***************************************************************** 09/08/04 **** RADIATION BULLETIN(RADBULL) **** VOL 12.215 ***************************************************************** 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 Las Vegas SUN: Iran, EU Discuss Freezing Nuke Activities 2 Las Vegas SUN: Iran Confirms Nuclear Talks With Europe 3 BBC: US steps up Iran nuclear pressure 4 Persian Journal: Iran Warns EU of "Response" 5 UK Independent: Iran's offer to stop enriching uranium falls flat 6 CBC News: Iran's nuclear program still a threat - Sharon 7 AFP: Security Council should stay out of Iran nuclear issue 8 Expatica: Germany concerned over Iran's nuclear programme 9 Las Vegas SUN: North Korea Warns of 'Nuclear Arms Race' 10 Korea Herald: 'Uranium experiment should have been reported sooner' 11 KoreaTimes : Seoul Admits Mistakes in Uranium Test 12 US: BW Online: What's Scaring Bush In These Swing States 13 iafrica.com: Charges dropped in WMD case NUCLEAR REACTORS 14 US: NRC: STP Nuclear Operating Company, et al.; Notice of Withdrawal 15 OECD: Debate on nuclear energy sparks significant interest 16 AFP: Romania concerned about Bulgarian plans to build new nuclear re 17 US: The Advocate: Dominion to buy three New England power plants 18 US: UCS: UCS scientists featured in Indian Point film to air on HBO 19 US: TheDay.com: Dominion To Buy Power Plants In R.I., Massachusetts 20 US: TheDay.com: Millstone Owner Will Ask Court To Dismiss Dry Storag 21 US: PRN: NRC Releases Draft Environmental Impact Statement 22 US: NRC: NRC Releases York, PA., Site for Unrestricted Use 23 US: NRC: NRC Issues Third National Report for the Convention on Nucl 24 US: NRC: NRC Seeks Public Comment on Decommissioning Plan for Univer 25 US: NRC: Notice and Solicitation of Comments Pursuant to 10 CFR 20.1 NUCLEAR SAFETY 26 news24: Mystery WMD-case twist 27 US: Las Vegas SUN: Army Begins Disposing of Nerve Gas Rockets 28 US: Spectrum: DSC to put on presentation about fallout - 29 US: SDUT: Company uses bacteria to break down chemical found in Colo 30 US: BYU NewsNet: Citizens pushing Bennett to vote no to nuclear test 31 US: JOURNAL NEWS: Study sees 44,000 radiation deaths NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE 32 US: Lowell Sun: Westford contamination's cause may never be known 33 Las Vegas RJ: JOHN L. SMITH: Gallagher faces tough task giving voter 34 Las Vegas SUN: State sues over Yucca rail line 35 US: thedesertsun.com: Work continues to stop river contamination 36 ABQjournal: NRC Finds Small Impact From Uranium Enrichment 37 KVBC: Nevada Congressmen Confident on Yucca Mountain Battle NUCLEAR WEAPONS US DEPT. OF ENERGY OTHER NUCLEAR 38 Google News Alert - nuclear ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** FULL NEWS STORIES ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** 1 Las Vegas SUN: Iran, EU Discuss Freezing Nuke Activities ASSOCIATED PRESS TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - Iran confirmed Wednesday that it was holding talks with the European Union on freezing some nuclear activities, but said it won't give up its plan to control the whole nuclear fuel production process, from mining uranium to enriching it. Hasan Rowhani, Iran's top nuclear negotiator, said Europe was opposed to isolating Iran but U.S. pressure was hindering steps aimed at closing Iran's nuclear dossier at the International Atomic Energy Organization. Diplomats told The Associated Press in Vienna Tuesday that Iran has tentatively agreed to re-impose a freeze on making, testing and assembling centrifuges used to enrich uranium. "We are still holding important talks with the European Union," the official Islamic Republic News Agency quoted Rowhani as saying Wednesday. Rowhani, who returned early Wednesday from a European visit, said Iran was prepared to deal with any decision the IAEA board may take when it meets Sept. 13. "Whenever Iran gets practically close to enrichment issues, the sensitivity of the Europeans rises, and whenever we practically distance ourselves from enrichment, their tone changes and you see a smile on their faces," Rowhani said. Uranium enriched to high levels can be used to make nuclear warheads. At lower levels, it can generate power, which is what Iran asserts is the only activity in which it is interested. The United States said the European development would not stop it from trying to have Tehran hauled before the U.N. Security Council for allegedly trying to make nuclear arms. "Iran considers controlling the nuclear fuel cycle its legitimate and basic right. The fuel cycle has to remain within the Islamic Republic's access," Rowhani said. "We won't give up this objective and will try to pursue this goal at the most appropriate time and with the best shape," he added. Iran last year agreed to suspend uranium enrichment under international pressure and says it still remains committed to its pledge. However, Tehran resumed testing, assembling and making centrifuges earlier this year after it said Europeans failed to fulfill a promise to close Iran's nuclear dossier at the June meeting of IAEA in Vienna. Iran confirmed a report by the IAEA - the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog - that it planned to convert more than 40 tons of raw uranium into uranium hexafluoride, the feed stock for enrichment. The issue of enrichment is extremely sensitive as the international community tries to determine whether Iran is using its nuclear program for peaceful purposes or trying to make weapons. U.S. officials are spearheading an effort at an IAEA board of governors meeting opening in Vienna, Austria, Monday to have Iran declared in violation of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, a move that could force the U.N. Security Council to take action against Iran. Experts estimate that the 40 tons of uranium Iran said it would convert would yield more than 200 pounds of weapons-grade highly enriched uranium - hypothetically enough to make five crude nuclear weapons. ***************************************************************** 2 Las Vegas SUN: Iran Confirms Nuclear Talks With Europe By ALI AKBAR DAREINI ASSOCIATED PRESS TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - Iran confirmed Wednesday it was holding talks with Europe on freezing some nuclear activities but said it won't give up its plan to control the whole nuclear fuel cycle, from mining uranium to enriching it. Hasan Rowhani, Iran's top nuclear negotiator, said Europe opposed isolating Iran but U.S. pressure was hindering steps aimed at closing Iran's nuclear dossier at the International Atomic Energy Organization. Diplomats told The Associated Press in Vienna, Austria, Tuesday that Iran has tentatively agreed to re-impose a freeze on making, testing and assembling centrifuges used to enrich uranium. "We are still holding important talks with the European Union," the official Islamic Republic News Agency quoted Rowhani as saying Wednesday. Iran last year agreed to suspend uranium enrichment under international pressure and says it remains committed to its pledge. However, Tehran resumed testing, assembling and making centrifuges earlier this year after it said Europeans failed to fulfill a promise to close Iran's nuclear dossier at the June meeting of IAEA in Vienna. German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder expressed alarm at Iran's attempts to control the nuclear fuel cycle in defiance of Western efforts. "This conflict is highly alarming," Schroeder told the lower house of parliament in Berlin. He defended diplomatic efforts by France, Germany and Britain to persuade Iran "not to close the nuclear fuel cycle." In London, a senior British government official said Wednesday that Iran risked being hauled before the U.N. Security Council, which could impose sanctions, unless it fulfilled its pledge to suspend uranium enrichment activity by November. "Iran needs to meet its commitments. We would like it to meet its commitments before then, but if it doesn't, Iran needs to know and it needs to know now, that there is going to be a decision point in November and at that point a very serious option ... is referral to the United Nations Security Council," the official told reporters on condition of anonymity. "We cannot have any kind of negotiation that goes on forever. At some point you have got to decide whether negotiating further makes sense or whether you need to do something else," he added. Rowhani, who returned early Wednesday from a European visit, said Iran was prepared to deal with any decision the IAEA board of governors may take when it meets on Monday in Vienna. U.S. officials are spearheading an effort at next week's meeting to have Iran declared in violation of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, a move that could force the Security Council to take action against Iran. "Whenever Iran gets practically close to enrichment issues, the sensitivity of the Europeans rises, and whenever we practically distance ourselves from enrichment, their tone changes and you see a smile on their faces," Rowhani said. Uranium enriched to high levels can be used to make nuclear warheads. At lower levels, it can generate power, which is what Iran asserts is the only activity in which it is interested. "Iran considers controlling the nuclear fuel cycle its legitimate and basic right. The fuel cycle has to remain within the Islamic Republic's access," Rowhani said. "We won't give up this objective and will try to pursue this goal at the most appropriate time and with the best shape," he added. Iran confirmed a report by the IAEA - the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog - that it planned to convert more than 40 tons of raw uranium into uranium hexafluoride, the feed stock for enrichment. The issue of enrichment is extremely sensitive as the international community tries to determine whether Iran is using its nuclear program for peaceful purposes or trying to make weapons. Enrichment does not fall under treaty obligations, but Tehran has been under international pressure for more than a year to fully renounce enrichment to counterbalance suspicions generated by nearly two decades of clandestine nuclear activities that came to light only two years ago. Experts estimate that the 40 tons of uranium Iran said it would convert would yield more than 200 pounds of weapons-grade highly enriched uranium - hypothetically enough to make five crude nuclear weapons. -- ***************************************************************** 3 BBC: US steps up Iran nuclear pressure Last Updated: Wednesday, 8 September, 2004 [Iran's nuclear reactor at Bushehr] Iran denies it wants to build nuclear weapons US Secretary of State Colin Powell has repeated his demand for Iran to be referred to the UN Security Council for allegedly trying to make nuclear arms. Mr Powell was responding to reports that Iran had offered to stop producing centrifuges used to enrich uranium. He said he wanted Tehran to take steps to stop producing material that could lead to nuclear weapons. Iran's reported concession comes days before its case is due before a meeting of the UN's nuclear watchdog. Sanctions Mr Powell said the board of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) should refer Iran to the Security Council for possible sanctions. He said Iran has repeatedly failed to comply with its international obligations under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. "We thought it should have been referred to the Security Council last November but colleagues of mine, particularly the European Union Three [Britain, France and Germany] wanted to engage Iran and find a solution," he said "Unfortunately, I don't think the response from Iran has been very positive or constructive either to what the EU Three commitments were or to the IAEA," he added. The US accuses Iran of working towards building nuclear weapons, but that has not been proved. Enriched uranium can be used to generate power or for nuclear warheads, depending on the level of enrichment. Tehran says its nuclear programme is simply for electricity. It had previously agreed to temporarily suspend building, assembling and testing uranium enrichment centrifuges. However, Tehran announced it was resuming enrichment work after an IAEA resolution in June criticised it for inadequate co-operation with UN inspectors. ***************************************************************** 4 Persian Journal: Iran Warns EU of "Response" [http://www.iranian.ws Sep 8th, 2004 - 10:27:44 Iran confirmed it was in talks with the European Union on offering new concessions over its nuclear program, but warned the bloc of a "response" if the Europeans and the UN's atomic watchdog again took a tough line against the Islamic Republic. "If the Europeans do not respect their commitments or present an illogical or harsh resolution, Iran has already decided its response," top national security official Hassan Rohani was quoted as saying Wednesday by the official news agency IRNA. Rohani confirmed Iran was in talks with the EU ahead of a September 13 meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), with one concession on the table a renewed suspension on the assembly of centrifuges used to enrich uranium. "There are important questions and it is too early to talk," said Rohani, a conservative cleric and the regime's nuclear negotiator. On Tuesday diplomats at the IAEA headquarters in Vienna said Iran was ready to again suspend its efforts to assemble centrifuges in order to avoid being brought before the UN Security Council. But speculation that an imminent accord could be reached have been dampened by a heavy dose of skepticism among IAEA members, less than a week before the agency's board of governors meet. Britain, Germany and France have been negotiating with the aim of getting Iran to "fully suspend any uranium enrichment activities, including making any components for centrifuges," a Western diplomat told AFP. Enriched uranium can be used to provide fuel for reactors as well as nuclear warheads. The diplomat said the negotiations began three days ago and have moved between different European capitals. The Islamic Republic this summer resumed the production of P2 centrifuges, in reaction to a critical resolution adopted by the IAEA board of governors after its last review of the Iran dossier in June. At the beginning of September, Tehran also announced that it planned to convert 37 tons of "yellow cake" uranium into uranium hexafluoride gas, an element necessary for the enrichment of uranium in P2 centrifuges. Nuclear experts have said that such a large among could in theory be used to make one or more nuclear missiles. Rohani, in high-level talks in the Netherlands -- the current holder of the EU presidency -- on Monday denied that Iran was seeking nuclear weapons but said it would not abandon its program to develop nuclear power for civilian purposes. The United