at the NRC Public Document Room
at 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Md.   



  


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 17 NRC: FY 2004-2009 Strategic Plan, NUREG-1614, Volume 3; Notice of 
 
                        FR Doc 04-18884 
[Federal Register: August 18, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 159)] 
[Notices] [Page 51336-51337] From the Federal Register Online via 
GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr18au04-97]                         
 
Availability AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
 
ACTION: Notice of availability.
 
SUMMARY: The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is announcing 
the availability of NUREG-1614, Volume 3, ``U.S. Nuclear 
Regulatory Commission, FY 2004-2009 Strategic Plan,'' dated 
August 12, 2004.
 
 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Nuclear Regulatory Commission 
today issued its new Strategic Plan for fiscal years 2004-2009, 
establishing how the agency intends to carry out its mission.
 
The plan includes five goals of safety, security, openness, 
effectiveness, and management, which together support our ability 
to maintain the public health and safety. It also reflects the 
interrelationship among safety, security, and emergency response. 
Each goal has strategic outcomes, which will provide a general 
barometer whether the goals are being achieved. There are also 
strategies that describe actions intended to accomplish the 
goals.
 
The agency's five goals are described below in further detail: 
Safety Ensure protection of public health and safety and the 
environment. The NRC's primary goal continues to be the safe use 
of radioactive materials to ensure the protection of public 
health and safety and the environment. Specific strategies are 
identified to ensure there are no reactor accidents or releases 
of radioactive materials that result in significant radiation 
exposures, fatalities or adverse environmental impacts.
 
Security Ensure the secure use and management of radioactive 
materials. The goal on security has been added in response to the 
events of September 11, 2001. To achieve this goal, specific 
strategies are identified to ensure there are no instances in 
which licensed radioactive materials are used in a terrorist act 
in the United States.
 
Openness Ensure openness in our regulatory process. The agency 
recognizes that stakeholders need to be informed about, and have 
an opportunity to participate in the NRC's regulatory process. 
The NRC views nuclear regulation as the public's business and, as 
such, it should be transacted openly and candidly, to the extent 
possible in order to maintain the public's confidence but not 
jeopardize national security.
 
Effectiveness Ensure that NRC actions are effective, efficient, 
realistic, and timely. The Agency's drive to improve its 
performance, coupled with increasing demands on the NRC's finite 
resources, clearly indicates a need for the Agency to become more 
effective, efficient, realistic, and timely in its regulatory 
activities. Initiatives related to this goal are congruent with 
the Agency's safety and security goals, and serve to ensure that 
available resources are optimally directed toward the NRC's 
mission.
 
Management Ensure excellence in Agency management to carry out 
the NRC's Strategic Objective. The Agency believes that 
management excellence is essential to support the staff in 
accomplishing the Agency's mission. This goal includes strategies 
for the management of human capital, infrastructure management, 
financial management, electronic government, budget and 
performance integration, and internal communications.
 
Success in achieving each goal will be gauged primarily through 
performance measures developed for the agency's annual 
performance budget and will be reported in the annual Performance 
and Accountability Report.
 
Stakeholder feedback was particularly valuable in helping the 
Commission develop the Strategic Plan.
 
NUREG-1614, Volume 3, and other publicly available documents 
related to this notice are available for electronic viewing on 
public computers in the NRC's Public Document Room (PDR), Public 
File Area O1F21, One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, 
Rockville, Maryland. The PDR's reproduction services contractor 
will provide copies of publicly available documents for a fee.
 
Publicly available documents related to this notice, including 
public comments received, are also available electronically 
through the NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management 
System (ADAMS) at http: / / 
http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html 
[http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/leaving.cgi?from=leaving 
FR.html&log=linklog&to=http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html] 
. ADAMS provides text and image files of NRC's public documents. 
NUREG-1614, Volume 3, is publicly available in ADAMS under 
Accession No. ML042230185, or on the agency's Web site at: 
http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/nuregs/staff/sr1614

 
[http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/leaving.cgi?from=leaving 
FR.html&log=linklog&to=http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collecti 
ons/nuregs/staff/sr1614] .
 
If you do not have access to ADAMS, or if there are problems in 
accessing the documents located in ADAMS, contact the NRC Public 
Document Room (PDR) Reference staff at 1 (800) 397-4209, (301) 
415-4737, or by e-mail to PDR@nrc.gov [PDR@nrc.gov] . A free 
single copy of NUREG-1614, Volume 3, to the extent of 
availability, may be requested by writing to the Office of the 
Chief Information Officer, Reproduction and Distribution Services 
Section, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Printing and 
Graphics Branch, Washington, DC 20555-0001; facsimile: (301) 
415-2289; e-mail: DISTRIBUTION@nrc.gov [DISTRIBUTION@nrc.gov] .
 
[[Page 51337]] FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: George Smolik on 
(301) 415-0222 or William Lovell on (301) 415-6230, in the 
Division of Planning, Budget, and Analysis, Office of the Chief 
Financial Officer, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 
Washington, DC 20555-0001.
 
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 12th day of August, 2004.
 
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
 
Jesse L. Funches, Chief Financial Officer.
 
[FR Doc. 04-18884 Filed 8-17-04; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590-01-P

 
*****************************************************************
 18 NRC: Nuclear Management Company, LLC; Monticello Nuclear Generating 
 
                        FR Doc 04-18885 
[Federal Register: August 18, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 159)] 
[Notices] [Page 51334-51336] From the Federal Register Online via 
GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr18au04-96]                         
 
Plant; Exemption 1.0 Background The Nuclear Management Company, 
LLC (NMC) is the holder of Facility Operating License No. DPR-22, 
which authorizes operation of the Monticello Nuclear Generating 
Plant (MNGP). NMC provides, among other things, that the facility 
is subject to all rules, regulations, and orders of the U.S. 
Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC, the Commission) now or 
hereafter in effect. The facility consists of a boiling-water 
reactor located in Wright County, Minnesota.
 
2.0 Request/Action Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations 
(10 CFR), Section 50.48(b), ``Fire Protection,'' specifies that 
Appendix R, ``Fire Protection Program for Nuclear Power 
Facilities Operating Prior to January 1, 1979,'' established fire 
protection requirements to satisfy 10 CFR Part 50, Appendix A, 
General Design Criterion 3, ``Fire Protection.'' Appendix R, 
Section III.G.2.b, specifies that (1) Cables and equipment and 
associated non-safety circuits of redundant trains be separated 
by a horizontal distance of more than 20 feet with no intervening 
combustible or fire hazards, and (2) fire detectors and an 
automatic fire suppression system be installed in the fire area.
 
In Northern States Power's (the licensee for Monticello at that 
time) letter of June 30, 1982, it requested a permanent exemption 
from the automatic suppression system requirements of Appendix R, 
Section III.G.2.b for the suppression pool torus area. Northern 
States Power justified the exemption by stating the following: * 
* * the area is separated from other plant areas by three-hour 
fire rated barriers. Fire protection consists of smoke detectors, 
manual hose stations, and portable fire extinguishers. The only 
redundant safe shutdown equipment in the area consists of 
instrumentation for measuring the water temperature and level in 
the torus. The redundant trains are separated by one hundred feet 
and are free of intervening combustibles. Essentially no 
combustible material is stored or located in the area. 
Furthermore, all surfaces are concrete except for the torus, 
which is steel. All cables are installed in conduit.
 
The technical requirements of Section III.G.2 were not met in 
fire zone 1F (the torus compartment at MNGP) because cables and 
components of redundant shutdown divisions were not protected 
with area-wide automatic sprinkler system.
 
The NRC's letter of June 16, 1983, granted the exemption request, 
citing the following: * * * because of the restricted access to 
this area, the probability of an exposure fire from the 
accumulation of transient combustibles, during normal operation, 
is low. We find that this feature, in conjunction with the one 
hundred feet of separation between redundant trains and early 
warning fire detection, provides reasonable assurance that one 
train will be maintained free of fire damage.
 
NMC's letter of September 15, 2003, as supplemented February 24, 
2004, resubmitted its request for a permanent exemption from the 
requirements of Section III.G.2.b for fire area IV/fire zone 1F, 
stating the following: * * * in 1985, a new safe shutdown 
analysis crediting only the minimum systems and equipment 
required to achieve safe shutdown was developed. This new 
shutdown methodology required the use of Core Spray, Safety 
Relief Valves and Residual Heat Removal (RHR) in the Suppression 
Pool Cooling mode. Prior to that time, these systems were not 
required to achieve safe shutdown given a fire in Fire Area 
IV/Fire
 
[[Page 51335]] Zone 1F. Both Division I and Division II 
components and cables for the Core Spray and Residual Heat 
Removal systems are contained within this fire area. Only one 
division of Safety Relief Valve control and indicating cables is 
located with this fire area.
 
The impact of this revised shutdown methodology on the Fire Area 
IV/Fire Zone 1F exemption was not addressed when the shutdown 
model was revised. In addition, the Division II suppression pool 
temperature cable exit from the Torus Compartment and the 
location of the Division II suppression pool level transmitter 
were incorrectly depicted in Enclosure 2 of Reference G.2. * * * 
As a result of internal assessments of the MNGP Fire Protection 
Program, NMC determined that the existing exemption from 10 CFR 
50, Appendix R, Section III.G.2.b for the Torus Compartment * * * 
did not bound the existing plant configuration and the current 
MNGP Appendix R Safe Shutdown Analysis. The NMC has completed an 
investigation into the Torus Compartment design basis and has 
determined that an exemption is appropriate for this area.
 
The results of the NRC staff's evaluation of NMC's request are 
provided below.
 
3.0 Discussion Pursuant to 10 CFR 50.12, the Commission may, upon 
application by any interested person or upon its own initiative, 
grant exemptions from the requirements of 10 CFR Part 50 when (1) 
The exemptions are authorized by law, will not present an undue 
risk to public health and safety, and are consistent with the 
common defense and security; and (2) when special circumstances 
are present. Special circumstances exist if it is not necessary 
to apply the technical requirements of 10 CFR Part 50 to achieve 
the underlying purpose of the regulation. The underlying purpose 
of Appendix R, Section III.G.2.b to 10 CFR Part 50 is to assure 
that one train of redundant safe shutdown equipment will be 
maintained free of fire damage.
 
The NRC staff analyzed the following items in the suppression 
pool torus area at MNGP to satisfy the requirements of 10 CFR 
50.12 for granting the exemption from the automatic suppression 
system requirements of Appendix R, Section III.G.2.b: Minimal 
amount of fixed and transient combustibles Smoke detector 
provisions Existing separation between redundant trains of core 
spray valves, RHR cooling valves, suppression pool level 
transmitters, and the suppression pool temperature monitoring 
system (SPOTMOS).
 
NMC's letter of September 15, 2003, stated that fixed 
combustibles consist of a single \3/4\-inch diameter radiax 
antenna cable, routed around approximately 70 percent of the 
perimeter wall. Other cables within the torus compartment are in 
conduit except for short runs of exposed cable that may exist 
between a device and its associated junction box or conduit. This 
amount of fixed combustibles is negligible. NMC also said that 
transient combustibles were controlled by procedure.
 
The NRC staff sent NMC a request for additional information (RAI) 
dated January 30, 2004, asking NMC to clarify the type and 
quantity of transient combustibles it allowed into fire zone 1F. 
NMC's RAI response letter of February 24, 2004, disclosed the 
transient combustible loading for fire zone 1F. The loading 
consisted of two gallons of general-purpose solvent and three 
fiberglass ladders for a total of 1.7 million British thermal 
units (BTUs) equating to 142 BTUs per square foot. NMC evaluated 
additional combustibles for outage pre-staging that have been in 
the fire zone and totaled them to be 2.4 million BTUs. This is 
less than 1100 BTUs per square foot. These amounts of transient 
combustibles are minimal.
 
The arrangement of the core spray valves is shown on Figure 1 of 
NMC's September 15, 2003, submittal. Division 1 core spray valve 
MO- 1749 is located just below the ceiling of the torus 
compartment near column lines N and 8.9. Division 2 core spray 
valve MO-1750 is located in the same compartment near column 
lines N and 3.1. Approximately 130 feet separate these valves and 
their associated cables. The drywell also blocks the direct 
line-of-sight. Smoke detectors, that are annunciated in the 
control room, are near each core spray valve with three more 
detectors intervening on each of the two paths around the torus 
compartment.
 
The arrangement of the RHR cooling valves is also shown on Figure 
1 of NMC's submittal. Division 1 RHR cooling valves MO-2006 and 
MO-2008 are located in the torus compartment between column lines 
N and P and 7.9. Division 2 RHR cooling valve MO-2009 is located 
in the same compartment between column lines N and P and 4.1 and 
5.1. Approximately 130 feet separate the Division 1 valves and 
their associated cables from the Division 2 valves. The drywell 
also blocks the direct line-of- sight. Smoke detectors, that are 
annunciated in the control room, are near each RHR cooling valve 
with three more detectors intervening on each of the two paths 
around the torus compartment.
 
As previously discussed in Section 2.0 of this evaluation, the 
NRC's letter of June 16, 1983, granted an exemption for the 
suppression pool level transmitters. However, during the NRC 
staff's evaluation of NMC's September 15, 2003, exemption 
request, the staff identified discrepancies between Figures 1 and 
2 concerning the routing of conduit for Division 1 and Division 2 
suppression pool level transmitters LT7338A and LT338B. The NRC's 
RAI of January 30, 2004, questioned the location of the conduit 
and the associated penetrations exiting the fire zone. NMC's RAI 
response corrected the location and placed all of the information 
on Figure 2 of the revised submittal. Division 1 and Division 2 
components are separated by at least 75 feet. Smoke detectors 
that are annunciated in the control room are near each level 
transmitter, with additional detectors intervening between the 
divisions in the torus compartment.
 
The SPOTMOS at MNGP consists of two redundant divisions.
 
Each of the divisions has eight resistance temperature detectors 
(RTDs). Cabling inside conduit connects the RTDs in each 
division, runs around the suppression pool in close proximity to 
each other, and then exits the fire zones at least 75 feet apart. 
NMC's letter of September 15, 2003, stated that the system could 
operate in an ``operable but degraded'' mode to support post-fire 
safe shutdown with as little as one detector in one train being 
operable.
 
Due to the close proximity of the conduits, and the concern that 
a single fire could involve both Division 1 and Division 2 
conduits, the NRC staff requested further information on the 
SPOTMOS in its RAI. Specifically, the NRC staff requested NMC to 
address how the SPOTMOS would automatically eliminate (1) a 
failed temperature sensor, and (2) a fire-induced failure (hot 
short, short to ground, open, or increased/ decreased resistance 
or voltage) of the cable to the temperature elements that is 
inside conduit. NMC's RAI response of February 24, 2004, 
described the operation of the system, addressing each of the 
failure modes. The critical distance between Division 1 and 
Division 2 for operation in the operable-but-degraded mode is at 
least 85 feet (where the cables enter the torus compartment). 
Smoke detectors, that annunciate in the control room, are located 
near each cable entry. Additional smoke detectors are distributed 
throughout the torus compartment.
 
The NRC staff concludes that NMC has met the underlying purpose 
of Appendix R, Section III.G.2.b, without having an automatic 
fire suppression system in the suppression pool torus area at 
MNGP considering the following:
 
[[Page 51336]] Minimal amount of fixed and transient combustibles 
present Smoke detector provisions Separation between redundant 
trains of core spray valves, RHR cooling valves, and suppression 
pool level transmitters Ability of SPOTMOS to continue to operate 
with at least one RTD on one train in the operable-but-degraded 
mode for any fire in fire zone 1F that involved both conduit 
trains The NRC staff further concludes that pursuant to 10 CFR 
50.12(a)(2)(ii), application of the regulation in these 
particular circumstances is not necessary to achieve the 
underlying purpose of the rule. Therefore, NMC's exemption 
request is acceptable. 4.0 Conclusion Accordingly, the Commission 
has determined that, pursuant to 10 CFR 50.12(a), the exemption 
is authorized by law, will not present an undue risk to the 
public health and safety, and is consistent with the common 
defense and security. Also, special circumstances are present. 
Therefore, the Commission hereby grants NMC a permanent exemption 
from the requirements of 10 CFR Part 50, Appendix R, Section 
III.G.2.b, to not provide an automatic fire suppression system 
for fire area IV/fire zone 1F at MNGP.
 
Pursuant to 10 CFR 51.32, the Commission has determined that the 
granting of this exemption will not have a significant effect on 
the quality of the human environment (69 FR 46187).
 
This exemption is effective upon issuance.
 
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 6th day of August 2004.
 
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
 
Ledyard B. Marsh, Director, Division of Licensing Project 
Management, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
 
[FR Doc. 04-18885 Filed 8-17-04; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590-01-P

 
*****************************************************************
 19 Platts: NRC denies appeal for hearing on Davis-Besse restart
 
  [The McGraw-Hill Companies]   

 
+ The NRC commission denied an appeal for a hearing on the
staff's approval in March for Davis-Besse to restart operations.
In an order issued today, the commission agreed with an
administrative licensing board's decision that the four
petitioners failed to establish standing and did not offer any
admissible contentions. The petitioners had objected to allowing
the reactor, which had been shut for more than two years, to
resume operations on the grounds it was not in compliance with
fire protection and other licensing requirements. 

The licensing panel and NRC said those issues were outside the 
scope of a hearing, which was restricted to the company's 
self-assessment improvement plans. One challenger, Paul Gunter of 
the Nuclear Information &Resource Service, said he was 
disappointed with the decision because his group had raised 
concerns about "fire protection violations" months before the NRC 
restart panel gave the go-ahead for Davis-Besse to restart. 

