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NUCLEAR POLICY
1 Korea: Digital Chosunilbo: Six-party Nuclear Talks Likely to be Held
2 US: Indy Star: Lugar is away on nuclear business
3 Guardian Unlimited: U.N.: Origin of Libya Nuke Info Unclear
4 Scoop: Labour pro-nuke-move - Clark will not be amused
NUCLEAR REACTORS
5 Mainichi Interactive: Nuclear water leak delays plant reopening
6 STUFF: Clark slams Christchurch nuclear investigation
7 midday multimedia: Tarapur nuke plant bags national award
8 canadaeast.com: Nuclear upgrade a tough decision
9 US: toledoblade.com: Nuclear plant layoffs revive fatigue fears
10 Scoop: WEcan Staggered by ECan's Nuke Proposal
11 US: NRC: NRC to Meet with Local Residents Tuesday in Sioux Falls to
12 US: NRC: Notice of License Termination for the Babcock and Wilcox
NUCLEAR SAFETY
13 [du-list] RRW from Desert Storm - and the rest
14 [NukeNet] Nuclear Weapons & DU Illegal On Several Counts: Re:
15 US: [du-list] Pentagon Brass Rattled by Uranium Munitions article
16 US: [du-list] PSR issue brief on DU
17 Bellona: Sevmash completed hull construction of Alexander Nevsky nuc
18 nzcity: Second nuclear monitoring station for Pacific
19 US: Hawk Eye: IAAP Group Infobox 30
20 US: Hawk Eye: Claims seekers join advocacy group
21 US: Gallup Independent: RECA Compensation Tied to Skin Tone?
NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE
22 Las Vegas SUN: Nader denounces gaming, Yucca during stop
23 RGJ: Yucca Mountain fight not over yet
24 RGJ: Poll shows Yucca issue is key for Nevadans
25 Salt Lake Tribune: Is GOP's Western strength fading?
26 Guardian Unlimited: Ministers break promises over nuclear waste
27 US: Press & Dakotan: NewsXcel Seeks To Decommission Nuclear Plant
28 AU ABC: Nuclear waste dump to become election issue.
29 US: The Australian: Problems at uranium mine - report
30 AFP: Radioactive leak pollutes German river
31 Las Vegas SUN: Poll shows Yucca Mountain on minds of Nevada voters
NUCLEAR WEAPONS
US DEPT. OF ENERGY
32 Tri-City Herald: Opinions Tanks a lot
33 Tri-City Herald: Hanford fire chief to retire
34 lamonitor.com: Life at the lab settling down
OTHER NUCLEAR
35 Secrecy News -- 08/30/04
36 [du-list] du in the news - 30 Aug 04
37 Google News Alert - nuclear
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FULL NEWS STORIES
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1 Korea: Digital Chosunilbo: Six-party Nuclear Talks Likely to be Held in September
Updated Aug.30,2004 13:54 KST
The South Korean ambassador to the United States says the next
round of multilateral talks aimed at resolving the North Korean
nuclear impasse will likely happen in September.
Speaking at a seminar held in New Jersey Saturday, Ambassador Han
Seung-joo said, however, that he is not sure whether there will
be any tangible progress at the six-nation talks involving the
two Koreas, the United States, Japan, China and Russia.
The Korean diplomat explained that the participating countries
are facing difficulties in preparing for the fourth round, amid
speculation that North Korea is trying to delay the negotiations
until after the U.S. presidential election in November.
Ambassador Han's remarks followed recent comments by North Korea,
that it has no plans to participate in what it calls a "hastily
proposed meeting by the United States."
*****************************************************************
2 Indy Star: Lugar is away on nuclear business
[http://www.indystar.com]
By Maureen GroppeGannett News Service August 30, 2004
NEW YORK -- While the Republican Party builds its case this week
for re-electing President Bush as a wartime president, Indiana's
top Republican will be more than 5,000 miles away from his
party's convention, conducting his own fight on terrorism.
Indiana Sen. Richard Lugar is spending the week in the former
Soviet Union, overseeing aspects of the program he helped create
to secure or destroy weapons of mass destruction.
His activities include a groundbreaking in Tiblisi, Georgia, for
a storage facility for biological pathogens. He also will visit
storage sites in Ukraine and meet with various foreign
officials.
Spokesman Andy Fisher said Lugar often works on the Nunn-Lugar
Nuclear Cooperative Threat Reduction Program in August.
Lugar isn't the only Republican member of Indiana's
congressional delegation sitting out the convention entirely or
in part.
Rep. Mark Souder "usually doesn't go to them," said Martin
Green, spokesman for the Fort Wayne Republican. "While he enjoys
politics, he already gets plenty of it in Washington, D.C."
Rep. Chris Chocola, R-Bristol, is arriving at the end of the
week, in time for Bush's acceptance speech Thursday.
Rep. Steve Buyer, whose wife is a delegate, plans to attend the
convention every night, according to his spokeswoman.
Rep. Mike Pence. R-Columbus, will hang out with the Indiana
delegation and speak at an event hosted by the Club for Growth,
an anti-tax, pro-business group.
Rep. John Hostettler, R-Wadesville, and Rep. Dan Burton,
R-Indianapolis, didn't return calls asking if they'd be at the
convention.
[http://www.indystar.com/space/]
*****************************************************************
3 Guardian Unlimited: U.N.: Origin of Libya Nuke Info Unclear
From the Associated Press
[UP]
Monday August 30, 2004 11:46 PM
AP Photo NY121
By GEORGE JAHN
Associated Press Writer
VIENNA, Austria (AP) - Some nuclear technology ordered by Libya
for its former weapons program is missing, while the origin of
other material is unclear, the U.N. nuclear watchdog said Monday,
raising concerns about where the equipment is and whether North
Korea could have been a provider.
The IAEA findings on Libya's now dismantled nuclear weapons
program were circulated to diplomats in a confidential report
obtained by The Associated Press ahead of a meeting of the
agency's board of governors. That meeting, which starts Sept. 13,
will review the progress of IAEA investigations into secret
nuclear activities by Libya and Iran.
The Iran report is expected to be released to diplomats in the
next few days. While Iran denies accusations by the United States
and others that its nuclear program is geared toward making
weapons, Libya went public about its weapons programs in December
and pledged to scrap them.
In the report Monday, the agency credited Libya with cooperation
in efforts to get to the bottom of its activities, but said some
questions remained.
Among them was the issue of some ``enrichment technology'' that
was missing after Libya ordered but never received it.
The report also said the origin of two cylinders of uranium
hexafluoride remains unknown. The material is introduced into
centrifuges and spun to enrich it. Uranium enriched to 90 percent
or above is considered weapons grade and is used in the
manufacture of warheads.
The report confirmed that uranium hexafluoride was bought in 2000
``from a foreign supplier,'' but came to no conclusion of where
the substance originated from.
A senior diplomat familiar with the Libyan investigation said the
agency remained uncertain about whether the uranium hexafluoride
was purchased on the black market from Pakistan or North Korea.
While Pakistan was the source of much of the enrichment
technology peddled by the black market network of Pakistani
scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan, North Korea has also been mentioned
previously by experts and diplomats as a possible source for
Libya's uranium hexafluoride.
North Korea admitted in 2002 to running a secret nuclear program
in violation of international agreements. The isolated communist
nation subsequently broke all agreements with the IAEA that had
allowed outside monitoring of some of its programs.
On the missing equipment, the report said investigations continue
on enrichment technology ``destined for Libya ... (that) never
arrived.'' It did not say what the material was.
The diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the
investigations focused on whether the equipment ``ended up in the
hands of another country or it's sitting on a dock somewhere and
was never shipped.''
``This is one of the big questions,'' said the diplomat. ``Where
did the other stuff go?''
While the agency has not found any indications that
weapons-related technology has been sold by the nuclear network
to terrorists, another diplomat said nothing could be discounted
until all shipments sold on the black market had been accounted
for.
The report also noted Libya's assertion that it never acted to
develop a nuclear warhead based on blueprints found in its
possession.
But the report suggested the agency could not test that claim
until ``the provider of the weapon design'' and contractors who
helped Libya develop its nuclear technology came forward with
more information. Diplomats and experts have said the blueprints
are of Chinese design and sold by the Khan network
The senior diplomat said that, without such help, the agency
cannot tell if the blueprints were passed on to others interested
in developing a clandestine weapons program.
On the Net:
International Atomic Energy Agency: www.iaea.org
Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2004
*****************************************************************
4 Scoop: Labour pro-nuke-move - Clark will not be amused
[http://www.scoop.co.nz/]
Monday, 30 August 2004, 2:52 pm
Press Release: Green Party
Clark will not be amused by local Labour pro-nuclear move
Christchurch-based Green Co-Leader Rod Donald said today that
Cantabrians do not want to become the Chernobyl of the South
Pacific.
Environment Canterbury (ECan) regional councillors voted last
night to consider nuclear power as part of planned debates and
workshops on energy options for the region.
“Nuclear power is an absolute no-brainer for Canterbury and New
Zealand,” said Mr Donald.
“Even the prospect of a nuclear power plant will immediately
undermine our clean green image, to the detriment of tourism
industry and primary produce exports.
“It is particularly offensive for Labour Party member Dr Ian
Robertson, the mover of the motion, to suggest that the Chernobyl
disaster did not kill ‘a great number’ of people. Reputable
independent studies show that eight thousand clean-up workers
died within five years, that there has since been a 12-fold
increase in thyroid cancer among Belorussian women and a marked
increase in leukaemia across Europe among children who were in
the womb at the time. In terms of casualties, Chernobyl was a
bigger tragedy than September 11.
“I find it disturbing that otherwise intelligent councillors have
voted to investigate nuclear power. It is particularly surprising
that two Labour Party councillors who are seeking re-election,
Richard Budd and Sir Kerry Burke, have supported this motion that
contradicts their ‘2021’ coalition’s vision statement. Helen
Clark will not be amused.
“In his reference to ‘Greenpeace experts’, Robertson also
misrepresents James Lovelock. The originator of the Gaia theory
did recently suggest that nuclear power could be a solution to
climate change, but in a subsequent interview on National Radio
he specifically exempted New Zealand from his call because of our
abundance of renewable energy sources.
“Instead of peering down the nuclear dead-end and contemplating
futuristic ideas like hydrogen-powered cars, ECan should be
focusing its efforts on developing sustainable public transport
in Christchurch involving established technologies, such as light
rail, and addressing energy demand by promoting insulation, solar
water heating and peak demand management.
“Quite apart from the safety issues, nuclear power would not fit
into New Zealand’s energy system because nuclear plants generate
single, large ‘bundles’ of electricity. A nuclear plant therefore
risks blackouts because NZ’s system is not big enough to provide
instant back up when the frequent shutdowns occur. It would also
be uneconomic because the necessary anti-terrorism security,
safety monitoring, community evacuation plans and fuel disposal
costs would not be spread across several facilities, as is the
case in Europe and America,” said Mr Donald.
Home Page [http://www.scoop.co.nz/welcome.htm] | Parliament
Copyright (c) Scoop Media
Scoop [http://www.scoop.co.nz] For: - NZ Business News
*****************************************************************
5 Mainichi Interactive: Nuclear water leak delays plant reopening
ONAGAWA, Miyagi -- A water leak found at a nuclear power station
has forced Tohoku Electric Power Co. to delay the scheduled
reopening of the plant, officials at the firm said.
Workers reportedly found the leak in the feedwater heater of the
No. 3 reactor at the Onagawa Nuclear Power Station in Miyagi
Prefecture during a check on Sunday.
The plant, whose power generation operations have been suspended
while inspections are carried out, was scheduled to begin
operating again as early as Sunday, but officials said they had
put off the reopening after finding the leak.
The leaked water was not radioactive and there was no chance of
radiation leaking outside the plant, officials said.
The feedwater heater warms up water sent to the reactor with
steam from a turbine, increasing the reactor's efficiency.
(Mainichi Shimbun, Japan, Aug. 30, 2004)
© 2004 The Mainichi Newspapers Co.
*****************************************************************
6 STUFF: Clark slams Christchurch nuclear investigation
Tuesday, 31 August 2004
BREAKING NEWS [http://www.stuff.co.nz]
© Fairfax New Zealand Limited [http://www.fairfaxnz.co.nz]
Environment Canterbury's (ECan) decision to debate the potential
use of nuclear power has been dismissed as waste of time by Prime
Minister Helen Clark.
At an ECan meeting, regional councillors voted eight to five in
favour of public debate, meetings and workshops on sources of
energy including nuclear power.
Miss Clark did not think it was a useful exercise as most New
Zealanders had "huge issues" with nuclear power, particularly
about the disposal of nuclear waste.
"I wouldn't have thought it was a particularly fruitful use of
their time," Miss Clark said of the nuclear debate.
The idea of a nuclear power station in New Zealand was so
"remote" that she had not studied what could be done to prevent
it, Miss Clark said.
However she was certain Government could block such a proposal.
ECan councillor Ian Robertson has said debate was needed.
Dr Robertson, a Labour Party member, said there was "very little
sense talked about energy".
He told reporters that distrust of nuclear power was "religious
dogma" and it was "highly likely" that New Zealand would be using
it in 10 years' time.
"It is not nearly as dangerous as it is made out to be. You can
make a case for saying it's the greenest thing there is."
The cost of building a nuclear power plant in New Zealand has
been estimated at $2 billion.
Energy Minister Pete Hodgson has said ECan could debate nuclear
energy, but the Government already knew it was not viable.
*****************************************************************
7 midday multimedia: Tarapur nuke plant bags national award
| [http://bigbreak.mid-day.com]
By: Ram Parmar
August 30, 2004
Palghar: India’s first nuclear power plant — the 2x250MWe Tarapur
Atomic Power Station (TAPS) — was given the national award for
its excellent performance in power generation during the past
four financial years.
The award was given by President A P J Kalam last week.
TAPS was constructed in 1969, and is managed by the Nuclear Power
Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL), New Delhi.
Till date, plants one and two have generated around 67 billion
units of energy and the power is shared by the states of Gujarat
and Maharashtra.
“It supplies power at the cheapest tariff of Rs 1.03 per kwh, as
compared to the other thermal power stations in the country,”
said S C Katiyar, Station Director, TAPS.
The plant was awarded the ISO 14001 certification from the Atomic
Energy Regulatory Board and National Safety Council of the
Government of India in January.
The World Association of Nuclear Operators, visited the TAPS
plant and adopted its power generation activities, to be
practiced in other nuke plants worldwide.
Meanwhile, plants three and four, which are under construction,
will be active by December 2005. “This is a step towards the
national target of generating 20,000 MWe by 2020”, said Katiyar.
© 2003 [http://www.middaymultimedia.com/] All rights
*****************************************************************
8 canadaeast.com: Nuclear upgrade a tough decision
August 30, 2004
Energy minister says unbiased decision difficult considering
number of opinions involved
DANIEL McHARDIE Times &Transcript Staff
FREDERICTON - The fate of New Brunswick's nuclear era is ticking
down as the Conservative government and NB Power are feverishly
working through the recommendations given by a high-profile
consultant before deciding this fall whether to mothball the
Point Lepreau station.
The recommendations from Robin Jeffrey, the former British Energy
chairman, gave tight timelines for both parties to determine if
the province should go forward with the $1.2-billion
refurbishment project.
Energy Minister Bruce Fitch, the government's point-man on the
nuclear file, admitted it's a difficult balancing act in trying
to satisfy the vociferous interest groups on both sides of the
issue.
"Yes there are groups that have come out in favour and groups
come out against the project and that is why our department, the
utility is working diligently to make sure we have all the
information available to us to make the best decision for the
taxpayer and the ratepayer," Fitch said.
Jeffrey handed down a dozen recommendations in April and the vast
majority are being dealt with right now. NB Power is in talks
with Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. to renegotiate the proposed
agreements to refurbish the aging nuclear reactor.
NB Power is confident the discussions with AECL will be wrapped
up in time for the government to consider when making its
decision in the fall.
The energy minister said he cannot comment on the specifics on
renegotiations to whittle down the $1.2-billion price tag because
it is in the hands of NB Power. Fitch said he's been given
regular updates by David Hay, the president and chief executive
officer of NB Power, and he believes the utility is working
aggressively on the various recommendations Jeffrey doled out to
the corporation.
Earlier last week, both the International Brotherhood of
Electrical Workers and the opposition Liberals came out in
support of the retrofit. On the other side, environmentalists and
some energy experts have panned the proposal for various
reasons.With so many divergent opinions, Fitch said he will not
offer his views until he is ready to make a final decision by the
year's end.
"I can't give too many specifics, but all areas of the report are
being worked on," he said, noting that it is a major decision and
wants to be "as unbiased as I can."
