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NUCLEAR POLICY
1 Iraq had no WMD: the final verdict
2 [southnews] Iraq had no WMD: the final verdict
3 UK Independent: The week Iraq's dream of peace fell apart
4 AFP: US spy agencies believe strikes on Iran wouldn't work - report
5 AFP: Iran's nuclear program not an 'imminent threat' - ElBaradei
6 AFP: Iran's nuclear program a high-risk issue for Washington
7 Las Vegas SUN: Iran May Agree to Western Nuke Resolution
8 Las Vegas SUN: Showdown Vote Likely on Iran Resolution
9 Las Vegas SUN: Iran Ordered to Suspend Uranium Enrichment
10 Las Vegas SUN: Iran: U.N. Uranium Program Ban 'Illegal'
11 Las Vegas SUN: Iran Says U.N. Nuclear Ban 'Illegal'
12 BBC: Iran offer over nuclear programme
13 BBC: Analysis: Iran's nuclear bluff
14 Xinhuanet: IAEA sets deadline for Iranian nuke issue
15 AFP: Iran to face Security Council if fails to meet nuclear deadline
16 UK Independent: UN watchdog tells Iran to halt nuclear activities
17 AFP: Highlights of the IAEA resolution adopted on Iran's nuclear pro
18 BBC: Iran rejects UN nuclear demands
19 AFP: Chief UN nuclear inspector unsure of North Korea's blast
20 Las Vegas SUN: U.N. Nuclear Watchdog Goes to South Korea
21 Korea Herald: U.N. watchdog begins round 2 of inspections
22 BBC: N Korea rules out nuclear freeze
23 BBC: Nuclear monitors return to Seoul
24 People's Daily: DPRK blames US "double standards" on blocked nuclear
25 asahi.com: EDITORIAL: The North Korea issue
26 AFP: UN team in SKorea as NKorea vows not to abandon nuclear ambitio
27 US: A World of Nuclear Dangers-good summary, and candidates'
28 US: Las Vegas SUN: U.S. Pushes Effort to Lower Nuke Threats
29 US: WorldNetDaily: U.S. intelligence fiascoes
30 US: YubaNet: Secrecy in the Bush Administration (Rep. Waxman)
31 SA News24: 'SA must boost nuke controls'
32 Xinhuanet: Pakistani Senate passes nuclear control bill
33 Hi Pakistan: Senate okays nuclear anti-proliferation bill -->
34 People's Daily: IAEA chief calls for more protection of nuclear
35 Scotsman.com: Scotland - Nuclear whistleblower defies ban
36 AFP: US and Russia host conference on securing nuclear materials fro
NUCLEAR REACTORS
37 US: Brattleboro Reformer: State seeks 2nd opinion on VY uprate
38 Bellona: Nirex to become independent
39 US: Brattleboro Reformer: Dynamite fells dome
40 US: Times Argus: State wants review of Yankee plan
41 US: toledoblade.com: Nation's oldest UM ready to dump campus reactor
42 US: Rutland Herald: State seeks new opinion on Yankee
43 US: APP.COM: Plant generates more bad news
44 US: JOURNAL NEWS: NRC approves strike plan
45 US: Press Herald: Yankee dome comes down
46 Guardian Unlimited Politics: Beckett rejects nuclear option
47 People's Daily: Energy, nuclear issues to top agenda of Seoul-Moscow
48 Japan Times: Experts criticize Japan's nuclear safety standards
49 US: Manitowoc Herald Times Reporter: Point Beach confident of securi
50 US: Columbus Online Community: More Cooper woes for NPPD safety viol
51 Sofia Morning News: Bulgarian Nukes Merger under Consideration
NUCLEAR SAFETY
52 [DU-WATCH] 95% 238U is the mass fraction ....
53 US: [DU-WATCH] Washington's secret nuclear war
54 [DU-WATCH] DU - teh stuff of nightmares
55 US: [FOODIRRADIATIONCA] Corrected Version -- AB 1988 still on the
56 US: Army's NRC license 95% U238; This is Dynamite
57 US: [DU-WATCH] Re: NRC License to Army for DU - Supplement 1
58 [NukeNet] Fury as Bomb-Grade Plutonium Sets Sail for France
59 Daily Times: VIEW: Nuclear safety measures —Dr Hasan-Askari Rizvi
60 Korea Times: 10 Workers Exposed to Radioactivity
61 US: IEER: Letter to NAS committee assessing the Radiation Exposure
NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE
62 US: MDP: Mock radioactive spill helps teach emergency personnel how
63 Las Vegas RJ: PRESIDENTIAL RACE: Bush makes gains in new polls
64 Las Vegas RJ: Percentage who favor making deal on Yucca project grow
65 SF Chronicle: Bush, Kerry remain locked in tight race in Nevada
66 SignOnSanDiego.com: Nevada hits jackpot as a presidential battlegrou
67 US: Salt Lake Tribune: State officials say Envirocare pays its fair
68 Korea Times: New Nuclear Dump Site Selection Process Unveiled
69 US: Morgan Hill Times: No perchlorate north link
NUCLEAR WEAPONS
70 Korea Times: Seoul Makes Nuclear-Free Pledge
US DEPT. OF ENERGY
71 Craig Daily Press: Terrie Barrie fights for nuclear plant employees
72 Tri-City Herald: Hanford medical program draws protest
73 Times-News: Agency helps power companies harden control systems
74 WATE: ORNL plans to restart research reactor next week
OTHER NUCLEAR
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FULL NEWS STORIES
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1 Iraq had no WMD: the final verdict
Date: Sat, 18 Sep 2004 10:58:33 -0500 (CDT)
Saturday September 18, 2004
The Guardian (UK)
www.guardian.co.uk
---
Iraq had no WMD: the final verdict
by
Julian Borger in Washington
The comprehensive 15-month search for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq
has concluded that the only chemical or biological agents that Saddam
Hussein's regime was working on before last year's invasion were small
quantities of poisons, most likely for use in assassinations.
A draft of the Iraq Survey Group's final report circulating in Washington
found no sign of the alleged illegal stockpiles that the US and Britain
presented as the justification for going to war, nor did it find any
evidence of efforts to reconstitute Iraq's nuclear weapons programme.
It also appears to play down an interim report which suggested there was
evidence that Iraq was developing "test amounts" of ricin for use in
weapons. Instead, the ISG report says in its conclusion that there was
evidence to suggest the Iraqi regime planned to restart its illegal weapons
programmes if UN sanctions were lifted.
Charles Duelfer, the head of the ISG, has said he intends to deliver his
final report by the end of the month. It is likely to become a heated issue
in the election campaign.
President George Bush now admits that stockpiles have not been found in Iraq
but claimed as recently as Thursday that "Saddam Hussein had the capability
of making weapons, and he could have passed that capability on to the
enemy".
The draft Duelfer report, according to the New York Times, finds no evidence
of a capability, but only of an intention to rebuild that capability once
the UN embargo had been removed and Iraq was no longer the target of intense
international scrutiny
The finding adds weight to Mr Bush's assertions on the long-term danger
posed by the former Iraqi leader, but it also suggests that, contrary to the
administration's claims, diplomacy and containment were working prior to the
invasion.
The draft report was handed to British, US and Australian experts at a
meeting in London earlier this month, according to the New York Times. It
largely confirms the findings of Mr Duelfer's predecessor, David Kay, who
concluded "we were almost all wrong" in thinking Saddam had stockpiled
weapons. The Duelfer report goes into greater detail.
Mr Kay's earlier findings mentioned the existence of a network of
laboratories run by the Iraqi intelligence service, and suggested that the
regime could be producing "test amounts" of chemical weapons and researching
the use of ricin in weapons.
Subsequent inspections of the clandestine labs, under Mr Duelfer's
leadership, found they were capable of producing small quantities of lethal
chemical and biological agents, more useful for assassinations of
individuals than for inflicting mass casualties.
Mr Duelfer, according to the draft, does not exclude the possibility that
some weapons materials could have been smuggled out of Iraq before the war,
a possibility raised by the administration and its supporters. However, the
report apparently produces no significant evidence to support the claim. Nor
does it find any evidence of any action by the Saddam regime to convert
dual-use industrial equipment to weapons production.
"I think we know exactly how this is going to play out," said Joseph
Cirincione, a proliferation expert at the Carnegie Endowment for
International Peace.
"You'll see a very elaborate spin operation. But there's not much new here
from what the ISG reported before," he said. "There are still no weapons, no
production of weapons and no programmes to begin the production of weapons.
What we're left with here is that Saddam Hussein might have had the desire
to rebuild the capability to build those weapons."
"Well, lots of people have desire for these weapons. Lots of people have
intent. But that's not what we went to war for."
The motives for war, meanwhile, came under fresh scrutiny last night as the
Telegraph reported that Tony Blair was warned in Foreign Office papers a
year before the invasion of the scale of dealing with a post-Saddam Iraq.
The Liberal Democrat foreign affairs spokesman, Sir Menzies Campbell, said
that if authenticated, the papers "demonstrate that the government agreed
with the Bush administration on regime change in Iraq more than a year
before military action was taken".
Mr Duelfer, who is reported to still be in Baghdad, did not respond to a
request for an interview on the question of WMD yesterday.
Earlier this year, he told the Guardian that he expected his report would
leave "some unanswered questions".
-----------
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1307529,00.html
----------
*****************************************************************
2 [southnews] Iraq had no WMD: the final verdict
Date: Sat, 18 Sep 2004 03:48:33 -0500 (CDT)
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A draft of the Iraq Survey Group's final report circulating in
Washington found no sign of the alleged illegal stockpiles that the US
and Britain presented as the justification for going to war, nor did it
find any evidence of efforts to reconstitute Iraq's nuclear weapons
programme.
Iraq had no WMD: the final verdict
Julian Borger in Washington
Saturday September 18, 2004
The Guardian
The comprehensive 15-month search for weapons of mass destruction in
Iraq has concluded that the only chemical or biological agents that
Saddam Hussein's regime was working on before last year's invasion were
small quantities of poisons, most likely for use in assassinations.
A draft of the Iraq Survey Group's final report circulating in
Washington found no sign of the alleged illegal stockpiles that the US
and Britain presented as the justification for going to war, nor did it
find any evidence of efforts to reconstitute Iraq's nuclear weapons
programme.
It also appears to play down an interim report which suggested there was
evidence that Iraq was developing "test amounts" of ricin for use in
weapons. Instead, the ISG report says in its conclusion that there was
evidence to suggest the Iraqi regime planned to restart its illegal
weapons programmes if UN sanctions were lifted.
Charles Duelfer, the head of the ISG, has said he intends to deliver his
final report by the end of the month. It is likely to become a heated
issue in the election campaign.
President George Bush now admits that stockpiles have not been found in
Iraq but claimed as recently as Thursday that "Saddam Hussein had the
capability of making weapons, and he could have passed that capability
on to the enemy".
The draft Duelfer report, according to the New York Times, finds no
evidence of a capability, but only of an intention to rebuild that
capability once the UN embargo had been removed and Iraq was no longer
the target of intense international scrutiny.
The finding adds weight to Mr Bush's assertions on the long-term danger
posed by the former Iraqi leader, but it also suggests that, contrary to
the administration's claims, diplomacy and containment were working
prior to the invasion.
The draft report was handed to British, US and Australian experts at a
meeting in London earlier this month, according to the New York Times.
It largely confirms the findings of Mr Duelfer's predecessor, David Kay,
who concluded "we were almost all wrong" in thinking Saddam had
stockpiled weapons. The Duelfer report goes into greater detail.
Mr Kay's earlier findings mentioned the existence of a network of
laboratories run by the Iraqi intelligence service, and suggested that
the regime could be producing "test amounts" of chemical weapons and
researching the use of ricin in weapons.
Subsequent inspections of the clandestine labs, under Mr Duelfer's
leadership, found they were capable of producing small quantities of
lethal chemical and biological agents, more useful for assassinations of
individuals than for inflicting mass casualties.
Mr Duelfer, according to the draft, does not exclude the possibility
that some weapons materials could have been smuggled out of Iraq before
the war, a possibility raised by the administration and its supporters.
However, the report apparently produces no significant evidence to
support the claim. Nor does it find any evidence of any action by the
Saddam regime to convert dual-use industrial equipment to weapons
production.
"I think we know exactly how this is going to play out," said Joseph
Cirincione, a proliferation expert at the Carnegie Endowment for
International Peace.
"You'll see a very elaborate spin operation. But there's not much new
here from what the ISG reported before," he said. "There are still no
weapons, no production of weapons and no programmes to begin the
production of weapons. What we're left with here is that Saddam Hussein
might have had the desire to rebuild the capability to build those weapons."
"Well, lots of people have desire for these weapons. Lots of people have
intent. But that's not what we went to war for."
The motives for war, meanwhile, came under fresh scrutiny last night as
the Telegraph reported that Tony Blair was warned in Foreign Office
papers a year before the invasion of the scale of dealing with a
post-Saddam Iraq.
The Liberal Democrat foreign affairs spokesman, Sir Menzies Campbell,
said that if authenticated, the papers "demonstrate that the government
agreed with the Bush administration on regime change in Iraq more than a
year before military action was taken".
Mr Duelfer, who is reported to still be in Baghdad, did not respond to a
request for an interview on the question of WMD yesterday.
Earlier this year, he told the Guardian that he expected his report
would leave "some unanswered questions".
http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,1307529,00.html
________________________________________
Senators sound alarm over Iraq
David Stout, The New York Times
WASHINGTON, September 16, 2004 -- Republicans on the Senate Foreign
Relations Committee said Wednesday that the Bush administration's
request to divert more than $3 billion from reconstruction work in Iraq
to security measures was a sign that the American campaign in Iraq is in
serious trouble.
The criticism came as the existence of a highly classified -- and
pessimistic -- National Intelligence Estimate about the future security
and stability of Iraq was revealed.
The report, assembled by senior analysts this summer, determined that
the war-torn country's stability would be tenuous at best, a U.S.
official said late Wednesday, speaking on the condition of anonymity.
The slow progress of rebuilding in Iraq brought denouncements from
Senate Republicans and Democrats on Wednesday who said the risks of
failure are great if the White House doesn't act with greater urgency.
"It's beyond pitiful, it's beyond embarrassing. It's now in the zone of
dangerous," said Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., referring to figures showing
that about 6 percent of the reconstruction money approved by Congress
last year has been spent.
Sen. Richard G. Lugar, R-Ind., chairman of the Foreign Relations
Committee, said: "Although we recognize these funds must not be spent
unwisely, the slow pace of reconstruction spending means that we are
failing to fully take advantage of one of our most potent tools to
influence the direction of Iraq."
Committee members vented their frustrations at a hearing where the State
Department explained its request to divert $3.46 billion in
reconstruction funds to security and economic development. The money was
part of the $18.4 billion approved by Congress last year, mostly for
public works projects.
The request comes as heavy fighting continues between U.S.-led forces
and a variety of Iraqi insurgents, endangering prospects for elections
slated for January.
White House spokesman Scott McClellan said circumstances in Iraq have
changed since last year. "It's important that you have some flexibility."
But Hagel said the shift in funds "does not add up in my opinion to a
pretty picture, to a picture that shows that we're winning. But it does
add up to this: an acknowledgment that we are in deep trouble."
The unnamed U.S. official who described the intelligence estimate said
some "trend lines . . . point to a civil war." The official said it
"would be fair" to call the document "pessimistic."
The intelligence estimate, which was prepared for President Bush,
considered the period between July and the end of 2005.
The document contrasts with public comments by Bush and his senior
aides, who speak more optimistically about the prospects for a peaceful
and free Iraq. "We're making progress on the ground," Bush said at his
Texas ranch late last month.
Lugar, speaking about the reallocation of reconstruction funds, said the
Iraqi people were looking for signs of stability as their elections drew
closer.
"If the shift of these funds slows down reconstruction, security may
suffer in the long run," Lugar said, adding that security and
reconstruction ought to be achieved "simultaneously."
The committee's top Democrat, Sen. Joseph Biden of Delaware, was more
outspoken. "The window's closing, the window of opportunity," he said.
The White House asserted that progress was being made in Iraq.
"You know, every step of the way in Iraq there have been pessimists and
hand-wringers who said it can't be done," McClellan said at a news briefing.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
http://www.indystar.com/articles/5/179111-6865-010
.html
The archives of South News can be found at
http://southmovement.alphalink.com.au/southnews/
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3 UK Independent: The week Iraq's dream of peace fell apart
By Patrick Cockburn in Baghdad
18 September 2004
Where freedom was promised, chaos and carnage now reign. A
suicide bomber in a car blows himself up in the heart of Baghdad
killing 13 people. Air raids by US near the city of Fallujah kill
scores more. And so ends one of the bleakest weeks in Iraq's grim
recent history.
Between them, suicide bombers targeting Iraqi police and US air
strikes aimed at rebels have killed some 300 Iraqis since last
Saturday - many of them were civilians. The escalating violence
throws into doubt the elections planned for January and the
ability of the US and interim Iraqi government to control the
country.
The repeated suicide-bomb attacks and kidnappings in the centre
of Baghdad are eroding whatever remaining optimism there might be
about the success of the government of Iyad Allawi, the Prime
Minister, in restoring order in an increasingly fragmented
country.
Violence and abductions are ensuring that even tentative efforts
at economic reconstruction have ground to a halt. Earlier in the
week, the US diverted $3.4bn (£2bn) of funds intended for water
and electricity projects to security and the oil industry. Many
Iraqi businessmen and doctors have fled to Amman and Damascus
because of fear of being taken hostage. The abduction of one
British and two American contractors this week will make it very
difficult for any foreigners to live in Baghdad outside fortified
enclaves.
Yesterday, a car packed with explosives blew up near a row of
police cars blocking off a bridge in the centre of the Baghdad.
Police tried to get the bomber to stop but he drove on into the
middle of the parked cars. "I saw human flesh and blood in the
street, then I fled," said Mouayed Shehab.
There are big markets in this part of Baghdad on Friday including
a famous book market in al-Muthanabi Street where booksellers
cover the road with books they want to sell. A few hundred yards
away, there are markets selling everything from spices to birds
and guard dogs. Police fired shots into the air to force shoppers
to flee.
The police had blocked the bridge over the Tigris as part of an
attempt to seal off Haifa Street - a focal point of violence in
recent days - on the western side of the river where US and Iraqi
forces were involved in a search operation and gun battles had
been fought earlier in the morning. Haifa Street, with its modern
tower blocks and old alleys, is a notorious Sunni Muslim
neighbourhood where US forces are frequently ambushed. It is also
only a few hundred yards from the Green Zone, the headquarters of
the US and Iraqi interim government.
The security forces arrested 63 suspects during their sweeps of
Haifa Street including Syrians, Sudanese and Egyptians. They also
claimed to have discovered caches of arms, though that does not
necessarily mean very much in Iraq where almost all families own
one or more guns.
Yet the horrors have spread way beyong the capital. Early
yesterday, police found the body of a Westerner with blond hair
which had been pulled from the Tigris river at Yethrib village,
40 miles north of Baghdad. He was tall, well built, had his hands
tied behind his back and had been shot in the back of the head.
The description does not match any of the Western hostages known
to be held by kidnappers.
And, of course, Iraqis suffer. The US Air Force has stepped up
its policy of trying to assault insurgents from the air while the
army avoids ground attacks that could lead to heavy US
casualties. In this case, the air strikes were against a compound
in the village of Fazat Shnetir 12 miles south of Fallujah. The
US military said they had attacked a meeting of militants loyal
to Abu Musab al-Zarqawi planning fresh attacks on US forces.
The residents of Fazat Shnetir were later seen digging mass
graves to bury the bodies in groups of four. A health ministry
spokesman, Saad al-Amili, said that 44 people were killed and 27
injured in the Fallujah attacks with 17 children and two women
among the wounded. The floor of the Fallujah hospital was awash
with blood. Relatives cried out with grief and called for
vengeance.
The truth about who is being killed by the US air strikes is
difficult to ascertain exactly because Islamic militants make it
very dangerous for journalists to go to places recently attacked.
Bodies are buried quickly and wounded insurgents do not generally
go to public hospitals. But, where the casualties can be checked,
many of those who die or are injured have proved to be innocent
civilians.
The surge of violence in the past week is making it less likely
there will be free elections in January as promised by George
Bush. Elections themselves may not guarantee a way out of the
quagmire. Should they not happen though, there are likely to be
more weeks like these.
* The family of a British engineer, kidnapped by gunmen from his
house in Baghdad two days ago, pleaded for his safe return last
night. Kenneth Bigley, believed to be 62 and married with one
child, was seized with two other US colleagues by militants
during a dawn raid.
His family have been contacted by the Foreign Secretary Jack
Straw who explained to them what is being done "to resolve the
situation".
UK Independent Ltd.
*****************************************************************
4 AFP: US spy agencies believe strikes on Iran wouldn't work - report
[http://www.spacewar.com/] [http://www.spacewar.com/]
WASHINGTON (AFP) Sep 19, 2004
US spy agencies have played out "war games" to consider possible
pre-emptive strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities, and concluded
that strikes would not resolve Washington's standoff with Tehran,
Newsweek magazine reported Sunday.
"The war games were unsuccessful at preventing the conflict from
escalating," an unnamed Air Force source told the magazine in its
latest issue.
The Central Intelligence and the Defense Intelligence Agency
played out the possible results US strikes, the magazine
reported.
Hawks within President George W. Bush's administration haev
advocated for regime change in Tehran -- through covert
operations or force if needed, Newsweek said.
But with US-led forces facing almost daily attacks in Iraq, no
one in Bush's cabinet has taken up the cause, the report said.
The United States believes Iran is using a civlian nuclear
program to mask a weapons development effort.
Iran insists its nuclear programme is strictly aimed at
generating electricity, despite suspicions it is seeking to
develop the capability to build nuclear weapons.
Uranium is enriched through centrifuges to make what can be fuel
for civilian nuclear reactors but also the explosive material for
atomic bombs.
All rights reserved. © 2004 [http://www.afp.com/] . Sections of
*****************************************************************
5 AFP: Iran's nuclear program not an 'imminent threat' - ElBaradei
[http://www.spacewar.com/]
WASHINGTON (AFP) Sep 19, 2004
Iran's nuclear program does not present an "imminent threat,"
but Tehran must take measures to reassure the international
community about its intentions, UN nuclear watchdog chief Mohamed
ElBaradei said Sunday.
"I hope Iran will hear that call from the international
community. It is really in the interest of Iran to build
confidence," ElBaradei told CNN's "Late Edition."
He spoke one day after the International Atomic Energy
Agencyadopted a resolution demanding that Iran suspend uranium
enrichment and report sensitive nuclear activities.
The IAEA resolution adopted in Vienna Saturday also set a
November 25 deadline for a full review of Tehran's nuclear
activities.
"We haven't seen in Iran any material imported or produced that
could be used for nuclear weapons," ElBaradei said. "That is a
good news."
"We haven't also seen any of their small experiment directly
related to nuclear weapons program," he added.
"I'm not sure we are facing an imminent threat, but we are facing
an Iran acquiring, if not already acquired, a capability to
produce the material that can be use for nuclear weapons should
they decide to do that," the UN official said.
"It's really a question of intention," he said.
ElBaradei said international worries are based on the speed of
Tehran's development of a uranium enrichment program, which is
more advanced than its electricity program.
"There is really no urgency for Iran to continue with the speed
it is going developing enrichment of uranium," he said.
Iran's top nuclear official, Hassan Rowhani, said Sunday, "Iran
will not accept any obligations concerning the suspension of
enrichment."
ElBaradei, however, said it was unclear whether Iran's reaction
was a rejection of the resolution.
"I'm not sure Iran, reading what Iran have stated today, they
have rejected it," he said. "They have said it is not a legal
obligation, but it is a confidence-building measure."
"We need to clarify every issue about the nuclear weapons
program, and then engage Iran in a comprehensive political
dialogue that discuss security, economy, human rights," he said.
"That's the only way we can proceed for a durable solution in my
view."
All rights reserved. © 2004 Agence France-Presse
[http://www.afp.com/] . Sections of the information displayed on
*****************************************************************
6 AFP: Iran's nuclear program a high-risk issue for Washington
[http://www.spacewar.com/] WAR.WIRE
WASHINGTON (AFP) Sep 19, 2004
The United States wants to maintain a hard stance against Iran
over the "axis of evil" nation's nuclear program, but by doing so
Washington runs the risk of inflaming a neighbor of war-wracked
Iraq.
In addition to accusing Iran of secretly trying to develop
nuclear weapons, the United States has charged that Iran is
providing support to insurgents battlings US-led forces in Iraq.
President George W. Bush lumped Iran with Iraq and North Korea in
2002, calling the trio an "axis of evil."
The Bush administration has also warned about the danger of
allowing "rogue" states acquire weapons of mass destruction.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) adopted a
resolution Saturday demanding that Iran suspend uranium
enrichment and report sensitive nuclear activities. The
resolution also set a November 25 deadline for a full review of
Tehran's nuclear program.
Iran reacted to the resolution by saying it would cooperate, but
it warned it may defy the agency's call to suspend uranium
enrichment, the process for making fuel for nuclear reactors but
also the explosive material for atomic bombs.
The Islamic regime insists its nuclear program is strictly aimed
at generating electricity.
The resolution allows the Europeans and Americans to keep a
unified front over Iran's nuclear program, and its November 25
deadline is helpful to Bush, since any action taken by the United
States, which could prompt strong international reactions, would
come after the the November 2 presidential election.
Bush, who is seeking a second four-year term, will face
Democratic Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts in the election.
A nuclear-armed Iran would profoundly affect Washington's
national security policy and its Middle East allies: Israel,
Saudi Arabia and post-Saddam Hussein's Iraq.
The United States is already concerned about Iran's alleged role
in the violence in Iraq.
"I don't think there is any doubt that the Iranians are involved
and providing support" to insurgents in Iraq, US Secretary of
State Colin Powell said in Friday's Washington Times.
"How much and how influencial their support is, I can't be sure
and it's hard to get a good read on it," Powell said.
In contrast with its pre-invasion warnings against Saddam's Iraq,
Washington has shied away from making military threats against
Iran.
The Bush administration also wants to avoid a rift with Britain,
France and Germany, which seek a diplomatic solution in Iran.
While Britain is a US ally in Iraq, France and Germany were
fierce opponents of the March 2003 invasion.
Another political crisis with the European powers would likely
add fuel to Kerry's contention that Bush has alienated
Washington's traditional allies.
The Bush administration has also failed to point to a "smoking
gun" or irrefutable evidence proving that Tehran has plans to
build a nuclear bomb.
Washington is already hard-pressed to provide proof that Saddam
had stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction, none of which have
been found. Iraq's alleged arms cache was Bush's chief argument
for toppling the Iraqi dictator's regime.
UN nuclear watchdog chief Mohamed ElBaradei said Sunday that "we
haven't seen in Iran any material imported or produced that could
be used for nuclear weapons. That is good news."
"I'm not sure we are facing an imminent threat," he said.
But, he cautioned, "we are facing an Iran acquiring, if not
already acquired, a capability to produce the material that can
be use for nuclear weapons should they decide to do that. It's
really a question of intention."
All rights reserved. © 2004 Agence France-Presse
[http://www.afp.com/] . Sections of the information displayed on
*****************************************************************
7 Las Vegas SUN: Iran May Agree to Western Nuke Resolution
By ANDREA DUDIKOVA ASSOCIATED PRESS
VIENNA, Austria (AP) -
Iran held out the possibility Saturday of meeting a key demand
backed by the majority at a high-level meeting of the U.N.
atomic watchdog agency, suggesting that it would consider a
complete suspension of nuclear enrichment.
Hossein Mousavian, Iran's chief delegate to the board of
governors' meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency,
spoke amid a deadlock between Western countries and nonaligned
nations on the issue of encrichment - which can be used to
generate electricity or make nuclear arms.
The nonaligned nations opposed parts of a resolution submitted
late Friday by the European Union, Canada, the United States and
Australia to demand that Iran suspend its uranium enrichment.
The document is supported by the majority at the 35-nation
meeting.
A meeting scheduled for Saturday morning was suspended with no
word of when it would reconvene as the delegations tried to
bridge the differences.
The United States, Europe and their allies want Iran to freeze
all enrichment and related activities, while the nonaligned
group wants any such demand excised, saying all nations should
have the right to it as long as it is used for peaceful
purposes.
While the Americans say Iran is trying to make nuclear weapons,
Tehran insists its enrichment plans are meant only to generate
power.
Mousavian, the chief Iranian delegate, told The Associated Press
he expected the Western text to be passed - either by consensus
or by vote. Following that, he said his country's "decision
makers will decide about the main request - full suspension," in
the next few days.
Even with the Western resolution likely to be accepted in full,
it left open the possibility of a new confrontation with the
United States when the meeting reconvenes in November.
While demanding that Iran suspend all uranium enrichment
activities, the resolution also recognizes the right of
countries to the peaceful use of nuclear energy - which Iran
says is what it wants nuclear enrichment for.
Iran's present suspension freeze only means it is not actually
introducing uranium hexafluoride gas into centrifuges to spin
the feed stock into enriched uranium, but the resolution calls
for more - a halt to making, assembling and testing centrifuges,
and producing uranium hexafluoride.
Iran is not prohibited from enrichment under its obligations to
the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty but faces growing
international pressure to suspend such activities as a
good-faith gesture.
The text said the board will decide at the November meeting
"whether or not further steps are required." Diplomats familiar
with the draft defined that phrase as shorthand for possible
referral to the U.N. Security Council if Iran defies the
conditions set in the resolution.
Still, by giving the Iranians room to maneuver on enrichment,
the text appeared to fall far short of what the Americans had
wanted. Washington had pushed to drop mention of countries'
rights to peaceful nuclear technology and fought for an Oct. 31
deadline, with the understanding that if Iran failed to comply
with the resolution's demands, the board would then
automatically begin deliberations on Security Council referral.
The Americans nonetheless praised the Western text.
"Iran remains completely isolated in its pursuit of nuclear
weapons and the draft resolution, ... makes that clear," said
U.S. Undersecretary of State John Bolton, in a statement read by
Jackie Sanders, the chief U.S. delegate to the meeting.
---
On the Net:
IAEA: www.iaea.org
--
*****************************************************************
8 Las Vegas SUN: Showdown Vote Likely on Iran Resolution
By ANDREA DUDIKOVA ASSOCIATED PRESS
VIENNA, Austria (AP) -
China and Pakistan are among nations demanding the United States
and its allies on the board of the U.N. atomic watchdog agency
tone down a proposed resolution designed to ease Western fears
about Iran's nuclear agenda.
The so-called nonaligned group plans to offer amendments to the
text when the board of the International Atomic Energy Agency
considers the resolution on Saturday, diplomats said.
