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Send News Stories to news@energy-net.org with title on subject
line and first line of body
NUCLEAR POLICY
1 Korea Times: Roh Sees No Progress in NK Nuke Until US Election
2 Korea Times: Seoul Says Nuclear Tests Won't Be Discussed at 6-Way Ta
3 AFP: Russia raps South Korea on nuclear experiments
4 US: UCS: Ideology Should Not Drive Science Advice
5 PRAVDA.Ru: 40 countries to become nuclear powers -
6 UK Independent: US offers 500 'bunker-busting' bombs to Israel
NUCLEAR REACTORS
7 US: [NukeNet] DOE/U Chicago Study on Future of Nuclear Power
8 US: APP.COM: Oyster Creek must explain violation to NRC
9 US: NRC: Notice of Availability of Environmental Assessment and Find
10 US: NRC: Nuclear Management Company, LLC; Notice of Withdrawal of
11 US: NRC: Documents Containing Reporting or Recordkeeping Requirement
12 US: NRC: 260-CivP, 50-296-CivP (EA 99-234); ASLBP No. 04-830-01-R]
13 US: NRC: Entergy Nuclear Vermont Yankee, LLC, and Entergy Operations
14 US: NRC: Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards; Subcommittee Meet
15 US: NRC: Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards; Meeting Notice
16 US: NRC: Sunshine Act Meeting
17 Guardian Unlimited: British Energy on knife edge as it tries to stym
18 US: San Luis Obispo Tribune: Lawsuit against NRC is upheld
19 US: KRT Wire: NRC decision lauded by nuclear watchdog groups
20 US: toledoblade.com: REACTOR HEAD CORROSION
21 US: NRC: NRC, Exelon to Discuss Apparent Violation at Oyster Creek P
22 Daily Times: Eyeing Iran reactors, Israel seeks US bunker bombs
23 US: Lincoln County News: Maine Yankee Debates NRC on Cleanup Issue
24 US: NRC: NRC Davis-Besse Oversight Panel to Meet Sept. 28 in Ohio
25 US: Middletown Press: CDAC updated on nuke breakup
26 US: Public Citizen:Public Interest Groups’ Court Case Forces Nuclear
27 US: Greenwich Time: State's highest court to hear town case on publi
28 UK Independent: Brussels clears £3.4bn nuclear bail-out for British
29 US: NRC: NRC Staff to Meet with Southern Nuclear to Discuss Second F
30 Sofia Morning News: Bulgaria's 2nd Nuke Gets IAEA Support
31 US: NRC: NRC Staff And Duke Energy to Discuss Corrective Actions for
32 US: NRC: NRC to Hold Public Meeting Sept. 30 to Discuss Certain Fisc
NUCLEAR SAFETY
33 Aid & Development: Radioactive material widespread in Iraq
34 Guardian Unlimited: UK sends uranium to Kyrgyzstan
35 US: Bangornews.com: Concerned scientist warns of rogue nukes
36 AFP: New test will monitor ailing British Gulf veterans for uranium
NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE
37 Las Vegas RJ: Nevada loses nuclear waste grant
38 Las Vegas RJ: Plan to change radiation standard angers group
39 US: Las Vegas SUN: Comments sought on target disposal
40 Las Vegas SUN: Nevada's plea for grant to oversee Yucca denied
41 US: Las Vegas SUN: Rural counties weigh nuke benefits
42 US: The Sun News: Federal government fined for waste sent from S.C.
43 Pahrump Valley Times: LETTER: Yucca rip-off
44 US: Salt Lake Tribune - Opinion: Nuclear disposal
45 Pahrump Valley Times: Nevadans urge DOE to rescind Yucca spending gu
46 US: Columbus Progressive Alliance: Rad. Alert: Nuclear Dollars versu
47 UK Independent: British nuclear waste to be sent to central Asia
NUCLEAR WEAPONS
48 Las Vegas SUN: Liechtenstein Ratifies Nuclear Test Ban
49 Business Day: Bail application for nuclear accused continues
US DEPT. OF ENERGY
50 DOE: Office of Science; DOE/NSF Nuclear Science Advisory Committee
51 The Olympian: Our Views: Clean up Hanford with Initiative 297
52 Seattle Post-Intelligencer: State fines U.S. over N-waste
53 The Columbian In Our View: Cleanup Overdue
54 Tri-City Herald: HEHF retiree benefits returned
55 Tri-City Herald: Ecology fines DOE $207,000
56 Daily Herald: Argonne's shooting for $1 billion accelerator project
57 lamonitor.com: IG offers disputed advice
OTHER NUCLEAR
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FULL NEWS STORIES
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1 Korea Times: Roh Sees No Progress in NK Nuke Until US Election
Hankooki.com > The Korea Times
No Need to Rush for Talks With NK: Roh
By Shim Jae-yun Korea Times Correspondent
MOSCOW - President Roh Moo-hyun on Wednesday forecast there will
be no tangible progress in efforts to resolve the standoff over
North Korea¡¯s nuclear weapons program until after the upcoming
U.S. presidential elections in November.
He indicated Pyongyang will not attempt to come to the dialogue
table as there could be a drastic change in U.S. policy toward
North Korea depending on the outcome of the election.
``For instance, the U.S. totally changed its North Korean policy
after the last presidential election, although they had nearly
reached a conclusion over the problem under the Clinton
administration,¡¯¡¯ Roh said during a breakfast meeting with a
group of Chong Wa Dae correspondents accompanying him on his
visit to Russia.
``It is natural that no one would dare to step forward given the
murky situation regarding the U.S. presidential election,¡¯¡¯ he
said.
In addition to the election, Roh said there are several factors
which have been blocking the progress in the crucial nuclear
issue including some U.S. leaders¡¯ ``negative¡¯¡¯ expression of
North Korean leader Kim Jong-il.
Apparently irritating the reclusive leader, the U.S. leaders
including President Bush criticized Kim for having engaged in
dictatorial heavy-handed rule while starving his people.
The North has fiercely resisted, dubbing Bush a ``draconian
leader¡¯¡¯ who has killed a huge number of people in the war
against Iraq.
Roh acknowledged the recent disclosure of South Korea¡¯s nuclear
test in the past and the influx of North Koreans en masse from a
third nation in Southeast Asia have also been darkening the
prospect for the six-way talks designed to persuade North Korea
to rescind its nuclear ambition.
The 4th round of multilateral negotiation, which was supposed to
be held within November, has remained stalled since North Korea
has been refusing to come to the table despite various diplomatic
efforts by relevant nations South Korea, the U.S., China,
Russia and Japan.
``We don¡¯t need to hurry up and instead should take time. What
is important is keep the consistency and principle in the crucial
security issue,¡¯¡¯ Roh said.
Roh quoted Putin as having put first priority on Korea in
dealing with the issues of Northeast Asia, which Seoul officials
saw as an outstanding change in Russia¡¯s policy toward South
Korea.
Roh, however, rebuffed earlier reports that he and Putin agreed
on a set of concrete measures to help North Korea in return for
its possible dismantlement of nuclear weapons.
``There was no such agreement. We only talked about general
issues and deepened our understanding on them without coming to a
specific agreement,¡¯¡¯ he said.
Roh received honorary doctorate degree in Moscow University
later in the day and had a luncheon meeting with Korean and
Russian business people.
He had an interview with a Russian broadcaster at the quest
house in Kremlin and attended a reception hosted by Russia-Korea
Friendship Association.
Roh will return home Thursday, completing his visit to
Kazakhstan and Russia where he focused on setting up various
agreements to promote cooperation in oil, mineral resources, and
aeronautics industry.
Roh¡¯s visit to Russia drew particular attention as it came at
an sensitive time when the North Korean nuclear issue stands at a
cross without foreseeable prospect.
jayshim@koreatimes.co.kr 09-22-2004 15:48
President Roh Moo-hyun, left, shakes hands with Sadovnichii
Victor Antonovich, rector of Moscow State University, as the
former human rights lawyer obtains his first-ever university
degree, an honorary doctorate in law, Wednesday. / Korea Times
*****************************************************************
2 Korea Times: Seoul Says Nuclear Tests Won't Be Discussed at 6-Way Talks
Hankooki.com > The Korea Times
Lab Tests Not on Nuke Talks Agenda
By Yoon Won-sup Staff Reporter
South Korea on Wednesday rebuffed China¡¯s claim that Seoul¡¯s
recently revealed nuclear activities will be on the agenda at the
next round of six-party talks aimed at ending the North Korean
nuclear crisis.
``South Korea¡¯s nuclear experiments are not the subject matter
to be discussed in the six-way talks,¡¯¡¯ Chung Woo-sung,
presidential aide for foreign policy, said in an interview with
local radio station MBC.
Chung, who is accompanying President Roh Moo-hyun on his visit
to Russia, stressed that the tests were of a small-scale and were
conducted in a laboratory without the government¡¯s involvement.
``President Roh explained about the nuclear test and our
four-point peaceful nuclear policy in detail to Russian President
Vladimir Putin, who showed his understanding on that matter,¡¯¡¯
Chung added.
The remarks came a day after Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman
Kong Quan said the upcoming six-way talks will address South
Korea¡¯s nuclear experiments, explaining that ``the purpose of
the negotiations is the denuclearization of the Korean
peninsula.¡¯¡¯
With China, which has hosted the multilateral discussions three
times, suggesting Seoul¡¯s nuclear scandal be put on the agenda
at the talks, prospects for the six nations reconvening any time
soon have darkened.
Meanwhile, a senior government official said on condition of
anonymity that China¡¯s position on South Korea¡¯s nuclear
experiments as a stumbling block to the six-way talks is
exaggerated citing, ``The Chinese Foreign Ministry just mentioned
the test as one of many difficulties in the talks.¡¯¡¯
Japan also joined hands with China, repeating concerns about
South Korea¡¯s nuclear activities in what was seen as further
diplomatic pressure by Tokyo on its neighbor.
Toshimitsu Motegi, Japan's science minister, said South Korea's
two laboratory nuclear experiments are ``serious,¡¯¡¯ speaking at
a general conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency
(IAEA) in Vienna.
