***************************************************************** 09/05/04 **** RADIATION BULLETIN(RADBULL) **** VOL 12.212 ***************************************************************** RADBULL IS PRODUCED BY THE ABALONE ALLIANCE CLEARINGHOUSE ***************************************************************** Send News Stories to news@energy-net.org with title on subject line and first line of body NUCLEAR POLICY 1 Guardian Unlimited: Aides urge Blair to admit Iraq mistakes 2 Guardian Unlimited AP Exclusive: Iran to Extract Own Uranium 3 Guardian Unlimited: In Nuclear Shadow, EU Reviews Iran Ties 4 Iran: The nuclear elephant 5 Boston.com: Key EU powers weigh bringing Iran nuclear issue to UN pa 6 Korea: Digital Chosunilbo: 2 Japanese Nuke Plants to Resume Operatio 7 JoongAng Daily: [EDITORIALS]Why did Bush forget Korea? 8 JoongAng Daily: Atomic team departs with uranium sample 9 YWS: Seoul's Nuke Acknowledgement Predicted Not to Derail 6-way Talk 10 KoreaTimes: Secret Uranium Enrichment 11 KoreaTimes: Enriched Uranium Unfit for Bomb 12 Straits Times: Seoul's uranium bombshell stokes regional nuke fears 13 asahi.com: EDITORIAL: S. Korea's uranium test 14 US: Which Candidate Will Make Us Safer From the Nuclear Threat? 15 US: DallasNews.com George Will: Nuclear material isn't out of terror 16 US: ABQjournal: Election 2004: A Look at Nuclear Issues 17 US: WorldNetDaily: Vote for Kerry! 18 US: SF Chronicle: Dirty bomb called 'all but inevitable' 19 US: Washington Times: IAEA in wonderland 20 Indian Express: 'India has credible nuclear deterrence in place' 21 iafrica.com: sa news SA praised for cracking WMD network NUCLEAR REACTORS 22 Mainichi Interactive: Police search KEPCO plant over deadly nuke acc 23 UPI: Japanese nuclear plant searched - 24 Daily Yomiuri: KEPCO faces suspicion over way it handled fatal accid 25 Daily Yomiuri: Police search N-plant over fatal accident 26 YWS: S. Korean Consortium to Bid for Chinese Nuclear Reactor Project 27 UK Independent: British Energy rebels offer £800m to scupper shake-u 28 Japan Times: Police search nuclear plant in Mihama over fatal accide 29 CPOD: New Zealanders Refuse Nuclear Energy 30 The Australian: Nuclear energy should 'be back on agenda' NUCLEAR SAFETY 31 US: North County Times: Marine widow fights for nuclear exposure com 32 NEWS.com.au: Fallout tests to debunk experts NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE 33 UPI: Britain accused of improper waste disposal - 34 US: Las Vegas RJ: LETTERS: Texas dump 35 Las Vegas RJ: Court lets Yucca ruling stand 36 Las Vegas RJ: In Brief: YUCCA MOUNTAIN FIGHT 37 Las Vegas SUN: Cheney reaffirms Bush stance on Yucca Mountain 38 Las Vegas SUN: Brian Greenspun: Sandoval blew chance 39 RGJ: Environment claims add insult to injury 40 US: Lexington Herald-Leader: TVA has little room left to store nucle 41 US: AU ABC: ACF seeks Ranger mine prosecutions » 42 KLAS: Gary Waddell Asks Kerry About Yucca Mt. 43 ThisisLondon: BNFL set for £2.5bn bonanza 44 US: Business Day: Aflease looks to uranium production NUCLEAR WEAPONS 45 US: NAPF: Message from the President - 2004 Summer Report US DEPT. OF ENERGY 46 Tri-City Herald: Sunnyside man sues Hanford contractor 47 channelcincinnati.com DOE: Contractor Unprepared To Handle Nuclear C 48 Cincinnati Enquirer: Fernald contractor not ready 49 ONN. Ohio News Now: Nuclear Cleanup Further Postponed OTHER NUCLEAR 50 Google News Alert - nuclear 51 Google News Alert - nuclear 52 The Sunflower - September 2004 - Issue 88 ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** FULL NEWS STORIES ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** 1 Guardian Unlimited: Aides urge Blair to admit Iraq mistakes Statement would help to heal party wounds, Prime Minister told Martin Bright, home affairs editor Sunday September 5, 2004 The Observer [http://www.observer.co.uk] Tony Blair is coming under growing pressure from some of his closest aides to apologise for mistakes made during the Iraq conflict and its aftermath, The Observer can reveal. While the Prime Minister has so far resisted the calls, aides in his inner circle believe a speech clarifying his view on weapons of mass destruction and an admission that the aftermath of the war has not gone entirely as planned would help win back public trust and heal a fractured Labour Party. Party managers recognise that Blair will have to address the issue of Iraq in his conference speech at the end of the month, but are said to be even more concerned about the way Iraq continues to play badly with the electorate. One member of Blair's inner circle with close links to the Labour Party rank-and-file told The Observer that discussions over a possible speech were continuing, but that the Prime Minister had yet to be moved by the arguments. Officially, Downing Street last night said the Prime Minister has already admitted that Iraq has been deeply divisive inside the Labour Party and among the wider British public. Downing Street is bracing itself for the final report of the Iraq Survey Group, which is thought to have found little new evidence of weapons programmes, but hopes to draw a line under the issue. A spokesman said last night: 'The Prime Minister remains convinced that it was right to take the actions taken.' He confirmed the Prime Minister was adamant that no further clarification or apology was necessary, but added: 'I don't want to pretend that these matters are not discussed. In Downing Street, all sorts of conversations take place. But it is not clear what form such a clarification would take. We have acknowledged that the issue has been divisive and that we might not find weapons of mass destruction.' But some close to the Prime Minister believe there could yet be a way of apologising to the public without admitting errors of judgment over the key decision to overthrow Saddam Hussein. President Bush has admitted that mistakes have been made in Iraq since the official end of hostilities in April 2003 and it is thought that a Blair clarification might take a similar form. Downing Street is thought to have been deeply shaken by the abuses at Abu Ghraib prison earlier this year and believed that they were potentially more damaging than claims that the government had misled the public over the threat from weapons of mass destruction. It is well-documented that the Prime Minister and his inner circle had serious concerns that, during the build-up to war throughout 2002, failure to gain UN backing could destroy party unity and even bring down the government. The intervention of French President Jacques Chirac in March 2003 to apparently rule out a second UN resolution authorising force gave a way out, but for many in the party this remains a serious issue of concern. Labour Party membership hit a new low of 215,000 this month, and has nearly halved since Blair came to power in 1997. Some are urging him to make an announcement at the party conference about the date of withdrawal of British troops from southern Iraq. Mark Seddon, editor of the left-wing Labour magazine Tribune and a National Executive Committee member, said: 'An apology is the right thing to do to encourage people back to the Labour Party. But the Iraqis have shown themselves capable of dealing with the situation in Najaf without British or American help. Now might be the right time for Blair to take the initiative and announce the date for the withdrawal of the first units of British troops.' Email your comments for publication to politics.editor@guardianunlimited.co.uk [politics.editor@guardianunlimited.co.uk] Interactive guides Blair's road to war [http://politics.guardian.co.uk/flash/0,10291,906594,00.html] Full texts 18.03.2003: Emergency Commons motion on Iraq Government dossier on Iraqi arms [http://image.guardian.co.uk/sys-files/Politics/documents/2002/09 /24/dossier.pdf] Government dossier on human rights [http://image.guardian.co.uk/sys-files/Politics/documents/2002/09 /24/dossier.pdf] Useful links Foreign and Commonwealth Office [http://www.fco.gov.uk] Iraq sanctions - UN security council [http://www.globalpolicy.org/security/sanction/indexone.htm] [UP] Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2004 ***************************************************************** 2 Guardian Unlimited AP Exclusive: Iran to Extract Own Uranium From the Associated Press [UP] Saturday September 4, 2004 7:46 PM By ALI AKBAR DAREINI Associated Press Writer SAGHAND, Iran (AP) - Iran will begin extracting uranium from deep under its central desert in less than two years, an official told The Associated Press on Saturday during an unprecedented tour of the country's uranium mine. Iran maintains its nuclear ambitions are purely peaceful, despite U.S. charges it seeks nuclear weapons, and is pressing ahead with plans to control the whole nuclear fuel cycle from mining uranium ore to enriching uranium to be used in reactors. Saturday's tour of the Saghand mine, some 300 miles south of Tehran, was the first time Iran has allowed an international news agency to visit a site related to its highly ambitious program to develop the entire fuel cycle, from extracting uranium ore to enriching nuclear fuel. Iran wants to prove it has nothing hide, but serious questions have been raised about its nuclear program. Iran's critics argue that a country that controls the fuel cycle will inevitably be able to produce a nuclear bomb if or when it decides to do so. The AP learned earlier this week that Iran told the U.N. International Atomic Energy Agency it was planning to process more than 40 tons of uranium into uranium hexafluoride gas. The gas - if enriched - would produce enough material for four or five nuclear warheads, according to experts. Such gas can also be enriched to make fuel for an electricity-producing reactor. U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell said in response that Washington would urge the IAEA at its board meeting this month to refer Iran to the U.N. Security Council for possible sanctions. The European Union was also concerned by the report of Iran's processing plans, saying it could not accept the development of weapons grade uranium by Iran. The Iranians say they do not have the technology to make weapons-grade uranium, but experts say they could. President Mohammad Khatami first announced in February 2003 that his country would mine uranium at Saghand, saying then that Iran was ``determined to make use of advanced nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.'' Few details of the activities at Saghand have emerged since then. ``We will be able to extract uranium ore in the first half of 2006 from Saghand mine. More than 77 percent of the work has been accomplished,'' Ghasem Soleimani, the British-trained director of mining operations at the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, said at the mine Saturday. He said the mine will feed Iran's uranium enrichment plant at Natanz, in central Iran. Iran also has a facility in Isfahan, another city in central Iran, that converts uranium powder, called yellowcake, into hexaflouride gas and is building uranium centrifuges, which are used to enrich uranium. Saghand consists of an open pit with minimal reserves and a deep mine reached by two shafts. The total estimated reserves were 1.73 million tons of uranium ore, of ``average'' or medium quality of 553 parts per million. The mine has a capacity of 132,000 tons of uranium ore per year. Soleimani said uranium could be extracted from the shafts as early as mid 2005 if the Iranian leadership wants things speeded up, but there was no suggestion that political leaders in Tehran want that to happen. Soleimani said a few tons have already been extracted from the open pit for testing at a yellowcake production plant currently under construction in Ardakan, another city in central Iran. The underground mine has two shafts, each more than 1,000 feet deep. A giant lifts takes engineers and workers at high speed down the main concrete shaft, which later splits off into several branches. The core of the mine covers an area of just under a square mile. Mahdi Kabirizadeh, who is in charge of Saghand project, said 220 engineers and workers, all Iranian, were at work in his mine. Chinese experts had been at work here until 2002 helping dig and providing some technology, he said. ``We are now totally independent,'' he said. IAEA inspectors visited Saghand in February, 1992 and found uranium drilling rigs staffed by fewer than two dozen workers. The nuclear watchdog has not visited since then. Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2004 ***************************************************************** 3 Guardian Unlimited: In Nuclear Shadow, EU Reviews Iran Ties From the Associated Press [UP] Saturday September 4, 2004 3:16 AM By ROBERT WIELAARD Associated Press Writer VALKENBURG, Netherlands (AP) - The European Union said Friday that Iran's nuclear program has cast a shadow over its relations with Europe, which has been at pains to forge closer trade and other ties in recent years. ``We want to send out a very strong signal that we mean business,'' said Dutch Foreign Minister Ben Bot, whose country holds the EU presidency. ``We cannot accept ... the development of weapons grade uranium'' by Iran. He said a U.N. report this week shows Iran plans to process tons of raw uranium. Diplomats have told The Associated Press that Iran also is planning to restart some of its centrifuges. This has strengthened suspicions in the international community that Iran is involved in activities that could be used to make nuclear warheads. The ministers from the 25-nation bloc reassessed relations with Tehran. Bot said they took ``a closer look at the way forward for our relations with Iran.'' In recent years, the EU has pursued a ``constructive engagement'' policy toward Tehran designed to lead to a comprehensive free trade accord. In parallel, the EU has pursued dialogue on the status of human rights in Iran. But Iran's failure to clear up questions over its nuclear program led the EU to suspend the trade talks in 2003. British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said he was ``perplexed and saddened that the Iranian government'' was sticking to its nuclear ambitions. Britain, Germany and France have pushed Tehran to abide by its nonproliferation commitments. The International Atomic Energy Agency, a United Nations agency, said in a report obtained this week by The Associated Press that Iran plans to process more than 40 tons of uranium into uranium hexafluoride gas. Experts said the amount was enough for four or five warheads. On Thursday, Iran acknowledged it plans to process tons of raw uranium, but said the IAEA was informed long ago. Iran maintains its nuclear program is geared only toward producing electricity, not a nuclear bomb. Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2004 ***************************************************************** 4 Iran: The nuclear elephant Persian Journal Latest Iran News, Iranian.ws, Iranian Progressive Community" [http://www.iranian.ws/] Iran: The nuclear elephant Sep 5, 2004, 17:03 mercurynews.com Daniel Sneider/IANS When it comes to national security, the elephant in the room is Iran. Beneath the din of pumped up political rhetoric about the war on terrorism, the Islamic regime in Iran is resuming its march toward nuclear weapons. Last October, Iran reached an agreement with Britain, France and Germany to accept more intrusive inspections of its nuclear facilities by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). It also suspended uranium enrichment in return for assistance to its civilian nuclear energy programme. But in June the Iranians announced they were resuming production of centrifuges for enrichment. While continuing to deny they are seeking weapons, Iranian officials have recently declared they would never give up their "legitimate right" to such programmes. A broad consensus has emerged in Iran in recent months to preserve the nuclear option, one that stretches from anti-regime émigrés to hardline Islamists, say close observers. Regime officials believe the US is too bogged down in Iraq to threaten them. More militant elements, such as the Revolutionary Guard, which has effective control of the nuclear facilities, have concluded that unless Iran has nuclear weapons, it will suffer the fate of Iraq. They see North Korea as the model to follow. "They are hell bent on getting the bomb," says Hoover Institution Iran scholar Abbas Milani. "They see all these negotiations as delaying tactics." Most experts believe Iran is still a year or two away from even the beginnings of a bomb. The IAEA's inspections have slowed the Iranian programme, though there may still be secret facilities. The latest IAEA report, issued this week, offers a mixed picture of Iranian compliance and important questions are still unanswered. The diplomatic option is not yet exhausted. The Europeans are offering a "grand bargain", shutting down the weapons-related programmes in exchange for broader economic ties, security assurances and other incentives. They would support civilian nuclear energy, including completion of the Russian-built Bushehr power plant, provided Iran returns all the spent fuel to Russia. There are serious doubts though, which I share, about the will of our allies to join us in applying coercive pressure on Iran. That would begin with reporting Iranian violations to the United Nations Security Council, setting the stage for imposing economic sanctions. President Bush has backed the European negotiations. Senior officials have signalled they could live with the Russian reactor. But the administration is also fractured. The leak of secret documents on Iran by Pentagon officials to Israel reflects those battles. Hardliners, led by John Bolton, the undersecretary of state for arms control, argue that Iran must be isolated, not engaged. Bolton calls for the Bushehr reactor to be halted and is pressing to move now to the UN. Those circles advocate giving money and guns to Iranian opposition groups. Most Iranian experts believe such an attempt to impose regime change from the outside will fail. And any Iranian government, for reasons of national pride and aspirations for great power status, may want to possess nuclear weapons. A military strike on Iran's nuclear facilities should remain a last resort. Iran has probably deeply buried and dispersed its facilities. It would require not only air strikes but also special forces on the ground, says Jay Davis, a former senior nuclear planner and defence official. "We'd lose people and it's an act of war, but we certainly can do it," he told me. But it would come at a great cost. Iran can retaliate, from terrorism to aiding anti-American forces in Iraq. An attack would strengthen hardline Islamist elements within Iran and weaken pro-Western moderates. "That is what the Revolutionary Guards are dying to happen," says Milani, who is a critic of the Islamic regime. "It would be a shot in the arm for this regime -- even more than $50-a-barrel oil." For now, coercive diplomacy is the only real option. We cannot hesitate to escalate pressure, beginning with economic sanctions and by making it clear that a military strike is a real, if last, option. This is a time for cool heads and firm hands. (Daniel Sneider is foreign affairs columnist for the San Jose Mercury News. He can be reached at dsneider@mercurynews.com) © Iranian.ws [http://www.iranian.ws/] ***************************************************************** 5 Boston.com: Key EU powers weigh bringing Iran nuclear issue to UN panel [http://www.boston.com/news/globe/] By Paul Taylor, Reuters | September 4, 2004 VALKENBURG, the Netherlands -- Major European powers were discussing yesterday whether to take Iran to the UN Security Council amid frustration at its failure to cooperate fully with UN efforts to make sure it is not secretly trying to develop atomic weapons. Diplomats said that despite gloom over Iran's lack of transparency, most European Union states opposed escalating the issue to the Security Council for the moment. Britain and Germany, which with France have tried to coax Tehran into halting uranium enrichment and complying fully with its treaty obligations, said the idea of referring Iran to the Security Council for possible sanctions was under review. ''We have all been perplexed and saddened that the Iranian government has not completed all the tasks it said it would," said Jack Straw, Britain's foreign secretary. Asked about US pressure on Britain, France, and Germany to join in bringing Iran before the Security Council, he said, ''That . . . is an issue which is currently being discussed amongst the EU3 and with other partners, and I'm not going to anticipate the decision there." Washington accuses Iran of seeking nuclear weapons, while the oil-producing Islamic Republic insists its program is purely for peaceful purposes. Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer of Germany said Iran was only partially fulfilling its pledges to the EU3 and there was a danger it would miscalculate. Asked whether Tehran should be taken to the Security Council, he said, ''That could become a subject, but the consequences of all these steps have to be very carefully considered." The EU ministers unanimously agreed there should be no more nuclear powers in the world and Iran must cooperate fully with the International Atomic Energy Agency. ''We want to send out a very strong signal that we mean business," said Foreign Minister Bernard Bot of the Netherlands, who chaired the meeting. Straw said the latest report by the IAEA, the UN nuclear watchdog, contained ''clear reservations" about the nature of Iran's nuclear program. Several diplomats in Vienna said the European trio were preparing to draft a resolution to be presented to the IAEA board of governors when it begins meeting Sept. 13. ''The idea would be to balance skepticism about Iran's nuclear program with criticism of their behavior, " a diplomat on the 35-member board said. US Undersecretary of State John R. Bolton said: ''There comes a point when you have to say the nuclear nonproliferation treaty is going to be left in shreds and tatters if we don't do something about the Iranians." [ /] © Copyright 2004 Globe Newspaper Company. 2004 The New York Times ***************************************************************** 6 Korea: Digital Chosunilbo: 2 Japanese Nuke Plants to Resume Operations Updated Sep.4,2004 16:29 KST Japan's Kansai Electric Power says it will resume operations at two of its nuclear reactors, which were closed last month as a precaution after a fatal accident at another plant. Kansai says it received government permission to restart the reactors after conducting safety checks at the facility. The reactors could begin operations as early as Sunday. Five people died from severe burns last month after steam and water leaked from a broken pipe at a power plant in Fukui prefecture. The incident led to the closure of 11 nuclear plants nationwide. VOA News ***************************************************************** 7 JoongAng Daily: [EDITORIALS]Why did Bush forget Korea? September 6, 2004 KST 12:54 In accepting his party's presidential nomination on Friday morning (KST), U.S. President George W. Bush listed the names of some allies and their leaders who have helped the United States in its war on terrorism. But Mr. Bush didn't mention South Korea, nor President Roh Moo-hyun in his speech. For Koreans, who have sent troops to both Afghanistan and Iraq to help the American effort and have borne the expenses of the deployment, this omission is difficult to understand. This is a regrettable situation, and we Koreans can't easily erase the impression that we have been ignored. Moreover, South Korea made the very difficult decision to deploy additional troops to Iraq in spite of the instability created by the North Korean nuclear crisis, because South Korea believes that helping an ally in trouble proves Korea is a true ally. Also, South Korea decided to send additional troops to Iraq during a difficult period for the United States, when Spain decided to withdraw its troops. Mr. Bush must be fully aware of such facts, and yet he failed to mention an old ally, which has sent the third-largest contingent to Iraq, after the United States and Britain, while mentioning a country that has sent only over a hundred soldiers. Washington reportedly said that the omission of South Korea was a mistake, that the text of the speech was prepared by Republican Party officials, not the government. However, it seems to be a flimsy excuse, considering that the speech was probably reviewed by experts and related officials. We even suspect there might be a hidden reason for leaving out South Korea. Mr. Bush should offer a clearer, official explanation. The United States should recall that at the time two girls, Hyosun and Miseon, were run over by a U.S. tank, the Americans took an inappropriate and irresponsible attitude in the early stages, injuring the pride of Korean people and stimulating anti-American feelings. Mr. Bush has apparently failed to consider the national pride and the circumstances of his nation's ally, an oversight that may stir up potential anti-American sentiment in Korea over the United States' self-centeredness and inhospitable treatment of South Korea. The United States and its government officials must pay close attention to such events in order to avoid repeating incidents that could hurt the Korea-U.S. alliance. 2004.09.05 [http://joongangdaily.joins.com/faq.html] ***************************************************************** 8 JoongAng Daily: Atomic team departs with uranium sample September 6, 2004 KST 12:54 (GMT+9) A team from the International Atomic Energy Agency left South Korea yesterday with half of the enriched uranium produced in 2000 by Korean scientists. They will be looking for indications that it might have been produced for weapons use. "Five of the seven officials left on Saturday with 0.1 gram of enriched uranium," an official at the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute in Daejeon said yesterday. He said the other two officials left yesterday, after inspecting a now-closed research reactor in Seoul. Worried about perceptions that the team wanted the material because it believes the worst of Seoul, a Ministry of Science and Technology official said yesterday, "It is basic cooperation for us to provide a part of the enriched uranium." Seoul has said the enriched uranium experiment was conducted with the intention of seeing if the Korean team could make uranium usable in nuclear power plants, a concentration of the U-235 isotope far below that necessary for weapons. Persons familiar with such technology said it would take two or three months for the agency to analyze the sample. They said a report by the agency would probably not be released until near the end of the year. A Japanese newspaper, the Daily Yomiuri, yesterday quoted Chang In-soon, president of the institute, as saying three such experiments were conducted in 2000. The institute did not directly address that comment, but said that the 0.2 grams of enriched uranium Seoul has declared as having was the entire amount it possessed. by Shin Jae-woo symoon@joongang.co.kr> 2004.09.05 [http://joongangdaily.joins.com/faq.html] ***************************************************************** 9 YWS: Seoul's Nuke Acknowledgement Predicted Not to Derail 6-way Talks YONHAPNEWS WORLD SERVICE::ENGLISH NEWS [http://www.yonhapnews.co.kr/] .. 2004/09/05 13:05 KST TOKYO, Sept. 5 (Yonhap) -- A well-known U.S. expert on Korean affairs brushed off concerns Sunday that South Korea's acknowledgement of an uranium enrichment experiment may complicate efforts to resolve tensions over North Korea's nuclear program, saying its impact on the six-party talks will be "limited." Don Oberdorfer, a professor at Johns Hopkins University, made the comment in an interview with Japan's Asahi Shimbun, the paper reported. On Thursday, South Korea admitted that some of its scientists conducted an unauthorized one-off experiment in 2000 that led to the separation of 0.2 gram of uranium. ***************************************************************** 10 KoreaTimes: Secret Uranium Enrichment Hankooki.com > Korea Times > Opinion Pyongyang's Offensive in Six-Party Dialogue Expected The state-run research institute¡¯s secret experiment to enrich uranium four years ago has now driven the nation into a corner in the international community because of its apparent violation of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Although the government, backed by Washington, played down the significance of the separated uranium in light of the quantity and grade, major foreign media organizations, including the New York Times, have shown grave concern about the experiment. In addition, the issue is certain to have a negative impact on the future of the six-party dialogue aimed at finding a peaceful resolution to the nuclear standoff between North Korea and the United States. On Friday, the government denied allegations that the separated uranium weighing a tiny 0.2 gram was of weapons grade, also saying it had nothing to do with the experiment because it was conducted by the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute independently. However, the government¡¯s assertions are not very convincing since it kept the experiment secret until it was reported to the International Atomic Energy Agency under the United Nations in April. It is also alleged that the global nuclear watchdog called on Seoul more than a year ago to allow its team to investigate the research institute. To the dismay of the people, the government only revealed on Thursday that a delegation from the IAEA arrived on Aug. 29 to investigate the experiment for the separation of uranium. The investigation was completed Saturday and its results will be reported to the IAEA¡¯s board of directors around Sept. 13. If the IAEA decides that the experiment violated the nuclear protocol, the nation will be slapped with various U.N. sanctions. As the decision will come three months after the reporting of the investigation results, the government should concentrate efforts on convincing the world that the experiment was not aimed at the development of nuclear warheads. Even though the nation may be absolved, the separation of uranium is expected to embolden the North to beef up its offensive in the six-party negotiations involving the two Koreas, the U.S., China, Japan and Russia. In the worst case scenario, the Northern regime may boycott the multilateral dialogue, the fourth round of which was initially expected to take place in Beijing this month. Even without the shocking revelation of the nuclear experiment, the North has shown a cool response to the fourth round of six-party talks because of Washington¡¯s hard stance, especially with the House of Representatives¡¯ passage of a bill on human rights in the North. No matter how the North reacts to the experiment, the government needs to strengthen its watch on nuclear-related activities and strictly observe the global nuclear protocol so as not repeat the same mistake. 09-05-2004 19:10 ***************************************************************** 11 KoreaTimes: Enriched Uranium Unfit for Bomb Hankooki.com > Korea Times > Technology By Kim Tae-gyu Staff Reporter A supervisor of the South Korean nuclear experiment in 2000 said Sunday the enrichment level of the questioned uranium amounts to just 10 percent, far below than the bomb-grade level of 90 percent. Chang In-soon, president of the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI), who endorsed and overviewed the controversial experiments conducted by his researchers four years ago, made the statement during a telephone interview with The Korea Times. ``We carried out the laser isotope experiment three times in early 2000 and separated 0.2 gram of uranium, of which the enrichment level is around 10 percent,¡¯¡¯ said Chang, who took the helm of the state-run institute in April 1999, less than a year before the separation took place. This runs diametrically counter to some foreign reports that the uranium was enriched to the threshold needed to make nuclear weapons. Chang said he had given the green light to the experiment because researchers wanted it out of scientific curiosity, but didn¡¯t report the result to the government. ``Most nuclear experts both at home and abroad know that this is not a big deal, but some foreign media, especially Japanese ones, have exaggerated the case with their overblown reports,¡¯¡¯ Chang insisted. He flatly denied the claims the scientists under his control acted in violation of international nuclear regulations with the experiment, asking ``Japan has large-scale facilities for both enriching and reprocessing uranium. Is it breaking the global level?¡¯¡¯ Private atomic specialists agreed with Chang. ``The 10-percent enrichment is only just higher than the level needed for nuclear power stations, which uses around 5-7 percent enriched uranium,¡¯¡¯ Seoul National University professor Hwang Yong-seok said. Korea took the world by surprise last week by announcing its clandestine separation of uranium, albeit in a tiny quantity of 0.2 gram, by KAERI researchers four years ago without knowledge of the government. In response, foreign reports have been relentless in raising suspicions that Korea aims to develop nuclear weapons and have quoted various sources to say the uranium¡¯s enrichment has reached up to 60-80 percent. Seoul is making all efforts to quell doubts concerning the issue, but suspicions show no sign of abating with an investigation by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) underway. The IAEA learned of the experiment last month, when Korea had reported it to the Vienna-based nuclear watchdog after the nation signed on to the IAEA Additional Protocol, the strengthened regulations on nuclear non-proliferation. A seven-member UN inspection team rushed here on August 29 and five of them left Korea with 0.1 gram of the enriched uranium for analysis. The remaining two left the nation yesterday after checking an already-closed research atomic reactor in northern Seoul. ``Everything will be brought to light when the IAEA analysis result is revealed. We are not worrying because we didn¡¯t conduct any wrongdoing,¡¯¡¯ Chang said. voc200@koreatimes.co.kr 09-05-2004 16:43 ***************************************************************** 12 Straits Times: Seoul's uranium bombshell stokes regional nuke fears - SEPT 6, 2004 --> S. Korea's secret tests reveal its ability to develop nuclear arms in a region where other nations may have similar ambitions SEOUL - South Korea's startling admission last week that it has held secret experiments involving enriched uranium has increased concern about nuclear proliferation in North-east Asia, one of the world's most potentially volatile regions. Seoul insisted that the experiments were part of civilian research into nuclear energy, but the production of enriched uranium demonstrates the country's potential to develop nuclear weapons. China is the only country in North-east Asia to have tested a nuclear bomb, but North Korea is widely suspected of possessing several atomic weapons. Japan has the scientific ability to become a nuclear power quickly should it choose to. South Korea, Japan and Taiwan have all refrained from developing nuclear arsenals because they enjoy the military protection of the United States. However, the growing military and economic power of China, the threat posed by North Korea and weakening ties with Washington since the end of the Cold War are causing the three US allies to question their security. A US announcement last month of plans to reduce its number of troops in Asia by about 20,000 in the next 10 years has increased doubts about US commitment to defend its allies. Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has reacted to the changes by seeking to revise the country's pacifist Constitution. This has raised fears in China and the two Koreas that their former enemy could be preparing to re-arm. In this tinderbox environment, any sign of Japan, South Korea or Taiwan developing a nuclear capability could spark a regional arms race. Mr Takao Toshikawa, a Japanese political commentator, said: 'So far as we know, North Korea has two, three or four nuclear bombs. South Korea has demonstrated its ability to complete nuclear weapons. 'I'm very worried that conservatives and even the public might say, 'Japan should also try to develop these weapons'.' Some ordinary South Koreans talk openly of their desire for the country to acquire a nuclear deterrent. Many resent their reliance on US protection and admire North Korea's development of what some see as a 'Korean bomb'. These attitudes are reflected in the muted response of the South Korean public and media to this week's news. The Japanese are more hostile to nuclear arms because of the US atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. 'If North Korea conducts a nuclear bomb test, that would have a much bigger impact on Japanese public opinion,' said Mr Masao Okonogi, an expert on Korea at Tokyo's Keio University. However, political commentator Mr Toshikawa said that Japan, which generates 30 per cent of its electricity from nuclear power, has some of the best prepared scientists in the world should it decide to conduct similar experiments. 'Technically and financially, there would be no problem,' he said. -- Financial Times The Straits Times ***************************************************************** 13 asahi.com: EDITORIAL: S. Korea's uranium test The experiment could hamper the six-nation talks. The news was shocking: A research institute on atomic energy affiliated with the South Korean government had covertly conducted an experiment to enrich uranium four years ago. The South Korean government informed the International Atomic Energy Agency of this fact and the IAEA's inspectors have started emergency inspections. Nothing about the uranium-enrichment research in South Korea had been reported to the IAEA. The actions of the South Korean institute make a mockery of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. Since the degree of enrichment was as high as 80 percent, the South Korean government cannot escape suspicions that it was trying to develop nuclear weapons. The government explained that the experiment was related to domestic production of nuclear fuels and that the quantity of highly enriched uranium obtained by the test was minute. It also said the government was not involved in the experiment and that a few researchers were acting on their own. Yet, the experiment is suspected to be in violation of an inspection agreement between the government and the IAEA. And Seoul's explanation is not convincing. The government must investigate all relevant facts and publish them promptly. It is also necessary for the IAEA to swiftly conduct a thorough investigation and take appropriate measures. The institute's actions could deal a heavy blow to the nuclear nonproliferation regime and run counter to the joint declaration by North and South Korea on the de-nuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. It might also deprive the West of its rationale for pressing North Korea to completely dismantle its suspected nuclear weapons program. During the rule of the military junta led by President Park Chung Hee, South Korea embarked on a nuclear development program but canceled it under pressure from the United States. The latest experiment was conducted during the reign of President Kim Dae Jung, who adopted a sunshine policy toward North Korea and had a summit meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Il. We certainly hope that the South Korean government was not trying to gain nuclear capabilities when President Kim was in office. But was it possible for a handful of researchers alone to conduct an experiment that requires highly sophisticated equipment and technology? What is worrisome is the experiment's impact on the six-way talks on North Korea's nuclear development. Pyongyang is being urged to freeze and abandon its nuclear programs. But the North may harden its attitude by citing the South Korean experiment. Although the United States and North Korea appear to give way-if only just a little-in the six-way talks, their negotiating positions can be turned back and the solution of the problem can recede further into the background. Japan, the United States and South Korea have joined hands in dealing with the North's nuclear ambitions, but relations among the three countries could be buffeted by the South Korean experiment. While the United States has kept some distance from South Korea, which has adopted a relatively flexible position toward the North, the Americans might grow even more mistrustful of the South Koreans. A joining of forces by Japan, the United States and South Korea is indispensable in resolving the problems with North Korea. The governments of the three countries should hold consultations immediately, and South Korea must provide factual information on the uranium-enrichment experiment. A rift between these three countries at the moment must be avoided at all costs. Some in Japan have suggested that Japan should possess nuclear weapons. We fear such an attitude will strengthen on the news of the South Korean experiment. Up to now, the Japanese government has adopted a clear attitude in regard to nuclear issues. Japan should now play a positive role to keep the IAEA's framework functioning