NB Power is also mulling over a proposal that would look at ways
to find alternate means for 635-megawatts of energy if Atlantic
Canada's only nuclear power plant was shut down. Both the
generation and distribution business units at NB Power are
working on an engineering, cost analysis, procurement plan and
fuel-cost analysis on finding replacement power.
The Point Lepreau decision is coming just as the energy
department and the utility are ramping up several different
initiatives that could lessen the need for in-province
generation. The Independent System Operator-New England gave its
approval to pay the approximately $110 million it will cost to
build a second international power line connecting New Brunswick
to Maine.
NB Power has won the backing of the Maritime provinces for the
power line to help avert the pending power shortage.
The region is facing a shortfall of 240 megawatts of electricity
by 2007-2008 and 407 megawatts by 2010-2011, even when including
recently approved generation projects. The shortage skyrockets to
1,042 megawatts if the Point Lepreau nuclear station is not
refurbished.
The Conservative government is also pushing forward with an
aggressive energy efficiency proposal that aims to reduce
customers from the electricity grid. Fitch's department is
scheduled to release a white paper on energy efficiency to see
what New Brunswickers think and by next year legislation could be
introduced to set up a separate Crown corporation to deal
specifically with power conservation.
And finally, the government's new energy restructuring plan will
come into force on Oct. 1 and that will allow the province's
large industrial customers to purchase power from other
utilities.
These three different initiatives all could lessen the need for a
refurbished nuclear station, but Fitch said many other factors
are being considered.
"It's a huge puzzle and every piece fits together and ultimately
these pieces are needed to make your decision," Fitch said.
Copyright © 2004 Brunswick News Inc. All rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
9 toledoblade.com: Nuclear plant layoffs revive fatigue fears
Monday, August 30, 2004
By TOM HENRY [thenry@theblade.com] BLADE STAFF WRITER
FirstEnergy Corp.'s decision to eliminate 205 salaried nuclear
jobs in Ohio and Pennsylvania is indicative of belt-tightening
that has occurred nationwide in the utility sector: Companies
merge and find ways to operate more efficiently so they can keep
their electricity prices down and weather competition in today's
deregulated market.
But at what point do utilities cross the line and sacrifice
safety?
That's a question the Nuclear Regulatory Commission first tried
to address through an agency policy in 1982 and began wrestling
with again five years ago at its headquarters in the Washington
suburb of Rockville, Md., in part because of concerns raised by
U.S. Rep. John Dingell (D., Dearborn) and other congressmen in
1999.
"The fact that staffing has been reducing [nationwide] has not
been lost on the NRC," David Desauliners, the agency's point man
for worker fatigue issues, told The Blade.
The NRC officially has no authority to set minimum staffing
requirements beyond those for a nuclear plant's control room -
yet. Its sole mission is to ensure safety, irrespective of worker
numbers.
But since 1999, it has been developing a rule for regulating
worker fatigue under fitness-for-duty laws, the ones that
companies use to frame their drug-and-alcohol policies. It is to
be presented to the agency's governing board by December, 2005.
z For years, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has
had limits on the consecutive number of hours truck drivers can
spend behind the wheel. The Federal Aviation Administration has
limits on the consecutive number of hours that pilots can fly.
But officials acknowledge that nuclear plant employees may at
times be subjected to unreasonable routines, leaving them too
fatigued to be as sharp-minded as they should.
One goal of the new rule is to give them an outlet for being
frank about when they're too tired to work, without facing
repercussions.
The NRC's 1982 policy stated that workers should not be on the
job more than 14 consecutive days or more than 12 hours at a
time, for a maximum of 72 hours a week. But Mr. Dingell and
others questioned how well that policy was being enforced.
"Fortunately, we have not seen fatigue as a causal factor in a
number of significant events," said Mr. Desauliners, senior human
factor specialist in the NRC's inspection program division. But,
he conceded, "There may be cases where fatigue was involved, but
the person wasn't aware of it."
Davis-Besse's recent two-year shutdown wore down many employees.
Some workers claimed to have put in excess of 72 hours a week,
for months.
An industrial psychologist the company hired to assess the
plant's safety culture warned of burnout. Spouses in the fall of
2003 voiced anger at the NRC itself, accusing it of indirectly
contributing to marital stress by failing to demand a more
reasonable pace on the employees' behalf.
And throughout several key junctions, the NRC claimed the plant's
severely corroded reactor head was a result of "missed
opportunities" to fix the problem, long before acid had escaped
from the reactor and melted the massive steel lid to the width of
a pencil eraser, the thinness that it was found in 2002.
The NRC admittedly was guilty of a little too much
budget-crunching itself. At the time, it had only one resident
inspector assigned to the plant instead of the customary two. The
agency had been in a temporary hiring freeze and, believing at
the time that Davis-Besse had no problems, put its resources
elsewhere. It now has three resident inspectors at Davis-Besse,
the most found at any single-unit plant.
Davis-Besse's restart in March allowed workers to return to a
more normal routine.
But last week, FirstEnergy announced 205 of some 2,700 jobs
within its nuclear operating company were being eliminated. In
addition to Davis-Besse, the utility operates the Perry nuclear
plant east of Cleveland, the twin-unit Beaver Valley complex west
of Pittsburgh, and the skeletal crew that oversees the dormant
Three Mile Island-2 unit that had a partial meltdown in 1979.
Sixty-three of those lost jobs are at Davis-Besse, with 35
layoffs taking effect immediately and 28 more planned as various
projects are finished.
The reductions, once completed, will bring Davis-Besse's
workforce down to 740 employees.
Taken as a whole, the layoffs are one of the biggest jolts to
staffing since retired U.S. Navy Vice Adm. Joe Williams, Jr.,
took control of the reins during the plant's prolonged 1985-86
outage and went in the opposite direction, increasing the payroll
from 644 employees in 1985 to 890 in 1986. Staffing might have
exceeded 900 in the early to mid-1990s.
The numbers gradually receded to the low 800s and held steady
there until recently, largely through attrition, Richard Wilkins,
company spokesman, said.
In his notice to employees last Monday, Gary Leidich -
FirstEnergy's nuclear operating company president - told them
it's not a matter of how many workers the company has at each of
its sites, but how well they perform.
One of the reasons FirstEnergy hired Mr. Leidich in 2002 from the
Institute of Nuclear Power Operations, an industry research arm,
was to consolidate the company's nuclear division and streamline
it in such a way that it would run more efficiently and
effectively. The utility had been planning a massive
reorganization to become more competitive before the reactor-head
problem was revealed, Mr. Wilkins said.
David Lochbaum, Union of Concerned Scientists nuclear safety
engineer, said it's possible to downsize the workforce and get
better results. "But if you work the [layoff] survivors too many
hours, then you run the risk of them becoming fatigued," he said.
Mr. Lochbaum has participated in the rule-making process for the
fatigue issue.
"The right way is to make yourself productive first. The wrong
way is to make across-the-board cuts," he said. "If you make a
mistake in applying resources, the consequences can be large."
Paul Gunter, reactor watchdog project director for the Nuclear
Information &Resource Service, an activist group in Washington,
said FirstEnergy's decision to lay off nearly 10 percent of its
nuclear workforce in one shot "obviously has an impact on the
worker morale."
"That, in fact, is a safety concern," he said. "It's this
competition between profit margin and safety risk that got them
into trouble in the first place and could get them in trouble
again."
Contact Tom Henry at: thenry@theblade.com or 419-724-6079.
© 2004 The Blade. The Toledo Blade Company, 541 N.
Superior St., Toledo, OH 43660 , (419) 724-6000
*****************************************************************
10 Scoop: WEcan Staggered by ECan's Nuke Proposal
[http://www.scoop.co.nz/]
Monday, 30 August 2004, 3:13 pm
Press Release: WeCan
WEcan "staggered by ECan's proposal to investigate nuclear
power.
WEcan, a new group who are contesting seats for the Regional
Council in the upcoming local body elections, are "staggered" by
the actions of Environment Canterbury (Ecan) councillors who
voted at a council meeting last Thursday to investigate nuclear
power.
"It is absolutely unbelievable that any ECan councillor would
even contemplate the option of going nuclear for New Zealand."
said WEcan founder, Mojo Mathers, who is standing in the
Christchurch South constituency against incumbent Kerry Burke.
"Let's be quite clear about this, a nuclear future is not a
sustainable future. The health and safety issues surrounding
surrounding the management of nuclear power and disposal of the
resulting radioactive waste are enormous."
"Earthquakes are a constant threat for us as a country. To
willingly add to that risk by building a nuclear power plant is
unbelievable."
The level of ignorance displayed by the councillors over such a
basic issue is frightening."
Mojo Mathers also criticised the actions of the Labour 2021
councillors Kerry Burke, Richard Budd and Ian Robertson who all
voted for the motion.
"Labour has always had a clear policy of remaining nuclear-free.
I cannot see how they can justify voting in this manner."
"Not only are they voting against their party's stated policy,
they are disregarding the fact that the vast majority of New
Zealander's, both young and old, do not want nuclear power, and
never will."
"There are other options for energy that are both safer and
cheaper than nuclear power. ECan must continue to investigate and
promote these options that are renewable and sustainable and not
waste time on this pointless exercise."
"WEcan applaudes all those councillors who voted against this
poorly thought out proposal. In particular, Angus MaKay is to be
congratulated for being the only rural councillor with enough
common sense to reject the motion. It is a shame that more did
not follow his lead."
Website: http://www/wecan.org.nz
Home Page [http://www.scoop.co.nz/welcome.htm] | Politics
*****************************************************************
11 NRC: NRC to Meet with Local Residents Tuesday in Sioux Falls to Discuss Final Cleanup of Former
Nuclear Reactor Site
News Release - 2004-10 U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Office
of Public Affairs Telephone: 301/415-8200 Washington, DC
20555-0001 E-mail: opa@nrc.gov No. 04-100 August 30, 2004
NRC officials will meet with local residents Tuesday in Sioux
Falls, S.D., to discuss plans for the final cleanup of the
former Pathfinder nuclear reactor site and potential release of
the site for unrestricted use. Xcel Energy will provide an
overview of its proposed decommissioning activities and schedule
for Pathfinder, and NRC will discuss how it will review those
plans and oversee the cleanup, and answer questions from the
public.
NRC takes very seriously its responsibility to protect the
health and safety of those who live near or work at nuclear
facilities, said Chad J. Glenn, NRC Project Manager. This is
the final stage in our process of overseeing Pathfinder, and we
will make sure the site meets our decommissioning criteria and
is safe before we terminate the license.
The meeting will be held at the County Commission Meeting Room,
2nd floor of the County Administration Building, 415 N. Dakota
Avenue, from 7 to 9 p.m. NRC staff, as well as representatives
of Xcel Energy, will be available to discuss the project and
answer questions.
Northern States Power (now Xcel Energy), obtained an operating
license from the Atomic Energy Commission (predecessor to the
NRC) for the 66 megawatt facility in 1964. It conducted
low-power testing from March 1964 to September 1967, after which
the company shut it down for economic and other reasons. The
nuclear fuel was transferred offsite, and the operating license
was terminated. The plant then went into long-term storage, and
a license for possession of nuclear material, which is still in
effect, was issued in August 1972. In 1992, the license was
amended to allow for decommissioning of the reactor building and
fuel handling building. Xcel Energy now plans to complete
decommissioning of the site so that, if NRC approves, it can be
released for unrestricted use.
NRC actions to ensure protection of the public will include
inspections and confirmatory radiation surveys to provide
confidence that the site meets NRCs strict decommissioning
criteria.
Last revised Monday, August 30, 2004
*****************************************************************
12 NRC: Notice of License Termination for the Babcock and Wilcox
FR Doc 04-19663
[Federal Register: August 30, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 167)]
[Notices] [Page 52941] From the Federal Register Online via GPO
Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr30au04-98]
Facility in Parks Township, Pennsylvania AGENCY: Nuclear
Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Notice of license termination.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Amir Kouhestani, Project
Manager, Decommissioning Directorate, Office of Nuclear Materials
Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
Washington, DC 20555- 0001. Telephone: (301) 415-0023; fax
number: (301) 415-5398; e-mail: aak@nrc.gov [aak@nrc.gov] . This
notice is to inform the public that the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission (NRC or Commission) has terminated the Special Nuclear
Material License No. SNM-414 (SNM-414), issued to Babcock and
Wilcox Company, Pennsylvania Nuclear Service Operation
(licensee). The licensee used radioactive material at its
facility in Parks Township, Pennsylvania, for conducting fuel
fabrication, research and development, and service work from 1960
until 1996. On January 26, 1996, the licensee requested a license
amendment authorizing it to decommission the Parks facility. This
request and an opportunity for hearing was published in the
Federal Register on October 10, 1996 (61 FR 53240). The NRC staff
published an Environmental Assessment (EA) on July 2, 1997 (62 FR
35844) which concluded that this licensing action would not have
a significant adverse effect on the quality of the human
environment. NRC approved Revision 3.1 of the Decommissioning
Plan (DP) in 1998.
The licensee has completed site decommissioning, and the post
decommissioning groundwater monitoring of the site in accordance
with the approved DP and the conditions discussed in NRC License
No.
SNM- 414.
Based on the remedial actions taken by the licensee, the NRC
staff's review of the licensee's termination surveys, and the
results of the NRC staff's confirmatory surveys, the Commission
concludes that the licensee has completed the decommissioning
activities in accordance with its approved DP, and the site is
suitable for unrestricted release.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 24th day of August 2004.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Daniel M. Gillen, Deputy Director for the Decommissioning
Directorate, Division of Waste Management and Environmental
Protection, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 04-19663 Filed 8-27-04; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590-01-P
*****************************************************************
13 [du-list] RRW from Desert Storm - and the rest
Date: Mon, 30 Aug 2004 18:47:54 -0700
Answers, concerning radioactive remnants of war in the form of
Uranium oxide aerosols:
1. re A few tons of "DU" spread over wide areas by winds - depends
on the particle size distribution and the weather. For example,
consider the results of the the radioactive plutonium remnants of the
US nuclear testing program:
"Although extremely scarce naturally, about 5000 kg of plutonium has
been released into the atmosphere by nuclear weapons tests. The soil
of the U.S. contains an average of about 2 millicuries (28
milligrams) per km^2 from fallout."
http://www.centurychina.com/wiihist/japarms/pu239.html
While I would prefer to argue directly from uranium figures, the case
of plutonium distribution is sufficiently analogous. We're talking
here about the unfissioned leftovers of 1,100 pounds of plutonium.
That would be a cube about 2 feet on a side, if my arithmetic (Pu
density at 19.84g/cc)is correct.
Since I don't know what the unfissioned % of Pu would be, you can
amuse yourself by picturing your estimate to the nearest eighth of
the cube; so how many one-foot cubes would you guess? That
many "cubes" have been aerosolized and are now spread by wind and
deposited across the earth, to the average tune of 28 milligrams per
square kilometer or about 70 milligrams per square mile.
Just to be conservative, chuck in a few extra cubes, or bits
thereof, for the Poms, the Ruuskies, the Chinese and all the other
Keen Starters. But I digress.
My point here is that .5 metric ton of Pu aerosolised may well be
worth a more expert comparison with "Desert Storm's relatively few
tons", and the rest - conservatively, say another 1000 metric tons
since. And then there's always the next little war - - -
As for the uranium in the soil, it's not a good analogy unless you
happen to live near a uranium mine tailings pile in a dry climate.
Not a good place for your kiddies to play, I'll bet you'll agree on
that one; even so, we're not talking about nanometer scale particles
of U oxides in this case. Just good old "dirt".
As for the Kuwait study, it's a laugh. Have a look at the .pdf of the
study instead of the news release.
Their "Group of International Experts" came along 11 years later and
found a few 50 mm projectiles, did some white magic to some beets and
discovered they were probably not too radioactive. Pardon the
sarcasm, but I've commented on the Kuwait study before and you can
use the search function here and on DU-Watch to read my more detailed
remarks.
They never said how they prepared the beets - did they use standard
methods and materials or a local cookbook? Were those beets baked,
boiled or burnt to a crisp? Of course "ashed" is a good way to do
them, and if they'd said so, then we'd know that U concentrations
they discussed were based on dry weight.
It's a shame I'm too wary to give those procrastinators the benefit
of the doubt. It seems like what this Group of International Experts
was most expert at was hearing and saying "Manyana" with the High
Authorities and maybe each other as well, for 10 years or so while
the heat died down.
Maybe you don't have kids, like some Kuwaitis, Iraqis, Afghans and
Kosovars. Well then, how would you feel if someone did that to your
puppy?
--- In du-list@yahoogroups.com, Michael Edward McNeil
wrote:
> 1) How can Desert Storm's relatively few tons of DU, when
dispersed
> over wide areas by winds, be worse or even noticeable compared with
the
> (considerably more radioactive) normal uranium that constitutes 10
grams
> out of every cubic meter of ordinary soil everywhere in the world?