Japan has taken a hard-line stance on the case despite Seoul's
repeated assertion that the experiments were purely academic
activities that had nothing to do with nuclear weapons.
yoonwonsup@koreatimes.co.kr 09-22-2004 15:24
*****************************************************************
3 AFP: Russia raps South Korea on nuclear experiments
Asia-Pacific - AFP
Thursday September 23, 3:36 AM
MOSCOW (AFP) - Russia rapped South Korea over its recently
disclosed secret nuclear experiments, calling on Seoul to
cooperate fully with international experts investigating them.
In a statement, the Russian foreign ministry said the atomic
experiments in South Korea as recently as four years ago were
discussed in a meeting of diplomats on the sidelines of President
Roh Moo-Hyun's visit to Russia.
"The Russian side stressed our interest in ensuring that the
Republic of Korea cooperates in an open and transparent manner
with the IAEA" in its investigation of the experiments, the
statement said.
The statement came a day after Russian President Vladimir Putin
called on neighboring North Korea to resume six-party talks on
its own nuclear weapons program and reiterated Moscow's support
for a nuclear-free Korean peninsula.
"Perspectives for the negotiations to settle North Korea's
nuclear problem" were also on the agenda of Wednesday's
Russo-South Korean talks, the foreign ministry said.
Russia however has unique ties with North Korea -- Putin is among
the few leaders to have met North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il --
and the statement sought to present Moscow as an even-handed
broker on Korean peninsula security.
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Mohamed ElBaradei
has voiced "serious concern" over the South Korean activities and
IAEA investigators are due to report on them by November after
talking to the scientists involved.
North Korea meanwhile has balked at returning to the negotiating
table before the end of this month as hoped and has said it would
not discuss its nuclear arms program at all until the South
Korean experiments were clarified.
The South Korean government revealed earlier this month that its
scientists had secretly enriched uranium in 2000 and had also
extracted a small amount of plutonium in 1982.
Seoul has however reiterated pledges not to develop nuclear
weapons and described those incidents as one-off experiments.
Putin and Roh had a private three-hour dinner on Monday followed
by summit talks at the Kremlin on Tuesday, and both leaders
afterwards were full of praise for each other and promises of
stronger Russia-South Korea bonds in the future.
The upbeat tone of Roh's three-day visit changed subtly on
Wednesday when, in addition to the Russian foreign ministry
statement, Roh admitted that ties between Seoul and Moscow were
still tainted by Cold War-era suspicion.
"We have not yet completely overcome mutual mistrust" of the Cold
War, Roh said in an address to students at Moscow State
University.
Despite praising Russia on Tuesday as a force for security in
northeast Asia, Roh said Wednesday that the first order of
business was the consolidation of economic links, before security
cooperation could be boosted.
"We need to create an economic union based on free trade across
borders" in northeast Asia, Roh said. "Once this economic union
is created, we can work more closely together in the area of
security."
The South Korean leader was quoted by Russia's RIA Novosti news
agency as saying that his discussions with Putin had been
valuable.
"We didn't hide any cards from one another," the agency quoted
him as saying.
Copyright © 2002 AFP. All rights reserved. All information
*****************************************************************
4 UCS: Ideology Should Not Drive Science Advice
[Union of Concerned Scientists]
September 21, 2004
Americans Echo Concerns of Leading Scientists
WASHINGTON D.C., September 21A national survey released today by
the Integrity of Science Working Group found that an overwhelming
majority (84 percent) of Americans believe the federal government
has an important role to play in scientific research. Two-thirds
of those surveyed strongly believe government science should be
insulated from politics and that it is unacceptable to ask about
party affiliation or political views when considering experts to
serve on government scientific advisory panels.
"This survey echoes the concern raised by our countrys leading
scientists that scientific integrity is critical to our
democracy," said Alden Meyer, director of policy for the Union of
Concerned Scientists. "Americans strongly reject the notion that
ideology should drive the selection of independent scientific
advisors who serve on government advisory panels. Rather, the
public realizes that when it comes to matters of health and
safety, an open mind and expert credentials are the most
important criteria."
According to the survey conducted by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner
Research, Inc. between August 16-23, 2004, 89 percent of
respondents believe expert knowledge in the field is a very
important quality when considering candidates for government
scientific advisory committees and 85 percent believe having an
open mind is very important. Conversely, only 14 percent of
respondents believe it is very important to have similar views as
the president.
"The majority of Americans find actions by the Bush
administrationfrom removing findings from government reports on
global warming and withholding scientific analysis on toxic
mercury contamination to stacking science advisory panels on
childhood lead poisoning prevention with industry candidatesto
be unacceptable," said Meyer. "The Union of Concerned Scientists
is working with scientists, legislators, and other organizations
to develop and implement a set of policies to prevent
administrations of either party from engaging in these activities
in the future."
In February, 62 leading scientistsincluding Nobel laureates,
leading medical experts, former federal agency directors, and
university chairs and presidentsissued a statement calling for
the Bush administration to restore scientific integrity to policy
making. At the same time, the Union of Concerned Scientists
issued a report, Scientific Integrity in Policymaking,
documenting numerous cases in which the administration had
suppressed and distorted scientific analysis from federal
agencies, and taken actions that have undermined the quality of
scientific advisory panels. Since February, more that 5,300
scientists across the country have signed the scientists
statement to restore scientific integrity.
The survey employed random-digit-dial technology and has a margin
of error of ±3.1 percentage points. Copies of the UCS reports and
scientists statement, can be found on the web at
www.ucsusa.org/rsi [http://www.ucsusa.org/rsi] .
To set up interviews or for UCS info, contact:
ALDEN MEYER 202-223-6133
SUZANNE SHAW 617-547-5552
© Union of Concerned Scientists
Page Last Revised: 09.21.2004
*****************************************************************
5 PRAVDA.Ru: 40 countries to become nuclear powers -
09/22/2004 12:04
It is not only Iran or North Korea, which may raise concerns
about nuclear developments
The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA),
Mohammad el-Baradei, said at a conference in Vienna that over 40
countries had nuclear programs developing. However, Baradei
added, the countries might aim their programs at the creation of
the nuclear weapon.
El-Baradei enumerated those countries, although experts believed
that the IAEA's head implicated Iran, South Korea, several
states in Europe, Asia, South Africa, Latin America and Canada,
first and foremost. In other words, almost every part of the
globe has a country (or countries), which may produce nuclear
arms within several years.
The key document to regulate the issues of nuclear arms
possessions is the Non-Proliferation Treaty, signed in 1986.
According to the treaty, there are two categories of countries:
nuclear and non-nuclear powers. Russia, the USA, Great Britain,
France and China are de jure referred to the first category. All
other states are categorized as denuclearized. The treaty binds
the 185 signatory states not to produce or purchase nuclear
weapons and recognize the control on the part of the IAEA. The
document, however, does not make the countries shut down nuclear
developments. The treaty only bans the proliferation of the
nuclear weapon.
The treaty was originally concluded for the period of 25 years,
it came into effect in 1970. The term of the document was
prolonged in 1995. Several countries have never joined the
Non-Proliferation Treaty at all. Two of those states have
nuclear arms in their possessions - India and Pakistan. Israel
is not a member of the treaty either, although Israeli
authorities have never confirmed or rejected the nuclear
possession of the state. North Korea pulled out from the treaty
in 2003, which became an expression of the nation's protest
against the US's pressure.
The countries that have nuclear programs are: Argentina, Brazil,
Egypt, Iran, North Korea, Saudi Arabia and South African
Republic. According to this list, it is not only Iran or North
Korea, which may raise concerns about nuclear developments.
Vasily Bubnov
Read the original in Russian:
http://world.pravda.ru/world/2004/5/15/39/18083_oruzhie.html
(Translated by: Dmitry Sudakov)
Pravda.Ru
L1999-2002 "PRAVDA.Ru". When reproducing our materials in
whole or in part, reference to PRAVDA.Ru should be made. The
*****************************************************************
6 UK Independent: US offers 500 'bunker-busting' bombs to Israel
By Eric Silver in Jerusalem
22 September 2004
The United States is planning to sell Israel 500 "bunker
busting" bombs which could destroy Iran's underground nuclear
stores and laboratories. Security sources in Tel Aviv said
yesterday that they would be part of a $319m (£178m) package of
air-launched bombs paid for by American military aid.
The news came on the same day that Iran reiterated its
determination to continue its uranium enrichment programme in
defiance of the United Nations watchdog, the International
Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Gholamreza Aghazadeh, the head of
Iran's Atomic Energy Organisation, told reporters at the IAEA's
Vienna headquarters that they had begun converting 37 tons of
raw "yellowcake" uranium for use in nuclear centrifuges, which
is seen as a crucial step towards the bomb. "Some of the 37 tons
have been used," he said. "The tests have been successful, but
they have to be continued."
Western diplomats are not convinced by Tehran's insistence that
the programme is purely for civilian purposes, not least because
Iran has some of the world's largest oil reserves. It hardly
needs nuclear power stations. Mohamed ElBaradei, the IAEA
director, again called on Iran to suspend the tests.
The bunker busters are guided by lasers or satellites. They can
be launched from Israel's advanced fleet of American F-15
fighters, which took part in the 1981 bombing of Saddam
Hussein's Osirak reactor. They can penetrate up to 30 feet of
earth and concrete.
Israel has also recently taken delivery of a squadron of modern,
long-range F-16 fighter bombers that could carry the new
weapons.
Israel, with a widely estimated 100 to 200 warheads, is the only
Middle East state known to have nuclear weapons.
The weapons could also be deployed against other potential
enemies, such as Syria, Egypt and Iraq, which have been storing
advanced weapons in reinforced facilities underground.
UK Independent Ltd.