properly and to maintain solidarity among Japan, the United States and South Korea. --The Asahi Shimbun, Sept. 3(IHT/Asahi: September 4,2004) (09/04) ***************************************************************** 14 Which Candidate Will Make Us Safer From the Nuclear Threat? Date: Sat, 4 Sep 2004 00:24:04 -0500 (CDT) Nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction continue to pose grave dangers to the US and its citizens. Before you cast your ballot this year, find out which Presidential candidate will protect you, and all Americans, by implementing policies that will significantly reduce and eliminate the threats posed by nuclear weapons. It is up to us, as citizens, to choose the direction we want to take our country. Below you will find the two main Presidential candidates' positions on four key nuclear policies that will make America far safer and more secure. Oppose creating dangerous new nuclear weapons that will lead others to follow our example. President George W. Bush requested some $36.6 million in the 2005 Budget for research on dangerous new nuclear weapons, including the Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrator or "bunker-buster" and "mini-nukes." John Kerry has stated, "As president, I will stop this administration's program to develop a whole new generation of bunker-busting nuclear bombs. This is a weapon we don't need. And it undermines our credibility in persuading other nations. What kind of message does it send when we're asking other countries not to develop nuclear weapons but developing new ones ourselves?" Ratify the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty and continue the current moratorium on nuclear testing, which are essential elements to promoting the international non-proliferation regime and protecting American security. President George W. Bush opposes ratification of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, already ratified by 115 countries, and has proposed $30 million in the 2005 Budget for reducing the time to resume nuclear testing from 24 months to 18 months. John Kerry supports ratification of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, and has emphasized its importance in promoting the international non-proliferation regime. Cancel funding for and plans to deploy offensive missile "defense" systems that could ignite a dangerous nuclear arms race and offer no security against terrorist weapons of mass destruction. In 2001, President George W. Bush unilaterally withdrew the US from the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty with the former Soviet Union in order to deploy a missile "defenses." He is seeking to deploy an inadequately tested missile defense system this year, and has requested a budget of more than $10 billion for this unproven system in 2005. John Kerry has stated that he believes in further missile defense research, but he does "not believe in rapid deployment of a system that hasn't been adequately tested." He has stated that "to abandon [the ABM Treaty] altogether is to welcome an arms race that will make us more vulnerable, not less." Work with Russia to reduce the nuclear arsenals of both countries and ensure that nuclear weapons and materials stay out of the hands of terrorists or countries seeking to acquire nuclear capabilities. President George W. Bush signed a treaty with the Russians that calls for bringing down the number of deployed strategic weapons to between 2,200 and 1,700 by the year 2012. The treaty, however, does not provide for verification and does not make the reductions irreversible. The treaty also terminates in the year 2012. Since weapons taken off active deployment will be kept on the shelf in reserve, they will be a tempting target for terrorists. President Bush has also called for reductions of more than nine percent in the funding for the Nunn-Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction Program to secure nuclear weapons and materials in the former Soviet Union. John Kerry has stated that the treaty that President Bush entered into "runs the risk of increasing nuclear theft by stockpiling thousands of warheads." He further stated that "if we are to make America safer, and we must, it will take more than cosmetic treaties that leave Russia's nuclear arsenal in place." Kerry has called for increased joint efforts with the Russians to dispose of stocks of existing nuclear materials. He has stated that he will make securing nuclear weapons and materials in the former Soviet Union a priority in relations between the US and Russia and work with our allies to establish global standards for the safekeeping of nuclear materials. Click here to find out more about the Presidential candidates' positions . ***************************************************************** 15 DallasNews.com George Will: Nuclear material isn't out of terrorists' reach Opinion: Viewpoints 04:40 PM CDT on Sunday, September 5, 2004 By GEORGE WILL The next four years will be the most dangerous in the nation's history because the 9-11 attacks were pinpricks compared to a clear and almost present menace. This year's pre-eminent question, beside which all others pale, is: Which candidate can best cope with the threat of nuclear terror? A blood-chilling book on that is Nuclear Terrorism: The Ultimate Preventable Catastrophe by Graham Allison of the Kennedy School of Government, currently an adviser to John Kerry. Mr. Allison's indictment of the Iraq war  as a dangerous distraction  is severable from his presentation of stark facts about the simultaneous spread of scientific knowledge and apocalyptic religious worldviews: A dirty bomb  conventional explosives dispersing radioactive materials that are widely used in industry and medicine  exploded in midtown Manhattan could make much of the island uninhabitable for years. As many as one in every 100 Manhattanites might develop cancer. Perhaps even more people would die in the panic than would be killed by radiation. But even dirty bombs are relative pinpricks. The only serious impediment to creating a nuclear weapon is the acquisition of fissionable material  highly enriched uranium or plutonium. In 1993, U.S. officials used ordinary bolt cutters to snip off the padlock that was the only security at an abandoned Soviet-era facility containing enough material for 20 nuclear weapons. In 2002, enough fissile material for three weapons was recovered from a laboratory in a Belgrade suburb. Often an underpaid guard and a chain-link fence are the only security at the more than 130 nuclear reactors and other facilities in 40 countries. Mr. Allison says that at least four times between 1992 and 1999 weapons-usable materials were stolen from Russian research institutes but recovered. How many thefts have not been reported? The U.S. Cold War arsenal included special atomic demolition munitions that could be carried in a backpack. The Soviet arsenal often mimicked America's. Russia denies that "suitcase" nuclear weapons exist, so it denies reports that at least 80 are missing. Soviet military forces deployed 22,000 tactical nuclear warheads  without individual identification numbers. Who thinks all have been accounted for? Russia probably has 2 million pounds of weapons-usable material  enough for 80,000 weapons. In December 1994, Czech police seized more than 8 pounds of highly enriched uranium in a parked car on a side street. A senior al-Qaeda aide's proclaimed goal of killing 4 million Americans would require 1,400 9-11s, or one 10-kiloton nuclear explosion  from a softball-sized lump of fissionable material  in four large American cities. Of the 7 million seaborne cargo containers that arrive at U.S. ports each year, fewer than 5 percent are inspected. Fewer than 10 percent of arriving noncommercial private vessels are inspected. How hard would it be to smuggle a softball-sized lump of highly enriched uranium on one of the 30,000 trucks, 6,500 rail cars or 50,000 cargo containers that arrive every day? President Bush recently said Democratic critics of rapid development of ballistic missile defenses are "living in the past." Mr. Kerry, were he politically daring and intellectually nimble, might respond: "The president is living in 1983, when Ronald Reagan proposed missile defenses to counter thousands of Soviet ICBMs. A nuclear weapon is much less likely to come to America on a rogue nation's ICBM  which would have a return address  than in a shipping container, truck, suitcase, backpack or other ubiquitous things. So allocating vast amounts of scarce financial and scientific resources to missile defenses rather than other security measures is imprudent." On the other hand, Mr. Allison argues that any hope for preventing, by diplomacy, nuclear terrorism depends on "readiness to use covert and overt military force if necessary" against two potential sources of fissile material  Iran and North Korea. Intelligent people can differ about all that Mr. Allison says. But campaign time is becoming scarce for intelligent differing about how to prevent some American ground zero from becoming so poisoned by radiation that no one will be able to come within four miles of it. George Will writes for The Washington Post. His e-mail address is georgewill@washpost.com. ***************************************************************** 16 ABQjournal: Election 2004: A Look at Nuclear Issues Albuquerque, New Mexico Sunday, September 5, 2004 Albuquerque Journal--> John Fleck--> By John Fleck [jfleck@abqJournal.com] Journal Staff Writer THE WEAPONS Kerry, Bush Disagree on the Military Utility of Atomic Weapons and Ways to Curb Their Spread John Kerry and George W. Bush offer voters a clear choice on what has become the central national debate about the future direction of the U.S. nuclear arsenal— the question of whether to pursue a new nuclear bomb designed to destroy underground enemy bunkers. The candidates offer contrasts on other major international arms control questions, from the Moscow Treaty, which Bush negotiated and Kerry questioned, to the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, which Kerry supports and Bush has been unwilling to bring before the Senate for ratification. Bush's administration is pushing for the design of a new nuclear bunker-busting bomb. Its most recent budget request calls for $485 million over the next five years to design the new weapon and prepare to build it. Administration officials argue that, as our nation's enemies increasingly hide things they value, from chemical and biological weapons to command centers, in deep underground bunkers, we need a nuclear weapon that can attack them. "There is a clear military utility to this weapon," Bush's top nuclear weapons program manager, Linton Brooks, told a Senate committee in March. Kerry opposes it. "This is a weapon we don't need," Kerry countered in a June 1 campaign speech in Florida, "and it undermines our credibility in persuading other nations. What kind of a message does it send when we're asking other countries not to develop nuclear weapons, but developing new ones ourselves?" However, Kerry was absent both times the issue has come up in the Senate during the past year for up-or-down votes. In both cases, attempts to kill the weapon failed, though in neither case was the margin close enough that Kerry's vote would have changed the outcome. Moscow Treaty On arms control, the Bush administration's Moscow Treaty, announced at a summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in May 2002, has been a signature achievement. "I'm committed to reducing the amount of nuclear weaponry and reducing the number of nuclear warheads," Bush said in a March 2002 news conference, shortly before the details of the Moscow Treaty were made public. The agreement requires the United States and Russia to each reduce their stockpile of operational nuclear weapons to fewer than 2,200 by 2012. "This treaty liquidates the Cold War legacy of nuclear hostility between our countries," Bush announced during the Moscow signing ceremony. "Over the next eight years, the United States will cut the number of deployed warheads by approximately two-thirds from today's level," Brooks said in a talk at an arms control conference in June. But when the agreement went to the Senate floor in March 2003, Kerry called the treaty "as flimsy a treaty as the Senate has ever considered." He complained the treaty did not go far enough and offered an amendment he said was needed to strengthen it. Kerry's complaints were twofold: + The treaty does not contain sufficient verification provisions. + The treaty called for merely removing nuclear weapons from their launchers, rather than dismantling them. "The remaining thousands of weapons will be held in reserve, stockpiled for some other unforeseen need," he said, "a need, I might say, in the context of the threats we are looking at in 2003 that is extraordinarily hard to explain." The central nuclear security problem, Kerry suggested in his Senate floor speech on the Moscow Treaty, is the risk of Russian nuclear materials falling into terrorists' hands. "The great security challenge of our day is to keep nuclear weapons out the hands of those who would do us harm," he said. Bush agrees that keeping nuclear weapons and materials, along with chemical and biological weapons, out of terrorists' hands is a critical issue. "The greatest threat before humanity today is the posssibility of secret and sudden attack with chemical or biological or radiological or nuclear weapons," Bush said in an arms control speech at the National Defense Univeristy in February. Both candidates say they are advocates of aggressive programs to stem the spread of nuclear weapons, especially to terrorist groups, and both argue for similar policies to achieve that end. The Bush Administration earlier this year said it was launching a major effort to help secure nuclear materials around the world from terrorist theft or attack, though Kerry complained that it will not do the job quickly enough and promised to move more quickly. Weapons testing George W. Bush's administration has continued a moratorium on nuclear weapons tests blasts that has been in place since 1992. But the Bush Administration has shown no enthusiasm for the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. Bill Clinton signed the treaty, but it failed in October 1999 to win Senate ratification. Kerry voted in favor of ratification, at the time calling it "a critical component of broader U.S. strategy on nuclear non-proliferation." The Bush Administration has not tried a second time to win Senate ratification for the treaty. The Bush Administration also has asked Congress for money to improve readiness at the Nevada Test Site for a resumption of nuclear testing, should such a resumption be needed by the discovery of a problem in a U.S. nuclear weapon. "We must maintain our ability to carry out a nuclear weapons test in the event some currently unforeseen problem that can't be resolved by other means," Bush administration nuclear weapons chief Brooks told members of a Senate funding committee in March. THE WASTE Where and How to Dispose of High-Level Waste Complicates the Debate Over Affordable Energy Nuclear waste policy is seldom an A-list national political issue. But John Kerry made it that way Aug. 10 with a speech in Las Vegas, Nev. If elected, Kerry said, "there's going to be no nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain." The Democratic Party platform says much the same thing, promising to "protect Nevada and its communities from the high-level nuclear waste dump at Yucca Mountain, which has not been proven to be safe by sound science." Kerry's position stands in contrast to President Bush, who in July 2002 signed legislation allowing Yucca Mountain to move forward. "The successful completion of the Yucca Mountain project will ensure our nation has a safe and secure underground facility that will store nuclear waste in a manner that protects our environment and our citizens," the White House said in a statement explaining the decision to support Yucca Mountain. Bush defended the decision during an Aug. 13 campaign stop in Las Vegas by saying that the scientific research done to date on Yucca Mountain supports a decision to go forward with the project. "When I campaigned here in this state, I said I would make a decision based upon science, not politics," Bush said. "I said I would listen to the scientists, those involved with determining whether or not this project could move forward in a safe manner. And that's exactly what I did." Located 100 miles outside Las Vegas, Yucca Mountain is the federal government's preferred site for disposal of highly radioactive waste from U.S. nuclear power plants. The Bush administration has made major steps to open Yucca Mountain, which has been stalled in controversy and scientific study since it was chosen by Congress in the late 1980s as a potential waste site. A majority of people in the battleground state of Nevada oppose Yucca Mountain, and the most recent poll there, taken after Kerry's August visit, shows the Massachusetts senator with a narrow lead. The Bush campaign counterattacked, running a television advertisement accusing Kerry of flip-flopping on Yucca Mountain votes— an accusation the independent analysts at FactCheck.org concluded was based on a misleading analysis of the votes in question. Underlying the battle over Yucca Mountain is the issue of nuclear power itself. Supporters of nuclear power, which provides 20 percent of the United States' electricity, say that without Yucca Mountain, their industry faces serious problems. On the broader issue of nuclear power, the Bush Administration has pushed for several new initiatives supported by the nuclear power industry, including the Advanced Fuel Cycle Initiative dealing with long-term nuclear fuel and waste issues and the Generation IV Nuclear Energy Systems Initiative. Beyond its Yucca Mountain position, Kerry's campaign has taken no stand on nuclear power beyond the general statement that "nuclear power can play an essential role in providing affordable energy while reducing the risk of climate change." Copyright 2004 Albuquerque Journal ***************************************************************** 17 WorldNetDaily: Vote for Kerry! SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 4 2004 © 2004 WorldNetDaily.com If not getting nuked in your jammies is high on your priority list, then maybe your best bet is to vote for John Kerry. Kerry has just endorsed last October's Brit-French-German-Russian agreement with Iran, whereby they pledged to facilitate "the fullest possible exchange of equipment, materials and scientific and technological information for the peaceful uses of nuclear energy," if Iran agreed to sign and abide by an Additional Protocol to their existing Safeguards Agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency. But the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty already requires such transfers. Why was the Brit-French-German-Russian pledge necessary? Because for more than 20 years the United States has prevented – and still seeks to prevent – such transfers to Iran. Even before Bush declared "victory" in Operation Iraqi Freedom, the neo-crazies had begun making the same unsubstantiated charges about illicit nukes in Iran they had so effectively made about Iraq, thereby scaring you soccer moms into endorsing the Iraq war. Next week, the Bush administration will try to convince the International Atomic Energy Agency Board to "refer" the alleged Iranian "nuke" program to the U.N. Security Council for "action." Bush wants a Security Council resolution – similar to the one he used as an excuse to invade Iraq – warning Iran of "serious consequences" if they are unable to convince him that they have no nuke ambitions. However, reflecting upon what Bush did to Iraq, the IAEA Board is unlikely to "refer" the Iranian alleged "nuke" program to the Security Council. And even if they did, there is no way the Security Council would give Bush a resolution he could misuse to invade Iran. There can be no doubt that Bush's invasion of Iraq – allegedly to prevent nukes that never existed from landing in the hands of terrorists – has vastly increased the probability that terrorists will acquire real nukes. Kerry – in endorsing the Brit-French-German-Russian agreement with Iran – is essentially saying he realizes that a similar invasion of Iran would have similar results. Of course, after seeing what Bush did to no-nuke Iraq, the Iranians would be crazy if they didn't harbor nuke ambitions. But they insist they don't and have made – as the Brit-French-German agreement required – what they claim is a complete disclosure of their "nuclear programs." The IAEA has been checking out that disclosure statement