> Since the Earth's land area is 149,800,000 square km, this adds up
to
> 1.5 *billion* metric tons of normal uranium in merely the topmost
meter
> (3 feet) of the land area of Earth.
>
> 2) The IAEA at the request of the Kuwait government did a study of
11
> sites which were recommended to it as the worst potential hot-spots
of
> DU contamination. The study results, announced last year,
concluded
> that the "annual potential radiation doses in areas where residues
have
> been found are only a few microSieverts." For comparison, the
average
> annual radiation dose people round the world receive from natural
> sources is about one *milli*Sievert, or *hundreds of times greater*
than
> even at these concentrated locations in Kuwait, much less after
being
> blown elsewhere and thus drastically diluted by winds.
>
> See the IAEA results here:
> http://www.iaea.org/NewsCenter/News/2003/13-571089.shtml
>
> Michael McNeil
>
>
.net/interna.asp?idnews=25234
> >
> >
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14 [NukeNet] Nuclear Weapons & DU Illegal On Several Counts: Re:
Date: Mon, 30 Aug 2004 18:47:52 -0700
On the illegality of nuclear weapons:
1.“In evaluating whether a particular weapon is legal or illegal when
there is not a specific treaty, the whole of humanitarian law must be
consulted,” Parker wrote.
According to humanitarian law, the illegality of DU weapons is based on
four criteria:
The first is the “territorial” test. Weapons may only be used in the legal
field of battle. Weapons may not have an adverse effect off the legal field
of battle.
2. The second is the “temporal” test, meaning that weapons may only be used
for the duration of an armed conflict. A weapon that continues to act after
the war violates this criterion.
3. The third rule is that a weapon cannot be unduly inhumane. The Hague
Convention of 1907 prohibits “poison or poisoned weapons.” Because DU
weapons are radioactive and chemically toxic, as the military knows, they
fit the definition of poisonous weapons banned under the Hague Convention.
4. The fourth rule for weapons, the “environmental” test, says that weapons
cannot have an unduly negative effect on the natural environment.
----- Original Message -----
From: Ross Wilcock
To: 'Leuren Moret' ;
'Francis Boyle' ;
'Richard A. Falk' ;
mssejs@aol.com ;
'Rosalie Bertell' ;
'Helen Caldicott' ;
'Leonard Dietz' ;
'Thomas Fasy' ;
'Sarah Flounders' ;
globalnet@mindspring.com ;
'Marion Kuepker' ;
'Chris Busby' ;
'Richard Bramhall' ;
'Janette Sherman' ;
'Ernest Sternglass'
Cc: 'Robert Gould' ;
'Mary Wynne Ashford' ;
'Allan Connolly' ; 'Debbie
Grisdale (Debbie Grisdale)' ; 'michel et
solange fernex' ; 'Niloufer Bhagwat' ;
'David Krieger' ;
smirnowb@ix.netcom.com ;
piperm@lycos.com ;
'Charles Jenks' ;
'Sunny Miller'
Sent: Monday, August 30, 2004 12:15 AM
Subject: RE: Vera vici
This statement is by Karen Parker who has long been active against uranium
munitions in the UNHR Commission and at numerous conferences.
Ross Wilcock
http://www.americanfreepress.net/html/pentagon_brass.html
Pentagon Brass Suppresses Truth About Toxic Weapons
Poisonous Uranium Munitions Threaten World
By Christopher Bollyn
The use of weapons containing uranium violates existing laws and customs of
war and “constitutes a war crime or crime against humanity,” according to a
leading U.S. expert on humanitarian law.
Karen Parker, a San Francisco-based expert in armed conflict law, told
American Free Press that the use of radioactive uranium weapons violates
the Hague and Geneva Conventions as well as the Conventional Weapons
Convention of 1980.
Although no treaty specifically bans DU weapons, they are illegal “de facto
and de jure,” Parker said. However, a class action lawsuit by victims of DU
weapons will probably be required for a court to ban their use, she said.
‘ILLEGAL FOR ALL COUNTRIES’
“A weapon made illegal only because there is a specific treaty banning it
is only illegal for countries that ratify such a treaty,” Parker wrote in a
paper, “The Illegality of DU Weaponry,” presented at the International
Uranium Weapons Conference in Hamburg, Germany last October. However, “a
weapon that is illegal by operation of existing law is illegal for all
countries.”
Parker, a delegate to the UN Commission on Human Rights since 1982,
provides legal advice to the UN on DU weapons and other matters of
humanitarian law.
“DU weaponry cannot possibly be legal in light of existing law,” Parker said.
“In evaluating whether a particular weapon is legal or illegal when there
is not a specific treaty, the whole of humanitarian law must be consulted,”
Parker wrote.
According to humanitarian law, the illegality of DU weapons is based on
four criteria:
The first is the “territorial” test. Weapons may only be used in the legal
field of battle. Weapons may not have an adverse effect off the legal field
of battle.
The second is the “temporal” test, meaning that weapons may only be used
for the duration of an armed conflict. A weapon that continues to act after
the war violates this criterion.
The territorial and temporal criteria are meant to prevent weapons from
being “indiscriminate” in their effect.
The third rule is that a weapon cannot be unduly inhumane. The Hague
Convention of 1907 prohibits “poison or poisoned weapons.” Because DU
weapons are radioactive and chemically toxic, as the military knows, they
fit the definition of poisonous weapons banned under the Hague Convention.
WHAT THE MILITARY KNOWS
The Defense Department is well aware of the toxic effects of DU. In an
official presentation by U.S. Army Reserve Col. J. Edgar Wakayama at Fort
Belvoir, Va. on Aug. 20, 2002, the dangers of exposure to DU were clearly
spelled out:
“Inhalation exposure has a major effect on the lungs and thoracic lymph
nodes,” Wakayama read from a slide. “The alpha particle taken inside the
body in large doses is hazardous, producing cell damage and cancer. Lung
cancer is well documented,” he noted.
“Urine samples containing uranium are mutagenic [capable of producing
mutation]” and “the cultured human stem bone cell line with DU also
transformed the cells to become carcinogenic,” Wakayama read.
DU deposited in the bone causes DNA damage because of the effects of the
alpha particles, Wakayama stressed. One gram of DU emits 12,000 high-energy
alpha particles per second.
The fourth rule for weapons, the “environmental” test, says that weapons
cannot have an unduly negative effect on the natural environment.
Wakayama advised, “Heavily contaminated soil should be removed if the area
is to be populated with civilians.”
Wakayama described the dangers to children playing in contaminated soil and
the leaching of DU into local water and food supplies.
DU FAILS ALL LEGAL CRITERIA
DU weaponry fails all four tests, Parker says. Because it cannot be
contained to the battlefield, it fails the territorial test. Airborne DU
particles are carried far from the battlefield affecting distant civilian
populations and neighboring countries.
Because the uranium dispersed on the ground and in the air cannot be
“turned off” when the war is over, DU fails the temporal test.
“The airborne particles have a half-life of billions of years and have the
potential to keep killing . . . long after the war is over,” Parker wrote.
“The status of DU as nuclear, radiological, poison or conventional does not
change its illegality. When the weapons test is applied to DU weaponry, it
fails,” she concluded.
DU weapons fail the humaneness test because of how they kill, Parker says,
“by cancer, kidney disease etc, long after the hostilities are over.
“DU is inhumane because it can cause birth defects such as cranial facial
anomalies, missing limbs, grossly deformed and non-viable infants and the
like, thus affecting children . . . born after the war is over,” Parker said.
“The teratogenic [interfering with normal embryonic development] nature of
DU weapons and the possible burdening of the gene pool of future
generations raise the possibility that the use of DU weaponry is genocide,”
she wrote. “Willfully causing great suffering or serious injury to body or
health” of civilians constitutes a grave breach of the fourth Geneva
Convention, and this is “exactly what DU weapons do.”
Finally, because DU weapons cannot be used without unduly damaging the
natural environment, they fail the fourth rule for weapons, the
environmental test.
“No available technology can significantly change the chemical and
radiological toxicity of DU,” the Army Environmental Policy Institute
reported to Congress in 1994. “These are intrinsic properties of uranium.”
“Regarding environmental damages, users of these weapons are obligated to
carry out an effective cleanup,” Parker wrote. “The cost of legal claims
and environmental cleanup for the gulf wars alone could be staggering.”
“Use of DU weaponry necessarily violates the ‘grave breach’ provision of
the Geneva Conventions, and hence its use constitutes a war crime or crime
against humanity,” Parker concluded.
Questions regarding the legality of DU weapons were sent in writing to the
Pentagon’s appointed spokesman on DU matters, James Turner.
Turner told AFP that he was “not qualified” to answer such questions.
By press time the Pentagon had not responded to repeated requests for
information.
© American Free Press 2004
_______________________________________________________________________
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15 [du-list] Pentagon Brass Rattled by Uranium Munitions article
Date: Mon, 30 Aug 2004 18:48:02 -0700
For Immediate Release
Contact: Bob Nichols
bobnichols@cox.net
The article about the use of depleted uranium being a war crime is the head
line story in American Free Press. This will open some eyes at the Pentagon.
http://www.americanfreepress.net/html/pentagon_brass.html
The front page on-line is currently at:
http://www.americanfreepress.net/
Regards,
Bob
__________________________________________________________
American Free Press (AFP) America's Last Real Newspaper
Pentagon Brass Suppresses Truth About Toxic Weapons
Poisonous Uranium Munitions Threaten World
By Christopher Bollyn
The use of weapons containing uranium violates existing laws and customs of
war and “constitutes a war crime or crime against humanity,” according to a
leading U.S. expert on humanitarian law.
Karen Parker, a San Francisco-based expert in armed conflict law, told
American Free Press that the use of radioactive uranium weapons violates
the Hague and Geneva Conventions as well as the Conventional Weapons
Convention of 1980.
Although no treaty specifically bans DU weapons, they are illegal “de facto
and de jure,” Parker said. However, a class action lawsuit by victims of DU
weapons will probably be required for a court to ban their use, she said.
‘ILLEGAL FOR ALL COUNTRIES’
“A weapon made illegal only because there is a specific treaty banning it
is only illegal for countries that ratify such a treaty,” Parker wrote in a
paper, “The Illegality of DU Weaponry,” presented at the International
Uranium Weapons Conference in Hamburg, Germany last October. However, “a
weapon that is illegal by operation of existing law is illegal for all
countries.”
Parker, a delegate to the UN Commission on Human Rights since 1982,
provides legal advice to the UN on DU weapons and other matters of
humanitarian law.
“DU weaponry cannot possibly be legal in light of existing law,” Parker said.
“In evaluating whether a particular weapon is legal or illegal when there
is not a specific treaty, the whole of humanitarian law must be consulted,”
Parker wrote.
According to humanitarian law, the illegality of DU weapons is based on
four criteria:
The first is the “territorial” test. Weapons may only be used in the legal
field of battle. Weapons may not have an adverse effect off the legal field
of battle.
The second is the “temporal” test, meaning that weapons may only be used
for the duration of an armed conflict. A weapon that continues to act after
the war violates this criterion.
The territorial and temporal criteria are meant to prevent weapons from
being “indiscriminate” in their effect.
The third rule is that a weapon cannot be unduly inhumane. The Hague
Convention of 1907 prohibits “poison or poisoned weapons.” Because DU
weapons are radioactive and chemically toxic, as the military knows, they
fit the definition of poisonous weapons banned under the Hague Convention.
WHAT THE MILITARY KNOWS
The Defense Department is well aware of the toxic effects of DU. In an
official presentation by U.S. Army Reserve Col. J. Edgar Wakayama at Fort
Belvoir, Va. on Aug. 20, 2002, the dangers of exposure to DU were clearly
spelled out:
“Inhalation exposure has a major effect on the lungs and thoracic lymph
nodes,” Wakayama read from a slide. “The alpha particle taken inside the
body in large doses is hazardous, producing cell damage and cancer. Lung
cancer is well documented,” he noted.
“Urine samples containing uranium are mutagenic [capable of producing
mutation]” and “the cultured human stem bone cell line with DU also
transformed the cells to become carcinogenic,” Wakayama read.
DU deposited in the bone causes DNA damage because of the effects of the
alpha particles, Wakayama stressed. One gram of DU emits 12,000 high-energy
alpha particles per second.
The fourth rule for weapons, the “environmental” test, says that weapons
cannot have an unduly negative effect on the natural environment.
Wakayama advised, “Heavily contaminated soil should be removed if the area
is to be populated with civilians.”
Wakayama described the dangers to children playing in contaminated soil and
the leaching of DU into local water and food supplies.
DU FAILS ALL LEGAL CRITERIA
DU weaponry fails all four tests, Parker says. Because it cannot be
contained to the battlefield, it fails the territorial test. Airborne DU
particles are carried far from the battlefield affecting distant civilian
populations and neighboring countries.
Because the uranium dispersed on the ground and in the air cannot be
“turned off” when the war is over, DU fails the temporal test.
“The airborne particles have a half-life of billions of years and have the
potential to keep killing . . . long after the war is over,” Parker wrote.
“The status of DU as nuclear, radiological, poison or conventional does not
change its illegality. When the weapons test is applied to DU weaponry, it
fails,” she concluded.
DU weapons fail the humaneness test because of how they kill, Parker says,
“by cancer, kidney disease etc, long after the hostilities are over.
“DU is inhumane because it can cause birth defects such as cranial facial
anomalies, missing limbs, grossly deformed and non-viable infants and the
like, thus affecting children . . . born after the war is over,” Parker said.
“The teratogenic [interfering with normal embryonic development] nature of
DU weapons and the possible burdening of the gene pool of future
generations raise the possibility that the use of DU weaponry is genocide,”
she wrote. “Willfully causing great suffering or serious injury to body or
health” of civilians constitutes a grave breach of the fourth Geneva
Convention, and this is “exactly what DU weapons do.”
Finally, because DU weapons cannot be used without unduly damaging the
natural environment, they fail the fourth rule for weapons, the
environmental test.
“No available technology can significantly change the chemical and
radiological toxicity of DU,” the Army Environmental Policy Institute
reported to Congress in 1994. “These are intrinsic properties of uranium.”
“Regarding environmental damages, users of these weapons are obligated to
carry out an effective cleanup,” Parker wrote. “The cost of legal claims
and environmental cleanup for the gulf wars alone could be staggering.”
“Use of DU weaponry necessarily violates the ‘grave breach’ provision of
the Geneva Conventions, and hence its use constitutes a war crime or crime
against humanity,” Parker concluded.
Questions regarding the legality of DU weapons were sent in writing to the
Pentagon’s appointed spokesman on DU matters, James Turner.
Turner told AFP that he was “not qualified” to answer such questions.
By press time the Pentagon had not responded to repeated requests for
information.
© American Free Press 2004
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16 [du-list] PSR issue brief on DU
Date: Mon, 30 Aug 2004 18:48:08 -0700
I've pasted a position paper below in response to questions about
Physicians for Social Responsibilities position on DU. They are also
working on another paper on DU. PSR is a founding member of the
International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW), they
jointly won a noble peace prize for their work against nuclear weapons.
IPPNW Germany and Kyoto, Japan chapters are members of the International
Campaign to Ban Uranium Weapons (ICBUW).
Tara
Issue Brief: Depleted Uranium Weapons
July 1999
Background
The extraordinary effectiveness of ammunition made from depleted uranium
(DU)
has made it a weapon of choice for the United States and other
countries. 1.7
times as dense as lead, DU is not only an effective offensive weapon,
but is
also utilized for armor plating in tanks, ballast material in aircraft
and as
shielding in some medical equipment. The use of this by-product of the
Uranium enrichment process in conventional weapons in the 1991 Persian Gulf
War and, most recently, in the Balkans has sparked widespread debate
regarding its impact on human health.
Source, Properties, and Use
The large-scale extraction of the Uranium-235 isotope from natural Uranium
for use in nuclear fuel and nuclear weapons has spawned a massive
pile-up of
its by-products, most significantly non-fissionable U-238, also known as
depleted uranium. DU is so named because it is largely "depleted" of the
other two isotopes found in naturally-occurring uranium, U-234 and U-235.
Because naturally-occurring uranium contains approximately 99% of the U-238
isotope, large quantities of U-238 are accumulated in the U-235 enrichment
process. DU has a half-life of 4.5 billion years1.
DU has some unique physical properties that make it both an effective,
armor-piercing weapon and a source of concern with regard to its long-term
effects. DU's density of 19.3 g/cm3 (tungsten, the "normal" material
used in
ammunition, is also 19.3 g/cm3) makes it almost twice that of lead.