*****************************************************************
7 [NukeNet] DOE/U Chicago Study on Future of Nuclear Power
Date: Wed, 22 Sep 2004 20:06:13 -0700
it's a whopper, 368 pages, and they seem to make a big deal out of the
fact that nuclear is cost-competitive with coal and natural gas if you
don't count capital costs, which is essentially a meaningless argument
in my book. i clearly haven't read the whole thing yet because it might
make me sick.
brendan
===================================
Economic Future of Nuclear Power
http://nuclear.gov/nucpwr2010/NP2010rptEconFutofNucPwr.html
In 2003, the Office of Nuclear Energy, Science and Technology (NE)
acting through Argonne National Laboratory requested a study of the
economic factors affecting the future of nuclear power in the United
States. The study was carried out in cooperation with the University of
Chicago's Department of Economics, the Graduate School of Business, and
the Harris School of Public Policy. The report titled, The Economic
Future of Nuclear Power, reviews developments in the U.S. economy that
will affect the nuclear power industry in coming years include the
emergence of new nuclear technologies, waste disposal issues,
proliferation concerns, policies toward national energy security, and
environmental policy.
The links below split the Executive Summary and the Report. The Report
is broken into three parts. Part one reviews factors affecting the
competitiveness of nuclear power - capital costs, financing issues and
life-cycle cost. Part two analyzes gas and coal-fired technologies and
Part three analyzes several federal financial policy alternatives
designed to assist the first few nuclear plants. The Appendix provides
comprehensive discussion on a variety of factors that affect the
desirability and viability of nuclear power. Topics include the
emergence of new nuclear technologies, waste disposal issues,
proliferation concerns, the streamlining of nuclear regulation, possible
transition to a hydrogen economy, policies toward national energy
security, and environmental policy.
_______________________________________________________________________
Subscribe/Unsubscribe Here: http://www.energyjustice.net/nukenet/
Change your settings at:
http://energyjustice.net/mailman/listinfo/nukenet_energyjustice.net
*****************************************************************
8 APP.COM: Oyster Creek must explain violation to NRC
ASBURY PARK PRESS
Published in the Asbury Park Press 9/22/04 By NICHOLAS CLUNN
MANAHAWKIN BUREAU
KING OF PRUSSIA, Pa. -- Oyster Creek nuclear power plant
officials next week will have an opportunity to tell the Nuclear
Regulatory Commission why workers violated a safety regulation by
failing to properly perform work on a backup generator.
The commission called the public meeting to better understand
the shortcoming before grading its significance and determining
if action is necessary, according to a prepared statement issued
yesterday.
Workers performing a routine test on an emergency generator in
May had found that a cooling fan on the machine had not been
adequately bolted following an overhaul one month before. Plant
management then reported the matter to the commission.
The trouble with the generator does not pose an immediate safety
concern, but does raise a question of how long the generator
could operate if it was used, according to the NRC.
Plant management would use the emergency generator to power
safety equipment if the plant stopped producing power and lost
connection to off-site electricity. Oyster Creek has two
diesel-powered generators.
During the meeting, scheduled for Sept. 27 at the NRC regional
office in King of Prussia, officials from plant owner AmerGen, a
subsidiary of Exelon, will have the opportunity to tell the
commission whether the generator can perform sufficiently despite
the maintenance error. The public will also have an opportunity
to ask questions of commission officials.
An appropriate AmerGen official could not be reached yesterday
to comment on whether someone from company will attend the
meeting. AmerGen may present results from a test of a diesel
generator at a non-nuclear Exelon facility, according to an
August letter from the commission to AmerGen.
The commission will use the information gathered at the meeting
to grade the error's safety significance using its four-color
scale. The scale ranges from green, the least serious kind, to
white, yellow and red, the most serious. The problem with the
cooling fan has been preliminarily classified -- pending the
meeting next week -- as "greater than green" but there are no
other specifics.
The meeting begins at 1 p.m. at the NRC Region 1 Office, 475
Allendale Road, King of Prussia, Pa.
Nicholas Clunn: (609) 978-4597 or nclunn@app.com [nclunn@app.com]
Asbury Park Press
*****************************************************************
9 NRC: Notice of Availability of Environmental Assessment and Finding
FR Doc 04-21252
[Federal Register: September 22, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 183)]
[Notices] [Page 56799] From the Federal Register Online via GPO
Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr22se04-92]
of No Significant Impact for License Amendment for Surmodics,
Inc., Eden Prairie, MN AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Notice of availability of Environmental Assessment and
Finding of No Significant Impact.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Peter J. Lee, Division of
Nuclear Materials Safety, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
Region III, 2443 Warrenville Road, Lisle, Illinois 60532-4352;
telephone (630) 829-9870; or by e-mail at pjl2@nrc.gov
[pjl2@nrc.gov] .
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: I. Introduction The U.S. Nuclear
Regulatory Commission (NRC) is considering the issuance of a
license amendment of Material License No.
22-20307-01 issued to SurModics, Inc. (the licensee), to a
terminate its license and authorize release of its Eden Prairie,
Minnesota facility for unrestricted use.
The NRC staff has prepared an Environmental Assessment (EA) in
support of this licensing action in accordance with the
requirements of 10 CFR part 51. Based on the EA, the NRC has
concluded that a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) is
appropriate. The amendment will be issued following the
publication of this Notice.
II. EA Summary The purpose of the proposed action is to terminate
SurModics, Inc.'s license and release its Eden Prairie, Minnesota
facility for unrestricted use. On September 27, 1982, the NRC
authorized SurModics, Inc. to use labeled compounds of
phosphorus-32 (P-32), iodine-125 (I- 125), tritium (H-3),
carbon-14 (C-14), etc. for research and development. On June 15,
2004, SurModics, Inc. submitted a license amendment request to
terminate its license and release its Eden Prairie facility for
unrestricted use. SurModics, Inc. has conducted surveys of the
facility and provided information to the NRC to demonstrate that
the site meets the license termination criteria in Subpart E of
10 CFR Part 20 for unrestricted release. The staff has examined
SurModics, Inc.'s request and the information that the licensee
has provided in support of its request, including the surveys
performed by SurModics, Inc. to demonstrate compliance with 10
CFR 20.1402, ``'Radiological Criteria for Unrestricted Use,''' to
ensure that the NRC's decision is protective of the public health
and safety and the environment.
III. Finding of No Significant Impact The staff has prepared the
EA (summarized above) in support of SurModics, Inc.'s proposed
license amendment to terminate its license and release the Eden
Prairie facility for unrestricted use.
Based on its review, the staff has determined that the affected
environment and the environmental impacts associated with the
decommissioning of SurModics, Inc.'s facility are bounded by the
impacts evaluated by the ``Generic Environmental Impact Statement
in Support of Rulemaking on Radiological Criteria for License
Termination of NRC-Licensed Nuclear Facilities'' (NUREG-1496). No
outdoor areas were affected by the use of licensed materials.
Additionally, no non-radiological impacts or other activities
that could result in cumulative impacts were identified. The
staff also finds that the proposed release for unrestricted use
of the SurModics, Inc.'s facility is in compliance with the 10
CFR 20.1402. On the basis of the EA, the staff has concluded that
the environmental impacts from the proposed action would not be
significant.
Accordingly, the staff has determined that a FONSI is
appropriate, and has determined that the preparation of an
environmental impact statement is not warranted.
IV. Further Information In accordance with 10 CFR 2.390 of the
NRC's ``Rules of Practice,'' SurModics, Inc.'s request, the EA
summarized above, and the documents related to this proposed
action are available electronically for public inspection and
copying from the Publicly Available Records (PARS) component of
NRC's document system (ADAMS). The NRC's document system is
accessible from the NRC Web site at
http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html
[http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/leaving.cgi?from=leaving
FR.html&log=linklog&to=http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html]
.
These documents include SurModics, Inc.'s letter dated June 15,
2004, with enclosures (Accession No. ML042530661); and the EA
summarized above (Accession No. ML042540419). These documents may
also be viewed electronically on the public computers located at
the NRC's Public Document Room (PDR), O 1 F21, One White Flint
North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD 20852. The PDR
reproduction contractor will copy documents for a fee. Persons
who do not have access to ADAMS or who encounter problems in
accessing the documents located in ADAMS, should contact the NRC
PDR Reference staff by telephone at 1-800-397- 4209 or (301)
415-4737, or by e-mail to pdr@nrc.gov [pdr@nrc.gov] . Dated at
Lisle, Illinois, this 10th day of September 2004.
Kenneth G. O'Brien, Chief, Decommissioning Branch, Division of
Nuclear Materials Safety, RIII.
[FR Doc. 04-21252 Filed 9-21-04; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590-01-P
*****************************************************************
10 NRC: Nuclear Management Company, LLC; Notice of Withdrawal of
FR Doc 04-21253
[Federal Register: September 22, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 183)]
[Notices] [Page 56798] From the Federal Register Online via GPO
Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr22se04-90]
Application for Amendment to Facility Operating License The U.S.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has granted the request of
Nuclear Management Company, LLC (the licensee), to withdraw its
September 26, 2003, application for a proposed amendment to
Facility Operating License Nos. DPR-24 and DPR-27 for the Point
Beach Nuclear Plant, Unit Nos. 1 and 2 , located in Manitowoc
County, WI.
The proposed amendment would have revised Technical Specification
5.6.5, ``Reactor Coolant System (RCS) Pressure and Temperature
Limits Report (PTLR),'' Paragraph b. to reference an NRC approval
of a revised pressurized thermal shock screening evaluation
methodology for Unit 2. This methodology, described in Babcock &
Wilcox Report BAW-2308, Revision 1, ``Initial RTNDT [reference
nil-ductility temperature] of Linde 80 Weld Materials'' (August
2003), was submitted by Framatome ANP on behalf of the Babcock &
Wilcox Owners Group Reactor Vessel Working Group for NRC review
on August 19, 2003.
The Commission had previously issued a Notice of Consideration of
Issuance of Amendment published in the Federal Register on
November 25, 2003 (68 FR 66138). As discussed, the amendment
request was based on an evaluation methodology that was being
reviewed, but had not yet been approved for use, by the NRC when
the request was submitted. The NRC conveyed to the licensee that
the additional time required to complete its review of the
BAW-2308, Revision 1 methodology, which remains under review, had
the potential to impact the NRC's review activities associated
with Point Beach license renewal. By letter dated August 3, 2004,
the licensee withdrew the proposed change.