The existence of opposition among the board's 35 members
requires the the panel to take a vote, the first in its
two-year-old debate on Iran. The board has passed previous Iran
resolutions by consensus.
Still, the showdown vote is not likely to change the outcome.
Most nations represented on the board favor the version worked
out by the United States, the European Union, Canada and
Australia, which demands Iran stop uranium enrichment activities
and clear up remaining questions about its nuclear ambitions.
The resolution gives Tehran until a board meeting on Nov. 25 to
comply.
Tehran says its enrichment plans are meant only to generate
power. The United States insists Iran is trying to make nuclear
weapons.
American officials expressed satisfaction with the resolution,
although it appeared to fall far short of U.S. demands.
"We think that the text that we've worked at very diligently
with our partners is a good text," said State Department deputy
spokesman Adam Ereli. "It shows the spirit of compromise, and it
keeps the pressure on Iran and sets up the November board
meeting for important decisions."
While demanding that Iran suspend all uranium enrichment
activities, the resolution also recognizes the right of
countries to the peaceful use of nuclear energy. The United
States initially fought to eliminate that language.
Washington also had pushed for an Oct. 31 deadline, with the
understanding that if Iran failed to comply with the
resolution's demands, the board would then automatically begin
deliberations to refer the matter to the United Nations Security
Council.
Diplomats familiar with the resolution said it allows - but does
not obligate - the board to refer Iran to the council at its
November meeting.
Iran's nuclear program came under suspicion with the discovery
two years ago that the country had hidden much of its nuclear
activities for nearly 20 years.
Tehran says its enrichment plans are meant only to generate
power. The United States insists Iran is trying to make nuclear
weapons.
Iran is not prohibited from enrichment under its obligations to
the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty but the United States and
its allies want Iran to suspend such activities as a good-faith
gesture.
China and Pakistan, however, support Iran's contention that all
nations should have the right to uranium enrichment as long as
it is used for peaceful purposes, such as generating energy.
Iran says it is already honoring a pledge to freeze enrichment
activities. On Friday Tehran's delegate to the meeting, Hossein
Mousavian, told The Associated Press that "decision-makers"
might keep the present state of suspension in effect "for two or
three months" - until the November deadline set for Iran to meet
the resolution demands - and perhaps even extend it so it
encompasses some of the other conditions in the Western text.
But Mousavian said the resolution's recognition of countries'
right to nuclear technology for nonmilitary use meant Iran had
the right to enrich, whenever it decided to end its partial
freeze.
Iran's present freeze means only that it's not introducing
uranium hexafluoride gas into centrifuges to spin the feed stock
into enriched uranium. But the resolution calls for more -
demanding that Iran "immediately suspend all enrichment-related
activities," including making, assembling and testing
centrifuges, and producing uranium hexafluoride.
The text said the board will decide at the November meeting
"whether or not further steps are required," a phrase diplomats
said was shorthand for possible referral to the Security
Council.
---
On the Net:
IAEA: www.iaea.org
--
*****************************************************************
9 Las Vegas SUN: Iran Ordered to Suspend Uranium Enrichment
By GEORGE JAHN ASSOCIATED PRESS
VIENNA, Austria (AP) -
The U.N. atomic watchdog agency demanded Iran suspend all
uranium enrichment activities and set a November timetable for
compliance in a vote Saturday that U.S. officials praised as
"isolating" Tehran and increasing pressure for it to rein in its
nuclear program.
The resolution fell short of a strict deadline sought by the
United States, which accuses Iran of seeking to produce nuclear
weapons. After the vote, U.S. officials urged the agency to
refer Iran to the U.N. Security Council in November for possible
sanctions should it be found to have defied any of the
resolution's conditions.
"The time for decisive action is approaching," chief U.S.
delegate Jackie Sanders told the International Atomic Energy
Agency's board of governors.
"To wait until the IAEA finds the nuclear weapons ... is to wait
until it is too late," he said. "With every passing week, Iran
moves that much closer to reaching the point where neither we,
nor any other international body, will be able to prevent it
from achieving nuclear weapons capacity."
The 35-nation board unanimously approved the toughly worded
resolution that said the agency "considers it necessary" that
Iran freeze all programs related to uranium enrichment, a key
process that can be used to make nuclear weapons or to produce
reactor fuel for energy generation.
The resolution expressed alarm at Iranian plans to convert more
than 40 tons of raw uranium into uranium hexafluoride - the gas
that when spun in centrifuges turns into enriched uranium.
It also said it "strongly urges" Iran to meet all demands by the
agency in its investigation of the country's nearly two decades
of clandestine nuclear activity - including unrestricted access
to sites, information and personnel that can shed light on still
unanswered questions on whether Tehran was interested in the
atom for nuclear weapons.
Iran insists its nuclear program aims only to produce energy and
not to develop weapons.
Suggesting that the Islamic Republic could answer to the U.N.
Security Council should it defy the demands, the resolution said
the next board meeting in November "will decide whether or not
further steps are appropriate" in ensuring Iran complies.
Still, the text appeared to leave Iran wiggle room. While
demanding Iran suspend all uranium enrichment activities, the
resolution also recognized nations' right to the peaceful use of
nuclear energy.
By giving the Iranians room to maneuver on enrichment, the
resolution appeared to fall far short of what the Americans had
wanted coming into the meeting. Washington had pushed to drop
mention of countries' rights to peaceful nuclear technology and
fought for an Oct. 31 deadline, with the understanding that if
Iran failed to comply the board would then automatically begin
deliberations on Security Council referral.
The phrasing accepted instead left it up to the board to debate
what action - if any - to take when it reconvenes Nov. 25 should
Iran be found to have ignored the demand to freeze enrichment or
other conditions.
Iran's chief delegate to the meeting asserted that Washington
was frustrated in its main goals - "putting deadline of Oct 31,
(and) second an automatic trigger mechanism."
"Both were neglected, and we have nothing like this in the
resolution," Hossein Mousavian told reporters.
Before the vote, Mousavian held out the possibility of meeting
the resolution's key demand of a suspension of all
enrichment-related activities.
Iran's "decision-makers will decide about the main request -
full suspension," in the next few days, he told The Associated
press.
The United States insisted the resolution makes it clear that
"Iran remains completely isolated in its pursuit of nuclear
weapons."
"This resolution sends an unmistakable signal to Iran that
continuing its nuclear weapons program will bring it inevitably
before the (U.N.) Security Council," Sanders, the chief U.S.
delegate, told reporters.
The resolution also called on IAEA head Mohamed ElBaradei to
provide a review of the findings of a more-than one year probe
of Iran's nuclear activities which Tehran insists are strictly
tailored toward generating electricity.
Iran's present suspension of enrichment falls short of
international demands.
It says it is honoring a pledge not to put uranium hexafluoride
gas into centrifuges, spin it and make enriched uranium. But the
resolution calls for a stop as well to related activities,
including a halt to making, assembling and testing centrifuges,
and to producing the uranium hexafluoride.
Iran is not prohibited from enrichment under its obligations to
the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. It has for months faced
international pressure to suspend such activities as a
good-faith gesture, but the resolution went further by actually
demanding a stop to enrichment and related activities.
---
On the Net:
IAEA: www.iaea.org
--
*****************************************************************
10 Las Vegas SUN: Iran: U.N. Uranium Program Ban 'Illegal'
By ALI AKBAR DAREINI ASSOCIATED PRESS
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) -
0919iran-nuclear Iran on Sunday denounced as "illegal" demands
from the U.N. atomic watchdog agency that it freeze all work on
uranium enrichment - a technology that can be used for nuclear
weapons - and threatened to limit cooperation with the agency if
it moves toward sanctions.
But Hasan Rowhani, Iran's top nuclear negotiator, stopped short
of outright rejection of the International Atomic Energy
Agency's demands and held out the possibility of negotiations on
the issue.
"We are committed to the suspension of actual enrichment, but we
have no decision to expand the suspension," Rowhani said at a
news conference a day after the IAEA governing board issued its
demand to freeze all enrichment-related work and said it would
judge Tehran's compliance in two months.
"This demand is illegal," he said. "The IAEA board of governors
has no right to make such a suspension obligatory for any
country."
"Actual enrichment" refers to the injection of uranium gas into
centrifuges. Rowhani indicated Iran's other activities, such as
production, assembly and testing of centrifuges, were likely to
continue.
Such ambiguity has led U.S. and other officials to accuse Iran
of hiding an intention to create a nuclear weapons and trying to
stonewall the international community. Iran says its nuclear
program is only for peaceful energy purposes.
"We have no dependency on the outside world to control the
nuclear fuel cycle. We don't need parts or technology," Rowhani
said.
"We possess all the requirements," he added, referring to the
steps from mining uranium ore to enriching uranium for use
either to produce electricity or nuclear weapons. Analysts say
any country that controls that cycle can produce nuclear weapons
at will.
If the IAEA refers questions about Iranian nuclear activities to
the U.N Security Council for possible sanctions, Rowhani said:
"Iran will stop implementing the additional protocol and will
limit its cooperation with the IAEA."
Under the additional protocol to the Nuclear Nonproliferation
Treaty that Iran signed last year, it is required to allow
unfettered inspections of its nuclear facilities. Iran began
implementing the additional protocol right away, though
technically it has yet to be ratified by the parliament and made
into law.
More than 200 lawmakers in Iran's conservative-dominated
parliament threatened on Sunday to block ratification.
Iran is not prohibited from enrichment under its obligations to
the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. But for months it has faced
international pressure to suspend such activities as a
good-faith gesture.
The United States insists the 35-member IAEA board must refer
Iran to the Security Council when it meets again on Nov. 25 if
Tehran doesn't comply.
U.S. Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham, in Vienna for a
conference of the Global Threat Reduction Initiative - meant to
secure radioactive materials and keep them out of terrorists'
hands - warned Iran to heed the IAEA decision.
"I think the board sent a very clear message that Iran must
cease its pursuit of (nuclear) weapons and ... suspend its
enrichment activity," he told reporters.
"We should all expect that Iran should follow the obligations"
laid down by the resolution, he said. "The clock is ticking
down, and I believe they should comply with the resolution."
In an interview with the CNN show "Late Edition," IAEA chief
Mohamed ElBaradei urged Iran to heed the international call and
suspend all enrichment-related activities.
"What I am asking Iran for (is) please build the confidence.
Please work with me to build the confidence through the agency.
Please allow us to verify all outstanding issues," he said. "If
we can do that, then we can trigger a political dialogue."
Rowhani said dialogue, not demands, may elicit Iranian
concessions.
"No resolution can impose an obligation on Iran to suspend
activities. If there is a way, it will be the way of dialogue,"
he said.
Rowhani did not rule out talks with the United States.
"We had talks with America under the auspices of the United
Nations over Afghanistan and Iraq in the past. ...I don't want
to say dialogue with America is ruled out over our nuclear
dossier," he said. "If they (the Americans) give up a policy of
threat, we can consider dialogue with them."
The IAEA board unanimously approved a toughly worded resolution
Saturday saying it "considers it necessary" that Iran suspend
all uranium enrichment and related programs. It expressed alarm
at Iranian plans to convert more than 40 tons of raw uranium
into uranium hexafluoride - the gas that when spun in
centrifuges turns into enriched uranium.
It called on ElBaradei to provide a review of the investigation
of Iran's nuclear activities and said the next board meeting in
November "will decide whether or not further steps are
appropriate" in ensuring Iran complies, suggesting that Iran
could have to answer to the Security Council if it defies the
demands.
--
*****************************************************************
11 Las Vegas SUN: Iran Says U.N. Nuclear Ban 'Illegal'
ASSOCIATED PRESS
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - Iran said Sunday that demands from the U.N.
atomic watchdog agency that it freeze all work on uranium
enrichment - technology that can be used for nuclear weapons -
were "illegal."
Hasan Rowhani, Iran's top nuclear negotiator, said at a news
conference that his country would nonetheless continue with its
voluntary suspension of what he described as "actual enrichment"
- the injection of uranium gas into centrifuges.
But other activities, such as production, assembly and testing
of centrifuges, were likely to continue, and he said Iran would
limit its cooperation with the U.N. International Atomic Energy
Agency if the watchdog referred questions about its nuclear
activities to the U.N Security Council for possible sanctions.
Rowhani spoke a day after the governing board of the U.N.
International Atomic Energy Agency demanded that Iran freeze all
work on uranium enrichment and said it would judge Tehran's
compliance in two months.
--
*****************************************************************
12 BBC: Iran offer over nuclear programme
Last Updated: Saturday, 18 September, 2004
By Bethany Bell BBC correspondent in Vienna
[A general view of Iran's first nuclear reactor, being built in
Bushehr] There are calls for Iran to end enrichment activity
A leading Iranian official has told the BBC that Tehran is
prepared to give further assurances that its uranium enrichment
programme will be peaceful.
The pledge was made by head of the Iranian delegation to the
International Atomic Energy Agency Hossein Mousavian.
The US, Britain, France and Germany have submitted a resolution
to the IAEA which calls on Iran to freeze all enrichment
activities.
Some other board members find that difficult to accept.
Programme 'peaceful'
Mr Mousavian told the BBC that Iran is prepared to discuss giving
further assurances that its uranium enrichment process will be
peaceful and will never be diverted.
He said the Europeans had been informed of the offer.
The question of Iran's enrichment programme is at the heart of a
diplomatic wrangle at the IAEA's board of governors.
The US, Britain, France and Germany are calling for a halt to all
enrichment-related activities in Iran, amid fears that Tehran
could be trying to develop a nuclear weapons programme.
But other board members have expressed reservations and Iran
insists on its right to enrich uranium for peaceful purposes.
The board is set to consider the resolution on Saturday.
The resolution would impose an indirect deadline on Iran to meet
the board's conditions.
It keeps open the option of further steps if Iran fails to comply
with IAEA demands that could include taking Tehran before the UN
Security Council.
Iran says its nuclear programme is peaceful and not a matter for
New York.
*****************************************************************
13 BBC: Analysis: Iran's nuclear bluff
Last Updated: Sunday, 19 September, 2004
By Frances Harrison BBC correspondent in Tehran
Iran's angry reaction to calls for a sweeping halt to all its
enrichment activities may be born partially of a sense of
injustice.
[Aerial view of Natanz facility (Image: DigitalGlobe)]
At Natanz, uranium enrichment is in its final phase, Iranians say
Iran argues it has abided by the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty
(NPT) and allowed spot inspections sometimes at two hours' notice
in order to show the intention behind its nuclear programme is
peaceful.
Iranian officials repeatedly stress their country has a legal
right to nuclear power - and in particular to securing their own
source of fuel for power stations rather than being dependent on
outsiders.
The international community is mistrustful though - fearing Iran
plans to convert fuel into highly enriched uranium for weapons.
Under pressure
By taking a tough stance against the International Atomic Energy
Agency (IAEA) resolution, Iran hopes to show the world it will
not give in to what it calls international bullying by making
concessions outside the framework of the Nuclear
Non-Proliferation Treaty.
The government is also under pressure from hardliners who
dominate the parliament.
More than 200 deputies urged the government to defy the
international community and go ahead and enrich uranium.
The door was however le ajar for compromise when Iran said any
further suspension of enrichment activities was a matter for
negotiations
IAEA resolution: Full text
There have been calls in hard-line newspapers for Iran to pull
out of the NPT altogether - and certainly it is possible if Iran
is referred to the UN Security Council for sanctions.
For the meantime Iran has said it will continue and even extend
its co-operation with IAEA inspectors in the hope that it can
resolve all outstanding issues by the next meeting in November.
Spot inspections will continue under an agreement known as the
Additional Protocol signed last year though parliamentarians have
issued a statement saying they will not ratify it.
Disturbing progress
The door was, however, left ajar for compromise when Iran said
any further suspension of enrichment activities was a matter for
negotiations and could not be achieved by passing resolutions.
What is disturbing for the international community is quite how
advanced Iran's nuclear programme already is.
Iran's top nuclear negotiator, Hassan Rohani, said Iran was
already producing uranium hexafluoride gas out of yellow cake in
Isfahan and had reached the last stage of uranium enrichment at a
site in Natanz.
The latest IAEA resolution called on Iran to reconsider its
decision to start building a heavy-water research reactor in Arak
- but Mr Rohani told journalists it was almost finished.
He said Iran already had enrichment capability and could complete
the fuel cycle any day it wanted.
*****************************************************************
14 Xinhuanet: IAEA sets deadline for Iranian nuke issue
www.xinhuanet.com
www.chinaview.cn 2004-09-18 23:27:16
Iran's International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Chief Delegate
Hussein Mousavian briefes the press after an IAEA Board of
Governors meeting in Vienna, September 18, 2004. The U.N. nuclear
watchdog called on Iran on Saturday to immediately halt
activities related to uranium enrichment, a process that can be
used to make atomic weapons. (Photo: Xinhua/Reuters)
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General
Mohamed ElBaradei reads documents before the board of governors
meeting in Vienna, September 18, 2004. A senior U.S. official
said on Saturday Iran was "completely isolated" in what he called
its pursuit of nuclear weapons and that this would be reflected
in a draft resolution to be debated by the U.N. nuclear watchdog.
(Photo: Xinhua/Reuters)
VIENNA, Sept. 18 (Xinhuanet) -- The United Nations' (UN)
nuclear watchdog -- the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
-- on Saturday adopted a resolution setting a Nov. 25 deadline
for Iran to freeze its uranium enrichment program, a UN nuclear
agency spokeswoman said.
The resolution, passed at a meeting of the IAEA's board of
governors, demands Iran to suspend its uranium enrichment and all
other related activities.
It also requests Iran to grant full and prompt access to the
agency's inspectors, and provide them with any further
information needed by Nov. 25, when the board convenes to review
Iran's compliance with the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty
(NPT).
IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei said Saturday that Iran must
suspend all its uranium enrichment activities in order to restore
confidence after failing to report its nuclear activities to the
IAEA for almost two decades,
IAEA Spokeswoman Melissa Fleming said the resolution was
passed by consensus without a vote by the agency's 35-nation
board of governors.
The resolution does not call on the board to report Iran's
nuclear issue to the UN Security Council, as the United States
had strongly demanded, but says the agency will decide in
November on whether Iran had fully met its demands and see if any
further actions are needed.
Non-aligned countries had been bitterly opposed to the
resolution, submitted by Britain, France and Germany, as they
believe imposing a deadline on Iran to suspend uranium enrichment
program would go beyond the IAEA's mandate of monitoring
compliance with the NPT.
Enriched uranium can be used either to generate electricity
or to make nuclear bombs. Under its obligations to the NPT, Iran
is not barred from enrichment.
Although the resolution does not include wording on a
referral to the UN Security Council, which the United States
hoped could in turn consider sanctions against Iran, the United
States hailed the resolution as sending an "unmistakable signal"
to Iran.
Chief US delegate Jackie Sanders said the resolution set the
next meeting of the board in November as "an unambiguous deadline
for Iran to cease its pursuit of nuclear weapons."
She said the text showed that continuing nuclear weapons
program will bring Iran inevitably before the UN Security
Council.
Responding to the resolution, Iran's chief delegate to the
conference Hossain Mousavian said Iran's leadership will decide
on whether to fully suspend nuclear enrichment program in the
next few days.
Iran denied the US allegation that it has been developing
nuclear weapons program, saying its uranium enrichment project is
only for peaceful purposes. Enditem
Copyright ©2003 Xinhua News Agency. All rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
15 AFP: Iran to face Security Council if fails to meet nuclear deadline - US
[http://www.spacewar.com/]
VIENNA (AFP) Sep 18, 2004
Iran will be taken to the UN Security Council if it does not
comply with the November deadline set by the UN nuclear watchdog
in a meeting Saturday, US delegation chief Jackie Sanders said.
"This resolution sends an unmistakeable signal to Iran that
continuing its nuclear weapons program will bring it inevitably
before the Security Council," Sanders told reporters at a meeting
of the watchdog International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
All rights reserved. © 2004 Agence France-Presse
[http://www.afp.com/] . Sections of the information displayed on
this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by
intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a
consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit,
publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the
content of this section without the prior written consent of
Agence France-Presse [http://www.afp.com/] .
*****************************************************************
16 UK Independent: UN watchdog tells Iran to halt nuclear activities
By George Jahn in Vienna
19 September 2004
The governing board of the UN atomic watchdog agency yesterday
told Iran it had two months to freeze all work on uranium
enrichment - the technology that can be used for nuclear
weapons.
Iran played down the significance of the resolution passed by a
high-level gathering of the International Atomic Energy Agency
(IAEA). Tehran insists its nuclear activities are strictly
tailored toward generating electricity. But the chief US
representative, Jackie Sanders, warned delegates against
"waiting until it's too late" to find out whether Tehran has
nuclear arms.
John Bolton, the US Under Secretary of State, said the issue was
whether Iran was going to give up nuclear weapons by the
November meeting. "The ball is in Iran's court," he said.
A senior State Department official said that unless Tehran
complied before the board next meets in November, it would be
hauled before the UN Security Council.
Approved unanimously by delegates at the 35-nation board
meeting, the resolution said the board "considers it necessary"
that Iran suspend all uranium enrichment and related programmes.
IAEA head Mohamed ElBaradei will review Iran's actions before
the November meeting.
It expressed alarm at Iranian plans to convert more than 40 tons
of raw uranium into uranium hexafluoride, the gas that turns
into enriched uranium when spun in centrifuges.
It also said the board "strongly urges" Iran to meet all demands
by the agency in its investigation of the country's nearly two
decades of clandestine nuclear activity, including unrestricted
access to sites, information and personnel that can shed light
on still unanswered questions on whether Tehran was interested
in the atom for nuclear weapons.
UK Independent Ltd.
*****************************************************************
17 AFP: Highlights of the IAEA resolution adopted on Iran's nuclear programme
[http://www.spacewar.com/]
VIENNA (AFP) Sep 19, 2004
Herewith highlights of a resolution adopted at the weekend by
the International Atomic Energy Agency's board of governors on
Iran's nuclear programme.
The Board of Governors
(d) Noting with serious concern that, as detailed in the Director
Generals report, Iran has not heeded repeated calls from the
Board to suspend, as a confidence building measure, all
enrichment-related and reprocessing activities,
(e) Also concerned that, at its Uranium Conversion Facility, Iran
is planning to introduce 37 tonnes of yellowcake
(f) Recognising the right of states to the development and
practical application of atomic energy for peaceful purposes
(g) Stressing the need for effective safeguards to prevent
nuclear material being used for prohibited purposes
1. Strongly urges that Iran respond positively to the Director
Generals findings on the provision of access and information by
taking such steps as (...) the provision of prompt access to
locations and personnel, and by providing further information and
explanations when required by the Agency and proactively, to
assist the Agency to understand the full extent and nature of
Irans enrichment programme and to take all steps within its power
to clarify the outstanding issues before the Boards 25 November
meeting, specifically including the sources and reasons for
enriched uranium contamination, and the import, manufacture, and
use of centrifuges;
2. Emphasises the continuing importance of Iran acting in
accordance with all provisions of the Additional Protocol
including by providing all access required in a timely manner;
and urges Iran once again to ratify its Protocol without delay;
3. Deeply regrets that the implementation of Iranian voluntary
decisions to suspend enrichment-related and reprocessing
activities (...) fell significantly short of the Agencys
understanding of the scope of those commitments and also that
Iran has since reversed some of those decisions; (...) and
considers it necessary, to promote confidence, that Iran
immediately suspend all (the word all is underlined)
enrichment-related activities, including the manufacture or
import of centrifuge components, the assembly and testing of
centrifuges, and the production of feed material
4. Calls again on Iran, as a further confidence-building measure,
voluntarily to reconsider its decision to start construction of a
research reactor moderated by heavy water;
7. Requests the Director General to submit in advance of the
November Board:
- a report on the implementation of this resolution;
- a recapitulation of the Agencys findings on the Iranian nuclear
programme since September 2002, as well as a full account of past
and present Iranian cooperation with the Agency,(...) as well as
a detailed analysis of the implications of those findings in
relation to Irans implementation of its Safeguards Agreement;
9. Decides that at its November session it will decide whether or
not further steps are appropriate (...) and to remain seized of
the matter.
All rights reserved. © 2004 Agence France-Presse
[http://www.afp.com/] . Sections of the information displayed on
*****************************************************************
18 BBC: Iran rejects UN nuclear demands
Last Updated: Sunday, 19 September, 2004
[Chief nuclear negotiator Hassan Rohani ]
Iran says no international body can force it to end enrichment
Iran has defiantly rejected calls from the UN nuclear watchdog to
suspend all its uranium enrichment activities.
Tehran also vowed to block snap inspections of its nuclear sites
if the issue is sent to the Security Council.
"Iran will not accept any obligation regarding the suspension of
uranium enrichment," chief nuclear negotiator Hassan Rohani said.
Enriched uranium can be used to make nuclear weapons, but Iran
insists its programme is for peaceful purposes.
"If they want to send Iran to the Security Council, it is not
wise, and we will stop implementing the Additional Protocol," Mr
Rohani told a news conference in Tehran after the decision by the
International Atomic Energy Agency.
This demand is illegal a does not put any obligation on Iran -
the IAEA board of governors has no right to make such a
suspension obligatory for any country Hassan Rohani Iran chief
nuclear negotiator Press considers standoff
The Additional Protocol to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty
allows snap nuclear checks.
"We are committed to the suspension of actual enrichment, but we
have no decision to expand the suspension," Mr Rohani said.
"This demand is illegal and does not put any obligation on Iran.
The IAEA board of governors has no right to make such a
suspension obligatory for any country."
He said European countries were wrong in thinking Iran was only
one step away from full enrichment; Iran was already at that
point and could complete the nuclear fuel cycle "today" if it
wanted.
And he added that, if Iran was referred to the UN Security
Council for punitive action, it would consider pulling out of the
Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty altogether.
Iran suspended enrichment a year ago as a confidence-building
measure, but has continued activities such as building the
centrifuges that refine the uranium.
Suspicions
The US has strong suspicions that Iran is using its nuclear
programme to make weapons in secret.
Along with Israel, it is pushing the IAEA to refer Iran to the
Security Council if it does not comply with the agency's demands.
The Security Council could then impose sanctions.
NUCLEAR NON-PROLIFERATION TREATY (NPT)
Aim to prevent spread of nuclear weapons and develop peaceful use
of nuclear power Ratified in 1970 by the US, UK and Russia
(then Soviet Union) China and France sign up in 1992
Some 190 "non-nuclear" countries - including Iran - have ratified
the pact They agree not to develop or acquire such weapons
Non-signatories India, Pakistan and Israel are known or believed
to have nuclear arms
"With every passing week, Iran moves that much closer to reaching
the point where neither we, nor any other international body,
will be able to prevent it from achieving nuclear weapons
capacity," said chief US delegate Jackie Sanders on Saturday.
Nuclear experts have said the Parchin military complex,
south-east of Tehran, may be a site for the research, testing and
production of nuclear arms.
Iran says it has a right to enrich uranium as part of its
peaceful nuclear programme, including power generation.
European rift
Iran also accused Britain, France and Germany of breaking an
accord reached last year on Iran's co-operation with the IAEA.
The Board of Governo considers it necessary, to promote
confidence, that Iran immediately suspend all enrichment-related
activities
Full text: IAEA resolution
"The three Europeans have violated the terms of the accord
regarding enrichment because the suspension of enrichment was
voluntary," Mr Rohani said.
In its resolution, the IAEA said its board of governors had
judged that an Iranian promise made to the three European nations
last year to suspend uranium enrichment activities had fallen
short of expectations.
The resolution called on Iran to suspend all uranium enrichment
activities and asked Iran to grant access to its inspectors.
The IAEA board of governors is next set to meet on 25 November to
review Iran's alleged nuclear weapons programme.
Iran has until then to answer all outstanding questions about its
nuclear programme.
*****************************************************************
19 AFP: Chief UN nuclear inspector unsure of North Korea's blast
[http://www.spacewar.com/]
WASHINGTON (AFP) Sep 20, 2004
The chief UN nuclear inspector on Sunday refused to completely
rule out the possibility of a nuclear explosion in North Korea
more than a week ago.
"It doesn't look like a nuclear explosion, but we are not a
hundred percent sure," Mohamed ElBaradei, director general of the
International Atomic Energy Agency, told CNN television.
"I think it is unlikely, but we are not there, and we cannot
really validate this conclusion for sure," he added.
North Korean Foreign Minister Paek Nam-Sun told British officials
his country's engineers blew up a mountain near the border with
China to prepare for a hydro-electric project.
He said the explosion was intentional and non-nuclear.
All rights reserved. © 2004 Agence France-Presse
[http://www.afp.com/] . Sections of the information displayed on
*****************************************************************
20 Las Vegas SUN: U.N. Nuclear Watchdog Goes to South Korea
ASSOCIATED PRESS
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) -
A delegation from the United Nations nuclear watchdog arrived in
South Korea on Sunday for a follow-up probe into the country's
secret nuclear experiments.
The visit follows South Korea's recent admission that its
scientists once dabbled in extracting plutonium and enriching
uranium, both of which can be used to make nuclear arms.
South Korea says the experiments were purely research but has
acknowledged it should have informed the International Atomic
Energy Agency.
The five-member team declined to give details of its
investigation and left soon after arriving for the Korea Atomic
Energy Research Institute in Daejeon, 125 miles south of Seoul,
according to South Korea's Yonhap news agency. It was the second
visit this month by a delegation from the U.N. agency.
The revelations of a South Korean nuclear history have
threatened to disrupt already troubled efforts to hold another
round of talks aimed at persuading North Korea to end its
nuclear weapons program.
Pyongyang said Saturday that the United States was ignoring the
nuclear activities of its allies while trying to pressure the
communist North to give up its nuclear capability.
"South Korea's clandestine nuclear experiments go to prove that
the U.S. double standards are a fundamental factor of the
nuclear proliferation," said KCNA, the North's official news
agency.
"It is self-evident that the resumption of the talks can no
longer be discussed unless the U.S. drops its hostile policy
based on double standards toward (North Korea) and that the
latter can never dismantle its nuclear deterrent force," KCNA
said.
--
*****************************************************************
21 Korea Herald: U.N. watchdog begins round 2 of inspections
2004.09.20
By Choi Soung-ah
[http://www.voiceware.co.kr]
A team of inspectors from the United Nations nuclear watchdog
agency today begins a new field probe of South Korea's nuclear
activities which the government hopes will clear way doubts once
and for all.
Arriving here yesterday for an eight-day visit, the five
officials from the International Atomic Energy Agency will
inspect two nuclear facilities where experiments with plutonium
and uranium were held, respectively - one in Seoul's Gongneung
district which is now defunct and the government-funded Korea
Atomic Energy Research Institute in Daejeon, sources said.