for months now and has found some discrepancies in it, but it has – as yet – found no "indications" of a nuke program. Iran is currently in full compliance with its existing Safeguards Agreement. In particular, the Iranians insist they have not yet produced enriched uranium at the production or even pilot-plant stage, and have never had enriched uranium – even in the laboratory – to as much as 20 percent HEU, much less to the 90 percent HEU required for nukes. When the IAEA took some "swipes" from equipment the Iranians had imported that indicated the presence of HEU, the neo-crazies went ballistic. The Iranians had been lying! They had been producing "weapons-grade" uranium! Well, in the first place, the IAEA didn't find any Iranian-produced HEU. They found microscopic "traces" of HEU on equipment the Iranians had imported. And just this week, after talking to the "exporters," the IAEA concluded that the Iranian claim was "plausible." What about the advanced "P-2" centrifuges the neo-crazies claimed Iran had left off its 2003 disclosure? Well, the IAEA has concluded the Iranians haven't imported any P-2 centrifuges, nor have they been able to produce any of their own. Back in 1995, the Iranians did acquire "from a foreign intermediary" the plans for a centrifuge similar to the Urenco P-2. However, they were unable to produce the maraging-steel rotors required. They did manage to produce several carbon-composite rotors and by the time the research program ended in June 2003, they had performed some mechanical tests. However, they had not done any tests with uranium-fluoride gas. Nor is there any indication that these Iranian-developed centrifuges will be produced in quantity. What about the Iranian disclosure this week to the IAEA of their plans to convert 37 tons of uranium-oxide – yellowcake – into uranium-hexafluoride? According to the neo-crazies, that yellowcake contains enough fissile material to make one or two nukes like the one we dropped on Hiroshima. Well, that's a bit like charging that your neighbor's fishpond contains enough water to drown one or two children. So, what's the bottom line? Well, if Bush wins, we invade no-nuke Iran and the chances of terrorists getting their hands on Korean or Pakistani nukes goes way up. But if Kerry wins? Stay tuned. Physicist James Gordon Prather has served as a policy implementing official for national security-related technical matters in the Federal Energy Agency, the Energy Research and Development Administration, the Department of Energy, the Office of the Secretary of Defense and the Department of the Army. Dr. Prather also served as legislative assistant for national security affairs to U.S. Sen. Henry Bellmon, R-Okla. -- ranking member of the Senate Budget Committee and member of the Senate Energy Committee and Appropriations Committee. Dr. Prather had earlier worked as a nuclear weapons physicist at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California and Sandia National Laboratory in New Mexico. [WorldNetDaily.com] © 2004 WorldNetDaily.com, Inc. webmaster@worldnetdaily.com ***************************************************************** 18 SF Chronicle: Dirty bomb called 'all but inevitable' [kdavidson@sfchronicle.com] Sunday, September 5, 2004 A flood of radioactive sources, from discarded cancer treatment machines advertised on the Internet to misplaced industrial gadgets that turn up in junkyards, have yet to be corralled by U.S. authorities three years after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, experts say -- and could easily be exploited by terrorists seeking to make a dirty bomb. The material is so abundant and easy to obtain, the experts say, that it is almost inevitable that a U.S. city will be the target of a bomb salted with radioactive waste. And if a terrorist attaches ordinary chemical explosives to stolen radioactive sources, then detonates the bomb in or over a city -- spreading a "hot" plume over a huge urban area -- the consequences could be devastating. Despite valiant efforts by emergency preparedness and military agencies to prepare for such an attack -- including a simulated dirty bomb "attack" in Los Angeles on Aug. 5-6 -- a real-life, devastating attack could cause property losses far in excess of Sept. 11 and have unforeseeable health effects, analysts warn. The list of woe includes: -- "There are more than 2 million radioactive sources in the U.S. (that are) used for medical procedures, research and industrial processes," noted Rep. Edward J. Markey, D-Mass., in a statement late last year. "In the past five years, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission reported that nearly 1,500 radioactive sources have been reported lost or stolen in the U.S., but less than half of them have been found." -- The Internet provides a potential route for the irresponsible to obtain deadly radioactive sources, Markey warned in mid-August. As an example of what he called the "atomic EBay," he cited a recent online offer by a hospital in Beirut to give away -- for free -- a used cancer therapy machine, containing a highly radioactive cobalt-60 source, to anyone who would pay to remove it. -- Because radioactive grains can "chemically bind to asphalt, concrete and glass," in the words of Jaime M. Yassif of the Federation of American Scientists, some cleanups might require the use of exotic new tools such as concrete-eating bacteria. Just locating all contaminants could be nearly impossible, given the ease with which they're absorbed by soil and disappear into cracks in wood and pavement. "In a recent and very realistic Swedish exercise using instruments in cars, trucks and aircraft to search for concealed (radioactive) sources, only about half of the sources were found by any given team, and some sources were not found by any of the search teams," write physicist Peter Zimmerman, former chief scientist for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Cheryl Loeb, research associate at National Defense University at Fort McNair in Washington, D.C., in the January issue of Defense Horizons. While there's disagreement over how many people would be killed in a dirty bomb assault -- perhaps thousands, perhaps a few, perhaps nobody if people evacuated quickly enough to safe sites where they could remove contaminated clothing, then shower -- the economic impact could be cataclysmic. . The long-term health issues are difficult to assess. For many decades, experts have fiercely debated radioactivity's lasting effect on the human body. Some experts believe that radioactivity below a certain intensity isn't dangerous, and say the public is overly scared of low- level radioactive sources; others say there is no safe level of radiation. But plenty of high-level radionuclides are used in medical, industrial and research facilities -- and, if procured by terrorists, would make a devastating dirty bomb. A cancer therapy machine with a cobalt-60 source might have thousands of curies, the unit used to measure radiation. Yet even "a 100-curie source (is) extremely dangerous," Zimmerman and Loeb note. Given the uncertainty about health effects, some experts regard a dirty bomb as being, first and foremost, a psychological weapon, one that sparks mass hysteria and social disruption -- even if the fear isn't necessarily justified by a specific attack. Mind you, the news isn't all bad. Three years after the Sept. 11 attacks, federal authorities have made progress toward rounding up radioactive sources. In May, Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham announced that the Department of Energy "surpassed a congressional target of recovering and securing 5,000 radioactive sources domestically within an 18-month time period." Hospitals are trying to minimize their reliance on radioactive sources for therapy, diagnosis and research. At UCSF, the amount of radioactive medical waste generated annually plunged from 11,000 cubic feet per year in 1992 to 2,280 cubic feet in 2003, said Ara Tahmassian, associate vice chancellor for research. One reason is the development of highly sensitive devices for measuring trace amounts of radioactivity injected into the body or used in research. In a typical experiment, Tahmassian noted, "we were using milliliters (of chemicals) and now we're using microliters" -- a thousandfold difference. In the last five years or so, the drop in waste has relieved the once-worrisome pressure on UCSF's limited storage facilities for radioactive waste. After such waste decays to a safe level, it is shipped to a low-level radioactive waste site in Utah. Also, the number of U.S. cancer radiation therapy machines that use radioactive sources has fallen from more than 1,000 to about 100 since the 1970s because of the development of alternatives such as particle accelerators, said Charles D. Ferguson, a science and technology fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington, D.C. On another front, the U.S. steel industry has lessened its reliance on radiation-equipped gadgets that were once routinely used to check the integrity of welds. Many years ago, these radiation sources occasionally fell into molten vats. If not recovered, some ended up in steel scrap yards, where no one realized how "hot" they were. Despite such improvements, the threat of a dirty bomb attack remains ominous. "I don't want to fan hysteria but ... a dirty bomb attack is all but inevitable in the coming years," Ferguson said in an interview. Ferguson has struggled for the last three years to prevent such a disaster. He was a foreign affairs officer at the U.S. State Department on Sept. 11, 2001, when terrorists hit the World Trade Center and Pentagon. His boss ordered him: "Charles, I want you to start drafting a memo to Secretary (of State Colin) Powell -- we need to get his attention on the dirty bomb issue." Another leading anti-dirty bomb activist is Rep. Markey of Massachusetts, who frequently assails what he views as the nation's -- and in particular the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's -- sluggish pace in preparing for such a catastrophe. "FedEx and Lands' End seem to do a better job at tracking clothing purchases," Markey has said, "than the NRC does at tracking radioactive materials." ----------------------------------------------------------------- A RISK NO INSURER WILL COVER When it comes to a dirty bomb attack, the nation's Achilles' heel might be its lack of insurance coverage for such a disaster. The U.S. insurance industry refuses to provide coverage for a dirty bomb attack. The potential property loss could "be worth more than the industry would be able to pay, it's as simple as that," says Pete Moraga of the Insurance Information Network of California, a trade association. "Even with business interruption insurance, a wave of bankruptcies is likely to follow (a dirty bomb attack), unless the government steps in and offers subsidies to everyone from business operators to owners of buildings to mortgage holders," write physicist Peter Zimmerman, former chief scientist for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Cheryl Loeb, a research associate at National Defense University's Center for Technology and National Security Policy, in the January issue of Defense Horizons. They point out that the post-Sept. 11 economic recovery of lower Manhattan cost up to $40 billion, and "the consequences of a large or super RDD (radiological dispersion device, a.k.a. dirty bomb) might well be more costly." They urge that the federal government "provide some form of national insurance against radiological terrorism," akin to federally subsidized flood insurance. Even Lloyd's of London, famed for its willingness to insure offbeat risks -- such as the capture of the Loch Ness monster -- isn't daring to insure property owners against dirty bombs. As Neil Smith of Lloyd's Market Association told The Chronicle: "The insurance industry worldwide, to all intents and purposes, concluded many years ago that the scale of disaster that could be caused by radioactive materials was such that any such event could not be dealt with by conventional insurance." E-mail Keay Davidson at [kdavidson@sfchronicle.com] . ©2004 San Francisco Chronicle | Feedback | FAQ ***************************************************************** 19 Washington Times: IAEA in wonderland September 05, 2004 Agency, which meets next week to discuss Iran's refusal to end its nuclear weapons programs, finds itself at a crossroads: It can continue its descent into irrelevancy; or it can cooperate with Washington and other democracies in encouraging private-sector nuclear energy programs for peaceful purposes. In fairness to the IAEA, it is unreasonable to expect one international agency lacking an army of its own to face down rogue-state dictatorships like the regimes in Tehran or Pyongyang without strong support from the world's strongest military power, the United States. But it is perfectly legitimate to insist that IAEA Director-General Mohammed ElBaradei and his merry band of bureaucrats do no harm. This includes refraining from careless talk coming out of Vienna in recent weeks that appears to suggest the world would be better off if the nuclear industry were run by multinational government bureaucracies. ***************************************************************** 20 Indian Express: 'India has credible nuclear deterrence in place' [http://www.indianexpress.com/] Press Trust of India Posted online: Sunday, September 05, 2004 at 1251 hours IST New Delhi, September 5: Asserting that the country had credible nuclear deterrence in place, Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Monday said that specialised forces were being raised to tackle nuclear threat in all its dimensions. "Whatever is needed to safeguard the country and to ensure effective deterrence, in line with our nuclear doctrine of 'no first use', has been done," Mukherjee said. Maintaining that the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) had a definite time-frame on test-firing of the country's intermediate range 3000-km surface-to-surface ballistic missile Agni-III, he said India was committed to 'no first use' of nuclear weapons and non-use of these weapons against non-nuclear weapon states. The Defence Minister also said that India had reached an understanding with its neighbouring countries to share information on missile test-firing. Asked if safeguards had been taken against selective nuclear strikes on forces and on civilians, the Defence Minister replied "we are raising specialised troops to tackle such threats". In the wide-ranging interview, Mukherjee ruled out any scaling down of forces from the world's highest battlefield, Siachen Glacier, as well as from insurgency-torn Jammu and Kashmir. "Our presence in Siachen Glacier is limited. And, secondly, the situation in Jammu and Kashmir is not yet conducive for thinning down of forces", he said. Us [http://www.expressindia.com/about] | ***************************************************************** 21 iafrica.com: sa news SA praised for cracking WMD network [http://iafrica.com/] WASHINGTON Posted Sat, 04 Sep 2004 The United States praised South Africa Friday for acting against Pakistan scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan's secret nuclear network after a businessman was charged in South Africa with nuclear trafficking. He had allegedly used the network in efforts to help Libya develop an atomic weapons programme between November 2000 and November 2001. "And without trying to provide any detail, because the detail really needs to be provided by the South Africans to the extent and whenever they're prepared to do so, I would say that we do congratulate South Africa for its efforts to act against the AQ Khan network," State Department spokesperson Richard Boucher said. South African charged with violating laws on WMDs Boucher spoke after businessman Johan Meyer (53) appeared in court in the town of Vanderbijlpark south of Johannesburg a day after his arrest on charges of being in possession of nuclear-related material and of illegally importing and exporting nuclear material. Meyer's lawyer said he was arrested on charges that he was building a nuclear weapon. Khan, the father of Pakistan's nuclear programme, confessed in February that he had shared nuclear secrets with Iran, Libya and North Korea, triggering an international effort to track down the scientist's accomplices. Boucher said action by South African authorities would help in the global effort to destroy what remained of Khan's network. "We think that the activities that they've undertaken are an important contribution to international efforts to shut down this network," he said. International cooperation "It sends the right message to proliferators everywhere that the rule of law will be applied. And we support efforts to ensure the proliferators are punished to the full extent of the law," he explained. South African intelligence is said to have worked closely with their US and Israeli counterparts in a year-long investigation into nuclear smuggling that led to Meyer's arrest. AFP Copyright © 2002 iafrica.com, a division of Metropolis*. ***************************************************************** 22 Mainichi Interactive: Police search KEPCO plant over deadly nuke accident FUKUI -- Police on Saturday searched a Kansai Electric Power Co. (KEPCO) nuclear power plant over a deadly accident in August, as the organization faces accusations of professional negligence resulting in death. Fukui Prefectural Police suspect that KEPCO's failure to inspect a coolant water pipe for about 28 years might have led it to crack, spewing scalding steam over several workers. Five workers died and six others were injured in the accident at the No. 3 reactor at the Mihama Nuclear Power Plant in Fukui Prefecture on Aug. 9. During the raid at the plant and Nihon Arm Co., a KEPCO affiliate located inside the plant compound, investigators said that they would seize documents and question KEPCO officials to determine responsibility over the fatal accident. Officers have already found that company rules provided that the thickness of the pipe's ruptured part in question had to be regularly checked, but no inspection had been carried out. KEPCO began operating the No. 3 reactor in 1976 and made inspection rules for the coolant system in 1990 after an accident at a U.S. nuclear power plant. The thickness of the pipe's damaged part was 10 millimeters when the reactor began operations, but it had corroded to 0.6 millimeters in parts at the time of the accident. Rules show that at least 4.7 millimeters of thickness is needed for such a pipe to operate safely. Police officers suspect that the pipe ruptured due to corrosion from coolant water and friction. They plan to deliver the ruptured part to a research institute in Tokai, Ibaraki Prefecture, for experts to determine the exact cause of the rupture. KEPCO officials said that the utility firm was ready to cooperate with police investigations and pledged to avoid any similar accidents. (Mainichi Shimbun, Japan, Sept. 4, 2004) © 2004 The Mainichi Newspapers Co. Under the ***************************************************************** 23 UPI: Japanese nuclear plant searched - (United Press International) September 04, 2004 FUKUI, Japan, Sep. 4 (UPI) -- Kansai Electric Power's nuclear power plant in Fukui, Japan, was searched by police Saturday during an investigation into an Aug. 9 mishap. The power company is facing accusations of professional negligence from the accident that resulted in the death of five workers, the Mainichi Daily News reported. Investigators seized documents and questioned officials to help determine responsibility of the accident that also injured six when a cracked pipe spewed scalding steam over several workers. The power company is accused of not inspecting the 28-year-old pipe that had corroded since the No. 3 reactor was built in 1976. The nuclear power company said it is ready to cooperate with police and has pledged to avoid any similar accidents. [UPI Perspectives] ***************************************************************** 24 Daily Yomiuri: KEPCO faces suspicion over way it handled fatal accident Yomiuri Shimbun FUKUI--As about 150 Fukui prefectural police searched Mihama Nuclear Power Plant in Mihamacho, Fukui Prefecture, on Saturday, related companies expressed suspicion over Kansai Electric Power Co.'s actions prior to and following a fatal accident at the plant's No. 3 reactor last month. Having discovered that a pipe that ruptured on Aug. 9, killing five and injuring six, had been omitted from an inspection list, executives of KEPCO subsidiary Nihon Arm Co. have found themselves in an awkward position as the parent company of the inspection firm continues to deny responsibility for