For further details with respect to this action, see the
application for amendment dated September 26, 2003, and the
licensee's letter dated August 3, 2004, which withdrew the
application for license amendment. Documents may be examined,
and/or copied for a fee, at the NRC's Public Document Room (PDR),
located at One White Flint North, Public File Area O1 F21, 11555
Rockville Pike (first floor), Rockville, Maryland. Publicly
available records will be accessible electronically from the
Agencywide Documents Access and Management Systems (ADAMS) Public
Electronic Reading Room on the Internet at the NRC Web site,
http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams/html
[http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/leaving.cgi?from=leaving
FR.html&log=linklog&to=http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams/html]
. Persons who do not have access to ADAMS or who encounter
problems in accessing the documents located in ADAMS, should
contact the NRC PDR Reference staff by telephone at
1-800-397-4209, or 301-415-4737 or by e-mail to
pdr@nrc.gov [ pdr@nrc.gov] . Dated in Rockville, Maryland, this
16th day of September, 2004.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Harold K. Chernoff, Project Manager, Section 1, Project
Directorate III, Division of Licensing Project Management, Office
of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 04-21253 Filed 9-21-04; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590-01-P
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11 NRC: Documents Containing Reporting or Recordkeeping Requirements:
FR Doc 04-21254
[Federal Register: September 22, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 183)]
[Notices] [Page 56797] From the Federal Register Online via GPO
Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr22se04-88]
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Review AGENCY: U. S.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). ACTION: Notice of the OMB
review of information collection and solicitation of public
comment.
SUMMARY: The NRC has recently submitted to OMB for review the
following proposal for the collection of information under the
provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C.
Chapter 35). 1. Type of submission, new, revision, or extension:
Revision. 2. The title of the information collection: Proposed
Rule--10 CFR part 110, Export and Import of High-Risk Radioactive
Materials: Security Policies.
3. The form number if applicable: NRC Form 7. 4. How often the
collection is required: On occasion. 5. Who will be required or
asked to report: Any licensee who wishes to export or import
high-risk radioactive material subject to the requirements of a
specific license.
6. An estimate of the number of annual responses: 1,005. 7. The
estimated number of annual respondents: 30. 8. An estimate of the
total number of hours needed annually to complete the requirement
or request: 617 hours (2.4 hours per application, 15 minutes per
notification and 15 minutes per recipient's certification to
licensee).
9. An indication of whether section 3507(d), Pub. L. 104-13
applies: Applicable.
10. Abstract: The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC is proposing
to amend its regulations pertaining to the export and import of
nuclear equipment and radioactive materials. This proposed rule
reflects recent changes to the nuclear and radioactive material
security policies of the Commission and the Executive Branch, for
the import and export of radioactive material. A specific license
will be required for the import and export of high-risk
radioactive material.
Submit, by November 22, 2004, comments that address the following
questions: 1. Is the proposed collection of information necessary
for the NRC to properly perform its functions? Does the
information have practical utility? 2. Is the burden estimate
accurate? 3. Is there a way to enhance the quality, utility, and
clarity of the information to be collected? 4. How can the burden
of the information collection be minimized, including the use of
automated collection techniques or other forms of information
technology? A copy of the submittal may be viewed free of charge
at the NRC Public Document Room, One White Flint North, 11555
Rockville Pike, Room O-1 F21, Rockville, MD 20852. The proposed
rule indicated in ``The title of the information collection'' is
or has been published in the Federal Register within several days
of the publication date of this Federal Register notice. The OMB
clearance package and rule are available at the NRC World Wide
Web site:
http://www.nrc.gov/public-involve/doc-comment/omb/index.html
[http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/leaving.cgi?from=leaving
FR.html&log=linklog&to=http://www.nrc.gov/public-involve/doc-comm
ent/omb/index.html] for 60 days after the signature date of this
notice and are also available at the rule forum site,
http://ruleforum.llnl.gov
[http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/leaving.cgi?from=leaving
FR.html&log=linklog&to=http://ruleforum.llnl.gov] .
Comments and questions should be directed to the OMB reviewer by
October 22, 2004: OMB Desk Officer, Office of Information and
Regulatory Affairs (3150-0036 and 3150-0027), NEOB-10202, Office
of Management and Budget, Washington DC 20503.
Comments can also be submitted by telephone at (202) 395-3087.
The NRC Clearance Officer is Brenda Jo. Shelton, 301-415-7233.
Dated in Rockville, Maryland, this 15th day of September, 2004.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Brenda J. Shelton, NRC Clearance Officer, Office of the Chief
Information Officer.
[FR Doc. 04-21254 Filed 9-21-04; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590-01-P
*****************************************************************
12 NRC: 260-CivP, 50-296-CivP (EA 99-234); ASLBP No. 04-830-01-R]
FR Doc 04-21255
[Federal Register: September 22, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 183)]
[Notices] [Page 56798-56799] From the Federal Register Online via
GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr22se04-91]
Tennessee Valley Authority, Watts Bar Nuclear Plant, Unit 1,
Sequoyah Nuclear Plant, Units 1 and 2, Browns Ferry Nuclear
Plant, Units 1, 2 and 3; Establishment of Atomic Safety and
Licensing Board Pursuant to delegation by the Commission dated
December 29, 1972, published in the Federal Register, 37 FR 28710
(1972), and Sec.
Sec. 2.205, 2.700, 2.702, 2.714, 2.714a, 2.717, 2.721, and
2.772(j) of the Commission's Regulations (as they were in effect
prior to February 13, 2004), an Atomic Safety and Licensing Board
is being established to preside over the following proceeding:
Tennessee Valley Authority Watts Bar Nuclear Plant, Unit 1
Sequoyah Nuclear Plant, Units 1 & 2 Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant,
Units 1, 2 & 3 Order Imposing Civil Monetary Penalty.
This Board is being established pursuant to the August 18, 2004
Commission memorandum and order (CLI-04-24, 60 NRC -- (Aug. 18,
2004)) remanding for further proceedings this matter regarding
the request of the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), the licensee
for the Watts Bar (Unit 1), Sequoyah (Units 1 and 2), and Browns
Ferry (Units 1, 2 and 3) Nuclear Plants, for a hearing
challenging an Order issued by the Director, Office of
Enforcement, dated May 4, 2001, entitled ``Order Imposing Civil
Monetary Penalty'' (65 FR 27166 (May 4, 2001)).
The Board is comprised of the following administrative judges:
Charles Bechhoefer, Chairman, Atomic Safety and Licensing Board
Panel, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC
20555-0001. Dr. Richard F. Cole, Atomic Safety and Licensing
Board Panel, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC
20555-0001.
Ann Marshall Young, Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel, U.S.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001.
[[Page 56799]] All correspondence, documents and other materials
shall be filed with the Panel Judges in accordance with 10 CFR
2.701. Issued at Rockville, Maryland, this 14th day of September
2004.
G. Paul Bollwerk, III, Chief Administrative Judge, Atomic Safety
and Licensing Board Panel.
[FR Doc. 04-21255 Filed 9-21-04; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590-01-P
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13 NRC: Entergy Nuclear Vermont Yankee, LLC, and Entergy Operations,
FR Doc 04-21256
[Federal Register: September 22, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 183)]
[Notices] [Page 56797-56798] From the Federal Register Online via
GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr22se04-89]
Inc.; Establishment of Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Pursuant
to delegation by the Commission dated December 29, 1972,
published in the Federal Register, 37 Fed. Reg. 28,710 (1972),
and the Commission's regulations, see 10 CFR 2.104, 2.300, 2.303,
2.309, 2.311, 2.318, and 2.321, notice is hereby given that an
Atomic Safety and Licensing Board is being established to preside
over the following proceeding: Entergy Nuclear Vermont Yankee,
LLC, and Entergy Operations, Inc. Vermont Yankee
[[Page 56798]] Nuclear Power Station (Operating License
Amendment).
This proceeding concerns hearing requests submitted on August 30,
2004, by the Vermont Department of Public Service and the New
England Coalition of Brattleboro, Vermont. Those requests, which
were filed in response to a June 15, 2004 notice of consideration
of issuance of facility operating license amendment and
opportunity for hearing published in the Federal Register on July
1, 2004 (69 FR 39976), challenge the request of Entergy Nuclear
Vermont Yankee, LLC, and Entergy Operations, Inc., to change the
operating license for the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station to
increase the maximum authorized power level from 1593 megawatts
thermal (MWt) to 1912 MWt, an increase of approximately twenty
percent above the current maximum authorized power level.
The Board is comprised of the following administrative judges:
Alex S. Karlin, Chair, Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel,
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001.
Dr. Anthony J. Baratta, Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel,
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001.
Lester S. Rubenstein, Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel,
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001.
All correspondence, documents, and other materials shall be filed
with the administrative judges in accordance with 10 CFR 2.302.
Issued at Rockville, Maryland, this 14th day of September 2004.
G. Paul Bollwerk, III, Chief Administrative Judge, Atomic Safety
and Licensing Board Panel.
[FR Doc. 04-21256 Filed 9-21-04; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590-01-P
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14 NRC: Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards; Subcommittee Meeting
FR Doc 04-21257
[Federal Register: September 22, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 183)]
[Notices] [Page 56799-56800] From the Federal Register Online via
GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr22se04-93]
on Planning and Procedures; Notice of Meeting The ACRS
Subcommittee on Planning and Procedures will hold a meeting on
October 6, 2004, Room T-2B1, 11545 Rockville Pike, Rockville,
Maryland.
The entire meeting will be open to public attendance, with the
exception of a portion that may be closed pursuant to 5 U.S.C.
552b(c)(2) and (6) to discuss organizational and personnel
matters that relate solely to the internal personnel rules and
practices of the ACRS, and information the release of which would
constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of personal privacy.