Washington (Platts)--17Aug2004
 
Copyright � 2004 - Platts, All Rights Reserved
 [The McGraw-Hill Companies]       
*****************************************************************
 20 [du-list] DU cleanup in Iraq
 
Date: Wed, 18 Aug 2004 14:21:26 -0700

 
<x-flowed>


http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/business/2740137

This article mentions DU cleanup in Iraq, and at the Udairi range in Kuwait.

<http://g.msn.com/8HMAENUS/2731??PS=47575>


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 21 [FOODIRRADIATIONCA] Press Release:  USDA Should Correct
 
Date: Wed, 18 Aug 2004 22:40:13 -0500 (CDT)

 
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.
*****************************************************************
 22 [du-list] Dennis Kyne taking on the DoD on DU
 
Date: Wed, 18 Aug 2004 14:20:53 -0700

 
<x-flowed>
Soldier's new mission is exposing risk of depleted uranium

Ivy Vogel
August 15, 2004



The children resemble fictitious, freakish figures better suited for a
horror movie than ordinary life.

One child's enormously bloated stomach prevents it from doing anything
but lying in bed.

Another child lies in its mother's arms. It's impossible to tell if the
child's smiling or crying. Its mouth, which is a huge, purple, scarred,
messy hole, is so disfigured it doesn't change from its permanent
position: wide open.

Perhaps the most disturbing picture is one of a uniformed American
soldier holding his young son in his arms. The child's wrists are
attached to his elbows and his legs are so bowed it looks like he was
born on a horse.

These pictures are just a few examples of what happens when humans are
exposed to vast amounts of depleted uranium, said Dennis Kyne, a former
U.S. Army sergeant.

Depleted uranium, or DU, is a by-product of uranium, which is the
earth's heaviest metal. During the first Gulf war, the U.S. military
used DU to coat missiles fired at opposing tanks.

Once DU penetrates a substance, it burns everything around it,
disabling enemy weaponry and omitting deadly radioactive particles.

Dennis Kyne, a sergeant and medic during the Gulf war is concerned
continued DU use will effect the men and women that will return from
Iraq.

Kyne recently recounted his horrific experiences with DU in a speech at
the Blue Acacia in Glenwood.

An effective agent of war, DU is extremely deadly and is responsible
for the deaths of more than 9,600 veterans of the first Gulf war, Kyne
said.

"I know people who came home and their skin literally melted away from
their bones," Kyne said. "The military told men they had pneumonia, and
two days later they'd tell their wives they died of cancer. How does
that happen?"

During the Gulf War, soldiers were exposed to large amounts of depleted
uranium particles. Unless cleaned up by professional teams, the
particles are radioactive for 4.5 billion years, Kyne said.

In many cases, Kyne's soldiers were exposed to the particles for more
than five days. When they came home, they suffered psychological
disorders, tumors, unexplained cancers and other physical ailments the
government labeled "Gulf War syndrome," Kyne said.

"We started seeing sergeants picking their noses and eating their
boogers," Kyne said. "You'd walk into a tent and a guy would be sucking
on his big toe."

After the military loosely defined Gulf War syndrome, it did little to
find out why soldiers were dying, Kyne said.

Capt. Doug Rokke, who was part of the DU cleanup team, blew the whistle
on the use of DU and its fatal effects. The military removed him from
his rank and Rokke became a schoolteacher.

"People who know about it get railroaded out," Kyne said.

The military, which is still using DU, doesn't want to acknowledge that
it's killing its own people, Kyne said.

Any scientific study on DU that doesn't support the military's agenda
is brushed aside and considered invalid, Kyne said.

"The army does whatever they do, and they say whatever they say without
any empirical evidence," Kyne said. "The soldiers are the greatest
study group in the world."

In a documentary about DU, Dr. Michael Kilpatrick, deputy director of
the Department of Defense's Deployment Health Support Directorate, said
DU does not cause any of Gulf War Syndrome's symptoms.

"It cannot hurt your body," Kilpatrick said in one clip.

A moment later he said, "It has to be ingested to be harmful."

The Office of the Special Assistant for Gulf War Illnesses works in
conjunction with the Defense Technical Information Center. In a report
issued by the Office of the Special Assistant for Gulf War Illness, a
report said DU is a "heavy metal that's slightly radioactive" and as
long "as it remains outside the body, it cannot harm you."

Misconceptions concerning the health risks from DU radiation are over
exaggerated, according to the report.

"They made us feel safe," Kyne said. "Feel safe, soldier; come, walk
into anything. It can't getcha."

But soldiers were far from safe. Most of the soldiers ingested DU while
kicking around sand covered in DU particles, Rokke said.

Soldiers spread the contamination to their families by bringing war
souvenirs such as duffle bags into their living rooms. Covered in
particles, the souvenirs immediately infect the families, causing death
in infants, retardation in younger children and infertility in parents,
Kyne said.

According to the Gulf War Resource Center, more than 250,000 of the
700,000 men returning from the war asked for health care for DU
symptoms.

Many of the men are turned away or told their symptoms are "nothing,"
Kyne said.

Kyne has made it his mission to expose what he considers the deceit and
betrayal the U.S. Army offered soldiers who risked their lives for the
sake of their country.

Many commercial aircraft use DU for balance, Kyne said. DU particles
are found all over the United States including California and Colorado,
he said.

"I would have been a professional musician by choice, but this is what
I have to do," Kyne said. "I'm begging for someone to prove me wrong."



Contact Ivy Vogel: 945-8515, ext. 534

ivogel@postindependent.com





Charles Jenks, attorney at law
President of the Core Group
Traprock Peace Center
103A Keets Road
Deerfield, MA 01342
413-773-1633; fax 413-773-7507
charles@mtdata.com
http://www.traprockpeace.org



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 23 [du-list] vieques bomb targets proposed for superfund listing
 
Date: Wed, 18 Aug 2004 14:21:19 -0700

 
<x-flowed>
- Vieques Bomb Targets Proposed for Superfund Listing
2- Army Will Pay $75 Million to Clean San Bernardino
Water
--

Vieques Bomb Targets Proposed for Superfund Listing

NEW YORK, New York, August 17, 2004

http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/aug2004/2004-08-17-09.asp#anchor2

The Atlantic Fleet Weapons Training Area (AFWTA) on
and around the islands of Vieques and Culebra, Puerto
Rico used for live fire training for 100 years may
soon be declared a Superfund site.

Responding to the request of Puerto Rico Governor Sila
Calderon, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA) Friday proposed to add the area to the list of
the country's most contaminated hazardous waste sites.
The listing would make the site eligible for federal
cleanup funding.

The Superfund law entitles each state to designate a
single facility for inclusion on the National
Priorities List without ranking it against other sites
for its potential threat to people's health or the
environment. In June 2003, Governor Calderon exercised
Puerto Rico's one-time right to select its highest
priority facility with the request to list areas of
Vieques and Culebra.

The U.S. Navy used the eastern portion of Vieques for
training from the 1940s until it ceased operations
there on May 1, 2003.

Areas of Culebra were used for military exercises from
1902 until July 1975.

Contaminants of the land and water resulting from
these activities may include mercury, lead, copper,
magnesium, lithium, perchlorate, TNT, napalm, depleted
uranium, PCBs, solvents and pesticides, the EPA said.

The EPA is seeking public comments on the proposed
listing during the 60 day public comment period that
began August 13.

On May 30, the Committee for the Rescue and
Developmnet of Vieques (CRDV) mobilized some 100
people in fishing boats to the bombed area to
dramatize the urgent necessity for decontamination and
the return of Vieques' lands to its people.

Representatives of religious communities, labor and
political leaders joined dozens of Vieques residents
in the activity they called "The Return to the Camps,"
in reference to the civil disobedience camps that
stopped the Navy bombing for a year following the
death of local man David Sanes in April 1999.
Protesters camped, demonstrated and were arrested
repeatedly until the Navy agreed to cease the live
fire practice in 2003.

The Superfund listing proposal advanced by the EPA
would separate the final decision on listing Culebra
from the final listing of Vieques. The EPA said it
will go forward with a final rule listing Vieques and
postpone the final listing of Culebra to allow the
completion of a Memorandum of Agreement between Puerto
Rico and the Army.

The terms or progress under such an agreement "may
determine the point at which it may be appropriate to
withdraw the proposal to list the Culebra areas," the
EPA said.

The government of Puerto Rico and the Army have begun
discussions with the goal of reaching an agreement on
the timely investigation and cleanup of Culebra
through the Army's Formerly Used Defense Sites Exit
EPA disclaimer program.

The EPA is currently addressing contaminated areas on
the eastern side of Vieques through a consent order
with the Navy under the Resource Conservation and
Recovery Act. Under the order, the agency is
overseeing the investigation of 12 contaminated areas
outside of the live impact area, which was active when
the order was signed, and has identified close to 40
additional areas of concern.

EPA is also providing guidance on the Navy's
investigation of potentially contaminated sites on the
western end of Vieques to determine what cleanup
actions are needed. The progress made on these
investigations will be incorporated into the Superfund
work.

Detailed information on the proposed Superfund
listing, including the Federal Register notice
announcing the listing, supporting documents and
instructions for submitting public comments, can be
found at:
http://www.epa.gov/superfund/sites/npl/p040813.htm

----

Army Will Pay $75 Million to Clean San Bernardino
Water

SAN BERNADINO, California, August 17, 2004 (ENS)

http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/aug2004/2004-08-17-09.asp#anchor1

ection Agency (EPA) $6.5 million from the U.S. Army,
as part of a consent decree for the Newmark
Groundwater Contamination Superfund site, located near
San Bernardino, federal, state, and local officials
said Friday.

This consent decree resolves claims by the city of San
Bernardino and the California Department of Toxic
Substances Control against the U.S. Army over alleged
groundwater contamination, and provides funds for the
cleanup of the contamination.

Signatories to the consent are the U.S. EPA, the
Department of the Army, the city of San Bernardino,
and the California Department of Toxic Substances
Control.

The Newmark Groundwater Contamination site covers a
portion of a groundwater aquifer used as a public
water supply source for San Bernardino. Although the
contamination is believed to date from World War II,
the pollution was not discovered until 1980, when
tests revealed the presence of chlorinated solvents,
tetrachloroethylene (PCE), and trichloroethylene
(TCE).

More than 25 percent of the municipal water supply for
the city of San Bernardino's 175,000 residents has
been affected by the water contamination, which runs
in two plumes under the Newmark site.

Under the settlement agreement, the city will provide
clean replacement water for area residents and prevent
contamination from reaching downstream production
wells, which affect over 800,000 people in several
nearby counties.

The city of Riverside, with a population of
approximately 250,000, relies on wells downgradient
from the Newmark plume for approximately 75 percent of
its total water supply.

The rapidly growing communities of Colton, Loma Linda,
Fontana, Rialto, with approximately 115,000 people,
and several unincorporated areas also use well water
unprotected from the contamination. No alternative
water sources currently are available.

The city of San Bernadino is required to use most of
the funds to operate and maintain the EPA's
groundwater extraction and treatment remedies at the
Newmark Groundwater Contamination Superfund Site for
up to 50 years. The city of San Bernardino may use
some of the funds to build additional treatment plants
to expand its water delivery capacity.

To provide clean drinking water, the EPA and the city
of San Bernadino are drilling and developing five
pumping wells, a five phase pipeline, five monitoring
wells, a booster pump station and the expansion of the
19th Street Treatment Plant.

The five pumping wells will pump the contaminated
water up and into the underground pipeline, which
carries the water to the 19th Street Treatment Plant.
The plant will treat the water with the support of the
additional 24 carbon filtering units that are part of
the expansion. Some of the treated water will then be
boosted by the pump station at Encanto Park to where
it will be distributed by the San Bernadino Municipal
Water District.

"San Bernardino is an area of rapid expansion, which
places huge demands on area water sources," said Wayne
Nastri, EPA's regional administrator for the Pacific
Southwest Region. "The EPA is pleased to be part of
the team that is working to improve the water quality
for generations to come."

The EPA believes that a likely source of the
contamination is a World War II Army Base which had
been on 1,600 acres of leased land from 1942 until it
was closed in 1947. The source investigation has been
complicated by difficult geological conditions and the
lack of good records of the Army activities.

-- 



	
	
		
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*****************************************************************
 24 [DU-WATCH] soldier's new mission is exposing risk of depleted
 
Date: Wed, 18 Aug 2004 23:34:45 -0500 (CDT)

 
Soldier's new mission is exposing risk of depleted uranium

Ivy Vogel August 15, 2004

The children resemble fictitious, freakish figures better suited
for a horror movie than ordinary life.

One child's enormously bloated stomach prevents it from doing
anything but lying in bed.

Another child lies in its mother's arms. It's impossible to tell
if the child's smiling or crying. Its mouth, which is a huge, purple,
scarred, messy hole, is so disfigured it doesn't change from its
permanent position: wide open.

Perhaps the most disturbing picture is one of a uniformed American
soldier holding his young son in his arms. The child's wrists are
attached to his elbows and his legs are so bowed it looks like he
was born on a horse.

These pictures are just a few examples of what happens when humans
are exposed to vast amounts of depleted uranium, said Dennis Kyne,
a former U.S. Army sergeant.

Depleted uranium, or DU, is a by-product of uranium, which is the
earth's heaviest metal. During the first Gulf war, the U.S. military
used DU to coat missiles fired at opposing tanks.

Once DU penetrates a substance, it burns everything around it,
disabling enemy weaponry and omitting deadly radioactive particles.

Dennis Kyne, a sergeant and medic during the Gulf war is concerned
continued DU use will effect the men and women that will return
from Iraq.

Kyne recently recounted his horrific experiences with DU in a speech
at the Blue Acacia in Glenwood.

An effective agent of war, DU is extremely deadly and is responsible
for the deaths of more than 9,600 veterans of the first Gulf war,
Kyne said.

"I know people who came home and their skin literally melted away
from their bones," Kyne said. "The military told men they had
pneumonia, and two days later they'd tell their wives they died of
cancer. How does that happen?"

During the Gulf War, soldiers were exposed to large amounts of
depleted uranium particles. Unless cleaned up by professional teams,
the particles are radioactive for 4.5 billion years, Kyne said.

In many cases, Kyne's soldiers were exposed to the particles for
more than five days. When they came home, they suffered psychological
disorders, tumors, unexplained cancers and other physical ailments
the government labeled "Gulf War syndrome," Kyne said.

"We started seeing sergeants picking their noses and eating their
boogers," Kyne said. "You'd walk into a tent and a guy would be
sucking on his big toe."

After the military loosely defined Gulf War syndrome, it did little
to find out why soldiers were dying, Kyne said.

Capt. Doug Rokke, who was part of the DU cleanup team, blew the
whistle on the use of DU and its fatal effects. The military removed
him from his rank and Rokke became a schoolteacher.

"People who know about it get railroaded out," Kyne said.

The military, which is still using DU, doesn't want to acknowledge
that it's killing its own people, Kyne said.

Any scientific study on DU that doesn't support the military's
agenda is brushed aside and considered invalid, Kyne said.

"The army does whatever they do, and they say whatever they say
without any empirical evidence," Kyne said. "The soldiers are the
greatest study group in the world."

In a documentary about DU, Dr. Michael Kilpatrick, deputy director
of the Department of Defense's Deployment Health Support Directorate,
said DU does not cause any of Gulf War Syndrome's symptoms.

"It cannot hurt your body," Kilpatrick said in one clip.

A moment later he said, "It has to be ingested to be harmful."

The Office of the Special Assistant for Gulf War Illnesses works
in conjunction with the Defense Technical Information Center. In a
report issued by the Office of the Special Assistant for Gulf War
Illness, a report said DU is a "heavy metal that's slightly
radioactive" and as long "as it remains outside the body, it cannot
harm you."

Misconceptions concerning the health risks from DU radiation are
over exaggerated, according to the report.

"They made us feel safe," Kyne said. "Feel safe, soldier; come,
walk into anything. It can't getcha."

But soldiers were far from safe. Most of the soldiers ingested DU
while kicking around sand covered in DU particles, Rokke said.

Soldiers spread the contamination to their families by bringing war
souvenirs such as duffle bags into their living rooms.

Covered in particles, the souvenirs immediately infect the families,
causing death in infants, retardation in younger children and
infertility in parents, Kyne said.

According to the Gulf War Resource Center, more than 250,000 of the
700,000 men returning from the war asked for health care for DU
symptoms.

Many of the men are turned away or told their symptoms are "nothing,"

Kyne said.

Kyne has made it his mission to expose what he considers the deceit
and betrayal the U.S. Army offered soldiers who risked their lives
for the sake of their country.

Many commercial aircraft use DU for balance, Kyne said. DU particles
are found all over the United States including California and
Colorado, he said.

"I would have been a professional musician by choice, but this is
what I have to do," Kyne said. "I'm begging for someone to prove
me wrong."

Contact Ivy Vogel: 945-8515, ext. 534

ivogel@postindependent.com

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 25 OneWorld: Vieques Bombing Range Being Investigated For Possible Contamination
 
[http://www.oneworld.net]    

Thu., Aug. 19, 2004                    

Environment News Service (ENS) News --> 

Vieques Bomb Targets Proposed for Superfund Listing
 
NEW YORK, New York, August 17, 2004 - The Atlantic Fleet Weapons 
Training Area (AFWTA) on and around the islands of Vieques and 
Culebra, Puerto Rico used for live fire training for 100 years 
may soon be declared a Superfund site. Responding to the request 
of Puerto Rico Governor Sila Calderon, the U.S. Environmental 
Protection Agency (EPA) Friday proposed to add the area to the 
list of the country's most contaminated hazardous waste sites. 
The listing would make the site eligible for federal cleanup 
funding. 