The group, headed by a Finnish IAEA official Saukkonen Heikki
Antero, was greeted by reporters at Incheon International Airport
but declined to answer any questions, saying only that an IAEA
spokesman at the agency's headquarters in Vienna will make all
announcements on their inspection tour.
The inspection team left the airport in a van from the state-run
nuclear institute and headed directly to Daejeon.
Their itinerary has yet to be verified, as the government, too,
maintained a hush-hush stance on the inspectors' plans.
The visit is a follow-up to the IAEA's initial inspection tour
Aug. 31-Sept. 5, of the state-run nuclear research facilities
where unauthorized experiments were conducted with traces of
plutonium in 1982 and a uranium enrichment test in 2000.
The inspectors will focus on allegations that South Korea
produced 153 kilograms of uranium metal in 1982 at one of three
nuclear facilities undeclared to the IAEA and that as much as 15
kilograms remain unaccounted.
The results of the inspection will be reported to a meeting of
the U.N. watchdog's board of directors scheduled Nov. 25.
If the inspection team finds Seoul's nuclear activities to be in
"noncompliance" with a related international pact, the matter
will be referred to the U.N. Security Council, which will discuss
the level of sanctions against the country, analysts said.
But the penalty will be considerably less if the ruling is that
Seoul's experiments were merely a "breach."
South Korean officials were relieved over the weekend that a
communique issued at the latest IAEA meeting in Vienna did not
mention Seoul's nuclear experiments.
Officials here reiterated Saturday the government's insistence
that South Korea has no nuclear weapons ambitions - the latest in
a series of moves to limit the political damage from back-to-back
disclosures of the country's nuclear experiments with uranium and
plutonium.
Spelling out Seoul's four-point peaceful nuclear policy, Chung
said South Korea would maintain its policy of nuclear
transparency and increased international cooperation.
"We declare again that we have no intention of developing or
possessing nuclear weapons," Unification Minister Chung
Dong-young said after a meeting of the National Security Council.
"And, we have never promoted nuclear development for military
purposes.
"So far the government has never possessed or pursued any
nuclear weapons program for military purposes," Chung said in the
nationally televised news conference with the foreign andscience
ministers.
He also vowed Seoul would honor international regimes on nuclear
nonproliferation but said it would expand the scope of its
peaceful nuclear activities.
Science Minister Oh Myung said the dispute should not dampen
South Korea's peaceful nuclear energy development. Nuclear energy
provides some 40 percent to South Korea's energy needs.
The IAEA ended a meeting of its 35-nation board of governors on
Friday after deciding to review the South Korean issue in
November.
Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon said that the government would
cooperate fully with the ongoing IAEA inspections and make
diplomatic efforts to ensure that lingering suspicion on Seoul's
past undeclared nuclear activities would also be ended in
November.
Mohammed ElBaradei, director general of the IAEA, will be in
Seoul Oct. 4-7 to attend an international disarmament conference.
ElBaradei told reporters he was ready to meet South Korean
government officials to discuss the controversial nuclear
experiments.
"We are getting very active cooperation from South Korea,"
ElBaradei said. Earlier in the week he had expressed "serious
concern" about the South Korean experiments but officials in
Seoul played down the remark as nothing more than a "routine
comment."
(bluelle@heraldm.com)
*****************************************************************
22 BBC: N Korea rules out nuclear freeze
Last Updated: Saturday, 18 September, 2004
[Yongbyon nuclear facility]
North Korean nuclear facilities have been the focus of talks
North Korea has said it can "never dismantle" its nuclear arsenal
while US policy towards it remains hostile.
Pyongyang also accused the US of "double standards", saying it
had aided nuclear experiments by South Korea.
North Korea suspended talks aimed at nuclear disarmament earlier
this month after the disclosure that South Korea had secretly
violated nuclear accords.
The US, Japan, China, Russia and South Korea have been
negotiating with North Korea to reduce its nuclear capability.
Shock disclosure
South Korea has said its efforts to extract plutonium and enrich
uranium were undertaken purely for civilian purposes.
Mohamed ElBaradei, the head of the UN's atomic agency, meanwhile
praised Seoul for co-operating with an inquiry into its nuclear
experiments.
A UN team is to arrive in Seoul on Sunday to scrutinise its
nuclear disclosures.
South Korea shocked observers on 2 September by admitting its
scientists had taken part in small experiments to yield materials
that could be used in processes leading towards building nuclear
weapons.
Little progress
The statement by North Korean news agency, KCNA, reiterated a
refusal to continue disarmament talks and accused the US of
stoking an arms race in the region.
"South Korea's clandestine nuclear experiments go to prove that
the US double standards are a fundamental factor of the nuclear
proliferation," it said.
Talks could not be resumed, the agency said, "unless the US drops
its hostile policy based on double standards towards [North
Korea]."
Disarming Pyongyang's "nuclear deterrent force" was also out of
the question, KCNA said.
Long-running talks aimed at encouraging North Korea to surrender
some of its nuclear weapons in exchange for aid and guarantees of
security have made little progress so far.
*****************************************************************
23 BBC: Nuclear monitors return to Seoul
Last Updated: Sunday, 19 September, 2004
By Charles Scanlon BBC correspondent in Seoul
[Students look at a diagram showing the theory of nuclear energy
at the Seoul Science Museum] The South Koreans have shown
interest in the nuclear cycle
A team from the International Atomic Energy Agency arrives in
South Korea on Sunday to resume an investigation into secret
nuclear experiments.
The IAEA has expressed concern about Seoul's nuclear activities
over the last two decades.
Seoul has repeatedly stressed it has no intention of building
nuclear weapons.
North Korea says it will not return to talks on its own nuclear
programme until the US drops its double standards on nuclear
proliferation in the region.
The inspectors are returning to South Korea for the second time
this month to continue investigations into illicit nuclear
experiments.
The director-general of the IAEA, Mohammed el-Baradei, is also
due to visit Seoul next month in a further sign of the agency's
concern.
Questions
South Korea has admitted its scientists conducted tests in 1982
and again four years ago to extract plutonium and to enrich
uranium, two separate routes to an atomic bomb.
[Oh Joon, right, Director-General for International Organization
of Foreign Ministry and Cho Chung-won, left, Director-General for
Nuclear Energy Cooperation of Science and Technology ] South
Korean officials are liaising with the IAEA over the revelations
But the government says the tests were on too small a scale to be
significant and has blamed curious scientists acting without
official authorisation.
Many questions remain unanswered.
The inspectors will investigate why South Korea failed to declare
three separate sites for the production of uranium metal which
was used as a raw material for some of the experiments.
North Korea is using the South's predicament to divert criticism
of its own well-advanced atomic bomb programme.
The state news agency has backed up earlier statements that the
North will not return to the negotiating table until South
Korea's activities have been fully investigated.
It accuses the United States of double standards, for its
relatively relaxed public response to the revelations from South
Korea.
*****************************************************************
24 People's Daily: DPRK blames US "double standards" on blocked nuclear talks
[http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/search/search.html]
UPDATED: 10:01, September 19, 2004
[http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/data/dprk.html] (
[http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/data/dprk.html] ) said on
Saturday that the US "hostile policy" based on double standards
toward the DPRK is an impediment to the talks on nuclear issues
of the Korean Peninsula.
"Now that the US deliberate provocation has already overturned
the groundwork of dialogue, the resumption of the talks can no
longer be discussed unless the US drops its hostile policy toward
the DPRK," the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said in
a statement.
Pyongyang announced on Thursday that it will never go back to the
fourth round of the six-party talks, scheduled before the end of
this month, unless the recently reported South Korea's secret
nuclear experiments are probed.
The KCNA statement also accused the
[http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/data/usa.html] of helping
South Korea in its nuclear experiments.
"It is quite impossible for South Korea to make such
nuclear-related experiments for years without the US knowledge,"
said the statement.
"It proves that the US double standards are a fundamental factor
of the nuclear proliferation," it said.
Earlier this month, South Korea admitted two groups of scientists
respectively conducted experiment of extracting small amount of
plutonium in 1982 and separated 0.2 gram of uranium in 2000, both
failing to inform local nuclear authorities.
"What infuriates the DPRK is that the United States has so far
shut its eyes to the secret nuclear activities of its allies
under its nuclear umbrella but has pressured the DPRK to accept
the complete, verifiable and irreversible dismantlement (CVID),"
said the statement.
"It is necessary for the United States to come out to dialogue
with willingness to drop its double standards and renounce its
hostile policy toward the DPRK in practice," the KCNA urged.
The six-party talks involve the DPRK, South Korea,
[http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/data/japan.html] , China,
[http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/data/russia.html] and the
United States.
Source: Xinhua
Copyright by People's Daily Online, all rights reserved
*****************************************************************
25 asahi.com: EDITORIAL: The North Korea issue
A solution requires international efforts.
Two years have passed since North Korean leader Kim Jong Il
admitted that his country's agents had abducted Japanese. Kim
apologized for their actions. The North Koreans said five of the
abductees were alive, but eight had died.
Although Japan does not have diplomatic relations with North
Korea, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi visited Pyongyang for a
summit with Kim. The unusual diplomatic action led to changes in
Japan-North Korea relations that had been frozen for many years.
A positive result of Koizumi's visit was that five Japanese, who
had been detained in the North for as long as two decades, and
their family members were allowed to leave the country and live
in Japan.
But there has been no further information about the 10 Japanese
who are either ``dead'' or ``unaccounted for,'' according to the
North Koreans. Discrepancies have surfaced between the stories
told by returned abductees and the official explanation by North
Korean authorities about the missing Japanese.
Although Kim promised a thorough investigation into the 10
missing Japanese, North Korea has not given any appropriate
response despite repeated urgings by the Japanese government. For
the family members of the missing Japanese, the past two years
must have been very painful and frustrating.
Considering North Korea's insincere attitude, the number of
Japanese abducted by its agents is probably larger than what
Pyongyang has admitted to. The abduction problem could assume
more serious proportions.
Still, the prime minister's visit to North Korea offered a
glimpse into a country that had been shrouded in mystery.
For example, North Korea's nuclear development has come to light
as a result of U.S. steps prompted by the resumption of the
Tokyo-Pyongyang negotiations. North Korea used strong-arm tactics
to expel inspectors of the International Atomic Energy Agency and
declared its withdrawal from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty
regime. It even resumed operations of an experimental graphite
nuclear reactor.
Japan, the United States and South Korea viewed such moves as
critical, and started six-way talks on North Korea by inviting
China and Russia.
Beijing's involvement in discussions over a country engaged in
dangerous brinkmanship is especially significant because China
has a strong influence over North Korea and is essential for the
security in Northeast Asia.
For the Japanese, who are directly menaced by North Korea's
nuclear weapons and missiles, eliminating such a threat and
danger is one of the most important tasks.
That task cannot be accomplished by Japan alone. Getting
Pyongyang to abandon its nuclear weapons program will require
cooperation by all the countries concerned. Although the six-way
talks proved a trail-blazing development, they have yet to attain
any tangible result.
In the meantime, the plight and confusion in North Korea have
become more serious, as shown by the jump in the number of
defectors from the North. They tell of horrible conditions in the
dictatorial country left behind by the globalization of the
economy after the end of the Cold War. Their stories are backed
by covertly taken photographs and videos.
The past two years also showed signs that Kim Jong Il's regime
could be heading toward the end. Given the gravity of the
abduction problem, Japan should not hastily press ahead in
negotiations with North Korea.
But, the outstanding problems cannot be resolved without North
Korea taking action. It is time for Japan-and the international
community-to rise to the occasion and solve the vexing North
Korea question.
--The Asahi Shimbun, Sept. 17(IHT/Asahi: September 18,2004)
(09/18)
*****************************************************************
26 AFP: UN team in SKorea as NKorea vows not to abandon nuclear ambitions
[http://www.spacewar.com/]
SEOUL (AFP) Sep 19, 2004
A United Nations inspection team arrived Sunday to further
investigate South Korea's past unauthorized experiments with
plutonium and uranium as North Korea vowed not to abandon its
nuclear ambitions.
The four-member International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) team is
on a week-long mission to visit two state nuclear centers and
interview scientists as a follow-up inspection, officials said.
Yonhap news agency said late Sunday the inspection team reached
by car Daejeon, 160 kilometers (100 miles) south of Seoul, to
visit the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute.
Yonhap said one more inspector is later to join the inspection
team which should report back to the Vienna-based IAEA by
November.
Its initial investigation began three weeks ago after Seoul's
shock revelations that its scientists secretly extracted a tiny
amount of plutonium in 1982 and enriched uranium in 2000.
South Korea says the lab experiments had been for scientific
purposes irrelevant to nuclear weapons programs. It denies
seeking or possessing nuclear arms.
But the case has already damaged multinational efforts to
persuade Stalinist North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons
programs.
The chances are slim for a resumption this month of six-nation
talks on the issue as Pyongyang has hardened its position on
Seoul's past nuclear activities.
Pyongyang's official Korean Central News Agency said Saturday
that North Korea would never dismantle its nuclear deterrent, and
that six-way talks could not be resumed unless Washington changed
its policy towards Pyongyang.
"It is self-evident that the resumption of the talks can no
longer be discussed unless the US drops its hostile policy based
on double standards toward the DPRK (North Korea) and that the
latter can never dismantle its nuclear deterrent force," it said.
A North Korean foreign ministry spokesman also said Friday
Pyongyang "can never sit at the table to negotiate its nuclear
weapon program unless the truth about the secret nuclear
experiments in South Korea is fully probed".
China, host of the six-way talks, admitted Thursday it would be
difficult to hold the talks by the end of September as planned.
But Seoul urged Pyongyang to return to the talks which bring
together the two Koreas, China, the United States, Russia and
Japan.
"The (South Korean) nuclear experiments have nothing to do with
the North Korean nuclear issue and it must have no impact on the
six-nation talks," South Korean foreign ministry spokesman Lee
Kyu-Hyung said Friday.
South Korea, a nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty signatory, on
Saturday made a fresh pledge not to develop and own nuclear
weapons.
A US State Department spokesman has said Washington sees the
South's research as "laboratory experiments" and not as nuclear
weapons activities.
The stand-off over North Korea's nuclear ambitions flared in
October 2002 when Washington accused Pyongyang of operating a
nuclear weapons program based on enriched uranium, violating a
1994 agreement.
Pyongyang has denied running the uranium-based program but has
restarted its plutonium program.
Scientists at the state institute produced 150 kilograms (330
pounds) of uranium metal in 1982 in undeclared activities and a
small amount of this was used in 2000 to produce the enriched
uranium.
They also admitted to having extracted a miniscule amount of
plutonium from 2.5 kilograms of fuel rods in secret research in
1982.
IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei last week expressed "serious
concern" about the activities.
South Korea has the world's sixth-largest civilian nuclear
industry, operating 19 nuclear power plants that produce 40
percent of the country's energy needs.
All rights reserved. © 2004 Agence France-Presse
[http://www.afp.com/] . Sections of the information displayed on
*****************************************************************
27 A World of Nuclear Dangers-good summary, and candidates'
Date: Sun, 19 Sep 2004 19:50:54 -0700
----- Original Message -----
From: rainbow7
To: rainbow7
Sent: Saturday, September 18, 2004 11:37 PM
Subject: A World of Nuclear Dangers-- the diffeernce is approach
September 19, 2004 CAMPAIGN 2004: THE BIG ISSUES
A World of Nuclear Dangers
t.gif
he cold war generation grew up worrying about the bomb, the Russians and
World War III. Today's nuclear nightmares are more varied, but no less
scary. The list of nuclear-armed states is lengthening alarmingly, and each
new entry increases the chances that some nasty regional war could turn
nuclear. Nuclear terrorism has emerged as a terrifying new threat. Russia
has huge, poorly guarded stockpiles of nuclear bomb fuel and there is a
small but increasing possibility that its decaying early warning system
could trigger an accidental launch.
President Bush often says he means to halt the nuclear arms programs of
North Korea and Iran, although he has yet to produce any workable plans for
doing so. In February, he rightly called for tighter controls over nuclear
fuel processing, used by several countries to produce bomb ingredients.
As a senator and a candidate, John Kerry has offered constructive proposals
addressing almost every aspect of current nuclear dangers. While Mr. Bush
has tended to focus narrowly on rogue states like North Korea and Iran, Mr.
Kerry wisely favors a more comprehensive approach that would combine crisis
diplomacy on these two priority cases with accelerated efforts to protect
Russian stockpiles. The North Korean and Iranian nuclear programs are at
the top of the nation's agenda. But it is disingenuous to ignore the fact
that 95 percent of the nuclear bombs and most of the nuclear weapons fuel
are in the hands of Russia and the United States.
Mr. Kerry would also break with Bush policies that unintentionally
encourage nuclear proliferation, like the Strangelovian plans for research
on unneeded new nuclear weapons.
"
India and Pakistan tested their first nuclear bombs in 1998. North Korea is
close, if not already there. Iran is not very far behind. In the Middle
East, the Indian subcontinent and the Korean peninsula, an escalation of
conventional conflict into nuclear war has to be treated as a realistic
possibility.
The steady spread of these weapons also increases the risks of backdoor
sales of nuclear technology, as the worldwide arms bazaar run by A. Q. Khan
of Pakistan so chillingly demonstrated. This creeping proliferation has
meant the dispersal of nuclear bomb ingredients like highly enriched
uranium and plutonium into countries with poor governance, uncertain
stability and corrupt officials. That makes it easier for terrorists to
acquire such material and try to fashion usable nuclear bombs.
Mr. Bush once lumped Iraq, Iran and North Korea together as an "axis of
evil." But his decision to invade Iraq limited the diplomatic and military
tools left available to influence North Korea and Iran - which were
undoubtedly taught by the Iraq experience that the best protection against
a pre-emptive strike is a nuclear arsenal.
In both cases, precious time has been lost while the administration has
followed largely unproductive diplomatic strategies. Mr. Bush now wants to
ask the United Nations Security Council to impose sanctions on Iran. But
many Council members, including major European allies, are not ready to do
so. On North Korea, the administration has insisted on discussions
including Russia, China, Japan and South Korea as well as North Korea and
the United States. These have made no discernible progress, in part because
Washington waited until this summer to put its first serious negotiating
proposal on the table. With the talks stalled, North Korea has all the time
it needs to reprocess its plutonium into several nuclear bombs.
Mr. Kerry would try to jump-start the North Korea talks with a
comprehensive new American proposal. He would, like Mr. Bush, insist that
Iran renounce all domestic processing of nuclear fuel while promising that
it could count on access to reliable imported supplies of civilian reactor
fuel in return. Any distinction between the two candidates on Iran rests on
Mr. Kerry's contention that he could better line up European support.
If there is still time to dissuade these two countries from going nuclear,
there isn't much. North Korea may already have assembled test devices. Iran
may soon have all the technology and raw materials needed to proceed.
Still, the international community should explore every avenue to persuade
both countries that it is not in their best interest to build nuclear
weapons. In exchange for a verifiable dismantling of their nuclear
programs, Washington and other governments ought to be willing to offer
substantial economic, diplomatic and security concessions. If that fails to
produce results, international pressure will have to be substantially
ratcheted up. Further months of stalemate while nuclear fuel processing
work continues is not an acceptable option.
"
There is nothing secret anymore about how to process uranium or plutonium
to the purity needed for bomb-making, nor is it all that hard to acquire
the raw ingredients. And every nuclear wannabe has now learned how to
disguise the early phases of a nuclear weapons effort as part of a civilian
nuclear energy program, a trick pioneered decades ago by India and most
recently employed by Iran. Unfortunately, the Nuclear Nonproliferation
Treaty was explicitly intended to encourage such power programs, making it
much harder to fend off the emergence of new nuclear weapons states.
Obviously, the treaty needs to be toughened.
Mr. Bush has rightly called on other countries to deny nuclear-related
exports to any nation that refuses to forgo such fuel processing plants. He
should accelerate the process by calling on the four other main nuclear
exporting countries to join Washington in an immediate ban.
It is also vital to extend the reach of the nonproliferation treaty with a
proposed new fissile materials agreement. Senator Kerry strongly supports
this and President Bush says he supports it too, but his administration
recently undermined the treaty talks by announcing, perversely, that
Washington would insist that the agreement contain no provisions for
verification or inspections.
"
Although the United States and Russia have deactivated thousands of nuclear
warheads since the end of the cold war, tens of thousands remain activated
or sitting in stockpiles where they can be quickly reassembled. The arms
reduction agreement signed by President Bush and President Vladimir Putin
in 2002 calls for most of these warheads to be deactivated by 2012, but no
reductions are required sooner than that and many of the deactivated
warheads will still be retained in stockpiles. America's stored and
deactivated weapons are well secured, but many of Russia's are not. In
addition, Russia's poorly maintained launch command and early warning
systems may be dangerously degrading. At some point, they might conceivably
become vulnerable to terrorists. Well over a thousand warheads on each side
remain on hair-trigger alert.
Washington is helping Russia upgrade its storage security, but at such a
slow rate that hundreds of tons of highly enriched uranium and plutonium
will be lying around for many years. Every ton of highly enriched uranium
can be used to make more than 100 nuclear bombs. A ton of plutonium can go
even further.
The answer is to sharply increase funding for the broad range of American
programs intended to secure this material and reduce or eliminate other
threats from cold war weapons. This is the most cost-effective defense
spending in the federal budget. A bipartisan commission in 2001 recommended
tripling spending for these programs, but the Bush administration has
failed to follow through. Senator Kerry proposes a significant increase
aimed at securing all of Russia's loose bomb fuel in four years.
"
While Mr. Bush and Mr. Kerry seem to agree on many nuclear proliferation
issues, the difference lies in their approach to international problems.
Voters will have to decide whether Mr. Kerry's emphasis on diplomacy and
international cooperation is the best way to keep a lid on these nuclear
threats, or whether Mr. Bush's more unilateral approach to foreign affairs
is better. There is no graver subject for their consideration this election
year.
Campaign 2004: The Big Issues: Editorials in this series remain online at
nytimes.com/issues.
Attachment Converted: t.gif: 00000001,5c007460,00000000,00000000
*****************************************************************
28 Las Vegas SUN: U.S. Pushes Effort to Lower Nuke Threats
By ANDREA DUDIKOVA ASSOCIATED PRESS
VIENNA, Austria (AP) -
U.S. Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham on Saturday called on
countries to find and secure nuclear and other dangerous
material to keep it out of the hands of terrorists.
Abraham, speaking at a two-day conference of the Global Threat
Reduction Initiative, said it was important to create an
inventory of such high-risk materials worldwide, including
substances at nuclear-enrichment or reprocessing plants.
The challenge is "to think creatively, to predict the
unforeseen, and to stay several steps ahead of a determined and
imaginative enemy," Abraham said.
Abraham announced the initiative in May as a $450 million plan
to rid the world of the "dirty bomb" threat by keeping nuclear
materials out of terrorist hands.
Since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States, concerns
have grown that terrorists might be trying to acquire material
for a dirty bomb - a device that uses conventional explosives to
spread low-level radioactive material over city blocks.
It has no atomic chain reaction and requires no highly enriched
uranium or plutonium. Both materials are normally kept under
tight security, so they are difficult to obtain.
Instead, the radioactive component is of lower-grade isotopes,
such as those used in medicine or research. If a dirty bomb were
to be detonated, the radiation release probably would be small.
The Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency - the U.N.
nuclear watchdog - estimates as many as 110 countries do not
have adequate controls over radioactive devices that could be
used to build an explosive device that would spread radioactive
material.
Abraham said Saturday that prevention requires international
collaboration, the sharing of the latest technological and
scientific expertise and joint shouldering of the expenses of
securing and disposal. He announced that the Department of
Energy will give $3 million to the IAEA to help finance such
efforts.
He said Washington and Moscow would work together to bring back
to Russia by the end of this year all the fresh, highly enriched
uranium fuel that originated there and achieve by 2010 the
return of all spent fuel that originated in Russia.
Other goals of the initiative are to complete the return to the
United States of all U.S-origin spent reactor fuel from around
the world by the end of the decade, and to convert civilian
research reactors using highly enriched uranium to reactors
processing low-enriched uranium instead. Highly enriched uranium
is weapons grade.
"In every one of the programs I have just mentioned, we are
committed to working as fast as possible within the boundaries
of technological, scientific and diplomatic feasibility,"
Abraham said in his opening speech.
The conference was sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy
and Russia's Federal Atomic Energy Agency.
--
*****************************************************************
29 WorldNetDaily: U.S. intelligence fiascoes
SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 18 2004
[Supercritical Thoughts] [Gordon Prather]
© 2004 WorldNetDaily.com
In his 2002 State of the Union Address, President Bush threw down
the gauntlet before Iraq, North Korea and Iran:
States like these, and their terrorist allies, constitute an axis
of evil, arming to threaten the peace of the world.
I will not wait on events, while dangers gather. I will not stand
by as peril draws closer and closer. The United States of America
will not permit the world's most dangerous regimes to threaten us
with the world's most destructive weapons.
Bush-Cheney have since claimed to have "intelligence" that Iraq,
North Korea and Iran – all no-nuke signatories to the Nuclear
Non-Proliferation Treaty – each had illicit nuke development
programs.
Each country has vehemently denied it, demanding that the
"intelligence" be provided to the International Atomic Energy
Agency for verification or refutation.
During the Cold War, when we were spending a zillion dollars a
year collecting "intelligence" from outer space, the rest of the
world took us at our word. After all, we regularly intercepted
phone calls Chairman Breshnev made from his limousine and tracked
the limousine's movements.
Well, we are still spending a zillion dollars a year, but by now
hardly anyone takes us at our word.
Everyone now knows that the real Bush-Cheney objective along the
"axis of evil" has been regime change.
In October 2002, Bush-Cheney submitted the National Intelligence
Estimate entitled "Iraq's Continuing Programs of Weapons of Mass
Destruction" that formed the basis for the congressional
"Authorization for the Use of Military Force Against Iraq."
Bush then took his "intelligence" to the U.N. Security Council,
seeking their authorization, too. But the Security Council
balked, sending inspectors into Iraq to check out Bush's
"intelligence." By mid-March it was obvious that there were no
"continuing" WMD programs in Iraq. Virtually the entire NIE had
been wrong.
Well, what about the CIA "assessments" of North Korean nukes?
In October, 2002, a Bush-Cheney weenie claimed that a North
Korean diplomat told him at a cocktail party they had a secret
uranium-enrichment program.
North Korean officials immediately and vehemently denied it. All
North Korean nuclear programs had been "frozen" – subject to IAEA
lock, seal and continuous surveillance – by the Agreed Framework
of 1994.
Bush-Cheney ought then to have provided – as we were obligated to
do – the IAEA the "intelligence" that formed the basis for the
charge so the IAEA could check it out.
Instead, Bush-Cheney used the cocktail party "admission" as the
basis for unilaterally abrogating the Agreed Framework,
immediately shutting off the U.S. fuel-oil shipments to Korea
required by it.
By December, it was obvious that Bush-Cheney were going to invade
Iraq no matter what the IAEA inspectors found or didn't find.
Furthermore, North Korea might be next. So, the Koreans asked
their IAEA inspectors to leave, announced they were withdrawing
from the NPT, restarted their "frozen" nuclear power plant and
began recovering the weapons-grade plutonium contained in their
"frozen" spent-fuel elements.
They now have enough weapons-grade plutonium to make a half dozen
nukes, and the CIA assesses that they probably have one or two
ready to test.
How good is that CIA assessment? Well, the North Koreans don't
deny it.
But the Koreans still do adamantly deny the CIA assessment that
they have – or ever have had – a uranium-enrichment program.
The Chinese tend to believe the Koreans, not the CIA. Now that
North Korea has withdrawn from the NPT, and doesn't deny having a
plutonium-nuke program, there is no reason to deny having a
uranium-nuke program.
How about Iran?
Well, last year Iran agreed to submit to essentially the same
full-disclosure unlimited-access IAEA Safeguards regime that Iraq
had agreed to a year earlier. As of this writing, the IAEA has
found no "indication" that Iran is pursuing – or ever has pursued
– a nuke development program.
The IAEA did find such indications in Iraq, South Africa and
North Korea in 1991-92, so they do know what to look for.
Nevertheless, Bush wants the IAEA to refer to the U.N. Security
Council for possible punitive action the nuke program the IAEA
says Iran doesn't have. On this issue, the
Brits-French-Germans-Russians-Chinese tend to believe the IAEA,
not Bush.
Meanwhile, the CIA reported a mushroom-shaped cloud last week
near where they were expecting North Korea to test a nuke. Well,
according to the DPRK news service:
"There has been no such accident or explosion in the DPRK
recently. Probably, plot-breeders might tell such a sheer lie,
taken aback by blastings at construction sites of hydro-power
stations in the north of Korea."
Physicist James Gordon Prather has served as a policy
implementing official for national security-related technical
matters in the Federal Energy Agency, the Energy Research and
Development Administration, the Department of Energy, the Office
of the Secretary of Defense and the Department of the Army. Dr.
Prather also served as legislative assistant for national
security affairs to U.S. Sen. Henry Bellmon, R-Okla. -- ranking
member of the Senate Budget Committee and member of the Senate
Energy Committee and Appropriations Committee. Dr. Prather had
earlier worked as a nuclear weapons physicist at Lawrence
Livermore National Laboratory in California and Sandia National
Laboratory in New Mexico.
[WorldNetDaily.com]
© 2004 WorldNetDaily.com, Inc.
*****************************************************************
30 YubaNet: Secrecy in the Bush Administration (Rep. Waxman)
YubaNet.com
Author: Rep. Henry A. Waxman
Published: Sep 17, 2004, 07:30
Email this article
Rep. Henry A. Waxman has released a comprehensive examination of
secrecy in the Bush Administration. The report analyzes how the
Administration has implemented each of our nation’s major open
government laws. It finds that there has been a consistent
pattern in the Administration’s actions: laws that are designed
to promote public access to information have been undermined,
while laws that authorize the government to withhold information
or to operate in secret have repeatedly been expanded. The
cumulative result is an unprecedented assault on the principle of
open government.
The Administration has supported amendments to open government
laws to create new categories of protected information that can
be withheld from the public. President Bush has issued an
executive order sharply restricting the public release of the
papers of past presidents. The Administration has expanded the
authority to classify documents and dramatically increased the
number of documents classified. It has used the USA Patriot Act
and novel legal theories to justify secret investigations,
detentions, and trials. And the Administration has engaged in
litigation to contest Congress’ right to information.