States accuses Iran of covertly trying to develop a nuclear bomb and has sought to have the IAEA refer Tehran to the Security Council for possible sanctions. Tehran maintains that it is merely trying to produce enough cheap energy for its people. © Iranian.ws ***************************************************************** 5 UK Independent: Iran's offer to stop enriching uranium falls flat By Anne Penketh, Diplomatic Editor 08 September 2004 Iran set the scene yesterday for a stormy meeting of the UN nuclear watchdog next week after Britain and America dismissed an offer that was clearly aimed at avoiding sanctions. Diplomats said that Iran had approached the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and agreed to reimpose a freeze on making, testing and assembling centrifuges used to enrich uranium. The centrifuges can enrich uranium to the arms-grade level needed for use in nuclear warheads. But a Foreign Office spokesman said that the Iranian offer did not go far enough because it made no mention of the key issue of the uranium enrichment process itself. "It's the typical tactics before an IAEA meeting," said the spokesman, who said that the Iranian concession appeared tailored for a domestic audience. Iran is desperate to avoid being referred to the UN Security Council which could order punitive measures against Tehran for failing to come clean on its nuclear-related activities. American officials are pressing for the IAEA governors' board meeting, which begins on Monday, to have Iran declared in violation of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. The foreign ministers of Britain, France and Germany and Britain convinced Iran last October to suspend its uranium enrichment-related activities. But in June, Iran violated the agreement by resuming the production and testing of nuclear centrifuges. Enrichment does not fall under treaty obligations, but the US believes that Iran has failed to live up to its commitments to the three European governments and should be punished. The US State Department spokesman, Richard Boucher, described Iran's latest move as a ploy. "What's needed now is concrete action by Iran to end its pursuit of nuclear weapons capabilities, including its pursuit of the complete nuclear fuel cycle that would give Iran that capability," Mr Boucher said. "We believe Iran needs to comply with its promises and the requirements put down by the board of governors. But ... Iran has not complied. "So we do believe that it's time to look at referring this matter to the UN Security Council," he said. But despite the latest twist, Britain still appears unwilling to report Iran to the Security Council, fearing it could be counter-productive unless a majority of the 15 members are united in approving action. Iran's approach to the IAEA came after European Union foreign ministers expressed mounting impatience with Tehran authorities. Jack Straw, the foreign secretary, said after the meeting in the Netherlands that he was "perplexed and saddened that the Iranian government" was sticking to its nuclear ambitions. Britain, France and Germany are drafting the resolution that is to be adopted by the 35-member IAEA board. While enriched uranium can be used in weapons warheads, it can also be used as an energy source and Iran has insisted that is the use it is interested in, rather than weaponry. Again, critics see that as an obscuring policy, to avoid sanctions. UK Independent Ltd. ***************************************************************** 6 CBC News: Iran's nuclear program still a threat - Sharon [http://www.cbc.ca/news/] Last Updated Wed, 08 Sep 2004 08:59:47 EDT JERUSALEM - Israel is taking measures to defend itself from Iran because the world is not doing enough to stop it from developing atomic weapons, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said Wednesday. Sharon told the Jerusalem Post that "there is no doubt" that Iran is trying to develop nuclear weapons. "This is a country that calls for the destruction of Israel – the moderates call for the destruction of Israel and the Jewish people – and they are doing everything to get weapons of mass destruction." Sharon's comments come as Iran confirmed Wednesday it was holding talks with the European Union on freezing some nuclear activities. Diplomats at the meeting told the Associated Press that Iran agreed to re-impose a freeze on making, testing and assembling centrifuges used to enrich uranium. But a top Iranian official said Iran's plan is still to control its own nuclear fuel production process, including mining uranium and enriching it. Uranium enriched at a high level can be used for nuclear weapons. Iran has maintained its nuclear programs, including enriching uranium, are to generate electricity. But Sharon said Iran is developing weapons through "deception and subterfuge." He said inspections by the United Nations nuclear watchdog and U.S. threats are not halting Iran's ambitions. "I don't see that the activity against them [the Iranians] is enough to stop them from obtaining nuclear weapons," Sharon said. He said Iran needs to be taken to the Security Council for sanctions. Israel "is taking its own measures to defend itself," Sharon said, without elaborating. Written by CBC News Online staff Copyright © CBC 2004 ***************************************************************** 7 AFP: Security Council should stay out of Iran nuclear issue : Dutch minister [http://www.spacewar.com/] [http://www.spacewar.com/] THE HAGUE (AFP) Sep 08, 2004 Dutch Foreign Minister Bernard Bot warned Wednesday that if the UN Security Council were to get involved in the controversy over Iran's nuclear programme it would spell the end of inspections in the Islamic republic. Bot, whose country currently presides over the European Union, said he was confident that Iran would kick out inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) if the country was brought before the Security Council, as the United States is demanding. "That would spell the end of inspections," he said, speaking during a parliamentary debate on the issue, two days after Iran's top national security official Hassan Rowhani held high-level talks here. Bot told legislators that Iran was ready to work with the IAEA and was willing to provide written guarantees that enriched uranium would not be used toward military ends. He said that Rowhani had assured him as well as Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende that IAEA inspectors could carry out their work in Iran round the clock. The United States has accused Iran of covertly trying to develop a nuclear bomb and has sought to have the IAEA refer Tehran to the Security Council for possible sanctions. Tehran maintains that it is merely trying to meet increasing domestic energy demands and free up its vast oil and gas reserves for export. The IAEA's executive board of governors is due to begin meeting on the issue on September 13. All rights reserved. © 2004 [http://www.afp.com/] . Sections of ***************************************************************** 8 Expatica: Germany concerned over Iran's nuclear programme 8 September 2004 BERLIN - German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder on Wednesday expressed alarm over Iran's nuclear programme, but suggested no new initiatives aimed at dealing with Teheran. "It's a great cause of concern," said Schroeder in a speech to parliament. Last year the foreign ministers of Germany, France and Britain brokered a deal - which now appears to have failed - over Iran's uranium-enrichment activities believed by some analysts to be aimed at building nuclear weapons. Under the agreement, there was to be a delay in reporting Iran's programmes to the United Nations Security Council in exchange for a halt to uranium enrichment work. But Teheran apparently failed to hold to its part of the deal and the International Atomic Energy Agency will now likely have to report on the problem to the Security Council. German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer called on Iranian leaders "not to make the wrong choice". "I can only again appeal to Teheran to understand how important it is abide by the agreement," said Fischer in a speech to parliament. Failure of Iran to do so could lead to "considerable new dangers" in a region already fraught with problems, said Fischer. DPA © copyright 2004 Expatica Communications BV ***************************************************************** 9 Las Vegas SUN: North Korea Warns of 'Nuclear Arms Race' By SANG-HUN CHOE ASSOCIATED PRESS SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - North Korea accused the United States of applying a double standard on the Korean Peninsula and warned Wednesday of a nuclear arms race in Northeast Asia following the revelation that South Korean scientists enriched a tiny amount of uranium in 2000. The controversy over the South Korean experiment threatened to further disrupt troubled efforts to persuade North Korea to dismantle its suspected nuclear weapons programs. North Korea's envoy to the United Nations, Han Sung Ryol, told South Korea's national news agency Yonhap that the communist state found the United States "worthless" as a dialogue partner because it was applying "double standards" to the two Koreas. Han called South Korea's uranium enrichment experiment "a dangerous move that would accelerate a nuclear arms race in Northeast Asia," Yonhap said. "We see South Korea's uranium enrichment experiment in the context of an arms race in Northeast Asia," Han was quoted as saying. "Because of the South Korean experiment, it has become difficult to control the acceleration of a nuclear arms race." Han's comments were North Korea's first reaction to the South Korean admission this week that its scientists produced a small amount of enriched uranium in an experiment in 2000. The reaction signaled that North Korea could use the South Korean experiment as leverage in any further talks on U.S.-led efforts to persuade North Korea to give up its nuclear development. Earlier Wednesday, South Korea said it should have reported the uranium enrichment experiment to the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency. South Korea admitted last week that its scientists produced 0.2 grams of enriched uranium during the experiment at its main government-affiliated nuclear research institute. "We should have reported that uranium was used during this experiment," a senior official at the South Korean Foreign Ministry said on condition of anonymity. He spoke to reporters at a briefing. South Korea has denied the experiment reflected an interest in developing nuclear weapons. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher has criticized the secret experiment as "activity that should not have occurred." But he praised South Korea for working with the IAEA to make sure the program has ended. "The United States is applying double standards," Han, the North Korean diplomat, was quoted as saying. "While saying it trusts South Korea, it is trying to force North Korea to accept nuclear inspections, concocting a story about a HEU (highly enriched uranium) program we don't even have." The South Korean experiment took place two years before a nuclear crisis erupted on the divided Korean Peninsula, when the United States accused North Korea of running a secret uranium enrichment program. North Korea denied the charge but withdrew from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty in early 2003. It has also restarted plutonium facilities that were mothballed under a 1994 accord with Washington. The impoverished North said its nuclear development was for peaceful purposes. But it also says it is increasing its "nuclear deterrent" against a U.S. plan to invade, and that it will abandon its atomic development only if Washington provides nonaggression guarantees and energy and economic aid. Washington wants North Korea to allow immediate nuclear inspections and dismantle all nuclear facilities. Accusing the United States of breaking an earlier promise to provide economic aid in return for nuclear inspections, Han called Washington "worthless" as a dialogue partner. The United States, Russia, Japan, China and the two Koreas have held talks on North Korea's suspected nuclear weapons development, and they agreed to hold another round of negotiations in Beijing this month. However, no date has been set. The South Korean Foreign Ministry official said the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency will decide next week whether the South Korean experiment was a violation of international nuclear safeguard agreements. The official insisted the experiment itself was not, but said South Korea should have reported enriched uranium had been produced. The Ministry of Science and Technology said it learned about the experiment in June, when the government made a report to the nuclear agency after signing an additional safeguards agreement earlier in the year. On Thursday, a South Korean delegation will depart for the IAEA's headquarters to explain the experiment and pledge transparency in its nuclear operations. South Korea says the enriched uranium produced during the experiment was far below the amount needed for a bomb. Besides, it was enriched to only 10 percent, much lower than the 90 percent enrichment needed for bomb-making, it says. The IAEA has also asked "plutonium-related" questions during the course of routine investigations over the years, but the plutonium issue was not mentioned in the recent IAEA report on the uranium enrichment case, the South Korean Foreign Ministry official said. "Regarding plutonium, there is nothing that could be interpreted as a violation of NPT (the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty) like the current uranium enrichment case," the official said. He declined to comment in detail, citing the confidentiality of investigation reports exchanged between the IAEA and the South Korean government. -- ***************************************************************** 10 Korea Herald: 'Uranium experiment should have been reported sooner' 2004.09.09 By Choi Soung-ah After days of investigation by the global U.N. nuclear watchdog, the government has concluded that an experiment which produced a tiny amount of enriched uranium back in 2000 "should have been reported." Admitting its failure to declare earlier that scientists at a state-run nuclear research center experimented to separate a small amount of uranium, a senior Foreign Ministry official said yesterday the government would have come clean earlier had it known about the experiment when it occurred and whether it violated any accord with the International Atomic Energy Agency. "We should have reported that uranium was being used in this experiment," the official said. "The experiment itself is not subject to declaration. It is the nuclear material extracted in that test that our government should have informed