The Superfund law entitles each state to designate a single 
facility for inclusion on the National Priorities List without 
ranking it against other sites for its potential threat to 
people's health or the environment. In June 2003, Governor 
Calderon exercised Puerto Rico's one-time right to select its 
highest priority facility with the request to list areas of 
Vieques and Culebra. 

The U.S. Navy used the eastern portion of Vieques for training 
from the 1940s until it ceased operations there on May 1, 2003. 

Areas of Culebra were used for military exercises from 1902 until 
July 1975. 

Contaminants of the land and water resulting from these 
activities may include mercury, lead, copper, magnesium, lithium, 
perchlorate, TNT, napalm, depleted uranium, PCBs, solvents and 
pesticides, the EPA said. 

The EPA is seeking public comments on the proposed listing during 
the 60 day public comment period that began August 13. 

On May 30, the Committee for the Rescue and Developmnet of 
Vieques (CRDV) mobilized some 100 people in fishing boats to the 
bombed area to dramatize the urgent necessity for decontamination 
and the return of Vieques' lands to its people. 

Representatives of religious communities, labor and political 
leaders joined dozens of Vieques residents in the activity they 
called "The Return to the Camps," in reference to the civil 
disobedience camps that stopped the Navy bombing for a year 
following the death of local man David Sanes in April 1999. 
Protesters camped, demonstrated and were arrested repeatedly 
until the Navy agreed to cease the live fire practice in 2003. 

The Superfund listing proposal advanced by the EPA would separate 
the final decision on listing Culebra from the final listing of 
Vieques. The EPA said it will go forward with a final rule 
listing Vieques and postpone the final listing of Culebra to 
allow the completion of a Memorandum of Agreement between Puerto 
Rico and the Army. 

The terms or progress under such an agreement "may determine the 
point at which it may be appropriate to withdraw the proposal to 
list the Culebra areas," the EPA said. 

The government of Puerto Rico and the Army have begun discussions 
with the goal of reaching an agreement on the timely 
investigation and cleanup of Culebra through the Army's Formerly 
Used Defense Sites Exit EPA disclaimer program. 

The EPA is currently addressing contaminated areas on the eastern 
side of Vieques through a consent order with the Navy under the 
Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. Under the order, the 
agency is overseeing the investigation of 12 contaminated areas 
outside of the live impact area, which was active when the order 
was signed, and has identified close to 40 additional areas of 
concern. 

EPA is also providing guidance on the Navy's investigation of 
potentially contaminated sites on the western end of Vieques to 
determine what cleanup actions are needed. The progress made on 
these investigations will be incorporated into the Superfund 
work. 

Detailed information on the proposed Superfund listing, including 
the Federal Register notice announcing the listing, supporting 
documents and instructions for submitting public comments, can be 
found at: http://www.epa.gov/superfund/sites/npl/p040813.htm         

*****************************************************************
 26 BoiseWeekly.com: The Forgotten Downwinders

Aug 18, 04

Idaho fallout victims seek acknowledgment, remuneration 

by Nicholas Collias 

Sixty-year-old Sarah Hughes of Wendell, Idaho, isn�t a nuclear 
�downwinder� in the overt Nevada or Utah versions of the word. 
Living well over 600 miles north of the infamous Nevada nuclear 
testing grounds, she never had to watch an atomic explosion from 
her front porch, never wiped radioactive ash from car windows or 
witnessed her neighbors falling prey to leukemia. Indeed, Hughes� 
Buhl, Idaho upbringing was downright idyllic. �We had some cows, 
raised crops and a gorgeous garden,� she recalls. �I rolled 
around in the grass, ate fresh meat and vegetables, spring water 
and milk. We never stopped for a second to think about 
radiation.� 

Unfortunately, Hughes perfectly fits the prototype of an Idaho
fallout victim. Her rural upbringing, her childhood during the
Nevada Test Site�s atmospheric heyday of 1951 to 1962 and her
fondness for fresh, unprocessed milk made her an ideal target
for exposure to the radioactive byproduct Iodine 131. Ten years
ago, her doctors discovered a metastasized tumor in her thyroid
gland, the organ that most bears the brunt of I-131. The cancer
has since spread to her lungs, kidneys and spleen. After
consulting numerous doctors, Sarah came to believe, like an
increasing amount of Idaho cancer victims, that fallout from
Nevada is to blame for her condition�and that governmental
compensation is a step toward redressing the wrong. 

Evidence supporting claims like Hughes� has exploded in the last
decade. In 1997, the National Cancer Institute released a study
concluding that rural counties in Idaho and Montana had the
highest exposure rates to I-131 to be found anywhere in the
nation. The reasons for these high numbers have been well
documented, and are not mere coincidence, according to Snake
River Alliance Executive Director Jeremy Maxand. �[Nuclear
technicians] would wait until the wind was blowing north toward
Idaho to detonate these devices,� he explains, �because they
wanted to ensure that there weren�t plumes of radiation heading
toward urban centers.� 

Once in the sky, the I-131 (whose half-life is a mere eight
days) would follow weather patterns north to farmlands, settle
on grass, be eaten by cows and goats and contaminate their milk.
In Ada County, the radiation levels were slight, due to the age
of our shelved milk. But in rural areas like Gem, Blaine, Custer
and Lemhi Counties, an inhabitant could easily be exposed to
several hundred times the normal or background levels of
radiation. In children and women, the effects on thyroid glands
were more concentrated, leading to many modern-day cancer
patients who may be fallout victims without realizing it. 

In 1990, the U.S. Department of Justice created the Radiation
Exposure Compensation Program for uranium miners, nuclear
employees and downwinders affected by fallout. A select group of
21 Utah, Nevada and Arizona counties were given the chance to
plead their cases, but even then, according to Preston J.
Truman, Utah fallout victim and head of the nuclear activist
organization Downwinders, �It was very clear that there were
more affected areas than just us. But if you open that door
beyond just a few cowboys, Indians and Mormons, then all kind of
questions pop up about what kind of damage [nukes] did to this
country as a whole.� 

Truman and many others have long called for expansion of the
current compensation program to include several previously left
out diseases and, in his words, �[inhabitants of] any location
that matches the fallout level in the counties that already are
covered.� The radiation levels inflicted upon Idaho�s Gem and
Custer Counties, for instance, are 1.5 times higher than even
the highest covered counties during the two decade span. Women,
small children and heavy milk drinkers in those locations could
reach upwards of 100 rad. Normal background radiation, by
comparison, is .01 rad per year. Were Truman�s plans for
expansion realized, all of Utah, Idaho and Montana would be
eligible for compensation. 

The National Academy of Science, who conveys radiation fallout
research to Washington, D.C., lawmakers is preparing a report
about that expansion for early 2005, and held several public
meetings in Utah during July of this year to gather fallout
stories and comments. None were held in Idaho, although requests
were made both by the Alliance and Truman�who was kicked out of
one such meeting for arguing Idaho�s case. He reports that he
has corresponded with more than 100 potential Idaho downwinders
so far, but warns that victims need �to come together and make
their case soon. If Idahoans are going to be excluded as not
being worthy enough downwinders, that is a huge problem.� 

In July of this year, Idaho�s four congressional delegates sent
a group letter to the N.A.S. Board of Radiation Effects
Research, asking for Idaho cancer cases to be reviewed in
upcoming discussions about the expansion of compensation. The
letter did not request a public meeting specific to Idaho�s
downwinders to take place before the upcoming August 31 deadline
for public comment. According to congressman Butch Otter�s
Communications Director Mark Warbis, though, such a request has
been made, as well as a request for a postponement of the public
comment deadline. 

Neither request will apparently be heeded. Dr. Isaf Al-Nabulsi,
radiation effect study director for the N.A.S. board, assured BW
on Monday, August 16, that no plans exist at this point to hold
a public meeting either in Idaho or Montana by the deadline. The
only exception she allowed, however unlikely, would be an urgent
meeting requested by Congress specifically to address Idaho. The
committee, she stated, wants instead to concentrate on writing
its report, but �will consider all information they receive,
from Idaho and all other states.� She also recalled receiving
over 30 e-mails from Idaho downwinders, and encourages concerned
Idahoans to contact her directly with any requests or stories
concerning I-131 exposure. 

Hughes, like downwinders in Utah and Nevada, characterizes the
drive toward compensation in terms of governmental
acknowledgment and apology rather than just money. This
conclusion is backed up by the relatively unimpressive monetary
settlements procured by downwinders in other states�usually to
the tune of $50,000, barely a drop in most medical bill buckets.

But according to fellow thyroid cancer sufferer and potential
fallout victim Xan Allen of Boise, simple recognition is a huge
step in the right direction, particularly in lieu of the
potential reactivation of the Nevada Test Site within two years.

�My parents trusted the U.S. government to do the right thing,�
the 64-year-old Pocatello native recalls, �and it didn�t. I want
to do more than trust. I want to be sure the government does the
right thing.� 

In Hughes� words, �They can�t make it right, but they can make
it better.� 

To calculate your risk of I-131 exposure, go to 
[http://www.cancer.gov/i131] County by county radiation levels
are also available. To contact Dr. Al-Nabulsi, e-mail 
[ialnabul@nas.edu] More information about S.R.A and downwinder
activism are available at  [http://www.snakeriveralliance.org]
and  [http://www.downwinders.org] 
[0]  [http://www.boiseweekly.com/comments.php?id=3341_0_1_0_C]
(0 views) |  	 		 
		 
[http://www.boiseweekly.com/weblog.php?id=0] 

� Copyright 2004 Bar Bar Inc 
*****************************************************************
 27 TheDay.com: Anti-Millstone Coalition Pushes For 2nd Hearing
 		 		 		
Wednesday, Aug 18, 2004   								   									 										
												 												 												 										 										
Group: Cancer clusters caused by nuke plant

By PATRICIA DADDONA Day Staff Writer, Waterford Published on 
8/18/2004

Waterford  The Connecticut Coalition Against Millstone has asked 
the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for another chance to show that 
a hearing is warranted on health and safety concerns at two 
nuclear reactors whose licenses may be renewed.

 Millstone Power Station owner Dominion Nuclear Connecticut Inc. 
has applied for 20-year license extensions that would keep 
Millstone 2 running through 2035 and Millstone 3 on line through 
2045.

 The NRC's Atomic Safety and Licensing Board rejected the 
coalition's first request for a hearing to challenge re-licensing 
earlier this month, saying coalition leader Nancy Burton failed 
to document alleged areas of concern. Burton had claimed that 
cancer clusters here were allegedly caused by radiological 
emissions from Millstone, among other issues. 

Burton has now submitted affidavits from area residents and 
experts who testified in writing to alleged causative link 
between cancer and radiological emissions.

 It is incumbent on the regulating authority to consider issues 
relative to safety in the context of current knowledge and 
information about the health and human effects of even low doses 
of ionizing radiation, Burton states.

 Among the new affidavits is testimony from a professor emeritus 
of radiological physics at the University of Pittsburgh's school 
of medicine; the national coordinator of the Radiation and Public 
Health Project in New York City; and Cynthia Besade, the daughter 
of the late Millstone whistleblower Joe Besade.

 Cynthia Besade provides information about her father and 44 
other residents who either lived near or worked at Millstone and 
contracted cancer. Joe Besade worked as a pipefitter for 20 years 
and was fired by then-owner Northeast Utilities for reporting 
safety concerns. He died of metastastic lung cancer a year ago 
Monday.

 Besides the radiological and environmental matters, Burton 
alleges inadequate evacuation and terrorist-prevention measures 
and technical defects at the power plants. Other new evidence she 
would include is an official state memorandum documenting the 
decline of winter flounder in Niantic Bay and listings of 
unplanned power plant shutdowns. 

The NRC is evaluating Burton's motion for reconsideration, said 
Diane Screnci, the agency's public affairs officer.

 The coalition Web site is  [http://www.mothballmillstone.org/] .

 p.daddona@theday.com   

1998-2004 The Day Publishing Co.   	 	
*****************************************************************
 28 [DU-WATCH] vieques bomb targets proposed for superfund listing
 
Date: Wed, 18 Aug 2004 23:35:09 -0500 (CDT)

 
- Vieques Bomb Targets Proposed for Superfund Listing 2- Army Will
Pay $75 Million to Clean San Bernardino Water --

Vieques Bomb Targets Proposed for Superfund Listing

NEW YORK, New York, August 17, 2004

http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/aug2004/2004-08-17-09.asp#anchor2

The Atlantic Fleet Weapons Training Area (AFWTA) on and around the
islands of Vieques and Culebra, Puerto Rico used for live fire
training for 100 years may soon be declared a Superfund site.

Responding to the request of Puerto Rico Governor Sila Calderon,
the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Friday proposed to
add the area to the list of the country's most contaminated hazardous
waste sites.

The listing would make the site eligible for federal cleanup funding.

The Superfund law entitles each state to designate a single facility
for inclusion on the National Priorities List without ranking it
against other sites for its potential threat to people's health or
the environment. In June 2003, Governor Calderon exercised Puerto
Rico's one-time right to select its highest priority facility with
the request to list areas of Vieques and Culebra.

The U.S. Navy used the eastern portion of Vieques for training from
the 1940s until it ceased operations there on May 1, 2003.

Areas of Culebra were used for military exercises from 1902 until
July 1975.

Contaminants of the land and water resulting from these activities
may include mercury, lead, copper, magnesium, lithium, perchlorate,
TNT, napalm, depleted uranium, PCBs, solvents and pesticides, the
EPA said.

The EPA is seeking public comments on the proposed listing during
the 60 day public comment period that began August 13.

On May 30, the Committee for the Rescue and Developmnet of Vieques
(CRDV) mobilized some 100 people in fishing boats to the bombed
area to dramatize the urgent necessity for decontamination and the
return of Vieques' lands to its people.

Representatives of religious communities, labor and political leaders
joined dozens of Vieques residents in the activity they called "The
Return to the Camps,"

in reference to the civil disobedience camps that stopped the Navy
bombing for a year following the death of local man David Sanes in
April 1999.

Protesters camped, demonstrated and were arrested repeatedly until
the Navy agreed to cease the live fire practice in 2003.

The Superfund listing proposal advanced by the EPA would separate
the final decision on listing Culebra from the final listing of
Vieques. The EPA said it will go forward with a final rule listing
Vieques and postpone the final listing of Culebra to allow the
completion of a Memorandum of Agreement between Puerto Rico and the
Army.

The terms or progress under such an agreement "may determine the
point at which it may be appropriate to withdraw the proposal to
list the Culebra areas," the EPA said.

The government of Puerto Rico and the Army have begun discussions
with the goal of reaching an agreement on the timely investigation
and cleanup of Culebra through the Army's Formerly Used Defense
Sites Exit EPA disclaimer program.

The EPA is currently addressing contaminated areas on the eastern
side of Vieques through a consent order with the Navy under the
Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. Under the order, the agency
is overseeing the investigation of 12 contaminated areas outside
of the live impact area, which was active when the order was signed,
and has identified close to 40 additional areas of concern.

EPA is also providing guidance on the Navy's investigation of
potentially contaminated sites on the western end of Vieques to
determine what cleanup actions are needed. The progress made on
these investigations will be incorporated into the Superfund work.

Detailed information on the proposed Superfund listing, including
the Federal Register notice announcing the listing, supporting
documents and instructions for submitting public comments, can be
found at:

http://www.epa.gov/superfund/sites/npl/p040813.htm

----

Army Will Pay $75 Million to Clean San Bernardino Water

SAN BERNADINO, California, August 17, 2004 (ENS)

http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/aug2004/2004-08-17-09.asp#anchor1

ection Agency (EPA) $6.5 million from the U.S. Army, as part of a
consent decree for the Newmark Groundwater Contamination Superfund
site, located near San Bernardino, federal, state, and local officials
said Friday.

This consent decree resolves claims by the city of San Bernardino
and the California Department of Toxic Substances Control against
the U.S. Army over alleged groundwater contamination, and provides
funds for the cleanup of the contamination.

Signatories to the consent are the U.S. EPA, the Department of the
Army, the city of San Bernardino, and the California Department of
Toxic Substances Control.

The Newmark Groundwater Contamination site covers a portion of a
groundwater aquifer used as a public water supply source for San
Bernardino. Although the contamination is believed to date from
World War II, the pollution was not discovered until 1980, when
tests revealed the presence of chlorinated solvents, tetrachloroethylene
(PCE), and trichloroethylene (TCE).

More than 25 percent of the municipal water supply for the city of
San Bernardino's 175,000 residents has been affected by the water
contamination, which runs in two plumes under the Newmark site.

Under the settlement agreement, the city will provide clean replacement
water for area residents and prevent contamination from reaching
downstream production wells, which affect over 800,000 people in
several nearby counties.

The city of Riverside, with a population of approximately 250,000,
relies on wells downgradient from the Newmark plume for approximately
75 percent of its total water supply.

The rapidly growing communities of Colton, Loma Linda, Fontana,
Rialto, with approximately 115,000 people, and several unincorporated
areas also use well water unprotected from the contamination. No
alternative water sources currently are available.

The city of San Bernadino is required to use most of the funds to
operate and maintain the EPA's groundwater extraction and treatment
remedies at the Newmark Groundwater Contamination Superfund Site
for up to 50 years. The city of San Bernardino may use some of the
funds to build additional treatment plants to expand its water
delivery capacity.

To provide clean drinking water, the EPA and the city of San Bernadino
are drilling and developing five pumping wells, a five phase pipeline,
five monitoring wells, a booster pump station and the expansion of
the 19th Street Treatment Plant.

The five pumping wells will pump the contaminated water up and into
the underground pipeline, which carries the water to the 19th Street
Treatment Plant.

The plant will treat the water with the support of the additional
24 carbon filtering units that are part of the expansion. Some of
the treated water will then be boosted by the pump station at Encanto
Park to where it will be distributed by the San Bernadino Municipal
Water District.