the accident. Executives of Nihon Arm, which had been commissioned to inspect the secondary pipes, have expressed deep remorse over the accident and are suspicious of the power company's apparent attempt to shift the blame for the accident. The Kita Ward, Osaka-based company took over responsibility for the inspection duties from Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. in 1996. Despite warnings from Nihon Arm since April last year, when the absence of the pipe from inspection lists was discovered, KEPCO told reporters at a press conference on Aug. 13, four days after the accident, that it had "first learned about the omission following the accident." An executive of a company in Takahamacho, in the prefecture, that did work for KEPCO, said, "We can't deny the possibility of a connection between the accident and KEPCO's cost-cutting measures." Meanwhile, the families of those killed in the accident continued to express anger toward KEPCO. "We want KEPCO to understand our resentment that our son will never be able to see his child grow up," said Chiyoko Iseki, 55, mother of Tomoki Iseki, 30, a former employee of Osaka-based inspection company Kiuchi Keisoku who was killed in the accident. In an instant, the lives of Iseki's family, including his 1-year-old son, Tsubasa, were changed forever. The emotional wounds of his wife, Yoshimi, 30, may never heal. Masaru Kameiwa, 30, was left unconscious and in critical condition following the accident. He died Aug. 25, after suffering burns over about 80 percent of his body after being exposed to the superheated steam that sprayed out from the broken pipe. The Aug. 9 accident also killed Hiroya Takatori, Kazutoshi Nakagawa and Eiji Taoka. Kameiwa's 36-year-old brother-in-law said, "There's nothing for employees at the station to do but trust KEPCO. I want them to be absolutely thorough in their investigation so this will never happen again." A spokesman from KEPCO's headquarters in Osaka released a statement saying: "We are currently conducting an investigation to fully clear up the events surrounding the accident, and we hope to cooperate so as to avoid any future recurrence." The accident was the worst in the long history of Japan's nuclear power program. Copyright 2004 The Yomiuri Shimbun ***************************************************************** 25 Daily Yomiuri: Police search N-plant over fatal accident Yomiuri Shimbun The Fukui prefectural police searched Kansai Electric Power Co.'s Mihama Nuclear Power Plant in Mihamacho, Fukui Prefecture, on Saturday in connection with an accident at the plant that killed five people and injured six others on Aug. 9. The police also searched several other locations on suspicion of professional negligence resulting in death and injury, including a local workshop of Nihon Arm Co., a KEPCO subsidiary based in Kita Ward, Osaka, that conducts inspections at the power plant. The workshop is located at the plant. The police began work Thursday to confiscate the section of pipe that burst, leading to a fatal release of superheated steam, to try to ascertain the cause of the accident. They strongly suspect the erosion of a condenser water pipe at the plant's No. 3 reactor was responsible for the blowout. The pipe had not been examined for the 28 years since the reactor began operation. The police intend to determine who was responsible for the accident by seizing maintenance and inspection records and documents detailing the work of employees in charge. The ruptured section is located downstream from a flow meter in the secondary cooling system, which does not contain radioactive substances. Electric power company maintenance guidelines point out that the interior of pipes in that section face serious erosion problems due to turbulent water flow. However, as a result of a mistake by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd., which manufactured the reactor, that section of the plant was not included in a list of parts subject to inspection. KEPCO failed to notice the mistake. In April last year, employees of Nihon Arm realized that the pipe had not been included in the examination list. KEPCO, however, decided to postpone checking the pipe until a regular inspection slated for August. Investigators decided the accident could have been avoided if the section had been examined quickly or the pipe had been properly replaced. They will investigate who at the site was involved and how KEPCO headquarters monitored safety controls. Work to remove the ruptured section for expert analysis was completed Saturday afternoon. Copyright 2004 The Yomiuri Shimbun ***************************************************************** 26 YWS: S. Korean Consortium to Bid for Chinese Nuclear Reactor Project YONHAPNEWS WORLD SERVICE::ENGLISH NEWS [http://www.yonhapnews.co.kr/] .. 2004/09/05 14:00 KST SEOUL, Sept. 5 (Yonhap) -- A government-led South Korean consortium plans to bid for a Chinese government project to build nuclear reactors within this year at the earliest, a senior government official said Sunday. "If China opens a tender to build four nuclear reactors by the end of this year, we will make an offer," said the official of the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy. ***************************************************************** 27 UK Independent: British Energy rebels offer £800m to scupper shake-up By Tim Webb 05 September 2004 Rebel shareholders of nuclear generator British Energy have offered to buy out its £800m of debt, in effect cancelling its financial restructuring. They have been holding secret talks with the European Commission aimed at putting together an alternative rescue plan for the company, which was saved from bankruptcy by the Government two years ago. The EC is currently examining the existing government-backed restructuring, which would leave shareholders with just 2.5 per cent of the equity. The EC is expected to give its approval within weeks, unless the rebel shareholders can persuade it to back their own plan. The hedge fund Polygon, which is leading the revolt, believes British Energy is worth around £1.5bn. But the company has a current stock market value of only £140m because of the proposed restructuring, which favours bondholders over shareholders. British Energy bonds have been trading well above par, at around £1.70 per pound. Polygon says the restructuring should be changed to take into account higher electricity prices, which should boost its stock market value. Under the proposals suggested to EC officials at the end of last week, the rebel shareholders - Polygon, Brandes and Invesco, who together own 22 per cent of the company - would arrange up to £800m in bridging finance to buy out bondholders holding around £400m of debt at face value. The shareholders would also repay the rest of the bank loans and debt. In return, the shareholders would receive new shares issued in the company. Polygon argues that it can secure a better deal for UK taxpayers by cutting the amount the Government has to contribute to its long-term decommissioning liabilities. British Energy argues that without the proposed restructuring, the company would have gone into administration and that terms are binding. On Friday afternoon, Polygon and Brandes, who together hold 12.5 per cent of British Energy's shares, also notified the company in writing that they are seeking an extraordinary general meeting. Under listing rules, a company must agree to hold a meeting if shareholders representing more than 10 per cent of its shares demand it. British Energy has until the last week of October to hold the meeting. Polygon wants shareholders to be given the opportunity to vote on the government-backed restructuring. If shareholders vote against the restructuring but the company, as it has indicated, goes ahead anyway, Polygon is threatening legal action. It would claim that British Energy's directors had breached their fiduciary duty to look after the interests of shareholders. UK Independent Ltd. ***************************************************************** 28 Japan Times: Police search nuclear plant in Mihama over fatal accident Sunday, September 5, 2004 TSURUGA, Fukui Pref. (Kyodo) A Kansai Electric Power Co. nuclear power plant was searched Friday by the Fukui Prefectural Police for evidence of professional negligence resulting in death in connection with an accident last month. The police said they plan to examine documents to determine officials' responsibility for the utility's failure to inspect a corroded coolant water pipe at the Mihama nuclear power plant for nearly 28 years until it ruptured Aug. 9, releasing superheated steam. About 150 officers were dispatched to search the offices of Kepco and Nihon Arm Co., a Kepco affiliate overseeing maintenance of the utility's power plants, both located inside the plant, in an operation that was likely to last through Sunday, they said. By evening, investigators had confiscated the ruptured pipe and transported it to Fukui University, where researchers were to conduct tests on it. A different pipe section with a similar structure was also removed by police for a comparative analysis. Kepco, the nation's second-largest utility, said it is ready to cooperate fully with the investigation, adding that it will probe the cause of the accident on its own and make utmost efforts to prevent a recurrence. Four workers were killed and seven others were injured in the accident. The death toll rose to five after one of the injured died Aug. 25. The workers had been doing preparation work for regular checks of the reactor. It was Japan's deadliest accident at a nuclear plant. Investigations have shown that coolant water had corroded the ruptured pipe to a thickness of only 0.6 mm, compared with its original thickness of 10 mm. Kepco has admitted the pipe had gone uninspected since the reactor went into operation in 1976. The company is suspected of not conducting checks even after Nihon Arm notified it last November that the pipe had been missed during annual inspections, waiting about nine months until this year's inspection, which was to begin five days after the accident. In the wake of the accident, the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency under auspices of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry has begun efforts to improve safety checks for pipes for secondary cooling water in nuclear reactors. The Japan Times: Sept. 5, 2004 (C) All rights reserved ***************************************************************** 29 CPOD: New Zealanders Refuse Nuclear Energy centre for public opinion and democracy.:: September 5, 2004 (CPOD) Sept. 5, 2004 – Residents of New Zealand reject the use of atomic energy in their country, according to a poll by UMR Research for Phillips Fox and the National Business Review. 70 per cent of respondents oppose nuclear power generation. According to disarmament minister Marian Hobbs, the current government has no plans to amend the 1987 law that establishes New Zealand as a nuclear-free area. Existing regulations do not allow nuclear-armed and nuclear-powered ships in the country. Polling Data Do you support or oppose nuclear power generation in New Zealand? Support 15% Neutral 12% Oppose 70% Unsure 3% Source: UMR Research / Phillips Fox / National Business Review Methodology: Interviews to 750 New Zealand voters, conducted from Aug. 13 to Aug. 16, 2004. Margin of error is 3.6 per cent. [http://www.visioncritical.com] All Content ©2003 - 2004. The Center for Public Opinion and Democracy. ***************************************************************** 30 The Australian: Nuclear energy should 'be back on agenda' [September 06, 2004] [http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/mm] Bernard Lane and Nigel Wilson RISING energy prices could force Australia to re-visit the nuclear power debate, an energy expert believes. "The question is, what's more expensive -- cleaning up the coal, bringing in the gas or installing a nuclear power plant?," the secretary-general of the World Energy Council, Gerald Doucet, said. "I believe in Australia there will be a debate on a role, perhaps small, for nuclear power generation." Mr Doucet made the remarks shortly before John Howard yesterday opened the 19th international congress of the London-based WEC. More than 2000 delegates are attending the five-day conference with themes including renewable energy, cleaner coal, supply and demand in oil markets, hydro-electricity and nuclear power. Mr Doucet said rising energy prices -- and not just speculative oil prices -- would confront Australia with difficult choices. "It's an error to only look at the oil price," he said. "Look at what's happened to gas prices, look at what is now happening to coal prices." Mr Doucet singled out Victoria's reliance on brown coal -- "dirty coal, we call it" -- and the cost of piping gas from Western Australia to markets in the east. He said the public would want to be reassured that nuclear waste could be properly managed and gave Finland as an example of the way to do this. Australia maintains a nuclear reactor for research at Lucas Heights in Sydney but has no nuclear power industry, although it exports uranium. The Ranger uranium mine in Kakadu National Park in the Northern Territory has had a series of leaks and spills. Environmentalists have called for its closure. Global warming has caused some division within the environmental movement, with British ecologist James Lovelock saying it was time to go nuclear. "Whatever the objections there are to nuclear, it's nothing like as great a danger as just leaving things as they are and going on burning fossil fuel," he said on ABC Radio in May. But Australia's key oil-industry lobby group says political parties and commentators are being sidetracked from the real energy issue. "Australia has a gap between demand and supply for transport fuels and industrial oil and that gap is growing," the executive director of the Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association, Barry Jones, said. Mr Jones said the demand-supply gap would be about 800,000 barrels a day and over the next decade the cumulative shortfall would be 2.55 billion barrels of oil. The national self-sufficiency level would fall to 22 per cent compared with the current 70 per cent and the high point of 90 per cent in 2001. He forecast that Australia's daily import bill for oil would be $US24 million ($34.7 million), assuming a long-term average oil price of $US30 a barrel, and that the government would lose $US12 million in tax. © The Australian ***************************************************************** 31 North County Times: Marine widow fights for nuclear exposure compensation North San Diego and Southwest Riverside County columnists [http://www.nctimes.com/news] Archives Last modified Friday, September 3, 2004 11:05 PM PDT Merrilyn Holl, a 79-year-old Escondido woman, is fighting government red tape to receive benefits on behalf of her husband, Fred Holl, a former Marine who participated in nuclear tests in the 1950s. Waldo Nilo By: EDWARD SIFUENTES - Staff Writer ESCONDIDO ---- Merrilyn Holl's husband, a U.S. Marine, fought in three wars. Now the 79-year-old widow is fighting a desperate war of her own, this one for benefits she says are owed to her by the federal government. Five years ago, Ret. Marine Capt. Fred Holl, who performed nuclear tests while he was in the Marines, died of a blood disease that leads to cancer and that his doctors said was linked to his service in the military. Fred Holl was among the estimated 428,000 service men and women who were exposed to nuclear radiation in the military between 1945 and 1964, according to American Veterans, a military veterans' rights organization. In 1990, the federal government established the Radiation Compensation System to help veterans and their families cope with the effects of such exposure. At least 21 types of cancer are believed to be linked to exposure to nuclear material. Surviving veterans or their spouses are eligible to receive a one-time payment of $75,000 from the government if they can prove that they developed or died from these types of cancer. Holl said she has been denied those benefits. "I feel like I'm just a dumb widow who is trying to get something that doesn't really belong to her," Holl said, sitting behind a stack of documents the size of a phone book. Among the documents she has are government mailings sent to veterans exposed to radiation, letters she has written to local congressmen and senators, medical records and a doctor's letters. Holl joined the Marine Corps in 1939, when he was 21 years old. He served in World War II, Korea and Vietnam. In 1952, he was involved in nuclear tests in the Nevada desert, where he and others walked among the fallout of nuclear detonations, his wife said. He began fighting a series of illnesses in 1978, including problems with his prostate, gall bladder and a blood disease. Before he died, he applied for benefits for service members sickened by radiation, but was denied. Officials told Holl that her husband's disease, sideroblastic anemia, which is a blood disease and a precursor to leukemia, is not among the diseases qualifying for the program. But Holl's doctor said that at his time of death, he most likely had leukemia, which qualifies him for the compensation. "Mr. Holl's death should be considered service-connected as a result of exposure to nuclear fallout," wrote Dr. Michael A. Kosmo, who treated Mr. Holl until he died, in a letter dated June 30, 2004. "Compensation should be considered for his wife." The compensation was denied in a letter dated July, 28, 2004. Charles Miller, a spokesman with the Department of Justice, which administers the benefits, would not comment on the Holl case. Earl Lee, a Navy veteran and veterans' rights activist, said such denials are not unusual. He said he has personally helped more than 100 veterans and widows who have had trouble enrolling on the compensation system. "I am bitter, and I am disappointed with how they've treated these guys," said Lee, 76, who was also exposed to radiation in 1948 and is a cancer survivor. "The government lied to us about these long-range problems that they knew would happen." Eventually, Lee was able to get the exposure compensation, but his frustration led him to get involved helping others. Through the American Veterans organization, Lee has become a leading voice calling attention to the problem. He said many of those who are eligible for the benefits are not aware that the program even exists because of poor publicity. Miller said he disagreed with the charge that the program was not properly publicized. "There have been ads out, innumerable seminars in the communities where these veterans live, and numerous articles in newspapers," Miller said. Of the 20,266 claims that have been filed, 11,925 have been approved, 2,551 are pending and 5,790 have been denied, according to the Department of Justice's Web site. Those figures include claims filed by uranium miners and ore transporters who also are eligible for compensation. Holl said the $1,200 a month she receives from the military and Social Security are not enough to pay for her utilities, homeowner association fees, insurance and home repairs. She said she decided to sell the Escondido home on Hamden Lane where she has lived for more than 20 years. The home is now in escrow. "I have all these friends that I have known all these years; this is a nice place to live," she said looking out her living room window at the hills east of Escondido. "This is where I met Mr. Holl." Mrs. Holl said she plans to move to Washington state where her daughter lives and where she said life is more affordable. But wherever she is, she will continue her fight, she said. For more information about the Radiation Compensation System, visit http://www.usdoj.gov/civil/torts/const/reca, or call the American Veterans in El Cajon, at (619) 444-5384. Contact staff writer Edward Sifuentes at (760) 740-5426 or [esifuentes@nctimes.com] . [webmaster@nctimes.com] © 1997-2004 North County Times - [http://www.lee.net] [editor@nctimes.com] ***************************************************************** 32 NEWS.com.au: Fallout tests to debunk experts (September 5, 2004) THE bones of almost 22,000 dead Australians were secretly removed and tested for nuclear contamination in a bid to silence a scientist who threatened to blow the whistle on dangerous fallout from the Maralinga atomic tests. The startling claim has been made in a documentary that airs on SBS next week. The film's director, Peter Butt, says a top-level government committee sought to gather evidence that would undermine the warnings of CSIRO biochemist Hedley Marston, who was worried wind-borne fallout, which landed in Adelaide