the IAEA about. Under the agreement between South Korea and the IAEA, all nuclear substance that is subjected to experiment must be reported." Adding that future scientific experiments with the same substance were still possible if reported beforehand to the IAEA, the official said the government's failure to recognize and inform the agency in 2000 could not be blamed on anyone. The official said the 0.2 grams was not a "significant quantity," and stressed it was not a "serious problem." The density of a single gram of nuclear substance is equivalent to a million times that of coal. "Under the agreement, all nuclear materials must be reported but any insignificant quantity for experiment is exempt from oversight by the watchdog," he said. "But it must be declared first to get the exemption." On Aug. 23, the government informed the IAEA there was a one-time experiment in January 2000 that led to the separation of 0.2 gram of enriched uranium at its main government-affiliated nuclear institute. Following the announcement, the IAEA last week inspected the research center where the experiment took place and returned to Vienna with a 0.1-gram sample of the enriched uranium. The Vienna-based agency will say next week whether the experiment was a violation of international nuclear safeguard agreements. "The IAEA will rule whether we violated an agreement or not and until then we cannot presume what that decision will be," the official said. The government argues that what happened in 2000 was an academic "one-time" experiment, and will send a team of officials to Vienna to attend a four-day board meeting of the IAEA starting Monday. Disclosure of the experiment set off international speculation it might be part of a nuclear arms program. The government has categorically denied suspicions it may have been building nuclear arms, emphasizing the experiment was purely academic and far below weapons-grade. Officials, mostly from the Science and Technology Ministry, said the experiment four years ago was not subject to any compulsory reporting requirement to the IAEA, but became so under an additional protocol to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty which South Korea adopted in February this year. The science-technology ministry said it learned about the experiment in June, when the government made a report to the nuclear agency after signing the additional safeguards agreement earlier in the year. Chang In-soon, head of the nuclear research center who authorized the experiment, said the research did not violate the conventional IAEA treaty because that does not require reports on every experiment, particularly any involving such an insignificant amount of uranium. "It was like a custom that we have to report only research activities involving more than 1 gram of nuclear substance, but this was only 0.2 gram of enriched uranium," Chang said in an interview with Yonhap news agency. This country has the world's sixth-largest civilian nuclear industry, with 19 nuclear power plants that produce 40 percent of the electricity. However, to operate the plants, it imports $370 million worth, or 97.3 percent, of the enriched uranium needed annually to fuel the power plants. The uranium comes mainly from the United States, Canada and Australia. The official said the government had reported to all members of the six-nation disarmament talks, excluding North Korea, on the experiment and had been commended for its action. The official said North Korea has so far not triggered a political row over the issue. (bluelle@heraldm.com) ***************************************************************** 11 KoreaTimes : Seoul Admits Mistakes in Uranium Test Hankooki.com > Korea Times > Nation By Ryu Jin Staff Reporter The 0.2 gram of enriched uranium obtained by South Korean scientists in an isolated experiment in 2000 should have been reported to the United Nations' nuclear watchdog, but the case must not exaggerated, government officials said Wednesday. ``The experiment itself and the facilities involved were not subject to reporting to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) at the time, but the 0.2 gram produced as the end result should have been reported,'' a senior official at the Foreign Affairs and Trade Ministry official said on condition of anonymity. He said the government should have reported the obtained uranium to the IAEA either before or after the experiment but couldn't because it didn't become aware of the experiment until recently. The remarks indicated a small but significant change in the government position; officials had been arguing that there was no problem with the experiment since South Korea had not yet ratified the Additional Protocol to the IAEA Safeguards Agreement. Officials, mostly from the Science and Technology Ministry, have argued that the experiment was not subject to compulsory reporting to the IAEA four years ago but became so under the Additional Protocol. South Korea ratified the fortified protocol in February this year, giving inspectors the right to conduct more intrusive, short-notice visits to nuclear sites than the main treaty. Last Thursday, South Korea admitted a one-off experiment in early 2000 led to the separation of 0.2 gram of uranium, giving rise to speculation that the experiment might have been part of a state-sponsored nuclear arms program. Officials have categorically denied these suspicions, saying the experiment was a purely academic activity carried out to satisfy some independent scientists' intellectual curiosity. Some foreign media have reported the enrichment level of the obtained uranium, though it was a very small amount, was enough to build nuclear arms. South Korean officials also rejected these reports as groundless, saying the enriched uranium was far below weapons-grade. South Korea will dispatch a delegation to the IAEA board meeting to be held from next Monday to explain the exact circumstances of the case to other board members, officials said. ``We'll try to inform other member countries of the exact situation so they can have a balanced viewpoint,'' the foreign ministry official said. ``I believe this should not be dealt with in such an exaggerated way because it is crystal clear that South Korea has abided, abides and will abide by its commitment not to have enrichment or reprocessing programs.'' He added, however, it is the IAEA that will finally conclude whether there was any breach of the nuclear non-proliferation efforts or not, despite the South Korean government position. jinryu@koreatimes.co.kr 09-08-2004 16:28 ***************************************************************** 12 BW Online: What's Scaring Bush In These Swing States | September 13, 2004 | [http://www.businessweek.com Even before the balloons and confetti rained down on the GOP faithful in Madison Square Garden, the Bush campaign was claiming victory, after a fashion. With several polls showing that the President had erased Democrat John Kerry's small lead, the President's supporters declared that the dynamic in the race now favored George W., not a rival who had spent much of August in a defensive crouch. "We're where I thought we'd be on the day after Labor Day," says chief Bush strategist Matthew Dowd. Yet as Dowd knows, it's not the popular vote that counts, since state-by-state Electoral College numbers determine the winner. And big mo' or no, Bush still faces a tough job of reaching the magic number of 270 electoral votes. Indeed, efforts to piece together an electoral majority have been complicated by a series of local political obstacles in key battlegrounds. The challenges range from wobbly state economies to demographic shifts and not-in-my-backyard environmental fights. Just look at Nevada, which Bush won by 3.5 percentage points in 2000. A recent influx of Latinos and others from California has transformed a traditionally Republican state into a toss-up. But the factor that could tip the balance is the wildly unpopular federal nuclear waste dump at Yucca Mountain, 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas. In 2000, Bush capitalized on local ire by declaring that, as President, he wouldn't O.K. dumping to any site "unless it's been deemed scientifically safe." Two years later, Bush signed a bill to designate Yucca as a nuclear waste repository, setting off vociferous local protests. And now Kerry insists he will never allow the feds to bury waste in the Silver State. Demographic shifts also have changed the political landscape in Florida. New residents from the North and non-Cuban immigrants from the Caribbean are quickly tilting the state toward the Democrats. Since 2000, there's been a 30% increase in the Hispanic voting-age population -- nearly all of it non-Cuban, notes Ed Kilgore, policy director of the centrist Democratic Leadership Council. To overcome the Dems' gains, Republicans have redoubled efforts to register conservative Christians and pro-Bush Cuban Americans. While newcomers are cause for Republican concern in Nevada and Florida, economic woes have created tighter-than-expected races in Ohio and North Carolina. In the Buckeye State, Bush is on the defensive because of the loss of 170,000 manufacturing jobs during his Presidency. "Ohio is an economically driven state frustrated with the pace of the recovery," says conservative analyst Frank I. Luntz. To overcome econo-angst, the Bush campaign is stressing "values issues" that favor the GOP, particularly Bush's opposition to gay marriage and abortion. That's also how the President is hoping to hold North Carolina, a state he carried in 2000 by 13 percentage points but which is much closer this year. The continuing decline of the textile industry, which has shed thousands of jobs, is mostly to blame. But the Vice-Presidential candidacy of John Edwards, son of a retired North Carolina mill worker, is hurting, too. An Aug. 23 Zogby poll showed Kerry and Edwards running one percentage point ahead in the state. Nevertheless, top Bush lieutenants are unabashed in their upbeat assessment of local prospects. Commerce Secretary Donald L. Evans, for instance, argues that tech and service jobs have more than compensated for the textile troubles. "North Carolina is a model example of our economy in America," Evans insists. The values debate may work in Bush's favor in Ohio and North Carolina, but it could backfire in Pennsylvania. In the GOP-leaning Philadelphia suburbs, a large bloc of culturally liberal swing voters are turned off by the party's social conservatism. A vast majority of suburban women favor gun control and abortion rights, and many consider a constitutional ban on gay marriage unwise. An Aug. 2-15 Keystone Poll, a nonpartisan statewide poll conducted by Franklin &Marshall College, found that independents and moderates in the state favored Kerry over Bush by a 2-to-1 margin. The concerns about social issues shaved Bush's lead in economically conservative suburban Philly to just three percentage points -- trouble in an area where Republicans outnumber Democrats 3 to 2. "Bush needs to be ahead by 8 to 10 percentage points there to carry the state," says Keystone Poll director G. Terry Madonna, a political scientist at Franklin &Marshall. Even if the suburban swing voters are lost, the Republicans aim to compensate for any defections in southeastern Pennsylvania by wooing culturally conservative gun owners in the depressed southwestern section of the state. That'll be a challenge: The Keystone Poll shows Kerry ahead there, 54% to 35%. In the end, the best way for Bush to win swing states is to bump up the national vote by two or three percentage points. A good convention is a start toward that goal. But Team Bush knows that it can't afford to ignore community concerns along the way. This year, as Dowd notes, "A few hundred votes in a few states can make a lot of difference." [ WIDTH=] By Richard S. Dunham in New York [http://www.businessweek.com/] [http://www.mcgraw-hill.com/] ***************************************************************** 13 iafrica.com: Charges dropped in WMD case Posted Wed, 08 Sep 2004 Charges have been withdrawn against a man arrested in Vanderbijlpark under laws governing the manufacture of weapons of mass destruction, a court official told Sapa. "The State informed me that charges were being withdrawn. I was not given a reason," said Johan Meyer. The charges were withdrawn during Meyer's second court appearance at about 11am on Wednesday. In his first appearance the court was told that his bail application was withdrawn and he was later whisked away, supposedly to prison until his next appearance on October 11. The official told Sapa that Meyer was "a free man". His attorney Heinrich Badenhorst said he could not comment on the withdrawal of the charges. Meyer was arrested last week and 11 shipping containers containing components of a centrifuge uranium plant and related documentation were seized from his factory premises in the town's industrial zone. He faced three charges under South Africa's Non-Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction Act and the Nuclear Energy Act as part of an international investigation which includes the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). A statement on Tuesday from South Africa's Council for the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons said the investigation was "in the context" of the AQ Khan "network" Abdul Khan was a leading figure in Pakistan's nuclear weapons programme, and was involved in the final test detonation of Pakistan's first nuclear bomb. In 2001 he lost his position on the orders of President Pervez Musharraf, and has since reportedly claimed that he was privately supplying components to produce nuclear weapons to Libya, Iran and North Korea. Council chairperson Abdul Minty said the items confiscated did not "constitute a weapon of mass destruction, but they are essential components in the process to enrich uranium". Sapa Copyright © 2002 iafrica.com, a division of Metropolis*. ***************************************************************** 14 NRC: STP Nuclear Operating Company, et al.; Notice of Withdrawal of FR Doc 04-20301 [Federal Register: September 8, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 173)] [Notices] [Page 54326] From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr08se04-89] Application for Amendment to Facility Operating License The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (the Commission) has granted the request of STP Nuclear Operating Company (the licensee) to withdraw its June 21, 2004, application for proposed amendment to Facility Operating License No. NPF-76 and Facility Operating License No. NPF-80 for the South Texas Project, Units 1 and 2, respectively, located in Matagorda County, Texas. The proposed amendment would have revised the Technical Specifications to extend the steam generator inspection interval. The Commission had previously issued a Notice of Consideration of Issuance of Amendment published in the Federal Register on July 20, 2004 (69 FR 43463). However, by letter dated August 12, 2004, the licensee withdrew the proposed change. For further details with respect to this action, see the application for amendment dated June 21, 2004, and the licensee's letter dated August 12, 2004, which withdrew the application for license amendment. Documents may be examined, and/or copied for a fee, at the NRC's Public Document Room (PDR), located at One White Flint North, Public File Area O1 F21, 11555 Rockville Pike (first floor), Rockville, Maryland. Publicly available records will be accessible electronically from the Agencywide Documents Access and Management Systems (ADAMS) Public Electronic Reading Room on the Internet at the NRC Web site, http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams/html [http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/leaving.cgi?from=leaving FR.html&log=linklog&to=http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams/html] . Persons who do not have access to ADAMS or who encounter problems in accessing the documents located in ADAMS, should contact the NRC PDR Reference staff by telephone at 1-800-397-4209, or 301-415-4737 or by e-mail to pdr@nrc.gov [pdr@nrc.gov] . Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 30th day of August, 2004. For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. David H. Jaffe, Senior Project Manager, Section 1, Project Directorate IV, Division of Licensing Project Management, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation. [FR Doc. 04-20301 Filed 9-7-04; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590-01-P ***************************************************************** 15 OECD: Debate on nuclear energy sparks significant interest Press Communiqué 8 September 2004 - [http://www.oecd.org] During a session of the World Energy Congress that he chaired earlier today, Luis Echávarri, Director-General of the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA), stated that “this debate on nuclear energy could not be timelier. The coming years will be crucial in determining what contribution nuclear energy will make to the world energy supply and to sustainable development. Experience shows that as a large-scale, nearly carbon-free energy source, it is one of the cheapest ways to reduce GHG emissions.” Mr. Echávarri noted that the security of energy supply, in terms of both availability of resources and affordable prices, as well as the protection of the environment, notably from climate change, were driving many governments to reassess their energy policies and to consider several options, including nuclear. Mr Echávarri's comments came during a discussion session on nuclear power at the 19th World Energy Congress in Sydney, Australia. In summing up the session – the conclusions of which will be presented to the WEC ministerial forum tomorrow – Mr. Echávarri said that nuclear power is already making an important contribution to the diversification of energy resources as well as to the prevention of climate change. Nuclear power currently provides 16% of the world electricity supply, reducing global CO2 emissions by nearly 10%. Session participants discussed means to increase the competitiveness of nuclear power in liberalised electricity markets and the progress achieved in providing acceptable solutions for the final disposal of high-level radioactive waste. Mr. Echávarri joined many key speakers at the congress in concluding that this 19 th World Energy Congress is a turning point in the consideration of nuclear power as one of the viable options for future sustainable energy policies. ### The World Energy Congress meets every three years. It brings together over 2000 participants from all over the world and includes energy industry leaders, government ministers, heads of inter-governmental organisations, academics and international energy experts. (WEC website: [http://www.worldenergy.org/] ) News media contact, in Australia, only during WEC on 5-9 September 2004: Thierry Dujardin Tel. +33 6 07 44 00 76 Fax +61 2 9248 0894 (Congress organisers) News media contact, rest of the world: Karen Daifuku Head of the Executive Office, Central Secretariat, External Relations and Public Affairs Tel. +33 (0)1 45 24 10 10 Fax +33 (0)1 45 24 11 10 E-mail: [daifuku@nea.fr] Website: [http://www.nea.fr/] The NEA consists of 28 OECD member countries. The mission of the NEA is to assist its member countries in maintaining and further developing, through international co-operation, the scientific, technological and legal bases required for a safe, environmentally friendly and economical use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. The NEA also provides authoritative assessments and forges common understandings on key issues, as input to government decisions on nuclear energy policy and to broader OECD policy analyses in areas such as energy and sustainable development. ***************************************************************** 16 AFP: Romania concerned about Bulgarian plans to build new nuclear reactor [http://www.spacewar.com/] [http://www.spacewar.com/] BUCHAREST (AFP) Sep 08, 2004 Romanian and Bulgarian officials met Wednesday to try and defuse mounting tension between the two neighbouring countries over Bulgaria's plan to build a nuclear power plant near the Danube. Representatives and experts from each country met in the southern Romanian town of Turnu Magurele where residents demonstrated against the project which they claim could lead to a nuclear catastrophe similar to the 1986 disaster in Chernobyl. Some of the demonstrators carried placards that read "We don't want another Chernobyl", "No to radioactive pollution", the Rompers news agency reported. Romania, which like Bulgaria is hoping to join the European Union in 2007, is concerned about the environmental impact of the planned project and is insisting that it meet European standards. In a petition entitled "Stop the nightmare", Liviu Dragnea, the head of the regional council in Teleorman, in southern Romania, said the region was faced with "the worst threat in its recent history" and listed the potential threats from the Bulgarian project. However, Teodor Chirica, head of the Romanian atomic energy forum, defended the project saying that it could not be compared with Chernobyl, the site of the world's worst nuclear disaster. The Bulgarian government decided at the end of 2002 to relaunch the project to build a nuclear plant at Belene that was begun in 1987 but abandoned the idea three years later after pressure from environmentalists. The state had invested 1.3 billion dollars (1.04 billion euros) in infrastructure and had bought a Czech 1,000 megawatt water pressure reactor. Several foreign companies, including Atomic Energy of Canada (AECL) have expressed interest in jointly building the plant and AECL officials earlier this year said they would submit their design to the European Union to seek its approval. Belene lies 40 kilometres (25 miles) to the west of Kozloduy, which provides more than 45 percent of Bulgaria's electricity. The plant has six reactors but the two oldest were shut down at the end of Two other Soviet-era 440-megawatt reactors are due to be shut down in 2006 under an agreement with Brussels made during the course of Bulgaria's accession negotiations with the European Union. All rights reserved. © 2004 [http://www.afp.com/] . Sections of ***************************************************************** 17 The Advocate: Dominion to buy three New England power plants Associated Press September 7, 2004 RICHMOND, Va. -- Energy giant Dominion Resources Inc., owner of the Millstone nuclear power complex in Waterford, Conn., will buy three power plants from USGen New England Inc. for $656 million, the companies announced Tuesday. The transaction includes $536 million in cash plus an adjustment for inventory and certain capital expenditures before an expected March 2005 closing. The adjustment is estimated at $120 million. The sale must be approved by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Maryland, which is overseeing USGen New England's July 2003 bankruptcy filing. The power plants will be offered at public auction to ensure there are no other bidders willing to top Dominion's offer. The deal also is subject to antitrust and other regulatory reviews. The plants include the 1,599-megawatt coal- and oil-fired Brayton Point Station in Somerset, Mass.; the 745-megawatt coal- and oil-fired Salem Harbor Station in Salem, Mass.; and the 495-megawatt combined-cycle natural gas-fired Manchester Street Station in Providence, R.I. "This exceptional set of assets provides a unique fit with Dominion's existing generation platform in the Northeast," said Thomas E. Capps, chairman and chief executive of Richmond-based Dominion. "All in all, these new units increase Dominion's generation portfolio by 10 percent and improve our competitive position in a region whose retail and wholesale markets are as robust as any in the country," he said. The three facilities employ about 515 workers. Dominion is one of the nation's largest producers of energy, with an energy portfolio of about 25,500 megawatts of generation, 6.4 trillion cubic feet equivalent of proved natural gas reserves and 7,900 miles of natural gas transmission pipeline. USGen New England, based in Bethesda, Md., is a subsidiary of National Energy &Gas Transmission Inc., which is in a separately administered Chapter 11 proceeding. Dominion shares rose 67 cents, or 1 percent, to close at $65.43 Tuesday on the New York Stock Exchange. They lost 19 cents in extended trading, after the sale was announced. Copyright © 2004, The Associated Press [Aparrtments.com] ***************************************************************** 18 UCS: UCS scientists featured in Indian Point film to air on HBO [Union of Concerned Scientists September 7, 2004 Two UCS scientists, David Lochbaum, nuclear safety engineer in the Clean Energy program and Dr. Edwin Lyman, senior scientist in the Global Security program, will appear in a forthcoming HBO film on Indian Point that airs on Thursday, September 9 at 8:00pm on both coasts. Indian Point: Imagining the Unimaginable, made by Rory Kennedy, youngest daughter of Robert F Kennedy, is an investigation of the controversy surrounding the Indian Point nuclear power facility situated just 35 miles from midtown Manhattan. The film debunks myths that the plant could withstand a terrorist attack without a serious radiation leak and examines the inadequate security, evacuation plans and on-site protection of key areas of the plant. While the Nuclear Regulatory Commission takes pains to point out the alleged impregnability of the reactor dome, Lochbaum observes that terrorists would be unlikely to aim for the most robust target. He compares the reactor control room to the brain of the plant and states: "If you destroy the brain, the body doesn't have long to live." Dr. Lyman points up the vulnerability of the spent fuel pool and the dangers of a cesium 137 release if the pool were successfully attacked and ignited. Author of a forthcoming study on the human health impacts of a successful terrorist attack at Indian Point, Lyman is also critical of the evacuation plans which account only for those living within a 10-mile radius of the plant and ignore New York City altogether. Lyman's study was commissioned by Riverkeeper, an advocacy group that monitors the Hudson River ecosystem and challenges polluters, using both legal and grass roots campaigns. Imagining the Unimaginable will be followed on HBO by Chernobyl Heart, Maryann DeLeo's Academy Award® winning short documentary. Chernobyl Heart underscores how children have suffered the greatest from serious health conditions due to the Chernobyl nuclear reactor accident in 1986. © Union of Concerned Scientists ***************************************************************** 19 TheDay.com: Dominion To Buy Power Plants In R.I., Massachusetts Wednesday, Sep 8, 2004 Richmond, Va.  Energy giant Dominion Resources Inc., owner of the Millstone nuclear power complex in Waterford, will buy three power plants from USGen New England Inc. for $656 million, the companies announced Tuesday. The transaction includes $536 million in cash plus an adjustment for inventory and certain capital expenditures before an expected March 2005 closing. The adjustment is estimated at $120 million. The sale must be approved by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Maryland, which is overseeing USGen New England's July 2003 bankruptcy filing. The power plants will be offered at public auction to ensure there are no other bidders willing to top Dominion's offer. The deal also is subject to antitrust and other regulatory reviews. The plants include the 1,599-megawatt coal- and oil-fired Brayton Point Station in Somerset, Mass.; the 745-megawatt coal- and oil-fired Salem Harbor Station in Salem, Mass.; and the 495-megawatt combined-cycle natural gas-fired Manchester Street Station in Providence. This exceptional set of assets provides a unique fit with Dominion's existing generation platform in the Northeast, said Thomas E. Capps, chairman and chief executive of Richmond-based Dominion. All in all, these new units increase Dominion's generation portfolio by 10 percent and improve our competitive position in a region whose retail and wholesale markets are as robust as any in the country, he said. The three facilities employ about 515 workers. Dominion is one of the nation's largest producers of energy, with an energy portfolio of about 25,500 megawatts of generation, 6.4 trillion cubic feet equivalent of proved natural gas reserves and 7,900 miles of natural gas transmission pipeline. USGen New England, based in Bethesda, Md., is a subsidiary of National Energy &Gas Transmission Inc., which is in a separately administered Chapter 11 proceeding. Dominion shares rose 67 cents, or 1 percent, to close at $65.43 Tuesday on the New York Stock Exchange. They lost 19 cents in extended trading, after the sale was announced. 