"San Bernardino is an area of rapid expansion, which places huge
demands on area water sources," said Wayne Nastri, EPA's regional
administrator for the Pacific Southwest Region. "The EPA is pleased
to be part of the team that is working to improve the water quality
for generations to come."

The EPA believes that a likely source of the contamination is a
World War II Army Base which had been on 1,600 acres of leased land
from 1942 until it was closed in 1947. The source investigation has
been complicated by difficult geological conditions and the lack
of good records of the Army activities.

--

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 29 Lowell Sun: Tewksbury water testing continues
 
August 18, 2004 Lowell, MA                                                                              
 			 								 					
TEWKSBURY The Water Department continues to sample the town's 
drinking water daily after announcing on Friday the discovery of 
trace amounts of the chemical perchlorate.

 The department has not yet received new test results but expects 
to have the results this week from tests conducted Saturday, 
Sunday and yesterday, said Ed Vieweg, a Water Department 
official.

 In the meantime, Water Department officials are working to 
notify the public and answer questions from concerned residents.

 Perchlorate is a chemical compound used in such products as 
rocket fuel, explosives, fireworks and fertilizer. Though the 
general population is not at risk, pregnant women, infants, 
children up to age 12 and individuals with hypothyroidism are 
being advised not to drink town water or anything made with town 
water such as ice, juice or baby formula.

� 1999-2004 MediaNews Group, Inc. All rights to republication of 
special dispatches 
*****************************************************************
 30 Taipei Times: Island residents scared by mock nuclear waste TRAINING TOOLS?

[http://www.taipeitimes.com]     

A number of suspicious looking barrels found by the people of 
Orchid Island are just used to train workers, Taipower said By 
Chiu Yu-Tzu STAFF REPORTER Wednesday, Aug 18, 2004,Page 3 

  Shyman Faien, an aboriginal anti-nuclear activist, along with 
other representatives, yesterday protests in front of the Control 
Yuan in Taipei, demanding that the government look into the 
misconduct of both the Cabinet's Atomic Energy Council and the 
state-owned Taiwan Power Company regarding the illegal dumping of 
radioactive waste on Orchid Island. PHOTO: CHIANG YING-YING, 
TAIPEI TIMES

Representatives of Orchid Island, Taitung County and 
environmentalists yesterday asked the Control Yuan to investigate 
an illegal dumping case involving hundreds of mock barrels of 
radioactive waste used previously at an interim repository for 
low-level radioactive waste.

 Showing pictures of numerous 55-gallon barrels laying 
haphazardly on a slope 10km from the repository and only 100m 
from the coastline, Shyman Faien (�L�ҤҪ���), a well-known 
advocate for Aboriginal rights on Orchid Island, yesterday 
reported the case to Chen Jinn-lih (���i�Q), a Control Yuan 
member, in Taipei.

 According to Shyman Faien, a resident found some uncovered 
barrels with solid cement inside when shepherding on the slope on 
August 10. Residents further explored the site and became 
terrified after discovering more barrels underground. Some of the 
barrels were painted with the radiation warning sign.

 Officials from the state-owned Taiwan Power Company (Taipower), 
which manages the repository, explained to residents that about 
130 non-hazardous mock barrels, used for workers to practice 
with, had been placed there temporarily.

 Meanwhile, officials of the Atomic Energy Council (AEC) said 
they did not discover any abnormal radiation levels at the slope 
after conducting tests.

 Shyman Faien said the two official agencies were not 
trustworthy, because 217 unidentified barrels had been removed by 
residents as of Monday.

 "How can we Orchid Island residents possibly believe what they 
said? We strongly urge the Control Yuan to investigate if the two 
official agencies have neglected their duties," Shyman Faien 
said.

 Shyman Faien said that waste barrels had been dumped at the site 
for two years, and none of residents had been informed.

 "The leaves of yams planted nearby have served as food for a 
long time. We don't even know if the yam fields were contaminated 
by radiation," Shyman Faien said.

 Chen said that the appearance of barrels at inappropriate places 
implied that Taipower might have neglected their duties and the 
AEC might have failed to supervise Taipower on radiation safety 
issues.

 "We will have a taskforce established within a week and some 
field investigations will be necessary," Chen said.

 Taipower on Aug. 10 issued a press release stressing that the 
slope belonged to a cement plant, whose owner agreed to let 
Taipower's subcontractors store used barrels there temporarily. 
To distinguish mock barrels of radioactive waste from real 
barrels of radioactive waste, Taipower had them painted grey or 
blue, rather than yellow. Barrels containing low-level 
radioactive waste are yellow and labeled with a radiation warning 
sign.

 Lee Ching-hor (���ҩM), a division chief at the Fuel Cycle and 
Materials Administration under the AEC, told the Taipei Times 
yesterday that they conducted radiation examinations again on 
Sunday on the slope and found no unusual radiation level.

 "Those barrels in grey and blue were used last year by 
Taipower's subcontractors to practice repacking and other 
functions at a newly built treatment center," Lee said.

 Lee said the new center, currently under trial, will be reviewed 
by the AEC to ensure its proper functioning.

 There are about 98,000 barrels of low-level radioactive waste 
stored at the repository on Orchid Island. Lee said removing rust 
stains on barrels and repacking waste are important tasks for 
Taipower in managing the facility. This story has been viewed 407 
times.              

Copyright � 1999-2004 The Taipei Times. All rights reserved. 
*****************************************************************
 31 Las Vegas RJ: Scientists propose using train, fire to test nuclear casks 
 
Saturday, August 14, 2004
 
By STEVE TETREAULT STEPHENS WASHINGTON BUREAU 

WASHINGTON -- Government scientists hope to show the durability
of nuclear waste shipping casks by ramming one with a speeding
train, then engulfing it in fire, according to a proposal made
public Thursday. 

Engineers at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission propose to stage
a demonstration in which a locomotive pulling an undetermined
number of railcars will crash into a derailed spent nuclear fuel
container laying across the tracks. 

The container then would be placed in a pit and swallowed by a
"fully engulfing" fire for 30 minutes, according to the
proposal. 

While it has been suggested that the crash take place at 75 mph,
NRC staffers said the test speed has not yet been determined. 
Agency officials say they hope the crash and burn test will
build public confidence in the government's ability to ship
nuclear waste to a proposed nuclear waste repository at Yucca
Mountain. 

The safety of a Yucca Mountain shipping campaign will rest
largely on the ability of 18-foot long steel canisters to
contain rods of highly radioactive spent fuels pellets,
government and industry officials say. 

"The test proposed will demonstrate the robustness of a
certified spent fuel transportation cask in the event of an
accident involving a fully engulfing fire," Luis Reyes, NRC
executive director for operations, said in a July 27 memo to
agency commissioners who must sign off on the test. 

A consultant for the state of Nevada dismissed the proposed
test, saying it will serve more for show than for substance. 

"The impact scenario is totally inadequate, and the fire
scenario is totally inadequate," said Robert Halstead, a
Wisconsin-based transportation authority. "They have designed a
test for which they know for sure the cask can't fail, and they
think that will enhance public confidence." 

NRC officials could not be reached for comment. Nevada officials
are preparing legal challenges to segments of the Yucca Mountain
transportation plan. 

Nevada-paid experts and several watchdog organizations had
lobbied the NRC for rigorous testing to determine how much a
cask could be stressed before breaking. But the agency has said
that conducting such testing would be unrealistic. 

Under the NRC proposal, the 150-ton shipping container would be
outfitted with instrumentation to measure the effects of the
crash and fire. Information gleaned would be used to validate
NRC safety requirements that now are based largely on computer
calculations and scale-model tests.
 
 
Copyright Las Vegas Review-Journal
*****************************************************************
 32 Post Gazette: Editorial: Kerry's mistake / Threatening to scuttle 
nuclear storage is bad policy
 
post-gazette.com

Wednesday, August 18, 2004 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

It was never going to be easy to win approval for a national 
repository for nuclear waste, but the issue seemed settled when 
the U.S. Congress voted in 2002 to go with Yucca Mountain in 
Nevada and President Bush supported the idea. But now Democrat 
presidential hopeful John Kerry threatens to overthrow this 
hard-won agreement if he is elected.

 It may be good politics for Mr. Kerry, but what he promises is 
bad public policy. Although environmental concerns seem to drive 
some Americans to a reflexively anti-nuclear stand, anybody 
thoughtfully worried about fossil fuels and global warming can 
appreciate that nuclear power has its place in energy policy. 
There are dangers, of course, but they can be successfully 
mitigated.

 What is unacceptable is to allow nuclear waste to be stored 
permanently at individual plants across the country, including in 
Pennsylvania -- indeed, in an age of terrorism fears it is 
absolute folly. With the industry producing about 2,000 tons of 
commercial waste a year, it is simply not a sensible plan for the 
future to leave it on site. The waste can be moved safely and the 
job needs to be done.

 Those truths are behind the political consensus that emerged on 
Yucca Mountain, about 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas, after 
years of discussion. The site has been studied almost to death 
and the prevailing scientific verdict is that it would make the 
best site for a permanent nuclear waste site.

 Now Mr. Kerry promises to block Yucca Mountain as the repository 
and, if he succeeds, this part of the nation's energy policy will 
be back to square one. Not surprisingly, this is a highly popular 
stand in Nevada, but critics can fairly say -- as with so much 
with Sen. Kerry -- that he has not always been on the same side. 
Although he voted against the 2002 legislation, other votes of 
his can be counted on the other side, including a major one in 
1987 that the locals remember as the "Screw Nevada" bill.

 Mr. Bush's own stand on this issue is suspect because residents 
of Nevada had understood him to be sympathetic to their concerns 
as a candidate, only to reverse himself once in office. Mr. Bush 
won Nevada narrowly in 2000, and the state's five Electoral 
College votes this time could tip a close election.

 Last week Mr. Kerry told a town meeting in Nevada that this "is 
not just a Nevada issue." He got that much right. The approval of 
the Yucca Mountain site -- for which Mr. Kerry offers no 
alternative -- will make for sane national policy. To confound 
these plans at this stage is political mischief. [In Search of 
Personals] 
		  		 	 	
   			
[http://www.post-gazette.com/corrections.asp] Copyright 
�1997-2004 PG Publishing Co., Inc. All Rights Reserved.                        
*****************************************************************
 33 Tri-City Herald: Vit plant, construction help jobs 

This story was published Wednesday, August 18th, 2004 

By Jeff St. John Herald staff writer 

With shrinking unemployment and slow but stable job growth, the 
Tri-Cities appeared to weather a hot July with continued strength 
in construction and a balanced Hanford jobs picture. 

Nonfarm jobs stood at 85,030 in July, up 1.3 percent from the 
83,950 jobs recorded in the same month last year, according to 
state Employment Security Department statistics released Tuesday. 

A home building boom that shows little sign of abating, matched 
with a boost in workers at Bechtel National's vitrification plant 
project, helped offset seasonal drops in school and farm 
employment, as well as a slight reduction in Hanford waste 
treatment-related jobs, said Dean Schau, state economist for the 
Tri-City region. 

Since March, the $5.7 billion vit plant has seen its manual work 
force increase from 1,260 to 1,466, while its non-manual work 
force also has risen from 2,150 to 2,445, said Bechtel 
spokeswoman Carrie Meyer. 

Vit plant hiring is expected to peak in 2006, she said. But Schau 
noted that the bulk of the hiring build-up for the plant's design 
and construction already has made itself felt throughout the 
Tri-City economy. 

"Every job created at the vit plant creates more than one in the 
community," Schau said. "Everybody who has a job, they have to 
have a home." 

That's helped lead a home-building boom that's partly responsible 
for the 5,200 construction jobs recorded in the Tri-Cities in 
July -- 2 percent more than the 5,100 in the same month last 
year. 

Those home-building jobs paid an average of $1,995 per month in 
Benton County and $2,555 per month in Franklin County, according 
to Schau's calculations of federal payroll records from the 
fourth quarter of 2003. 

While that compares well to average monthly pay for sectors such 
as retail and hospitality workers, it doesn't match the per-month 
average of $7,610 paid to workers in industrial building 
construction, which includes the vit plant. 

Still, it's a growing job sector, and according to the Home 
Builders Association of the Tri-Cities, 2004 is shaping up to be 
an even busier year for home builders. 

So far this year, 1,352 permits for new single-family homes have 
been issued in the Tri-Cities, West Richland, Benton City, 
Prosser and Benton and Franklin counties. That's 197 more than 
the 1,155 permits recorded through the same time period in 2003 
and 178 more than the 1,174 in the same time period in 2002, 
association statistics show. 

Of course, there are other factors besides job growth that are 
leading that increase, including the continuing low interest 
rates for home buyers, said Michele Brich, association executive 
director. 

"I also think a lot of people are retiring and staying here," she 
noted. 

That's a point Rich Emery, president and chief executive of 
Kennewick-based Community First Bank, pointed to as well. 

"When Hanford did their last cutback" in the mid-'90s, "they did 
early retirements, and everybody thought those people would leave 
the area," he said. "But they didn't." 

Schau backed up that premise, noting that Benton County residents 
saw about $250 million in Social Security payments and another 
$800 million in dividend and interest payments last year. 

But at the same time, Schau noted departures from the Tri-Cities 
as one likely reason for a decrease in unemployment over the past 
12 months. 

The number of people drawing unemployment payments in Benton and 
Franklin counties fell to 2,285 in July, down from 3,861 in July 
2003. For workers identified as managers, the numbers fell to 198 
this July from 334 in July 2003, and for engineers, to 101 this 
July from 248 in July 2003. 

The Tri-Cities' unemployment rate fell to 5.8 percent in July, 
down from 7.3 percent in the same month last year. 

Statewide, unemployment also fell to a seasonally unadjusted rate 
of 5.9 percent, down from June's 6.1 percent and much lower than 
the 7.8 percent recorded in July last year. 

July jobless rates in metropolitan areas of the state were: 

Bellingham, 5.1 percent; Bremerton, 5.2; Olympia, 4.9; 
Seattle-Bellevue-Everett, 5.8 (King County, 5.6; Snohomish, 6.2; 
Island, 5.6); Spokane, 5.2; Tacoma, 6.5; and Yakima, 8.5. 

� 2004 Tri-City Herald, Associated Press &Other Wire Services
*****************************************************************
 34 Tri-City Herald: Opinions Incinerator made safer by public participation 

This story was published Wednesday, August 18th, 2004 

Getting rid of the chemical weapons at the Umatilla Chemical 
Depot will be a boon to community safety. Still, the startup of 
the Umatilla incinerator scheduled for next week has to make even 
the staunchest defenders of incineration at least a little 
nervous. 

After the court decision Monday that cleared the way for startup, 
it looked possible that the $395 million plant already would be 
operating by the time today's Herald hit porches and paper boxes 
around the Mid-Columbia. 

Now, the start has been delayed at least until next week because 
of problems found Tuesday with a ventilation system. 

Uneasiness about the advent of burning is understandable. After 
all, 7.4 million pounds of deadly nerve and mustard agents -- 12 
percent of the nation's stockpile -- are destined for 
incineration at Umatilla. 

If not for years of effort by officials representing federal, 
state, county and city governments, school districts and 
hospitals, that uneasiness would be real fear. 

For all its discord, the process leading to the Umatilla 
incinerator's start is part of the reason to have faith in the 
incineration project. The checks and balances required to satisfy 
state and local concerns prior to startup not only will make 
plant operations safer, but also improve planning for an 
emergency. 

The Chemical Stockpile Emergency Preparedness Program -- a 
multiagency group that plans as if the chances for a leak were 
likely instead of remote -- has brought more than $129.7 million 
to the state, tribes and counties surrounding the depot. 
Residents of Umatilla and Morrow counties, living in the most 
likely paths of any accidental toxic release, have benefited 
most. 

The money has provided schools and hospitals with rooms that will 
stay safe from a plume of deadly chemicals, paid for outreach 
programs that have aimed to teach everyone in harm's way what to 
do if there's ever a serious leak, funded scores of mock 
emergencies, trained hundreds of emergency workers and purchased 
millions of dollars worth of hazardous waste suits, mobile 
treatment centers and other equipment. 

All the fuss might seem a little overboard to personnel 
transferred to Umatilla from Johnston Atoll near Hawaii, where 
incineration of one arsenal was completed in 2000, or from 
Tooele, Utah, where almost 6.7 tons of chemical agents have been 
destroyed. 

But while there's comfort in the Army's experiences elsewhere, 
stronger assurance comes from the occasionally hostile and often 
political run-up to this startup. 

The attempts of anti-burning activists to get an injunction, for 
example, no doubt frustrated incinerator officials, but it's far 
better to hear all voices than to silence opposition. The nuclear 
production sites of the former Soviet Union -- where deadly 
leftovers continue to endanger surrounding populations -- are 
terrifying examples of centralized control over public health and 
safety. 

At Umatilla, additional improvements in operational practices and 
the safety of equipment are sure to be needed once the plant is 
running. Tuesday's decision to delay restart is testimony to the 
serious approach of the Army and its contractor, Washington Group 
International, to public safety. 

But it's also clear the odds of identifying everything required 
to keep us safe has been much improved by the messy political 
process behind the highly technical cleanup. 

� 2004 Tri-City Herald, Associated Press &Other Wire Services
*****************************************************************
 35 ULNHS: Jonah Goldberg: Nothing could be safer than Yucca, Nev. 

Union Leader and New Hampshire Sunday News - 18-Aug-04 -

August 18, 2004      

 [http://www.theunionleader.com

By JONAH GOLDBERG

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, Nev., 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 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 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. 
OK, but why make America less safe today for fear that in 10,000 
years the desert near Death Valley might be slightly more 
dangerous than a chest X-ray? 