and Melbourne, would find its way into milk supplies being drunk by Australian children. Evidence of the bone tests, which ran from 1957 to 1978 without the knowledge of relatives of the deceased, emerged only in 2001. Those tested included infants and stillborn babies. The tests on ribs, thigh bones, spinal columns and skulls sought to measure the levels of strontium-90, a dangerous isotype in the fallout, which quickly lodges in the bones of humans and remains there all their lives. The isotype has been linked with bone cancer and leukemia. The documentary, Silent Storm, claims the tests began after Dr Marston wrote a strongly-worded memo to the Australian Weapons Test Safety Committee warning many Australians would suffer painful deaths because of the atmospheric tests of atomic weapons at Maralinga by the British Government. "The proof will be found in the bones of children," he wrote. "All one has to do is examine the strontium-90 load of bones of deceased people, particularly children in the coming decades to show I am right." Dr Marston's torrent of complaints about the dangers of the atomic tests in the 1950s – and his charge that the British Government regarded Australians as expendable – led to his being labelled by ASIO as a security threat. According to Mr Butt, the Safety Committee's decision to begin secret tests on the bones of deceased people was a political act designed to gather evidence to shoot down Dr Marston. "They wanted to prove they were right and he was wrong," he said yesterday. "They were very concerned about him, and how far he was going to go." The safety committee was headed by Professor Ernest Titterton, a physicist who was an ardent supporter of atomic bomb tests. "He was the guardian for all Australians, but he was tainted," Mr Butt said. Silent Storm airs on SBS on Thursday at 8.30pm. The Advertiser Copyright 2004 News Limited. All times AEST (GMT+10). ***************************************************************** 33 UPI: Britain accused of improper waste disposal - (United Press International) September 04, 2004 Brussels, Belgium, Sep. 4 (UPI) -- The European Commission has taken legal action against Britain over failings in dealing with nuclear waste, the Scotsman reported Saturday. Plans submitted in June to improve waste monitoring were rejected as inadequate, the Scotsman said. Loyola de Palacio, commission vice president responsible for energy policy, said she had a duty to protect the interests of citizens. She also said the commission would call off the action if talks with British authorities produced a timetable for complying with nuclear safety legislation. The dispute is over verification of the safety of spent nuclear fuel, which is currently stored in a "pond" at the Sellafield site in Cumbria, run by British Nuclear Fuels. [UPI Perspectives] ***************************************************************** 34 Las Vegas RJ: LETTERS: Texas dump Saturday, September 04, 2004 To the editor: I saw in the paper that the national GOP platform includes a plank officially endorsed a nuclear repository at Yucca Mountain. The party also wants to build even more nuclear plants so we here in Nevada will have even more nuclear waste. We will only be safe from this travesty when a nuclear waste repository is approved for a certain ranch in Crawford, Texas. Texas has more land and more open spaces. Put the dump there, or require each state that benefits from nuclear power to keep its own waste. SONIA J. CHURCH LAS VEGAS Yucca Democrats To the editor: Jim Day's Aug. 18 editorial cartoon was the lowest shot I've ever seen. Georgia peanut farmer Jimmy Carter assured power company execs that if they built nuclear power plants the federal government would assume responsibility for disposing of the spent fuel rods. A Louisiana crawfish farmer wrote the "Screw Nevada bill." Northeast power plant honchos were delighted with the arrangement. Democrats anyone? As the majority of nuclear plants were in the northeast, the pols of that area -- Sen. John Kerry included -- were also delighted. To believe that now, with Nevada's five electoral votes up for grabs, he would change his position stretches credulity. Then again, anything Sen. Kerry says stretches credulity. LEON ABADIE LAS VEGAS Copyright Las Vegas Review-Journal ***************************************************************** 35 Las Vegas RJ: Court lets Yucca ruling stand Saturday, September 04, 2004 Appeal denied on radiation safety guideline By STEVE TETREAULT THE ASSOCIATED PRESS WASHINGTON -- A federal court ruling that struck a blow against the Yucca Mountain Project will become effective on Wednesday after judges this week refused to take a second look at the case. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia said it will not reconsider the Yucca matter on appeal from the Nuclear Energy Institute. The ruling formalizes a significant action the court took in July. A three-judge panel threw out a key 10,000-year radiation safety guideline for the nuclear waste repository that the Energy Department proposes to build in Nevada. The July 9 court decision has thrown the Yucca project into uncertainty just months before DOE plans to file a repository license application with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The appeals court issued a pair of one-sentence orders Wednesday denying the NEI appeal. They came as little surprise as court officials had signaled such motions to reconsider are rarely granted. For the same reason, the latest legal development also will have little practical impact, said Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev. "The court already ruled that the radiation standards for Yucca established under (President) Bush are not based on science and will not protect Nevada families, and this only validates that decision," Berkley said. The judicial panel said in July that its decision would become effective seven days after it disposed of appeals. The NEI, the government relations arm of the nuclear industry, is considering whether to take the case to the U.S. Supreme Court, spokeswoman Melanie Lyons said Friday. The deadline for an appeal is Nov. 29. Berkley renewed a call for Bush to halt the Yucca project, invoking a pledge he made in Las Vegas on Aug. 12 to "stand by the decisions of the courts and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission." "Now is the time for President Bush to live up to his promise to obey any court decision on Yucca and order the Energy Department to stop its work on a license for a nuclear dump in Nevada," she said. The appeals court issued a series of rulings July 9, most of them upholding the repository. But the judges declared the project's 10,000 year radiation protection standard invalid. As possible remedies, the court suggested a new guideline might be formed or Congress might pass a law to solve the problem. The Bush administration declined to appeal the court ruling. Energy Department spokesman Joe Davis said DOE will work to meet new radiation standards that will to comply with the court ruling. Copyright Las Vegas Review-Journal ***************************************************************** 36 Las Vegas RJ: In Brief: YUCCA MOUNTAIN FIGHT Saturday, September 04, 2004 Citizen Alert takes to the road again After 29 years of raising environmental awareness in Nevada, Citizen Alert is hitting the road again in an effort to garner support for the group and bolster its campaign against the government's plan to bury nuclear waste in Yucca Mountain. The group will haul its 20-foot mock nuclear waste cask to Rachel in rural Lincoln County on Monday in what will be the first of 25 stops in the state to increase membership, enlist volunteers and secure donations. Called "Back to Our Routes," the tour is patterned after the 1975 journey of Susan Orr and Katherine Hale who went town-to-town to warn Nevadans about the dangers of nuclear waste. This year's final destination will be Las Vegas on Oct. 22. "We want to make sure that people understand that Yucca Mountain is not a done deal," said Peggy Maze Johnson, Citizen Alert's executive director. "We're doing it because ... we thought it was time to start rebuilding our organization. We've been so focused on surviving that we haven't gotten out and gotten back to our roots," she said. Maze Johnson said the tour and associated mailings and advertisements is being financed primarily through a $70,000 grant from the Media Action Fund, a private foundation in Washington, D.C., and Boston. The 2,500-mile tour, she said, has been on the drawing board for a long time. The various stops are posted on the group's Web site: citizenalert.org. "We want everyone in the state to know that every single community is important and has a voice in this," she said. Copyright Las Vegas Review-Journal ***************************************************************** 37 Las Vegas SUN: Cheney reaffirms Bush stance on Yucca Mountain Return to the referring page Las Vegas SUN September 03, 2004 Cheney reaffirms Bush stance on Yucca Mountain By Kirsten Searer LAS VEGAS SUN Vice President Dick Cheney repeated the same message Friday about putting the Yucca Mountain project in Nevada that President Bush made when he visited the area in August. Cheney, speaking to an estimated 2,000 supporters at Cashman Center, said that Bush has relied on sound science when making decisions about the project and will honor any court decisions that affect the project. "We will keep the people of Nevada safe," Cheney said. The crowd answered with a cheer, just as they did through most of his speech. Many Republicans said they were motivated after this week's Republican National Convention. "You can feel it here today," Lt. Gov. Lorraine Hunt. Cheney was interrupted by one protester, whom Secret Service agents dragged out of the auditorium by his hands and feet. "Looks we better put him down as undecided," Cheney said afterward. Outside about 80 protesters held up signs and chanted slogans against the administration's position on the Yucca Mountain project. Cheney, however, was often interrupted with chants of "four more years" and "flip-flop," meant to describe Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry. "This is a great crowd," said Cheney, on his fifth visit to Las Vegas this year. "I'm having a lot of trouble concentrating on my speech." The vice president focused largely on the war on terrorism, saying the administration has shut down funding for terrorists and captured or killed "most of the masterminds" behind the Sept. 11 attacks. "To put it simply, this is an enemy that we must destroy," he said. Cheney criticized Kerry's plan to reach out to more allies when making decisions about terrorism and fighting a more sensitive war. "Terrorist attacks are not caused by the use of strength. They are invited by the perception of weakness," he said. Las Vegas resident Glen Moore called the vice president's speech and this week's convention, "outstanding." "They talked about everything that was important," he said. Moore said that Bush had dealt with tough decisions about the Yucca Mountain project years before he entered office. "I think he probably weighed everything and made the best decision he thought was right," Moore said, a 50-year-old part-time resident of Las Vegas. Jerry Shaner, a 47-year-old retiree who once worked at the Nevada Test Site, said he thinks people don't understand the Yucca Mountain project. "They worry about what's going to happen 10,000 years from now," he said. "In my mind, we should worry about what's going on now." Cheney was expected to stay overnight in Las Vegas before heading to Roswell, N.M., for his next campaign stop. Kirsten Searer can be reached at (702) 259-4062 or searer@lasvegassun.com [searer@lasvegassun.com] . Questions or problems? Click here. ***************************************************************** 38 Las Vegas SUN: Brian Greenspun: Sandoval blew chance September 03, 2004 Where I Stand -- Brian Greenspun: Sandoval blew chance Brian Greenspun is editor of the Las Vegas Sun. WEEKEND EDITION September 4 - 7, 2004 Celebrating Labor Day. Tomorrow the entire country takes pause, between the barbecues and the swimming parties, to honor the working men and women of the United States. We do so with the full knowledge that those who contribute most to this country's well-being -- whether in the trenches of Iraq or some far away war zone to keep us safe, or the trenches of American business to keep us prosperous -- are regular folks who get up every morning and give an honest day's work for an honest day's pay. So, how do we explain to the working men and women of our state the abject failure to do the job by Nevada's attorney general, Brian Sandoval. I am talking about the job he has sworn to do, that of protecting the people of this great state, and the way he failed to show up for work when he had his moments at the Republican National Convention this past week. Brian had the distinct honor and privilege of being invited to address the delegates and, by extension, the American people at the GOP get-together in New York. It was an opportunity that is rarely afforded the attorney general of a small state unless that state is one of a handful in play for the presidential sweepstakes this November. As we all know, Nevada will probably be one of the last two or three battlegrounds in the 2004 election, and that makes Sandoval and every other public official in this state important to both sides. So, what should have been on the Nevada attorney general's mind as he approached the podium of national prominence? Let me try the first answer. How about YUCCA MOUNTAIN? Brian Sandoval is the chief legal officer of the state of Nevada. As such, it is his responsibility to prosecute our case against the federal government and all those who would send trucks and trains full of deadly radioactive waste to our state for the next 30 years. Until this past week, he was doing reasonably well because he and his lawyers convinced the appeals court in Washington, D.C., to agree with the state that the Department of Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency failed to follow the law when it came to the science surrounding Yucca Mountain. Specifically, the Court of Appeals found that the DOE and the EPA -- both agencies of the federal government and both led by political appointees of President George W. Bush -- ignored the law by ignoring the National Academy of Science when it said that any repository must be made safe for hundr eds of thousands of years. Instead, the EPA came up with an arbitrary 10,000-year standard that proved politically sound but violated any semblance of sound scientific thought. In short, Nevada's claim that politics and not science was driving Yucca Mountain was validated. Of course, the Yucca fight is not over. Not by a long shot. President Bush has doubled and redoubled his own efforts to make sure that Yucca Mountain opens on time so his friends in the nuclear power industry have a place to bury their mess. Since he will control those he appoints to the EPA and the DOE, his re-election is key to whether or not Nevada families have to suffer multiple generations of health and economic problems in the future. President Bush already broke his promise to Nevadans in 2000 that he would make a decision based on sound science. The court of appeals has found clearly that science had nothing to do with the Yucca Mountain issue. In fact, science was ignored by the very people President Bush relied upon for scientific information. How comfortable for him! Sandoval had the perfect opportunity to tell the entire country what is wrong with the Yucca Mountain plan and why it is dangerous for all Americans. He had the perfect opportunity to tell Americans why science was ignored by the president and why American families would be put in jeopardy across the country as a result. He had the perfect opportunity to tell the delegates and all Americans why the Republican Party's all-out support for Yucca Mountain was a bad idea based on bad science. But he didn't. He never showed up for the work he was elected to do. And Sandoval is not alone. From the governor on down, not one GOP elected official in this state will express anything more than "disappointment" with a president of his own party who has made it part of his crusade to bury Nevadans under tens of thousands of tons of deadly radioactive waste. These are the people the voters in Nevada have entrusted with their health and safety and security, and they continue to be found wanting on the one issue that threatens us in all three areas. If I didn't know any better, I would think that the people we elected to high office, the people who swore an oath to protect and defend us, have been more concerned with protecting and defending the political life of George W. Bush at the expense of Nevadans. And, now that I think of it, why should I know any better? Sandoval was there, the spotlight was on and the microphones were live. It was the perfect time for him to share Nevada's message with the entire country. What happened? Why did he go silent? Is winning an election more important than protecting the lives and livelihoods of Nevada families? The answer to that question is for each of us to decide this coming November. The way it looks, the election will be so close that Nevada, by itself, could make the difference. If that is true, each of us will have to decide whether to leave the fate of our families, our jobs and our security in the hands of people we elected to protect us and who have failed to show up for work, or to take responsibility for ourselves and vote for the people who will end the madness of Yucca Mountain. There is a clear choice on Yucca Mountain. Labor Day should give us plenty of time to figure it out. ***************************************************************** 39 RGJ: Environment claims add insult to injury [http://www.rgj.com/] Letters to the Editor for Sept. 5, 2004 [online@rgj.com] 9/4/2004 07:56 pm On the Yucca Mountain dump, President Bush promised he’d decide based on the science. What he didn’t say was that he would just say “no” to the scientists! He’s been pushing for this dangerous project ever since he took office. We have a clear choice here. Candidate Kerry says “not on my watch,” and his voting record shows that’s been his position all along, whenever he’s had a choice. I can’t think of one environmental issue where the Bush administration hasn’t done serious long-term damage. We’ll be breathing (and drinking, and looking at) the consequences for a long time. That he claims the opposite just adds insult to injury. Catherine P. Smith, Reno When you go to the voting booth Nov. 2, ask yourself, “Do I really want one billion, 540 thousand pounds of highly radioactive waste to reside in the state of Nevada?” The site of the repository of this deadly waste is 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas. The state of Nevada rates third highest in the nation for earthquakes and volcanic potential. Las Vegas has very high air traffic, and the combination of jet fuel coming from the skies combined with salt from the Earth creates a very aggressive oxidation/corrosion — a very deadly combination. With more unresolved issues (60 percent) than solved ones at the Yucca Mountain Repository, I don’t believe the Federal Department of Energy (DOE) should be considering obtaining a license/permission to go forward with this extremely questionable site. I believe every state should take care of its own garbage, and, as a consequence of that, it would be more discreet about the radioactive waste they would create for their own back yards. When you go to the voting booth Nov. 2, I am asking you to please vote to prevent highly radioactive waste in our state. Jean E. Brown, Reno I am a resident of Nevada since 1967 and would like to ask: What is wrong with people? I don’t really want a waste dump in my home state but cannot think of an alternative site. I would ask that instead of bashing the president, those people should come up with a better site. Glenda Heffner, Sparks © Copyright Reno Gazette-Journal, a Gannett ***************************************************************** 40 Lexington Herald-Leader: TVA has little room left to store nuclear waste | 09/04/2004 | MILLIONS SPENT WHILE AWAITING PERMANENT SITE PLANNED IN NEVADA By Duncan Mansfield ASSOCIATED PRESS KNOXVILLE - The Tennessee Valley Authority, its nuclear-waste storage pools overflowing or nearing capacity, is spending millions storing spent fuel at its reactor sites while waiting for the Department of Energy to open a permanent repository. The nation's largest public utility, though not alone in its dilemma, has more than 2,260 metric tons of spent fuel on its hands with no plans