The agenda for the subject meeting shall be as follows:
Wednesday, October 6, 2004--1:30 p.m.-3:30 p.m. The Subcommittee
will discuss proposed ACRS activities and related matters. The
Subcommittee will gather information, analyze relevant issues and
facts, and formulate proposed positions and actions, as
appropriate, for deliberation by the full Committee.
Members of the public desiring to provide oral statements and/or
written comments should notify the Designated Federal Official,
Mr. Sam Duraiswamy (telephone: 301-415-7364) between
[[Page 56800]] 7:30 a.m. and 4:15 p.m. (e.t.) five days prior to
the meeting, if possible, so that appropriate arrangements can be
made.
Electronic recordings will be permitted only during those
portions of the meeting that are open to the public.
Further information regarding this meeting can be obtained by
contacting the Designated Federal Official between 7:30 a.m. and
4:15 p.m. (e.t.). Persons planning to attend this meeting are
urged to contact the above named individual at least two working
days prior to the meeting to be advised of any potential changes
in the agenda.
Dated: September 16, 2004.
Michael R. Snodderly, Acting Associate Director for Technical
Support, ACRS/ACNW.
[FR Doc. 04-21257 Filed 9-21-04; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590-01-P
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15 NRC: Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards; Meeting Notice
FR Doc 04-21258
[Federal Register: September 22, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 183)]
[Notices] [Page 56800-56801] From the Federal Register Online via
GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr22se04-94]
In accordance with the purposes of Sections 29 and 182b of the
Atomic Energy Act (42 U.S.C. 2039, 2232b), the Advisory Committee
on Reactor Safeguards (ACRS) will hold a meeting on October 7-9,
2004, 11545 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland. The date of this
meeting was previously published in the Federal Register on
Monday, November 21, 2003 (68 FR 65743).
Thursday, October 7, 2004, Conference Room T-2B3, Two White Flint
North, Rockville, Maryland 8:30 a.m.-8:35 a.m.: Opening Remarks
by the ACRS Chairman (Open)--The ACRS Chairman will make opening
remarks regarding the conduct of the meeting.
8:35 a.m.-10:45 a.m.: Safety Evaluation of the Industry
Guidelines Related to Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR) Sump
Performance (Open)--The Committee will hear presentations by and
hold discussions with representatives of the NRC staff and the
Nuclear Energy Institute regarding the staff's evaluation of the
industry guidelines associated with the resolution of Generic
Safety Issue (GSI)-191, ``Potential Impact of Debris Blockage on
Emergency Recirculation During Design- Basis Accidents at PWRs''
and related matters.
11 a.m.-12:30 p.m.: Pre-Application Safety Assessment Report for
the Advanced CANDU 700 (ACR-700) Design (Open)--The Committee
will hear presentations by and hold discussions with
representatives of the NRC staff regarding the staff's Safety
Assessment Report related to the pre-application review of the
ACR-700 design and related matters.
1:30 p.m.-3 p.m.: Proposed Recommendations for Resolving GSI-185,
``Control of Recriticality Following Small-Break LOCAs in PWRs''
(Open)--The Committee will hear presentations by and hold
discussions with representatives of the NRC staff and its
contractors regarding the proposed recommendations for resolving
GSI-185.
3:15 p.m.-4:45 p.m.: Mitigating System Performance Index Program
(Open)--The Committee will hear presentations by and hold
discussions with representatives of the NRC staff regarding the
Mitigating System Performance Index Program.
5 p.m.-7 p.m.: Preparation of ACRS Reports (Open)--The Committee
will discuss proposed ACRS reports on matters considered during
this meeting. In addition, the Committee will discuss a proposed
report responding to the August 25, 2004 EDO response to the May
21, 2004 ACRS letter on resolution of certain items identified by
the ACRS in NUREG- 1740, ``Voltage-Based Alternative Repair
Criteria.'' Friday, October 8, 2004, Conference Room T-2B3, Two
White Flint North, Rockville, Maryland 8:30 a.m.-8:35 a.m.:
Opening Remarks by the ACRS Chairman (Open)--The ACRS Chairman
will make opening remarks regarding the conduct of the meeting.
8:35 a.m.-10 a.m.: Technology Neutral Framework for Future Plant
Licensing (Open)--The Committee will hear presentations by and
hold discussions with representatives of the NRC staff regarding
the technology neutral framework for licensing of future plant
designs.
10:15 a.m.-11:30 a.m.: Assessment of the Quality of the NRC
Research Projects (Open)--The Committee will discuss the
preliminary results of the cognizant ACRS members' assessment of
the research projects on Sump Blockage and on MACCS code.
11:30 a.m.-12:15 p.m.: Divergence in Regulatory Approaches and
Requirements Between U.S. and Other Countries (Open)--The
Committee will discuss the draft Final White Paper prepared by
Dr.
Nourbakhsh, ACRS Senior Staff Engineer, regarding divergence in
regulatory approaches and requirements between U.S. and other
Countries. 1:15 p.m.-2:15 p.m.: Future ACRS Activities/Report of
the Planning and Procedures Subcommittee (Open)--The Committee
will discuss the recommendations of the Planning and Procedures
Subcommittee regarding items proposed for consideration by the
full Committee during future meetings. Also, it will hear a
report of the Planning and Procedures Subcommittee on matters
related to the conduct of ACRS business, including anticipated
workload and member assignments.
2:15 p.m.-2:30 p.m.: Reconciliation of ACRS Comments and
Recommendations (Open)--The Committee will discuss the responses
from the NRC Executive Director for Operations (EDO) to comments
and recommendations included in recent ACRS reports and letters.
The EDO responses are expected to be made available to the
Committee prior to the meeting.
2:45 p.m.-7 p.m.: Preparation of ACRS Reports (Open)--The
Committee will discuss proposed ACRS reports.
Saturday, October 10, 2004, Conference Room T-2B3, Two White
Flint North, Rockville, Maryland 8:30 a.m.-2 p.m.: Preparation of
ACRS Reports (Open)--The Committee will continue its discussion
of proposed ACRS reports.
2 p.m.-2:30 p.m.: Miscellaneous (Open)--The Committee will
discuss matters related to the conduct of Committee activities
and matters and specific issues that were not completed during
previous meetings, as time and availability of information
permit.
Procedures for the conduct of and participation in ACRS meetings
were published in the Federal Register on October 16, 2003 (68 FR
59644). In accordance with those procedures, oral or written
views may be presented by members of the public, including
representatives of the nuclear industry. Electronic recordings
will be permitted only during the open portions of the meeting.
Persons desiring to make oral statements should notify the
Cognizant ACRS staff named below five days before the meeting, if
possible, so that appropriate arrangements can be made to allow
necessary time during the meeting for such statements. Use of
still, motion picture, and television cameras during the meeting
may be limited to selected portions of the meeting as determined
by the Chairman. Information regarding the time to be set aside
for this purpose may be obtained by contacting the Cognizant ACRS
staff prior to the meeting. In view of the
[[Page 56801]] possibility that the schedule for ACRS meetings
may be adjusted by the Chairman as necessary to facilitate the
conduct of the meeting, persons planning to attend should check
with the Cognizant ACRS staff if such rescheduling would result
in major inconvenience.
Further information regarding topics to be discussed, whether the
meeting has been canceled or rescheduled, as well as the
Chairman's ruling on requests for the opportunity to present oral
statements and the time allotted therefor can be obtained by
contacting Mr. Sam Duraiswamy, Cognizant ACRS staff
(301-415-7364), between 7:30 a.m. and 4:15 p.m., ET. ACRS meeting
agenda, meeting transcripts, and letter reports are available
through the NRC Public Document Room at pdr@nrc.gov [pdr@nrc.gov]
, or by calling the PDR at 1-800-397-4209, or from the Publicly
Available Records System (PARS) component of NRC's document
system (ADAMS) which is accessible from the NRC Web site at
http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html
[http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/leaving.cgi?from=leaving
FR.html&log=linklog&to=http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html]
or http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/
[http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/leaving.cgi?from=leaving
FR.html&log=linklog&to=http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collecti
ons/] (ACRS & ACNW Mtg schedules/agendas).
Videoteleconferencing service is available for observing open
sessions of ACRS meetings. Those wishing to use this service for
observing ACRS meetings should contact Mr. Theron Brown, ACRS
Audio Visual Technician (301-415-8066), between 7:30 a.m. and
3:45 p.m., ET, at least 10 days before the meeting to ensure the
availability of this service. Individuals or organizations
requesting this service will be responsible for telephone line
charges and for providing the equipment and facilities that they
use to establish the videoteleconferencing link. The availability
of videoteleconferencing services is not guaranteed.
Dated: September 16, 2004.
Annette Vietti-Cook, Secretary of the Commission.
[FR Doc. 04-21258 Filed 9-21-04; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590-01-P
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16 NRC: Sunshine Act Meeting
FR Doc 04-21336
[Federal Register: September 22, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 183)]
[Notices] [Page 56801] From the Federal Register Online via GPO
Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr22se04-95]
Agency Holding the Meeting: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Date: Weeks of September 20, 27, October 4, 11, 18, 25, 2004.
Place: Commissioners' Conference Room, 11555 Rockville Pike,
Rockville, Maryland.
Status: Public and closed.
Matters To Be Considered: Week of September 20, 2004 There are no
meetings scheduled for the week of September 20, 2004.
Week of September 27, 2004--Tentative There are no meetings
scheduled for the week of September 27, 2004.
Week of October 4, 2004--Tentative Thursday, October 7, 2004
10:30 a.m. Discussion of Security Issues (Closed--Ex. 1). 1 p.m.
Discussion of Security Issues (Closed--Ex. 1). Week of October
11, 2004--Tentative Wednesday, October 13, 2004 9:30 a.m.
Briefing on Decommissioning Activities and Status (Public
Meeting) (Contact: Claudia Craig, (301) 415-7276).
This meeting will be webcast live at the Web
address--http://www.nrc.gov
[http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/leaving.cgi?from=leaving
FR.html&log=linklog&to=http://www.nrc.gov] .