Jonah Goldberg�s e-mail address is JonahsColumn@aol.com. 	 		 	
	 	 	 	 		 			 		 	 
*****************************************************************
 36 The Australian: N-waste dump ban 'sensible' 

[August 18, 2004]
 	 	
www.theaustralian.news.com.au

THE Northern Territory Government's move to ban the transport and 
storage of nuclear waste within its boundaries was sensible and 
welcome, the Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF) said today.

ACF spokesman David Noonan called on all federal political 
parties to rule out any future nuclear waste threats in the wake 
of the NT legislation, which is to be introduced to the NT 
Parliament today.

 "All communities have a right to know if they are being targeted 
for reactor waste transport and dumping ahead of the federal 
election," Mr Noonan said.

 "The Federal Government has made a secret shortlist of possible 
store sites since April 2003. Now it's time for the Prime 
Minister to make this list public.

 "Which Australian postcodes are now being targeted for nuclear 
dumping to facilitate the unnecessary licensing of a new nuclear 
reactor in Sydney?" 

A national newspaper reported today that Prime Minister John 
Howard's claim on July 29 that the Government did not have a 
shortlist of sites for a nuclear waste dump was false.

 The newspaper said that in mid-2003 the national store advisory 
committee provided the Government with a shortlist of sites for 
intermediate-level waste, including wastes arising from the 
reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel rods.

 Mr Noonan said that if the NT Bill was passed, it would join 
South Australia and Western Australia in prohibiting a national 
store for nuclear waste.

 "Most of this waste comes from the existing Lucas Heights 
reactor and the proposed new Sydney reactor would generate much 
more," he said.

 "(NT Chief Minister) Clare Martin's legislation is a sensible 
and welcome step to protect the rights and interests of 
Territorians, including traditional landowners, from the serious 
hazards of nuclear waste transport and dumping.

 "We now urge all federal political parties to follow the lead of 
the NT Parliament by ruling out imposing any national nuclear 
dump in the NT, ending plans for an unnecessary and 
waste-producing nuclear reactor in Sydney." 
		 			 			
� The Australian   
*****************************************************************
 37 Las Vegas City Life: Glowing receptions
 
Wednesday, August 18, 2004        

Friends and foes of Kerry and Bush finally heard both candidates 
speak about Yucca Mountain

BY RYAN SLATTERY

"These people are very angry," observes Colin Sherrod, who is 
dressed in a white paper Hazmat-like jumpsuit. He lifts the hood 
to expose his face, flush red and covered in sweat. Sherrod then 
stops, takes a deep breath and a giant swig from a bottle of 
water, and continues. "God, in order to get a protest this size, 
you really have to do something horrible. They're pissed."
  
Protesters gather outside a rally for President Bush.  

So was he. The 23-year-old made the trip from Fort Worth, Texas 
to Las Vegas last week, not to gamble or party in our ultra 
lounges, but to stand in the baking desert sun on one of the 
hottest days of the year. He shouted at a president who was two 
blocks away in an air conditioned hall and couldn't hear him.

President Bush never saw any of the angry protesters. His 
motorcade whisked him to and from the rally through a back route, 
and when Air Force One appeared in the sky headed for California, 
the protesters shouted "coward."

It was well over 100 degrees by 10 a.m. when hundreds of 
demonstrators kicked it into full gear, circling the street and 
chanting, "Three more months; help is on the way" and "Hell no, 
we won't glow," referring to the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste 
dump.

Somewhere in the crowd of Bush haters was Mr. B, carrying a sign 
with a map of Texas and a star near Crawford, the president's 
hometown. It read: "Amber Alert: Village Idiot is Missing."

There was little love in Las Vegas outside the carpenters union 
training center during Bush's brief Aug. 12 visit to Southern 
Nevada, which came on the heels of democratic presidential 
nominee John Kerry's two-day stay here. Earlier in the week Kerry 
spoke at a middle school, held a public rally at the Thomas & 
Mack Center attracting somewhere in the neighborhood of 12,000 
people and addressed seniors in Henderson. Meanwhile, Vice 
President Dick Cheney was in Elko on Saturday.

Those who did hear the protesters' shouts were police officers. 
Metro staffed the event with 70 officers. Also hearing them were 
"the chosen ones," as one demonstrator dubbed the 1,300 people 
invited to hear Bush speak.

Rally attendees leaving the president's speech were subjected to 
verbal attacks from anti-Bush protesters who shouted insults at 
everyone from old ladies to a group of Boy Scouts. Police 
escorted some Bush supporters to their cars, and one Republican 
taunted the crowd by putting four fingers in the air to signify a 
second term for Bush. A Kerry supporter responded with his own 
salute to Bush -- a single finger.

The big issue was nuke waste. A topic hardly, if ever, discussed 
by either candidate outside of Nevada. It's an issue some think 
may swing the state's five electoral votes in favor of Kerry, who 
said he would kill the project and veto any legislation that 
would weaken radiation standards.

"Not on my watch," the Democrat told supporters. "And I'll tell 
you what else. If they try to change the standards on radiation 
at the EPA and they send it to my desk. Veto pen. Gone. Out."

Meanwhile, at his own rally, Bush accused Kerry of trying to turn 
Yucca Mountain into a "political poker chip." The president then 
defended his decision to send 77,000 tons of nuclear waste here, 
denying claims that he ever promised Nevadans anything different.

"When I campaigned here in this state, I said I would make a 
decision based upon science, not politics. I said that I would 
listen to the scientists, those involved with determining whether 
or not this project could move forward in a safe manner and 
that's exactly what I did," Bush said. "I listened to the people 
who know the facts, and know the science and made a decision."

What followed was a barrage of statements and attacks from 
Democrat and Republican spinmeisters and politicians, accusing 
Kerry of flip-flopping and calling Bush a liar.

From U.S. Rep. Shelley Berkley (D-Nev.) came this nugget: "Bush 
made it crystal clear that despite Nevada's objections, he is 
going to do what he said he we would do all along, and that is to 
bury Nevada in nuclear waste. Nevadans know better than to 
believe the president when he claims that science says Yucca 
Mountain is safe. That is just another lie meant to distort the 
fact that he approved moving forward on the dump knowing that 
hundreds of key technical and scientific questions remained 
unanswered."

Steve Schmidt, a Bush-Cheney campaign spokesman, accused Kerry of 
telling "voters what they want to hear," and South Carolina 
Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham issued this statement.

"John Kerry's action would destroy over two decades of work on a 
national repository to provide secure, long-term storage of 
nuclear waste materials. We don't appreciate him trying to pull 
the rug out from under us."

Then there was the rather mixed message of U.S. Sen. John Ensign 
(R-Nev.), who adamantly opposes the dump. Through a Bush-Cheney 
official, an Ensign statement read, "The Kerry-Edwards ticket was 
for Yucca Mountain before they were against it, and Nevadans 
should not be fooled by election-year pandering." However, on Jon 
Ralston's "Face to Face," Ensign admitted that Kerry's vision for 
Yucca is better than President Bush's.
z But will the winner of the November election really have much 
say in what happens? Last month, the U.S. Court of Appeals ruled 
that the EPA health standard, which requires the repository be 
able to safely contain harmful radioactive materials for 10,000 
years, disregarded recommendations from a 1995 National Academy 
of Sciences study that the standard be hundreds of thousands of 
years, leaving the project in a limbo.

The Energy Department now has three options: to rework the safety 
standard and extend the time period (the least likely to happen); 
appeal the decision; or ask Congress to approve the 10,000-year 
standard as the adequate time frame.

Bush said this: "I will allow this process to be appealed to the 
courts and to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and I will stand 
by the decision."

Ryan Slattery is a local freelance writer. 

  Copyright � 2004 Las Vegas City Life   
*****************************************************************
 38 Albany Democrat-Herald: I-5 rail corridor cut by tunnel fire
 
[democratherald.com] 

Last modified Tuesday, August 17, 2004 12:45 PM PDT   
    
For the Democrat-Herald

A fire burning in Tunnel 7 on Union Pacific's Cascade Line 
approximately 33 miles southeast of Oakridge has closed the I-5 
rail corridor indefinitely, the Oregon Department of 
Transportation reported. 

The fire continued burning today, according to information 
received by Robert Melbo of the ODOT Rail Division. 

The Union Pacific hoped the interruption of the line would not 
last longer than 10 days from now, Melbo reported from Salem.

Amtrak has decided to operate the Coast Starlight trains between 
Seattle and Eugene and between Los Angeles and Oakland, Calif. 
Amtrak is not offering any substitute service between Oakland and 
Eugene, which includes the Oregon intermediate points of Klamath 
Falls and Chemult. This will continue until Friday when Amtrak 
will reevaluate the situation if the line has not reopened in the 
interim.

Melbo said that according to UP spokesman John Bromley in Omaha, 
a freight train crew discovered the fire burning in two places 
inside the 3,164-foot long tunnel about 1:30 p.m. Saturday.
z Since then, the fire has intensified and is generating very 
high temperatures, said Bromley, keeping UP personnel from 
effectively fighting the fire and assessing the situation.

The fire also is burning behind the concrete lining in at least 
one location, making it difficult to attack with water or fire 
suppressing chemicals.

Tunnel 7, like the other tunnels between Crescent Lake and 
Oakridge, was built in 1925-26, Melbo said.

Tunnel 7 is between the sidings of Cruzatte and Frazier (both 
named for members of the Lewis and Clark expedition).

Bromley said UP had moved water tank cars equipped with 
fire-fighting apparatus up to the tunnel. These cars are normally 
stationed at Oakridge and other points for fighting forest fires.

UP will detour some of its Cascade line traffic via the BNSF's 
Oregon Trunk, but this line does not have enough capacity to 
handle the 18 or so freight trains per day UP has been operating 
between Eugene and California.

Some traffic will be detoured via Salt Lake City and Las Vegas, 
he said.

Melbo also reported that Saturday, UP also experienced a major 
derailment in California's San Joaquin Valley between Fresno and 
Bakersfield. A freight train moving at 55 MPH derailed 35 cars, 
some of which, in turn, struck and derailed two locomotives and 
one car of another freight train standing in a siding. This line 
is considered part of the main Pacific Coast rail corridor also. 

Copyright � 2004 � Lee Enterprises [http://www.lee.net] Back to 
*****************************************************************
 39 Morgan Hill Times: Olin files appeal on clean-up order
 	 	 	 	 	 	
www.morganhilltimes.com[

Tuesday, August 17, 2004

By  [carolh@morganhilltimes.com] 

It was one step forward, one step back and a glimmer of hope at 
the PCAG (the Perchlorate Community Advisory Group) meeting 
Friday in San Martin.

News of a process to identify the origin of perchlorate in water 
was one step forward. The one step back was Olin Corp. filing an 
appeal that could ultimately relieve the company from its 
responsibility to provide an alternative source of pure water for 
residents on contaminated wells and to clean up the soil and 
groundwater it polluted. 

A decision on the appeal will likely not be made for more than a 
year.

David Athey, the state regional water quality control board�s 
project manager for the South Valley contamination, said the Olin 
appeal is in response to a cleanup and abatement order (CAO) the 
regional board imposed in July. Olin was to provide bottled water 
for residents on wells whose water tested at 4 parts per billion 
or more. 

The state set 6 ppb as a Public Health Goal in March, and Olin 
has said it thought 4 ppb too stringent a standard.

The company appealed the entire CAO including the order to 
perform monitoring and provide treatment systems on individual 
wells and, Athey said, a decision could take as much as a year 
and a half. In the meantime, Olin has asked the state water board 
- the regional board�s parent agency - for a stay on the cleanup 
order until the appeal is decided. This could halt any bottled 
water distribution but Athey said he was promised - verbally, but 
not in writing - that that would not happen.

�Rick McClure (of Olin) told me they intend to comply with the 
order until the appeal is decided,� Athey said, despite the stay 
request. 

On the good news side, Athey reported on an advance in 
identifying where a sample of perchlorate comes from. 

�Some scientists are using a strontium nitrate isotope to 
�fingerprint� perchlorate in groundwater,� Athey told PCAG and 
several members of the public.

Such fingerprinting could be helpful locally, he said after the 
meeting, because Olin Corp., the source of the chemical south of 
Tennant Avenue, could also be charged with responsibility for 
perchlorate in wells north of Tennant. The City of Morgan Hill 
has had to close several wells north of the former Olin 
Corp./Standard Fusee plant at Tennant and Railroad avenues, 
because of detectable levels of perchlorate.

Olin does not take responsibility for the chemical found north of 
its site, claiming the underground water table flows south.

�It�s possible that water, at one time, flowed north,� Athey 
said. There are also mechanical reasons why the chemical is found 
in the Nordstrom and Dunne wells such as pumping from the 
aquifer.

City Public Works Director Jim Ashcraft said Monday that isotope 
tracking is good news but the city is still a bit unhappy with 
the regional board.
z �We continue to be greatly unhappy that the regional board 
hasn�t made (Olin) do any type of sampling to show perchlorate�s 
presence (in wells north of Tennant),� Ashcraft said. 

The city has not performed the tests either. 

�Sampling gets very expensive quickly because to do it right, you 
have to drill monitoring wells,� he said.

Athey was reporting on a recent seminar of groundwater experts 
where perchlorate was the focus.

�We�ve gained 1,000 percent (knowledge and understanding) over 
last year,� Athey said.

Rosemary Kamei, South Valley�s representative to the Santa Clara 
Valley Water District board, also attended the seminar.

Other positive news was that certification for several small 
wellhead and in-house water treatment systems to remove 
perchlorate from drinking water is on the horizon, with more 
details promised soon.

 PCAG was formed to communicate with South Valley residents what 
has been discovered and what has been done about the groundwater 
contamination by 40 years of safety flare manufacturing. Led by 
San Martin resident and super volunteer, Sylvia Hamilton, it also 
includes representatives from valley water, the regional board, 
local farmers and water experts.

A fellow group, PMAG, was formed to gather and communicate 
information on the effects of perchlorate on medical and health 
issues.

PMAG�s Janie Burkhart, handed out one-page perchlorate 
information sheets in English and Spanish printed by the county 
and telling of current standards, who is most affected, how to 
use water safely and protecting ones health, with plenty of 
contact information. 

The handouts are available at locations around San Martin and 
Morgan Hill, including the library, Las Madres groups, the 
Chamber of Commerce, The Morgan Hill Times, BookSmart, the House 
of Bagels and - soon - at schools in the affected areas - San 
Martin/Gwinn, Paradise Valley, Barrett and Nordstrom in Morgan 
Hill and Rucker in Gilroy.

They are also being distributed to day laborers and farm workers, 
many of whom live in the east San Martin area where many private 
wells are contaminated by the chemical.

Peg Pinard, running as a Democrat for the state Senate District 
15, offered the glimmer of hope. Pinard said she would not make a 
political speech but, instead, wanted to share her experiences 
successfully negotiating with Unocal Corp. to clean up a highly 
contaminated Avila Beach in San Luis Obispo County.

Pinard has always claimed her experiences could be useful to 
South Valley residents and responsible agencies as they do battle 
with Olin Corp.

�It is important that you are satisfied with the eventual 
(maximum contaminant level) and that the results of health 
research are clear (the complete long term effects of perchlorate 
remain largely unknown),� Pinard said. �Before you sign off on 
the cleanup everything must be complete.�

She said Olin�s appeal was a bad sign and that every agency must 
get together in mutual support to keep the company toeing the 
line.

Pinard, a San Luis Obispo County supervisor and former mayor, 
made an agreement with Unocal to fund health studies, something 
that has yet to be done locally. 

�In a way, you are lucky,� Pinard said. �Avila was so polluted 
that the town was effectively shut down for 10 years. Banks 
wouldn�t make loans; insurance companies wouldn�t write 
policies.�

She said they finally hooked up to an outside water source, had 
huge amounts of soil excavated and homes demolished and got back 
on their feet.

�Insist on the highest level of cleanup,� she told PCAG. �We 
asked the banks and insurance companies what (remedies) it would 
take to do business (with Avila residents and business owners) 
again.�

Athey said Olin�s appeal document should be posted on the 
regional board�s website soon: www.swrcb.ca.gov/rwqcb3/

Carol Holzgrafe covers City Hall for The Times. She can be 
reached by e-mail at cholzgrafe@morganhilltimes.com or phoning 
(408) 779-4106 Ext. 201.

Carol Holzgrafe is a reporter at the Morgan Hill 
Times. She covers all local news, including City Hall.   

*****************************************************************
 40 Pantagraph.com: Opinion - Kerry is playing politics with nuclear 
waste issue 

08/18/04
 		 		 		 	 	 	 		 		
[http://www.pantagraph.com]                                     

Pantagraph Editorial 														 081804 opinion 1 1 The

Pantagraph Online If anyone is playing politics with where to 
locate the nation's nuclear waste depository, it's Democratic 
presidential contender John Kerry. --> Wednesday, August 18, 2004 

Kerry is playing politics with nuclear waste issue 

If anyone is playing politics with where to locate the nation's 
nuclear waste depository, it's Democratic presidential contender 
John Kerry.

 During a swing through Las Vegas, Kerry accused President Bush 
of violating a 2000 campaign promise to let science, not 
politics, determine whether Yucca Mountain in Nevada would be 
used to store used nuclear fuel.

 Then Kerry promised, "When John Kerry is president, there is 
going to be no nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain. Period." That 
sure sounds like letting politics, not science, dictate the 
nuclear waste site.

 Yucca Mountain was selected after 20 years of scientific and 
technical study. In 2002, Congress approved Yucca Mountain over 
the objections of Nevada -- more than four years after the 
federal government was to begin accepting nuclear waste and take 
responsibility for its storage.