Additionally, DU is pyrophoric, meaning it has a tendency for fine
particles
to spontaneously ignite, or aerosolize, on impact with a target or upon
burning. These dust particles may further endanger survivors or
bystanders if
embedded, ingested, or inhaled, and may also find easier access to the
surrounding air, water, and soil.
Use of Depleted Uranium
The United States has retained stockpiles of depleted uranium since the
inception of its nuclear weapons program in the 1940's. Because of the
costs
associated with storing such an extraordinary quantity of material,
estimated
to be more than 500,000 tons, employing DU in munitions became a viable
method of reducing storage costs. DU is considered a more effective (i.e.
more capable of piercing tank armor) and less expensive alternative to
other
munitions metals, such as tungsten2. The U.S. first began producing DU
ammunition in 1978 and has used it primarily in long cannons found in tanks
and in some aircraft guns, such as the A-10 Warthog and the AV-83. In
addition, DU is also used for armor plating in tanks (first used in 1988 on
M1 Abrams tanks), ballast material in aircraft and shielding in some
medical
equipment. While there is some current speculation that DU is being used in
Tomahawk missiles, the most current and reliable data do not verify these
allegations; the use of DU in Tomahawks is restricted to test purposes
only4.
DU ammunition was first used by the U.S. in wartime in the Persian Gulf
War,
with an estimated 300 metric tons fired3. Weapons employing DU included the
American M1 Abrams tank, the Bradley armored personnel carrier, and the
A-10
Warthog aircraft, which fired twin 30-millimeter guns with small-caliber DU
bullets. Final reports estimate that tanks fired 14,000 large caliber DU
rounds and that U.S. planes fired 940,000 small caliber rounds5.
Additionally, the British are estimated to have fired 100 rounds from
tanks6.
Depleted uranium has also been used by the U.S. in Kosovo. Major General
Chuck Wald, a Department of Defense spokesman, acknowledged that DU was
being
used in Kosovo during a May, 1999 press briefing. When asked by
reporters if
the U.S. was using DU in Kosovo, he answered:
"Yes. And the 30mm on the A-10. I think it's almost -- I've heard that
question a lot, and I've been thinking about it. I've been around the A-10s
for a long time. I know that I see the munitions handlers put these bullets
in the aircraft, holding on to them for 20 years, so they've done a lot of
scientific studies on these things, and there doesn't seem to be a problem.
So I don't think there's a problem at all with that, and it hasn't been a
problem for any of us, so it's kind of old news."7
The U.S. A-10 Warthog can fire DU coated ammunition from its 30mm
Gatling gun
at 3,900 rounds per minute. DU rounds were also employed in the AV-8B
fighter. A NATO report stated that DU has been used against Serbian forces
though "it has not been used extensively," according to a NATO
spokesman. "It
has never been proved that the use of DU endangers the health of people. It
is no more dangerous than mercury."6
While DU use has been mostly confined to the Gulf and to the Balkans, there
are other incidents of DU use that are worthy of note. In April, 1999, the
U.S. Navy accidentally fired hundreds of DU rounds on Vieques, Puerto Rico,
which has only exacerbated already tense relations over other issues
with the
U.S.8 A similar event in Japan, where Marines fired DU bullets on an
uninhabited island, prompted apologies from U.S. defense officials.9
In addition to the U.S. and Britain, there are other countries that possess
DU. U.S. arms dealers sell DU to 16 countries, including Thailand, Taiwan,
Bahrain, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Greece, Korea, Turkey, Kuwait, and other
countries, which the Pentagon will not disclose for national security
reasons6,10. A number of other countries are also eligible for shipments,
including Jordan, Australia, Egypt, and Japan11.
Health Effects
Health effects of DU exposure are typically divided into two broad
categories, chemical and radiological. Further delineation is also made
between internal and external routes of entry. A number of factors will
determine the chemical or radiological affects DU may have, including dose,
route and magnitude of exposure, and location of embedded fragments. While
the most obvious health risk DU poses is to soldiers in tanks that
sustain DU
hits, there are others that may be affected as well. Survivors of such
hits,
soldiers investigating the wreckage, and those responsible for transporting
or de-contaminating DU-laden tanks are all at risk to receive potentially
harmful exposure to DU. With a half life of 4.5 billion years, DU may also
cause harm to surrounding air, water, and soil resources and harm civilians
returning to DU contaminated areas.
Of the two potential dangers DU poses, chemical affects are generally
considered the most dangerous. Like other heavy metals, such as lead,
sufficient DU exposure can be toxic to humans. On impact with tank armor or
other vehicles, the pyrophoric nature of DU promotes oxidation of the
uranium
metal to uranium oxides, which results in some portion of the uranium round
becoming aerosolized and converted into dust particles small enough to be
easily ingested or inhaled by humans in the vicinity, such as soldiers
examining the wreckage of a tank. Upon ingestion, the uranium oxides are
mostly metabolized to the uranyl ion (UO2++), and, if solubilized in the
blood, up to 90% of it may be excreted by the kidney in the urine.
Excretion
takes approximately 3 days if DU is internalized, though uranium in the
urine
may appear persistently if DU has been embedded externally in the skin.
Methods of DU detection include 24-hour urinalysis, spot urinalysis, and
whole body scans, especially for embedded fragments1. The International
Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) has established 3 µg/g (stated
as a whole body count) of kidney as the permissible radiological limit. The
ability of the body to expel ingested uranium is not absolute; much of
it may
stay in the body, particularly the kidneys and skeleton, for extended
periods
of time. Similar to other heavy metals, uranium, solubilized in
solution, can
react with many biological molecules, including phosphate residues (glucose
phosphate, phosopholipids, nucleic acids) or sulfydryl groups (cysteine,
glutathione and oxyanions). In addition to targeting the kidneys and
skeleton, uranium not expelled by the body may also distribute to soft
tissue, including the liver, lung, fat, and muscle1.
Radioactive elements, including uranium, produce three types of ionizing
radiation, alpha, beta, and gamma, each impacting human physiology
differently. Uranium is primarily an alpha emitter, which travels about
30 µm
in soft tissue, making penetration of paper, glass, or skin virtually
impossible. Danger to human health would increase, however, if DU were
internalized and lodged near critical cells or tissue1. Although uranium is
primarily an alpha emitter, its decay process will also result in beta and
gamma radiation, which are more capable of damaging human tissue1. The
Encyclopedia of Occupational Health and Safety warns that uranium can cause
lung cancer, bone cancer and kidney disease. Other concerns include DU's
negative impact on reproductive capability.
Conflicting Claims of Impact on Human and Environmental Health
Since DU use began in the 1991 Gulf War, its health effects on humans have
been hotly debated. Veterans have argued that DU is one of many causative
agents in Gulf War Syndrome. The military has denied any such link. To
investigate their claims, the Department of Defense commissioned the RAND
Corporation, a military contractor, to do a study of Gulf War Syndrome,
which
included a lengthy analysis of DU. The final RAND report, A Review of the
Scientific Literature as it Pertains to Gulf War Illness: Volume 7 Depleted
Uranium, was released in April, 1999. The RAND analysis was a literature
review of currently existing data; RAND conducted no new research on DU.
Since very little research has been done on depleted uranium, the authors
instead reported on the much more abundant body of literature pertaining to
natural uranium, which, they argue, exhibits similar chemical properties
and
is actually more radioactive than depleted uranium1. Having claimed that
depleted and natural uranium are analogous in their chemical and
radiological
properties, they assert that health effects of each are similarly
analogous.
The report essentially finds no conclusive data tying negative health
effects
to natural uranium and therefore concludes that depleted uranium should
have
no negative health effects as well. The report's conclusions are
particularly
reinforced with regard to the radiological potential of DU. Since natural
uranium is more radioactive than DU and, according to RAND data, poses no
significant health risk, depleted uranium, which is 40% less radioactive
than
natural uranium, should pose even less of a radiological risk.
The RAND Report was not without its caveats and qualifiers. The report
stressed that little information exists regarding actual DU - most of their
conclusions are based on data extrapolated from natural uranium - and that
more research needs to be conducted. They cite, for example, the DU
Follow-Up
Program at the Baltimore Veterans Administration Medical Center, which is
tracking a number of Gulf War veterans with embedded DU fragments. The
follow-up program has noted "several biochemical perturbations in
neuroendocrine parameters related to urinary uranium concentrations..." in
its patients1.
The RAND Report, because it was conducted by a military contractor, is
bound
to have its biases. Despite reviewing an extensive body of literature that
included peer-reviewed journals, books, government publications, and
conference proceedings, the report inevitably could not be completely
comprehensive, a complaint voiced in a report by Dan Fahey, a former Naval
officer who is now the research director at the National Gulf War Resource
Center. His report, "DoD Analysis: The Good, the Bad and The Ugly," was a
direct response to the RAND Report. Prepared for the Presidential Oversight
Board for Department of Defense Investigations of Gulf War and Biological
Incidents and the U.S. General Accounting Office in June, 1999, Fahey's
report acknowledges and supports RAND's call for more research and testing.
The Fahey report, however, outlines a large body of literature that the
RAND
report ignored, citing at least 62 relevant sources not reviewed by RAND.
Fahey also takes issue with the short shrift given to studies which
demonstrated clear health risks to humans, such as that being conducted by
the Armed Forces Radiobiology Research Institute (AFRRI), which discovered
"possible relationships between depleted uranium and neurological,
immunological, carcinogenic, genotoxic, and mutagenic effects."12
Despite the claims outlined in the RAND Report, there are a number of other
sources that raise questions about the validity of RAND's claims and the
threat of DU to human and environmental health. These include:
•In August 1995, Iraq presented a study to the United Nations demonstrating
sharp increases in leukemia and other cancers as well as other unexplained
diseases around the county's southern region. Iraqi scientists attributed
some of the cancers to depleted uranium6 . Some Iraqi officials have
reported
up to a 20% increase in leukemia cases13. Other studies also suggest an
increase in cancer rates in southern Iraq, with a statistically significant
correlation between cancer cases and DU exposure14.
•A study commissioned by the Military Toxics Project and conducted by Dr.
Hari Sharma of the University of Waterloo concluded that DU use in the
Persian Gulf will result in an increase of 20,000-100,000 fatal cancers in
Gulf War veterans and Iraqi citizens15
•Doug Rokke, a former U.S. Army officer and health physicist in charge
of DU
cleanup after the Gulf War developed health problems within two weeks of
his
return from the Middle East. Rokke and other members of his cleanup team
developed ailments that included severe kidney and respiratory problems.
Rokke's urinalysis, conducted in March of 1994, revealed urinary uranium
2,000 percent beyond normal levels. Perhaps most disturbing is the fact
that
Rokke's team never received specialized training or gear for DU cleanup,
despite the fact that the Army understood DU's potential health
hazard16,17.
•At the Hague Peace Conference in May of 1999, Rosalie Bertell, Ph.D.,
outlined many health risks associated with DU, and, in opposition to the
RAND
report, stated that DU can be more radioactive than natural uranium
given the
higher concentrations at which DU is found18.
•A recent article in the Croatian Medical Journal by Dr. Asaf Durakovic of
the Department of Nuclear Science at Georgetown University Medical School
examines the possible health risks of DU12.
•The Glasgow Sunday Herald reported in April that DU use at a firing
range in
Duindrennan has been linked to the highest rate of childhood leukemia in
the
United Kingdom10.
Environmental Impact
The fact that DU is aerosolized on impact with its target and is
transformed
into small dust particles capable of being carried by the wind may threaten
air, ground, and water resources, which all may become long-term
repositories
for DU. Long term impact is especially important considering the 4.5
billion
year half life of DU. The Balkans Task Force of the United Nations
Environment Program is currently conducting a scientific expedition in
Yugoslavia. Made up of 14 experts, the task force will attempt to
provide the
international community with "a neutral and scientifically credible report"
on the long and short term environmental impact of the war, according to
Pekka Haavisto, chair of the task force19. The team will look at sites
where
DU is alleged to have been used, and will check for radioactivity and the
presence of toxic heavy metals in the soil. While the report is not due
until
September, preliminary data points to DU as being "very dangerous and
harmful."
The Regional Environmental Centre for Central and Eastern Europe recently
prepared a more damning report for the European Commission, the European
Union's executive arm. Their report described DU as "perhaps the most
dangerous" of the "carcinogenic and toxic substances" that were released
during the bombing of Yugoslavia19.
National and International Response
The United States
U.S. political and military leaders have largely ignored any warnings of
human and environmental health risks posed by DU. The effectiveness of
DU in
piercing tank armor, the low cost and large abundance of DU, and the
extraordinary cost associated with cleaning up contaminated areas have
acted
as major impediments to a change in U.S. policy.
Despite the government's response, two veterans groups, the Veterans of
Foreign Wars and American Legion, have both adopted resolutions against
DU3.
U.S. treatment of soldiers who have handled or been exposed to DU has been
poor. Ignoring some of their own experts' advice, the Army has been
remiss in
promoting and enforcing proper DU handling techniques, thus exposing
soldiers
who are unaware of and unprotected from potential dangers of DU16,12.
Debate
is ongoing regarding DU and its role in Gulf War Syndrome, though many
sources would not implicate DU as the lone causative agent in Gulf War
Syndrome.
Perhaps most frustrating for those who oppose DU is the fact that
alternatives exist. Tungsten, for example, has the same density as DU,
but it
has not been known to have negative consequences on human and environmental
health. Developments in tungsten technology have made it "almost as
effective
as DU," according to Matt Kagan, a former munitions analyst for Jane's
Defence Weekly. But tungsten is more expensive than DU, primarily
because of
the abundant supply - more than 500,000 tons - the U.S. has accumulated
as a
result of uranium fuel and weapons production5.
International Response
The international community has been a bit more responsive to exploring all
of the consequences of DU use. As stated above, the UN and the EU are both
currently studying DU use in Yugoslavia. Moreover, The UN Commission on
Human
Rights passed a resolution in 1996 urging all states to "curb the
production
and spread of weapons containing DU." 3 Currently, a number of NGO's are
attempting to gather signatures of organizations for an International
Declaration on Depleted uranium. In addition to studies and non-binding
action, some have made claims that DU is illegal under international
law, and
a lawsuit against U.S. DU manufacturers is being considered by some groups.
Conclusion
The future of depleted uranium in conventional weapons remains
uncertain. Its
use in armed conflicts has clearly been hailed by some while being
questioned
by others. Leveraging enough political resistance to such an effective
weapon
may prove difficult, especially in light of the often disputed data
currently
available describing DU's long-term effects on human and environmental
health. The need for further research on depleted uranium remains. Even the
RAND Report acknowledges this point. The Baltimore VA follow-up study
and the
UN environmental impact study may provide more answers. More studies,
such as
that being conducted by AFRRI, should be encouraged. Additionally, the U.S.
military, despite its current position on DU, should provide proper
protection, training, and testing for soldiers who handle or contact DU.
And
despite the underlying fact that any armor penetrator's primary purpose
is to
kill, further exploration should be done regarding DU alternatives that
have
less harmful long term health effects. Until conclusive data is
available to
exonerate DU in causing long term health effects, every effort should be
made
to curb or prohibit its use.
Written by Curt Wozniak. For additional information, contact Robert
Tiller at
Physicians for Social Responsibility, phone (202) 898-0150 ext. 220,
e-mail:
btiller@psr.org
End Notes:
1. RAND Corporation. A Review of the Scientific Literature as it
Pertains to
Gulf War Illness: Volume 7 Depleted Uranium. April 1999.
2. Mittelstaedt, Martin. "‘Green’ Bullet Kills People, But Not the
Environment." Toronto Globe and Mail. July 21, 1999
3. Military Toxics Project. Depleted Uranium; Agent Orange of the 90's:
Another Pentagon Coverup.
_http://www.miltoxproj.org/DU/DU_Faqs/Du_Faqs.htm_. June, 1999.
4. "Final EA for Tomahawk Flight Test Operations on the West Coast of the
U.S." page 3-24, Section 3.2.7. October, 1998.
5. Mesler, Bill. "The Pentagon’s Radioactive Bullet." The Nation. October
21, 1996.
6. Edwards, Rob. "Too Hot to Handle." New Scientist. June 5, 1999.
7. Department of Defense News Briefing. May 3, 1999.
8. Associated Press. "Puerto Rico, U.S. Ties Strained." The New York Times.
July 17, 1999.
9. Japan Times. _http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/news2-97/news2-11.htm_.
February 11, 1997.
10. Williams, Thomas. "Depleted Uranium in NATO Bombs Raises Health
Issues."
Hartford Courant. May 20, 1999.
11. Cardamone, Jr, Thomas A.. "News Briefs: Jordan Made Non-Nato Ally."
Arms
Trade News. December, 1996/January, 1997.