The records at issue have covered a vast array of topics, ranging
from simple census data and routine agency correspondence to
presidential and vice presidential records. Among the documents
that the Administration has refused to release to the public and
members of Congress are (1) the contacts between energy companies
and the Vice President’s energy task force, (2) the
communications between the Defense Department and the Vice
President’s office regarding contracts awarded to Halliburton,
(3) documents describing the prison abuses at Abu Ghraib, (4)
memoranda revealing what the White House knew about Iraq’s
weapons of mass destruction, and (5) the cost estimates of the
Medicare prescription drug legislation withheld from Congress.
There are three main categories of federal open government laws:
(1) laws that provide public access to federal records; (2) laws
that allow the government to restrict public access to federal
information; and (3) laws that provide for congressional access
to federal records. In each area, the Bush Administration has
acted to restrict the amount of government information that is
available.
Laws That Provide Public Access to Federal Records
Beginning in the 1960s, Congress enacted a series of landmark
laws that promote “government in the sunshine.” These include the
Freedom of Information Act, the Presidential Records Act, and the
Federal Advisory Committee Act. Each of these laws enables the
public to view the internal workings of the executive branch. And
each has been narrowed in scope and application under the Bush
Administration.
Freedom of Information Act The Freedom of Information Act is the
primary law providing access to information held by the executive
branch. Adopted in 1966, FOIA established the principle that the
public should have broad access to government records. Under the
Bush Administration, however, the statute’s reach has been
narrowed and agencies have resisted FOIA requests through
procedural tactics and delay. The Administration has:
* Issued guidance reversing the presumption in favor of
disclosure and instructing agencies to withhold a broad and
undefined category of “sensitive” information; * Supported
statutory and regulatory changes that preclude disclosure of a
wide range of information, including information relating to the
economic, health, and security infrastructure of the nation; and
* Placed administrative obstacles in the way of organizations
seeking to use FOIA to obtain federal records, such as denials of
fee waivers and delays in agency responses.
Independent academic experts consulted for this report decried
these trends. They stated that the Administration has “radically
reduced the public right to know,” that its policies “are not
only sucking the spirit out of the FOIA, but shriveling its very
heart,” and that no Administration in modern times has “done more
to conceal the workings of government from the people.”
The Presidential Records Act The Presidential Records Act, which
was enacted in 1978 in the wake of Watergate, establishes the
important principle that the records of a president relating to
his official duties belong to the American people. Early in his
term, President Bush issued an executive order that undermined
the Presidential Records Act by giving former presidents and vice
presidents new authority to block the release of their records.
As one prominent historian wrote, the order “severely crippled
our ability to study the inner workings of a presidency.”
The Federal Advisory Committee Act The Federal Advisory Committee
Act prevents secret advisory groups from exercising hidden
influence on government policy, requiring openness and a balance
of viewpoints for all government advisory bodies. The Bush
Administration, however, has supported legislation that creates
new statutory exemptions from FACA. It has also sought to avoid
the application of FACA through various mechanisms, such as
manipulating appointments to advisory bodies, conducting key
advisory functions through “subcommittees,” and invoking unusual
statutory exemptions. As a result, such key bodies as the Vice
President’s energy task force and the presidential commission
investigating the failure of intelligence in Iraq have operated
without complying with FACA.
Laws that Restrict Public Access to Federal Records
In the 1990s, the Clinton Administration increased public access
to government information by restricting the ability of officials
to classify information and establishing an improved system for
the declassification of information. These steps have been
reversed under the Bush Administration, which has expanded the
capacity of the government to classify documents and to operate
in secret.
The Classification and Declassification of Records The
classification and declassification of national security
information is largely governed by executive order. President
Bush has used this authority to:
* Reverse the presumption against classification, allowing
classification even in cases of significant doubt; * Expand
authority to classify information for longer periods of time; *
Delay the automatic declassification of records; * Expand the
authority of the executive branch to reclassify information that
has been declassified; and * Increase the number of federal
agencies that can classify information to include the Secretary
of Health and Human Services, the Secretary of Agriculture, and
the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.
Statistics on classification and declassification of records
under the Bush Administration demonstrate the impact of these new
policies. Original decisions to classify information — those in
which an authorized classifier first determines that disclosure
could harm national security — have soared during the Bush
Administration. In fiscal years 2001 to 2003, the average number
of original decisions to classify information increased 50% over
the average for the previous five fiscal years. Derivative
classification decisions, which involve classifying documents
that incorporate, restate, or paraphrase information that has
previously been classified, have increased even more
dramatically. Between FY 1996 and FY 2000, the number of
derivative classifications averaged 9.96 million per year.
Between FY 2001 and FY 2003, the average increased to 19.37
million per year, a 95% increase. In the last year alone, the
total number of classification decisions increased 25%.
Sensitive Security Information The Bush Administration has sought
and obtained a significant expansion of authority to make
designations of Sensitive Security Information (SSI), a category
of sensitive but unclassified information originally established
to protect the security of civil aviation. Under legislation
signed by President Bush, the Department of Homeland Security now
has authority to apply this designation to information related to
any type of transportation.
The Patriot Act The passage of the Patriot Act after the
September 11, 2001, attacks gave the Bush Administration new
authority to conduct government investigations in secret. One
provision of the Act expanded the authority of the Justice
Department to conduct secret electronic wiretaps. Another
provision authorized the Justice Department to obtain secret
orders requiring the production of “books, records, papers,
documents, and other items,” and it prohibited the recipient of
these orders (such as a telephone company or library) from
disclosing their existence. And a third provision expanded the
use of “sneak and peak” search warrants, which allow the Justice
Department to search homes and other premises secretly without
giving notice to the occupants.
Secret Detentions, Trials, and Deportations In addition to
expanding secrecy in government by executive order and statute,
the Bush Administration has used novel legal interpretations to
expand its authority to detain, try, and deport individuals in
secret. The Administration asserted the authority to:
* Hold persons designated as “enemy combatants” in secret without
a hearing, access to a lawyer, or judicial review; * Conduct
secret military trials of persons held as enemy combatants when
deemed necessary by the government; and * Conduct secret
deportation proceedings of aliens deemed “special interest cases”
without any notice to the public, the press, or even family
members.
Congressional Access to Federal Records
Our system of checks and balances depends on Congress being able
to obtain information about the activities of the executive
branch. When government operates behind closed doors without
adequate congressional oversight, mismanagement and corruption
can flourish. Yet despite Congress’ constitutional oversight
role, the Bush Administration has sharply limited congressional
access to federal records.
GAO Access to Federal Records A federal statute passed in 1921
gives the congressional Government Accountability Office the
authority to review federal records in the course of audits and
investigations of federal programs. Notwithstanding this
statutory language and a long history of accommodation between
GAO and the executive branch, the Bush Administration challenged
the authority of GAO on constitutional grounds, arguing that the
Comptroller General, who is the head of GAO, had no “standing” to
enforce GAO’s right to federal records. The Bush Administration
prevailed at the district court level and GAO decided not to
appeal, significantly weakening the authority of GAO.
The Seven Member Rule The Bush Administration also challenged the
authority of members of the House Government Reform Committee to
obtain records under the “Seven Member Rule,” a federal statute
that requires an executive agency to provide information on
matters within the jurisdiction of the Committee upon the request
of any seven of its members. Although a district court ruled in
favor of the members in a case involving access to adjusted
census records, the Bush Administration has continued to resist
requests for information under the Seven Member Rule, forcing the
members to initiate new litigation.
Withholding Information Requested by Congress On numerous
occasions, the Bush Administration has withheld information
requested by members of Congress. During consideration of the
Medicare legislation in 2003, the Administration withheld
estimates showing that the bill would cost over $100 billion more
than the Administration claimed. In this instance, Administration
officials threatened to fire the HHS Actuary, Richard Foster, if
he provided the information to Congress. In another case, the
Administration’s refusal to provide information relating to air
pollution led Senator Jeffords, the ranking member of the Senate
Committee on Environment and Public Works, to place holds on the
nominations of several federal officials.
On over 100 separate occasions, the Administration has refused to
answer the inquiries of, or provide the information requested by,
Rep. Waxman, the ranking member of the House Committee on
Government Reform. The information that the Administration has
refused to provide includes:
* Documents requested by the ranking members of eight House
Committees relating to the prison abuses at Abu Ghraib and
elsewhere; * Information on contacts between Vice President
Cheney’s office and the Department of Defense regarding the award
to Halliburton of a sole-source contract worth up to $7 billion
for work in Iraq; and * Information about presidential advisor
Karl Rove’s meetings and phone conversations with executives of
companies in which he owned stock.
The 9-11 Commission On November 27, 2002, Congress passed
legislation creating the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks
upon the United States (commonly known as the 9-11 Commission) as
a congressional commission to investigate the September 11
attacks. Throughout its investigation, however, the Bush
Administration resisted or delayed providing the Commission with
important information. For example, the Administration’s refusal
to turn over documents forced the Commission to issue subpoenas
to the Defense Department and the Federal Aviation
Administration. The Administration also refused for months to
allow Commissioners to review key presidential intelligence
briefing documents.
The Collective Impact
Taken together, the actions of the Bush Administration have
resulted in an extraordinary expansion of government secrecy.
External watchdogs, including Congress, the media, and
nongovernmental organizations, have consistently been hindered in
their ability to monitor government activities. These actions
have serious implications for the nature of our government. When
government operates in secret, the ability of the public to hold
the government accountable is imperiled.
Full Report:
[http://democrats.reform.house.gov/features/secrecy_report/index_
exec.asp]
Copyright © 2004 [http://yubanet.com] , all rights reserved.
[news@yubanet.com] | [http://www.yubanet.com/policy.shtml] |
*****************************************************************
31 SA News24: 'SA must boost nuke controls'
www.news24.com
Erika Gibson
Pretoria - South Africa has to drastically improve its export
control on nuclear materials and equipment as countries such as
Pakistan, which needs such equipment, have concentrated on
getting controlled nuclear items via South Africa.
This is the opinion of the American Institute for Science and
International Security (Isis), based on an evaluation of
testimony in court in the prosecution of Asher Karni, an Israeli
citizen who lives in South Africa.
Karni was arrested in the United States earlier this year on
charges of allegedly importing and exporting detonators that
could be used in nuclear weapons. A verdict has not been passed
on Karni yet.
According to the evaluation, Karni imported the detonators under
false pretences from the US and then had them delivered
elsewhere, via Dubai.
Detonators of this kind also can be used for medical purposes; to
shatter kidney stones, for example.
Big order aroused suspicions
Karni claimed the end-user of the detonators would be Chris Hani
Baragwanath Hospital on the Witwatersrand.
A hospital normally would buy five or six detonators at a time,
but Karni ordered 200, which made the US suppliers suspicious.
The suppliers told the authorities and Karni was led into a trap.
He was the first South African businessman arrested this year on
charges of nuclear material contraventions tied to weapons for
mass destruction.
Johan Meyer, Gerhard Wisser and Daniel Geiges were arrested in
the past three weeks and also charged with similar contraventions
- the import and export of multipurpose equipment and the import
of equipment without the required permits.
At this stage, there seems to be no connection between them and
Karni although similarities exist in the methods allegedly
employed by them.
According to the evaluation, South Africa is a member of the
Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG).
Not to be regarded as a 'free pass'
In terms of this, a member state needs less control measures for
nuclear imports from other member countries than from
non-members.
However, the lessening of restrictions should not be regarded as
a free pass for illegal actions, which apparently happened in
Karni's case.
Some of the documents in his court case show that his "clients"
regard South Africa as an ideal channel through which to get
controlled goods from the US because of the perception that South
Africa's control measures are inadequate.
Edited by Iaine Harper
*****************************************************************
32 Xinhuanet: Pakistani Senate passes nuclear control bill
www.xinhuanet.com
www.chinaview.cn 2004-09-18 20:58:35
ISLAMABAD, Sept. 18 (Xinhuanet) -- The Pakistani Senate
passed a nuclear and biological control bill Saturday.
The Foreign Office on Friday moved in the Senate the Export
Control on Goods, Technologies, Material and Equipment Related to
Nuclear and Biological Weapons and Their Delivery System Bill,
which was passed by the National Assembly (lower house of
parliament) Tuesday.
Foreign Minister Khurshid Kasuri told the Senate that the
passage of the bill by the parliament will not have any impact on
the previous cases, as it is a prospective and not retrospective
law in terms of implementation.
"The bill does not have any effect on the cases of Dr. Qadeer
Khan or other scientists, as it was prospective in nature",
Kasurisaid, obviously referring to the involvement of some
Pakistani scientists in illegal nuclear proliferation.
Dr. Qadeer Khan, Pakistan's father of nuclear bomb, admitted
early this year that he had transferred illegally the country's
nuclear secrets to Iran, Libya and some others countries.
President Pervez Musharraf forgave him since he was a national
hero and promised not to do wrong any more.
Kasuri assured the Senate that the government, by moving this
bill, had not done anything against the interests of the country
or contrary to the international practices.
He did not agree with the argument that the legislation was
being done under any external pressure, saying Pakistan as a
member of the UN Security Council for the last two years had
always taken a principled stand on various international issues.
He, however, maintained that Pakistan is a declared and
responsible nuclear state and this position is accepted by the
world community including the United States, Britain and France
etc. Enditem
Copyright ©2003 Xinhua News Agency. All rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
33 Hi Pakistan: Senate okays nuclear anti-proliferation bill -->
September 20 2004
ISLAMABAD, Sept 18: The Senate on Saturday passed the bill to
provide for control on export of goods, technologies, material
and equipment related to nuclear and biological weapons and their
delivery system after a brief debate which was participated only
by the opposition members.
The bill bans the export of materials or technology related to
nuclear and chemical weapons and its violation will be punishable
with up to 14 years in prison, a fine of up to five million
rupees and forfeiture of a convict's property and assets.
The bill was okayed by the Senate in Pakistan after the US
Congress passed a Pakistan-specific Intelligence Authorization
Act 2005 in July, this year, seeking monitoring of Pakistani
steps to curb the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction
and the means to deliver them and steps to ensure that its own
nuclear weapons are secured.
Taking part in the debate, the opposition members objected to the
government's unexplained rush to have the bill passed through
parliament. They said the government was in a haste because it
wanted to get the bill passed before departure of Gen Pervez
Musharraf for the US.
They said Gen Musharraf wanted to score points during his US
visit by presenting this law as a gift to his 'masters.'
They lashed out at the government for blindly following the US
dictates. They also condemned the government for passing the bill
without even waiting for the report of the standing committee.
Parliamentary leader of the People's Party Parliamentarians (PPP)
Raza Rabbani said the bill had been introduced on the desire of
the US and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). In
fact, he said, the origin of the bill could be traced to Colin
Powell's visit to Islamabad on March 17, this year.
The PPP senator said the Foreign Office on March 12 had stated
that if Pakistan was recognized as a nuclear power then it would
consider to sign the NPT.
Mr Rabbani said the ministry of foreign affairs was not a
competent authority to bring this bill as the National Command
Authority was under the president.
He questioned whether this law was also applicable on the
personnel of armed forces as Army Act provided that such persons
would be court marshalled. "Will Dr Qadeer and other officials of
the KRL fall within the mischief of this law because Gen
Musharraf had already pardoned him on February 5, this year?", he
asked.
Prof Ghafoor Ahmed of the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA) said that
Pakistan could not completely satisfy the US despite following
all its dictates. "The US will only be satisfied when Pakistan
will announce to roll back its nuclear programme," he said.
Sanaullah Baloch of the Balochistan National Party (BNP)
regretted that parliament was never taken into confidence on the
country's nuclear programme.
He questioned as to why this bill had been placed before
parliament, which was not taken into confidence when the nuclear
programme was launched and when action was taken against Dr Abdul
Qadir Khan and other scientists involved in nuclear
proliferation.
Mr Baloch said this law would not help Gen Musharraf present
Pakistan as a responsible nuclear state as the world had already
declared Pakistan a dangerous place.
He said the world knew that Pakistan was not a responsible state
as there was no rule of law and constitution.
MMA Senator Azizullah Satakzai said the nuclear bomb was made for
the protection of the people and the country and now the whole
nation was being asked to defend the country's nuclear programme.
Pakistan Muslim League-N Senator Sadia Abbasi asked which country
of the world had passed such a legislation. "Has India passed
this law?", she asked.
PPP Senator Farhatullah Babar said a strong political will was
required to take effective steps to check spread of nuclear
weapons.
Foreign Minister Khurshid Kasuri dispelled the impression that
the bill had been moved on the desire of the US.
Copyright 1996-2002 . Hi Pakistan. All rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
34 People's Daily: IAEA chief calls for more protection of nuclear
materials, facilities
[http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/search/search.html]
UPDATED: 15:44, September 19, 2004
IAEA Director General Mohamed El Baradei said Saturday that the
need to protect nuclear materials and facilities and to control
radioactive sources have become an ever more global priority.
At The Global Threat Reduction Initiative (GTRI) International
Partners Conference held at the
[http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/data/austria.html] Center in
Vienna, El Baradei said progress has been made in controlling the
spread of radioactive materials.
El Baradei expressed his wish that efforts in this respect should
continue in order to guarantee the peaceful use of nuclear
technologies and international cooperation has "become the
hallmark of these security efforts."
El Baradei said that if the GTRI and related initiatives are
successful, "we will achieve a meaningful reduction in our
vulnerability to nuclear and radiological terrorism."
The IAEA chief also pointed out that while nuclear security is
and should remain a national responsibility, "many countries
still lack the programs and the resources to respond properly to
the threat of nuclear and radiological terrorism."
The Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency, the UN
nuclear watchdog, estimates that as many as 110 countries do not
have adequate controls over radioactive devices that could be
used to build an explosive device that would spread radioactive
materials.
Source: Xinhua
Copyright by People's Daily Online, all rights reserved
*****************************************************************
35 Scotsman.com: Scotland - Nuclear whistleblower defies ban
Sun 19 Sep 2004
ISRAELI nuclear whistleblower Mordechai Vanunu has defied his
country’s ban on him talking to foreigners to address film
festival-goers in Glasgow.
Vanunu spent 18 years in an Israeli jail for espionage and
treason for revealing details of Israel’s nuclear weapons
programme.
Under the terms of his release, granted in April, he is not
permitted to talk to foreign nationals and has to remain in
Israel for a year.
But yesterday he spoke for 12 minutes in a live telephone link to
the International Human Rights Documentary Film Festival in
Glasgow.
He said: "The time has come for England to remove its atomic
bombs, and I hope Scotland is the first to make it free from
nuclear weapons."
©2004 Scotsman.com [http://www.scotsman.com/] |
*****************************************************************
36 AFP: US and Russia host conference on securing nuclear materials from terrorists
[http://www.spacewar.com/] [http://www.spacewar.com/]
VIENNA (AFP) Sep 19, 2004
US Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham and Russian atomic chief
Alexander Rumyantsev wrapped up in Vienna on Sunday a two-day
conference on a global initiative to keep highly radioactive
materials out of the reach of terrorists.
Rumyantsev, head of Russia's Federal Atomic Energy Agency, told
reporters the conference of 136 countries had sought "to organize
international support for national problems of detection,
security, safety and disposition of nuclear and other radioactive
materials which represent a potential threat to the international
community."
In May, Abraham said the United States was giving 450 million
dollarsmillion euros) to the initiative, which tries to prevent
nuclear materials stored around the world from falling into the
hands of terrorists who could use them to make a "dirty" bomb or
even a full-fledged atomic device.
The US plan includes working with Russia to repatriate all
Russian-origin fresh HEU (highly enriched uranium) nuclear fuel
by the end of 2005.
Abraham said Sunday that the United States was not asking other
nations to do things it would not do itself as it was also
repatriating nuclear fuel and recycling reactors when possible to
use low enriched uranium instead of highly enriched uranium
(HEU).
"We recognize there is a world in which terrorists are attempting
to gain access to either weapons or materials and we intend to
stop them. This initiative will make a major contribution to the
effort to stop terrorists from acquiring such materials or
weapons," Abraham said.
Rumyantsev said that "out of 17 countries that possess highly
enriched uranium at research reactors, 13" had agreed to use
enriched uranium "at no more than 20 percent," well below
bomb-grade levels.
He said the four which had not agreed to this had research
reactors which need to use highly enriched uranium of up to 95
percent due to their construction and the experiments they are
doing.
The US-Russian initiative is being carried out in coordination
with the UN nuclear watchdog, the Vienna-based International
Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
The IAEA earlier this year oversaw the removal of HEU from a
reactor in Libya and its shipment to Russia, which is to return
it as low enriched uranium, which cannot be used in a bomb.
The IAEA begins Monday a week-long general conference in Vienna
at which it will review its programs and overall aims.
It comes after an IAEA board of governors meeting last week which
set a deadline on Iran, which the United States suspects of
secretly developing nuclear weapons, to suspend all uranium
enrichment activities.
All rights reserved. © 2004 [http://www.afp.com/] . Sections of
the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs,
*****************************************************************
37 Brattleboro Reformer: State seeks 2nd opinion on VY uprate
[http://www.reformer.com/]
Brattleboro, VT
Article Published: Saturday, September 18, 2004 -
By The Associated Press
MONTPELIER (AP) -- The Douglas administration asked another
federal panel Friday to look into a safety concern related to
Vermont Yankee's proposed power boost.
The Department of Public Service asked the Advisory Committee on
Reactor Safeguards, an independent branch of the Nuclear
Regulatory Commission to look at the issue.
Entergy Nuclear wants to boost by 20 percent the amount of power
produced at the Vernon reactor. The state says it wants the
advisory committee to review an issue involving pressure inside
the reactor in the event of an accident.
Entergy has requested credit for containment overpressure to
allow emergency core cooling pumps to operate in the event of an
accident following the uprate. The state is questioning whether
Entergy is maintaining a sufficient safety margin.
The Department of Public Service already has asked the Nuclear
Regulatory Commission itself to hold a full hearing on the issue.
"Requesting the (advisory committee) to review the containment
overpressure issue in addition to requesting a hearing on the
issue is a second avenue to having our questions resolved," said
Public Service Commissioner David O'Brien. "We want to make sure
that Vermont Yankee is safe if an uprate of power output is
allowed."
The Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards is a group of 11
individuals with a wide variety of engineering expertise that
provides independent reviews on the safety of nuclear power
plants and the adequacy of proposed safety standards. It will
review Entergy's uprate request.
The Department of Public Service has also asked the Advisory
Committee on Reactor Safeguards to have one of its meetings
regarding Vermont Yankee in the vicinity of the plant.
Copyright © 2004 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This
*****************************************************************
38 Bellona: Nirex to become independent
The company charged with finding a long-term management strategy
for the UK’s radioactive waste, Nirex, is to be owned by an
independent company to be set up by the government.
Erik Martiniussen, 2004-09-16 11:47
The UK’s radwaste producers currently hold shares in Nirex. These
are: British Nuclear Fuels (BNFL), United Kingdom Atomic Energy
Agency (UKAEA), and British Energy. The Ministry of Defence also
provides funds for the company but is not a shareholder.
Now, Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural
Affairs Margaret Beckett will make Nirex independent of the
industry and bring the company under greater government control.
In a statement written to the British parliament Beckett said she
would secure the companies independence from the industry, by
setting up a new government-owned company limited by guarantee
(CLG) to hold the shares and oversee Nirex’s business.
The new arrangement is to become fully operational from April 1st
2005. On the same day, the Nuclear Decommission Authority (NDA)
will take over all responsibility for the decommissioning of
public sector civil nuclear sites, and begin funding Nirex.
Chris Murray, Nirex’s managing director, told Nuclear Engineering
magazine that “the conditions are now right to allow publicly
acceptable progress to be made.”
The UK’s radioactive waste management strategy is currently under
review, and a long-term strategy for waste management is not
expected before 2006.
Publisher: Bellona Foundation [bellona@bellona.no] ,
President: Frederic Hauge [frederic@bellona.no]
Information: info@bellona.no [info@bellona.no] , Technical
contact: webmaster@bellona.no [webmaster@bellona.no]
Telephone: +47 23 23 46 00 Telefax: +47 22 38 38 62 * P.O.Box
2141 Grunerlokka, 0505 Oslo, Norway
*****************************************************************
39 Brattleboro Reformer: Dynamite fells dome
[http://www.reformer.com/]
Brattleboro, VT
Article Published: Saturday, September 18, 2004 -
By CAROLYN LORIÉ Reformer Staff
WISCASSET, Maine -- Watching 1,100 pounds of dynamite ripping
through and collapsing 20,000 million pounds of concrete and
steel felt a lot like standing too close to a parade as the drums
go by.
Multiplied by a thousand.
As the dynamite ignited, a momentary flash raced up the pillars
holding up the Maine Yankee nuclear power plant containment dome.
Within a fraction of a second, smoke billowed out the open spaces
between the columns. Then they disappeared as the dome crashed
down.
Despite, or perhaps because of, the mighty bang and
reverberation the 200 or so spectators who gathered to watch the
dome drop, cheered heartily.
Within minutes, pneumatic hammers, also known as hoe rams, began
pulverizing the massive cap.
Soon it will all be gone.
"It was sort of bittersweet," said Tedd Feigenbaum, president of
the plant, after it was all over. "It really marks the end of
Maine Yankee as a nuclear power plant, but it went off safely."
Before being decommissioned in 1997, 11 years before its license
was to expire, Maine Yankee produced almost 25 percent of the
electricity used in the state. It was one of the oldest plants in
the country, having come on line in 1972, four years after
construction started. Costing $231 million, the plant was
licensed to operate until 2008.
But it didn't.
Depending on who you ask, the plant was a smooth-running,
well-oiled machine that shut down because of financial
constraints and anti-nuclear zealotry. Or it was a disaster of a
place, posing the threat of an even bigger disaster.
"It was a good plant to start with," said Adolph Bannister of
Connecticut, who helped engineer the decommissioning plan. "It
was a good running plant. It was just public opinion that kept it
from being uprated."
This was not a sentiment that Linda Spaulding of Freeport agreed
with.
"The farther [away] it is, the better," said Spaulding, whose
son worked at the plant during the decommissioning phase.
People in the area first began protesting the plant in earnest
in 1979, after the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in
Pennsylvania suffered a partial meltdown.
Thousands marched from Wiscasset to the statehouse in Augusta
that year, carrying with them a petition calling for a statewide
referendum on plant. It asked if the citizens of Maine wanted to
phase out electrical generation by means of nuclear fission. In
other words, should the only nuclear power plant in the state be
shut down?
In 1980, only a third of the Wisacasset residents voted yes, as
the plant coughed up 96 percent of the town's taxes every year.
Across the state, 41.9 percent of the voters approved. Mainers
were divided over the issue.
But whatever rancor the debate once stirred, seven years after
the question was finally settled it all seems to have, if not
dissipated, at least lost its fervor.
The crowd gathered about 1,000 feet from the dome on Friday
morning had all the tension of an audience waiting for a
fireworks display. There was a sense of excitement hanging in the
air, despite the fact that plenty of the spectators were industry
people, even former employees of the plant.
There were also a number of key players from the anti-nuclear
movement, including Ray Shadis of the New England Coalition.
Shadis has lived in Wiscasset for more than 30 years.
While there was no one selling kitsch at the event, had there
been, it would not have seemed out of place. There were children
playing with Matchbox cars in the sand, babies propped on their
mothers' knees and plenty of chatter and laughter.
"It's like a family reunion," joked a man wearing a Maine Yankee
personnel badge, as he shook hands with another man.
A lot of the spectators were family members of Manafort Brothers
employees. The company has been in charge of the decommissioning
process.
"My husband talked about it all the time," said Annette Martin
of Norway. "I've never seen it up close and I wanted to see the
big boom."
Prior to the big boom, 13 million pounds of concrete and steel
were cut from the walls of the containment building to create the
columns. While the dome is 212 feet thick, the walls were almost
twice that. Holes were drilled into the sides of the columns,
where the explosives were placed to bring down the 150-feet high
dome.
Though the fabric and chain link fence enveloping the pillars
kept debris from flying around, the collapse spewed fourth a
miasma of dust.
Soon afterward, a fine mist wafted over to the crowd. It settled
on people's hair and cameras and children. It was inhaled as
folks chatted, where it left a gritty chalk-like sensation in the
mouth. No one seemed especially concerned.
An information sheet given out by Maine Yankee spokesman Eric
Howes stated that plant officials expected that the dust would
not be contaminated. They nonetheless planned to monitor for
radiological release.
According to Howes, the building had to be blasted in order to
bring the dome down to where the hammers could reach it. Torches
will be used to cut the interior steel liner, which is 38-12
inches thick.
Once the hoe rams finish demolishing the dome, the 20,000
million pounds will be loaded onto railroad cars and shipped off
to a low-level waste dump in Utah. The project should be wrapped
up by early spring.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission will not release the plant's
license, however, until it inspects the reactor site and
determines that it has been cleaned to its standards, explained
Feigenbaum.
Four hundred and thirty of the company's 700 acres have already
been sold to a private development company based in Greenwich,
Conn. Another 200 acres will be donated to the Chewonki
Organization for conservation and environmental education.
Approximately 10 to 15 acres, however, will remain under the
control of Maine Yankee indefinitely. That is the space holding
the 60 dry cask storage units, which are holding 24 fuel rod
assemblies each.
Until the federal repository in Yucca Mountain, Nev., takes in
every last one of the more than 1,400 assemblies, Maine Yankee
must keep the area under the watch of security guards 24 hours a
day. After years of delay, Yucca is slated to begin receive
shipments by 2010. Many consider that date to be overly
optimistic. Many doubt that the site will open at all.
But there was little attention focused on the casks on Friday
morning, though the crowd stood just yards from them.
All eyes were on the dome and all thoughts seemingly caught up
in what its destruction signified.
For the company, it was the culmination of good planning and
hard work. Maine Yankee was decommissioned on schedule and within
the set budget.
"It was a very successful project," said Howes.
For others, it marked the end of a long a career. Like
Feigenbaum, Mike Everingham of Topsham found the experience
"bittersweet." He has worked at the plant for 25 years.
"Having the plant shut down seven years ago was disappointing
but for those of us who stayed around to decommission it, it's
almost the end of a job well done," he said.
Everingham expects to be laid off permanently in the spring. He
will not work again, but will instead start his retirement by
taking off in his camper with his wife Peggy.
By 11 a.m., one hour after the big event, most of the crowd had
dispersed and the cloud of dust dissipated.
After giving numerous interviews to television and newspaper
reporters, Ray Shadis was one of the last to leave. Though he was
instrumental in closing the plant down, the day was little more
than the icing on the cake for a battle won seven years ago.
"I'm glad that it's over with," said Shadis, as he walked away
from the rubble.
Copyright ©1999-2004 New England Newspapers, Inc., a
*****************************************************************
40 Times Argus: State wants review of Yankee plan
September 19, 2004
By SUSAN SMALLHEER Staff Writer
The Douglas administration has asked a national nuclear advisory
panel to review what the state considers the most controversial —
and potentially dangerous — aspect of a plan to increase power
production at Vermont Yankee.