 Meanwhile, consumers of nuclear-generated electricity have been 
paying into the congressionally mandated Nuclear Waste Fund for 
creation and operation of the not-yet-existing storage facility. 
The balance in that fund was $14 billion as of last November.

 It's primary purpose lately has been to make the government's 
budget deficit look better than it really is.

 Those same consumers -- many of them from Illinois -- are, in 
effect, paying twice because, until the federal repository is in 
operation, waste must be stored at nuclear plant sites. That 
includes the Clinton nuclear power plant.

 Even if there are no further glitches related to construction, 
transportation or a pending lawsuit filed by the state of Nevada, 
Yucca Mountain is not projected to begin operation until 2010.

 It took five years from when Congress directed the Energy 
Department to study only Yucca (after five potential sites were 
identified) until Congress approved Yucca.

 But Kerry isn't suggesting going back to one of the other four 
sites. He thinks waste should remain in temporary storage 
throughout the United States while the National Academy of 
Sciences studies not just what to do with American nuclear waste 
but how the world should handle nuclear waste and storage.

 Remember, under the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982, the 
federal government was supposed to take responsibility for 
disposal of U.S. civilian nuclear waste by Jan. 31, 1998. That 
makes Illinois' overtime budget session look like the fast track.

 We don't even need to get into the debate over whether Kerry and 
his running mate, John Edwards, did or didn't vote for proceeding 
with the Yucca Mountain site.

 The key debate is what Kerry intends to do now. Period.

Copyright � 2004, Pantagraph Publishing Co. All rights
*****************************************************************
 41 AU ABC: Martin pushes for nuclear dump ban. 

18/08/2004. ABC News Online
 	
   [http://www.abc.net.au/]

The Northern Territory Chief Minister says she has received
assurances that a federal Labor government would not override
proposed new laws banning a national nuclear waste dump.

 The Federal Government is looking for somewhere new to store
its nuclear waste, after abandoning a site in South Australia.

 A proposed Bill was introduced into the Northern Territory
Parliament today aimed at prohibiting a dump.

 Like all territory laws, they can be overturned by the Federal
Parliament.

 Clare Martin says it is the best protection she can offer.

 "It's very disheartening to hear the NT Opposition call the
legislation 'just a meaningless political stunt' because it's
not," she said.

 "It's the strongest statement the Territory can make." 

� 2004 Australian Broadcasting Corporation 
*****************************************************************
 42 AU ABC: Govt urged to release Ranger mine inquiry report. 

19/08/2004. ABC News Online
 	
Australian Broadcasting Corporation Online">
[http://www.abc.net.au/]     [contact and search links]   

The Northern Territory's Minister for Mines is urging the
Federal Environment Minister to release a scientist's report on
the Ranger uranium mine leak.

 The Office of the Supervising Scientist handed its report to
Senator Ian Campbell yesterday.

 The report will not be made public until it is tabled in
Parliament. 

The Territory Government has completed its own investigation on
the leak of contaminated water that left mining workers ill in
March this year.

 Kon Vatskalis says he has been waiting on the report before
deciding whether to lay criminal charges against Energy
Resources of Australia.

 "I don't know why Senator Campbell will not release the report.
I'm really surprised about it," he said. 

"It is a report that has to be released, it was a significant
incident and I think it will not be a very good idea to keep it
away from the public eye." 

� 2004 Australian Broadcasting Corporation 
*****************************************************************
 43 Pahrump Valley Times: Bush defends stance on Yucca Mountain 

August 18, 2004

By SCOTT LINDLAW The Associated Press 

LAS VEGAS - President Bush on Thursday defended his decision to 
use Nevada's Yucca Mountain as the nation's high-level nuclear 
waste dump, an unpopular move in a swing state that he won four 
years ago. 

"I said I would make a decision based upon science, not politics. 
I said I would listen to the scientists, those involved with 
determining whether or not this project could move forward in a 
safe manner and that's exactly what I did," Bush told supporters 
in Las Vegas. 

Bush accused Democratic Sen. John Kerry of pandering to Nevada 
voters by playing both sides of the issue, part of a broader 
effort to cast the Massachusetts senator as someone who bends to 
the political winds. 

"He says he's strongly against Yucca here in Nevada, but he voted 
for it several times," Bush claimed. 

That is not exactly true. 

Each time Kerry has faced the simple choice of voting whether or 
not to send waste to Yucca Mountain, he has voted against it. But 
he has voted for some measures that had provisions to allow 
nuclear dumps there. Some 16 years ago, Kerry voted for an 
overall budget bill that included a provision favoring putting 
the nuclear waste in Nevada. 

Kerry, who campaigned in California on Thursday, visited Las 
Vegas earlier last week, and said that Bush broke a campaign 
promise to ensure science and not politics determined his 
decision whether to ship waste to Yucca Mountain. 

Dozens of scientific studies remain incomplete and a recent 
federal appeals court ruling raised questions about whether the 
waste repository will be built, or at least meet its target of 
2010 to begin operation. 

Bush said he was pleased to "allow this process to be appealed to 
the courts and to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission." 

"I will stand by the decision of the courts and the Nuclear 
Regulatory Commission," Bush said. 

Bush's visit to Nevada was his second in two months. Though 
Nevada has only five electoral votes - a tiny slice of the 270 
needed to win the presidency - it has become a hotly contested 
prize in an election that is so close. 

A poll of likely Nevada voters in late July showed the race 
essentially tied. 

From Nevada, Bush jetted to Santa Monica, Calif., for a 
Republican National Committee fundraiser, his 12th visit to 
California. He has not been there in five months, a measure of 
the pessimism in Bush's camp about winning California's 55 
electoral votes. 

While in California, the president and the first lady stopped by 
former first lady Nancy Reagan's home in the Bel-Air section of 
Los Angeles, where Mrs. Reagan said she fully supports Bush's 
re-election. After meeting with her for about an hour, the three 
emerged from the house and the president told reporters that he 
and Mrs. Bush were "honored to pay our respects." Former 
President Reagan died in June. 

"I'm so glad you came," said Mrs. Reagan, who later issued a 
statement expressing "my hope that everyone will join" in 
supporting Bush's campaign. The president and Mrs. Reagan did not 
discuss their disagreement over Bush's restrictions on stem cell 
research, which the former first lady opposes. They took no 
questions from reporters. 

Recent polls show Kerry holds a lead of about 11 percentage 
points in California, despite Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger's 
victory in last year's gubernatorial recall election. 
Schwarzenegger was introducing Laura Bush at Thursday night's 
fundraiser. 

Kerry also campaigned in Southern California on Thursday, saying 
Bush's tax cuts failed to spur job creation. 

Bush defended the tax cuts in his speech at a Las Vegas union 
hall, which was packed with hundreds of Republican supporters. 

"All I ask is to be careful about all of this talk about taxing 
the rich," Bush said. "The so-called rich hire accountants and 
lawyers to maybe not pay as much. And therefore in order to meet 
all of these promises, guess who ends up getting stuck with the 
bill? The working people." 

It was Bush's latest attempt to court a friendly labor union, the 
United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners. Most labor unions 
lean strongly Democratic. 

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 44 Vanunu Interview on Democracy Now!
 
Date: Wed, 18 Aug 2004 14:21:21 -0700

 
<x-flowed>
Free Mordechai Vanunu - Info & Action Alert #32 -

Vanunu Interview on Democracy Now!

** PLEASE FORWARD TO SYMPATHETIC LISTS **

"...I could be also arrested again or questioned, but I think I'm doing the 
right thing.  I'm very sure that I'm doing the best thing for all the human 
rights, for peace and for world peace..." (Vanunu to Sunny Miller, 8/14/04, 
about defying Isreal's restrictions on his freedom)

1.  Vanunu Interview on Democracy Now!

2.  Traprock Peace Center Interview transcript

3.  Editors: Interviewing Mordechai Vanunu

=======================
1.  Vanunu Interview on Democracy Now!

Mordechai Vanunu has invited the world's press to visit and interview him 
at St. George's Cathedral in East Jerusalem.  While American corporate 
media reporters in Israel avoid the opportunity unless it lands in their 
lap <http://www.nonviolence.org/vanunu/20040727washtimes.html>, grassroots 
and independent reporters are responding to Vanunu's invitation to defy 
Israel's restrictions on his human right of freedom of speech, and bring 
his story to the world.

Today, Amy Goodman, host of Pacific Radio's Democracy Now!, has broadcast 
part one of her interview with Mordechai Vanunu taped earlier today.  The 
second and final part of Goodman's interview will be broadcast tomorrow, 
Thursday, August 19.
If Democracy Now! is not broadcast on radio or cable TV in your area, you 
can watch or listen on-line at any time from www.democracynow.org
A rush transcript of today's broadcast interview can be found at 
http://www.democracynow.org/static/vanunu.shtml

Yesterday, Tuesday August 17, Traprock Peace Center (serving western 
Massachusetts) published the following interview on their website. MP3 
audio of the interview is available to download at 
http://www.traprockpeace.org/mordechai_vanunu.html

Vanunu was also interviewed July 28 by Christopher Bollyn of American Free 
Press.  http://www.americanfreepress.net/html/vanunu.html

====================
2.  Traprock Peace Center Interview transcript

Interview with Mordechai Vanunu (via telephone)
August 13, 2004

Miller: My name is Sunny Miller.  I'm the director of the Traprock Peace 
Center in Deerfield, Massachusetts, and we're privileged to have on the 
phone with us Mr. Mordechai Vanunu, the Israeli who spoke the truth about 
nuclear weapons and spent 18 years in prison for doing that, 11 and a half 
years I understand was in a very small cell.  Mr. Vanunu, can you tell us 
about your situation now in Israel?

Vanunu: The situation now is that I was released from prison on April 21st 
and since then I have my place in St. George Cathedral in East Jerusalem, 
an Anglican church.  I'm staying here because the Israeli government 
imposed on me a restriction not to speak to foreigners for six months and 
not to go freely for 6 months ... and for one year I'm not allowed to leave 
the country.  We appealed to the Supreme Court in Israel, and the Supreme 
Court left this restriction as it was, so the situation now is that I am 
staying at St. George, and I'm not allowed to leave the country, but I'm 
meeting and speaking to foreigners who come to the church because I'm a 
Christian and this is a bad situation and I am trying to do all that I can 
to receive my human rights.  The basis of a democracy system is to have 
freedom of speech, freedom of movement.  I'll be very glad to leave as soon 
as possible.

Miller: I hope that you will be able to enjoy freedom soon.  Can you tell 
us about the threat that you feel is posed by the nuclear reactors in 
Israel at this time?

Vanunu: My information was about nuclear weapons secrets in Israel. That's 
why we revealed in 1986 to the newspaper in London, the Sunday Times.  I've 
come out with new details, most interesting revelation about how many 
nuclear weapons has Israel developed in that time up to 1986.  It was about 
100 to 200 nuclear weapons.  I also revealed Israel producing new atomic 
bombs like hydrogen bomb and neutron bomb.  Hydrogen bomb has no 
justification, nor any real excuse for Israel's defense.  It's a real 
holocaust weapon, a hydrogen bomb, and it only can be used against 
civilians in cities, so  I revealed this information to prevent and to 
bring the attention of the world to what Israel is doing.  And also the 
situation of the reactor working for forty years without any inspections 
from abroad, from international people or even from the Israel government, 
Israel parliament, even in the media - no one discussing what was going 
there, so all those subjects were raised by my revelation.

Miller: Thank you very much.  We, too, here suffer the fear of living with 
a government who has hydrogen bombs.  Can you tell about the environmental 
concern?  I understand that you feel Jordan may be particularly threatened 
by the emissions from the Dimona nuclear reactor.

Vanunu: About the environmental dangers..., it's easy to tell that the 
Dimona reactor also has sent into the Earth some radioactive production as 
a result of the nuclear radioactive activity in Dimona. Because the Dimona 
reactor was built in the Negev, near the Jordan border, about five to ten 
miles from the Jordan border.  It's very close, so anything that can be 
(emitted) to the air can flow back to Jordan.  And, also, they used to 
produce Plutonium, to dissolve [separate it from] the Uranium only when the 
air flew toward Jordan. That was one of the conditions.  When I was working 
there, we should asked the control room to give us permission to start 
dissolving uranium only when it was clear that the air flew toward Jordan's 
border.  That was the situation.  And when we dissolved the uranium after 
every nuclear s... now there are dissolving... materials that can also 
out-gas and can go to the air, and they can flow to the borders and 
environment around the Dimona reactor.  So the radioactive materials were 
going outside from Dimona and also include the production of other 
radioactive materials. Dimona reactor sending with water that is going to 
the underground.  They are sending water ... from the reactor that can be 
contaminated with radioactive materials.

Miller: So both air and groundwater, you fear, are contaminated downwind 
and down river from the Dimona reactor.

Vanunu: Yes.

Miller: I commend you for incredible strength and perseverance all these 
years, still having a desire to speak the truth.  I wonder how do you keep 
your strength, and how incredible it was that you maintain this commitment 
to the truth even after solitary confinement.  Can you speak about that?

Vanunu: Yes, it started by the urgent demand from my conscience to go and 
reveal the nuclear secrets about all the nuclear weapons that Israel 
produced.  That's (how) my story began, to reveal the nuclear weapons 
secrets.  Then all what happened later, the kidnapping, the isolation, the 
injustice by Israel's Supreme Court and obviously their justice system that 
gave me 18 years; they sentenced me as a traitor and spy, and all the 
treatment, cruelty, barbaric treatment, by ... Mossad in prison, made me 
much more determined and firm and bold to continue to speak the 
truth.  And, also, the Israel situation that continued to silence anyone 
and treating any state, all of this makes it very sure that I should 
continue to speak and repeat and bring the news to all the world's 
attention.  So I suffered and paid 18 years, and, yet, I could be also 
arrested again or questioned, but I think I'm doing the right thing.  I'm 
very sure that I'm doing the best thing for all the human rights, for peace 
and for world peace and for the Middle East peace.  That was sending me to 
speak very clear and bold.

Miller: The question of your capture, that itself was a kidnapping in 
Italy.  Can you speak about that incident?

Vanunu: Yes, after the explanation to the Sunday Times in 1986, the Mossad 
and other spy organizations in not only Israel but foreign states too, who 
were helping Israel nuclear weapons for many years, those states also 
helped them to try to silence me, to try to kidnap me, and they succeeded 
and brought me to Rome by an American young woman.  And then the Rome was 
waiting for me, the Mossad and other spy organizations like Italy, French, 
and England.  And then they took me to a boat, a yacht in the sea, and in 
the sea I asked them you are you who would kidnap me.  They said we are 
here French, England, and Israel. It was a cartel of foreign spy ... who 
were behind the nuclear proliferation during the cold war to Israel and 
South Africa and other states, and my revelation damage all their work 
during the cold war. So they decided to try to sentence me and to kidnap 
me.  And they succeeded ... for 18 years to gain from that kidnapping and 
sentence me for 18 years.

Miller: Yes.  I understand that you wish to travel and particularly that 
you have friends; is it Minnesota?

Vanunu: Yes, adoptive parents in Minnesota.

Miller: And I understand that you would like to leave as soon as possible 
and be a free man.

Vanunu: Yes.  I absolutely was working for this for 18 years.  To feel free 
is to be out of Israel.  In Israel I certainly cannot feel free, especially 
a man like me who is now called a traitor, and regarded as an enemy of 
Israel. And also, as a Christian who was baptized to Christianity in 
Australia in 1986, but here in Israel they regard my baptism to 
Christianity as also another kind of betrayal. So ... I cannot feel 
free.  I cannot feel safe.  There are some threats to my life.  But I'm not 
enjoy to go on the street and walk with people as I want. So all the time I 
was waiting, but I will not be free.  I will go straight to the airport and 
fly away to the free world: Europe and the United States.  That's what I 
want to do.

Miller: I hope that when you are here we will still have some freedoms left 
in the United States in spite of our government and its criminal record 
regarding nuclear weapons and experiments on our own people.  I thank you 
for your time, and I understand next you're going for a long swim.  Is that 
right?

Vanunu: Since I'm staying in St. George, and they don't have sea here, so 
I'm going to swim in a swimming pool, in a hotel swimming pool.  I love to 
swim.  I love the water.  That is very good - what do you call it -- 
rehabilitation for all my body and my spirit, to swim.  I'm swimming about 
one hour every day I'm going to swim.  It's good exercise.

Miller: Wonderful.  I hope that we will welcome you to the waters here in 
the United States soon.

Vanunu: Yes.  I hope to come swim to the United States and meet lots and 
lots of friends from all the United States, including from Massachusetts, 
Boston, I received many, many letters during the 18 years in support, 
encouragement -- from the people but not from the government and not from 
the media.  The people of the United States are beautiful and wonderful 
sending their message of support for many, many years.

Miller: Thank you.  We will welcome you heartily.  Thank you so much for 
your courage.

Vanunu: The media there has not enough courage just to speak against Israel 
and also the Washington governments still are not able to speak clear and 
loud against Israel's nuclear policy or even to demand my human rights, my 
basic human rights.  Imagine if one man like me was in an Arab state what 
the United States was doing, or in other states, but, because I am in 
Israel, the United States government are silent.  So I hope this will 
change.  I hope I'll be free and come to the United States and speak, and 
maybe I will bring back the message of that freedom that they lost in the 
last two years after September 11.

Miller: Thank you very much, Mr. Vanunu.  Mordechai Vanunu speaking to us 
from the cathedral, St. George Cathedral in is it Jerusalem there?

Vanunu: East Jerusalem, yes.

Miller: Thank you so much.  Best wishes to you.

Vanunu: Thank you, too, for bringing my voice to those in the United 
States.  I hope to meet you and continue to work together in others to 
bring good news to the U.S. citizens.

� 2004
Traprock Peace Center thanks  Mike Gorse for making the transcript.