1:30 p.m. Discussion of Intragovernmental Issues (Closed--Ex. 1 &
9).
Week of October 18, 2004--Tentative There are no meetings
scheduled for the week of October 18, 2004.
Week of October 25, 2004--Tentative There are no meetings
scheduled for the week of October 25, 2004.
*The schedule for Commission meetings is subject to change on
short notice. To verify the status of meetings call (recording)--
(301) 415-1292. Contact person for more information: Dave
Gamberoni, (301) 415-1651.
* * * * * The NRC Commission Meeting Schedule can be found on the
Internet at:
http://www.nrc.gov/what-we-do/policy-making/schedule.html
[http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/leaving.cgi?from=leaving
FR.html&log=linklog&to=http://www.nrc.gov/what-we-do/policy-makin
g/schedule.html] . * * * * * The NRC provides reasonable
accommodation to individuals with disabilities where appropriate.
If you need a reasonable accommodation to participate in these
public meetings, or need this meeting notice or the transcript or
other information from the public meetings in another format
(e.g. braille, large print), please notify the NRC's Disability
Program Coordinator, August Spector, at (301) 415-7080, TDD:
(301) 415- 2100, or by e-mail at aks@nrc.gov [aks@nrc.gov] .
Determinations on requests for reasonable accommodation will be
made on a case-by-case basis.
* * * * * This notice is distributed by mail to several hundred
subscribers; if you no longer wish to receive it, or would like
to be added to the distribution, please contact the Office of the
Secretary, Washington, DC 20555 (301) 415-1969). In addition,
distribution of this meeting notice over the Internet system is
available. If you are interested in receiving this Commission
meeting schedule electronically, please send an electronic
message to dkw@nrc.gov [dkw@nrc.gov] . Dated: September 17, 2004.
Dave Gamberoni, Office of the Secretary.
[FR Doc. 04-21336 Filed 9-20-04; 9:34 am] BILLING CODE 7590-01-M
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17 Guardian Unlimited: British Energy on knife edge as it tries to stymie rebels
Nuclear generator seeks injunction against 'self-interested'
attempt by Polygon to halt rescue plan
Terry Macalister
Wednesday September 22, 2004
The Guardian [http://www.guardian.co.uk]
The battle over the future of British Energy reached new levels
of bitterness last night when the nuclear generator applied for
an injunction against rebel shareholders in a US court. The power
company wants a judge in the southern district of New York to
rule that Polygon cannot force through its demands for an
extraordinary general meeting and vote on an alternative rescue
plan.
BE accused Polygon - a London and New York-based hedge fund - of
engaging in a "manipulative and misleading" scheme to acquire BE
shares without making appropriate disclosures to the securities
and exchange commission.
Court papers from BE allege Polygon is engaged in a strategy of
"disinformation", but the British firm itself is balanced on a
knife edge. BE needs to have the legal case heard - and won - by
Friday to avoid having to send out notices to officially
requisition the EGM.
If that meeting takes place and more than 75% of shareholders
vote for Polygon's proposals, BE claims it would be forced into
insolvency.
The legal documents lodged by BE allege that Polygon filed a
Schedule 13D disclosure to the SEC about its holding in the power
group six weeks after it should have done.
This was, says BE, a "flagrant and deliberate violation of the
federal securities laws" aimed at giving it victory in "its
self-interested objectives" at the shareholder meeting it has
demanded.
The company, which generates more than a fifth of Britain's
electricity, also argues that Polygon informed authorities it had
purchased shares in July "for investment" when really it wanted
to "control or influence" BE.
Polygon crossed a critical 5% reporting threshold on July 23 but
did not file a Schedule 13D until September 13, BE claims in its
legal submission.
The nuclear generator argues that changing any terms of the
original rescue package would be in breach of a binding creditor
restructuring agreement and trigger the immediate repayment of
£1.5bn loans.
This would also open it up to damages and "there is a very real
possibility that British Energy would be forced to commence
insolvency proceedings".
Polygon reacted with fury last night to the legal challenge
saying BE was trying to scupper its rightful demands for a
meeting.
"Polygon believes its 13D filing was accurate in all material
respects, and intends to fight this application which it sees as
an attempt to undermine its statutory rights under English law to
requisition an EGM," it said.
The pending legal battle is the latest in a series of court
threats made in recent days. Bondholders - who have tied up an
existing rescue plan with BE - have issued a high court writ in
London against Polygon.
They warn the hedge fund that it will be pursued for damages if
it proceeds with - and wins - any EGM vote to overturn the
original rescue plan. They have also warned other BE shareholders
that they too will be chased for damages if they support the
Polygon proposals.
Polygon is pushing for change in the terms of a £1.3bn
debt-for-equity swap which it believes over-compensates
bondholders.
Under the existing deal shareholders would get 2.5% of the new
equity in BE and a further 5% through warrants. Polygon - which
has enjoyed the support of another sizeable shareholder, Brandes
Investment Partners - has put forward alternative proposals under
which shareholders would seize back 30% of BE, on the basis that
rising wholesale electricity prices have helped BE return to
profit, from which shareholders should benefit. BE turned a
£4.3bn loss into a £232m pre-tax profit in the year to March 31.
BE has always warned that it would delist the company from the
New York and London stock exchanges and push through its own
rescue plan if it lost any shareholder vote.
Such a move would be highly controversial given that the
government is closing this possibility in existing legislation
with effect from 2005.
The European commission has not yet ruled on whether state aid
from the government, keen to see the rescue plan go through, is
legal and this must be obtained for the restructuring to be
realised. A positive decision is expected by BE and its
bondholders, with some believing it could come today.
Hedge fund lies low
Polygon enjoys high-profile shareholder battles but, like other
hedge funds, keeps a low profile when it comes to other aspects
of its business.
A sparse website contains no telephone numbers while the
directory inquiries service insists Polygon is not listed at its
address off the Kings Road in Chelsea.
Even the public relations firm that does work for Polygon on the
British Energy battle says it is not hired to talk about any
other issue.
Polygon itself is unwilling to talk or comment directly on
British Energy, or on speculation that it has a 3% share in
furniture retailer DFS.
Last year it used another financial PR firm to help it lead
shareholder opposition to plans by chairman Peter Simon to
increase his family's holding at fashion retailer Monsoon. It was
later reported that Mr Simon had called for a Financial Services
Authority inquiry after it was found that Polygon held only one
share in Monsoon.
The hedge fund's website claims Polygon Investment Partners is a
"global investment fund" with $1.35bn under management. It
manages a "single multi-strategy investment fund" called Polygon
Global Opportunities Master Fund, which BE claims has a principal
office in the Cayman Islands.
It is led by Reade Griffith, a Harvard College-trained economics
graduate who was previously founder and chief executive of the
European office of Citadel Investment Group. He has been working
with Paddy Dear who had previously been managing director and
global head of hedge fund coverage for UBS Warburg.
This year Polygon bought bonds and shares in BE but quickly sold
its bonds to concentrate on its equity.
In yesterday's lawsuit, the hedge fund has been accused of
working in co-operation with another shareholder, Brandes, and of
not disclosing this to the US securities and exchange commission.
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
*****************************************************************
18 San Luis Obispo Tribune: Lawsuit against NRC is upheld
| 09/22/2004 |
San Luis Obispo Mothers for Peace says the ruling will force
regulators to hold public hearings so residents can comment on
security at Diablo
David Sneed
The Tribune
SAN LUIS OBISPO - Nuclear industry watchdog groups are hailing a
U.S. Court of Appeals ruling that they say will force the Nuclear
Regulatory Commission to take public comment on security at
nuclear power plants.
The case was filed by San Luis Obispo Mothers for Peace and a
group called Public Citizen after the agency issued new rules in
2003 on what kinds of terrorist attacks plants are required to
guard against. The agency acted without notifying the public or
taking comment.
The court has given the NRC 120 days to schedule a date to hold
public hearings.
The court apparently ruled Friday, but the groups only found out
about the decision in a letter received Tuesday.
NRC spokesman Victor Dricks said late Tuesday he was unfamiliar
with the case and could not comment.
Activists with Mothers for Peace say the ruling will bolster a
separate case they have against the federal agency for failing to
hold public hearings on security measures for a proposed storage
facility for highly radioactive spent reactor fuel at Diablo
Canyon nuclear power plant.
"The court ruled that the public's input must be considered on
security issues," said Rochelle Becker, Mothers for Peace
spokeswoman. "This provides a piece of precedence for our case."
This is one of several lawsuits filed against the NRC by nuclear
activists regarding the lack of public involvement in nuclear
security and licensing issues.
Activists say the agency is increasingly cutting the public out
of the process. The agency and the nuclear industry say the
changes are an attempt to streamline the process and safeguard
sensitive security information.
The Mothers for Peace case over the proposed Diablo Canyon
aboveground storage facility will be heard in a San Francisco
court of appeals, but no hearing date has been set.
The group is also challenging Pacific Gas and Electric Co., which
owns Diablo Canyon, over its request before the state Public
Utilities Commission to replace the plant's steam generators as
well as an appeal of the Diablo Canyon storage facility before
the state Coastal Commission.
Arguments in the steam generator case are being taken this week
in San Francisco. The Coastal Commission is scheduled to hear its
appeal when it meets in San Pedro in November.
PG&E officials do not comment on NRC cases.
David Sneed covers environmental issues for The Tribune. E-mail
story ideas and comments to him at [dsneed@thetribunenews.com]
*****************************************************************
19 KRT Wire: NRC decision lauded by nuclear watchdog groups
| 09/22/2004 |
By DAVID SNEED
Tribune, San Luis Obispo, Calif.
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. - Nuclear industry watchdog groups are
hailing a U.S. Court of Appeals ruling that they say will force
the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to take public comment on
security at nuclear power plants.
The case was filed by the San Luis Obispo, Calif.-based Mothers
for Peace and another group called Public Citizen after the
agency issued new rules in 2003 on what kinds of terrorist
attacks nuclear plants are required to guard against. The agency
acted without notifying the public or taking comment about the
regulations.