In a letter to the Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards,
state Public Service Commissioner David O'Brien asked the
committee to review Entergy's plans, specifically the plan to
maintain pressure in the reactor's containment during an
emergency.
"The department is questioning whether Entergy should be allowed
to count on a certain amount of pressure in the reactor to allow
emergency core cooling pumps to run, in the event of an
accident," the Public Service Department said in a statement
Friday afternoon.
O'Brien noted that the state had already lodged a challenge on
the same issue when it requested a formal hearing from the
Nuclear Regulatory Commission on the containment-pressure issue
three weeks ago. Vermont's congressional delegation has urged the
NRC to hold such a hearing.
The NRC, which has never held such a hearing on power increase,
is still considering the request, according to a spokesman.
O'Brien said that the state's nuclear engineer, William Sherman,
had raised the same concerns last year. The NRC's response, which
came six months later, failed to answer the state's concerns, he
said.
"We're asking for an independent body of experts to look at this
issue," O'Brien said Friday. "We want to highlight the
overpressure issue."
He said the advisory committee was an independent body from the
NRC staff. "I think they have some genuine influence," he said.
NRC spokesman Neil Sheehan said the advisory committee was
already in line to review the uprate case as part of the "checks
and balances" inherent in the NRC's uprate review process.
Sheehan, who hadn't read Vermont's request, said that if the
state's request for a hearing is granted, the hearing will be
held before the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board, a division of
the NRC.
Raymond Shadis, senior technical adviser for the New England
Coalition, a nuclear watchdog group, said the Advisory Committee
on Reactor Safeguards currently reviews all power uprates, and
has never turned one down.
The New England Coalition has also asked for a formal hearing,
but on different grounds.
"For the time being, they review all extended power uprates,"
Shadis said. "Back in 1999, they expressed grave reservations of
granting uprates of more than 8 percent."
But since then, the committee has been involved in reviewing all
the uprates and have given its approval on each one, including
those that have included similar containment-pressure plans as
Vermont Yankee.
Shadis said to call the group independent was misleading. The
committee, made up of experts from around the country, relies on
NRC staff for research.
"To say they are independent is a great deal of hokum," he said.
Entergy spokesman Robert Williams said the company has full
confidence in its application to the NRC to generate an
additional 20 percent, or 100 megawatts, of power.
"Our filing for an uprate is well grounded in NRC regulations,
that have allowed containment-pressure credits at 25 other
plants," Williams said.
"The ACRS was set up by Congress to give an independent view on
safety matters and we welcome the oversight," he said.
Contact Susan Smallheer at [susan.smallheer@rutlandherald.com] .
© 2004 [http://www.timesargus.com/] Privacy
*****************************************************************
41 toledoblade.com: Nation's oldest UM ready to dump campus reactor
Sunday, September 19, 2004
[Photo]
Operating at full power, the Ford Nuclear Reactor core gives out
a radioactive glow.
By [thenry@theblade.com] BLADE STAFF WRITER
Nestled inside the Phoenix Memorial Laboratory on the University
of Michigan's north campus is a stalwart of a nuclear reactor
that grew up with the nuclear age.
Built in 1955 - a year after former President Dwight Eisenhower
delivered his famous 1954 "Atoms for Peace" speech that today is
widely recognized as the birth of the modern nuclear power
industry - the university's Ford Nuclear Reactor is tiny by
commercial standards.
It's a two-megawatt facility that produces no electricity. By
comparison, Detroit Edison Co.'s Fermi II nuclear plant in
northern Monroe County produces 1,140 megawatts. FirstEnergy
Corp.'s Davis-Besse nuclear reactor in Ottawa County produces 935
megawatts.
Small as it and other test reactors have been in stature, they
assumed a large role in advancing the technology for anything
from defense to electricity to medicine.
UM's first course in nuclear energy applications was taught in
1947, five years after Enrico Fermi first demonstrated a
controlled fission reaction in a basement of the University of
Chicago during the Manhattan Project.
A decade after UM made its entrance into nuclear education, it
started to use its Ford reactor - a gift of the Ford Motor Co. -
to help train a couple generations of would-be nuclear engineers,
health care specialists, defense experts, and other scientists
and educators.
That test reactor and a number of other small ones, mostly at
major universities and small labs owned by the government or its
contractors, have been used for a number of experiments and
practical applications, such asirradiating industry and
government materials and producing radioisotopes for nuclear
medicine.
One of the nation's oldest research reactors, the UM reactor
began splitting atoms in 1957 and had a successful 46-year
run until it was mothballed July 3, 2003.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission announced last week it is
taking public comments through Sept. 30 on the university's plan
to dismantle it.
The $9.8 million project has been in the works for at least four
years and is expected to take at least another three to finish.
The reactor is one of about three dozen of its kind that are
still licensed, but 16 are in various stages of decommissioning,
said Jan Strasma, NRC spokesman.
In contrast, things are booming at Ohio State University's
reactor, which began operation in 1961.
When the U.S. Department of Energy began converting smaller
reactors from weapons-grade uranium to low-enriched uranium fuel
in the 1980s, Ohio State's reactor was among the first.
The switch increased power and made the reactor more attractive
for outside work contracts from NASA and other research clients.
Terry Alexander, UM's occupational safety and environmental
health director, said UM's Ford reactor could have remained a
useful, viable device for years, despite its age. Like many such
reactors, however, the money taken in from industry and
government for outside work wasn't enough to sustain its
operation.
"We were subsidizing that work to the tune of $1 million a year,"
said Mr. Alexander, UM's decommissioning team director.
A statement issued by the university in 2002 claimed government
and industry researchers were using the reactor 75 to 85 percent
of the time in recent years, leaving UM researchers with only 15
to 25 percent of the available reactor hours.
UM announced in 2000 that it had begun the planning process to
decommission the reactor, so tighter federal security mandates in
the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks weren't the
deciding factor in the reactor's decommissioning.
But Mr. Alexander said the security requirements reinforced the
university's prior decision to take apart the reactor - even
knowing that doing so would be at the expense of recruiting top
minds for its nuclear engineering program in the future.
"To be driven to a world where you have to have high-level
security and limit those who can have access, that kind of falls
outside of our mission as an open university. That's an
additional burden that a lot of us weren't comfortable with," he
said.
"We still have a nuclear engineering program that wasn't tied to
the reactor, but obviously people who want a specific kind of
research are going to move to a different kind of facility."
Mr. Strasma said the NRC has not seen evidence of post-9/11
security measures resulting in a trend among universities to
decommission test reactors.
"The trend is for those that are in operation to gradually shut
down," he said, citing costs as the biggest factor.
Shortly before Christmas of 2003, the UM reactor's fuel was
removed and sent to the federal government's Savannah River
reprocessing facility in Georgia.
The NRC will oversee the rest of the decommissioning project. Mr.
Strasma said the government agency's review of the university's
work plan will likely take one to two years.
After that, presuming there are no major holdups, activated metal
in the reactor pool will be shipped to one of the nation's two
low-level radioactive waste dumps, probably the one in Barnwell,
S.C., which is used mostly by states east of the Mississippi
River.
Reactor water will be discharged into Ann Arbor's sewage network
- if radiation levels have dropped as expected by then.
Concrete and other remaining parts would then likely be shipped
to a dump in Utah, Mr. Alexander said.
The NRC said a successful decommissioning of the reactor could
allow UM unrestricted use of the site in the future.
Contact Tom Henry at: thenry@theblade.com or 419-724-6079.
The Toledo Blade Company, 541 N. Superior St., Toledo, OH 43660
, (419) 724-6000
*****************************************************************
42 Rutland Herald: State seeks new opinion on Yankee
September 18, 2004
By Susan Smallheer [susan.smallheer@rutlandherald.com] Herald
Staff
The Douglas administration has asked a national nuclear advisory
panel to review what the state considers the most controversial —
and potentially dangerous — aspect of a plan to increase power
production at Vermont Yankee.
In a letter to the Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards,
state Public Service Commissioner David O'Brien asked the
committee to review Entergy's plans, specifically the plan to
maintain pressure in the reactor's containment during an
emergency.
"The department is questioning whether Entergy should be allowed
to count on a certain amount of pressure in the reactor to allow
emergency core cooling pumps to run, in the event of an
accident," the Public Service Department said in a statement
Friday afternoon.
O'Brien noted that the state had already lodged a challenge on
the same issue when it requested a formal hearing from the
Nuclear Regulatory Commission on the containment-pressure issue
three weeks ago. Vermont's congressional delegation has urged the
NRC to hold such a hearing.
The NRC, which has never held such a hearing on power increase,
is still considering the request, according to a spokesman.
O'Brien said that the state's nuclear engineer, William Sherman,
had raised the same concerns last year. The NRC's response, which
came six months later, failed to answer the state's concerns, he
said.
"We're asking for an independent body of experts to look at this
issue," O'Brien said Friday. "We want to highlight the
overpressure issue."
He said the advisory committee was an independent body from the
NRC staff. "I think they have some genuine influence," he said.
NRC spokesman Neil Sheehan said the advisory committee was
already in line to review the uprate case as part of the "checks
and balances" inherent in the NRC's uprate review process.
Sheehan, who hadn't read Vermont's request, said that if the
state's request for a hearing is granted, the hearing will be
held before the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board, a division of
the NRC.
Raymond Shadis, senior technical advisor for the New England
Coalition, a nuclear watchdog group, said the Advisory Committee
on Reactor Safeguards currently reviews all power uprates, and
has never turned one down.
The New England Coalition has also asked for a formal hearing,
but on different grounds.
"For the time being, they review all extended power uprates,"
Shadis said. "Back in 1999, they expressed grave reservations of
granting uprates of more than 8 percent."
But since then, the committee has been involved in reviewing all
the uprates and have given its approval on each one, including
those that have included similar containment-pressure plans as
Vermont Yankee.
Shadis said to call the group independent was misleading. The
committee, made up of experts from around the country, relies on
NRC staff for research.
"To say they are independent is a great deal of hokum," he said.
Entergy spokesman Robert Williams said the company has full
confidence in its application to the NRC to generate an
additional 20 percent, or 100 megawatts, of power.
"Our filing for an uprate is well grounded in NRC regulations,
that have allowed containment-pressure credits at 25 other
plants," Williams said.
"The ACRS was set up by Congress to give an independent view on
safety matters and we welcome the oversight," he said.
Contact Susan Smallheer at susan.smallheer@rutlandherald.com
[susan.smallheer@rutlandherald.com] .
© 2004 Rutland Herald
[http://www.rutlandherald.com/]
*****************************************************************
43 APP.COM: Plant generates more bad news
Asbury Park Press Online"
[http://www.app.com/]
Published in the Asbury Park Press 9/18/04 An Asbury Park Press
editorial
For those already anxious about the shadow cast by the aging
Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Plant in Lacey, recent headlines
have done little to ease their minds.
On Thursday, the Press reported that the backup safety valve
used to shut down the plant in the event of an emergency was
malfunctioning, forcing Oyster Creek officials to take the plant
out of service until the problem is fixed. As of yesterday, the
plant was still shut down.
This week, the Government Accountability Office, the auditing
arm of Congress, concluded that inspections by the Nuclear
Regulatory Commission and security at nuclear power plants were
inadequate. The GAO told a House subcommittee that the NRC's
monitoring of reactor security has been largely "a paper review"
that falls short of ensuring that the industry's security plans
are meeting more stringent requirements. Those more stringent
requirements, it should be noted, still aren't stringent enough,
particularly for a plant of Oyster Creek's vintage and vulnerable
design.
Last week, NBC Nightly News reported that the nation's nuclear
plant owners awarded a contract to Wackenhut, a private security
firm that guards half of the nation's nuclear plants, including
Oyster Creek, to train and manage the teams that simulate
terrorist attacks against plants guarded by Wackenhut's own
personnel.
"The fox is guarding the henhouse," said Stephen Lerner of the
SEIU, America's largest security officers union. "Given
Wackenhut's security record, we are playing nuclear Russian
roulette."
Two Wackenhut guards at Oyster Creek, you may recall, fell
asleep while they were supposed to be guarding their checkpoint
in April 2003. That same month, one of Wackenhut's finest drew a
gun on a fellow security officer.
The latest news reports are yet another indication that the
Oyster Creek plant should be shut down quickly and permanently.
Senate President Richard J. Codey, D-Essex, must join Gov.
McGreevey, whom he will succeed in November, in taking a firm
position against its relicensing. And Codey and Rep. H. James
Saxton, R-N.J., must begin leading the charge to ensure the plant
and its vulnerable spent fuel pool are fortified against a
possible terrorist strike from the sky.
*****************************************************************
44 JOURNAL NEWS: NRC approves strike plan
By ROGER WITHERSPOON
THE JOURNAL NEWS
(Original publication: September 18, 2004)
BUCHANAN — Federal regulators have approved a strike plan that
allows Entergy Nuclear Northeast to quickly train and hire
replacement workers if their security guards walk off the job
when their contract expires Oct. 2.
A special inspector for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission spent
most of the week at the Indian Point power plants in Buchanan
watching the crash training program for the replacement guard
force.
"The assessment of the inspector is that the contingency plans
are adequate," said NRC spokesman Neil Sheehan. "They will
provide the necessary resources to protect the plant in the event
of a strike."
Neither Entergy nor the NRC would discuss specifics of the strike
plan to cover the 169 guards represented by Teamsters Local 456.
Two guards who work at the plant and spoke to The Journal News on
a condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation said the strike
force would be significantly smaller than the regular armed
force.
Sheehan said the replacements had been issued gun permits. A
county spokeswoman said background checks were being done for 80
applicants.
There have been no contract talks between Entergy and union
representatives since Sept. 7, when guards voted 94-7 to reject
the company's contract offer. Documents provided to The Journal
News show Entergy offered a two-year deal instead of the four
years sought by the guards, and proposed wage increases of 3
percent but seeks to eliminate performance bonuses which range
from 2 percent to 5 percent of the guards' base salary.
In March, Entergy agreed to a new four-year contract with the 525
members of Local 1-2, Utility Workers of America, who work inside
the plants. That agreement provided raises of 14.5 percent over
four years.
Extra guards are expected to be needed in October when Entergy
plans to shut down Indian Point 2 for a scheduled refueling, with
extra workers.Many of those workers are temporary, and extra
security is needed to escort them around the critical areas of
Indian Point.
"This is the most critical time for security, and all of us
usually work five or six 12-hour shifts," the guard said. "There
is no way that Entergy could do everything the right way under
their contingency plan."
Send e-mail to Roger Witherspoon [rwithers@thejournalnews.com]
Copyright 2004 The Journal News, a Gannett Co
*****************************************************************
45 Press Herald: Yankee dome comes down
[http://pressherald.mainetoday.com
WISCASSET - Maine Yankee's massive concrete-and-steel containment
dome had just fallen, with earth-shaking finality, to Mother
Earth. The light brown dust cloud drifted slowly over the
hundreds who had come to watch. And still, Ray Shadis would not
budge.
"No," the veteran anti-nuclear activist said when asked for the
umpteenth time if he felt any emotional fallout from the
carefully choreographed demolition. "I'm sorry, but I really
don't."
Then perhaps he might comment on whether, in his three-plus
decades as a thorn in the nuclear power plant's impenetrable
side, he ever thought he'd see this happen.
"No," Shadis replied, this time more pensively. "I didn't think I
would live to see it. Let's put it that way."
Nobody did. Seven years after its owners looked at their balance
sheet on one hand and their cracked steam generation tubes and
ever-expanding "to do" list on the other, the dome that came to
symbolize Maine Yankee succumbed Friday not to catastrophe, but
to 1,100 pounds of carefully placed explosives and the simple
laws of gravity.
For the 300 or so people who accepted Maine Yankee's invitation
to come and watch Controlled Demolitions Inc. of Maryland destroy
the indestructible, it was a morning that began with heavy fog
and ended with applause and decidedly mixed emotions.
"I think it's sad," said Todd Brautigam, who works for
Oklahoma-based Enercon Services and has spent two years checking
here, there and everywhere around this sprawling site for traces
of residual radiation.
Brautigam brought his wife, his young son, his friends and their
kids to watch what's left of Maine Yankee come down. But as they
waited for the horn blasts that would sound at five minutes and
again at one minute to detonation, he found himself stuck on the
fact that they flipped the plant's "off" switch a full 11 years
before its operating license was scheduled to expire in 2008.
"It was a good plant," Brautigam said. "And I feel that nuclear
energy really is a viable, safe alternative to fossil fuels. . .
. It's my job to come and close these places down and I think
it's sad that it happens."
Dan Thompson, who worked for 13 years as Wiscasset's town planner
and now sits on Maine Yankee's Community Advisory Panel, shared
that sentiment. He can still remember asking Maine Yankee
officials, back in 1989, what the chances were that the plant's
license would be renewed in 2008.
"And they said, 'Pretty good . . . pretty good . . . maybe better
than 50-50.' " Thompson recalled. "So all of our long-range
planning in the town of Wiscasset was geared for this being here
at least until 2008 and maybe for 20 years beyond."
Now, with Maine Yankee gone and with it an estimated 90 percent
of the town's tax base, Thompson said all anyone can do is pick
up the pieces and come up with "the highest and best reuse of
this site."
"I tried to find - and I did find - possible reuses of that
dome," Thompson said.
One was as a secure storage site for classified government
documents, which by law must be preserved and kept under guard
for decades at a time. Another was a testing facility for
everything from explosives to turbines and other machines that
might come apart at the seams.
Given the complexities of federal laws governing the
decommissioning of nuclear power plants, however, Thompson
eventually concluded that preserving the dome for any use would
be "like trying to push a string . . . or swim upstream."
Standing nearby, State Rep. Peter Rines, D-Wiscasset, found
himself focusing not on the dome's future, but on its past.
Rines, 42, remembers how his grandfather used to pick him up on
Saturday mornings back in 1969 and take him down to an
observation deck where locals could watch Maine Yankee being
built.
One weekend, as crews were pouring the concrete for the dome, his
grandfather picked him up, planted him on the railing and said,
"I want you to remember this, Peter. This is going to be
important to you someday."
"Little did he know," Rines mused.
Thirteen years later, Rines was working for Central Maine Power
when one day his crew got an unusual assignment: Go down to Maine
Yankee and tear down the by-then obsolete observation deck.
"And now I'm here today," Rines said, staring at the dome that
would soon be no more. "Watching it come full cycle."
Actually, Maine Yankee's story still has a long way to go. For
all the attention the dome attracted on this day, few visitors so
much as glanced at what will now be the last remaining monument
to the troubled plant: the nearby dry-cask storage site that
houses Maine Yankee's 700-plus tons of spent fuel and other
highly radioactive waste.
Shadis, who devoted a good portion of his adult life to getting
Maine Yankee shut down because he thought the plant was
inherently unsafe, now worries about the waste that will likely
stay here for 25 years or longer before it is all buried in a
federal repository at Yucca Mountain in Nevada.
Where once he feared (correctly, it turned out) that all inside
the plant was not as safe as its owners claimed, Shadis now frets
about threats on the outside - starting with the possibility that
the waste site could be targeted by terrorists.
"You come down this driveway with a Department of Transportation
plow truck and in the back of it you have your rifle team,"
Shadis said. "You dispatch the guards and then run the fence or
blow the fence and take your explosives right inside."
Himself a member of Maine Yankee's Community Advisory Panel,
Shadis has come under criticism in the past for such speculation.
But he doesn't care.
He insists that the so-called "soft-defense" strategy endorsed by
the Nuclear Regulatory Commission - in which the site's armed
guards would slow down an attack until police and other
reinforcements arrive - could still result in a nuclear
catastrophe.
"I think it's really stupid to underestimate how intelligent
terrorists can be," Shadis said. "Their willingness to sacrifice
their lives has been amply demonstrated. (So has) their
willingness to strike at symbolic targets."
Shadis went so far Friday as to instruct a television crew that
when they were done shooting the dome, they should do a wrap-up
in front of the waste site. The cameraman nodded politely - and
then headed for the dome.
It was, after all, the reason everyone had come. Whatever its
true significance at this late date, the 20 million pounds of
cement and steel that Shadis once called Maine's "concrete
pimple" was about to be taken down - and who wouldn't want to see
that?
Just after 10 a.m., the horn blasts sounded and the crowd went
quiet. Then, at 15 seconds out, a disembodied voice called out
the countdown over a radio loudspeaker.
The charges inside the carved-out columns supporting the dome
exploded upward with a bright flash. Then came the loud boom. A
flock of pigeons, squatters to the last second, vacated their
perch atop its highest point.
Then, at long last, the dome dropped into a mushroom cloud of
harmless dust.
The crowd cheered, although not for very long. As the dust
settled on everyone who lingered, reactions were strangely muted.
Life, after all, goes on.
For Todd Brautigam, it was time to move on to the next
decommissioned plant - Connecticut Yankee - and do it all over
again.
For Don Thompson, it was time to get back to work figuring out
how best to use this pastoral piece of Maine's coast now that
Wiscasset's cash cow has been put down.
For Peter Rines, it was a good time to remember his grandfather.
And for Ray Shadis?
The co-founder of Friends of the Coast felt tempted to "say
something lewd and lascivious," but he didn't. Still, as he
turned his attention from the fallen dome that no longer worries
him and the dry casks that still do, he did have one piece of
advice.
Looking out at the fields surrounding one of Maine's most
historic hot spots, Shadis flashed a smile that a decade or two
ago would not have come so easily.
"Do not pick the berries," he said.
Columnist Bill Nemitz can be contacted at 791-6323 or at:
[bnemitz@pressherald.com]
*****************************************************************
46 Guardian Unlimited Politics: Beckett rejects nuclear option
Gaby Hinsliff, chief political correspondent
Sunday September 19, 2004
The Observer [http://www.observer.co.uk]
Building nuclear power stations would risk landing future
generations with 'difficult' legacies, the Environment Secretary,
Margaret Beckett, warns today in a clear rebuff to the nuclear
industry.
The rise of global warming has brought calls for Britain to rely
more heavily on 'greener' nuclear power, which generates fewer
greenhouse gases.
Beckett admitted that the threat of global warming had left
people in 'uncharted waters', with the possibility of Britain
being plunged into a Siberian freeze if changing temperatures
disrupted the Gulf Stream.
However, she rejected demands from a growing lobby, including
former energy minister Brian Wilson, for a significant expansion
of nuclear power, ruling out new stations for at least the next
15 years.
'The long and short of it is we certainly do not need extra
nuclear power in anything like a 10, 15-year cycle' she said, in
an interview for ITV's The Jonathan Dimbleby Programme, to be
screened today.
Her words will also be seen as a rebuke to Downing Street, seen
as keener on nuclear power than Beckett's own department and the
Department of Trade and Industry.
A senior DTI official recently concluded that nuclear power would
have to provide half of Britain's electricity needs by 2050 if
the country was to meet its targets to cut greenhouse gas
emissions. It provides only a fifth, but its reactors are ageing
and will start to have to be closed down by 2008.
Friends of the Earth director Tony Juniper said Beckett was right
to highlight the long-term impact of nuclear power.
Special report The nuclear industry
Graphics The Mox ships' journey around the world (pdf)
[http://image.guardian.co.uk/sys-files/Guardian/documents/2002/09
/17/nuclear_ship.pdf] Nuclear map of Britain US nuclear map
Useful links
British Energy [http://www.british-energy.com/]
Department of Trade and Industry [http://www.dti.gov.uk/]
British Nuclear Fuels Ltd
[http://www.bnfl.co.uk/website.nsf/default.htm]
Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament [http://www.cnduk.org/]
Greenpeace [http://www.greenpeace.org/homepage/]
HSE nuclear glossary [http://www.hse.gov.uk/nsd/ilrwglos.htm]
UK atomic energy authority [http://www.ukaea.org.uk/]
National Radiological Protection Board [http://www.nrpb.org.uk/]
Friends of the Earth
[http://www.foe.co.uk/campaigns/climate/press_for_change/dump_nuc
lear/index.html]
World Nuclear Association [http://www.uilondon.org/]
World Nuclear Transport Institute [http://www.wnti.co.uk]
[UP]
Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2004
*****************************************************************
47 People's Daily: Energy, nuclear issues to top agenda of Seoul-Moscow summit
[http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/search/search.html]
UPDATED: 15:48, September 19, 2004
South Korean President Roh Moo-hyunon Sunday left here for a
belated visit to Kazakhstan
[http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/data/kazakhstan.html] and
Russia [http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/data/russia.html] as
part of his itinerary to neighboring countries which had already
taken him to Japan
[http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/data/japan.html] and China.
After a two-day state visit to Kazakhstan, Roh will fly to Moscow
for his first ever official visit to Russia from Sept. 20 to
Sept. 23.
The trip, which had originally been planned for early this year,
was postponed because Roh was briefly suspended from office after
being impeached by the then opposition-controlled parliament.
Economic issues are expected to feature high on the agenda for
Roh's meeting with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin,
scheduled for next Tuesday.
Roh also planned to seek Moscow's continued support for a
peaceful resolution to the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula.
"This will be a good opportunity for the two countries to move
toward a 'substantial cooperative relationship,'" Foreign
Minister Ban Ki-moon said.
The summit is expected to generate a major boost for several big
economic projects that the two countries have been discussing for
years, including a plan to develop Siberian natural gas and bring
it through pipelines to South Korea.
With the world prices of crude oil skyrocketing, efforts and
competition for securing energy among crude oil consumers have
been intensified. South Korea imports all the oil it needs from
oil-rich countries.
Another major projects under consideration is to link the
Inter-Korean Railways with the Trans Siberian Railway (TSR),
which will provide South Korea with a land transportation route
to Europe.
The 9,288-kilometer Trans-Siberian railway, which connects
Vladivostok with Moscow, is the world's longest single railway
system.
When the 3-billion-US-dollar project completed, it will ensure
rapid transport of freight from Europe to South Korea's southern
ports, such as Busan and Gwangyang, via Moscow, Siberia,
Kazakhstan and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK
[http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/data/dprk.html] ).
As part of the agreements made during the inter-Korean summit in
2000, South Korea and the DPRK have started building two sets of
railways and parallel roads across their heavily fortified
border. One set of transport links, if completed, will lead to
the TSR.
The two leaders are also expected to sign an agreement on space
technology.
"It will open up wide cooperation in the space area, including
the use of Russian technologies and equipment in construction of
the South Korean space center, the creation of South Korean
satellite launchers and also the training of South Korean
cosmonauts," Russian Ambassador to Seoul Teymura Ramishvili said
in a recent interview with local media.
"Given the potential on mutual economic complementarity and
cooperation between South Korea and Russia, chances are very high
for bilateral trade and investment to rise," said an analyst.
The nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula is expected to be
another major topic during the summit.
"President Roh will seek Russia's constructive role in resolving
the nuclear issue peacefully," said Chung Woo-sung, the
presidential adviser on foreign affairs.
South Korea and Russia are participants in the six-party talks
aimed to resolve the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula, which
also involve China, the United States
[http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/data/usa.html] , DPRK and
Japan.
Russia supports South Korea's proposal to give energy and other
aid to the DPRK if Pyongyang abandons its nuclear program.
The six-party talks are now undergoing a difficult time. No exact
date has been set for a new round of talks although the parties
concerned have agreed in the third round to hold the talks before
September.
Roh's visit to Russia also marks the 140th anniversary of the
first Korean emigration to Russia's Far East.
South Korea established diplomatic ties with Russia in 1990 after
the former Soviet Union collapsed.
Source: Xinhua
Copyright by People's Daily Online, all rights reserved
*****************************************************************
48 Japan Times: Experts criticize Japan's nuclear safety standards
Saturday, September 18, 2004
KYOTO (Kyodo) A panel of nuclear experts on Friday criticized
Japan's nuclear safety regime in its final report on the fatal
accident in Tokai, Ibaraki Prefecture, in 1999.
The report by the panel led by Hideki Nariai, a professor
emeritus at Tsukuba University, was submitted to the day's
meeting of the Atomic Energy Society of Japan held in Kyoto.
The nation's worst radiation accident occurred Sept. 30, 1999,
at a plant operated by nuclear fuel processor JCO Co., when two
employees sidestepped safe operating procedures and, using
buckets, poured too much uranium into a processing tank,
triggering a fission chain reaction. It killed two JCO employees
and exposed 663 others to radiation.
The deadliest nuclear plant accident, which didn't involve
radiation, occurred last month at Kansai Electric Power Co.'s
Mihama plant in Fukui Prefecture. A corroded coolant water pipe
that had not been checked since the reactor started up in 1976
burst, fatally scalding five workers with superheated steam.
The panel said communication errors and other aspects of the
state response in the wake of the Tokai accident delayed
effective countermeasures.
The government has reviewed regulations only on an ad-hoc basis
after every nuclear accident since 1974, when a radiation leak
was found on the nuclear-powered ship the Mutsu, the panel said.
The government needs to conduct a thorough review of the entire
nuclear safety system to establish effective regulations and
disaster prevention measures, it concluded.
The panel attributed the Tokai accident primarily to JCO's
failure to emphasize safety. But it also said the same problem
was found with Tokyo Electric Power Co., which was found to have
covered up reactor faults in 2002, prompting the shutdown of all
17 Tepco reactors.
It is essential that all those working in the nuclear industry
realize the need for safety, the panel said.
In March 2003, the Mito District Court found JCO and six of its
employees guilty of neglect. Kenzo Koshijima, then head of the
nuclear plant in 1999, was sentenced to a suspended three-year
prison term and fined 500,000 yen.
The Japan Times: Sept. 18, 2004 (C) All rights reserved
*****************************************************************
49 Manitowoc Herald Times Reporter: Point Beach confident of security
[http://heraldtimes.com
Posted Sept. 18, 2004
By Tara Meissner Herald Times Reporter
MANITOWOC — Point Beach Nuclear Plant security manager Mark Fencl
is confident the plant is safe from potential attacks despite a
report that raises concerns about its contracted security
company, Wackenhut Corp.
Wackenhut provides guards at 31 of the 64 power plants in the
United States. The company has provided security Kewaunee Nuclear
Power Plant and Point Beach Nuclear Plant since 1993.
The company holds a security contract worth more than $6
million. Security Manager Mark Fencl, declined to release an
exact number of employees at the local nuclear plants.
The Service Employees International Union has criticized
Wackenhut for what it says are security lapses that leave U.S.
nuclear power plants vulnerable to terrorist attacks.
The union represents nuclear security workers at three plants in
Illinois but none in Wisconsin. At Point Beach, Wackenhut
employees are non-union. At Kewaunee, they are represented by the
Security Police Fire Professionals of America.