to slow down its nuclear program. The storage pool at the Sequoyah station near Chattanooga, Tenn., is full and the pool at the Browns Ferry station in Athens, Ala., is expected to reach capacity next year. Already, TVA has spent more than $25 million building additional dry-cask storage space at Sequoyah. Some 44.6 metric tons of waste were moved out of the storage pool to the above-ground casks in June. Similar storage costing more than $22 million is being built at Browns Ferry, where TVA has two operating reactors and is spending $1.8 billion to restart a long-shuttered third reactor in 2007. TVA provides electricity to 8.5 million people in Tennessee and parts of Kentucky, Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, North Carolina and Virginia. TVA officials say dozens of other nuclear utilities are similarly hamstrung by DOE delays in opening a permanent repository at Yucca Mountain in Nevada. TVA recently won a U.S. Court of Federal Claims ruling that could lead to recovery of storage costs on grounds that DOE breached a 1983 contract to dispose of TVA's nuclear waste beginning in 2002. Meanwhile, TVA says the dry-cask interim storage option is a proven technology already used or planned at 38 nuclear plants. "I think our first consideration is ensuring the safety of our employees and the safety of the communities where we operate," TVA director Skila Harris said. "We have invested in the technology and the security measures at those sites that would protect safety. So in terms of safety, I don't consider that an issue." Beyond that, she said, the nuclear industry "has long anticipated that there might be delays in completion of a permanent repository." With the support of the White House and Congress, DOE hopes to have Yucca Mountain operating in 2010. But Nevada is waging a court battle, and a federal court in Washington declared in July that even a 10,000-year radiation safety standard proposed by the government was insufficient for the site. "This is a reflection of poor planning by the nuclear industry," said Steve Smith, director of the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy. "They have continued to generate this waste even though they don't have a long-term storage operation for it." "This is sort of the birds coming home to roost ... on the banks of the Tennessee River," he said, noting that all three TVA nuclear stations, TVA's touted alternatives to smog-causing coal-fired power plants, are located along the river. Harris, who as an energy consultant studied the finite nuclear waste storage issue as early as the late 1970s, said Yucca Mountain "is ultimately a political issue more than it is a technological issue." Smith disagreed. Ensuring the safe storage of material that will remain radioactive "for longer than recorded history is a real scientific and technical challenge. It is something that sort of pales human ingenuity." TVA, meanwhile, is studying the possibility of building a next-generation nuclear plant at its unfinished Bellefonte site in Alabama. TVA's third operating nuclear plant at Watts Bar in Tennessee, which came on line in 1995, has adequate space in its spent fuel pool until 2018. [http://www.knightridder.com] Copyright ***************************************************************** 41 AU ABC: ACF seeks Ranger mine prosecutions » ABC Darwin » Local News [http://abc.net.au/] Sunday, 5 September 2004 [http://www.abc.net.au/reslib/200408/r28459_70965.jpg] Aerial view of Ranger uranium mine.ABC TV The Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF) says safety concerns at the Ranger uranium mine will not be resolved until the Northern Territory Government prosecutes the operators. Energy Resources of Australia (ERA) shut down the mine, surrounded by Kakadu National Park, for most of last week to deal with issues raised by two Commonwealth reports on an incident in March. During that incident, workers drank and showered in water at the site that had been contaminated with uranium. Foundation spokesman Dave Sweeney says the Territory Government has had its own report on the incident for weeks. "It's taken long enough," he said. "The Federal Government has dragged its heels for many years, so have previous Territory governments. "It's time now for the Martin Government to do the thing that it knows is the right thing, is the proper thing, and is it's responsibility under law." Operations at Ranger have again been disrupted, this time by a chemical spill on Saturday. In the new incident, 20 litres of process chemicals - an organic kerosene-like material containing small amounts of uranium - spilled out of a contained area on the site. An ERA spokeswoman says the spill has been cleaned up and poses no health, safety or environmental risk. She says mining operations are continuing, however could not confirm when processing will resume. The ACF has also criticised the Office of the Supervising Scientist, saying it has been too close to the mine's operators. The supervising scientist reviewed health and safety upgrades at the mine site on Friday, he then cleared ERA to restart mining operations. Mr Sweeney says there is no way the mine is abiding problems could have been resolved in a week. [ more news ] Last Updated: 6:49:00 AM (ACST) [http://www.abc.net.au/privacy.htm] ***************************************************************** 42 KLAS: Gary Waddell Asks Kerry About Yucca Mt. September 5, 2004 Anchor Gary Waddell got a chance to talk with Senator Joh Kerry about one of the major issues in the presidential race here in Nevada -- Yucca Mountain. (Sep. 3) -- While Dick Cheney campaigned here in Nevada, John Kerry was making the rounds in several battleground states by satellite from Ohio. One of his stops was Las Vegas. It was the economy that was part of the campaign message being put out by Bush's Democratic opponent. Senator Kerry took issue with the President who says the economy is on the right track. "I am going to put America back to work creating the kinds of high paying jobs that America is used to, not the kind that George W. Bush has been satisfied with that pay $9,000 less then the jobs we are losing overseas. George Bush is the first president since Herbert Hoover to have lost jobs during his presidency." Anchor Gary Waddell got a chance to talk with the Senator about one of the major issues in the presidential race here in Nevada --Yucca Mountain. Although Gary didn't have as much time to talk, as he would have liked, he started right off with the hot topic. Kerry talked about why he's opposed to Yucca Mountain and exactly how he'll stop it. With just 60 days to the election, we'll probably see a lot more of John Kerry and President Bush along with Vice President Dick Cheney and John Edwards in Nevada. This is a very important state with 5 electoral votes still up for grabs. You can hear Gary Waddell's three-minute interview with Senator Kerry in the attached video clip. [http://www.worldnow.com] All content © Copyright 2000 - 2004 WorldNow and KLAS. All Rights Reserved. ***************************************************************** 43 ThisisLondon: BNFL set for £2.5bn bonanza thisislondon.co.uk Tom McGhie, Mail on Sunday 5 September 2004 A BRITISH Nuclear Fuels subsidiary is favourite to win a £2.5bn order to supply two pairs of high-tech nuclear reactors to China. Westinghouse Electric, owned by BNFL, hopes to gain a toehold in China. Company sources say that the Chinese have approached Westinghouse, based in the US, and are keen for it to be in the bidding process. Westinghouse has been working with Chinese engineers for many years on the design of the AP1000 reactor. A spokesman for the company said: 'At long last things are falling into place. We are hopeful of bidding next year.' If BNFL is successful, it will open a huge new market for reactors. China is one of the few countries to give the go-ahead to new nuclear reactors and plans 27 new plants in the next 20 years. An agreement between China and the US to cooperate on nuclear issues was suspended following the Tiananmen Square massacre in 1989. But China's growing importance and calls by US firms to lift trade bans have forced a rethink by President Bush's administration. While most of the world's new nuclear reactors are being built in the Far East, the UK Government has not ruled out a nuclear rebuilding programme. ***************************************************************** 44 Business Day: Aflease looks to uranium production By Justin Brown Junior mining company Afrikander Lease (Aflease, AFL) continues to look at the possibility of mining uranium, with the company on target to start production within two years, Aflease CEO Neal Froneman said. Earlier, Aflease reported a headline loss per share of 7.06 cents for the half-year to June 2004, from a loss of 25.29 cents previously. Revenue for the half-year fell to 14.478 million rand, down 50% from 28.827 million rand in the previous comparative half-year period. Aflease completed the closure of its gold operations in early 2004. The company closed these operations due to the strong rand as well as lower-than-expected grades and currently has no operating mining assets. The group is currently in the process of developing its Bonanza South gold mine, which is expected to come online in 2005. "Uranium is becoming more and more part of this company," Froneman said at Aflease's interim results presentations. Looking ahead, Froneman said Aflease continued to look to becoming a focussed uranium company, but wouldn't discard its gold mining interests. For Aflease to resume mining gold, the rand gold price will have to reach 95,000 rand a kilogramme, Froneman said. At 15h15, gold was quoted at 85,727 rand a kilogramme. Aflease owns more than half of South Africa's near available uranium, he added. Aflease's uranium mining project could generate as much as 4,000 to 5,000 jobs, Froneman said. Aflease is currently employing 200 people at its operations, mainly for care-and-maintenance of its mines. The project could evolve to the point were there are three uranium mines producing 200,000 tons per month. Current contract prices are currently been concluded at about US$23 a pound, while spot prices in the illiquid uranium market currently stand at $19 a pound, Froneman said. In the next 12 to 18 months, Froneman sees the US dollar uranium price doubling. There is going to be a shortage of uranium during the current decade, Froneman added. However, at present there is a lot of excess uranium inventory available and weapon grade uranium is also been converted into ordinary grade uranium. A positive signal for uranium was the South African government's commitment to Pebble Bed Modular reactor technology, Froneman said. Anglo American (Anglo, AGL) previously mined Aflease's uranium resources with the Dominion mine producing 2.5 million pounds of uranium oxide at 0.94 kilogrammes per ton between 1951 and 1961, while the Reitkuil mine produced 35,000 pounds of uranium oxide at 0.44 kg/t during 1988. Other factors in favour of uranium, according to Froneman, are global warming concerns that are making nuclear power environmentally friendly, when compared with alternatives like coal burning power stations. Thirty nuclear power plants are currently in difference phases of construction. Uranium's most important use is in nuclear power generation. It is also used in nuclear weapons. Some of the key countries that use nuclear power are France, where 75% of its electrical power comes from nuclear power stations, and Japan, as the country doesn't have major oil, gas and coal reserves. In South Africa, only AngloGold Ashanti's (ANG) three producing mines in the Vaal River area produce uranium, as a by-product of gold mining. Aflease will be confirming its reserves and resources over the next three months to comply with South African Code for the Reporting of Mineral Resources and Mineral Reserves or the SAMREC code. Once Aflease's uranium production is up and running, it could rank as the world's six largest uranium miner behind France's Cogema, North American producer Cameco, Energy Resources of Australia, Australia's WMC Resources and Namibia's Rossing Uranium, Froneman said. In another development, Aflease announced that all the conditions precedent, except for shareholder approval, had been fulfilled in terms of the share swap and loan agreement with Randgold & Exploration (RNG) and JCI(JCD) and Aflease, he added. The Securities Regulatory Panel has ruled that Randgold, JCI and empowerment group Kabusha are concert parties to the Aflease transaction. Irrevocable commitments have been received from 41% of shareholders supporting the transaction, Froneman said. As part of the transaction, Aflease is asking shareholders to waive their right to a mandatory offer from Randgold, once Randgold and other parties exceed 35%. Randgold and Exploration along with JCI have undertaken to make a mandatory offer to other Aflease shareholders in the event that their combined shareholding extends beyond 50%. Randgold currently owns 3% of Aflease's shares, but following the share swap and loan agreement, together with JCI and Kabusha, will hold a 49% stake in Aflease, if the swap received the requisite level of shareholder approval. As a result of the move to issue 94 million shares to Randgold, Aflease is looking to increase its authorised share capital to 500 million shares from 300 million shares currently. Following the issuing of the shares to Randgold, Aflease will have about 308 million shares, Aflease financial director Marius Steyn said. I-Net Bridge Monday 06 September 2004 BDFM Publishers (Pty) Ltd disclaims all liability for any loss, ***************************************************************** 45 NAPF: Message from the President - 2004 Summer Report Date: Sat, 4 Sep 2004 00:26:07 -0500 (CDT) Dear Friends and Supporters, The Nuclear Age Peace Foundation has had a full summer thus far and I want to share with you some of our accomplishments. * We are proud to announce the launch of our Turn the Tide Campaign , a national effort to chart a new course for US nuclear policy. Turn the Tide is a campaign to educate and mobilize concerned citizens who have a vested interest in making America and the world safer and more secure. As part of the campaign, we have developed and made available a US Presidential Candidate Report Card. It is available on the website and in print form. We have sent it to a number of e-mail listserves so that this information can be shared with others across the country. Click here to join us in charting a new course for US nuclear policy by visiting the Turn the Tide and taking action today! * We are in the process of a major remodel of our Nuclear Files website, our primarily educational site visited by some one million visitors each year. The site is being reconstructed to provide drop down menus for easier navigation and will be much more intuitive for visitors to easily see the full depth of the site's 1,500+ pages without leaving the homepage. Additionally, new content is being added, including the development of Study Guides to assist educators and students in learning about the Nuclear Age. We will be continuing to work on this through the fall. Click here to visit the Nuclear Files. * Continuing our work in Educational Outreach, Carah Ong participated in a Summer Institute on Teaching Non-Proliferation at the University of North Carolina in June. Carah presented the Foundation's Nuclear Files website to more than 30 university professors from across the US , as well as one from Australia and one from Albania . The professors were very impressed with Nuclear Files and will be using it as a teaching resource in their classrooms. Click here to visit the Nuclear Files. * A new website was developed and launched this summer for our UC Nuclear Free Campaign . The new site includes an online petition campaign, background information and ways to get involved on the various UC campuses. The campaign, largely geared toward University of California students, seeks to raise awareness about the University's role in the research and development of nuclear weapons through its management and oversight of the nation's nuclear weapons labs. It also seeks to broaden students' understanding of nuclear policy issues beyond the lab relationships. Click here to check out the UC Nuclear Free website. * Our international visibility and reach was furthered this summer by David Krieger's participation in the annual meeting of the International Council and Executive Committee of the International Network of Engineers and Scientists for Global Responsibility (INES), a network that the Foundation initially helped form and which it continues to support. The meetings were held in Sopron , Hungary . He also gave the keynote speech at the opening plenary at the 40 th anniversary meeting of the International Association for Peace Research (IPRA), also in Sopron , Hungary . Additionally, he spoke at the International Summer Academy of the Schlaining Peace Center in Austria and also gave a talk to the International Institute for Peace in Vienna. Click here for a full report of David's trip. * In July, Carah Ong, the Foundation's Communications and Development Officer, was a member of the first non-governmental delegation to visit Libya . Sponsored by the Libyan government, the purpose of the trip was to open dialogue between the government of Libya and civil society organizations in Libya and the US . The delegation held discussions and exchanged views and ideas regarding democracy, weapons of mass destruction, terrorism and US foreign policy from an Arabic point of view. Click here for a full report of Carah's trip. * Michael Coffey, the Foundation's Director of Youth Programs, and Forrest Wilder , our Ruth Floyd summer intern, attended the Boston Social Forum in July. The event brought together several thousand people to encourage various social movements to exchange information, network with one another, form new alliances, and advance new movements. Michael and Forrest organized a coalition workshop promoting greater engagement of and a more active role for young people in nuclear organizing and policy issues. Click here for more information about the Foundation's Youth Outreach Initiative. * The Foundation is hosting three summer Interns from across the nation: Forrest Wilder from the University of Texas, Archana Bharathan from the University of Michigan, and Bayley Lopez from Stanford University. Archana and Bayley are both collaborating on the Nuclear Files website remodel, while Forrest is focusing on the UC Nuclear Free Campaign and the Turn the Tide Campaign. Click here for more information about the Foundation's internship and volunteer opportunities. * This Summer, the Foundation opened its doors to the community in a series of casual gatherings called "Summer Movie Nights," featuring a movie, refreshments and dialogue. "Summer Movie Nights" gained traction over the summer and we are delighted to announce that the series will continue into the fall. Mark your calendars, the next movie night will be on Tuesday, September 14 th from 6:00 pm until 9:00 pm and feature "Hijacking Catastrophe." We hope you will join us if you are in or near Santa Barbara. * The Foundation appeared in the Media this summer a total of sixteen times as of August 15th . Media appearances included a mention in the Christian Science Monitor regarding our Nuclear Files website, Op-Eds in the Santa Barbara New-Press and the Miami Herald, and interviews on National Public Radio affiliates in both Nevada and Southern California . Additionally, CNN.com listed the Foundation as a resource in its " Special Report " section on the anniversary of the first Russian nuclear test. Click here to visit the Foundation's Media Center. Thank you for your continued support of the Foundation. We appreciate your partnership in promoting a more peaceful and secure world in one of the most critical times in history. Please help us add voices to a growing movement for peace and a nuclear weapons-free world by encouraging your friends and family to join the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation. Membership is free! Sincerely, David Krieger President P.S. Stay tuned for upcoming opportunities to get involved in the Foundation's work, including our 2004 Annual Evening for Peace honoring Walter Cronkite and our KNUK Radio Project ***************************************************************** 46 Tri-City Herald: Sunnyside man sues Hanford contractor This story was published Sunday, September 5th, 2004 By Annette Cary Herald staff writer A Sunnyside man is suing Hanford contractor CH2M Hill Hanford Group after he was splashed with liquid waste from storage tanks in 2002, according to court documents. CH2M Hill has filed a