The court has given the NRC 120 days to schedule a date to hold
public hearings.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled
Friday, but the groups only found out about the decision in a
letter received Tuesday. NRC spokesman Victor Dricks said late
Tuesday he was unfamiliar with the case and could not comment.
Activists with Mothers for Peace say the ruling will bolster a
separate case they have against the federal agency for failing to
hold public hearings on security measures for a proposed storage
facility for highly radioactive spent reactor fuel at Diablo
Canyon nuclear power plant, which is located near San Luis
Obispo.
"The court ruled that the public's input must be considered on
security issues," said Rochelle Becker, Mothers for Peace
spokeswoman. "This provides a piece of precedence for our case."
This is one of several lawsuits filed against the NRC by nuclear
activists regarding the lack of public involvement in security
and licensing issues. Activists contend the agency is
increasingly cutting the public out of the process. The agency
and the nuclear industry say the changes are an attempt to
streamline the oversight process and safeguard sensitive security
information.
*****************************************************************
20 toledoblade.com: REACTOR HEAD CORROSION
Article published Tuesday, September 21, 2004
2002 Davis-Besse problem ranked among worst ever
[Photo] Leaking boric acid caused the red, rusty deposits on
this nuclear reactor vessel flange at Davis-Besse in 2002. The
plant was shut down on Feb. 16, 2002, but is now at full power.
By TOM HENRY [thenry@theblade.com] BLADE STAFF WRITER
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission's research arm yesterday ranked
Davis-Besse's recent meltdown threat as one of the most serious
ever at an American nuclear plant.
The Oak Harbor facility now has two of the five most serious
meltdown threats since the Three Mile Island accident in 1979.
Davis-Besse had a serious problem in 1985 as well.
According to the NRC, there was a 6 in 1,000 chance that
Davis-Besse's emergency core coolant system would fail if the
reactor's badly corroded head had blown open at any point during
the year preceding the plant's Feb. 16, 2002, shutdown.
The calculation was released as part of the NRC's accident
sequence precursor report.
Davis-Besse's calculated 6-in-1,000 failure rate is 100 times
worse than normal plant conditions, which the NRC placed at 6 in
100,000.
Anything with a failure rate greater than 1 in 1,000 is
considered a "significant precursor" to a major event and
reported to Congress, the NRC said yesterday.
The plant's massive reactor-head corrosion, the worst in U.S.
nuclear history, was discovered less than three weeks after the
shutdown when a football-shaped cavity was found in the steel lid
on March 6, 2002.
Scott Burnell, NRC spokesman, said the agency remains confident
that Davis-Besse's thick concrete-and-steel containment shell
would have done its job of shielding the public from
radioactivity. But the agency's office of research conceded it
had not studied the plant's potential for holding back steam.
Davis-Besse's problems have been fixed, the NRC said. The plant
was running at 100 percent power yesterday.
Activists said the findings further call into question remarks
that NRC Chairman Nils Diaz made during the agency's 2003
Regulatory Information Conference. In a packed ballroom in
Washington, Mr. Diaz told 1,200 people from 15 countries - many
of them nuclear industry executives and government employees -
that Davis-Besse's risks were exaggerated by the media and that
the public had not been in danger.
However, the NRC issued a report in May showing the reactor head
could have blown open in as few as two months if the plant had
gone back online without the cavity being discovered.
"What are we to believe the next time the NRC comes out and says
everything is safe?" Jim Riccio, Greenpeace nuclear policy
analyst, asked.
Based on months of scientific calculations, accident sequence
precursor reports do not attempt to play out worst-case scenarios
to their end points by estimating the degree to which
reactor-core damage could occur. They simply calculate the odds
of any damage occurring to reactor cores, no matter how minimal,
officials said.
This analysis took into account the near-rupture of Davis-Besse's
reactor head and its emergency coolant system design flaws. Those
included problems which could have allowed the plant's
containment sump and pair of high-pressure injection pumps to
clog at a crucial time: When they're battling the clock to
recirculate water over a hot, glowing reactor.
Under such a worst-case scenario, operators would use that
equipment as a last-gasp effort to keep remaining coolant from
being converted into radioactive steam and exposing more of the
reactor core.
David Lochbaum, nuclear safety engineer for the Union of
Concerned Scientists, said yesterday's report gives further
credence to the notion that NRC senior management should have
trusted agency staffers in the fall of 2001 when the latter
correctly identified Davis-Besse as a plant brewing with trouble.
They called for what would have been the government's first
shutdown order since 1987, but was rebuffed by senior managers.
Mr. Diaz was out of the country yesterday and unavailable for
comment, Mr. Burnell said.
Davis-Besse's owner-operator, FirstEnergy Corp., would have
voluntarily shut down the plant if it believed the public was
endangered, Richard Wilkins, utility spokesman, said.
Eighteen such events have been recorded since the partial
meltdown of the Three Mile Island-2 nuclear plant in 1979,
including Davis-Besse's 1985 temporary loss-of-feedwater event.
That, according to NRC researchers, remains second to Three Mile
Island in terms of reactor-core damage probability, with odds of
core damage at 70 in a 1,000. No odds were calculated for the
Three Mile Island accident because a partial meltdown did occur.
The next highest threat occurred in 1981 at the Brunswick plant
in North Carolina in which a heat exchanger was damaged. The odds
for core damage there were calculated at 9-in-1,000.
A 1991 event at the Shearon Harris plant in North Carolina
involving a high-pressure injection pump was in a virtual tie
with Davis-Besse's most recent episode, with a calculated failure
rate of 6-in-1,000. But the former had a statistical probability
just a fraction higher than Davis-Besse's most recent episode,
the NRC said.
Contact Tom Henry at: thenry@theblade.com or 419-724-6079.
[http://www.realcities.com] © 2004 The Blade. By using this
The Toledo Blade Company, 541 N. Superior St., Toledo, OH 43660
, (419) 724-6000
*****************************************************************
21 NRC: NRC, Exelon to Discuss Apparent Violation at Oyster Creek Plant
News Release - Region I - 2004-04
U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
Office of Public Affairs, Region I
No. I-04-044 September 20, 2004
CONTACT: Diane Screnci (610) 337-5330
Neil A. Sheehan (610) 337-5331 E-mail: opa1@nrc.gov
[opa1@nrc.gov]
Exelon Generation Company, LLC, will have an opportunity on
Sept. 27 to discuss with Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff an
inspection finding preliminarily classified as greater than
green and a related apparent violation of NRC requirements at
the Oyster Creek nuclear power plant. The finding does not
present an immediate safety concern.
The regulatory conference is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. in the
Public Meeting Room at the NRC Region I Office, 475 Allendale
Road, King of Prussia, Pa. It will be open to the public for
observation, and there will be an opportunity for interested
members of the public to ask questions of NRC officials before
the meeting adjourns.
The agency uses a color-coded system to assess the significance
of inspection findings, with green considered an issue of very
low safety significance, then progressing to white, yellow
or red, as safety significance increases.
The finding to be discussed on Sept. 27 involves workers not
following procedures during maintenance on one of two emergency
diesel generators at the plant, which is located in Lacey
Township, N.J., and operated by AmerGen, an Exelon subsidiary.
(Nuclear power plants not only send power out onto the electric
grid, they also take some back to meet their own operational and
safety needs. If off-site power is interrupted, emergency diesel
generators can be used to power key safety systems.)
On May 17, plant operators were performing a routine test on the
#1 generator and noted, after the tests successful completion,
that the generators cooling fan drive shaft was not properly
secured. A review found that recent maintenance on the fan drive
shaft had left some holddown bolts loose, raising a question of
how long the generator would be able to operate if placed into
service. (Other plant equipment was available to provide the
necessary margin for safe plant operation.)
At the regulatory conference, Exelon will be able to present
additional information concerning the ability of the generator
to perform its safety function despite the maintenance error.
The company will also be able to discuss the safety significance
of this condition.
No decision will be made at the conference. Rather, NRC staff
will take information provided under consideration and render a
decision in the near future regarding its significance
determination and any related enforcement action.
Last revised Monday, September 20, 2004
*****************************************************************
22 Daily Times: Eyeing Iran reactors, Israel seeks US bunker bombs
Thursday, September 23, 2004
* Washington will sell 500 ‘bunker busters’ to Israel with the
ability to penetrate Iran’s underground nuclear facilities * The
package will also include airborne models, guidance units,
training bombs and detonators for Israel’s air force
JERUSALEM: The United States plans to sell Israel $139 million
worth of air-launched bombs, including 500 “bunker busters” able
to penetrate Iran’s underground nuclear facilities, Israeli
security sources said on Tuesday.
The 319 million-dollar purchase also includes airborne models,
guidance units, training bombs and detonators for Israel’s air
force, said the paper citing a US Congress report. The bombs are
all guided by a satellite system, which sends a signal to the
devices to adjust their course to the target.
Smart bombs are intended to inflict maximum damage to the target
and minimise the effect of the impact outside of the target,
so-called “collateral damage”. The Haaretz newspaper quoted a
Pentagon report as saying the planned procurement sought “to
maintain Israel’s qualitative advantage and advance US strategic
and tactical interests”.
The paper said the deal, which includes 500 one-ton bunker
busters that can penetrate two-meter-thick cement walls, 2,500
regular one-ton bombs, 1,000 half-ton bombs and 500 quarter-ton
bombs, was easily reached despite the Israelis previous use of
high explosives against Palestinian targets. The US embassy in
Israel had no comment, referring queries to Washington. Israel’s
Defence Ministry also declined comment.
But a senior Israeli security source who confirmed the Haaretz
story told Reuters: “This is not the sort of ordnance needed for
the Palestinian front. Bunker busters could serve Israel against
Iran, or possibly Syria.”
Haaretz quoted Israeli government sources as saying the sale,
including 4,500 other guided munitions, was not expected to go
through until after the US elections in November. Earlier this
month, Haaretz said Israel sought to obtain the US-made,
one-tonne “bunker buster” bombs for a possible future strike
against arch-foe Iran’s atomic development programme, which the
Jewish state considers a strategic threat.