Wackenhut is the nation’s largest supplier of private security
guards to nuclear plants. The SEIU said the company has reduced
training or tolerated lax security at nuclear power plants and
government nuclear weapons facilities. Neither Point Beach nor
Kewaunee power plants were identified by the union.
“I would not say they are false (statements). It does happen. I
am not saying it happens frequently,” Fencl said. “We hold
ourselves to high standards, and if the person doesn’t perform,
we address it.”
Nuclear power plants are regulated by the U.S. Nuclear
Regulatory Commission, which oversees terrorist training
exercises every three years.
Holly Harrington, spokeswoman for the NRC, said there are very
few security-related violations at U.S. nuclear plants. Most
violations involve document handling, she said.
Cory Shimulunas, project manager for Wackenhut nuclear services
at Kewaunee, said his company is involved in legal matters with
SEIU, and declined to speak on the issue.
Representatives from the corporate office in Florida did not
return calls.
Tara Meissner: 920-686-2137 or Tmeissner@htrnews.com
Copyright © 2004
*****************************************************************
50 Columbus Online Community: More Cooper woes for NPPD safety violation
By JEAN WILSON/Telegram Assistant Editor
COLUMBUS - Possible safety concerns at Cooper Nuclear Station
will once again be the subject of a meeting between officials
from Nebraska Public Power District and the U.S. Nuclear
Regulatory Commission.
A July inspection by the NRC found an apparent violation
involving changes in the position of several valves during
maintenance that might have prevented the service water system
from functioning under some conditions. The service water system
supplies cooling water to safety-related plant equipment.
"The regulatory conference is part of the process to evaluate the
significance of conditions at the plant," said Beth Boesch, NPPD
corporate communications manager. "This meeting provides an
opportunity for NPPD and the NRC to discuss NPPD's evaluation of
the significance and provide information that wasn't available at
the time the concern was raised."
Arlington, Texas, will be the site of the Sept. 27 meeting.
The 30-year-old nuclear plant near Brownville has been under
extra scrutiny since April 2002 when the NRC rated it as one of
the worst in the nation.
The recent misalignment of the service water system valves was a
condition found by NPPD personnel and reported to the NRC
inspector located on site, Boesch said. The finding did not
present a safety concern because actions were taken to restore
the valve to its normal configuration, Boesch said.
"NPPD shipped an identical pump and motor to Milwaukee, Wis, for
testing to determine the risk significance, if any, a
mispositioned valve might cause. The test is complete and NPPD is
evaluating the data and formulating our response to share with
the NRC at the regulatory conference on Sept. 27," she said.
According to a news release from the NRC, its evaluation found a
safety significance on this issue because it affected the
reliability of the service water system for 21 days before the
problem was detected. However, it does not represent a current
safety concern because NPPD has changed the valve settings to
their proper positions.
There will be no final decisions made during the upcoming meeting
in regard to the matter's safety significance, any apparent
violation or any enforcement action. Information gathered there
will be used the NRC, along with inspection findings, to reach a
decision.
www.columbustelegram.com
This Page Last Updated Sep 18, 2004 - 11:15:43 pm CDT
Copyright © 2004 Columbus Telegram
*****************************************************************
51 Sofia Morning News: Bulgarian Nukes Merger under Consideration
[Sofia News Agency]
novinite.com
Bulgaria is searching for the best formula to promote the
Belene construction project, even by merger with the Kozloduy
power plant, Energy Minister M. Kovachev said. Photo by Yuliana
Nikolova (novinite.com) | buy photo |
Business: 18 September 2004, Saturday.
Bulgaria's nuclear power plant at Kozloduy may merge with the
currently built second plant at Belene to form a single
commercial entity, Energy Minister Milko Kovachev said on
Saturday.
He pointed out that the idea was not a novelty, but various
solutions to this effect were being discussed so that the new
company was able to apply and receive loans for the Belene
construction project.
The energy minister ruled out some commentaries that the idea was
just another way to divert finances from Kozloduy for the
construction of Belene reminding that the energy market in
Bulgaria is on its robust route of liberalization. A single legal
entity of the two nuclear plants will also avoid excess state
guarantees, Milko Kovachev said.
Meanwhile, he declared that Bulgaria would not retreat from its
position on the regional energy market even in the perspective of
having a competitive power plant in neighboring Romania, which
has plans to expand the Cherna Voda nuclear project.[ width=]
novinite.com Forum Google Tourism Business
The Team | Link to us | Partners | Top 100-->Top 100
All Rights Reserved © Novinite Ltd., 2001-2004 - Copyright
&Disclaimer - Privacy Policy
ISO 9001:2000 Certified
Novinite.com (thebulgariannews.com also) is unique with being a
real time news provider in English that informs its readers
about the latest Bulgarian news. The editorial staff also
*****************************************************************
52 [DU-WATCH] 95% 238U is the mass fraction ....
Date: Mon, 20 Sep 2004 00:38:35 -0500 (CDT)
Read before thinking ... think before speaking ...
95% 238U is a reference to the mass fraction of that uranium
isotope. Therefore it is referring to the ratio of the isotopes in
the mass of metal .... 5/95 or 95/5 are isotopic ratios of the 238U.
There has to be 235U not just transuranics in the other 5% unless
its designer uranium. If the 5% is dominated by reactor spent fuel,
which is 235U plus 238U in the US is a 2.5-5.0% mix, the 5% has to
be 235U along with 236U and 239Pu -242PU with a smattering of a lot
of other nasties in very small fractions
To be daughter products of 238U the 5% has to be Th, Pa, and U234.
U metal is pure and has no daughter products. When it starts to
decay at a rate that it can reach mass equivalent equilibrium it has
to be powdered or in another thin adn non-quenching form, not solid.
Even so, it will never decay to a mass fraction of 5% daughter
isotopes. If it did, the natual isotopic ratio of uranaim would not
be what we know it to be.
To say the 5% is decay progency is not technically correct. It also
leads the reader who doesn't know that it is not technically correct
to dismiss the 5% as naturally occuring (oh, its only daughter
products). But no uranium with its 238U in a 95% mass fraction is
naturally occuring or can ever create itself into this ratio by
decaying.
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53 [DU-WATCH] Washington's secret nuclear war
Date: Mon, 20 Sep 2004 00:39:09 -0500 (CDT)
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/B2E2DF9B-1E0C-43F4-BBF6-074C1367E27C.htm
Washington's secret nuclear war By Shaheen Chughtai
Tuesday 14 September 2004, 22:17 Makka Time, 19:17 GMT
The US has dropped tonnes of depleted uranium on Iraq
Illegal weapons of mass destruction have not only been found in
Iraq but have been used against Iraqis and have even killed US
troops.
But Washington and its allies have tried to cover up this outrage
because the chief culprit is the US itself, argue American and other
experts trying to expose what they say is a war crime.
The WMD in question is depleted uranium (DU). A radioactive by-product
of uranium enrichment, DU is used to coat ammunition such as tank
shells and "bunker busting" missiles because its density makes it
ideal for piercing armour.
Thousands of DU shells and bombs have been used in Yugoslavia,
Afghanistan and - both during the 1990-91 Gulf war and the ongoing
conflict - in Iraq.
"They're using it in Falluja, Baghdad is chock-a-block with DU -
it's all over the place"
Major Doug Rokke, ex-head of US army DU project
"They're using it now, they're using it in Falluja, Baghdad is
chock-a-block with DU - it's all over the place," says Major Doug
Rokke, director of the US army's DU project in 1994-95.
Scientists say even a tiny particle can have disastrous results
once ingested, including various cancers and degenerative diseases,
paralysis, birth deformities and death.
And as tiny DU particles are blown across the Middle East and beyond
like a radioactive poison gas, the long-term implications for the
world are deeply disturbing.
DU has a "half-life" of 4.5 billion years, meaning it takes that
long for just half of its atoms to decay.
Sick soldiers
Only 467 US soldiers were officially wounded during the 1990-91
Gulf war.
But according to Terry Jemison at the US Department of Veterans
Affairs (VA), of the more than 592,560 discharged personnel who
served there, at least 179,310 - one third - are receiving disability
compensation and over 24,760 cases were pending by in September
2004.
A sixth of the Iraq war veterans have already sought treatment
This does not include personnel still active and receiving care
from the military, or those who have died.
And among 168,528 veterans of the current conflict in Iraq who have
left active duty, 16% (27,571) had already sought treatment from
the VA by July 2004.
"That's astronomical," says Rokke, whose team studied how to provide
medical care for victims, how to clean contaminated sites, and how
to train those using DU weapons.
Rokke admits the exact cause for these casualties cannot be confirmed.
But he insists the evidence pointing to DU is compelling.
"There were no chemical or biological weapons there, no big oil
well fires," he says. "So what's left?"
Cradle to grave
Dr Jenan Ali, a senior Iraqi doctor at Basra hospital's College of
Medicine, says her studies show a 100% rise in child leukaemia in
the region in the decade after the first Gulf war, with a 242%
increase in all types of malignancies.
The director of the Afghan DU and Recovery Fund, Dr Daud Miraki,
says his field researchers found evidence of DU's effect on civilians
in eastern and southeastern Afghanistan in 2003 although local
conditions make rigorous statistical analysis difficult.
Iraqi and Afghan doctors have seen a rise in deformed foetuses
"Many children are born with no eyes, no limbs, or tumours protruding
from their mouths and eyes," Miraki told Aljazeera.net. Some newborns
are barely recognisable as human, he says. Many do not survive.
Afghan and Iraqi children continue to play amid radioactive debris.
But the US army will not even label contaminated equipment or sites
because doing so would be an admission that DU is hazardous.
This "deceitful failure", says Rokke, contradicts the US army's own
rules, such as regulation AR 700-48, which stipulates its
responsibilities to isolate, label and decontaminate radioactive
equipment and sites as well as to render prompt and effective medical
care for all exposed individuals.
"This is a war crime," Rokke says. "The president is obliged to
ensure the army complies with these regulations but they're
deliberately violating the law. It's that simple."
No remedy
But these blatant violations are practically irrelevant because
Rokke's Iraq mission found that DU cannot be cleaned up and there
is no known medical remedy.
US President George Bush and UK Prime Minister Tony Blair used
Saddam Hussein's alleged possession of illegal weapons to justify
invading Iraq. But several prominent jurists hold Bush and Blair
guilty of war crimes for waging DU warfare.
The vice-president of the Indian Lawyers Association, Niloufer
Bhagwat, sat on an international panel of judges for the unofficial
International Criminal Tribunal for Afghanistan.
Bhagwat and her fellow judges ruled that the US had used "weapons
of extermination of present and future generations, genocidal in
properties".
Friendly fire
And not just against defenceless Afghan civilians.
Critics say George Bush (R) and Tony Blair are 'war criminals'
"Bush was guilty of knowingly using DU weaponry against his own
troops," Bhagwat told Aljazeera.net, "because the president knew
the effects of DU could not be controlled".
A prominent US international human-rights lawyer, Karen Parker,
says there are four rules derived from humanitarian laws and
conventions regarding weapons:
weapons may only be used against legal enemy military targets and
must not have an adverse effect elsewhere (the territorial rule)
weapons can only be used for the duration of an armed conflict and
must not be used or continue to act afterwards (the temporal rule)
weapons may not be unduly inhumane (the "humaneness"
rule). The Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907 speak of "unnecessary
suffering" and "superfluous injury" in this regard weapons may not
have an unduly negative effect on the natural environment (the
"environmental" rule).
Illegal weapons
"DU weaponry fails all four tests," Parker told Aljazeera.net.
First, DU cannot be limited to legal military targets. Second, it
cannot be "turned off"
when the war is over but keeps killing.
Third, DU can kill through painful conditions such as cancers and
organ damage and can also cause birth defects such as facial
deformities and missing limbs.
"Use of DU weaponry violates the grave breach provisions of the
Geneva Conventions"
Karen Parker, human rights lawyer
Lastly, DU cannot be used without unduly damaging the natural
environment.
"In my view, use of DU weaponry violates the grave breach provisions
of the Geneva Conventions," says Parker. "And so its use constitutes
a war crime, or crime against humanity."
Parker and others took the DU issue before the UN in 1995, and in
1996, the UN Human Rights Commission described DU munitions as
weapons of mass destruction that should be banned.
Deceit
Despite the evidence, Rokke says Pentagon and Energy Department
officials have campaigned against him and others trying to expose
the horrors of DU.
That charge is echoed by Leuren Moret, a geoscientist who has worked
at the Lawrence Berkeley and Lawrence Livermore nuclear weapons
research laboratories in California.
White House denials are part of a long-standing cover-up policy
that has been exposed before, she says.
President Bush insists warnings about DU are merely propaganda
"For example, the US denied using DU bombs and missiles against
Yugoslavia in 1999," she told Aljazeera.net. "But scientists in
Yugoslavia, Greece and Bulgaria measured elevated levels of gamma
radiation in the first three days of grid and carpet bombing by the
US."
Moret said: "A missile landed in Bulgaria that didn't explode and
scientists identified a DU warhead. Then, Lord [George] Robertson,
the head of NATO, admitted in public that DU had been used."
Even the US army expressed concern about the use of DU in July 1990,
some six months before the outbreak of the first Gulf war. Those
concerns were later echoed by Iraqi officials.
Denial
But brushing his own army's report aside - now said to be "outdated"
- US President George Bush has dismissed such warnings as "propaganda".
"In recent years, the Iraqi regime made false claim that the depleted
uranium rounds fired by coalition forces have caused cancers and
birth defects in Iraq,"
says Bush on his White House website.
"But scientists working for the World Health Organisation, the UN
Environmental Programme and the European Union could find no health
effects linked to exposure to depleted uranium," he said.
Bush can point to a World Health Organisation (WHO) report in 2001
that said there was no significant risk of inhaling radioactive
particles where DU weapons had been used.
It said the level of radiation associated with DU debris was not
particularly hazardous, but it accepted that high exposure could
pose a health risk.
Scientific studies
WHO also commissioned a scientific study shortly before the 2003
invasion of Iraq that warned of the dangers of US and British use
of DU - but refused to publish its findings.
The study's main author, Dr Keith Baverstock, told Aljazeera.net
that "the report was deliberately suppressed" because WHO was pressed
by a more powerful, pro-nuclear UN body - the International Atomic
Energy Agency. WHO has rejected his claims as "totally unfounded".
"[WHO's] report was deliberately suppressed"
Dr Keith Baverstock, co-author of WHO report on DU
The study found DU particles were likely to be blown around and
inhaled by Iraqi civilians for years to come. Once inside a human
body, the radioactive particles can trigger the growth of malignant
tumours.
Bush's claim that the UN Environmental Programme (UNEP) gives DU
pollution a clean bill of health is also disingenuous.
UNEP experts have yet to be allowed into Iraq, its spokesman in
Geneva Michael Williams told Aljazeera.net, citing security concerns.
And a scientific body set up in 1997 by Green EU parliamentarians
- the European Committee on Radiation Risk (ECRR) - found that DU
posed serious health risks.
An eminent Canadian scientist involved with the ECRR, Dr Rosalie
Bertell, says the deadliness of DU derived not just from its
radioactivity but from the durability of particles formed in the
3000-6000C heat produced when a DU weapon is fired.
"The particles produced are like ceramic: not soluble in body fluid,
non-biodegradable and highly toxic,"
she told Aljazeera.net. "They tend to concentrate in the lymph
nodes, which is the source of lymphomas and leukaemia".
Known killer
The US military and political establishment cannot plead ignorance.
As early as October 1943, Manhattan Project scientists Arthur
Compton, James Connant and Harold Urey sent a memo to their director,
General Leslie Groves, saying DU could be used to create a "radioactive
gas".
DU targets human DNA and may thus affect future generations
In 1961, two nuclear experts, Briton HE Huxley and American Geoffrey
Zubay, informed the scientific community that DU targeted human DNA
and "the Master Code, which controls the expression of DNA", Moret
said.
In September 2000, Dr Asaf Durakovic, professor of nuclear medicine
at Washington's Georgetown University, told a Paris conference of
prominent scientists that "tens of thousands" of US and UK troops
were dying of DU.
Death sentence
"There has to be a moratorium on the manufacture, sales, use and
storage of DU," geoscientist Moret says, warning that this will not
happen unless more Americans realise what is happening.
The Middle East has been severely contaminated, warns Moret. "That
region is radioactive forever," she says, but worse is yet to come.
Moret says the air carrying DU particles takes about a year to mix
with the rest of the earth's atmosphere.
Radioactive sites continue to kill and contaminate Iraqi children
The radiation released by DU nuclear warfare is believed to be more
than 10 times the amount dispersed by atmospheric testing.
As a result, DU particles have engulfed the world in a radioactive
poison gas that promises illness and death for millions.
Rokke went to Iraq a fit and healthy soldier, but the major is now
beset with a variety of illnesses and each day is a struggle.
He suffers from respiratory problems and cataracts while his teeth
- weakened by DU radiation - are crumbling. At least 20 of the 100
primary personnel he worked with on the US army's DU project have
died.
Most of the rest are ill.
Meanwhile, WHO says cancer rates worldwide are set to rise by 50%
by 2020, although it does not link this publicly to DU.
"They would never say that - they offered various strange explanations,"
said Moret. "But DU is the key factor. People will slowly die."
Aljazeera
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54 [DU-WATCH] DU - teh stuff of nightmares
Date: Mon, 20 Sep 2004 00:38:58 -0500 (CDT)
DU - The stuff of nightmares
By Julie Flint Special to The Lebanon Daily Star Tuesday, September
14, 2004
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/article.asp?edition_id=10&categ_id=5&article_id=8333
Two years before the invasion of Iraq, a report commissioned by the
World Health Organization warned that the long-term health of Iraq's
civilian population would be damaged by the use of depleted uranium
(DU) - radioactive waste from the nuclear industry which is used
to harden missiles, shells and bullets and which slices through
tank armor like a knife through butter. The WHO did not make the
report public. Odd, that.
DU has been called the "Trojan Horse" of the wars in Iraq - and
Afghanistan and Kosovo and Bosnia - a weapon that keeps on killing.
On detonation, DU armaments release a spray of radioactive dust
that can be carried in the air over long distances and which, when
inhaled, goes into the body and stays there. The dust remains
radioactive for 4.5 billion years.
The WHO report was written by three of Europe's top radiation
scientists, including Dr. Keith Baverstock, for more than a decade
the WHO's leading expert on radiation and health. After retiring
from the WHO, Baverstock leaked the report to the media earlier
this year. It concluded that microscopic particles of DU would be
blown around and inhaled by Iraqi civilians for years to come, and
could trigger the growth of malignant tumors. Baverstock believes
the WHO deliberately suppressed the report - probably under pressure
from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), a more powerful
UN body that promotes nuclear power.
In response, WHO claims the IAEA's role was "very minor"
and says the report was not approved for publication because "parts
of it did not reflect accurately what a WHO-convened group of
international experts considered the best science in the area of
depleted uranium."
In other words, its own chosen experts got it wrong.
Odd, again.
Had the study had been published in November 2001, Baverstock
believes there would have been more pressure on the Allies to limit
their use of DU during the invasion of Iraq - and to clean up
afterward. But it wasn't published.
As a result, Iraq is now playing host to some 350 tons of DU fired
in 1991, but also to more than 1,000 tons reportedly fired in 2003.
The "reportedly" is needed here because the armed forces are playing
coy with figures. No wonder:
handlers of DU in the US and Britain are required to wear masks and
protective clothing. Imagine Iraqis having to dress like that for
4.5 billion years.
Nuha al-Radi, the much-loved Iraqi artist and diarist who died in
Beirut on August 31, believed her leukemia could have been caused
by DU. And if not DU, then something else to which Iraqis were
knowingly exposed in the wars since Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait.
For DU is not the only concern in the "toxic wasteland" that many
scientists say Iraq has become. There are also the chemical weapons
the Baath regime used against its own people, and in its war with
Iran, and, most recently, the chemical and biological materials
released into the atmosphere by Allied bombing of Iraqi stockpiles
in the first Gulf war of 1991.
Nuha, who didn't believe the first war would take place, was
devastated by the second. "The carnage takes place in apocalyptic
proportions," she wrote at her lowest point.
"Sometimes I want to cry, but I resist. I am totally withered, and
feel so useless." We talked of working together on a film that would
investigate the pollution of Iraq and its people. Nuha was convinced
that DU was entering the water table and flowing into every corner
of the country, poisoning everything. But she fell ill, and we did
nothing.
Looking at the DU debate now, one thing is crystal-clear:
there are two very district bodies of opinion - and both claim to
be informed. The question is, by what?
On one side, there are the governments that use DU weapons, the
IAEA, NATO and WHO, who maintain (publicly, at least) that DU is
not particularly dangerous and has no long-term effects. On the
other side, united by varying degrees of concern, are the European
Parliament, which has called for an immediate moratorium on the use
of DU weapons, Belgium, Portugal, France, Spain and Italy, who don't
use them and want an inquiry into them; the United Nations Environmental
Program; and many independent scientists, several of whom have
first-hand experience of the legacy of DU.
After the first Gulf war, Dr. Asaf Durakovic, a colonel in the US
Army Medical Corps, was put in charge of Nuclear Medicine Service
at the Department of Veterans Affairs
Medical Center. He discovered unusual radiation levels in veterans
and became convinced not only that DU was killing them, but also
that it was causing changes in the human gene pool that would damage
future generations. He found "considerable resistance" from the
government to his work on DU and was asked to stop. He refused. Two
months after
writing to President Bill Clinton to request an inquiry into DU
contamination, he was fired - and went on to become
Clinical Professor of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine at Georgetown
University in Washington.
A nutter? Hardly. Yet Durakovic says soil samples from Iraq show
radiation levels 17 times higher than is acceptable - threatening,
he says, environmental "catastrophe." He believes that DU contamination
from the 1991 war may have exposed the entire Gulf population.
When the 1991 war started, Dr. Doug Rokke, a Vietnam veteran,
forensic scientist and retired army major, was recalled from academia
and sent to the Gulf as part of the army's Depleted Uranium Assessment
team. "The US Army made me their expert," he says. "I went into the
project with the total intent to ensure they could use uranium
munitions in war, because I'm a warrior. What I saw as director of
the project led me to one conclusion: uranium munitions must be
banned from the planet, for eternity, and medical care must be
provided for everyone" - those on the firing end and those on the
receiving end.
Many in Rokke's Gulf team are now dead. He himself suffers from
serious health problems including brain lesions and lung and kidney
damage. When government doctors finally agreed to test him in
November 1994, three-and-a-half years after he fell ill, while he
was director of the Pentagon's Depleted Uranium Project, he was
found to have 5,000 times the permissible level of radiation in his
body - enough to light up a small village.
DU, he says, is the stuff of nightmares.
Julie Flint is a veteran journalist based in Beirut and London.
This is the first of two articles on depleted uranium, which she
wrote for THE DAILY STAR
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55 [FOODIRRADIATIONCA] Corrected Version -- AB 1988 still on the
Date: Mon, 20 Sep 2004 00:49:18 -0500 (CDT)
(please note the change in phone instructions for the Governor)
(please forward to concerned Californians!)
Keep the pressure on Gov Schwarzenegger to support AB 1988, and protect
parents' right to know what their kids eat at school!
AB 1988, the landmark California legislation that requires school board
approval and parental notification, passed the legislature and now waits
action by Governor Schwarznegger. We have been bombarding Gov.
Schwarzenegger with postcards, faxes, and calls, but we need to keep the
pressure on. The Governor has until the end of September to take action
on AB 1988.
PLEASE KEEP CALLING AND WRITING THE GOVERNOR AND URGE HIM TO SUPPORT AB
1988!
You can send a FREE FAX from our website by clicking on this link:
http://www.citizen.org/fax/background.cfm?ID=364&source=56
Or call 916-445-2841 between 9am and 5pm and press #7 (Note: you may be
put on hold for a few minutes.)
Sample Phone Rap: Hi, I am calling to urge the Governor to support AB
1988 which protects parents' right to know if their children are eating
irradiated foods at school. This bill is extremely important, as
irradiated foods have been rejected by the public and the safety of
consuming them is unknown. Parents must have all the information
available so that they can make the best decision for their family.
Thank you.
For background on this issue visit
http://www.citizen.org/california/food or visit
http://www.safelunch.org
To read the text of the bill, visit http://www.leginfo.ca.gov
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tracy Lerman
Senior Organizer
Public Citizen, California Office
1615 Broadway, 9th Floor
Oakland, CA 94612
ph: 510-663-0888 x 103 f: 510-663-8569
tlerman@citizen.org
http://www.citizen.org/california
Keep irradiated food out of your child's lunch!
Visit http://www.safelunch.org to find out more.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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56 Army's NRC license 95% U238; This is Dynamite
Date: Sun, 19 Sep 2004 23:47:13 -0500 (CDT)
Thanks for posting one of what are actually several Dept of the
Army's licences from NRC's. This is for unclassified nuclear
material and weapons, only... 45,000 tones in 2003. How much was
really used in Iraq and in Faluja last night?
There are technicalities in the license that are of great import.
The PEL's (permitted exposure levels) indicated by the licences
permitted emission levels in Bq's/gram and per minute are
interesting. They should be cross referenced to D Rokke's current
emphasis on forcing DoD to honor its own PEL's.
Take a look at at the isotope ratio standard for minimum fraction of
238U in the army's stockpile: WARNING..WARNING...WARNING. Why, its
95%.
Authors, journalists and writers pay attention.
That's ninety-five percent 238U, or in normal jargon, LEU - low or
lightly enriched uranium. Actually,its on the high side of US LEU
which is around 2.5% 235U or 97.5% 238U.
Check your tables, folks, for the ratio of 238U in DU.
That means the army is lying when it calls its weapons'
material "DU". No DU is 95% 238U. By extrapolation, a 95% 238U
content means they are using up to 5% enriched - that's reactor
grade uranium. They can also use under the terms of this license,
based on this technical defintion of 95% 238U, and called by the
name "DU", US recycled reactor grade fuels and commercial natural
uranium with an NU isotopic ratio, straight from the mill.
If you do the math on the premitted picocurrries in the stock pile,
the acceptable level is considerably higher than a DU or NU emission
rate for the mass of uranium permitted by the licence. This means
they are including transuranics and plutonics in the mix (to get to
the acceptable total mass emission levels, they need strong stuff
mixed in.)
This license exposes a fraud and shows us how the DoD is
misreprestning fact to hide what it is really doing, covering under
a blanket called "DU", a lot of other nuclear metals in the
convetional weapons' stockpiles.
Uranium penetrators were used in the 1960's according to the
license's addenda.
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57 [DU-WATCH] Re: NRC License to Army for DU - Supplement 1
Date: Mon, 20 Sep 2004 00:05:26 -0500 (CDT)
Excellent item!
Have yet another read of Supplement 1 of the .pdf which Elaine posted
and Bilalana has remarked upon. It's pasted below for convenience.
Surely there is a US legislator willing to consider the implications
of "not less than 95% U238". Them's weasel-numbers for uranium
which is either contaminated or enriched or both (as has already been
stated by B).
Seems to me there ought to be a very very loud demand for some
independent metallurgical assays of the stocks on hand.
And I wonder how ALARA gets applied to RRW-contaminated combat sites
in Iraq, Afghanistan and Kosovo. As Low As Reasonable Acceptable?
Oh yeah, I can hear the voice of reason, alright - - -
Cheers,
Robert
= = = = = = = =
Supplement 1 (Reference: NRC Form 313, Block 5)
RADIOACTIVE MATERIAL
1. Element and Mass Number: U-238 depleted in the U-235 isotope.
2. Chemical and Physical Form: Solid metal alloy, not less than 95
percent U-238.
3. The maximum amounts that may be possessed at any one time are as
follows:
a. Depleted uranium for use as components in conventional
ammunition: 42,000,000 kilograms.
b. Depleted uranium on the Lake City AAP firing range,
Independence, MO: 14,000 kilograms.
c. Depleted uranium on equipment in storage at McAlester AAP,
McAlester, OK: 227 kilograms.
--- In du-watch@yahoogroups.com, Elaine Hunter wrote:
> DearAll,
>
> Link below is to PDF file of the NRC License to Army for storage of
DU which includes Blue Grass Army Depot and many others.
>
> Elaine
> http://www.osc.army.mil/dm/dmwweb/Lic%20pdf%20etc/SUC1380.PDF
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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58 [NukeNet] Fury as Bomb-Grade Plutonium Sets Sail for France
Date: Sun, 19 Sep 2004 19:51:20 -0700
http://www.sundayherald.com/44923
Published on Sunday, September 19, 2004 by the Sunday Herald (Scotland)
Fury as Bomb-Grade Plutonium Sets Sail for France from US
by Rob Edwards
WEAPONS-grade plutonium, sufficient to make up to 40 nuclear warheads, is
expected to be loaded onto two armed British ships in the US this week and
then carried across the Atlantic to France.
The US plan to send 140 kilograms of bomb-grade plutonium for processing in
France will be the most controversial nuclear shipment for years.
Throughout its two-week voyage, the plutonium will be protected by British
military forces. When it arrives at the port of Cherbourg it is expected to
be greeted by protesters.
On September 3 the Pacific Teal and the Pacific Pintail, two armed nuclear
transport ships run by the state-owned, British Nuclear Fuels (BNFL), left
the port of Barrow in northwest England. This weekend they are believed to
be somewhere off the US naval base at Charleston in South Carolina.
In the next few days they will dock, take on board heavy casks of plutonium
oxide, and head back across the Atlantic. After they arrive at Cherbourg,
the plutonium will be taken by road to a fuel fabrication plant run by the
French firm, Cogema, at Cadarache, north of Marseilles.
The US and French governments argue that the aim of the shipment is to get
rid of "surplus" weapons plutonium by making it into a fuel for nuclear
power stations. This is part of an agreement between the US and Russia that
both countries will get rid of 34 tonnes of plutonium from "excess" nuclear
warheads.
The plan is to make the plutonium into fuel rods, then transport them to
another facility at Marcoule, north of Avignon, to assemble them. Sometime
at the beginning of 2005, they will be returned to the US to try out in a
reactor.
The US government is keen to demonstrate that the fuel, known as MOX, will
work. It then plans to commission Cogema and others to help build and
operate a MOX fuel fabrication plant at Savannah River in South Carolina.
The US plan has provoked fierce criticisms. "Unless it is carried out in a
manner as safe and secure as possible, the cure may end up worse than the
disease," said Dr Edwin Lyman of the Union of Concerned Scientists in
Washington DC.
"It would be a disaster if plutonium were to be diverted or stolen by
terrorists because of inadequate security during the stages of the
disposition process. Yet if this program continues along its current path,
such a theft may well be inevitable."
But such criticisms are rebuffed by the US, French and British authorities
involved in the shipment. "It will proceed just fine with no safety or
security problems," said Bryan Wilkes, a spokesman for the US National
Nuclear Security Administration.