====================
3.  Editors: Interviewing Mordechai Vanunu

Mordechai Vanunu invites journalists in Israel wishing an interview to call 
on him at St. George's Cathedral, 20 Nablus Road, East Jerusalem.

Telephone interviews should be arranged via email to Mordechai Vanunu at 
vanunumvjc@hotmail.com

=================
If you would like to receive these alerts directly, please subscribe by 
sending a blank e-mail to free_vanunu-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
Felice Cohen-Joppa
Coordinator
U.S. Campaign to Free Mordechai Vanunu
POB 43384
Tucson, AZ 85733
Phone/Fax 520-323-8697
freevanunu@mindspring.com
www.nonviolence.org/vanunu

</x-flowed>
*****************************************************************
 45 [DU-WATCH] Mordechai Vanunu defies ban on speaking to
 
Date: Wed, 18 Aug 2004 22:50:00 -0500 (CDT)

 
A little off topic, but I thought people on this list may wish to
see this.

Charlie

For Immediate Release ...

August 17, 2004 Contact:  Sunny Miller, 413 773-7427

Mordechai Vanunu, Israeli Anti-Nuclear Whistleblower, Asserts His
Human Rights to Free Speech, Association and Travel

U.S. Media Invited to Contact Vanunu and Publish Interviews

Hear his August 14th interview and see the transcript at
http://www.traprockpeace.org/mordechai_vanunu.html

Mordechai Vanunu, the Israeli who spoke the truth about nuclear
weapons, spent 18 years in prison for doing so. Vanunu spent eleven
and a half years in a small cell only 6 x 9 feet, and for thirteen
years he endured solitary confinement. After years of cruelty he
was released from prison on April 21st of 2004 and has a room now
at an Anglican church, St. George Cathedral in East Jerusalem.

Speaking to media, Vanunu again defies restrictions imposed by
Israel by speaking to foreigners He has been prohibited from doing
so for six months following his release. He also has been ordered
not to leave the country for one full year.

Vanunu initially defied the Israel authorities when he revealed to
the Sunday Times in London in October of 1986 that the Israeli
government was using a reactor provided through the Atoms for Peace
program to produce fuel for nuclear weapons. Vanunu said the Israeli
arsenal contains 100 to 200 nuclear weapons, including powerful
hydrogen bomb and neutron bombs.

Neutron bombs are designed to kill people while minimizing damage
to buildings.

Vanunu says, 3... (The) hydrogen bomb has no justification, nor any
real excuse for Israel's defense.  It's a real holocaust weapon, a
hydrogen bomb, and it only can be used against civilians in cities
.. 3

As a worker at the Dimona reactor, Vanuau claims that emissions
there were released only when the wind was blowing toward Jordan.
Vanunu objects to the reactors being operated for forty years without
inspections from abroad, or from the Israeli government or Parliament,
saying,  3No one was discussing what was going there.2

After his revelation to the Sunday Times, Vanunu was lured to Rome
by an American young woman. He says that Italian, French, and English
kidnappers were waiting for him, representing some of the governments
that promoted nuclear proliferation during the cold war.

Vanunu hopes to leave Israel as soon as possible. 3I cannot feel
safe.

There are some threats to my life.2 He hopes to visit supporters,
including adoptive parents in Minnesota, and people throughout the
U.S. whom he came to know through correspondence and through
communications during visits with his younger brother, Meir Vanunu,
and other family members during his captivity. The right to travel
and to swim in the ocean remain a hope for Mordechai, alongside his
hope for a world not threatened by nuclear annihilation by any
country.

###

Sunny Miller is the Executive Director of the Traprock Peace Center
in Deerfield, Massachusetts, where many neighbors collaborate to
advocate for nuclear disarmament, weapons inspections and nonviolence
as a tool to achieve human rights and economic justice.

Our thanks to Mike Gorse for making the transcript of the interview
and to our neighbor Hattie Nestel's long dedication to promoting
Mordechai Vanunu's freedom and human rights.

Charles Jenks, attorney at law President of the Core Group Traprock
Peace Center 103A Keets Road Deerfield, MA 01342 413-773-1633; Fax
413-773-7507 charles@mtdata.com http://traprockpeace.org

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 46 SDUT: FBI agent: Ex-nuclear weapons plant not safe for wildlife refuge
 
SignOnSanDiego.com 

By Robert Weller ASSOCIATED PRESS

 3:34 p.m. August 18, 2004

 DENVER  An FBI agent who said he was ordered not to discuss his 
role in a 15-year investigation of the Rocky Flats nuclear 
weapons plant warned Wednesday against creating a wildlife refuge 
at the site, saying it would be too dangerous. 

Jon Lipsky, who led a 1989 raid on the plant after being tipped 
off about secret illegal burning of radioactive waste, said he 
was ordered by superiors to abandon his plans to talk about the 
investigation at a news conference. 

The news conference was called to discuss a report written by 
former Rocky Flats employee Jacque Brever accusing the Department 
of Energy of lying about the extent of contamination at Rocky 
Flats, about 10 miles west of downtown Denver. 

The department plans to convert the site into a wildlife refuge 
in two years after a $7 billion cleanup is complete. 

Brever's report said so much radioactive waste was disposed of 
clandestinely at Rocky Flats that some contaminated areas are not 
part of the cleanup. 

"I can tell you that Jacque's report is accurate," said Lipsky, 
saying he was speaking as a private citizen. 

FBI spokesman Joe Parris confirmed Lipsky had been told not to 
talk about the investigation because he had not followed standard 
procedure and asked for permission. Parris said Lipsky could have 
faced sanctions if he had discussed it. 

Rocky Flats made plutonium triggers for nuclear weapons until 
production was shut down after the 1989 raid. A federal grand 
jury investigated allegations of safety violations by the 
contractor and the Department of Energy. 

The grand jury wanted to indict eight, including two 
corporations, but the Justice Department declined. The grand 
jury's report remains sealed. 

One of the plant's operators at the time, Rockwell International 
Corp., pleaded guilty to 10 hazardous waste and clean water 
violations in 1992 and paid an $18.5 million fine. 

Brever prepared her report for Rep. Mark Udall, D-Colo., who had 
asked for a detailed account of her concerns about Rocky Flats. 

Speaking with difficulty because of thyroid cancer she believes 
she contracted while working at Rocky Flats, Brever said 
employees would dump contaminated waste in a duck pond. 

"We called it feeding the ducks," she said, noting that the pond 
is not listed among the areas being cleaned. 

Energy Department spokeswoman Karen Lutz said officials have 
reviewed Brever's report and some of the areas Brever cited have 
been cleaned up or will be. 

Lutz said a cleanup of the duck pond will begin in the next three 
weeks. 

"The Department of Energy is very confident that the cleanup of 
Rocky Flats is thorough, safe and protective," Lutz said. 

Neils Schonbeck, a professor of biochemistry at Metro State 
College in Denver who has studied Rocky Flats since 1988, said he 
is concerned that recent research in Britain indicates that the 
cancer risk from inhalation of plutonium could be 10 times higher 
than previously thought. 

He said the government's acceptable limit of 50 picocuries in 
topsoil at Rocky Flats is far too high. Schonbeck said visitors 
could stir up dust and put dangerous levels of plutonium in the 
air. 

"Even rain can mobilize plutonium" he said. 

On the Net: 

Fish and Wildlife Service refuge plan: 
[http://rockyflats.fws.gov/] 

Rocky Mountain Peace and Justice Center fact sheet: 
[http://www.rmpjc.org/2002/FlatsCleanup-Facts.html] 

the Union-Tribune | Contact the Union-Tribune
 � Copyright 2004 Union-Tribune Publishing Co.   
*****************************************************************
 47 Tennessean: 8 Oak Ridge protesters called repeat offenders - 

Wednesday, 08/18/04
 
http://tennessean.com/

Associated Press

OAK RIDGE � Eight peace protesters arrested outside the Y-12 
nuclear weapons plant received jail sentences yesterday as repeat 
offenders. 

''Each of you hold sincere beliefs in what you've done,'' General 
Sessions Judge Ronald Murch said. ''Blocking traffic is not an 
appropriate way to express your viewpoint.'' 

Still, getting a 10-day sentence for protesting nuclear weapons 
outside the plant that helped make the bomb that destroyed 
Hiroshima ''seems a little harsh,'' protester Judy Ross, 82, 
said. 

''I'm also dismayed and saddened that I was not permitted to 
speak as to my convictions,'' the Balsam, N.C., woman said. 

''This court is not going to turn this into a circus,'' the judge 
told the defendants, who were arrested Aug. 8 during a 
demonstration to mark the 59th anniversary of the Hiroshima 
bombing in World War II. 

A dozen protesters were arrested on misdemeanor charges for 
blocking the entrance to the Department of Energy facility with 
tables, bikes, potted plants and a sofa. 

Four pleaded no contest, were fined court costs and released as 
first-time offenders. The other eight spent five days in Anderson 
County Jail last week. 

Murch sentenced three of them � Ron Dale and Kim Readigan, both 
of Dearborn Heights, Mich., and Kip Williams of Knoxville � to 
five-day sentences or time served, plus $50 fines, as second-time 
offenders. 

The remaining five, all with two or more convictions for similar 
offenses, received 10-day sentences, plus $50 fines. Ross; Erik 
Johnson and his wife Elizabeth ''Libby'' Johnson of Maryville, 
and Knoxville residents Lissa McLeod and Jerry Bone must begin 
serving their additional time Friday. 

Information from The Knoxville News Sentinel was used in this 
report.   

TOP |  [http://www.tennessean.com/] | 
*****************************************************************
 48 thedailypress: LANL Cowbow scientists

[http://www.thedailypress.com


Inside the Capitol ,Jay Miller Syndicated Columnist Aug 17, 2004, 
     
SANTA FE � The col-umn about LANL's "cowboy scientists"
engendered many responses. 

Pete Nanos, director of the Los Alamos National Laboratory,
blames security breaches at the lab on a mi-nority of scientists
who refuse to follow the rules for handling classified
informa-tion. He calls them "cowboy scientists."

 One reader comments that maybe Nanos might want to choose his
words a bit more carefully, lest he lose any support he may have
from President Bush, who also has been called a cow-boy by some
of his critics.

 One of the more ridicu-lous responses blamed Sen. Pete
Domenici's longtime advocacy of LANL for con-tributing to a
culture of complacency on the Hill. There is nothing original
about the charge. Domenici has been under fire in Congress for
his long record of success in obtaining money for a lab with too
many leaks.

 Domenici's warning to LANL last week may partly have been an
effort to re-move some of that heat. It should also be noted
that the rest of New Mexico's con-gressional delegation has
consistently been very sup-portive of the lab.

 Most of the other re-sponses came from people who have had
close contact with the lab or who are retired from the lab. Most
of them had the rather gen-eral impression that the
su-persecurity is largely silli-ness. 
The lab has always had security leaks, but none of them ever
really mattered. And that's true even for the biggest security
breaches, when Klaus Fuchs gave away, and David Greenglass sold,
secrets of the first bomb. Germany and Japan were our enemies at
the time and the Soviets never got anything they didn't already
know.

 During the almost-60 years since, the lab has han-dled billions
of pieces of se-cret information and lost track of only a few.
That's a very good record. Several ob-servers feel that the
24-hour news channels, which have a need to create news, have
sensationalized missing in-formation all out of propor-tion. 
Congress then picks up on the hysteria, thinking that it needs
to appear on top of things, and conducts investi-gations. Could
it be that our government is spending far too much time and
money on keeping information se-cret that really doesn't need to
be secret? 

As a nation, we seem to have the impression that we are the only
smart people in the world. But in reality, ev-ery society has
its great thinkers. Our advantage is in having the natural
resources and engineering capabilities to put our thoughts into
ac-tion more quickly and effi-ciently than most other countries.
And spies can't steal that.

 But our obsession with keeping secrets will con-tinue. In a
lengthy docu-ment, one bit of secret in-formation makes the
entire document secret, even if ev-erything else is well-known.
But since there are penalties for not classifying the entire
document as secret, we spend millions protecting informa-tion
that mostly is not se-cret.

 The two missing disks of current concern were part of a
presentation that was to be made. There now is evidence those
disks may not have ever been used for the presen-tation.

 That's sloppy record-keep-ing. But Nobel laureates don't really
like to be both-ered with record-keeping. They are paid to think
big thoughts. And it is not easy to attract them into
situa-tions where someone is con-stantly looking over them to be
sure they are meticulously keeping records.

 This tension between sci-ence and security is legend. In the
previous column I mentioned a movie about the ongoing battle
between Gen. Leslie Groves and Dr. Robert Oppenheimer during the
early days of LANL. The movie was "Fat Man and Lit-tle Boy,"
starring Paul New-man as Groves.

 Even better accounts can be found in several books on the
subject. And virtually every book written about the early days
of Los Alamos contains a section on Groves v. Oppenheimer and
the ob-sessive secrecy surrounding the building of the big bomb.

� Copyright 2004 by TheDailyPress.com
*****************************************************************
 49 courier-journal: Contractor hired to aid ill nuclear workers assailed
 
www.courier-journal.com

Wednesday, August 18, 2004     
  
By Nancy Zuckerbrod Associated Press
  
WASHINGTON  A company criticized for its handling of a federal 
compensation program for sick nuclear weapons plant workers in 
Kentucky and elsewhere is performing tasks it was not hired to 
do, a government investigation found. 

New Orleans-based Science and Engineering Associates, which 
recently became Apogen Technologies, is an information technology 
company contracted by the Energy Department to build a database 
system for the program. But the company also hired nurses and 
prepared worker claims for doctors to review. 

A report by the inspector general of the General Services 
Administration found that the additional work was "outside the 
scope" of what the company was hired to do. 

Jack Lebo, a spokesman for Inspector General Daniel Levinson, 
said companies can lose contracts or be asked to repay the 
government when they do "outside the scope" work. That rarely 
occurs, however. 

Mike Smith, a spokesman for the contractor, disagreed with the 
inspector general's review. 

"We believe it's all in scope and what the DOE contract called 
for SEA to do," Smith said. 

Levinson's initial findings were outlined in a letter last month 
to Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, chairman of the Senate Finance 
Committee. In response, Grassley sent a scathing letter to Energy 
Department officials and others yesterday. 

"In simple terms, the payments to SEA/Apogen, and the company's 
work, were not authorized by the contract and thus were improper, 
irregular and potentially unlawful," Grassley said. 

He said government officials either "knew about the violation and 
allowed it, or were too negligent to detect and stop it." 

Richard Miller, a policy analyst with the Government 
Accountability Project, a watchdog group, said the inspector 
general's findings explain problems workers have encountered with 
the compensation program. 

"By bypassing contracting rules, DOE wound up with an 
underqualified contractor whose expertise is in scanning 
documents and putting them in a computer, but was required to 
know how to set up an efficient, multistep workers' compensation 
claims evaluation process," Miller said. 

Energy Department spokesman Joe Davis said the agency , was 
seeking to "establish a new contract for the work performed by 
SEA/Apogen in the past." 

Apogen is competing for the new contract, Smith said. 

The Energy Department and its contractor have been criticized in 
congressional hearings for their handling of the compensation 
program, which is supposed to help workers, including those at 
the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant in Kentucky, who were exposed 
to toxic substances while building bombs. 

The department has received about $95million for the program 
since Congress created it four years ago. But just 31 out of 
about 25,000 workers who filed claims have received payments, 
according to Energy Department records. 

Most of the claims the agency has received are from people who 
worked for contractors in Kentucky, Colorado, Idaho, Iowa, New 
Mexico, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee and Washington state. 

Copyright 2004 The Courier-Journal.
*****************************************************************
 50 CBS: FBI Muzzles Agent Who Planned To Go Public About Rocky Flats Lie   

CBS 4 Denver: 

Aug 18, 2004 2:28 pm US/Mountain

 GOLDEN, Colo. (News 4) An active FBI agent who was planning to 
go public Wednesday with startling claims about Rocky Flats said 
he was muzzled at the last minute by the FBI, News 4 reports.

In 1989, special agent Jon Lipsky led a raid called "Operation 
Desert Glow" on the former Colorado nuclear weapons plant looking 
for evidence that workers may have been illegally burning 
plutonium and performing other environmental crimes.

Workers at Rocky Flats made plutonium triggers for nuclear 
weapons, and in the 80s there were indications that such illegal 
activity might have been going on.

The raid led to a grand jury investigation of Rocky Flats. That 
grand jury had voted to indict eight people for environmental 
crimes, but the U.S. Attorney suddenly disbanded the panel, and 
its report was kept secret to this day.

Rockwell International, the operators of Rocky Flats at the time, 
eventually pleaded guilty to environmental crimes and paid a 
$12.5 million fine.

The authors of a book on Rocky Flats recently interviewed Lipsky, 
and said that he claims he was ordered by his superiors in the 
Justice Department to lie to them. Lipsky allegedly disobeyed and 
told the authors the truth.

On Wednesday Lipsky had planned to talk about the investigation 
for the first time publicly, but he simply said:

"I came here as a private citizen to talk about the dangers of 
recreation at Rocky Flats. I took vacation time to come here. 
Yesterday at 5:54 p.m., just as my family and I were driving into 
Denver, I received a call from the FBI ordering me not to talk 
about the Rocky Flats case. So, I can't tell you what I came to 
tell you."

Former U.S. Attorney Michael Norton said Tuesday that he is 
astonished that an active FBI agent would be claiming that he was 
ordered to lie.

(Copyright 2004 by news4colorado.com. All rights reserved.)
*****************************************************************
 51 Suffolk Life Newspapers: Meetings Scheduled Re: Reactor Cleanup
 			 							 							 	 	 		
  By: Erin Carpenter     August 18, 2004   

    
  CLEANUP TIME-Pictured is the Brookhaven Graphite Research 
Reactor located in Upton. The reactor will be the subject of 
several upcoming public meetings to address cleanup procedures.