1998-2004 The Day Publishing Co. ***************************************************************** 20 TheDay.com: Millstone Owner Will Ask Court To Dismiss Dry Storage Appeal Wednesday, Sep 8, 2004 By PATRICIA DADDONA Day Staff Writer, Waterford Published on 9/8/2004 Waterford  Dominion Nuclear Connecticut Inc. plans to file a motion next month to dismiss a court challenge against its dry storage facility by the Connecticut Coalition Against Millstone. Earlier this summer, the coalition appealed the Millstone Power Station owner's new state permit to construct a concrete pad and 49 concrete storage modules and metal casks for spent fuel east of the station's three nuclear reactors. The appeal is being heard before Judge George Levine in New Britain Superior Court. Dominion spokesman James Norvelle confirmed Tuesday that the company intends to file a motion to dismiss the appeal. He said he could not reach corporate attorneys, however, to confirm specific arguments they reportedly presented in court on Friday, when coalition attorney Paulann Sheets amended the coalition's appeal and requested a halt to construction. In the amended appeal and request for a stay, the coalition accuses Dominion of sidestepping approaches to added storage that could better protect the public from radioactivity and terrorist threats. The coalition does not object to the storage facility itself, but wants to ensure it is done right, Sheets said. Sheets said Tuesday that Dominion attorneys told Levine their motion to dismiss would show that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and not the court, has authority over matters pertaining to radioactive emissions from power plant sites, and that other federal agencies and not the court should rule on matters related to reactors and terrorism. A third argument Dominion said it would make, according to Sheets, is that there is no specific harm to any of the parties to the appeal. Because the coalition amended its appeal, Dominion has until Oct. 4 to file its motion to dismiss, Sheets said. Norvelle and Sheets said that Levine has required Dominion to notify the court in advance of any transfer of spent fuel from the existing cooling pools on site to the new metal casks, so that the court could hold a hearing on the coalition's proposal to halt construction. p.daddona@theday.com 1998-2004 The Day Publishing Co. ***************************************************************** 21 PRN: NRC Releases Draft Environmental Impact Statement [http://www.prnewswire.com/] [ /] Finds Nearly All Environmental Impacts 'Not Detectable and Minor' HOBBS, N.M., Sept. 8 /PRNewswire/ -- The Louisiana Energy Services (LES) today announced that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has released its Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the proposed National Enrichment Facility (NEF) outside Eunice, New Mexico. They found that the NEF will have a "SMALL" to "MODERATE" impact on the environment and a "POSITIVE" socioeconomic impact for the community, particularly with respect to jobs and revenue added to the local economy. "We are very pleased with the Draft EIS," said Jim Ferland, President of Louisiana Energy Services (LES). "The NRC's technical analysts, engineers and scientists, along with two environmental consulting firms did an independent evaluation of our part of the license application. Their evaluation of the impact of the NEF on the environment validated and affirmed our conclusions." The Draft EIS found the environmental impact of the facility to have a "SMALL" impact on land use, historical and cultural resources, visual and scenic resources, air quality, geology and soil, water resources, ecological resources, environmental justice, waste management, public and occupational health and safety, noise and facility decommissioning. The NRC defines "SMALL" impact to mean the environmental effects are "not detectable or are so minor that they would neither destabilize nor noticeably alter any important attribute of the resource." The NRC report says the NEF will have a "SMALL to MODERATE" impact on the following: transportation during construction due to increased road traffic; when any accidents occur; for the temporary storage of byproduct containers. The NRC defines "MODERATE" impact as "the environmental effects are sufficient to noticeably alter but not destabilize important attributes of the resource." The facility was found to have no "LARGE" environmental impacts, defined as "clearly noticeable and sufficient to destabilize important attributes of the resource." The NRC also found that "the proposed NEF would provide an additional, reliable, and economical domestic source of enrichment services for U.S. utilities" and that "this facility would contribute to the attainment of national energy security policy objectives by providing for an additional source of low-enriched uranium." The Draft EIS was prepared in compliance with the National Environment Policy Act (NEPA) and NRC regulations for implementing NEPA. It evaluated the potential environmental impacts of the construction and operation of the NEF and its reasonable alternatives. The document also describes the environment potentially affected by the NEF, presents and compares the potential environmental impacts resulting from the facility and its alternatives, and describes LES's environmental monitoring program and mitigation measures. The Draft EIS was prepared by the NRC's Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards and its environmental consultants Advanced Technologies and Laboratories International, Inc., and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. The public comment period for the Draft EIS will end in early November 2004. The NEF will provide more than 200 permanent jobs and more than 400 multi- year construction jobs in Southeast New Mexico. It will use a proven technology that has operated safely in Europe for 30 years. NEF expects that the facility byproduct will be treated by a new privately operated deconversion facility, and be safely disposed of following that treatment. LES is now in discussions with three companies possessing deconversion technology. LES is a partnership of major nuclear energy companies. Partners include Urenco, Westinghouse and U.S. energy companies Duke Power, Entergy and Exelon. SOURCE Louisiana Energy Services [http://www.prnewswire.com/media/] ***************************************************************** 22 NRC: NRC Releases York, PA., Site for Unrestricted Use News Release - 2004-107 - U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Office of Public Affairs Telephone: 301/415-8200 Washington, DC 20555-0001 E-mail: opa@nrc.gov [opa@nrc.gov] www.nrc.gov No. 04-107 September 7, 2004 NRC RELEASES YORK, PA., SITE FOR UNRESTRICTED USE Printable Version [PDF Icon] The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has granted the request of Molycorp, Inc., to terminate its license to possess radioactive material at a former chemical manufacturing plant near York, Pa., and released the site for unrestricted use. The company used ores containing low levels of radioactive material as feedstock in the chemical manufacturing process. Molycorp has completed site decommissioning and post-decommissioning groundwater monitoring of the site as set out in its NRC-approved decommissioning plan, and the land is now safe for other uses, said Daniel M. Gillen, Deputy Director for the Decommissioning Directorate, NRC Division of Waste Management and Environmental Protection. We have verified this assessment through independent radiation surveys by the NRC and its contractor. The property is located in Spring Garden Township just outside York city limits. It occupies approximately 6 acres bounded by North Sherman Street to the east, Olive Street to the north, Hudson Street to the west and the active Norfolk and Southern Railroad line to the south. In a January 1993 letter to the NRC, Molycorp announced that all operations using NRC-licensed material at the York site had ceased. All buildings on the site have been decontaminated and removed, and surface and subsurface soils have been remediated. Based on these actions taken by the licensee, the staffs review of the licensees radiation surveys, and the results of the staffs confirmatory surveys, the NRC concluded that the licensee has completed the decommissioning activities in accordance with its approved decommissioning plan, and the site is suitable for unrestricted release. The NRC published a notice of the companys proposed license termination in the Federal Register on February 26, 2001, and offered an opportunity to request a hearing. No requests for a hearing were received. Molycorp is still actively cleaning up another former chemical manufacturing facility, located in Washington, Pa. Privacy Policy | Site Disclaimer Last revised Wednesday, September 08, 2004 ***************************************************************** 23 NRC: NRC Issues Third National Report for the Convention on Nuclear Safety News Release - 2004-10 U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Office of Public Affairs Telephone: 301/415-8200 Washington, DC 20555-0001 E-mail: opa@nrc.gov No. 04-108 September 8, 2004 The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has issued its Third National Report for the Convention on Nuclear Safety, outlining how the U.S. government adheres to the conventions objective of a high level of nuclear safety worldwide. The updated report highlights the NRCs revised strategic goals and the main nuclear safety issues facing the agency and nuclear power plant licensees, including reactor vessel cracking, pressurized-water reactor containment sump performance, electric grid reliability, emergency preparedness and security. Also in the report are major accomplishments, including amendments to regulatory actions that have been accomplished in the past three years concerning operator training, radiation protection, decommissioning funding, partial site release, importing of components, electronic maintenance and submission of information, fire protection and hearing procedures. The 2004 report, which updates a 2001 report, will be peer reviewed by parties to the convention. Every three years the countries participating in the convention, currently more than 50, must submit reports on their programs for peer review as an incentive to achieve the highest possible levels of safety. The Third National Report Review Meeting will be held in Vienna, Austria, in April 2005. The report will be available through NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS), at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams/web-based.html, using accession number ML042450148. For help in using ADAMS, call the NRC Public Document Room at 1-800-397-4209 or 301-415-4737. Copies of the report (NUREG-1650, Rev. 1) will also be available at the NRCs Public Electronic Reading Room: http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/nuregs/ and at the NRC Public Document Room in Rockville, Md. Last revised Wednesday, September 08, 2004 ***************************************************************** 24 NRC: NRC Seeks Public Comment on Decommissioning Plan for University of Michigan Research Reactor News Release - 2004-10 U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Office of Public Affairs Telephone: 301/415-8200 Washington, DC 20555-0001 E-mail: opa@nrc.gov No. 04-109 September 8, 2004 The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is seeking public comment on the University of Michigans plan for decommissioning its research reactor in Ann Arbor. The NRC is reviewing the plan, which was submitted June 23, to determine whether it meets NRC regulations and to ensure the proposed actions will not pose a threat to the health and safety of the public or to the common defense and security. The Ford Nuclear Reactor at the universitys North Campus is one of the nations oldest research reactors, having gone critical in 1957 and operated successfully until it was shut down permanently July 3, 2003, and its fuel subsequently returned to the Department of Energy. It is a two-megawatt, open-pool reactor that used fuel composed of aluminum and enriched uranium-235. The reactor generated no electricity, but was used by students and faculty from the university and other institutions for research and experiments. It was also used for irradiation, radiography and production of isotopes for medical uses. The decommissioning plan describes the process and methods to be used to decontaminate or remove radioactive materials, equipment, components and other media associated with the reactor in a safe, orderly manner while preventing radiation exposures. Successful decommissioning could result in termination of the reactors license and NRCs release of the site for unrestricted use. A notice on the decommissioning plans was published today (Sept. 8) in the Federal Register. Comments on the decommissioning plan should be submitted no later than Sept. 30 to Patrick M. Madden, chief of the Research and Test Reactors Section, Mail Stop O12-G13, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, D.C. 20555. Last revised Wednesday, September 08, 2004 ***************************************************************** 25 NRC: Notice and Solicitation of Comments Pursuant to 10 CFR 20.1405 FR Doc 04-20300 [Federal Register: September 8, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 173)] [Notices] [Page 54326-54327] From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr08se04-90] and 10 CFR 50.82(b)(5) Concerning Proposed Action to Decommission the University of Michigan Ford Nuclear Reactor (FNR) Notice is hereby given that the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (the Commission) has received an application from the University of Michigan dated June 23, 2004, for a license amendment approving its proposed decommissioning plan for the FNR (Facility License No. R-28) located in Ann Arbor, Michigan. In accordance with 10 CFR 20.1405, the Commission is providing notice and soliciting comments from local and [[Page 54327]] State governments in the vicinity of the site and any Indian Nation or other indigenous people that have treaty or statutory rights that could be affected by the decommissioning. This notice and solicitation of comments is published pursuant to 10 CFR 20.1405, which provides for publication in the Federal Register and in a forum, such as local newspapers, letters to State or local organizations, or other appropriate forum, that is readily accessible to individuals in the vicinity of the site. Comments should be provided within 30 days of the date of this notice to Patrick M. Madden, Chief, Research and Test Reactors Section, New, Research and Test Reactors Program, Division of Regulatory Improvement Programs, Mail Stop O12-G13, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555. Further, in accordance with 10 CFR 50.82(b)(5), notice is also provided to interested persons of the Commission's intent to approve the plan by amendment, subject to such conditions and limitations as it deems appropriate and necessary, if the plan demonstrates that decommissioning will be performed in accordance with the regulations in this chapter and will not be inimical to the common defense and security or to the health and safety of the public. A copy of the application is available electronically for public inspection in the NRC Public Document Room or from the Publicly Available Records component of the NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS). ADAMS is accessible from the NRC Web site at (the Public Electronic Reading Room) http://www.nrc.gov/ reading-rm/adams.html [http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/leaving.cgi?from=leaving FR.html&log=linklog&to=http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html] . Dated in Rockville, Maryland, this 31st day of August, 2004. For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Patrick M. Madden, Section Chief, Research and Test Reactors Section, New Research and Test Reactors Program, Division of Regulatory Improvement Programs, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation. [FR Doc. 04-20300 Filed 9-7-04; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590-01-P ***************************************************************** 26 news24: Mystery WMD-case twist [http://www.news24.com Vanderbijlpark - Charges were dropped without explanation on Wednesday against a South African engineering company boss accused of trafficking in nuclear-related equipment. The national prosecuting authority announced that all charges against Johan Meyer had been dropped. Makhosini Nkosi, a spokesman for the authority, refused to explain the decision or confirm whether Meyer had been released. He referred all questions to Abdul Minty, chairman of the South African Council for the Non-proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction, who has not yet returned calls seeking comment. Meyer's lawyer, Heinrich Badenhorst, also declined to comment on the matter. Earlier on Wednesday, lawyers for Meyer withdrew his bail application during a brief appearance at Vanderbijlpark Magistrates Court, and the case was postponed until October 11 for further investigation. Officials said Meyer's arrest last week was part of international investigations into the network of Abdul Qadeer Khan, the disgraced founder of Pakistan's nuclear weapons programme who admitted in February to passing nuclear technology to other countries. Seized 11 shipping containers Meyer, 53, was arrested at his Tradefin Engineering company in Vanderbijlpark and charged with violating South Africa's Non-Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction Act and Nuclear Energy Act. He was not asked to plead. He was accused of helping to supply equipment to Libya's now-abandoned nuclear weapons programme. According to the charge sheet, he imported and exported a flow-forming lathe manufactured by Spanish-based company Denn without the necessary permit. Police and other investigators also seized 11 shipping containers containing components of a centrifuge uranium enrichment plant and related documentation during a raid at his company, about 90km outside Johannesburg, said the non-proliferation council in a statement on Tuesday. Meyer's lawyer, Badenhorst, said the items seized also could have benign uses. He maintained on Wednesday there was no link between his client and the weapons network. Meyer was the third South Africa-based suspect arrested on suspicion of providing rogue states with equipment that could be used to make nuclear weapons. Men arrested in Germany, US Intelligence officials fear the technology could end up in the hands of terrorists. A suspect identified only as Gerhard W was arrested in Germany in August and accused of acting as a middleman in a 2001 request to provide pipes to Libya for use in a uranium enrichment facility. A company in South Africa manufactured the pipes, but they apparently were not delivered to Libya, prosecutors there said. Another South Africa-based suspect, Israeli businessman Asher Karni, was arrested in Denver on New Year's Day and accused of using front companies and falsified documents to buy nuclear bomb triggers in the United States for shipment to Pakistan. Edited by Iaine Harper ***************************************************************** 27 Las Vegas SUN: Army Begins Disposing of Nerve Gas Rockets By ANDREW KRAMER ASSOCIATED PRESS HERMISTON, Ore. (AP) - After years of tests and hundreds of millions of dollars, disposal began Wednesday at a remote site near the Columbia River of one of the U.S. military's last stockpiles of deadly chemical weapons left over from the Cold War. Carrying gas masks and syringes of antidote, workers at the Umatilla Chemical Depot used remote-controlled equipment to begin destroying nearly 4,000 tons of nerve gas rockets and other chemical weapons stockpiled since 1962. "It's an incredibly historic day. This is a Cold War-era mission that is today starting to end," said Mary Binder, an Army spokeswoman at the depot. With the first rocket disposal on Wednesday, the Army now has three working chemical weapons incinerators in the United States - Hermiston; Tooele, Utah; and Anniston, Ala. A fourth is expected to open next spring in Pine Bluff, Ark. Four other four sites - at Newport, Ind., Blue Grass Ky., Edgewood, Del., and Pueblo, Colo. - use chemical neutralization rather than incinerators. An M-55 rocket loaded with sarin nerve agent was the first of more than 220,000 weapons scheduled to be destroyed, officials said. Workers had removed a pallet of 15 M-55 rockets from an earth-covered and concrete-reinforced storage igloo Tuesday. The disposal process starts with robotic machinery removing the explosive charge, then punching open the warhead to drain about a gallon of deadly sarin into a storage tank. The metal rocket would then be chopped into eight parts and run through a decontaminating furnace, one of four high-temperature incinerators at the sprawling facility in the northeastern corner of the state. Exhaust from the incinerators would be sent through an afterburner and filters before being released into the atmosphere. Liquid chemical agent drained from the warheads would be collected for about a month until a sufficient amount accumulates to begin destroying it in a separate high-temperature incinerator. The first incineration comes after years of delays in construction and testing, and in spite of a pending lawsuit seeking to block the process. A Multnomah County judge denied a request by the opposition group GASP for a preliminary injunction in August. Oregon Court of Appeals Judge Walt Edmonds gave the group 10 days to seek an injunction in higher court, but the group had not filed by Tuesday. Hermiston-based GASP says burning the weapons risks an accidental release of chemical agents. The group favors the newer chemical neutralization process. Burning was to have begun Aug. 16, but was postponed at the last minute after a trial run because ventilation system monitors showed larger amounts than expected of a test chemical. The Umatilla Chemical Depot holds about 12 percent of the nation's remaining chemical weapons. The military began stockpiling rockets, artillery shells, bombs, land mines and sprayers containing nerve and mustard agents there beginning in 1962. The 7.3 million pounds of weapons are scheduled to be destroyed by 2010 at a cost of $2.4 billion. -- ***************************************************************** 28 Spectrum: DSC to put on presentation about fallout - thespectrum.com Wednesday, September 8, 2004 By PATRICE ST. GERMAIN patrices@thespectrum.com If You Go WHAT: Radioactive fallout presentation. WHEN: 7 p.m. Thursday. WHERE: Dunford Auditorium on the Dixie State College campus. ST. GEORGE -- Two homegrown scientists who experienced the fallout of nuclear testing from the Nevada Test Site will give a presentation on radiation issues Thursday. Bruce W. Church of Hurricane and Antone L. Brooks, formerly of St. George, will speak at a public education program put on by Dixie State College. Church said he has studied fallout most of his career and will talk about radiation fallout. Brooks will talk about radiobiology. "We want to present the science and let people get a healthy dose of science and see if that adds up to the anecdotal stuff they have been fed over the years," Church said. Brooks, with bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of Utah in radiation ecology, has conducted 20 years of research on the health effects of internally-deposited radioactive materials. His extensive laboratory research has focused on radiation-induced cancer and chromosome changes with emphasis on risk from internally-deposited radioactive materials. Church, who was raised in LaVerkin, has a bachelor's degree in molecular/radiobiology from the University of Utah and a master's degree in radiological health from Colorado State University. Church was affiliated with the Nevada Test Site for 31 years and has conducted studies on the distribution of fallout from the test site. He has also specialized in the topic of radioactivity in the environment. Church said he and Brooks are looking forward to presenting the program, which is designed to give the details of the radioactive fallout that occurred in Southern Utah and the effects of exposure to ionizing radiation during the 1950s and 1960s. "Tony and I would like to present the science and give people a chance to make up their own minds," Church said. Originally published Wednesday, September 8, 2004 ***************************************************************** 29 SDUT: Company uses bacteria to break down chemical found in Colorado River San Diego Union Tribune By Henry Brean ASSOCIATED PRESS 2:02 a.m. September 8, 2004 LAS VEGAS  A single-cell organism with an appetite for perchlorate has joined the fight to clean up decades worth of contamination that has found its way into the Colorado River from a Henderson chemical plant. The cutting-edge process was launched in May by Oklahoma City-based Kerr-McGee Chemical and environmental management firm Veolia Water. It is being used to clean about 1,000 gallons of contaminated water per minute, replacing a less-efficient process known as ion exchange. "We've turned off the ion exchange and we're using bugs," said Patrick Corbett, director of environmental affairs for Kerr-McGee. If ingested, perchlorate can inhibit the ability of the thyroid gland to produce hormones that control growth and metabolism. No safe drinking water standard exists for the chemical, but the Environmental Protection Agency is developing one with assistance from the National Academy of Sciences. "We do see this as a very important issue," said Todd Croft, who is supervising the perchlorate cleanup for the Nevada Department of Environmental Protection. "Nobody wants to have a contaminant in their water. Even though this is an unregulated chemical, it doesn't belong there." In years past, the chemical seeped into groundwater and Lake Mead by way of the Las Vegas Wash during the production of sodium perchlorate and ammonium perchlorate, two compounds most widely used in rocket fuel. Veolia's "bugs" use perchlorate in much the same way. They don't eat it so much as break it down and use its oxygen molecules to help digest their favorite meal, a mixture of ethanol and other nutrients. Corbett said the food mix has to be just right or the bacteria does not perform properly. "It's a living system, so you can insult it. The bugs like consistency," he said. "They can be finicky. We're learning as we go." Veolia owns the process, and details about the bacteria, including its name, remain a closely guarded secret. Kerr-McGee officials would say only that it is a single-cell organism that occurs naturally and is not harmful to people. "There are a lot of advantages to this biologic system," said Croft, remediation branch supervisor of the environmental protection department's Bureau of Corrective Actions. Ion exchange is limited on how much perchlorate it can remove, he said. And the bacteria also cleans the water of nitrates and other pollutants. The amount of perchlorate that finds its way into Lake Mead has been reduced by 85 percent, Croft said. Samples taken from the lake and the Colorado River downstream from Hoover Dam show concentrations of the chemical have steadily dropped since the cleanup began. Kerr-McGee has spent more than $100 million so far on the cleanup, according to company officials. "I've got to tell you, Kerr-McGee is being very aggressive about this issue," said Tom Harbour, water planning supervisor for the Central Arizona Project. "This is the sins of the past that they're having to take care of. This is from decades ago, and they are really stepping up and using some cutting edge technology." Central Arizona Project officials are closely monitoring cleanup activities in Henderson, roughly 200 miles upstream from canals that divert Colorado River water to Phoenix, Tucson and farms throughout the southern half of Arizona. The Southern Nevada Water Authority takes weekly samples from various depths and locations around Lake Mead, which supplies the Las Vegas Valley with 90 percent of its drinking water. The most recent testing showed 4.2 parts per billion of perchlorate in water pulled from the lake for use in Las Vegas, a level so low that water authority equipment could barely detect it. One part per billion amounts to about one drop in an Olympic-size swimming pool. Before production stopped in 1998, the Kerr-McGee plant produced a total of 30,000 tons of sodium perchlorate and ammonium perchlorate each month. In 1997, Metropolitan Water District of Southern California first discovered perchlorate in the Colorado River water it delivers to its customers. Studies since have found trace amounts of the chemical in lettuce and milk from dairy cows exposed to Colorado River water. About the Union-Tribune | Contact the Union-Tribune © Copyright 2004 Union-Tribune Publishing Co. ***************************************************************** 30 BYU NewsNet: Citizens pushing Bennett to vote no to nuclear testing By Brian Rust NewsNet Staff Reporter - 8 Sep 2004 A Utah organization is urging citizens to tell Senator Bennett to vote against funding for new nuclear weapons research, which could eventually lead to resumed nuclear testing at a Nevada test site. The Healthy Environment Alliance of Utah, a non-profit organization who's stated mission is to protect the public from the risks of nuclear and toxic wastes, said citizens need to call Senator Bennett and let him know how they feel about funding for nuclear weapon research. The organization claims it is concerned for two reasons: no nuclear testing is 100 percent safe and there is a possibility of building new nuclear weapons facilities that will create nuclear and toxic waste. "That legacy [former nuclear testing] really taught us the lesson that no nuclear test can ever be done absolutely safely," said Vanessa Pierce, Heal Utah program director. "As a country, we got assurances from the federal government decades ago that those nuclear tests were safe, and yet even today we're seeing the human health impacts that those tests left us with." Pierce said that Congress's own office of technology of assessment conducted a study about nuclear testing. The study concluded there can never be 100 percent confidence that radioactive material will not be released during an underground test. HEAL Utah said there is no actual proposal at this time to renew testing, but