He says he cannot describe the security measures that are being taken, but
he is confident that they will be sufficient. He accuses opponents of the
shipment of helping terrorists by publicizing the planned route and timings.
Henry-Jacques Neau, head of transport with Cogema, said the shipment will
have "the highest level of security" from British defense forces. BNFL
points out that that its ships have an excellent safety record. "During
more than 20 years of transports there has never been an incident resulting
in the release of radioactivity," said a company spokesman.
Published on Sunday, September 19, 2004 by the Sunday Herald (Scotland)
http://www.sundayherald.com/44923
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59 Daily Times: VIEW: Nuclear safety measures —Dr Hasan-Askari Rizvi
Monday, September 20, 2004
The AQ Khan incident underlined the need for additional measures
to rule out the possibility of unauthorised nuclear transfers.
Furthermore, the disclosure of nuclear related activities in
Libya, Iran and North Korea created a consensus in the IAEA and
the UN that the states possessing technologies and infrastructure
for producing weapons of mass destruction should review their
safety and security arrangements
The parliament has passed a bill on tightening controls on
nuclear materials, equipment and technology as well as chemical
weapons by imposing a ban on their unauthorised transfer outside
of Pakistan. The ban also covers missiles capable of delivering
these weapons. The violation of the ban is made an offence
punishable with up to 14 years imprisonment, a fine up to Rs 5
million and forfeiture of property.
The bill has been described as “an important legislation to
regulate and control export, re-export, trans-shipment and
transit of goods and technologies, material and equipment related
to nuclear and biological weapons and missiles capable of
delivering them.” The bill provided that a trial under this law
would be held before a sessions court with a right of appeal to
the relevant high court.
The passage of the bill shows that Pakistan is willing to
shoulder the responsibility the acquisition of nuclear weapons
bestows on a state. This is also in consonance with the UN
Security Council Resolution 1540 (April 2004) which called upon
the member states to strengthen controls over nuclear and other
sensitive technologies. It establishes an effective legal and
judicial framework for coping with a situation similar to the one
that arose out of the Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan episode (December
2003-January 2004).
For making them relevant to deterrence-based defence and
security, nuclear weapons have to be managed with a sense of
responsibility. Their safety and security as well as an effective
command and control are prerequisites for a responsible
management of such deadly weapons. The issues of safety and
security of Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal were raised at the
international level soon after it exploded nuclear devices in the
last week of May 1998. In October 2000, General Anthony Zinni,
former commander of the US Central Command, expressed
apprehensions that Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal could become
available to extremist Islamic leaders.
These concerns were raised frequently after terrorist attacks in
the US on September 11, 2001. The nuclear experts as well as the
print and electronic media in the West, especially in the US,
expressed the fear that Pakistan’s nuclear weapons, fissile or
radio-active material or technical know how could reach the
Pakistan-based extremist Islamic groups, and Al Qaeda, because
some of these elements were said to have linkages with Pakistan’s
Army-intelligence establishment. A number of scenarios of
vulnerability of Pakistan’s nuclear programme were outlined in
the US and British press.
Nuclear safety and security matters were taken up when Colin
Powell, the US secretary of state, and George Tenet, then
director of the CIA visited Pakistan in October and December
2001, respectively. Powell said in a press statement that General
Musharraf understood the importance of ensuring safety and
security of “all elements of his nuclear programme.” The US
offered to help Pakistan strengthen the security of its nuclear
programme. This offer was discussed but there is no evidence
available to suggest that the US security experts were allowed to
get close to Pakistan’s nuclear installations for strengthening
their security.
A study of nuclear terrorism in South Asia conducted at the
Sandia National Laboratories, Albuquerque, USA, in the summer of
2002, concluded that the possibility of an armed raid, truck
bombs, hurled bombs or remote-controlled bomb explosion
threatening damage to Pakistan’s nuclear installations was
remote. However, the possibility of an “insider-outsider”
collusion for undermining security and safety of nuclear
installations and materials was not ruled out. The report
suggested that an extremely religious person might be vulnerable
to the appeal of an Islamic group and might consciously or
unconsciously pass on sensitive information. Similarly, an
alienated employee might conspire with an interested outsider.
This could result in theft or transfer of some equipment,
materials or documents.
However, nobody envisaged that an ace Pakistani nuclear scientist
could be involved with an international underground network for
transfer of nuclear know-how and technology to a number of
countries. In the event, the network was not found to have any
links with a terrorist or extremist organisation but dealing
directly or indirectly with other states. The AQ Khan incident
was a major embarrassment for Pakistan, although the government
was finally able to convince the International Atomic Energy
Agency and major states that it was not involved in these nuclear
transfers — was not even aware of them until the IAEA provided
the information. Some of the stories about the secret and
unauthorised nuclear transfers from Pakistan that appeared in the
Pakistani press in December 2003 and January 2004 were in
circulation in the West a couple of years earlier. At that time
the Pakistan government dismissed these as propaganda meant to
malign Pakistan’s nuclear programme.
Since Pakistan’s nuclear explosions in May 1998, Pakistan has
repeatedly assured the international community that it was paying
full attention to the safety and security of Pakistan’s nuclear
installations, weapons, fissile and radioactive materials and
equipment. This assurance was repeated several times after the
terrorist attacks in the US in September 2001 to allay US
concerns that weapons of mass destruction and materials or
technology to manufacture these should not become available to
religious extremists and terrorist groups.
The Pakistan military maintains the over all control of
Pakistan’s nuclear programme — including nuclear weapons and
fissile material. In February 2000, a National Command Authority
was established for policy formulation and command and control
and management of Pakistan’s nuclear and missile programmes. The
NCA includes an Employment Control Committee, a Development
Control Committee and a Strategic Plans Division. General Pervez
Musharraf has been heading the first two committees since these
were established, first as the chief executive of the military
government and now as president. Prime minister is a member of
the first committee.
Another body, the Pakistan Nuclear Regulatory Authority (PNRA),
was established in January 2001. It dealt with the control,
regulation and supervision of all aspects of nuclear safety and
radiation protection. Pakistan is party to the Convention on
Early Notification of a Nuclear Accident and Nuclear Safety and
the Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material. In
July 2000, it notified that nuclear substances and equipment
could not be exported from Pakistan without a written clearance
from Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission.
The AQ Khan incident, which took place despite the organisational
network and control mechanisms, underlined the need for taking
additional measures to rule out the possibility of unauthorised
nuclear transfers. Furthermore, the disclosure of nuclear related
activities in Libya, Iran and North Korea created a consensus in
the IAEA and the UN that the states possessing technologies and
infrastructure for producing weapons of mass destruction should
review their safety and security arrangements.
The new legislation is therefore a step in the right direction
whose effective implementation would enable Pakistan to get out
of the dark shadow of the Khan episode. Pakistan’s security
interests are best served if the safety and security of its
nuclear installations, weapons, fissile and radio-active
materials and equipment is fully assured. The reliability of the
personnel associated with the nuclear programme must be checked
from time to time. Pakistan must also have an effective command
and control to safeguard against any accidental or unauthorised
use of nuclear weapons or missiles.
Dr Hasan-Askari Rizvi is a political and defence analyst Home |
Editorial
Daily Times - All Rights Reserved
Site developed
and hosted by WorldCALL Internet
Solutions [http://www.wcis.com.pk]
*****************************************************************
60 Korea Times: 10 Workers Exposed to Radioactivity
Hankooki.com > The Korea Times > Technology
By Kim Tae-gyu Staff Reporter
Hardly a single day passes without Korea¡¯s nuclear news hitting
the headlines and this time around it concerns heavy water
leakage at a nuclear power station.
The Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) said Sunday a
total of 10 workers were exposed to radioactivity after over
3,000 kilograms of heavy water leaked from the second reactor of
the Wolsong Nuclear Power Plant on September 14.
``During a maintenance operation for the second reactor, workers
didn¡¯t close a valve while introducing coolants, causing the
leakage of 3,085 kilograms of heavy water,¡¯¡¯ the ministry said
in a statement.
The plant, situated in Kyongju, North Kyongsang Province, took
emergency measures and retrieved 3,077 kilograms, the remaining 8
kilograms having evaporated.
During the accident, workers were exposed to about 0.05mSv of
radiation. The maximum amount of radiation exposure allowed per
annum in nuclear power stations is 50mSv.
``The Wolsong plant checked the medical condition of the workers
in question and found no problems. Currently, they are doing
their jobs as usual,¡¯¡¯ the MOST said.
Despite the explanation, the accident is increasing public
concern, being the third leakage of heavy water at the Wolsong
plant in five years. Similar cases were reported in October 1999
and July 2002.
The mishap was brought to light days after it occurred only
after pressure from regional civic groups that visited the site.
``The government is not required to disclose the Wolsong incident
as the leakage took place when the reactor was not in
operation,¡¯¡¯ the MOST claimed.
The ministry added that it would decide the timing for the
resumption of the reactor¡¯s regular operations after the
accident has been thoroughly investigated.
The unique chemical properties of heavy water as compared to
ordinary water make it an extremely efficient material for use as
a moderator in a nuclear reactor.
Heavy water is a primary coolant to remove heat in a fission
reactor ahead of the secondary refrigerant of light water.
voc200@koreatimes.co.kr 09-19-2004 17:28
*****************************************************************
61 IEER: Letter to NAS committee assessing the Radiation Exposure
Screening and Education Program
IEER [http://www.ieer.org/index.html] | Subject
Index [http://www.ieer.org/webindex.html]
September 2, 2004
R. Julian Preston, Ph.D., Chair
Assessment of Scientific Information for the Radiation Exposure
Screening and Education Program
Project ID BRER-K-02-01-A
National Academy of Sciences
500 5th Street NW
Washington, D.C. 20001
Dear Dr. Preston:
We are heartened the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is
assessing how to improve accessibility and quality of medical
services for people exposed to nuclear testing fallout and
whether to expand eligibility under the Radiation Exposure
Compensation Act program. We understand that you are advising
the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) on
these questions. Your work has been long and desperately needed.
We, like many, see it as part of the U.S. government's effort to
begin to face the health and environmental legacy of the Cold
War after a long and damaging period of denial.
The United States has been a leader among nuclear weapon states
in regard to compensating the people affected by nuclear weapons
production and testing. We hope that your work will result in
policies that will continue and extend that leadership. We are
writing to you in that spirit.
The subject of estimating doses from iodine-131 fallout from
U.S. nuclear testing is, as you must be aware, very complex.
However, some things are clear. We are in broad agreement with
the 1997 National Cancer Institute (NCI) report
[http://rex.nci.nih.gov/massmedia/Fallout/index.html] that dealt
with iodine-131, despite the study's numerous and admitted
uncertainties. Doses to the thyroid alone showed extensive
exposures across the United States. As shown in the map below
(which represents county-level per capita average thyroid doses
from Nevada Test Site tests only), hot spots were scattered
across the continent. The most affected counties were as far
away as Idaho, Montana and the Dakotas.
Source: NCI,
http://www.cancer.gov/cancer_information/doc.aspx?viewid=556f5603
-23e3-4171-aa5e-77f79d46b27c
[http://www.cancer.gov/cancer_information/doc.aspx?viewid=556f560
3-23e3-4171-aa5e-77f79d46b27c]
People who lived in the "red" and "pink" counties in the map may
have received, depending on their age and milk intake, high
I-131 doses. The data indicates that some farm children, those
who drank goat's milk in the 1950s in high fallout areas, were
as severely exposed as the worst exposed children after the 1986
Chernobyl nuclear power plant accident. Such exposure creates a
high probability of a variety of illnesses, yet the government
has not effectively informed people in these affected areas.
We ask that your committee address the following items in its
report:
1. People who, during the 1950s and early 1960s, lived in the
red and pink counties - and, considering the report's
uncertainties, people in and the counties that surround them -
should be informed about their potential exposures. This group
should include people who may no longer live there. Farm
children who drank goat's milk in these areas may have had doses
of ~100 rad. While there will always remain questions and issues
about definition of the affected population, we believe that
this would be a good minimal starting point for defining the
areas highly affected by fallout.
We request that your committee go to towns like Challis, Idaho,
and places in the intermountain West and Plains states, and hold
meetings in order to hear from people about their experiences
and inform them about your study. We call your attention to a
recent Idaho newspaper article, attached, that recounts some
individual stories, including those of people who drank goat's
milk.
2. The committee should recommend that HRSA go to such places
described in (1) in order to:
+ Inform people in high-fallout counties about the facts,
their possible risks, and what they should be doing (how to
identify symptoms, what to ask their health care provider, how
to use the online dose calculator, where to go for more
information, etc.). This would involve broad public education
efforts, such as holding meetings, publishing ads in newspapers
and running TV and radio announcements, so that people can be
alert to the symptoms and seek early diagnosis and treatment of
a disease.
+ Train medical professionals so they know the facts and the
risks themselves, and can identify and treat exposure-related
illnesses and disease in their patients. This can and will save
lives. When one of us (Arjun Makhijani) went to Challis several
years ago, his talk inspired the brother of one the attendees to
ask his doctor about thyroid cancer, leading to early detection
and life-saving surgery. He had had strange symptoms that his
doctor had not traced to fallout before that time.
3. RECA, the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act
[http://www.usdoj.gov/civil/torts/const/reca/index.htm] , is a
compensation program for some Nevada Test Site downwinders in
some counties in Nevada, Arizona and Utah. This is clearly not
sufficient. There are hot spots thousands of miles from tests
sites.1 We ask that the committee be a leader in calling for a
new official definition of 'downwinder' that would include
people who, during the 1950s and early 1960s, lived in the
high-fallout (red and pink) counties and surrounding counties.
The new definition of downwinder also should include people who
once lived in these counties but may no longer.
4. We recognize the utility of dose reconstructions, but the
burden proof must not be on exposed individuals to assess what
happened to them. Due to the NCI report's uncertainties, the
committee should remain tentative about those groups of
individuals it may recommend or imply not be covered under RECA.
The committee should give the benefit of doubt to the victim,
not the US government/nuclear weapons establishment which
deceitfully caused the harm in the first place.
This is all the more essential in the case of milk contamination
from fallout. During the 1950s, the U.S. Atomic Energy
Commission (AEC) provided advance data about expected fallout
patterns to the photographic film industry because Kodak
threatened it with a lawsuit after the very first test. But the
AEC took no action to protect the U.S. milk supply. In 1962 the
Federal Radiation Council even sought to prevent states that
wanted to take action from doing so. Please refer to Pat
Ortmeyer and Arjun Makhijani, "Worse Than We Knew," Bulletin of
the Atomic Scientists, Vol. 53, No. 7, Nov./Dec. 1997. Online at
www.thebulletin.org/issues/1997/nd97/nd96ortmeyer.html
[http://www.thebulletin.org/issues/1997/nd97/nd96ortmeyer.html]
. We will be happy to provide you with detailed documentation if
you like.
5. There are a large number of people without access to health
care. Those without health care coverage in the pink and red
counties and the counties that surround them should be given
free medical care by the government. This health care should
also be offered to people who were children in these counties
during the 1950s and early 1960s. The government should also
widely publicize the map of highly affected areas so that people
who were children then in those areas can benefit from the offer
of health care as well. Women who were children in the 1950s and
early 1960s or who were of child-bearing age then should be a
special focus of this program due to the disproportionate risks
faced by female children and by developing fetuses.
6. The cost of fallout-related illness is something that
should be a governmental responsibility whether covered by
private insurance or not. Thyroid cancer incidence is among the
fastest growing of all cancers in the United States, especially
among women. Synthroid, a prescription drug used to control
thyroid disease, is the third most widely prescribed drug in the
country. While certainly not all people with thyroid cancer or
on Synthroid were affected as such by radioactive fallout,
nuclear testing likely contributed a portion of this health
problem. The committee should make a recommendation about how
the government should deal with this cost.
7. We request that you recommend that the U.S. Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) take up the issue of the
health consequences of fallout from the July 16, 1945 Trinity
test. This is a long-neglected subject even though clear
evidence of high fallout was established by Col. Stafford L.
Warren as early as July 21, 1945. You can link to his memorandum
to Gen. Groves from the IEER web site at
www.ieer.org/op-eds/radio/14trinity.html
[http://www.ieer.org/op-eds/radio/14trinity.html] .
Thank you for considering these comments. The Institute for
Energy and Environmental Research has studied and been concerned
about the health and environmental effects of nuclear weapons
production and testing since 1987. IEER has published a number
of books, reports and articles on the subject, including
Nuclear Wastelands
[http://www.ieer.org/pubs/index.html#nuclearwastelands] : A
Global Guide to Nuclear Weapons Production and Its Health and
Environmental Effects and Radioactive Heaven and Earth
[http://www.ieer.org/pubs/index.html#radheaven] : The health and
environmental effects of nuclear weapons testing in, on, and
above the earth. We have provided comments on a number of
National Academy and official radiation-related studies,
including the committee on the Biological Effects of Ionizing
Radiation (BEIR VII) and the committee that reviewed the CDC-NIH
Feasibility Study of the Health Consequences to the American
Population from Nuclear Weapons Tests
[http://www.ieer.org/comments/fallout/pr0202.html] .
We look forward to the committee's response to our comments. We
would be happy to meet with you and/or with Dr. Al-Nabulsi to
discuss these issues further and would like to request such a
meeting.
Sincerely,
Arjun Makhijani, Ph.D.
President
Lisa Ledwidge
US Outreach Director, Editor of Science for Democratic Action
cc: Dr. Isaf Al-Nabulsi, Study Director, ialnabul@nas.edu, fax
202-334-1639
Attached: " Idahoans downwind from nuclear fallout talk about
living with cancer
[http://www.idahostatesman.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/2004082
9/NEWS01/408290333&SearchID=73182538712769] ," article and
photos published Aug 29, 2004 in The Idaho Statesman.
Endnote:
1. Fallout from U.S. testing crossed national borders and
exposed people in countries outside the United States.
Also on this site:
8. Assessment of Scientific Information for the Radiation
Exposure Screening and Education Program
[http://www4.nationalacademies.org/webcr.nsf/CommitteeDisplay/BRE
R-K-02-01-A?OpenDocument] (National Academy of Sciences site)
9. IEER radio commentary: Radioactive Milk in America
[http://www.ieer.org/op-eds/radio/2radmilk.html]
10. Some government documents
[http://www.ieer.org/offdocs/index.html] related to the health
effects of nuclear testing fallout
Institute for Energy and Environmental Research
[http://www.ieer.org/index.html] Comments to Outreach
Coordinator: ieer[at]ieer.org
Takoma Park, Maryland, USA
Posted September 16, 2004
*****************************************************************
62 MDP: Mock radioactive spill helps teach emergency personnel how to respond
Montrose Daily Press Online - Local News
Sunday, September 19, 2004
Jake Long
MONTROSE - During a mock scenario, technician-level responders
changed into their hazardous materials suits to contain
radioactive material.
Eventually they went to a transportation accident exercise scene
in which a truck was empty but there were several barrels near a
waterway. The responders knew beforehand that a package had been
marked radioactive material. A driver was dead, with an ill
civilian as well as two sick emergency responders.
Emergency personnel conducted the exercise Saturday south of
Montrose to improve their ability to respond to incidents
involving hazardous material.
"We put together this event to try to let a community know where
they could draw help from if they would have a hazard material
incident or a weapons of mass destruction thing go on," JoAnn
Stone, West Region coordinator for Homeland Security all hazards,
said at the site.
During the exercise, teams worked together, including ones from
west of the Continental Divide, north of Farmington, N.M., and
south of Craig.
"If Montrose were to have an incident, they would know the
nearest team to them that would be able to help with that
particular incident," Stone said.
Mark Quick, one of the hazmat team leaders from Durango and the
Durango Fire and Rescue training chief, said Saturday's primary
objective included bringing teams together and making them more
familiar with each other.
Saturday's situation involved several people exposed to a
pesticide-like poison.
Responders entered the area in which the pesticides were,
retrieved "victims," put them through a decontamination process
and obtained medical help.
The exercise included work to restore the area in which the
hazardous material spill occurred.
Quick estimated about 145 people were involved in Saturday's
event. Entry groups were broken into three teams, and each team
went through one entry scenario, a decontamination scenario and a
rehabilitation scenario.
The exercise included responders with chemical protective
clothing.
"It's like putting on a rubber suit," Quick said. "They are under
a tremendous amount of stress due to the heat that they build up
- just their normal body temperature in these suits."
Officials monitored the responders' vital signs before they
entered the hazardous material site and when they came out to
make sure that they were OK and fit for duty.
Organizers actively planned the exercise for eight months, Stone
said. About $40,000 in grants funded the event.
It's difficult to say whether the exercise was worth the cost
because "if you never have an emergency, you're not going to use
it, but if you have an emergency, you're going to be so glad that
you did," Stone said.
Stone said early Saturday that the exercise would last through
the evening. Eventually officials will critique the mock
incident.
"One of the things that we know is going to happen is that when
one of us has an incident and we call for help from the next
community, we're going to know some of those people that come
in," Stone said. "We're going to know what they're capable of and
we're going to know how we can best work together to serve our
constituents.'
Contact Jake Long via e-mail at
jakel@montrosepress.com [jakel@montrosepress.com] .
Copyright © 2004 The Montrose Daily Press.
*****************************************************************
63 Las Vegas RJ: PRESIDENTIAL RACE: Bush makes gains in new polls
Sunday, September 19, 2004
Lead in Nevada now at 5 percentage points
By ERIN NEFF REVIEW-JOURNAL
President Bush has a little more breathing room in Nevada,
according to a new poll that shows him with a 5-point lead over
John Kerry.
The poll of 625 likely voters conducted for the Review-Journal
and reviewjournal.com shows Bush favored over Kerry 50 percent
to 45 percent. Independent candidate Ralph Nader has 1 percent
and undecided voters are at 4 percent. The poll has a margin of
error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.
"Right now, I'd say the state is leaning Bush," said pollster
Brad Coker of the Washington, D.C.-based Mason-Dixon Polling
&Research, which conducted the phone survey Monday, Tuesday and
Wednesday.
Bush's edge is up slightly from the 46-43 lead he had over Kerry
in a July poll for the Review-Journal.
Coker attributed the results to the bounce Bush got from the
Republican National Convention, which ended Sept. 2.
"Kerry didn't get much of a convention bounce, and Bush did,"
Coker said.
The Bush-Cheney campaign credited the improvement to more
information being made available to Nevada voters about Kerry.
"It's an indication that as Nevadans learn more about the
choices they face, they prefer the positive message of George
Bush," said Tracey Schmitt, regional spokeswoman for the
campaign.
But Schmitt and Democrats both said they still consider the
race very close.
Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., referred to other polls that have
Nevada either closer or leaning to Kerry. A recent Harris poll
has Kerry up 1 point, he said.
"I think this race is a dead heat," Kerry Nevada spokesman Sean
Smith said. "This shows that our message of change, stopping
Yucca Mountain and bringing down the costs of health care is
resonating."
The poll also asked which issue was most influential in the
decision on who to vote for in the November elections for
national offices.
One-fourth of voters said homeland security and the war on
terrorism was the most important issue. That 25 percent figure
is up 10 percentage points from where it was in July. Iraq was
second with 17 percent, and the economy trailed closely at 16
percent. The issue of whether to bury nuclear waste at Yucca
Mountain barely registered, with only 3 percent of respondents
saying it was their most important issue.
"I don't think Nevada is a safe Bush state," said Eric Herzik, a
political scientist and dean at the University of Nevada, Reno.
"Bush has clearly weathered Yucca Mountain, but I think he's
vulnerable on the war.
"The Democrats are hitting him really hard on the war now," said
Herzik, a registered Republican.
A separate question concerning Yucca Mountain's influence on
the presidential race showed little movement from July. Those
surveyed were asked whether Bush's approval of the repository
made them more likely or less likely to vote for him. In both
polls, 6 percent said the president's action made them more
likely to vote for Bush. The majority of respondents in both
polls said Yucca Mountain will have no influence on their vote.
National polls suggest Kerry's best issues are domestic and
Bush's best issues are the war on terrorism and homeland
security.
The biggest change in this poll from the July poll is the
dissipation of support for Nader.
In July, Nader had 4 percent support, which had dropped to only
1 percent in the current poll.
"Nader's faded out," Coker said. "He's not going to be a factor
in this election."
Herzik said one of the more interesting results of the poll
came in the favorable-unfavorable category.
Bush remained fairly steady in the current poll, with 47
percent favorable compared to 39 percent unfavorable. He was at
46 and 40 in July.
But Kerry's unfavorable rating increased and is now higher than
his favorable rating.
In July, Kerry was viewed favorably by 37 percent compared to
32 percent unfavorable. His favorable rating remained at 37
percent, but 43 percent of poll respondents now view him
unfavorably.
"That's never good," Herzik said. "You don't want the
unfavorable to be greater than the favorable."
Anne Sheridan, Kerry's Nevada campaign manager, noted that
Kerry did not advertise in August and still thinks the race is
"very competitive."
"We were down all of August, as we planned to be, and you
expect something in the balance," Sheridan said of the lack of
commercials. "What we're seeing out in the field is that people
are really starting to pay attention and get energized for
Kerry."
Copyright Las Vegas Review-Journal
*****************************************************************
64 Las Vegas RJ: Percentage who favor making deal on Yucca project grows
Sunday, September 19, 2004
By STEVE TETREAULT
STEPHENS WASHINGTON BUREAU
WASHINGTON -- A growing share of Nevadans say in a new poll the
state should accept a nuclear waste repository and try to deal
for benefits in return, although they remain less than a
majority.
Asked whether the state should continue to fight or negotiate
with the federal government over the Yucca Mountain Project, 50
percent said fight and 46 percent said deal.
"That's tightening; it's a lot more balanced than it has been in
previous polls," said Larry Harris, a principal with Mason-Dixon
Polling &Research Inc., the Washington, D.C.-based firm that
conducted the survey for the Review-Journal and
reviewjournal.com
"Maybe there's more of a sense of inevitability about the
reality of (a repository) happening," Harris said.
The poll of 625 registered voters was conducted Monday, Tuesday
and Wednesday. The margin of error was 4 percentage points.
Four percent of Nevadans had no opinion on how state leaders
should proceed.
Asked the same question in a July poll, 54 percent preferred to
continue the battle while 39 percent favored negotiations.
Bob Loux, executive director of the Nevada Agency for Nuclear
Projects, said the poll results were suspect because respondents
were asked their opinion after being told Yucca Mountain "has
been approved as a repository of high level nuclear waste."
Although President Bush and Congress designated Yucca Mountain,
"it hasn't been approved for anything," Loux said. He said the
Nuclear Regulatory Commission has yet to dissect the science
behind the repository, a licensing process which will take years
and will be hotly contested.
"We have never been closer to winning this issue than we are
now," Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., said.
A federal court this summer threw out a key repository safety
standard, causing federal agencies to scramble for a response.
Congress has been unable to find Yucca funding for next year's
budget. A review board decertified an Energy Department document
database, ordering repairs that could take months and throw off
project timelines.
But although those matters have occupied lawyers, politicians
and bureaucrats, "a lot of it is so much inside baseball. The
average person doesn't understand," said Irene Navis, Clark
County nuclear waste planning director.
Former Nevada Gov. Bob List, a paid consultant to the
pro-repository Nuclear Energy Institute, said he sees a growing
acceptance of the project. He said some people believe Nevada
leaders should feel out the government for benefits while
continuing to battle.
"I think that's a real number," List said of the poll result. "I
get that message from even hard-core opponents of the project,
and I think that's probably a very sound measure of the current
mood."
There has been a frenzy of Yucca Mountain activity over the
summer, including visits to Las Vegas by the presidential
candidates that generated headlines about the repository and
television commercials from both campaigns.
Nevadans may be experiencing Yucca fatigue.
"Yucca has been so in their face for the last two or three
months. They have been so overwhelmed by ads on the issue," said
Paul Seidler, who performs contracts for the Nuclear Energy
Institute and Lincoln and Esmerelda counties.
"People are seeing through the fact the issue is being used as a
political football, and that probably is making them more
cynical," Seidler said.
"I don't sense fatigue at all in the community," said Rep. Jon
Porter, R-Nev. "I think they are asking questions. We have 5,000
to 6,000 new people a month who don't understand the history."
"I think people are tired and thought it was inevitable, but
it's not," said anti-repository activist Peggy Maze Johnson,
head of Citizen Alert. "A majority is still telling us to fight."
Copyright Las Vegas Review-Journal
*****************************************************************
65 SF Chronicle: Bush, Kerry remain locked in tight race in Nevada
Sunday, September 19, 2004
(09-19) 13:33 PDT LAS VEGAS (AP) --
President Bush and Democrat John Kerry are running about even in
Nevada, a statewide poll released Sunday found.
The Las Vegas Review-Journal poll showed Bush with 50 percent and
Kerry with 45 percent in the battleground state targeted heavily
by both candidates.
Independent candidate Ralph Nader had 1 percent, with undecided
voters at 4 percent.
The telephone poll of 625 likely voters was conducted Sept. 13-15
by Washington, D.C.-based Mason-Dixon Polling &Research. It had a
margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.
In a July poll for the Review-Journal, Bush had 46 percent and
Kerry 43 percent.
"Right now, I'd say the state is leaning Bush," said
Mason-Dixon's Brad Coker, who attributed the results to the
bounce Bush got from the Republican National Convention, which
ended Sept. 2.
"Kerry didn't get much of a convention bounce, and Bush did,"
Coker said.
But Eric Herzik, a political scientist and dean at the University
of Nevada, Reno, said the race is tight.
"I don't think Nevada is a safe Bush state," said Herzik, a
Republican. "Bush has clearly weathered Yucca Mountain, but I
think he's vulnerable on the war.
"The Democrats are hitting him really hard on the war now," he
added.
The poll also found that one-fourth of those surveyed think the
war on terrorism was the most important issue in the November
elections. Iraq was second with 17 percent, and the economy
trailed closely at 16 percent.
The issue of whether to bury the nation's nuclear waste at
Nevada's Yucca Mountain barely registered, with only 3 percent of
respondents saying it was the most important issue.
A separate question concerning Yucca Mountain's influence on the
race showed little movement from a previous July poll.
The majority of respondents in both polls said Yucca Mountain
will have no influence on their vote.
Mason-Dixon also conducted a separate poll for the Review-Journal
on the issue of Yucca Mountain. Bush favors the project, while
Kerry opposes it.
The poll found 50 percent favored fighting the dump and 46
percent thought the state should negotiate with the government.
Four percent had no opinion.
Asked the same question in a July poll, 54 percent preferred to
continue the battle while 39 percent favored negotiations.