_http://www.clw.org/cat/atn0197.html_.
12. Fahey, Dan. "DoD Analysis; The Good, the Bad and The Ugly." June, 1999.
_http://www.globaldialog.com/~kornkven/DOD_Anaysis_II_Fahey.pdf_.
13. Reuters. "UN Agency May Urge Study of Iraqi Cancer Cases." October. 20,
1998.
14. Conference on Health and Environmental Consequences of Depleted Uranium
used by U.S. and British Forces in the 1991 Gulf War. "Health
Consequences of
DU Weapons Used by U.S. and British Soldiers." December, 1998.
15. Military Toxics Project. "Press Release: Military Toxics Project
Confirms NATO is Using DU Munitions in Yugoslavia and Releases Results of
Medical Study Indicating Potential for Fatal Cancers." May 4, 1999.
_http://www.miltoxproj.org/kosovo.html_.
16. Fahey, Dan. "Selected Quotes From Government Reports on Depleted
Uranium". Military Toxics Project.
17. Richardson, J.J. "Depleted Uranium: The Invisible Threat." Mother Jones
online.
_http://www.motherjones.com/total_coverage/kosovo/reality_check/du.html_.
June
23, 1999.
18. Bertell, Rosalie. "Gulf War Veterans and Depleted Uranium." Hague Peace
Conference. May, 1999.
19. Cook, Joe and Frances Williams. "Balkans: NATO Uranium ‘polluting
Yugoslavia.’" Financial Times. July 22, 1999.
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17 Bellona: Sevmash completed hull construction of Alexander Nevsky nuclear submarine
The second nuclear strategic submarine 4th generation laid down
in spring, received its hull.
2004-08-30 16:49
The construction of the second nuclear strategic submarine of
the 4th generation, project 955, Alexander Nevsky
[http://www.bellona.org/en/international/russia/navy/northern_fle
et/vessels/34010.html] passed an important stage – the Sevmash
plant workers finished the hull of the new submarine. It is
expected that in the current century Borey class submarines
would become the foundation of the Russian navy together with
project 971 nuclear multipurpose submarines.
Publisher: Bellona Foundation [bellona@bellona.no] ,
President: Frederic Hauge [frederic@bellona.no]
Information: info@bellona.no [info@bellona.no] , Technical
contact: webmaster@bellona.no [webmaster@bellona.no]
Telephone: +47 23 23 46 00 Telefax: +47 22 38 38 62 * P.O.Box
2141 Grunerlokka, 0505 Oslo, Norway
*****************************************************************
18 nzcity: Second nuclear monitoring station for Pacific
[New Zealand City Ltd]
31 Aug 2004 14:24
31 August 2004 - article from www.rugbyleague.co.nz
[http://www.rugbyleague.co.nz/]
A Christchurch-based organisation has won the tender to build a
nuclear monitoring station on Christmas Island.
The National Radiation Laboratory's station will be used to
monitor the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty on behalf of the
Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Organisation.
National Radiation Laboratory scientist Martin Gledhill says
getting the site up and running will not be as easy as others
other stations the organisation has worked on.
He says everything will need to be pre-assembled in containers
and shipped via other Pacific islands, probably Fiji and
Kiribati.
The laboratory has already built one monitoring station in
Mauritania and is constructing another in Fiji.
© 2004 NZCity, IRN >> More Rugby League News
© 2004 New Zealand City Ltd
*****************************************************************
19 Hawk Eye: IAAP Group Infobox 30
Monday, August 30, 2004, Site updated daily at 11 a.m. CST
[http://www.thehawkeye.com
Contact info
For more information on the Alliance of Nuclear Workers Advocacy
Groups and the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation
Program:
www.doesickworker.org — a Web site dedicated to the program with
news reports and ANWAG releases on former Energy Department
employees sickened by their work at plants nationwide.
Coalition for a Healthy Environment, Oak Ridge, Tenn. — a group
dedicated to workers' issues from a plant in Tennessee. Contact
Harry Williams (865) 693–7249
United Nuclear Weapons Workers, St. Louis — a group dedicated to
workers' issues from the Mallinkrodt plant in Missouri. Contact
Denise Brock (636) 366–4428
Grassroots Organization of Sick Workers, Craig, Colo. — a group
dedicated to securing federal compensation payments for sick and
dying former nuclear weapons workers. Contact Terrie Barrie (970)
824–2260.
Barrie, Brock and Williams work together in ANWAG.
The Hawk Eye 800 S. Main St., Burlington, Iowa 52601 319-754-8461
· 1-800-397-1708 · FAX 319-754-6824 · webmaster@thehawkeye.com
[webmaster@thehawkeye.com]
*****************************************************************
20 Hawk Eye: Claims seekers join advocacy group
Monday, August 30, 2004, Site updated daily at 11 a.m. CST
[http://www.thehawkeye.com] · NEWS
Former weapons workers and relatives try new tack dealing with
bureaucracy.
By MATTHEW LeBLANC mleblanc@thehawkeye.com
[mleblanc@thehawkeye.com]
Several former Iowa Army Ammunition Plant workers sickened by
years of exposure to radiation and chemicals during the Cold War
have joined with a national group they say could help secure
thousands of dollars in workers' compensation payments.
The Alliance of Nuclear Worker Advocacy Groups is made up of
three core workers advocacy groups in Colorado, Tennessee and
Missouri. It has lobbied since February for changes in an
embattled federal law designed to dole out compensation payments
to former nuclear weapons workers.
"The only way we're going to get anything done is calling and
e–mailing," said Paula Graham, who lost three family members to
illnesses she believes were caused by work at the Middletown
plant.
ANWAG began work earlier this year, sending e–mails, calling
like–minded advocates for change in the laws and lobbying
Congress to secure compensation for thousands of sick and dying
weapons workers nationwide. Members of the group now number more
than 1,000 and include representatives from several U.S. states.
In Iowa, few of IAAP's workers have been compensated for
illnesses that have been linked to work at the plant. Employees
built, test–fired and disassembled components of nuclear weapons
from the 1940s to the mid–1970s at the 19,000–acre plant.
Terrie Barrie, who runs the Grassroots Organization of Sick
Workers in Craig, Colo., said the only way to secure the funding
— set aside by Congress in 2000's Energy Employees Occupational
Illness Compensation Program Act — is to engulf state and federal
legislators with letter, e–mails and telephone calls pushing for
the needed compensation.
"We're continuing to put the pressure on," Barrie said.
Recently, an ANWAG–related Web site was posted and numerous
statements were released to national and local media outlets in
the hopes that reporters will focus on the weapons workers, whose
problems with the compensation program has received little
national attention.
Representatives from Iowa in ANWAG are relatively new. Barrie,
who helps coordinate the group with Denise Brock, of St. Louis
and Harry Williams, of Oak Ridge, Tenn., could name only a few
members with connections to IAAP.
But Graham, 71, is one of those people. She's now forwarding
e–mails and making phone calls to other interested parties. She's
also contacted Iowa's congressional delegation to let them know
she wants to be compensated for the deaths of her sister, her
mother and her father.
"The only way we're going to get this is through publicity,"
Graham said.
Illinois resident Bob Anderson and Bonny Thayer, Burlington, have
also been contacted by ANWAG.
Under one section of the compensation program, former workers or
their surviving relatives are eligible to receive a one–time
$150,000 workers' compensation payment. Under another section of
the program, compensation claims are sent to state officials, who
then decide whether to make payments.
Forty–seven of the $150,000 claims have been paid to IAAP
workers, according to Department of Labor statistics. No state
workers claims have been paid under the state program, though
nearly 600 have applied for benefits.
Currently stuck in a bipartisan House and Senate committee in
Washington is legislation that would lessen the red tape
associated with the compensation program, though it's unclear if
those measures will make it to the floor of the House, where
Representatives could debate the moves when Congress reconvenes
next month.
The legislation is supported by Iowa Sens. Tom Harkin and Charles
Grassley. Rep. Jim Leach, R–2nd District, has said he will
support the measures, which would moves claims filed under the
program to the Labor Department, if they are sent to the House.
Thayer, a former IAAP employee who worked with X–rays in the late
1940s to the early 1950s, admits she hasn't been active in ANWAG
but is quick to say she supports the group's work. She's had at
least four surgeries to remove cancer she believes was caused by
her work.
Thayer doesn't hold her breath, however, when she's told her
compensation could be coming.
"I don't think to see 50 cents," she said. "I think this is one
of the most disgraceful things the government has ever done."
Barrie, though, remains convinced her writing and telephone
campaigns will bring help to former nuclear weapons workers in
Iowa, Alaska, Colorado, Ohio and other states where sick workers
have not been compensated. Her work will go on, she said.
"This legislation is taking up all of our time," Barrie said. "We
have been busy."
The Hawk Eye 800 S. Main St., Burlington, Iowa 52601 319-754-8461
· 1-800-397-1708 · FAX 319-754-6824 · webmaster@thehawkeye.com
[webmaster@thehawkeye.com]
*****************************************************************
21 Gallup Independent: RECA Compensation Tied to Skin Tone?
Gallup, New Mexico
Attorneys claim Navajos are being unfairly compensated for past
exposure to uranium
By Kathy Helms
Dine Bureau
TUBA CITY -- Divide and conquer. That's been the name of the
game.
It's a game of high stakes, too. Namely, human sacrifice. But no
more. The "grassroots giant" is awakening and is on bended knee.
Soon, he's going to be standing. And when he does, the Navajo
people will "unite under one banner" to create change for the
Nation.
"That was a vision foretold generations ago, and we are
fulfilling that vision," Norman Brown of Dine Bidziil (Navajo
Strength) said Thursday afternoon following a status report on
the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA). The meeting at
Grayhills High School Auditorium was attended by uranium victims
and their families, mostly elderlies.
Though they came to the meeting a bit beaten down, perhaps,
their spirit has not been broken. Now, this relatively
uneducated portion of the Navajo population has wizened up. And
the key question is, can compensation be far behind?
Compensation disparities
Cora Phillips of the Office of Navajo Nation President Joe
Shirley Jr. said regardless of which of the affected agencies
she travels to, there is a continuous outcry from the people
about the disparities in compensation for people of color as
opposed to Anglo uranium victims.
"Among the Navajo, an estimated 18 percent of claims filed by
radiation exposure victims are compensated. And yet, you have a
Colorado law firm that's doing Anglo cases and they have a 96
percent compensable rate. So there is that extreme disparity.
That is a strong message in itself that something is wrong, and
it all goes back to the legislation," Phillips said.
Cultural injustices have been imposed upon the Navajo people. "A
prime example of this is the proof of residency issue. As small
children, they lived under their parents' grazing permit. As a
child, you cannot get a grazing permit of your own because you
are a child, so you have to count on your parents. But in this
case, the Department of Justice does not want to honor that, so
it results in denial of these cases," Phillips said.
While Anglos can turn to church rolls and club memberships for
proof of residency, there is no roll call at traditional
ceremonies and no certificates of completion awarded for
spending a summer at Sheep Camp.
"That's where the reform amendments need to be made," Phillips
said.
FUNDS DWINDLING
A recent report from the U.S. General Accounting Office
indicated that RECA funds are "dwindling to the point where
people might be issued IOUs again, so there's this sense of
urgency now because the program, we understand, is going to shut
down as of 2011," Phillips said.
"A very small percentage are getting compensated. In the
meantime people are out there using whatever little resources
they have been trying to get the necessary documents together,
and in the end, it's like they've reached this dead end with
nowhere else to go because of the laws that have been put in
place," she said.
The final straw was when the federal government came out with a
final rule this spring which stated "that all non-attorneys and
Native American representatives are not permitted to submit
claims as of April 22, 2004," meaning that advocates such as
Phil Harrison of the Navajo Uranium Radiation Victims Committee
was no longer able to assist cancer victims such as Lucy
Todecheenie and Marie Tomchee in filing their claims for
compensation.
By vastly reducing the number of victims' advocates who attempt
to translate the facts of Navajo culture into Department of
Justice legalese, the federal government is creating an even
bigger backlog of cases on an already overburdened system. But
it works nicely that way: The fewer cases approved, the less
money the government has to shell out of an underfunded program
to compensate victims, the more money it can put into a new
round of nuclear weapons testing at Nevada Test Site while
paying off uranium/radiation victims with IOUs. As of July,
pending unpaid claims amounted to nearly $174 million.
THE CURE-ALL?
The only remedy at this time for Navajos is to turn to the
winning law firm from Colorado. It's a gamble, of course. Sort
of like a trip to the casino. But some are ready to hold their
breath, pull the lever, and hope the spin doesn't stop on
Coyote.
According to Phillips, members of the Colorado law firm will be
working with Navajo case managers such as Harrison. "With their
expertise and their advocacy, we're hoping that some of these
cases will get compensated rather than getting declined left and
right."
Jennifer H. McCall of the law firm of Killian, Guthro & Jenson
of Grand Junction attended Thursday's meeting. The firm is
naturally curious as to why the Navajo people are not being
compensated and are anxious to help evaluate the RECA
legislation and policies to see where it would be most feasible
to make changes to benefit Navajo clients.
Their assistance is not free, of course. Under the 2000 RECA
amendment, attorneys who research and submit RECA claims also
must follow RECA regulations limiting them to 2 percent for
filing an initial claim. However, they can take home 10 percent
if they resubmit a claim prepared for their client by a previous
contractor, and that client was denied.
Initially, RECA claimants can receive $100,000 in compensation
from the Department of Justice (DOJ). However, under the 2000
amendment claimants can receive an additional $50,000 through
the Department of Labor (DOL). The amendment also fixed
attorneys' fees for processing EEOICPA claims at 2 percent, or
$1,000 for the initial filing if the claim is successful. The
attorney can collect an additional 10 percent for successfully
appealing DOL decision.
Victims' advocates have turned to the Navajo Health and Social
Services Committee and Arizona Rep. Rick Renzi, R-1st District,
for assistance. Renzi hopes to bring all major players together
in Washington in mid-September, sit them all down in the same
room and work out a strategy they can follow.
Also, Phillips said, "There was a request put forth to the
Health and Social Services Committee to do a strategic planning
meeting and that strategic planning meeting will consist of this
law firm from out of Colorado and hopefully some legal counsel
from out of Navajo Nation Washington Office.
"Hopefully, we'll get the snowball rolling and keep the momentum
going, pace it out very carefully, very strategically. You
obviously need the support of Congress to get these proposed
amendments under way," she said.
According to Harrison, the 2000 RECA final rule was published in
the Federal Register this past April "after we started making
noise. But there were some drastic changes in the provision. For
example, where the Navajo Nation representatives were cut out of
(filing) those claims, what do we do with claims that are
backlogged? How do we do it where people will have due process
in getting claims examined and getting them paid?
"Navajo uranium workers were shortchanged," Harrison said. "They
were not properly informed about the benefits they have had such
as insurance. Some people had bought stocks and they were never
told about where their money was at; and then there were people
that were never informed about the possible benefits through
Workman's Compensation."
ONE VOICE
After being told to stop representing Navajos, Harrison began
calling around to see which firms were working on compensation
cases and wound up at Grand Junction. "We established a
collaboration with them and they began to explore the
possibilities of the Navajo claims." St. Mary's Hospital in
Grand Junction is being looked at for medical screenings outside
the government health system.
Also, historically, there have been several different
individuals across the Navajo Nation working independently on
victims' compensation cases. After what they see as inaction by
tribal leaders and the Navajo Nation Council, the grass roots
across Navajoland are speaking with one voice, the voice of
"Navajo Strength."
"It's a trust issue," Dine Bidziil's Brown said afterward. "What
I mean by that is that our people no longer trust the words that
come out of our hogan in Window Rock. So what we are doing is we
are taking that trust and that hope through our prayers and
speaking on their behalf."
*****************************************************************
22 Las Vegas SUN: Nader denounces gaming, Yucca during stop
Today: August 30, 2004 at 11:13:26 PDT
Independent presidential candidate visits Las Vegas
By Molly Ball LAS VEGAS SUN
Independent presidential candidate Ralph Nader denounced the
gaming industry and the planned Yucca Mountain repository in a
brief stop in Las Vegas on Sunday, his first visit to Nevada
since 2000.
On the eve of a lawsuit challenging his presence on the state's
ballot, the liberal firebrand, who's becoming a worry for many
Democrats, encouraged an enthusiastic audience of about 80
people not to settle for the "least worst" of the mainstream
presidential candidates.
A hearing is scheduled for today on a lawsuit, filed by the
state Democratic Party, alleging that signature-gatherers for
the Nader campaign misled signers or misrepresented themselves
in collecting the 5,002 signatures needed to get on the state
ballot.
Nader denied the accusations and tried to position himself
above the fray.
"I say to both parties, get off our backs and don't involve us
in your insidious schemes," he said.