the possibility of gaining funding for nuclear weapons research could lead to upgrading nuclear testing facilities and possibly future nuclear testing. "Funding is the linchpin to developing new nuclear weapons," Pierce said. "If Senator Bennett really wants to ensure that Utah does not see a second generation of down-winders, he will do his utmost to cut the $96 million for nuclear weapons programs." Senator Bennett is part of a 13 member Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee that voted last year to spend $57.7 million for nuclear weapons programs. Bennett was the tie-breaking vote to either cut funding or approve it, and he voted to approve the funding. According to Pierce, the Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water will decide whether to allocate tens of millions of dollars for nuclear-related activities this year. "He [Bennett] is the tie-breaking vote, and will make the critical difference," said Pierce. The subcommittees are expected to vote on the issues on Thursday. Senator Bennett's staff was not available for comments at this time. [http://newsnet.byu.edu] E-mail Copyright, BYU NewsNet ***************************************************************** 31 JOURNAL NEWS: Study sees 44,000 radiation deaths By ROGER WITHERSPOON THE JOURNAL NEWS (Original publication: September 8, 2004) A new study predicts that a Sept. 11-type terrorist attack on the Indian Point nuclear power plants could result in 44,000 deaths from radiation poisoning and more than a half-million deaths over time from radiation-induced cancer in residents living within 50 miles of Buchanan. The study, released yesterday by Edwin Lyman of the Union of Concerned Scientists in Washington, also predicts that the economic impact of an attack using jumbo jets could exceed $2 trillion and "millions of people would require permanent relocation." But the 54-page assessment titled "Chernobyl on the Hudson?" was immediately attacked by both the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission and Entergy Nuclear Northeast, which owns the Indian Point plants. "Nuclear power plants in general, and Indian Point specifically, would be able to withstand that sort of an assault," said NRC spokesman Neil Sheehan. The agency, he said, conducted a secret study of the impact of a suicide crash of a jetliner into several nuclear plants, though he would not release any details. "A crash by a jumbo jet into Indian Point was part of the vulnerability studies that were done," Sheehan said. "They indicate there would not be significant release of radioactivity if a plane were to crash into a nuclear power plant." The secret report would contradict a 1982 study by the Army Corps of Engineers, conducted for the NRC and U.S. Department of Energy, which found that a commercial jet traveling at more than 466 mph would crash through the average nuclear reactor containment building. The engineer corps predicted that the fuel would spill out in an aerosol bomb that would "overwhelm" all internal systems to protect the reactor and contain the release of radiation. Mike Slobodien, director of emergency programs at Indian Point, said Lyman's estimates are "wildly too high," though he could not say what level he considered more realistic. He added that safety measures at the plants would further reduce the risk of widespread radioactive contamination. While both the NRC and Entergy consistently claim the plants could withstand such an attack, they "have not provided the public with any documentation of the assumptions and calculations underlying these claims," Lyman said. His assessment of the spread of radiation was based on a computer analysis of 140,000 combinations of weather and wind patterns for the Indian Point site, based on a year of actual weather data. The heaviest death toll occurred in slight rain conditions with the wind blowing toward New York City. In this case, the bulk of the most lethal radioactive particles would fall quickly, rather than drift for thousands of miles. "If you wanted to maximize the number of deaths," Lyman said, "you would want conditions where there is more radiation released closer to the plant. If there is a rain, more of the radiation would come down on Westchester than they would under other conditions." Lyman acknowledged his analysis is based on worst possible outcomes, but "worst-case scenarios are precisely the ones that terrorists have in mind when planning attacks." The Union of Concerned Scientists report was commissioned by the environmental group Riverkeeper, which has been working to shut the Indian Point plants. Its release is timed to coincide with the showing on HBO tomorrow night of "Indian Point: Imagining the Unimaginable," a documentary by Rory Kennedy, the sister of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., senior attorney at Riverkeeper. The film contends that the region is at risk from the results of a successful attack on Indian Point. Send e-mail to Roger Witherspoon [rwithers@thejournalnews.com] Home [http://www.thejournalnews.com] -Business Copyright 2004 The Journal News, a Gannett Co ***************************************************************** 32 Lowell Sun: Westford contamination's cause may never be known September 08, 2004 Lowell, MA Town: Cost of water probe is prohibitive By MARIE DONOVAN, Sun Correspondent WESTFORD Town officials said yesterday it would likely cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to determine definitively the source of perchlorate contaminants in local water supplies, and they are unlikely to ever be sure. That news is no consolation to Ken Winchester, an Emily Way resident whose private well-water supply has tested at 425 parts per billion for perchlorate. Winchester yesterday told the Board of Selectmen, the Board of Health and Water Commissioners that he believes the blasting done in the area, most recently at the town highway garage and previously by the Tresca Corporation, is the cause. "Here's where I live. Here's the blasting. The water tastes like rock," he said. The state Department of Environmental Protection sets the safe level for potable water at 1 part per billion, Westford Water Department Environmental Analyst Elaine Major said. Winchester said he returned home yesterday to find his 8-year-old twin sons drinking the water, even though he has told them not to. The Winchester family has been drinking bottled water since their well water tested positive for the high levels of perchlorate on Aug. 24. The town ordered blasting stopped at the highway-garage site off North Main Street the next day, Health Commissioner Sandy Collins said yesterday. Maine Drilling and Blasting, the company working on the highway-garage site, has denied any culpability, Winchester said. Selectmen discussed the possibility of providing bottled water to Winchester in the short term, and Highway Superintendent Chip Barrett said the town could allow him to hook up to town water next spring when a water line that will serve the new highway garage is expected to be up and running. Selectmen Chairman Bob Jefferies expressed concern about the precedent the town would set. "Would we automatically provide hook-ups to every contaminated well?" Jefferies said. Collins said results are not yet in on several other private wells in the area where the water has been checked, but the other homes are unlikely to have nearly the levels Winchester does because of his home's location. Barrett said blasting at the highway garage area is nearly completed. "We're 99.5 percent done," he said. The Water Commissioners said yesterday that any cost incurred to help Winchester or other residents in the future with similar issues should be absorbed by all town taxpayers and not just town water users. Collins said she is waiting to hear from the state Department of Environmental Protection on what to do next and may get information by next week on recommended steps of action to remedy Winchester's situation. © 1999-2004 MediaNews Group, Inc. ***************************************************************** 33 Las Vegas RJ: JOHN L. SMITH: Gallagher faces tough task giving voters reasons to oust incumbent Wednesday, September 08, 2004 The fact the column clipping is nearly 32 years old says a lot about how long Washington politics has been in Tom Gallagher's system. Gallagher was a 27-year-old kid in November 1972, when he decided to leave Washington after two years as a legislative assistant to California Sen. John V. Tunney and accept a position with a Los Angeles law firm. In an essay that surely made Gallagher the envy of a legion of nearly anonymous Washington staffers, political reporter Lou Cannon tossed him a laurel in a "Letter From Washington." Cannon wrote, "He is, in a way, one of the lucky ones, because he is getting out of government before the glamour has worn off and also because he accomplished something while he was here." The column went on to extol Gallagher's hard work, intelligence, and effectiveness as a communicator in a place where all but the strongest voices are destined to become footnotes and background noise. Given Gallagher's personal history, we shouldn't be surprised he's decided to step back into the game after more than three decades and challenge Republican incumbent Jon Porter in Congressional District 3. It can be argued Gallagher has waited all that time for an opportunity to return to the arena. Times have changed, of course. Gallagher, 59, is no longer a kid fresh out of Harvard. He's made his mark in business, rising to the top of one of the largest gaming companies in the world as chairman of then-Park Place Entertainment. Gallagher and his wife of 37 years, Mary Kay, have raised their four children and are financially secure. Talk to Gallagher and you'll come away convinced he's not a man on the make. He's also not entirely comfortable on the stump, where he's hit-and-miss with voters. After watching him work a few rooms, I'll wager he's more comfortable talking issues with small groups than trying to sell a more polished image before a mass audience. Porter, meanwhile, is known as an eminently likable man with long ties to the community (Gallagher has called Nevada home seven years). A former Boulder City councilman, mayor, and state senator, Porter is an insurance agent who has risen to a seat in the House of Representatives. By anyone's measure, that makes him no slouch as a campaigner. Porter's "Sunny Jim" exterior is deceiving. He's made plenty of friends in Southern Nevada in 20 years in politics and has carved out powerful alliances with GOP insiders in Washington. In short, he understands the game. As Gallagher has grown more comfortable with the campaign process, his passion for a wide variety of issues ranging from prescription drugs for seniors to the American presence in Iraq has begun to emerge. Whether Gallagher can exploit the Yucca Mountain issue and Porter's extreme loyalty to Republican House leadership remains to be seen. And what's unclear is whether he can communicate that passion at the volume necessary to swing the campaign his way. He needs to get aggressive immediately. He'll have to do so without much help from Gaming Inc.'s biggest corporations, which have embraced Porter. If casino companies begin to budge in the coming weeks, it will be a sign Gallagher has gained ground. If not, Porter will have broken the David Towell one-term jinx and could be headed for a long congressional career. Much of Gallagher's political future, I believe, hangs on Sen. John Kerry's ability to keep the presidential race close in Nevada. And word is Kerry &Co. are headed back this way. Voters usually need a reason to vote out an incumbent, and Porter possesses an uncanny ability to remain below the political radar on issues that have tripped up other Republicans. It will be Gallagher's job to put Porter in the middle of the picture and redefine him for voters currently being bombarded with messages. That won't be easy. All those factors and unanswered questions make him an underdog, but he possesses a formidable pedigree. Is Tom Gallagher destined to return to Washington, this time as a congressman from Nevada? After nearly 32 years, he has two months left to answer that question. John L. Smith's column appears Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. E-mail him at Smith@reviewjournal.com or call 383-0295. Copyright Las Vegas Review-Journal ***************************************************************** 34 Las Vegas SUN: State sues over Yucca rail line By Suzanne Struglinski SUN WASHINGTON BUREAU WASHINGTON -- Nevada sued the Energy Department once again today, this time over its plan to build a new rail line in the state to move spent nuclear fuel to Yucca Mountain. Attorney General Brian Sandoval claims the department did not follow federal environmental policy and other laws when it proposed the 319-mile railroad through through Lincoln County and it is shutting out important outside regulators on the project. It filed the suit in the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, the same court that last month threw out the nuclear waste storage project's 10,000-year radiation standard. The department announced its intention in April to use the its " Caliente Corridor" route to move nuclear waste to Yucca, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas. Caliente was one of five routes proposed for a railroad because no rail line exists in the state to move waste containers to the mountain. The department said last December it preferred the mostly rail option over the mostly truck alternative for shipping the waste to Yucca. Several public meetings took place throughout the state earlier this year to help the department gather information on what it should include in a draft environmental study to be completed next year on the Caliente route but Nevada claims the whole process was done out of order. "The whole point of environmental review is to study the impacts before you make the decision, not after," Sandoval said. In the suit, Nevada claims the department violated the National Environmental Policy Act, a federal law that requires an environmental analysis of federal projects before they are finalized. Sandoval said the department did not contact land owners in advance to let them know their land would be used in the construction project, even though the department asked the Bureau of Land Management for more than 300,000 acres to study. He said the department proclaimed the route, applied for the land but only now is evaluating the environmental impacts. Nevada also claims the department moved ahead with the largest railroad construction project in 80 years without consulting the Surface Transportation Board, the federal agency that oversees rail projects. "Given DOE's track record at building anything, the Board is a far better agency than DOE to run a project of this magnitude," Sandoval said in a statement. "It