Information from: Las Vegas Review-Journal
The San Francisco Chronicle]
©2004 Associated Press
*****************************************************************
66 SignOnSanDiego.com: Nevada hits jackpot as a presidential battleground
Campaigns heaping attention, cash on state as never before
By John Marelius UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
September 18, 2004
MESQUITE, Nev. When Peggy Maze Johnson is on the road, nobody
tailgates her.
That's because the longtime environmental activist cruises the
highways of Nevada towing a flat-bed trailer holding a huge white
replica of a nuclear waste canister.
Johnson, executive director of Citizen Alert, is one of the
leading crusaders against the proposal to bury highly radioactive
waste from the nation's nuclear power plants under Yucca
Mountain, about 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas.
"They want us to take the deadliest substance known to mankind,"
she fumed as she tried to drum up opposition in this Interstate
15 pit stop on the Utah border. "We have no nuclear power plants
in the state. So why is it our patriotic duty to have this
stuff?"
The political and legal battle over Yucca Mountain has been
raging for more than two decades. But this year it has emerged as
a defining issue in one of the nation's fiercest presidential
battlegrounds.
President Bush finessed the issue in his 2000 campaign, but two
years later authorized the Department of Energy to proceed with
the project. Democrat John Kerry has promised to shut it down.
Nevada is a historical nonentity in presidential politics.
The Silver State
Electoral votes: 5
2000 Population: 1,998,257 (up 66 percent from 1990)
Ethnicity: 65 percent white, 20 percent Latino, 7 percent
black, 4 Asian-American, 1 percent Native American
Voter registration: 40.6 percent Democratic, 40.4 percent
Republican, 18.9 percent independent and minor parties
2000 presidential vote: Bush (R), 50 percent; Gore (D), 46
percent; Nader (Green) 2 percent; other, 2 percent
1996 presidential vote: Clinton (D), 44 percent; Dole (R), 43
percent; Perot (I), 9 percent; other, 4 percent
"Normally, the only time a candidate saw Nevada was when he was
flying over on his way to or from California," said Eric Herzik,
a professor of political science at the University of Nevada
Reno.
This time around, however, the presidential campaigns are
lavishing attention and money on Nevada like weekend gamblers
from California all for a modest jackpot of five electoral
votes. And Nevada is becoming increasingly important as a number
of the original 16 or so battleground states appear to be
breaking one way or the other.
All four members of the major-party tickets Bush and Vice
President Dick Cheney, Kerry and running mate John Edwards
campaigned in Nevada during the past week. None of them went on
to California.
"The girls are always prettier around closing time," said Ted
Jelen, a political science professor at the University of Nevada
Las Vegas. "Buck-toothed, flat-chested, near-sighted Nevada is
now the belle of the ball."
Every recent statewide poll has Bush and Kerry neck and neck,
and Nevada handicappers, who will bet on just about anything,
don't even try to call it.
"It's dead even money," Jelen said. "I wouldn't bet you a nickel
right now either way."
As far as presidential campaign issues go, analysts say the war
in Iraq, while highly polarizing, plays about the same in Nevada
as everywhere else. The economy, on the other hand, does not.
Originally a mining state, Nevada's flourishing gambling and
tourism industry gives it the luxury of essentially using other
people's money to pay for a substantial portion of public
services.
There is no state income tax, and even after the post-9/11
tourism collapse, none was seriously considered. As a low-tax
state, Nevada has lured manufacturing and warehousing businesses
from California and created an emerging high-tech industry.
Correspondingly, there has been a huge influx of people from
around the country willing to put up with stifling desert heat
for job opportunities and relatively affordable housing.
Analysts say Bush's emphasis on tax cuts plays well in the
Silver State, and that Kerry's focus on rising health care costs
taps into a vein of anxiety. But, they say, the Democratic
ticket's Rust Belt-oriented economic message about job losses
and outsourcing falls flat.
"There's concern about the economy but it's a different kind of
concern, and the candidates should be cognizant of that," Herzik
said. "We're not Ohio."
Outsourcing in particular is a nonissue in Nevada, Jelen said.
"We're not going to outsource casino workers, restaurant
servers, certainly not hookers," he said.
Yucca Mountain, however, creates multiple odd political
cross-currents. There is bipartisan opposition to the project
within Nevada's political establishment, and the state has gone
to court to stop it.
This leaves two of the state's top Republican elected officials,
Gov. Kenny Guinn and Attorney General Brian Sandoval, in the
awkward position of leading the campaign of a president they are
suing. Both gingerly address the issue by saying only that they
and President Bush "agree to disagree."
Meanwhile, a growing number rural elected officials are
endorsing the project as a source of jobs and commerce for their
economically struggling areas.
"There's no better place in the United States to store nuclear
waste," said Henry Neth, chairman of the Nye County Board of
Commissioners, whose county includes Yucca Mountain. He believes
the county will gain 10,000 to 15,000 jobs from the project.
He also dismisses environmental concerns about possible
groundwater contamination.
"There have been 1,000 nuclear weapons detonated underground in
Nevada," Neth said. "Now if one person can show me how it's
possible that stored waste can do more damage, then I might
change my mind. But it's impossible."
Followers of Nevada politics question whether Yucca Mountain
will impact the Nov. 2 election in the way Democrats hope. They
predict that, other than hard-core anti-Yucca Mountain
activists, Nevada voters will base their decision on the same
issues as other Americans the war in Iraq, the economy and
leadership style.
Jon Ralston, who publishes the Nevada political newsletter The
Ralston Report, said longtime Nevadans have grown weary of the
Yucca Mountain fight and that newcomers don't understand it.
"I think the vast, overwhelming majority of voters when they
cast their presidential votes are not going to have Yucca
Mountain anywhere near the forefront their minds," Ralston said.
"But because the race is so close, 2,000 people who are going to
use this in their vote could make a difference."
John Marelius: john.marelius@uniontrib.com
Frequently Asked Questions | [http://www.utads.com] | About
the Union-Tribune | Contact the Union-Tribune
© Copyright 2004 Union-Tribune Publishing Co.
*****************************************************************
67 Salt Lake Tribune: State officials say Envirocare pays its fair share of taxes
Last Updated: 09/19/2004 12:46:02 PM
Opponents say the lack of an increase amounts to a giveaway
By Joe Baird The Salt Lake Tribune
Read their lips: no new taxes for Envirocare.
A legislative analyst and state environmental official this
past week recommended maintaining the company's state tax and
fee structures at their current levels, saying the Tooele County
radioactive waste landfill is paying its fair share compared
with similar facilities in South Carolina and Washington.
Addressing members of the Hazardous Waste Regulation and Tax
Policy Task Force, analyst Bryant Howe and Department of
Environmental Quality Deputy Director Bill Sinclair told
lawmakers that the tax surcharge levied on Envirocare three
years ago has essentially leveled the field for both the state
and the company.
"We see no need for a fee increase at this time," Sinclair
said. "In fiscal year 2004, we saw significant improvement in
our revenues [from Envirocare], enough to meet our
appropriations.
"We had a problem, we made some fixes, and as a result, we
feel good about it."
Envirocare pays 78 cents per cubic foot of waste in state and
local taxes. That's far lower than the rate paid at radioactive
waste facilities in Richland, Wash. ($19), and Barnwell, S.C.
($446). But Howe says the taxes and fees Envirocare pays in
terms of the radioactivity level of its waste - a measurement
called a curie - is much higher than the other two landfills (an
average $885 compared with $254 at Richland and $81 at Barnwell).
Sen. Curtis Bramble, R-Provo, the task force co-chairman,
also pointed out that both Barnwell and Richland accept the
hotter, and higher-taxed, B and C waste. State law limits
Envirocare to lower-level Class A waste.
"That drives a lot of this," he said.
But that sentiment was not shared by Envirocare watchdogs,
who decried what they call a tax giveaway by the state at the
expense of its residents.
"In the past, Envirocare's argument was that this [surcharge]
was going to drive them out of business," said Jason Groenwald,
director of the Healthy Environment Alliance of Utah (HEAL).
"Now they're taking record amounts of waste. Utah has done
nothing to deter Envirocare from taking higher volumes of waste.
In fact, they're taking more."
The task force made no formal recommendations; those are
expected in a report next month from Bramble and his co-chair,
Rep. Stephen Urquhart, R-St. force members regarding the veracity
of Envirocare's revenue reporting and the types of waste that
still isn't taxed.
Rather than simply going by gross receipts and taking
Envirocare at its word, Sen. Greg Bell, R-Fruit Heights, says he
would like to see more specifics on the waste levels and types
the company reports.
"It would be nice to attach a tax volume to these [revenue
streams]; volume by type, tax by type," he said.
Sen. Patrice Arent, D-Holladay, also wondered why some mixed
types of waste Envirocare accepts - accounting for up to 10
percent of the company's revenue - remain exempt from tax
collections.
"If there was no specific reason to exempt it, then it
shouldn't be exempted," she said. "It's a loophole that should
be closed."
Envirocare Vice President Tim Barney told legislators that
the state's current tax and fee structure is high enough,
arguing that the company's tax burden doubled between 2003 and
2004 - in part because the tax has eliminated many of the
grandfather clauses that used to shelter different types of
waste from taxation.
"There are other facilities we compete with for this
material," Barney said.
In a related matter, Sinclair told task force members that
DEQ was prepared to act on the recommendations of a recent audit
that called for the department to tighten up its oversight of
Envirocare.
The task force passed those recommendations, including a
revamping of the Division of Radiation Control's split
groundwater sampling, raising the maximum violations penalty
from $10,000 to $13,000 and implementing a system that makes it
"crystal clear" that the highest fee will be charged for
radioactive and hazardous waste.
jbaird@sltrib.com
© Copyright 2004, The Salt Lake Tribune.
*****************************************************************
68 Korea Times: New Nuclear Dump Site Selection Process Unveiled
Hankooki.com > The Korea Times > Biz/Finance
By Seo Jee-yeon Staff Reporter
The government has aired the possibility of accepting
applications for the hosting of a nuclear waste dump site only
from regions that obtain endorsement from local residents through
voting procedures.
This is the opposite of the previous procedure, according to the
Ministry of Commerce, Energy and Industry (MOCIE).
``We are developing a new procedure to select a nuclear waste
dump site as no local autonomous body submitted a formal bid by
the deadline of Sept. 15,¡¯¡¯ a MOCIE official said.
The government has been struggling for the past 18 years to pick
a site to build a nuclear dump due to strong resistance from
residents in all designated candidate sites.
Last February, the Roh Moo-hyun administration announced a new
bidding process in hopes of attracting new candidate sites,
replacing the latest candidate site of Wido, an islet off the
coast of the Puan County, North Cholla Province, where more than
half of the residents opposed a nuclear waste dump located in
their area.
Despite the government-proposed development grants in return for
the construction of a nuclear waste dump, not a single regional
authority submitted an application by the September deadline.
However, the MOCIE said it is one of a few options for the
project.
``Before adopting the new site selection procedure, we have to
iron out the issues of how to deal with the Puan dispute and the
proposal recently made by the ruling Uri Party,¡¯¡¯ the MOCIE
official said.
The government has not decided whether it will hold a referendum
in Puan over the issue as promised for finalizing the project.
Although the majority of Puan residents expressed opposition to
the facility through a poll, there are still residents who favor
the project because of its economic potential, he said.
``We are also considering holding a referendum in Puan as an
alternative for the site selection, while seeking to persuade
residents who oppose the project,¡¯¡¯ the MOCIE said.
The MOCIE has indicated that if Puan residents reject the plan
through a vote, it will move toward a new bidding procedure _
resident poll first and application submission later.
The third alternative recently proposed by the ruling
pro-government party is the adoption of a democratic
opinion-collecting procedure with civic groups for selecting the
site for a nuclear waste dump.
But time is running out, because by 2008 Korea will no longer be
able to store nuclear waste at its current temporary sites. And
as it will take four years to construct the facility, the final
site must be picked this year.
jyseo@koreatimes.co.kr 09-19-2004 17:26
*****************************************************************
69 Morgan Hill Times: No perchlorate north link
www.morganhilltimes.com[
The EditorOlin:
Saturday, September 18, 2004
By Carol Holzgrafe [carolh@morganhilltimes.com]
Was an underground stream the path perchlorate took from the Olin
Corp. site on Tennant Avenue to the Nordstrom and Condit wells?
Olin says no, but the city and water district are distinctly
interested.
“It’s a suspicion at this point,” said Mike DiMarco, spokesman
for Santa Clara Valley Water District. “Our staff is still
investigating the material.”
Olin released a 49-page report with hundreds of pages of charts,
graphs and supplementary material on Friday, backing up its claim
that it had nothing to do with perchlorate contaminating city
wells north of its site.
Olin has repeatedly stated that it intended to accept
responsibility for the contamination and has generally followed
the regional board’s orders. It paid for a new well to replace
the Tennant well, 275-feet south of the Olin site and closed in
spring 2002 when high levels of the chemical were found.
But the company began to balk when the contaminated Nordstrom and
Condit wells, one mile north of the site, were discovered and the
city wanted the same financial treatment.
“We believe we have met all of our commitments to the regional
board and to the community of Morgan Hill,” Rick McClure said
Wednesday. McClure is Olin’ project manager for the cleanup
effort at its former safety flare manufacturing plant at Tennant
and Railroad avenues.
Jim Ashcraft, public works director, said he found that the
report only briefly alluded to a 1981 USGS (U.S. Geological
Survey) study showing the stream.
“They failed to identify a drawing showing a buried underground
stream pointing from the Olin site to the northeast,” Ashcraft
said. “It could be the preferential pathway to the wells but the
report did not suggest how these data could exist.”
“I know Olin thinks this (no connection between its site and the
northeast wells) but I hope the others (agencies) won’t believe
it,” Ashcraft said.
He said he will have many questions for Olin on Sept. 22, when
the company meets with the city, the water district and the state
Regional Water Quality Control Board.
City Manager Ed Tewes objected Wednesday to the report’s
conclusions.
“We are disappointed in the lack of rigorous analysis,” Tewes
said. “The report was clearly not based on monitoring well data
but appears to be based on historic data without any real
scientific analysis. A complete study would acknowledge the USGS
map.”
And, Tewes said the report does not explain away the underground
stream.
It is taking the water district, the city and the regional board
considerable time to sort through and analyze the hundreds of
pages of charts, graphs and supporting material that accompanied
the report, and no one is ready to make definite claims until
they have.
The city has been trying to get Olin to accept responsibility for
perchlorate northeast of the site, even though studies show that
the underground aquifer flows predominantly southeast. One
possible explanation is that as the northeast wells pumped water
it drew perchlorate-laden water north.
Olin disputes this.
“The detections of perchlorate between Morgan Hill and San Jose
are completely unconnected to the former flare facility,” the
company said in a press release.
McClure, agreed with the report that pumping changed nothing.
“The northern wells have not influenced the water flow,” McClure
said Wednesday, “and if there are detections of perchlorate north
of Tennant Avenue they come from some other source.”
McClure encouraged the city to look into other possible sources.
DiMarco said last year that several other sources could be
considered.
“There used to be several fertilizer plants in the area,” he
said. The plants imported “bulldog soda” from Chile, partially
composed of sodium perchlorate.
“The source could also be left-over flares or fireworks or even
methamphetamine labs,” he said.
Olin operated its plant for 40 years.
United Technology Corp. on Metcalf Road in Coyote Valley tested
rocket engines using perchlorate-containing fuel for decades.
“There is plenty of clean water between the UTC plant and city
wells,” Ashcraft said.
At the August PCAG meeting Athey announced he had heard of a new
tool for identifying where perchlorate originated.
“Some scientists are using a strontium nitrate isotope to
“fingerprint” perchlorate in groundwater,” Athey said.
McClure said Olin spent more than $100,000 on the big groundwater
flow study, which was reviewed by two other consultants besides
MacTech, the consulting firm handling Olin’s technical studies of
the area’s groundwater.
“The (huge) report doesn’t necessarily make the case that Olin is
trying to make,” said the water district’s DiMarco.
David Athey, the Central Coast Regional Water Quality Board’s
project manager for the Morgan Hill/San Martin perchlorate
situation, said Wednesday that they, too, were still reviewing
the report.
“We will meet with Olin and the city (and the water district) on
Sept. 22,” Athey said. “If it looks like they are on the right
track, we’ll say go forward. If not, we’ll provide direction to
Olin.”
Olin representatives will attend a PCAG (Perchlorate Community
Advisory Group) meeting the next day where they will discuss the
report and answer questions from a concerned community.
Perchlorate was discovered in early 2003 to have leached from the
Olin site through soil and into the aquifer and traveled through
south Morgan Hill, San Martin east of Monterey Road and slightly
into north Gilroy, contaminating hundreds of wells slightly and
dozens significantly. The regional board has been monitoring
Olin’s response and has issued orders to the company directing
study and free bottled water delivery to residents on affected
wells.
The Nordstrom well is now operating with a perchlorate treatment
system in place, which cost the city several hundred thousand
dollars to lease and tens of thousands annually to maintain and
operate. The regional board recently gave the city permission to
turn the Tennant well back on, filtering its water through a
water district-leased treatment system.
In the meantime, the city temporarily closed the Nordstrom and
Condit wells when they showed 5 and 6 parts per billion
respectively, stressing the city’s ability to provide water to
customers during the summer and causing noticeable deterioration
of park lawns. Until this March when the state set 6ppb as a
Public Health Goal, 4ppb was the point at which the public had to
be notified of perchlorate’s presence in water and at which the
city shut down a well as a precaution.
Perchlorate Community Advisory Group meets Thursday, Sept. 23,
7-9pm at the San Martin Lions Club, 12415 Murphy Avenue behind
the airport. Details: Sylvia, 683-2667.
Carol Holzgrafe is a reporter at the Morgan Hill Times. She
covers all local news, including City Hall.
*****************************************************************
70 Korea Times: Seoul Makes Nuclear-Free Pledge
Hankooki.com > The Korea Times
By Park Song-wu Staff Reporter
South Korea reassured the world of its commitment to staying
nuclear-free as a five-member inspection team from the
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) arrived in Seoul Sunday
to look into the country's controversial nuclear experiments.
The Vienna-based U.N. nuclear watchdog rounded up its five-day
board of governors' meeting on Friday with a decision to review
Seoul's atomic tests in its next regular session, which begins
Nov. 25.
In a rare news conference jointly held Saturday by three
ministers, including Unification Minister Chung Dong-young, Seoul
announced a four-point statement reassuring the international
community of its commitment to a nuclear-free policy on the
Korean peninsula.
``The government will never pursue a nuclear program for military
purposes, as we have promised in the past,'' Chung said at the
televised news conference, which was also attended by Ban
Ki-moon, minister of foreign affairs and trade, and Oh Myung,
minister of science and technology.
Chung said South Korea will keep its nuclear nonproliferation
policy intact and transparent, and abide by related international
regulations _ key factors in the four-point statement, which was
similar to South Korea's first nuclear-free declaration in 1991.
A difference between the two was found in Oh's explanation that
Seoul will expand the scope of ``peaceful'' nuclear activities,
such as the development of atomic power plants. Nuclear energy
accounts for around 40 percent of the electricity supply in South
Korea.
Ban said Seoul will make diplomatic efforts to clear away any
lingering doubts about South Korea's nuclear experiments and
promised to fully cooperate with IAEA inspectors, who began their
eight-day investigation Monday to confirm the scope and nature of
the tests in the 1980s and 2000.
The five-member IAEA team, headed by Finnish official Heikki
Saukkonen, headed to the state-run Korean Atomic Energy Research
Institute in Taejon immediately after arriving at Incheon
International Airport. However, their itinerary remains secret
and the inspection team head refused to comment on the issue.
Mohamed ElBaradei, the IAEA's director general, expressed
``serious concern'' over South Korea's failure to report its
experiments, speaking during an address at the start of the board
meeting on Sept. 13. But the board meeting ended with no critical
statement on the case, which was categorized on the board's
agenda as ``other matters.''
ElBaradei plans to visit Seoul Oct. 4-7 to attend a disarmament
conference and meet South Korean officials regarding the nuclear
tests.
South Korea acknowledged early this month that scientists
conducted a uranium enrichment test in 2000 and extracted a tiny
amount of plutonium in 1982. Uranium and plutonium are key
materials for building atomic warheads.
Even though the Seoul government has claimed that it didn't
authorize the nuclear tests, some IAEA member countries are
suspicious of its explanation that those scientists conducted
experiments purely out of ``scholastic curiosity.''
The development, however, is feared to affect international
efforts to bring North Korea back to the six-party talks that
were scheduled to begin late this month. Pyongyang said last week
that it would not talk with the U.S. and other countries about
its nuclear program until all details of South Korea's nuclear
activities have been disclosed.
im@koreatimes.co.kr 09-19-2004 15:49
The five-member delegation from the International Atomic Energy
Agency, headed by Finnish inspector Heikki Saukkonen, center,
arrives at International Airport, Sunday. / Yonhap
*****************************************************************
71 Craig Daily Press: Terrie Barrie fights for nuclear plant employees
Activist takes on Washington
+ E-mail editor [editor@craigdailypress.com]
By Rob Gebhart
Saturday, September 18, 2004
George Barrie's days have been mostly good since his last major
kidney surgery in March. But he still has his share of bad days
as a man will who's afflicted with 30 illnesses.
To help her husband, a former nuclear weapons worker at Rocky
Flats, Terrie Barrie traveled from her home in Craig to
Washington, D.C., last week to lobby Congress for federal
compensation for the 24,000 workers who, like George, got sick
working at bomb plants during the Cold War.
It was a good trip, she said, but she was disappointed that she
didn't get to meet with senior staff members for Rep. Joel
Hefley, R-Colorado Springs. Hefley is the only member of
Colorado's House of Representatives delegation who is not
supporting an amendment to provide aid to sick workers.
Hefley is neutral on the issue, said spokeswoman Sarah Shelden
said. But the representative likely will have to make a decision
in a few weeks, when the plan comes before the House Armed
Services Committee, of which Hefley is a member.
But Terrie and other members of the Alliance of Nuclear Worker
Advocacy Group are lobbying Hefley to choose a side now, and
preferably theirs.
"These people are dead or dying. Most of them are dying of
cancer," Terrie said.
She said she's "cautiously optimistic" Congress will resolve the
issue soon, perhaps by November's election. But in the Capitol,
Terrie said she heard it could be January before House members
vote on the amendment.
The amendment, which the Senate unanimously approved in August
as part of a military spending bill, would reform complications
in the Energy Employee Occupational Illness Compensation Program
Act of 2000.
That bill divided sick workers into subdivisions of those with
cancer and those with pre-cancerous conditions. The U.S.
Department of Labor handled compensation claims from workers who
have cancer, and the department has paid 95 percent of its
claimants, Terrie said.
But the U.S. Department of Energy handled the compensation
claims of workers with pre-cancerous conditions. The department
has paid only 31 of 25,000 ill workers and spent $95 million,
according to the advocacy group.
The amendment would move the compensation program from the
Department of Energy to the Department of Labor and its superior
record of service, Terrie said.
"The workers from Rocky Flats live in Colorado. Rep. Hefley
needs to take an active role and stand up for this amendment.
It's not perfect. There's room for improvement. But we the
workers and advocates are OK with the amendment," Terrie said.
"Colorado Rep. Mark Udall sponsored similar legislation in 2002.
Then, he told the Daily Press he thought it was very important
to help workers from Rocky Flats, which for decades was a key
part of the nation's nuclear weapons complex.
"Now, as we work to have Rocky Flats cleaned up and closed, we
also need to take care of the people who worked there and at
similar sites. They were part of our country's defense.
"They may or may not have been exposed to hostile fire, but many
were exposed to radiation, beryllium, or other hazards -- and as
a result some are seriously ill or will become ill," Udall said.
During her three days in Washington, Terrie traveled with a
Horizons Specialized Services client who lives in her home. They
met Gov. Bill Owens while visiting Sen. Wayne Allard's office.
Terrie spends about eight hours a day e-mailing and phoning
other nuclear worker advocates and politicians. She had
contacted Owens a couple of weeks ago, but his office has
informed her it was still investigating the issue.
She was disappointed that she didn't have a chance to visit U.S.
Rep. Scott McInnis during her trip. The retiring representative
has been a strong supporter of the plan, she said.
She has not yet contacted Colorado's congressional candidates to
gauge their opinions.
But the Bush administration is opposing the Senate reform,
saying the Department of Energy has resolved its problems
running the program.
Rob Gebhart can be reached at 824-7031 or
rgebhart@craigdailypress.com.
Copyright © 2004 The Craig Daily Press. All rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
72 Tri-City Herald: Hanford medical program draws protest
This story was published Saturday, September 18th, 2004
By Annette Cary Herald staff writer
U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell is preparing to block a nomination for
Department of Energy assistant secretary to protest a new
nationwide screening program for former nuclear workers.
The Washington Democrat plans to meet with former Hanford workers
in Seattle on Sunday, then announce her plan to block the
nomination of John Shaw unless he will support a better program
for Hanford workers.
About 4,500 former Hanford workers have been screened for
work-related medical problems under two programs that DOE will
end this month. DOE plans to replace the local programs with the
nationwide program to screen workers from all DOE sites doing
nuclear weapons work.
DOE has announced the new program will be in place by October.
Workers can call 1-888-580-1746 to get on a mailing list for the
new program or leave a message if they have symptoms or concerns
that need attention now.
But Cantwell's office Friday said the new national program is in
limbo, leaving an estimated 3,000 former Hanford workers nowhere
to go for health screenings. That number includes about 525
workers who have been turned down for screening as the local
programs wind down.
She believes the new, less personalized program will offer fewer
services and less assistance to workers at all DOE sites.
Cantwell is calling for the Hanford program for former production
workers to be extended and expanded.
Hanford produced plutonium for the nation's nuclear weapons
program for 50 years. Workers continue to be exposed to radiation
and toxic chemicals during cleanup of the extensive contamination
at the nuclear reservation.
Cantwell sits on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources
Committee, which has scheduled Shaw's confirmation hearing on
Tuesday. DOE has been without an assistant secretary for
environmental health and safety since Beverly Cook resigned in
April.
Cantwell's staff was encouraged by Shaw's interest in the worker
screening issue at a preliminary meeting, Cantwell spokeswoman
Charla Neuman said Friday.
The Hanford screening program for former production workers that
ends this month has located 5,400 former workers interested in
the exams. But it had been able to conduct only 1,865 exams by
midsummer.
It found 38 percent of former production workers had breathing
abnormalities, many of them apparently linked to asbestos or the
metal beryllium, both of which were used at Hanford.
The program, led by Dr. Tim Takaro at the University of
Washington, helped about 350 people win state worker compensation
claims. That included 150 people with asbestos claims. The
largest number of successful claims were for hearing loss.
Takaro said this summer that the program needed to be extended
not only because of the many workers who had yet to be examined,
but also because re-exams were finding that about 8 percent of
the workers had developed work-related illnesses since their
first exam. Lung damage from asbestos and beryllium may take
years to develop.
The second program screened former construction workers. The
Hanford Building Trades Medical Screening Program found 33
percent of former workers checked by midsummer had evidence of
lung disease that could be related to dust or asbestos on the
job. It was the first to document that construction workers were
at risk of beryllium disease.
The program also detected 100 new cases of cancer in the 2,600
former construction workers screened by midsummer.
DOE referred questions on the new screening program to the White
House, which did not return calls.
© 2004 Tri-City Herald, Associated Press &Other Wire Services
*****************************************************************
73 Times-News: Agency helps power companies harden control systems
www.magicvalley.com The Times-News | AG Weekly |
Sunday, September 19, 2004 • Twin Falls, Idaho
Originally published Saturday, September 18, 2004The
Associated Press
IDAHO FALLS -- Computer experts at the Idaho National Engineering
and Environmental Laboratory are using homeland security grants
to help protect critical power control systems from hackers.
More than 10 years ago, electrical power was controlled by
in-house computers, physically separated from outside users. But
since then, more control systems are linked to the Internet,
creating new ways for hackers to break in.
"Up until three years ago, there wasn't a thinking that this was
a real problem," said Gary Finco, a manager of software
integration for ABB, which makes the computerized control systems
that run power grids like Utah Power's.
ABB first tried to fix its computer security problems on its own,
but realized it was going to take years to learn what was needed,
Finco said.
So ABB turned to INEEL's new Control Systems Security &Test
Center. In a plain, one-story brick building in Idaho Falls,
experts tested the vulnerabilities of the computer's code and
sent it back nine months later to ABB with suggested fixes.
Two years ago, INEEL received $10 million from the Department of
Homeland Security and $2 million from the Department of Energy to
set up the center and conduct the testing.
The federal government has made the center available to the
industry as a way of upgrading the nation's power systems, said
Laurin Dodd, INEEL's associate laboratory director for national
security.
INEEL still has to spend a lot of time educating companies about
the importance of improving security, he said, but the message is
catching on.
"The major users in control of the (power) grid are very
committed to this," said Jim Davidson, the computer expert who
worked on ABB's system.
It's a quickly developing business. A year ago, INEEL's cyber
security center had about six employees. Now there are 21.
INEEL developed its expertise from protecting its own computer
networks and control systems, said Ken Watts, INEEL director of
infrastructure and defense systems.
INEEL's own network gets about 60,000 probes a day from people
looking for weaknesses and as many as 7,000 aggressive attacks a
day, said Robert Hoffman, manager of INEEL's cyber security
research department.
Only about once or twice a week are truly creative, unique
attacks launched against the site, he said. The site has been
very successful at fending off attacks, he said, but he didn't
want to be too specific, lest it encourage more.
Hoffman believes most hackers do not have a malicious intent and
are seeking the thrill of just beating a security system.
That's why many hackers try to attack government sites, he said,
because they are better defended and present more of a challenge.
Ironically, improving the security of the systems that run power
plants has led to a sharp increase in attacks on those systems.
"The hackers hadn't focused on company systems until the last 18
months. But as you improve them, they become more of a
challenge," Hoffman said.
Copyright © 2004, Lee Publications Inc.
Magicvalley.com is an on-line division of The Times-News,
published daily at 132 W. Fairfield St., Twin Falls, Idaho 83301
by Lee Publications, Inc., a subsidiary of Lee Enterprises.
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74 WATE: ORNL plans to restart research reactor next week
[http://knoxville.wate.com
September 18, 2004
OAK RIDGE (AP) -- Officials at Oak Ridge National Laboratory hope
to restart the lab's research reactor next week now that an issue
with safety documentation has been resolved.The High Flux Isotope
Reactor has been shut down since August 9 for refueling and
installation of new research equipment.
But while doing that, workers found a deficiency in some of the
reactor's safety basis documents -- prompting the delay in
restarting the reactor.
Associate lab director Jim Roberto says there were calculations
that needed to be updated because they were several years old.
He says those calculations were related to stresses on the
reactor pool associated with temperature changes.
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