Nader said he has not accepted the help of Republican
operatives who hope to use him to draw liberal votes away from
Democratic nominee Sen. John Kerry, paving the way for a
Republican victory. In Nevada, GOP activist Steve Wark has
claimed he funded the Nader signature drive to the tune of
$30,000.
Democrats who want to keep Nader off the ballot ought to be
working harder to appeal to voters, Nader said.
"They're saying to these voters, 'You're too stupid to be
allowed to vote for this ticket,' " he said.
In his speech, Nader weaved local issues into his themes of
anti-corporatism and environmentalism.
Las Vegas, he said, is "a gambling paradise where people come
as hopefuls and leave as losers," a place where "people are
induced to bet on their future instead of build their future."
As gambling in various forms is increasingly legalized around
the country, Nevada will lose its monopoly, Nader predicted. To
avoid economic devastation and the city's descent into
pornographic "adult" pastimes, he recommended diversifying into
solar energy, taking advantage of the state's abundance of
sunshine.
Nader, whose 40 years as a consumer activist bred a deep-seated
hostility to corporations, painted the casinos as yet another of
the big-business behemoths that victimize consumers and control
Democrats and Republicans alike.
"Their only redeeming feature in the ethical sense is they
might be able to stop Yucca Mountain -- stop this state from
being turned into a depot for radioactive waste from nuclear
plants that never should have been built in the first place,"
Nader said.
He pointed out that, as an opponent of nuclear power, he has
opposed Yucca longer and more consistently than either Kerry or
President George W. Bush. In 1976, Nader co-authored "The Menace
of Atomic Energy" with John Abbotts.
But Nader faces lingering liberal anger over the 2000 election,
when, running on the Green Party ticket, he took about 3 percent
of the vote and was blamed by Democrats for the deadlock and
defeat in Florida.
Earlier this month, filmmaker Michael Moore, a Nader supporter
four years ago, got down on his knees on Bill Maher's cable
television show and begged Nader to quit the race.
This time around, Nader is making it more explicit than he did
in 2000 that, while he holds a dim view of both parties, he
harbors the greatest distaste for the Republicans, and that his
ultimate goal is to get the attention of the Democrats.
Painting the backdrop for his candidacy, Nader pointed to
historical third parties whose popularity altered the political
landscape: parties that opposed slavery, favored women's
suffrage or spoke for the labor movement. None of those parties
won a national election, he noted, but they succeeded in
fomenting change.
"The only vote that's wasted is when you vote for someone you
don't believe in," Nader said. "The only vote that's wasted is
when you vote for an agenda you don't believe in -- when you're
so freaked out by the worst that you vote for the least worst."
Nader predicted defeat for Bush in November. "He's
self-destructing," he said. "Kerry isn't laying a glove on him,
but Iraq is his swing state."
Those who attended the speech said they liked Nader's message,
but they were divided on whether or not he would get their vote.
Clarke Finneran, 44, stood outside the speech holding a
cardboard sign with the slogan, "Nader...unsafe at any speed," a
reference to the candidate's famous 1965 book about the auto
industry. He handed out slips of paper reading, "Ralph Nader
needs your adulation, John Kerry needs your vote!!!"
Finneran said liberals in Nevada have to be practical and team
up to defeat Bush in a state most polls show to be a virtual
dead heat between the two major candidates.
"We don't have the luxury of voting for Ralph Nader," he said.
"It's going to be either John Kerry or George Bush, so as Ralph
Nader would suggest we can pick the lesser of two evils."
Finneran also accused Nader of selling Kerry short. "He (Nader)
acts like he's the only one with a health care plan," he said.
Lea Daleo, 63, agreed wholeheartedly.
"I have a lot of respect for Ralph Nader, a lot of respect for
him," she said. "I loved him. I thought he was great. And I will
be voting for John Kerry."
But some said they would stand by their man.
"Everybody says a vote for Nader is a vote for Bush," said
Erica McNeely, 20. "But if everyone's too scared to vote for
Nader, we'll lose the only voice that's questioning the system
in place and isn't just siding with corporations."
Questions or problems? Click here.
*****************************************************************
23 RGJ: Yucca Mountain fight not over yet
http://www.rgj.com/
[online@rgj.com] RENO
GAZETTE-JOURNAL
8/29/2004 11:31 pm
All the Nevada delegates to the Republican National Convention
want to influence policies that benefit the state. That’s why
they’re making their way to New York. But those who think state
officials should not hold talks with federal officials over Yucca
Mountain and those who want to negotiate for benefits have
practical and philosophical differences. If they could manage
some kind of consensus, the convention would be the place to move
on it.
The fight-or-negotiate quandary is just one example of how people
who are together on one issue can disagree on what to do about
it. It illustrates that issues such as this are neither
black-and-white nor examples of flip-flopping. They are complex
projects of public-policy that require planning and thought to do
the right thing. And it’s best if officials and the rest of the
delegates agree on the plan.
Top GOP leaders in Nevada have been involved actively in
resisting the decision to place the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste
repository less than a hundred miles from a major population
center. Yet some of them think negotiating with their Republican
fellows would be the wrong decision. Whether politically
motivated or not, there must be a reason. And certainly the state
could use more federal funds or other concessions, but bargaining
means you have something with which to bargain. It wouldn’t be
Yucca Mountain, would it?
It is likely that everyone who has anything to do with deciding
the repository’s fate will be in attendance at the convention.
So, it’s logical to believe that delegates and state officials
would have access to Energy Department officials, members of
Congress and others who could conceivably support some aspects of
the state’s position. It is possible to make opportunities to
influence decision-makers, even if no open negotiation takes
place.
Networking and influencing to set agendas is as much the point of
a national party’s convention as nominating the presidential
candidate. Nevertheless, it is practical to avoid communicating
tacit acknowledgment that the project is a done deal … regardless
of whether negotiating or not negotiating is the agreed-upon
strategy. There are still plenty people who think it isn’t over
yet.
© Copyright Reno Gazette-Journal, a [http://www.gannett.com]
*****************************************************************
24 RGJ: Poll shows Yucca issue is key for Nevadans
||| Home [http://www.rgj.com/] |
Anjeanette Damon
[adamon@rgj.com] RENO GAZETTE-JOURNAL
8/30/2004 12:04 am
The federal government’s plan to store the nation’s most
radioactive waste in Nevada has always been the third rail in
Silver State politics.
This year, it could mean the difference in the presidency.
Nevada has become one of the most contested states in the
presidential race, and both campaigns are focusing on the
proposed nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain.
A new poll shows their efforts are paying off.
A majority of likely voters in the state -- 53 percent --
indicated Yucca Mountain will be an important issue in
determining their vote for president, according to the Reno
Gazette-Journal/News 4 poll.
Surprisingly, more Washoe County respondents -- 57 percent --
said the repository was an important issue than Clark County
respondents. Political analysts theorize that could be because of
the number of conservationists and long-time residents in
Northern Nevada.
The issue plays more strongly among Democrats -- 67 percent of
whom said Yucca Mountain was important, compared with 38 percent
of Republicans. The repository is also a significant issue for
independent voters, 56 percent of whom agreed it will play an
important role in their presidential decisions.
The poll was conducted by Maryland-based Research 2000. Six
hundred likely voters were surveyed by telephone between Aug. 14
to Aug. 17. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 4
percentage points.
With polls indicating President Bush and U.S. Sen. John Kerry,
D-Mass., are locked in a neck-and-neck race, both sides are
searching for a key issue on which to persuade voters.
Although it is a convenient issue, some political analysts doubt
Yucca Mountain will be the deciding factor.
“I still think that as we get closer to election time, Yucca
Mountain falls down the list of the economy, the war in Iraq and
this more nebulous leadership issue,” said Eric Herzik, a
political analyst and professor at the University of Nevada,
Reno.
But that hasn’t kept both campaigns from spending money on it.
Last week, both campaigns launched television commercials
attacking the other candidate’s record on Yucca Mountain. The
Democratic National Committee and the Democratic non-profit
organization MoveOn.Org also have bankrolled TV ads attacking
Bush on Yucca Mountain.
And experts said it is extremely unusual for presidential
campaigns to spend money on state-specific advertising.
“We don’t see ads tailored toward the state in the president
race,” said Ken Goldstein, director of the University of
Wisconsin Advertising Project and a professor at the University
of Wisconsin-Madison. “Not only are we seeing a heavy volume of
ads in Nevada, but we’re seeing ads creatively tailored toward
Nevada.”
The commercials don’t tell the entire story.
From the beginning, Democrats have used Yucca Mountain as a way
to attack Bush’s credibility, claiming he broke a promise to keep
the repository out of Nevada.
Non-profit political groups such as America Coming Together have
taken the lead in the Yucca Mountain attacks, staging press
events and sending campaign fliers laying the blame on Bush for
the repository.
Democrats base their attacks on a letter Bush wrote to Gov. Kenny
Guinn during the 2000 campaign, in which he promised not to
approve the site unless it was “deemed scientifically safe.” In
2002, Bush’s energy secretary recommended Yucca Mountain as the
site, and Bush approved it.
Bush maintains that he has always based his decision on science
and not politics.
Kerry said scientific studies have convinced him the project is
not safe and has vowed to put an end to it if he is elected.
And it was on scientific grounds that the state won a key court
decision that could significantly delay or scuttle the project.
Last month, a federal court found the radiation protection
standard for the project did not meet legal requirements set by
the National Academy of Sciences.
Bush claims Kerry can’t be trusted on the issue because he voted
seven times in favor of the project.
“The president’s policy-based approach to Yucca Mountain is a
stark contrast to the political doublespeak we have seen from
John Kerry,” said Tracey Schmitt, a Bush-Cheney spokeswoman.
Kerry said those votes were either procedural or simply
authorized a study of the project. Since the project has been
studied, Kerry said he has consistently voted against the
project.
Kerry’s record includes a 2002 vote to uphold Guinn’s veto of the
project. In interviews with Nevada reporters this month, Kerry
said he began voting against Yucca Mountain long before he
started running for president.
Despite the attention, Kerry’s Nevada spokesman, Sean Smith, said
Yucca Mountain isn’t the centerpiece of their campaign in Nevada.
“We don’t want it to be a single issue race,” he said. “At the
end of the day, this race isn’t going to be won or lost on Yucca
Mountain. George Bush’s failure to keep prescription drug prices
low and make health care more accessible affects hundreds of
thousands of Nevadans and are two issues he is extremely
vulnerable on.”
David Damore, a political analyst at the University of Nevada,
Las Vegas, said Democrats can’t simply blame the repository on
Bush.
“If they simply say Bush approved the dump, most people would
feel that would’ve happened regardless of who’s in power,” Damore
said. “Using it as a means to attack Bush’s credibility across
the board, if it is used that way, can be more effective.”
Nevada Attorney General Brian Sandoval, who has led the latest
legal battle against Yucca Mountain and chairs Bush’s re-election
campaign in Nevada, said it is significant that the Bush
administration decided not to appeal the federal court ruling
against the project.
“That sends a strong message in and of itself,” Sandoval said.
The Nuclear Energy Institute has asked for rehearing, but
Sandoval said the administration had no control over that.
Earlene Forsythe, chairwoman of the state Republican Party, said
the issue isn’t important to voters in her party, who figure it
is a done deal.
“I’m not going to think about Yucca Mountain when I go to the
polls,” she said.
Forsythe is a delegate to the Republican National Convention,
which begins today in New York City. She said Yucca Mountain is
not an issue for the convention and was not considered for
inclusion in the party’s national platform.
“There’s really not much we can do with it,” Forsythe said.
Democrats, on the other hand, included a national plank saying
the party will “protect Nevada and its communities from the
high-level nuclear waste dump at Yucca Mountain.”
But Sandoval, who’s also a delegate, said he will use his time in
New York to lobby politicians from around the country on Yucca
Mountain.
“I want to help them better understand Nevada’s position and why
we’ve taken the position we have in court,” he said.
Copyright Reno Gazette-Journal, a Gannett Co. Inc.
*****************************************************************
25 Salt Lake Tribune: Is GOP's Western strength fading?
[http://www.sltrib.com]
Last Updated: 08/30/2004 03:10:31 AM
By Christopher Smith The Salt Lake Tribune
NEW YORK - A week before he will take the stage here in
America's biggest city to accept the Republican Party's
presidential nomination, President Bush hauled former New York
Mayor Rudy Giuliani to little Farmington, N.M., to stump at a
campaign rally.
"I told Rudy, I said, 'I can't wait to get to Farmington,'
Bush said Thursday in a rare appearance by a sitting president
in the Four Corners region. "You're going to meet some really
fine people here. It's a part of the country where the boots
outnumber the suits."
For more than two decades, the Mountain West also has been a
part of the country where, in presidential elections, Republicans
outnumber the Democrats. But Bush's off-the-beaten-path stop in
Farmington underlines concerns that the Republican red may be
fading in the southern reaches of the Intermountain region during
a presidential election where every electoral vote is critical.
That Bush has made four trips this year to New Mexico, the
only Mountain West state he lost to Democrat Al Gore in 2000 and
then by only 366 votes, reveals that the political landscape of
the West is in play. The latest poll conducted in August showed
Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry with a respectable 52
percent to 42 percent lead in New Mexico over Bush, with 6
percent of voters undecided.
The northern tier states of the Mountain West - Utah, Idaho,
Wyoming and Montana - remain solidly Republican, much as they
have been since Ronald Reagan's groundbreaking 1980 campaign
heralded a GOP shift in the region's presidential voting pattern,
which up until then had followed national trends.
But polls in Nevada, Arizona and Colorado, all states Bush
narrowly won in 2000, show he and Kerry are in virtual ties when
the margins of error are considered. Democratic strategists
believe the standings signal the erosion of the Republicans'
comfortable Western stronghold.
"The fact we are only a couple points down in Nevada has got
to be horrifying to the president," says Tad Devine, senior
adviser to the Kerry campaign.
The Bush campaign unveiled an ad in Nevada last week attacking
Kerry for flip-flopping on storing nuclear waste at Yucca
Mountain, a plan supported by the Bush administration but opposed
by most Nevadans. While initially voting to study the idea, Kerry
has said in campaign appearances he would work to prevent waste
storage at Yucca Mountain. Bush has been accused in Nevada of
pushing forward with the dump in contradiction to a 2000 campaign
pledge.
"Yucca Mountain is one issue, but I believe the people of
Nevada and the people of the West understand that issue
implicitly," says Bush campaign chairman Marc Racicot. "We do
believe that the president's values and his understanding of the
issues of the West is unique and it qualifies him in superior
fashion to respond to what it is the people of the West have in
expectations."
Political scientists view the Yucca Mountain issue as
symptomatic of the demographic changes in the West that are
beginning to unwind with this election. The growth of New West
metropolises such as Denver, Albuquerque, Salt Lake City, Phoenix
and Las Vegas is being fueled by Hispanic immigrants and urban
state relocators whose pro-environment ideology challenges
Western land-use traditions.
At the same time, generational replacement of voters is
taking place, with World War II veterans dying at accelerated
rates, to be replaced on voter registration lists by young
people who may not even be familiar with Vietnam.
"The long-term trends make a state like Nevada more
susceptible to these issue appeals like Yucca Mountain, and what
you have now is a state that is less likely to believe the Bush
administration," says Brigham Young University Political Science
Department Chair Kelly Patterson. "That lack of confidence is
more likely a reflection of the demographic changes in the
state."
While the Kerry and Bush campaigns work to solidify or expand
each party's support in the southern tier of the Mountain West,
the two campaigns have all but ignored the northern tier, where
Kerry has little chance of winning electoral votes, states Bush
can comfortably bypass to focus on battleground states.
"When you have limited resources, you have to prioritize on
where you think you can be most effective," says Racicot, a
former Montana governor. "The people in my home state are
disappointed we haven't been there either."
GOP loyalists in Utah, a state that has consistently given
Republican presidential candidates since Ronald Reagan some of
the nation's biggest winning percentages, still sometimes wonder
if they are being taken for granted. An unscientific but telling
indication of the dilemma is the Madison Square Garden
convention floor seating assignments this week, where New Mexico
and Nevada delegates are placed much closer to the stage than a
Utah delegation that has bled Republican red for decades.
"That's the downside for Utah in being so consistent in
supporting the party," says Republican National Committee Utah
committeeman Winston Wilkinson of Sandy. "In terms of how they
parcel out the benefits at the conventions, it's tough to answer
what do you bring to the party when every time there's an
election we're 85 percent Republican."
Keeping the loyal base happy while still welcoming the
evolving demographics and expanding population of the Mountain
West promises to be a vexing problem for some time to the
Republican Party, says Patterson.