The Brookhaven Graphite Research Reactor, which is located at 
Brookhaven National Laboratory in Upton, will be the subject of 
several upcoming informational sessions and public meetings.
				 			   			 			
  The United States Department of Energy announced earlier this
month that it is "seeking public comment on the proposed cleanup
plan" for the reactor, according to DOE officials.

 The public comment period for the cleanup plans will be held
from August 2 until September 3. During this time, officials are
hoping that members of the public will take the time to review
the proposed cleanup plans and provide the DOE with input on the
situation. The plan can be viewed at www.bnl.gov/bgrr as well as
at local libraries county-wide. Contact your library before
making the trip to be certain they are in possession of the
documents. 

Officials report the Brookhaven Graphite Research Reactor was
originally operated from 1950 to 1969 for the purposes of
"scientific research on peaceful uses of the atom," according to
BNL officials. The reactor was subject to a deactivation process
in 1969 and was closed in 1972. Officials report some areas of
the reactor are still contaminated with elements used in the
research process and need to be cleansed. 

"The elements that are still present in [the reactor] are
Cesium-137 and Strontium-90," said John Carter, director of
community affairs for the DOE at BNL. "These elements are
radiological contaminants.

 "Cleanup procedures have been ongoing at the Brookhaven
Graphite Research Reactor for several years now," continued
Carter. "At this stage, we have four alternatives to our current
cleanup plans. We are looking for the public to review these
alternatives and give us feedback as to what they think."

 Carter noted that there are two scheduled meetings regarding
the alternatives to the current cleanup plans and the public is
encouraged to attend. The first meeting will be held tomorrow,
August 19 from 7 to 9 p.m. and the second will be held on August
24 from 7 to 9 p.m. The first meeting, according to Carter, will
be mainly informational while the second will be geared toward
obtaining public comments. Both meetings will be held in
Brookhaven Lab's Berkner Hall. 

"The August 24 meeting will be more formal," explained Carter.

"At that meeting we will have an official comment period with a
stenographer to record everyone's thoughts on the matter."

 When the reactor was in operation, it used radioactive fuel to
create the chain reactions necessary for research to be
performed, according to BNL officials. The chain reactions
occurred under the protection of a "thick biological shield"
that contained radiation to the site and minimized the chance of
leakage beyond research parameters. 

"Basically, once we get the public's opinion, work is either
going to continue as it has been or one of the alternatives may
be selected," said Carter. "We want to know what people think of
the alternatives. We want to know if [the public] thinks we're
spending too much money on the project, not enough, or just the
right amount. In a situation like this, it is important to get
as much feedback as we can."

 Carter also noted that members of the public who are planning
on attending the informational meetings will be able to direct
questions regarding the reactor cleanup plans and alternatives
to several project managers who will be present. "These [project
managers] are really the best people to inform the public," he
said. "They know everything about [the topic]. I would encourage
those who are not familiar with the [reactor] to come to these
meetings even if they don't wish to comment. The project will be
explained in terms which will be easy to understand."

 Visit the website to view cleanup plans and the four 
alternatives given by officials. If you plan to attend the 
meetings, photo identification is required for anyone over the 
age of 16. 

�Suffolk Life Newspapers 2004                      
*****************************************************************
 52 lamonitor.com: LANL offers water expertise 

The Online News Source for Los Alamos
 
[http://www.lac-nm.us]   

ROGER SNODGRASS, roger@lamonitor.com [roger@lamonitor.com] , 
Monitor Assistant Editor

SANTA FE - More public awareness about water issues, local 
knowledge and applying a "best minds" approach to water problems 
were among the themes of the annual Water Law Conference this 
week. A new outreach program by Los Alamos National Laboratory 
will try to advance all of these themes for the Espanola Basin, 
the regional drainage area that includes Los Alamos County, Santa 
Fe and parts of lower Rio Arriba County and several 
municipalities and pueblos.

Charles Nylander, program manager for the lab's water research 
technical assistance office presented an overview of a new 
program that proposes to collaborate with a growing number of 
water-related entities serving the various communities and 
stakeholders in the region. 

Nylander said water storage in the basin went into a deficit 
condition in the 1990s when growing withdrawals from the 
groundwater began to exceed the natural flows that recharge it.

Zooming in to a study of a 9-mile stretch along the Rio Grande, 
he said the river has been found to be losing 11.5 cubic feet per 
second to the ground water aquifer, straining to make up for the 
overdraft from the well fields. Rather than thinking outside the 
box, as a current catch phrase would have it, Nylander called for 
a deeper understanding of the water the region has in its 
account.

"We better start thinking about what's in the box and what its 
quality is," he said. In a relatively poor state like New Mexico, 
he noted, "We have a lot of scant resources and very little is 
available for water research."
z He noted that there had been 260 letters of interest in a 
recently appropriated $10 million program for state-funded 
research. But so many areas are excluded from funding - including 
research on infrastructure and outreach - that many needs will 
remain unmet.

A key area to be addressed by all the efforts to work on the 
state's water problems is resolving problems and communicating 
among the concerned interests.

"Collaboration is not easy," Nylander said.

Native Americans and Hispanic acequia-members are very concerned 
about losing water rights, Nylander said, despite the 
characteristic of western water law that tends to constrain 
allocation and give primary consideration to the oldest claims.

Earlier in the conference, the point was made that negotiated 
settlements on water issues are far less expensive and much 
faster than litigation, which has been the main arena.

Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., who was among those calling for a 
change, also warned that government was too often involved in 
water problems it couldn't solve, while not tackling the ones it 
could.

Nylander's hope for lab's new water assistance office was that it 
would supply expertise to some of the groups that may not feel 
they have the resources to come to the table and be heard fairly.

While congress contemplates a $200 million a year program for 
involving the national laboratories in technological solutions to 
regional water problems, Nylander said he was coming at it from 
the more entrepreneurial perspective of how to be of service in 
the local and regional framework. Nylander showed a short clip of 
a video-in-progress that will be called "Agua es vida" - about 
water's essential value in local cultures and an introduction to 
the role hydrology might play in preserving that value. The video 
is scheduled to be available in October.

After Nylander's talk, Joni Arends of the Santa Fe public 
interest group, Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety, said she 
was concerned that the laboratory was acting deceptively by 
presenting itself as a neutral academic entitity, when it had 
major and potentially conflicting interests with other water 
stakeholders in the area.

She also objected to the location of the new technical assistance 
office, in the Santa Fe County utility department, rather than at 
the University of New Mexico, where there would be no appearance 
of a conflict.

Before Nylander's presentation, Rep. Tom Udall, D-NM, made a 
brief appearance at the conference.

Echoing previous comments about the frustratingly glacial pace of 
water settlements, Udall called for more short-term solutions, 
because the long-term projects never get done.

Why is that, he asked, and answered with a quote from British 
economist John Maynard Keynes: "Because we're all dead in the 
long run."   

  � 2003 Los Alamos Monitor All Rights Reserved.   
*****************************************************************
 53 Google News Alert - nuclear
 
Date: Wed, 18 Aug 2004 17:58:12 -0700 (PDT)

 
SEOUL says talks still underway to prepare North Korean nuclear ...
Tehran Times - Tehran,Iran
... negotiations were still underway to hold a working group meeting to
pave the way for another round of multilateral talks on North Korea's
nuclear stand-off. ...
<http://www.tehrantimes.com/Description.asp?Da=8/19/2004&Cat=4&Num=005>
See all stories on this topic:
<http://news.google.com/news?ie=utf8&oe=utf8&persist=1&num=30&hl=en&client=google&ncl=http://www.tehrantimes.com/Description.asp%3FDa%3D8/19/2004%26Cat%3D4%26Num%3D005>

IRAN should be punished for nuclear cheating
Telegraph.co.uk - London,England,UK
Iran yesterday stepped up its defiance of the outside world by threatening
to destroy Israel's nuclear reactor at Dimona. General ...
<http://www.opinion.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml?xml=/opinion/2004/08/19/dl1901.xml&sSheet=/opinion/2004/08/19/ixopinion.html>
See all stories on this topic:
<http://news.google.com/news?ie=utf8&oe=utf8&persist=1&num=30&hl=en&client=google&ncl=http://www.opinion.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml%3Fxml%3D/opinion/2004/08/19/dl1901.xml%26sSheet%3D/opinion/2004/08/19/ixopinion.html>

IRAN warns of preemptive strike to prevent attack on nuclear sites
Channel News Asia - Singapore
... Defense Minister Ali Shamkhani warned that Iran might launch a preemptive
strike against US forces in the region to prevent an attack on its nuclear
facilities ...
<http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_world/view/101754/1/.html>
See all stories on this topic:
<http://news.google.com/news?ie=utf8&oe=utf8&persist=1&num=30&hl=en&client=google&ncl=http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_world/view/101754/1/.html>

AEA report will not rule on Iran nuclear program: diplomats
Tehran Times - Tehran,Iran
VIENNA (AFP) -- The UN nuclear agency will not say in a report next month
whether Iran's nuclear activities are of a military nature, nor will it
recommend ...
<http://www.tehrantimes.com/Description.asp?Da=8/19/2004&Cat=2&Num=003>
See all stories on this topic:
<http://news.google.com/news?ie=utf8&oe=utf8&persist=1&num=30&hl=en&client=google&ncl=http://www.tehrantimes.com/Description.asp%3FDa%3D8/19/2004%26Cat%3D2%26Num%3D003>

SPLIT Remains Over How to Deal With Iran's Nuclear Program
Voice of America - Washington,DC,USA
The US administration is warning Iran against pursuing a nuclear weapons
program, which it calls a threat to international security. ...
<http://www.voanews.com/article.cfm?objectID=3D85A581-6380-48FD-B17448E4A91CC818>
See all stories on this topic:
<http://news.google.com/news?ie=utf8&oe=utf8&persist=1&num=30&hl=en&client=google&ncl=http://www.voanews.com/article.cfm%3FobjectID%3D3D85A581-6380-48FD-B17448E4A91CC818>

NO New Closures of Japan Nuclear Reactors Needed
Reuters - USA
TOKYO (Reuters) - No more Japanese nuclear reactors need to be closed for
inspections, electric power companies said on Wednesday after submitting
reports ...
<http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=6004821>
See all stories on this topic:
<http://news.google.com/news?ie=utf8&oe=utf8&persist=1&num=30&hl=en&client=google&ncl=http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml%3Ftype%3DworldNews%26storyID%3D6004821>

MARTIN pushes for nuclear dump ban
ABC Online - Australia
... Chief Minister says she has received assurances that a federal Labor
government would not override proposed new laws banning a national nuclear
waste dump. ...
<http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200408/s1179801.htm>
See all stories on this topic:
<http://news.google.com/news?ie=utf8&oe=utf8&persist=1&num=30&hl=en&client=google&ncl=http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200408/s1179801.htm>

REPORT: Nuclear power a bad source of hydrogen for CO2 capture ...
Bellona - UK
Hydrogen from nuclear power produces relatively low CO2 emissions, but
comprises a host of environmental burdens in a whole range of other areas
when compared ...
<http://www.bellona.no/en/energy/34903.html>

KERRY is playing politics with nuclear waste issue
Bloomington Pantagraph - Bloomington,IL,USA
If anyone is playing politics with where to locate the nation's nuclear
waste depository, it's Democratic presidential contender John Kerry. ...
<http://www.pantagraph.com/stories/081804/opi_20040818001.shtml>
See all stories on this topic:
<http://news.google.com/news?ie=utf8&oe=utf8&persist=1&num=30&hl=en&client=google&ncl=http://www.pantagraph.com/stories/081804/opi_20040818001.shtml>

PROTESTS at nuclear site
ic Dunbartonshire.co.uk - Dumbarton,UK
Peace activists have set up camp near a nuclear base at Coulport, beside
Loch Long, ahead of two weeks of protests. Trident Ploughshares ...
<http://icdunbartonshire.icnetwork.co.uk/news/nationalnews/headlines/tm_objectid=14544617&method=full&siteid=78846&headline=protests-at-nuclear-site-name_page.html>

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 54 [du-list] DU in the news - 18th Aug. 04
 
Date: Wed, 18 Aug 2004 14:20:55 -0700

 
<x-flowed>
OFFICES: 17, including one in Kuwait
Houston Chronicle - Houston,TX,USA
In the midst of the war in Iraq last year, the US Army called on a local
company to collect equipment tainted with depleted uranium. ...
<<http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/business/2740137>http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/business/2740137>

ARMY Will Pay $75 Million to Clean San Bernardino Water
Environment News Service (subscription) - USA
... and water resulting from these activities may include mercury, lead,
copper, magnesium, lithium, perchlorate, TNT, napalm, depleted uranium,
PCBs, solvents and ...
<<http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/aug2004/2004-08-17-09.asp>http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/aug2004/2004-08-17-09.asp>


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 55 Newswise: New Book Documents Wide-ranging Science of Enrico Fermi
 		 		
  Source: University of Chicago           
Released: Wed 18-Aug-2004, 15:00 ET 
  
DescriptionA new book edited by the University of Chicago's James 
Cronin describes the many-faceted scientific legacies of Nobel 
laureate Enrico Fermi, whose contributions to 20th-century 
physics are perhaps unmatched for their broad scope.            

Images of Enrico Fermi are available upon request.

A new book edited by the University of Chicago's James Cronin 
describes the many-faceted scientific legacies of Nobel laureate 
Enrico Fermi, whose contributions to 20th-century physics are 
perhaps unmatched for their broad scope.        
	
The book, titled Fermi Remembered, has just been published by the 
University of Chicago Press with contributions from seven Nobel 
Prize winners and many other scientists who studied under or 
worked with Fermi at the University of Chicago from 1946 until 
his death in 1954.
	
Albert Einstein's relativity theory and the quantum mechanics 
developed by Werner Heisenberg and Erwin Schrödinger are often 
cited as milestones in 20th-century physics. But for sheer 
breadth of achievement, Fermi left a unique signature on modern 
physics.
	
"He gave to science all he had and with him disappeared the last 
universal physicist in the tradition of the great men of the 19th 
century, when it was still possible for a single person to reach 
the highest summits, both in theory and experiment, and to 
dominate all fields of physics," wrote the late Nobel laureate 
Emilio Segré   of Fermi in 1962.
	
Although not a biography, the book contains reminiscences of 
Fermi from 25 scientists who knew him, as well as material from 
his research notebooks, correspondence, speech outlines and 
teaching. 
	
Among Fermi's early accomplishments was to apply quantum 
mechanics, which explains the behavior of atoms and subatomic 
particles, to the physics of solids and gases, Cronin said. In 
the 1920s he built on quantum theory by formulating concepts 
called Fermi energy and, with Paul Dirac, Fermi-Dirac statistics. 
These concepts later became vital to the development of 
semiconductors and other electronic devices.
	
Fermi went on to earn the Nobel Prize in 1938 for his discovery 
of new radioactive elements produced by the addition of neutrons 
to the cores of other atoms, and for the discovery of nuclear 
reactions brought about by slowly moving neutrons. He also 
directed construction of the first nuclear reactor at the 
University of Chicago during World War II as part of the effort 
to develop the atomic bomb. But he turned his attention to an 
entirely new topic after the war.
	
While researching the book, Cronin discovered a 1945 letter from 
Fermi outlining his vision for the newly formed research 
institute that now bears his name at the University of Chicago. 
"That was to do high-energy physics, not nuclear physics, not 
following up what he had done with the bomb," Cronin said. "He 
was looking far, far ahead of that."
	
Fermi's papers also reveal a man of humanity as well as science, 
Cronin said. In 1945 Fermi wrote a letter to U.S. Secretary of 
State James Byrnes expressing his concern over the fate and 
repatriation of Italian Jews deported to Germany during the war. 
In 1952 he co-signed another letter to Secretary of State Dean 
Acheson vouching for the integrity of chemist Linus Pauling, who 
had been denied a passport for travel to England. Many other 
letters show his continuing worries about the control of nuclear 
weapons.
	
The reminiscences convey a sense of Fermi's personality. For 
example, Harold Agnew, who witnessed the initiation of the first 
controlled nuclear chain reaction in 1942, told the story of 
Fermi's wife attempting to buy a General Electric dishwasher. 
This was after the war-appliances were scarce-and there was a 
waiting list of several months. Agnew suggested that Fermi take 
advantage of his professional relationship with the president of 
GE to get a dishwater immediately. But Fermi declined, saying 
that wouldn't be fair. "This was classic Fermi," Agnew wrote.
	
In the book's last chapter, Cronin analyzes a forward-looking 
talk Fermi gave in January 1954 as the retiring president of the 
American Physical Society. Fermi's outlines and slides for the 
talk survive today in the Special Collections of the University 
of Chicago Library.
		
In his talk Fermi undertook a difficult task-to predict how the 
power of particle accelerators would grow over the next 40 years. 
His chart began with the first low-powered accelerator in 1930, 
and topped out in 1994 with what Cronin dubbed "the Globatron," 
an accelerator that girdled the Earth at the equator. Fermi was 
wrong about the size and cost of the Globatron, but its projected 
energy has already been achieved because of technological 
advances.
	
Unfortunately, stomach cancer cut Fermi's career short in 1954, 
just as the growing power of particle accelerators ushered in a 
golden age of discovery. Cronin thus ends his book wistfully: 
"One wonders what his contributions might have been." 

� 2004 Newswise.  All Rights Reserved.                                  
    
*****************************************************************

NOTE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107 this 
material is distributed without profit or payment to those who 
have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for 
non-profit research and educational purposes only. For more 
information go to: 
<http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml> 
    
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