is also far less biased." The state also complains the department intends to use truck casks on rail cars to move the waste, a method which has not been analyzed for safety. The department has only evaluated using trucks casks on truck or rail cars using stronger containers specifically made to be used on trains. "The proposed railroad through Caliente is a billion dollar boondoggle," said Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev. "Rather than follow regulations to protect Nevada's environment, the White House is barreling down the tracks with absolute disregard for the law and the people of Nevada." Energy Department spokesman Joe Davis was not aware of the lawsuit this morning, so he declined comment on it. The department generally does not discuss pending litigation anyway. ***************************************************************** 35 thedesertsun.com: Work continues to stop river contamination [http://www.thedesertsun.com] New treatment plant planned to be operational by January By Benjamin Spillman The Desert Sun September 8th, 2004 COACHELLA VALLEY -- A California utility charged with intercepting a toxic chemical before it reaches the Colorado River is expediting its cleanup to keep pace with the migrating plume of contaminants. The utility, Pacific Gas and Electric Co., hopes a wastewater treatment plant will help to corral an underground plume of chromium 6 before it reaches the Colorado River, a major drinking water and irrigation source for Southern California and the Coachella Valley. PG, along with the California Department of Toxic Substances Control, is hastening cleanup plans because they believe low water levels in the Colorado will draw the chemical toward the river faster than previously thought. The treatment plant could be operational by January, a time of year when the river is low. "When it is low, (the plume) tends to want to go toward the river," said Jeanne Garcia, spokeswoman for the DTSC. The source of the chromium plume is PG’s Topock Compressor Station, a natural gas compressing station about 15 miles from the isolated desert town of Needles. Between 1951 and the 1960s, PG dumped wastewater contaminated with chromium, a chemical it once used to clean the works at the station, into a nearby wash. Around 1996, the state’s toxic substances department began working with the company to develop a cleanup plan for the site. But the company didn’t actually begin pumping and treating contaminated groundwater until March. Meanwhile, the plume continued its march toward the river. Garcia said a portion of the plume, an area with a chromium concentration of 111 parts per billion, has seeped within 50 feet of the river. But the most concentrated portion of the plume, an area where chromium levels are around 13,000 parts per billion, is still 600 feet away. The drinking water standard is 50 parts per billion. "Right now, as we speak, it hasn’t gone into the river. That is what we are trying to avoid," Garcia said. PG sought and received exemptions from California Environmental Quality Act that will expedite construction of a treatment plant that will increase the rate of the groundwater cleanup project from 40 to 135 gallons per minute. The idea is to prevent chromium 6 -- the chemical made famous in the movie "Erin Brockovich" -- from joining rocket fuel from Nevada and uranium from Utah as yet another contaminant in the river. "Most of these things are cumulative in their impact," said Jeff Kightlinger, general counsel for Metropolitan Water District of Southern California. "Pretty soon, you allow the river to become awful." In addition to supplying about 16 percent of the water for Metropolitan’s customers, Colorado River water also flows to the Coachella Valley. The desert region imports about 312,000 acre-feet annually. An acre-foot is enough to serve a local family for about one year. However, the majority of the Coachella Valley’s share of the river is used for agriculture. The percentage of local river water imports deposited into the the valley’s underground water supply varies, from as much as 27 percent in 1986 to as little as about 2 percent in 2001, according to Coachella Valley Water District. In some years no river water is mixed with the drinking supply. River water, after it flows over Imperial Valley farm fields, is also the major source for replenishment of the Salton Sea. PG spokesman Jon Tremayne said the company received the environmental exemptions June 30 and is starting construction, "at first light," today. "That is extremely fast," Tremayne said. On Sept. 15 in Palm Desert the Colorado River Basin Region of the California Regional Water Quality Control Board will consider approving orders to move the project over another regulatory hurdle. "It is right on the edge," Robert Perdue, an assistant executive for the regional board, said of the plume’s progress toward the river. "They are hoping to turn it back." Benjamin Spillman can be reached at 778-4643 or by . [http://www.gannett.com] © Gannett Co., Inc., 7950 Jones Branch Drive, McLean, VA 22107 " (703) 854-6000 Copyright © 2004 The Desert Sun. Use of this site signifies your agreement to the ***************************************************************** 36 ABQjournal: NRC Finds Small Impact From Uranium Enrichment [http://www.abqjournal.com/RealMedia/ads/click_nx.ads/www.abqjour By Sue Major Holmes The Associated Press EUNICE — A proposed uranium enrichment plant near Eunice would have only a small impact on land or people in the area, according to a draft environmental impact statement released Wednesday by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The impact statement evaluated the possible environmental impacts of building and operating the proposed $1.2 billion National Enrichment Facility. The plant would be built five miles east of Eunice by Louisiana Energy Services, LES, made up of a European company, Urenco, along with British Nuclear Fuels Ltd. and minor U.S. partners. The draft concluded there would be no large impacts, defined as clearly noticeable and destabilizing environmental effects. "We are very pleased with the draft EIS," LES president Jim Ferland said in news release from the company. NRC technical analysts, engineers and scientists and two environmental consulting firms evaluated LES's study of the plant's impact "and validated and affirmed our conclusions," Ferland said. The NRC, which must license the plant, said it would provide "an additional, reliable and economical domestic source" of enriched uranium. The facility, the second in the United States, also would help the nation reach its energy security objectives, the NRC said. Despite protests from the governor and the attorney general, the NRC last month upheld a decision by its licensing board that blocked the state from raising concerns about radioactive waste during licensing, ruling New Mexico failed to follow procedures. New Mexico officials are concerned about disposal of the plant's radioactive waste, since the process generates a type of waste that can't be dumped anywhere in the country. LES has said it is holding discussions with companies to build a deconversion facility that could treat the waste. State Environment Department officials were reviewing the impact statement, which they received last Friday, said department spokesman Jon Goldstein. A spokeswoman for Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety, a Santa Fe environmental group that has been following the proposal, had not seen the document and could not immediately comment. Don Hancock of the Southwest Research and Information Center in Albuquerque, who also has been studying the plant, was not in his office Wednesday to comment. The NRC's summary of the document said the plant would have only a small impact on air quality, and that the low level of estimated emissions means it would not need a permit. The NRC said the impact on water resources would be small since there is no nearby surface water and the plant would have retention basins to minimize infiltration into underground water. It said the impact on ecological resources also would be small because of the lack of wetlands or unique habitat for threatened or endangered species. The summary said the plant would have a small impact on the 543-acre site and surrounding area, soils, historical and cultural resources, noise, scenery and environmental justice — the last a measure of whether minority or low-income populations would be affected disproportionately. The NRC found moderate impact on the area's socioeconomics, saying plant construction would mean more jobs and more goods purchased locally. The plant's operation also would add jobs. The plant would moderately impact transportation because of heavier traffic during construction and in the storage of the waste onsite, which is to be temporary. A moderate impact means it is noticeable, but not destabilizing. LES applied for an NRC license for the plant last December. The plant would provide fuel for nuclear power plants through a gas centrifuge process that increases the concentration of the fissionable uranium-235 isotope to make fuel useful to such power plants. LES failed in attempts over the past decade to build the plant in Louisiana and Tennessee. Copyright Albuquerque Journal ***************************************************************** 37 KVBC: Nevada Congressmen Confident on Yucca Mountain Battle September 8, 2004 [Jjaeger@kvbc.com] While Yucca Mountain may win another battle in court, it appears to be losing on the floor of congress. Two of Nevada's congressmen could be signing off on a plan to create even more waste to dump at Yucca Mountain. News 3's Jeff Jaeger reports. Both Congressmen Jim Gibbons and Jon Porter are backing the President's energy bill. It's the country's first comprehensive energy policy in more than a decade, but the bill could have some irreversible effects on Yucca Mountain. "If we say no nuclear waste then we have to mean no nuclear waste." It's a decision that could greatly affect the safety of southern Nevadans. (Gibbons) "I think for Nevada it's a win-win situation. I can't see any detriments to Nevada." The President's energy bill creates a future for nuclear power in the country, a future that includes adding at least 50 new nuclear power plants and dumping the waste from that energy at Yucca Mountain. (Johnson) "It means more nuclear waste and how can we as Nevadans say that's ok." Both Gibbons and Porter say the push for new nuclear plants is necessary to the country's power grid. (Porter) "If we don't start the roadmap today for the future, we won't have energy." (Gibbons) "If nuclear energy is still going to be around in the upcoming decades, then I think we'll have new technology out there that's going to solve this waste problem." But that remains the looming question: What do we do with the waste...? "It's irresponsible to keep perpetrating nuclear waste, to keep generating nuclear waste until we figure out what to do with it instead of where to put it." Gibbons and Porter are relying on individual power plants to solve the waste problem before it makes its way to Nevada... And are certain Yucca will become a thing of a past. (Gibbons) "A simple energy policy does not mean that Yucca Mountain is going to take place." (Porter) "We are adamantly opposed to storage at Yucca Mountain and I believe by 2010 there are going to be other alternatives." Gibbons and Porter both tell me the state will win the Yucca Mountain battle in court... And the waste problem is best handled on site at individual plants. The President's energy bill will also give tax credits to companies who build nuclear plants, or further their technology. [http://www.worldnow.com] All content © Copyright 2000 - 2004 WorldNow and KVBC. All Rights Reserved. For more information ***************************************************************** 38 Google News Alert - nuclear Date: Wed, 08 Sep 2004 16:29:44 -0700 (PDT) IRAN confirms move to end nuclear activities ABC Online - Australia ... European representatives and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) a compromise deal that would see an end to its more questionable nuclear activities. ... See all stories on this topic: SOUTH Africa drops charges in nuclear case International Herald Tribune - Paris,France JOHANNESBURG Five days after the police arrested a 53-year-old engineer on nuclear-proliferation charges and carted 11 crates of suspected uranium-enrichment ... See all stories on this topic: NORTH Korea Warns of 'Nuclear Arms Race' Atlanta Journal Constitution (subscription) - Atlanta,GA,USA ... South Korea (AP)--North Korea accused the United States of applying a double standard on the Korean Peninsula and warned Wednesday of a nuclear arms race in ... See all stories on this topic: IRAN recruits 'human shield' for nuclear reactor Jerusalem Post - Jerusalem,Israel Iran is seeking volunteers to act as a massive human shield around Iran's nuclear reactor in case of a military attack against the facility. ... See all stories on this topic: FEATURE: East Asia fastens steps to develop nuclear energy Xinhua - China SYDNEY, Sept. 8 (Xinhuanet,By Mi Ligong ) -- East Asia is set to expand its nuclear energy market to meet the challenges of a world-wide energy crisis. ... See all stories on this topic: ROMANIA concerned about Bulgarian plans to build new nuclear ... EUbusiness - London,UK ... Bulgarian officials met Wednesday to try and defuse mounting tension between the two neighbouring countries over Bulgaria's plan to build a nuclear power plant ... N. Korea's Nuclear Talks at Risk - Envoy to UK Reuters - USA LONDON (Reuters) - President Bush has jeopardized this month's talks aimed at resolving a nuclear standoff with North Korea by talking tough about Pyongyang to ... See all stories on this topic: FISCHER expresses concern over Iran's nuclear program Tehran Times - Tehran,Iran BERLIN (IRNA) -- German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer expressed once again his concern over Iran's nuclear program, urging the Islamic Republic to comply ... See all stories on this topic: ISRAEL Says World Must Do More to Stop Iran's Nuclear Ambitions Voice of America - Washington,DC,USA Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon says the international community has not done enough to stop Iran from developing a nuclear weapon and warns that Israel ... See all stories on this topic: ISRAEL'S nuclear whistleblower to wed American Sydney Morning Herald (subscription) - Sydney,New South Wales,Australia Israeli nuclear whistleblower Mordechai Vanunu is planning to marry an American woman, the bishop who will conduct the ceremony said yesterday. ... 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/ ***************************************************************** 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. 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