"Over the long haul, there is going to be a redistribution of
electoral votes from Northeastern states to the Intermountain
West," he says. "All that will make the Intermountain West a
larger player on the national stage, not this cycle or the cycle
after it, but you can honestly look at a generation down the road
where the Intermountain West will be a significant national
player."
© Copyright 2004, The Salt Lake Tribune.
*****************************************************************
26 Guardian Unlimited: Ministers break promises over nuclear waste
Paul Brown and Rob Evans
Tuesday August 31, 2004
The Guardian [http://www.guardian.co.uk]
Nuclear waste from overseas power stations has been sealed in
concrete and buried in several miles of trenches in breach of
official government policy, the Guardian can reveal.
Ministers have repeatedly promised that nuclear waste from abroad
will not be buried in British soil to make good a pledge that
Britain will not become a nuclear waste dump for countries such
as Japan, Germany, Italy and Switzerland.
But it has now emerged that more than 10,000 cubic metres of
foreign nuclear waste is buried at Drigg in Cumbria because it is
too expensive to transport it back to the countries that produced
it. If the waste was buried side by side the trench would stretch
for more than 10 kilometres.
It is part of an ever-increasing mountain of waste stored at more
than 20 nuclear sites in Britain. Government advisers have warned
that up to 20,000 million cubic metres of this waste will pile up
in the coming years - and there is no way of disposing of nearly
all of it. The government is currently spending £1.3bn and is
planning to increase this to £2bn a year for the next 40 years to
try to solve the mounting problems.
The Guardian has learned from Department of Trade and Industry
consultation documents and key advisers that the government is to
announce a change in its official policy and start charging
foreign governments for the service of storing their waste and
subsequently disposing of it in concrete bunkers.
Until now, the government has insisted that all the waste would
be sent back but it now sees retaining foreign nuclear detritus
as a money-spinning venture.
Allowing Britain to become a dump for foreign waste would also
remove another problem - the threat of terrorists hijacking the
nuclear material while it was being transported from Britain to
other countries.
For decades, thousands of tonnes of spent fuel, containing
plutonium and uranium, have been imported into Britain from nine
countries which have contracts with the state-owned British
Nuclear Fuels Ltd to have it reprocessed.
Two BNFL plants at Sellafield in Cumbria dissolve the fuel in
acid and extract the plutonium and uranium so that it can be
returned to those countries either for storage or reuse in
nuclear stations.
In practice not even this has happened and the plutonium and
uranium remain at Sellafield under guard.
In addition there is 405 cubic metres of high level waste and
3,383 cubic metres of intermediate level waste belonging to
foreign countries stored at Sellafield.
The UK has more than 10,000 cubic metres of high level waste of
its own and another 250,000 tonnes of intermediate level waste.
Once packaged into containers suitable for disposal the waste can
be 10 times as bulky.
Britain's own waste is in a series of deteriorating buildings at
Sellafield and at least 19 other sites around the UK.
Norman Baker, the Liberal Democrat spokesman for the environment,
said of the Guardian revelations: "This is a disgrace. We have
enough dangerous nuclear waste of our own without scooping in
other countries' waste.
"The Treasury and Depart ment of Trade and Industry do not mind
endangering the environment as they attempt to reduce the
horrendous amount of taxpayer's money that the nuclear industry
generates. This government cannot be trusted to tell the truth,
look after the environment or deal with the nuclear industry in
any sort of sensible way."
Blake Lee-Harwood, campaigns director of Greenpeace, said: "It is
absolutely shocking that the government is reneging on one of its
key promises [that nuclear waste] would all be returned to its
country of origin.
"This bodes ill for the future imports of spent fuel and the
planned return of other wastes."
The government set up an expert committee of radioactive waste
management to advise on what to do about the problem of nuclear
waste.
Due to report by 2006, the committee has been first try ing to
discover exactly how much waste there is in Britain and will then
consider how to get rid of the plutonium and uranium that has
been produced from reprocessing.
The committee chairman, Gordon MacKerron, admitted: "It has
always seemed to me unlikely that all the foreign wastes would be
returned."
Laurence Williams, the chief health and safety inspector of
Britain's nuclear sites, said his task was making sure the
existing wastes stored round Britain were kept in a safe state.
"The mind boggles that scientists and technicians who did all
these complex tasks like building nine nuclear power stations in
11 years, and ... built hydrogen bombs and reprocessing plants,
could at the same time have chucked highly active waste into
silos with no thought how to get it out," he said.
"This is what we now have to do, and it is no easy task."
The Guardian has applied under the "open government" code for
details of contracts between the British and Italian governments,
but the DTI, which is responsible for BNFL, has refused to
release anything.
The DTI claims that disclosure of the "sensitive" information
would embarrass the Italian government and create diplomatic
tension between London and Rome.
Nuclear waste is divided into three categories - high level,
intermediate level and low level based on the level and type of
radioactivity.
Of most concern is the high level waste. It is so radioactive
that it produces heat and has been kept in liquid form in tanks
for up to 50 years at Sellafield before being turned into glass
blocks for storage. The government admits that a quarter of this
type of waste belongs to foreign governments.
Intermediate level waste is not heat-producing and can be
packaged in concrete for safety. Both these types need to be
isolated from human contact for up to 200,000 years.
The low level waste is by far the greatest volume and includes
everything from gloves and overalls to large pieces of equipment
and concrete. The only place to store this in Britain is Drigg,
which will be full by 2050.
Government advisers estimate that there will be enough low-level
waste produced in the next 50 years to fill 15 Drigg dumps.
The DTI was unable to comment on the disposal of foreign waste
yesterday.
Graphics The Mox ships' journey around the world (pdf)
[http://image.guardian.co.uk/sys-files/Guardian/documents/2002/09
/17/nuclear_ship.pdf] Nuclear map of Britain US nuclear map
Useful links British Energy [http://www.british-energy.com/]
Department of Trade and Industry [http://www.dti.gov.uk/] British
Nuclear Fuels Ltd [http://www.bnfl.co.uk/website.nsf/default.htm]
Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament [http://www.cnduk.org/]
Greenpeace [http://www.greenpeace.org/homepage/] HSE nuclear
glossary [http://www.hse.gov.uk/nsd/ilrwglos.htm] UK atomic
energy authority [http://www.ukaea.org.uk/] National Radiological
Protection Board [http://www.nrpb.org.uk/] Friends of the Earth
[http://www.foe.co.uk/campaigns/climate/press_for_change/dump_nuc
lear/index.html] World Nuclear Association
[http://www.uilondon.org/] World Nuclear Transport Institute
[http://www.wnti.co.uk]
[UP]
Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2004
*****************************************************************
27 Press & Dakotan: NewsXcel Seeks To Decommission Nuclear Plant
08/30/04
SIOUX FALLS (AP) -- Xcel Energy has applied to decommission a
building at a non-working nuclear power plant that the company
owns in eastern South Dakota between Sioux Falls and Brandon.
Plans are to remove remaining contamination at the last building
associated with the Pathfinder plant, said Joel Beres, a
spokesman for Xcel in Minneapolis. The contamination has low
levels of radiation and is confined to pipes inside the turbine
building, said Beres.
Repeated surveys have detected no radiation in groundwater,
surface water or soil, he said.
A public meeting with Xcel Energy and government officials is
planned Tuesday evening to review cleanup and decommissioning
plans.
The plant has been out of action since 1967 when two tubes burst
there.
The reactor fuel was removed in the early 1970s, and the two
most contaminated buildings came down in 1992, said Beres. The
reactor was an early prototype and produced only a small amount
of commercial power.
ŒŒIt was sort of a novel design, and it was a pioneering effort
at the time,'' Beres said. ŒŒIt was one of the very first
commercial nuclear reactors.''
Meanwhile, Northern States Power (now Xcel) decided to focus
instead on the much larger Prairie Island and Monticello reactors
in Minnesota, said Beres.
Still, Beres said Pathfinder helped spur the industry.
ŒŒThose people went on to build other plants in NSP, so there
was a lot of good operational information,'' he said.
z Steve Wegman, an analyst with the South Dakota Public Utilities
Commission, said part of his family's history is tied to the
Pathfinder plant.
ŒŒMy dad got to build it,'' he said. ŒŒAnd the cool thing is, I
got to shovel pea gravel when it was decommissioned.'' The
pea-sized gravel ensured that the reactor could never be used
again, he said.
The plant also was notable for its design, which used
superheated steam, he said.
Xcel Energy operates a natural gas power plant at the site and
the company is building a third gas turbine there.
All Contents ©Copyright Yankton Daily Press &Dakotan . Please
read our Privacy Policy [http://www.yankton.net/privacy.html] .
Yankton Daily Press & Dakotan
[webteam@yankton.net] .
*****************************************************************
28 AU ABC: Nuclear waste dump to become election issue.
30/08/2004. ABC News Online
"Australian Broadcasting Corporation Online">
[http://www.abc.net.au/]
The possible site of a national nuclear waste dump in the
Northern Territory is set to become an election issue in the
knife-edge seat of Solomon.
The Federal Government is looking for somewhere new to store its
radioactive waste after abandoning a site in South Australia.
Labor's candidate for Solomon Jim Davidson says his CLP opponent
has already said he wants the dump in the Territory.
But Mr Davidson says it is something he would never support.
"Territorians have for too long been treated like poor cousins
by this Federal Government," he said.
"There is no way that I'm going to sit by and allow the Federal
Government impose its will on Territorians by creating a nuclear
waste dump in the Territory."
The CLP's Dave Tollner, says the idea of putting a dump in the
Territory was first raised by Labor many years ago.
But he says he has never advocated the Territory as a waste
site.
"Nuclear waste should be stored in the safest possible
location. Now if that location was to be in the Northern
Territory we would have a responsibility as Australians to take
that waste on. Now that's what I've said."
© 2004 Australian Broadcasting Corporation
*****************************************************************
29 The Australian: Problems at uranium mine - report
[August 30, 2004]
Multimedia [http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/mm]
By Paul Osborne
WORK at the Northern Territory's controversial Ranger uranium
mine will stop temporarily after two reports found the mine's
radiation clearance measures and water systems were inadequate.
Supervising Scientist Arthur Johnson found leaking pipes and
broken and corroded valves were common around the mill.
But he backed mine operator Energy Resources of Australia's view
that the problems had not affected the health of mine workers or
the mine's neighbours.
ERA said it would temporarily suspend mining and processing from
tomorrow for several days to address the issues raised by reports
from the Office of the Supervising Scientist.
ERA chief executive Harry Kenyon-Slaney said the company would
not shy away from tackling issues raised in the reports.
In March this year, 28 mine workers reported suffering from
nausea, stomach cramps and vomiting after drinking and showering
in water contaminated with 400 times the allowable limit of
uranium.
The mine and mill were shut down, but a day later the company
established that drinking water from a holding tank adjacent to
Jabiru airport had discharged to the environment.
Dr Johnston found the primary cause of the leak was that an
operator unknowingly opened a valve connecting the process water
system with the drinking water system on March 23.
But he said the underlying cause was the poor condition of the
process water distribution system.
The control room log at Ranger included about 30 entries related
to the failure of, or repairs to, the process water distribution
system in March.
"A general inspection of the mill noted that leaking pipes were
common, valves were broken and corroded, temporary hose
connections were present and the colour coding of pipes was in
many instances obscured by rust and grime," Dr Johnston said.
Staff also reported they were forced to use alternative water
supplies to keep equipment operational.
Dr Johnston said ERA had promised to fix the problems, but the
measures should be set in law. The investigation found it was
unlikely that there would be "any longer-term or delayed health
effects on target organs such as the brain, liver and kidney
before of the brief period of exposure to the contaminated
water".
But the report recommended ERA establish a follow-up health
monitoring program for affected workers, which the company has
agreed to do.
Dr Johnston said the incident would not impact on Kakadu's
ecosystem or the health of people drinking from creeks and
billabongs downstream from the mine.
Dr Johnston also examined an incident in February where two
bobcat earthmovers had been returned in a mildly contaminated
condition to Jabiru.
Dr Johnston said he had discovered at least three occasions
where vehicles left the Ranger mine site without adequate
radiation clearance in 2003 and 2004.
He said while members of the public were exposed to low levels
of radiation over a period of several months "no adverse health
effects were likely as a result".
ERA, which is 68.4 per cent owned by Rio Tinto Ltd, exports
uranium oxide to Asia, Europe and North America solely for use in
nuclear-powered electricity generation.
Mr Kenyon-Slaney said ERA had made improvements over the past
four months to address the water incident and the closure would
give staff time to finalise changes.
"ERA deeply regrets these incidents and on behalf of the company
I apologise to all stakeholders for the failure of the mine to
meet all of the standards set by regulators," he said.
Federal Industry Minister Ian Macfarlane said he would ensure
through independent audits that the company complied with new
standards.
"Any failure to meet these standards will cause me to suspend
any further operation of the mine," Mr Macfarlane said.
© The Australian
*****************************************************************
30 AFP: Radioactive leak pollutes German river
[http://www.spacewar.com/]
STUTTGART, Germany (AFP) Aug 30, 2004
A radioactive leak at a nuclear power plant in southwest Germany
has polluted a tributary of the Rhine river, the regional
environmental ministry said here Monday.
The incident happened in late July when the plant underwent an
annual check-up, said the ministry in Stuttgart, capital of the
state of Baden-Wuerttemberg.
The leak at Neckarwestheim released a tiny amount of
radioactivity into the Neckar river which flows into the Rhine
not far from Heidelberg.
The ministry said the population in the area was not at risk but
the leak still raised concern as two similar incidents had been
reported from a nuclear power plant in the same region, at
Philippsburg, in September 2002 and April
The ministry has asked plant officials at Neckarwestheim to
explain why the incident was only reported about a month after it
occurred.
All rights reserved. © 2004 Agence France-Presse
*****************************************************************
31 Las Vegas SUN: Poll shows Yucca Mountain on minds of Nevada voters
Today: August 30, 2004 at 8:02:56 PDT
ASSOCIATED PRESS
RENO (AP) - The prospect of burying high level nuclear waste at
Yucca Mountain is on the minds of Nevada voters, a new poll
indicates.
According to the poll conducted by the Reno Gazette-Journal and
KRNV-TV, 53 percent of likely Nevada voters said Yucca Mountain
will be an important factor in deciding which presidential
candidate they will vote for.
Nevada has become one of the most contested states in the
presidential race, and both campaigns are focusing on the
proposed nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain.
Among Democrats, 67 percent said Yucca Mountain is important,
compared with 38 percent of Republicans.
The repository is also a significant issue for independent
voters, 56 percent of whom agreed it will play an important role
in their presidential decisions.
Maryland-based Research 2000 conducted the poll, interviewing
600 likely voters by telephone between Aug. 14 through Aug. 17.
The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage
points.
With polls indicating President Bush and U.S. Sen. John Kerry,
D-Mass., are locked in a neck-and-neck race, both sides are
searching for a key issue on which to persuade voters.
Although it is a convenient issue, some political analysts doubt
Yucca Mountain will be the deciding factor.
"I still think that as we get closer to election time, Yucca
Mountain falls down the list of the economy, the war in Iraq and
this more nebulous leadership issue," said Eric Herzik, a
political analyst and professor at the University of Nevada,
Reno.
But that hasn't kept both campaigns from spending money on it.
Last week, both campaigns launched television commercials
attacking the other candidate's record on Yucca Mountain.
---
Information from: Reno Gazette-Journal
--
*****************************************************************
32 Tri-City Herald: Opinions Tanks a lot
This story was published Monday, August 30th, 2004
If you saw someone's head spinning over the weekend, chances are
they work for CH2M Hill Hanford Group.
On Aug. 23, the company was lauded for its contribution to the
removal of the last liquid and radioactive and chemical wastes
from Hanford's single-shell tanks.
Two days later, the Department of Energy docked the company
$300,000 for six safety violations at the tank farms over the
last 14 months. Such a precipitous fall would give anyone
whiplash.
Safety has to be the top job, of course. The deadly dregs of
plutonium production that remain at the tanks farms demand it.
Still, it would have been nice to let the glow of Monday's
celebration fade a little before slapping the company with what
amounts to a fine.
During the same period the violations occurred, CH2M Hill workers
were completing one of the most environmentally important and
technically difficult jobs at Hanford.
The entire region is safer because of the effort to pump liquids
out of the leak-prone single-shell tanks. The task was completed
as soon as it was only because tank farm workers dedicated
themselves to it, giving up Christmases, weekends and evenings to
speed up the schedule.
The six safety incidents are serious, and the $300,000 loss will
no doubt motivate company officials to focus on needed
improvements.
That's fine, but let's not let it diminish the region's gratitude
for a dangerous and difficult job done well.