blanket denial of allegations that it was negligent in the suit filed in U.S. District Court in Yakima. Daniel Golden was working as a rigger for another Hanford contractor, Fluor Hanford, when the accident occurred, according to court documents filed by his attorney. CH2M Hill is the contractor in charge of the tank farms -- fields where 177 underground tanks hold 53 million gallons of radioactive and chemical waste from the past production of plutonium at Hanford. On May 20, 2002, Hanford workers had inserted a water lance into the tank to carve out a depression in the crusty radioactive salt cake that remained after liquid had been drained from Tank TX-116. Some liquid remained in the cracks of the salt cake. An O-ring on the lance failed, allowing some radioactive wastes from the tank to be trapped between two tubes of the lance. After the lance was removed, about 2 quarts of liquid waste flowed out of it and onto the coveralls and left arm of a worker, according to information released by CH2M Hill in 2002. The contractor said then that a checkup by an independent medical specialist concluded that the worker had suffered no adverse health effects. In the suit, Golden's attorney said Golden was splashed with up to 4 gallons of liquid waste after the lance was improperly left in the tank. Golden was contaminated by liquid waste on the skin of his left arm, left ear and neck and his coveralls, shoes and glasses, according to the suit. The accident left Golden with dermatological and internal symptoms, as well as anxiety, fear of future illnesses and depression, according to the suit. The suit claims that resources for decontaminating Golden were disorganized and not quickly available and that CH2M Hill failed to provide Golden with immediate medical surveillance. It also said that radiological survey reports on Golden contradicted each other. In 2002, CH2M Hill said co-workers peeled off the soaked coveralls of the man who was splashed. When they found his arm was wet, they used absorbent and scrubbing to remove the waste residue. The contractor said the worker went through a whole body counter check, which indicated he had not absorbed any radioactive material. © 2004 Tri-City Herald, Associated Press &Other Wire Services ***************************************************************** 47 channelcincinnati.com DOE: Contractor Unprepared To Handle Nuclear Cleanup [http://www.ibsys.com/] Supervisor Says Criticism Not Indicative Of Entire Project POSTED: 4:49 pm EDT September 5, 2004 CINCINNATI, Ohio -- The contractor responsible for cleaning up nuclear sludge sitting in silos near Cincinnati is unprepared to start the job, the U.S. Department of Energy said. The department said in an Aug. 23 report that its contractor, Fluor Fernald Inc., "failed to identify and correct significant deficiencies prior to declaring readiness." The department said its findings indicate that Fluor Fernald either wasn't completely objective or thorough during self-evaluations. The self-assessments were for readiness to begin moving radioactive sludge from two silos into temporary holding tanks at the former Fernald nuclear weapons plant in northwest Hamilton County. Later, it would be mixed with concrete and taken elsewhere for disposal. Dennis Carr, the contractor's supervisor on the silos project, said the criticism was warranted but is not indicative of where the project is. "If there would have been significant (problems), the assessment would have been stopped," Carr said. "So the fact that we made it though the assessment shows that the DOE thinks we can safely operate the system." A project on a third silo is also on hold, due to a legal standoff between the federal government and the state of Nevada. Nevada's attorney general has threatened to sue to stop the disposal of the 153 million pounds of waste that the government plans to bury in the desert there. The dispute has not been resolved. Federal officials hope to complete the more than $4 billion cleanup at the site in 2006. Congress is currently providing annual funding of about $320 million. The plant processed uranium metal from 1951 until 1989 when production ended. The 1,050-acre site will eventually be a wildlife area, with 123 acres housing permanent underground storage of lower-level radioactive wastes. Copyright 2004 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This [http://www.ibsys.com/] . ***************************************************************** 48 Cincinnati Enquirer: Fernald contractor not ready Sunday, September 5, 2004 By Dan Klepal Enquirer staff writer CROSBY TWP. - The U.S. Department of Energy found that the contractor handling the most complicated and dangerous aspect of the decade-old Fernald nuclear cleanup was not ready to start performing the work and did a poor job in assessing its own readiness. The government found so many safety deficiencies that the contractor, Fluor Fernald, has asked for a three-week delay in starting the transfer of radioactive sludge from silos into temporary holding tanks. Fernald is a Cold-War relic where uranium was enriched for eventual use in nuclear weapons. The transfer of the sludge is a necessary first step before the waste from so-called Silos 1 and 2 can be mixed with concrete and shipped elsewhere for permanent disposal. The waste inside Silos 1 and 2 is the most dangerous of the radioactive material at Fernald. Fernald is the site of a $4.4 billion cleanup of soil, groundwater, building debris and waste in three silos. The Department of Energy is supervising the cleanup. In an Aug. 23 report, it found that the contractor "failed to identify and correct significant deficiencies prior to declaring readiness, indicative of either a lack of objectivity or thoroughness in completing the self assessments," before telling the government it was ready to begin the work. Dennis Carr, Fluor's supervisor on the silos project, said the criticism was warranted but is not indicative of where the project is. "If there would have been significant (problems), the assessment would have been stopped," Carr said. "So the fact that we made it though the assessment shows that DOE thinks we can safely operate the system." The cleaning of Silo 3 has been on hold since July 25, tied up in a legal dispute with the state of Nevada, which has threatened to sue the government over its plan to dispose of Fernald waste near Las Vegas. The contractor has been on standby since that time, spending about $10,000 per day to remain ready. The tab for taxpayers thus far is $385,000. No material has been removed. It remains unclear when or how the legal dispute will be resolved, or what will happen if the federal government can't ship any of the waste to Nevada, which claims the plan to dispose of the material there is illegal and unsafe. E-mail dklepal@enquirer.com [dklepal@enquirer.com] ***************************************************************** 49 ONN. Ohio News Now: Nuclear Cleanup Further Postponed September 5, 2004 Cincinnati The U-S Department of Energy says the contractor responsible for cleaning up nuclear sludge sitting in silos near Cincinnati is unprepared to start the job. The department said in an August report that its contractor, Fluor Fernald Incorporated, failed to identify and correct significant deficiencies prior to declaring readiness. The contractor had said it was ready to begin moving radioactive sludge from two silos into temporary holding tanks at the former Fernald nuclear weapons plant in northwest Hamilton County. Fluor Fernald officials say the criticism was warranted, but is not indicative of where the project is now. Federal officials hope to complete the more than $4 billion cleanup in 2006. The site will eventually be a wildlife area. (Copyright 2004 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.) ***************************************************************** 50 Google News Alert - nuclear Date: Sat, 04 Sep 2004 16:55:44 -0700 (PDT) SOUTH Korea denies nuclear ambitions Hindustan Times - New Delhi,India Denying it has any nuclear weapons ambitions, South Korea insisted on Friday that a one-time uranium enrichment test by its scientists will not derail US-led ... See all stories on this topic: INCREASING tensions over Tehran's nuclear aims U.S.News & World Report (subscription) - USA ... Last week, US and other diplomats revealed that Iran plans soon to start a manufacturing process that could produce either fuel for nuclear power reactors ... See all stories on this topic: SA'S nuclear smuggling connection Independent Online - South Africa The nuclear arms race had created a generation of scientists, military personnel and guards at nuclear projects, specifically in the former Soviet Union, who ... See all stories on this topic: JAPANESE Police Raid Kansai Nuclear Plant Voice of America - Washington,DC,USA Japanese police have searched a nuclear plant owned by Kansai Electric Power for evidence of any negligence that may have led to a deadly accident there last ... See all stories on this topic: CHINA Tries to Restart Korea Nuclear Talks Voice of America - Washington,DC,USA China has been urging North Korea to join a new round of international talks about Pyongyang's controversial nuclear weapons programs. ... See all stories on this topic: 'NUCLEAR Terrorism': Counting Down to the New Armageddon New York Times - New York,NY,USA By JAMES HOGE. ERRORISTS are striving to acquire and then use nuclear weapons against the United States. Success, as defined by Osama ... See all stories on this topic: WASHINGTON'S Approach to Nuclear-Minded Iran Los Angeles Times (subscription) - Los Angeles,CA,USA No one wants a nuclear bomb in Iran, but the solution is not "convincing them that they have something vital to gain from forswearing the nuclear option." The ... See all stories on this topic: HEAD of Firm Charged in Nuclear Investigation Los Angeles Times (subscription) - Los Angeles,CA,USA The head of a South African engineering company was charged with trafficking in nuclear-related materials that could be used to make weapons. ... S. African's Arrest Seen as Key to Nuclear Black Market Washington Post - Washington,DC,USA A South African man arrested Thursday is suspected of playing a major role in the nuclear black market that supplied Libya, according to American and foreign ... See all stories on this topic: EDITORIAL: Nuclear energy/License extensions shortsighted Minneapolis Star Tribune (subscription) - Minneapolis,MN,USA Xcel Energy's bid to extend its nuclear-plant licenses for another generation is no surprise, but it's still a disappointment -- a prime example of what will ... See all stories on this topic: This daily-once News Alert is brought to you by Google News (BETA)... - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Remove this News Alert: http://www.google.com/newsalerts/remove?s=92d1672a1b037a07&hl=en Create another News Alert: http://www.google.com/newsalerts?hl=en Try Google News: http://news.google.com/ ***************************************************************** 51 Google News Alert - nuclear Date: Sun, 05 Sep 2004 16:41:04 -0700 (PDT) SOUTH Koreans did 3 nuclear experiments International Herald Tribune - Paris,France SEOUL The father of South Korea's nuclear research program said that scientists under his command had performed an enrichment experiment "three or four times ... See all stories on this topic: GEORGE Will: Nuclear material isn't out of terrorists' reach Dallas Morning News (subscription) - Dallas,TX,USA ... This year's pre-eminent question, beside which all others pale, is: Which candidate can best cope with the threat of nuclear terror? ... See all stories on this topic: IRAN to send nuclear negotiator to Europe on diplomatic offensive EUbusiness - London,UK ... its top national security official to Europe to forestall US efforts to haul the Islamic republic before the UN Security Council over its nuclear programme. ... See all stories on this topic: INDIA has credible nuclear deterrence in place: Pranab The Hindu - Chennai,India 5. (PTI) Asserting that the country had credible nuclear deterrence in place, Defence Minister, Pranab Mukherjee, today said that specialised forces were being ... See all stories on this topic: IRAN: The nuclear elephant Newindpress - Chennai,India Beneath the din of pumped up political rhetoric about the war on terrorism, the Islamic regime in Iran is resuming its march toward nuclear weapons. ... See all stories on this topic: NUCLEAR Cleanup Further Postponed Ohio News Network - Columbus,OH,USA The US Department of Energy says the contractor responsible for cleaning up nuclear sludge sitting in silos near Cincinnati is unprepared to start the job. ... See all stories on this topic: 161 years of soil tests reveal nuclear fallout Guardian - UK A simple agricultural experiment begun 161 years ago is today yielding dramatic insights into events - such as nuclear fallout over Britain - unimaginable when ... See all stories on this topic: MAJLIS backs president’s nuclear policy: legislator Tehran Times - Tehran,Iran ... Education and Research Committee, said here Sunday that the Majlis fully backs a firm decision by President Mohammad Khatami to develop nuclear technology in ... See all stories on this topic: NUCLEAR energy should 'be back on agenda' The Australian - Australia RISING energy prices could force Australia to re-visit the nuclear power debate, an energy expert believes. "The question is, what's ... NUCLEAR rivals widen dialogue Washington Times - Washington,DC,USA NEW DELHI — Nuclear rivals India and Pakistan agreed yesterday to widen their peace dialogue in talks that focused on eight festering issues, including the ... See all stories on this topic: This daily-once News Alert is brought to you by Google News (BETA)... - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Remove this News Alert: http://www.google.com/newsalerts/remove?s=92d1672a1b037a07&hl=en Create another News Alert: http://www.google.com/newsalerts?hl=en Try Google News: http://news.google.com/ ***************************************************************** 52 The Sunflower - September 2004 - Issue 88 Date: Sat, 4 Sep 2004 01:11:19 -0500 (CDT) The Sunflower is a monthly e-newsletter providing educational information on nuclear weapons abolition and other issues relating to global security. Download the complete PDF Version To receive our free monthly e-newsletter subscribe at http://www.wagingpeace.org/subscribe/ * Perspectives * A Great Olympic Moment by David Krieger * Radioactive Reservations: The Uphill Battle to Keep Nuclear Waste Off Native American Land by Bayley Lopez * Take Action * Stop Funding for Dangerous New Nukes * Emergency Campaign to Ban Nuclear Weapons * Activism is Patriotism: Reclaim the Spirit of Democracy! * Participate in International Week of Protests Against the Militarization of Space * Tell Your Story as a Cancer Survivor * Proliferation * US Nukes to Remain in Europe * South Korea Says It Enriched Uranium * Nuclear Legacy * Russians: Moratorium on Nuclear Tests Must Be Maintained * Democratic Administration Would Offer Asylum to Foreign Nuclear Whistleblowers * Republican Leaders at Odds Over Nuclear Worker Compensation Program * Seattle Study of Chernobyl Finds First Direct Thyroid Cancer Link * Hanford Reaches Milestone in Cleanup of Liquid Waste Tanks * Nuclear Laboratories * Another Weapons Center Can't Account for Secret Data * Rethinking the Los Alamos Bid * Non-Proliferation * Nagasaki Mayor Urges US to Scrap "Mini-Nukes" * Preventing an Arms Race in Outer Space * Russia Sends Troops to Guard Nuclear Sites * Missiles and Missile Defense * India Test Fires Nuclear Capable Missile * North Korea Developing Delivery Systems * Nuclear Energy and Waste * Japan's Worst Nuclear Incident Since the 1945 Bombing of Nagasaki * Yucca Mountain : 10,000 Years Not Enough * How Safe is the Transatlantic Conversion Project? * Nuclear Insanity * Iran: the Next Iraq? * FDA Approves Anti-Radiation Drugs * Foundation Activities * Summer Report 2004 * September 11th Poetry Reading * 21st Annual Evening for Peace * Resources * We Found Weapons of Mass Destruction * Nuclear Terrorism: The Ultimate Preventable Catastrophe by Graham Allison * Democracy Now! Exclusive Interview with Israeli Nuclear Whistleblower Mordechai Vanunu * The Doctors, the Depleted Uranium and the Dying Children * Transcend and Transform: An Introduction to Conflict Work by Johan Galtung * Quotable * Senator John Edwards * Senator Byron Dorgan * Former Senator Richard Lugar * Admiral Hyman Rickover * Presidential Candidate Senator John Kerry * American Bar Association President Robert J. Grey * Linda Faulstich * Editorial Team * Luke Brothers * David Krieger * Carah Ong Perspectives A Great Olympic Moment | Top by David Krieger The Olympics are always magnificent. They bring the world together. The competition of the talented young athletes demonstrates the power, speed, precision and grace of human achievement and, most of all, the beauty of the human spirit. We are reminded that we are one world, and we are capable of coming together to compete peacefully. In the Athens Olympics, there was a striking moment that demonstrated the power of the people. It occurred during the men's gymnastic competition. The great Russian Olympian, Alexi Nemov was performing in the individual competition on the high bar. He performed a magnificent routine, releasing from the bar and flying over it four or five times. When he landed at the end of his routine the excitement in the room was palpable. There was a tremendous ovation. Then the judges' scores came up. They were lower than the crowd in the arena thought was fair, and the people rose to their feet and jeered the scores. Many attempts were made to quiet the crowd in order for the next athlete to compete, but the people would not be silenced. They clearly believed that they had witnessed an injustice, and they were not willing to be silent in the face of this injustice. At this point one of the senior officials walked to the judges' platform and spoke with two judges who had given particularly low scores. Then the scores were adjusted upward and new scores posted in the arena. But the crowd was still not fully satisfied as the scores remained below the crowd's level of expectation for Nemov's brilliant performance. The people continued to express their dissatisfaction. Then, Nemov stepped out and faced the crowd. With great humility, he gestured to the crowd to stop their protest and they responded. The arena finally quieted enough for the competition to continue. Why was this a great moment? Because the people spontaneously arose to protest a perceived injustice. Because the multinational crowd in the arena stood in solidarity with an athlete who they thought had been treated unfairly. Because the people in the arena that day demonstrated that their power was not to be denied. Because they showed the world that they would not be cowed by authorities, in this case the judges, from their own understanding of what is just and fair. If only we could learn from this great Olympic moment. People matter. Fairness matters. And there are times when it is necessary for people to raise their voices against those in power if individuals are to be protected and fairness is to be upheld. David Krieger is President of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation. Radioactive Reservations The Uphill Battle to Keep Nuclear Waste Off Native American Land | Top by Bayley Lopez Nuclear waste is not just an issue for those who live near a nuclear reactor or waste site. It is an issue that in time - due to deadly, toxic waste that will remain harmful for thousands of years - will have adverse affects on the entire world. However, the reality within the United States is that one group has been disproportionately affected by waste policies since the inception of the US nuclear program - the Native American population. In the quest to dispose of nuclear waste, the government and private companies have disregarded and broken treaties, blurred the definition of Native American sovereignty, and directly engaged in a form of economic racism akin to bribery. Click here to read the full article. To view the entire Sunflower, visit: http://www.wagingpeace.org/menu/resrources/sunflower or Download the complete PDF Version To receive our free monthly e-newsletter subscribe at http://www.wagingpeace.org/menu/resources/subscribe/ ***************************************************************** NOTE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107 this material is distributed without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for non-profit research and educational purposes only. For more information go to: *****************************************************************