© 2004 Tri-City Herald, Associated Press &Other Wire Services
*****************************************************************
33 Tri-City Herald: Hanford fire chief to retire
This story was published Monday, August 30th, 2004
By Annette Cary Herald staff writer
The badge and emblem of the head of the Hanford Fire Department
are being retired, not to mention his well-used cell phone and
pager.
After 27 years of being on call seven days a week, 24 hours a
day, Fire Chief Don Good is retiring.
A parade of Hanford prime contractors, Hanford managers and
Department of Energy secretaries have come and gone since 1977,
but Good has been a constant at the site.
"He's cool under fire," said Rich Slocum, deputy vice president
of Fluor Hanford, the DOE contractor in charge of emergency
services. "He never gets frustrated. He's always in command."
As fire chief and director of the Hanford Fire Department, Good
has been responsible for emergencies on the 560 square miles of
the Hanford nuclear reservation. The 136 fire department workers
are spread among four fire stations and one maintenance facility.
They respond to about 1,200 calls a year.
In part, his career has been notable for what has not happened.
His department is responsible for fire suppression, emergency
medical and ambulance service and specialized rescue. But it's
also responsible for fire prevention, including fire hazard
analysis and developing the design for fire protection systems in
buildings.
As a rookie firefighter at the Rocky Flats nuclear reservation,
he helped fight the 1969 plutonium fire that was not only the
worst accident in the plant's history, but also one of the most
costly industrial accidents in U.S. histories, according to
Colorado.
But under Good's watch as Hanford fire chief, the Hanford fire of
June 2000 ravaged nearly 200,000 acres in a perfect storm of
weather conditions without any major structures destroyed nor any
off site radioactive releases from Hanford's hundreds of waste
sites. None of the 900 firefighters who responded received
radiological contamination, even though the fire was so powerful
that flames leaped 20 feet into the air and the fire advanced 20
miles in 90 minutes.
"Unflappable," is how DOE spokeswoman Colleen French described
him after the 2000 fire.
"Your actions have consistently demonstrated courage, insight and
professionalism in dealing with some of the most dangerous
materials known to man, under emergency conditions," wrote Keith
Klein, the manager of DOE's Richland operations, in a letter to
mark Good's retirement. "The stakes could not have been higher:
inaction -- or the wrong actions -- could have resulted in untold
damages to workers, the public and our national defense."
Good's decision to become a firefighter was something of a fluke.
With no career goal in mind when he graduated from high school,
he joined the military. He left with one bit of advice from his
father, a World War II veteran: "You'll be fine. Just don't
volunteer."
He followed that advice until a call went out looking for
volunteer firefighters. Good couldn't resist. Duties turned out
to be shoveling coal into the base furnace.
But after Good finished his service and went to college, he still
was thinking about becoming a firefighter -- the kind who put out
fires.
He served for almost 14 years at Rocky Flats before coming to
Hanford as fire chief.
Here, his influence has spread beyond Hanford to the surrounding
fire fighting communities.
He not only was generous in sharing the resources of the Hanford
Fire Department, but also has maintained DOE support for service
to the public, said Bob Gear, chief of Benton County Fire
District 1.
From floods to firefighter funerals, Good was ready to help with
Hanford resources, said Kennewick Fire Chief Bob Kirk.
"Don has always been open to looking at different ways of looking
at fire service," Kirk said. That's ranged from a joint recruit
school with the city of Kennewick to putting together a program
of incident management teams to help individual departments in
the region in major emergencies, from fires to searches for
missing children.
Good says he may do some consulting work after he ends his 40
years of fire and emergency service Tuesday at the age of 62. But
mostly he looks forward to having more time for family, including
a new grandson, he said.
It's also time to provide someone else the opportunity he had to
manage the Hanford Fire Department, he said. Watching young
firefighters, male and female, join the service and develop new
skills has been one of the most rewarding elements of his career,
he said.
He has some advice for his successor, who has yet to be picked.
Listen, Good advised.
That may have something to do with Good's longevity and success
with government program that's seen frequent changes in
leadership.
He made a point of paying attention to what his workers said and
also listening to the wishes of the many contractors,
subcontractors and other groups with an interest in Hanford.
"We're going to be at a loss in the community to get someone back
in like him," Kirk said. "They don't make them like they used
to."
© 2004 Tri-City Herald, Associated Press &Other Wire Services
*****************************************************************
34 lamonitor.com: Life at the lab settling down
The Online News Source for Los Alamos
[http://www.lanl.gov/worldview]
[http://www.lac-nm.us]
ROGER SNODGRASS, [roger@lamonitor.com] , Monitor Assistant
Editor
It's probably fair to say that stress is up and morale is down at
Los Alamos National Laboratory these days. But rumors that LANL
employees were retiring in droves turned out to be false. With
two months remaining in the fiscal year, there were 220
retirements, vs. 235 for all of last year.
James Rickman, a laboratory spokesperson, reported recently that
June retirements were above normal. But, he said, that was
typical because UC policy allows people who retire before July to
be eligible for next year's cost of living increase.
He said retirements had been tracked since the July 14 all-hands
meeting, at which LANL Director G. Peter Nanos called for the
resignation of the "cowboys" and "bad actors," whom he accused of
ruining the laboratory's reputation.
Between July 14 and early August, 59 people had put in for
retirement - a statistical bounce, but not the hundreds that some
reports had estimated. Since Aug. 18, workplaces like cafeterias,
the library and museum have been allowed to reopen. Employees
have been permitted to drive government vehicles and use the
office coffeemakers again, according to a laboratory fact sheet
of resumption activities.
The suspension of classified work and operations with any degree
of risk continues, while risk assessments are being processed.
The laboratory fact sheet describes the low end of risky
business, termed Level 2 activities, as including "work of
moderate complexity" - like construction and activities that
involve "small radioactive sources," "hazardous chemicals,
nuclear materials, high explosives or ionizing radiation at
levels that could result in minor worker injury."
On the more dangerous side, or Level 3, are the most complex and
potentially perilous operations, for example, "activities that
provide a high potential for significant internal or external
exposure of workers to highly toxic, carcinogenic, or
radiological materials."
Security risks differ between the two levels as well. Level 2 can
be characterized as using "non-accountable classified matter that
does not use CREM," (Classified Removable Electronic Material). A
report of CREM missing from the Weapons Physics Directorate on
July 7 was among the immediate causes of the stand down.
Level 3 work may involve the use of "classified information
contained in accountable documents or accountable CREM."
While the nuclear weapons lab has been indisposed, attending to
its work resumption project, LANL has undergone another battering
series of reviews by the Department of Energy's Office of
Inspector General.
During the first three weeks of August, the IG has issued six
audits, five of which have been critical of Los Alamos.
There is no sign yet of the next round of scrutiny expected to
come from congressional investigations and federal audits on the
security and safety incidents that prompted the shutdown.
Employees have been asked to take a pledge, that they "will not
violate LANL's safety, security or compliance requirements, nor
tolerate those among us who do."
Employees have been assured that they will not be punished for
raising concerns about safety, security and compliance issues.
Whistleblower policies were updated since the suspension began.
Like many documents related to the suspension and resumption of
activities, the updated policies are available only on lab's
internal network.
"The impact of the shutdown of Los Alamos National Laboratory in
New Mexico could ripple out to the distant corners of the solar
system," an article in the current issue of Science magazine
began. The principal investigator for a NASA voyage to the outer
perimeter of the solar system said he was worried that a late
delivery of the spacecraft's nuclear propulsion system from LANL
could postpone the mission.
LANL's troubles may have stirred the ambitions of other labs in
the nuclear complex.
Upon signing a memorandum of understanding with the Savanna River
Laboratory, South Carolina State University's President, Dr.
Andrew Hugine, Jr., was quoted by the Time Democrat of
Orangeburg, S.C. earlier this week.
"Now we can compete equally with the Los Alamos and Oak Ridges of
this country and the other national laboratories," he said.
[http://www.dncu.org/]
[http://www.lanb.com/]
© 2003 Los Alamos Monitor All Rights Reserved.
*****************************************************************
35 Secrecy News -- 08/30/04
Date: Mon, 30 Aug 2004 13:33:55 -0400
SECRECY NEWS
from the FAS Project on Government Secrecy
Volume 2004, Issue No. 77
August 30, 2004
** A CONGRESSIONAL JOINT COMMITTEE ON INTELLIGENCE (CRS)
** EDITORIALS CONVERGE ON INTELLIGENCE BUDGET DISCLOSURE
** WHITE HOUSE ISSUES ORDERS ON INTELLIGENCE REFORM
** A PRO-INTELLIGENCE CRITIQUE OF SECRECY
** GESETZ UBER DIE UNGARISCHEN SICHERHEITSDIENSTE
A CONGRESSIONAL JOINT COMMITTEE ON INTELLIGENCE (CRS)
The pros and cons of a joint congressional committee to oversee
intelligence are weighed in a new report from the Congressional
Research Service.
"Of all our recommendations," wrote the 9/11 Commission in its final
report, "strengthening congressional oversight may be among the most
difficult and important." (p. 419)
The Commission found that congressional oversight of intelligence is
"dysfunctional" and recommended that oversight be consolidated in
some kind of joint committee.
The history of the joint committee concept, its strengths and
weaknesses are considered in "A Joint Committee on Intelligence:
Proposals and Options from the 9/11 Commission and Others," updated
August 25, 2004:
http://www.fas.org/irp/crs/RL32525.pdf
Direct public access to CRS reports like this one is not authorized by
Congress. A copy of the report was obtained by Secrecy News.
EDITORIALS CONVERGE ON INTELLIGENCE BUDGET DISCLOSURE
Both the Washington Post and the New York Times published editorials
on August 28 that included calls for disclosure of the intelligence
budget.
It was sort of like the secrecy policy equivalent of when both Time
and Newsweek put Bruce Springsteen on their covers during the same
week in 1975.
"The Sept. 11 commission recently recommended declassifying
intelligence community budget information," noted the Post editorial
board. "This would be a good place to start."
See "Too Much Secrecy," Washington Post, August 28:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A40226-2004Aug27.html
"For openers, the budget should be made public," concurred the New
York Times the same day:
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/28/opinion/28sat4.html
Editorial endorsement of the 9/11 Commission's bipartisan
recommendation in favor of intelligence budget disclosure does not
guarantee that such disclosure will take place. But the outcome will
provide a tangible indicator of the success or failure of secrecy
reform in intelligence.
Meanwhile, officials at CIA have been slow to disenthrall themselves
and to decide whether even half century-old historical intelligence
budget figures can be published without threatening the security of
the United States. They have sixteen days left to figure it out.
(Their reply on the matter is due September 15 in DC District
Court.)
WHITE HOUSE ISSUES ORDERS ON INTELLIGENCE REFORM
On August 27, President Bush issued four executive orders and two
presidential directives on intelligence reform and related topics.
The orders generally strengthen the programmatic authority of the
Director of Central Intelligence and establish a new National
Counterterrorism Center.
The new issuances are described in an August 27 White House fact
sheet, which includes links to each of them:
http://www.fas.org/irp/news/2004/08/wh082704fs.html
In a background briefing about the new orders, "a senior White House
official" answered reporters' questions. The transcript of the
August 27 background briefing is here:
http://www.fas.org/irp/news/2004/08/wh082704.html
A PRO-INTELLIGENCE CRITIQUE OF SECRECY
Secrecy policy today does not serve the needs of U.S. intelligence
well, writes Hoover Institution analyst Bruce Berkowitz in a
penetrating article in the Hoover Digest.
"The whole purpose of intelligence is to give us an information
advantage over our adversaries. Secrecy protects this advantage by
keeping our opponents from knowing what we know. But poorly designed
systems for protecting secrecy can give away any advantage we gain
when they prevent us from using our intelligence effectively."
Berkowitz observes that there is no well-developed theory that
describes how secrecy is supposed to work or that identifies when its
costs exceed its benefits.
"Without this kind of understanding of how secrecy works, our policies
are really just a conglomeration of rules and traditions, most of
which were adopted many years ago and many of which are poorly suited
for current conditions."
He proposes several features that would characterize the ideal
security system, though he does not identify any particular category
of information now kept secret that he says should not be.
Despite the patent failure of official secrecy policies, change has
been slow to come.
"One reason these problems have persisted for some time is that too
few experts from within the intelligence community have complained,"
he says.
Berkowitz himself may be in a position to help remedy that. Since
writing the article, he has gone on leave from the Hoover Institution
and now serves as Director of Forecasting and Evaluation in the
Office of the Undersecretary of Defense (Intelligence).
See "Secrecy and National Security" by Bruce Berkowitz, Hoover Digest,
Summer 2004:
http://www.hooverdigest.org/043/berkowitz.html
GESETZ UBER DIE UNGARISCHEN SICHERHEITSDIENSTE
Somebody somewhere probably wants it, so here it is: Hungary's 1995
law governing its intelligence and security services, translated from
Hungarian into German (thanks to the translator, Robert Fuchs):
http://www.fas.org/irp/world/hungary/1995law.pdf
_______________________________________________
Secrecy News is written by Steven Aftergood and published by the
Federation of American Scientists.
To SUBSCRIBE to Secrecy News, send email to
secrecy_news-request@lists.fas.org
with "subscribe" in the body of the message.
To UNSUBSCRIBE, send a blank email message to
secrecy_news-remove@lists.fas.org
OR email your request to saftergood@fas.org
Secrecy News is archived at:
http://www.fas.org/sgp/news/secrecy/index.html
Secrecy News has an RSS feed at:
http://www.fas.org/sgp/news/secrecy/index.rss
_______________________
Steven Aftergood
Project on Government Secrecy
Federation of American Scientists
web: www.fas.org/sgp/index.html
email: saftergood@fas.org
voice: (202) 454-4691
*****************************************************************
36 [du-list] du in the news - 30 Aug 04
Date: Mon, 30 Aug 2004 18:48:12 -0700
VIEQUES out, NC in?
Washington Daily News - Washington,NC,USA
... caused by decades of military activity. Weapons tested in the firing
range included highly polluting depleted uranium ammunition. ... ...
<http://www.wdnweb.com/articles/2004/08/29/news/news01.txt>
To unsubscribe from this groups send a message to
du-list-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com. In the body of the message type
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37 Google News Alert - nuclear
Date: Mon, 30 Aug 2004 16:18:12 -0700 (PDT)
US Presses UN Agency on Iran Nuclear Program
NPR (audio) - USA
Description: The United States accuses Iran of having a covert nuclear
weapons program and wants the International Atomic Energy Agency to refer
the matter to ...
See all stories on this topic:
IAEA Wants More Information about Libya's Nuclear Suppliers
Voice of America - Washington,DC,USA
... atomic-weapons program. The agency says it needs more information on
the suppliers of nuclear equipment. IAEA spokeswoman Melissa ...
See all stories on this topic:
KERRY camp sets out nuclear deal for Iran
Sydney Morning Herald (subscription) - Sydney,New South Wales,Australia
A John Kerry administration would propose to Iran that it be allowed to
keep its nuclear power plants in exchange for giving up the right to retain
the nuclear ...
See all stories on this topic:
CLARK slams Christchurch nuclear investigation
Stuff.co.nz - New Zealand
Environment Canterbury's (ECan) decision to debate the potential use of
nuclear power has been dismissed as waste of time by Prime Minister Helen
Clark. ...
See all stories on this topic:
INDIA tests nuclear missile
Gulf Daily News - Manama,Bahrain
NEW DELHI: India successfully test fired a long-range nuclear-capable Agni
II missile off its eastern coast yesterday, a defence ministry spokesman
said. ...
See all stories on this topic:
SIX-PARTY Nuclear Talks Likely to be Held in September
Chosun Ilbo - South Korea
The South Korean ambassador to the United States says the next round of
multilateral talks aimed at resolving the North Korean nuclear impasse
will likely ...
See all stories on this topic:
NUCLEAR water leak delays plant reopening
Mainichi Shimbun - Tokyo,Japan
ONAGAWA, Miyagi -- A water leak found at a nuclear power station has forced
Tohoku Electric Power Co. to delay the scheduled reopening ...
See all stories on this topic:
LUGAR is away on nuclear business
Indianapolis Star - Indianapolis,IN,USA
... officials. Spokesman Andy Fisher said Lugar often works on the Nunn-Lugar
Nuclear Cooperative Threat Reduction Program in August. ...
SECOND nuclear monitoring station for Pacific
NZ City - New Zealand
A Christchurch-based organisation has won the tender to build a nuclear
monitoring station on Christmas Island. The National Radiation ...
EUROPE Big Three Near Nuclear Deal with Iran to Avoid “Nightmare ...
Payvand - Iran
... said to avoid the nightmare of an arms race in the region, Britain,
France and Germany were close to a deal to supply Iran with nuclear energy
technology in ...
See all stories on this topic:
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