Known by the military designations GBU-27 or GBU-28, “bunker
busters” are guided by lasers or satellites and can penetrate up
to 10 metres (30 feet) of earth and concrete. Israel may already
have some of the bombs for its US-supplied F-15 fighter jets. “As
they are part of the weapon set for the F-15, I would assume them
to be in place,” said Robert Hewson, editor of Jane’s
Air-Launched Weapons. He said the bombs proved effective in the
1991 Gulf war and 1990s NATO strikes on Serbian forces.
Israel, which is widely assumed to be the Middle East’s only
nuclear-armed nation, wants to stop Iran going atomic, but
officials say diplomatic pressure on Tehran is the best method.
Many believe a military strike, especially by Israel, could kill
off any chance of a diplomatic resolution or efforts by Iranian
opposition groups to achieve internal reform.
“I think (military action) should be a last, last, last resort.
Unlike Iraq and North Korea, there is at least some chance of
bringing about an undermining of the Velayat-e Faqih’s
authority,” former CIA director R James Woolsey told Reuters this
month, referring to Iran’s ruling Islamic clerics. agencies Home
Daily Times - All Rights Reserved [http://www.wcis.com.pk]
*****************************************************************
23 Lincoln County News: Maine Yankee Debates NRC on Cleanup Issue
September 22, 2004
By Greg Foster
A federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) official informed
members of Maine Yankee’s citizen panel about an “apparent
violation” in making a change in its license termination plan.
It concerns the cleanup of the land at the plant site, which has
been regulated by state and federal authorities during the
decommissioning of the plant site at Bailey Point in Wiscasset.
Officials have been monitoring the remediation of the land and
groundwater to determine if it is meeting federal and more
stringent state standards, which the company has agreed to it in
its license termination plan (LTP).
Maine Yankee made some changes in its implementation, which it
has stated that it could do without NRC permission, but the NRC
disagrees.
Maine Yankee denies there is any violation, but the issue is
currently under NRC review, according to a report from Mark
Roberts, NRC senior health physicist, during a CAP meeting last
Wed., Sept. 15.
Company spokesman Eric Howes explained that an apparent
violation is technically not a violation until it has been
definitely determined.
The company is claiming otherwise. “In fact, we have over
performed,” Howes said. “We removed more than we had to.”
Howes also said that Maine Yankee has reached an agreement with
the State of Maine for a five-year monitoring of groundwater
after Maine Yankee has completed its decommissioning next year.
In a letter to the NRC, the company chief nuclear officer, Mike
Meisner, stated one of the conditions of the license:
“The license condition allows Maine Yankee to make a change to
the LTP without prior NRC approval if the change does not
‘increase the radioactivity level relative to the applicable
derived concentration guidelines level at which an investigation
occurs,” he wrote.
Maine Yankee is basically saying that the change it made to the
LTP does not increase the radiation level. There are
technicalities involved in the issue, which Meisner address in
great length to the NRC.
Community Advisor Panel member Ray Shadis, spokesman for the
watchdog Friends of the Coast, believes there are hot spots that
Maine Yankee is leaving behind that are not in compliance with
what was agreed upon. He said this after finding out about the
NRC’s citing an apparent violation.
Shadis addressed the changes to the license termination plan. In
a letter to the NRC, he stated, “Maine Yankee may be burying and
/or otherwise leaving hotspots and grossly contaminated patches
unanticipated by our agreement.”
Shadis went on to say, “There appears to be the belief that
contaminated plant areas may be reclassified as needed to provide
a more favorable area factor.” He labeled the company’s approach
to the problem a “misrepresentation of the site LTP”.
As a result, Friends of the Coast requested the NRC to conduct
an in-depth review of the documentation and methodologies used by
the company’s final status survey group.
“We’re asking the NRC to take an extra hard look at that,” he
said during at the CAP meeting last week.
FERC settlement
In other business, Maine Yankee announced a Federal Energy
Regulatory Commission (FERC) settlement offer, for which it
received final approval last Thursday, the day after the CAP
meeting.
“It’s an important step,” Howes announced this week.
The settlement contains an agreement with the FERC for rates
that it may be able to collect from electric customers to
complete its decommissioning through 2008 and for the spent fuel
storage facility operation through 2023.
There are terms included in the settlement referring to the
eventuality of Maine Yankee’s receiving a settlement in its suit
against the federal Dept. of Energy for $150 million for not
following through on its promise to provide a national repository
by 1998.
The trial of the suit has ended but is going through post trial
briefs which are expected to end some time in mid-December.The
judge could decide at any time after that on what Maine Yankee
will receive.
In that event, the terms of new FERC settlement outline Maine
Yankee’s use of any money collected to reduce the burden on
electric ratepayers, Howes said.
Former Maine Yankee spokesperson Catherine Ferdinand, has been
hired by the company to complete a documentation of the CAP’s
work since its inception in 1997.
Core members of the CAP have been asked to make comments on
their experience while serving on the company’s panel.
The work will go online and be available in hard copy with the
intent to serve as an aid to other decommissioning power plants
in the future and as part of the history of the decommissioning
process at Maine Yankee.
Vol. 129 - No. 39 [
This site is owned by Lincoln County News © 2002
*****************************************************************
24 NRC: NRC Davis-Besse Oversight Panel to Meet Sept. 28 in Ohio
News Release - Region III - 2004-04
U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
Office of Public Affairs, Region III No. III-04-046
September. 22, 2004 CONTACT: Jan Strasma (630) 829-9663
Viktoria Mitlyng (630) 829-9662 E-mail: opa3@nrc.gov
[opa3@nrc.gov]
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission Davis-Besse Oversight Panel
will meet with FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Company officials
on Tuesday, Sept. 28, in Oak Harbor, Ohio, to review recent
operating performance and NRC inspection activities at the
Davis-Besse Nuclear Power Plant.
The plant resumed operation in March after a two-year shutdown
to replace the reactor vessel head and make other safety system
and staff performance improvements. The NRC Oversight Panel was
formed in 2002 to coordinate the agencys regulatory activities
in response to the problems at Davis-Besse; during the shutdown
and startup process it held monthly public meetings with the
utility and continues to meet approximately bimonthly.
The meeting will be held at 6 p.m. in the Oak Harbor High School
Auditorium, 11661 West State Rt. 163, Oak Harbor. The public is
invited to observe the business portion of the meeting and will
have an opportunity to make comments and ask questions of the
NRC staff before the meeting is adjourned. The staff will also
be available after the meeting for informal discussions with the
public.
We expect to hear from utility officials how they assess their
performance since the last oversight panel meeting in July,
said John Grobe, Chairman of the NRC Oversight Panel. In
addition, we will discuss the independent performance
assessments being performed at the plant as well as findings of
recent NRC inspections.
A transcript of the oversight panel meeting will be posted in
several weeks on the NRC's web site - http://www.nrc.gov. Select
"Davis-Besse/Reactor Vessel Head Degradation" from the Key
Topics menu.
The NRC oversight panel includes NRC managers and staff from
offices in Lisle, Illinois; Rockville, Maryland; and the
Davis-Besse site.
Documents on the Davis-Besse corrosion issue, including further
details on NRC's oversight panel activities, are posted on the
NRC's web site.
Last revised Wednesday, September 22, 2004
*****************************************************************
25 Middletown Press: CDAC updated on nuke breakup
Wednesday 22 September, 2004
BY JOSH MROZINSKI Middletown Press Staff
MIDDLETOWN -- The Connecticut Yankee Atomic Power Co. updated the
Community Decommissioning Advisory Committee about its
decommissioning process at a Tuesday night meeting.
The site closure plan, the demolition of the containment dome and
the Haddam tax question were discussed at the meeting at the
Connecticut Light and Power office on Randolph Road.
The decommissioning process, which began in 1998, involves
demolishing buildings and moving 43 spent-fuel and greater than
Class-C Waste into dry casks to a storage area which is
three-quarters of a mile from the plant. Greater than Class-C
Waste is cut-up metal from the reactor vessel.
Gary Bouchard, nuclear safety and regulatory affairs director,
said 17 of the 43 spent-fuel and waste canisters have been moved
to the storage site.
"That’s roughly 40 percent," Bouchard said.
The project, he said, is still expected to be completed by the
first quarter of 2005.
During the process, water collected at the bottom of some of the
vertical concrete casks. The water was drained by drilling holes
at the base of the casks’ weldments.
"We believe it (the water) came in during the construction,"
Bouchard said.
Bouchard said four structures have been demolished and another
four are in the process of being demolished. All reactor coolant
pipe has been removed while the remaining commodities are being
removed, he said. And about half of the neutron shield tank has
been removed, he said.
Some of building foundations will be left behind and filled in,
he said. The physical decommissioning of the site, or demolishing
of the buildings, is scheduled to be completed at the end of
2006.
Commodities are miscellaneous items in the building. The intent,
he said, is to remove the commodities off the site.
"It’s not on site any longer than it has to be," Bouchard said.
He said the low-level waste is being shipped to Utah while
potentially radioactive waste is being shipped to Tennessee.
Clean waste is being disposed of in the state, he said.
"The rate of waste truck shipments is increasing," Bouchard said.
Chuck Miller, the lead technician for the groundwater program,
said groundwater monitoring shows an on-site decline of
Strontium-90 and Tritium.
He said the levels of Strontium-90 has declined because the tank
farm, which has been the source of the pollutant, isn’t being
used anymore and the soil beneath it, which had the pollutants,
has been excavated.
Tents across the tank farm also has reduced the level of
pollutants, he said.
"So we have a downward trend in our groundwater contamination,"
Miller said.
A site closure plan created by the power company was presented at
the meeting. The plan, a binder with 12 sections and five
appendices, outlines activities leading up to the clean closure
of the plant and nearby parcels.
The plan gives an overview of federal regulatory programs and the
work being done at the Haddam Neck Plant.
It also describes how the programs will be integrated with the
movement of spent-fuel and greater than Class-C Waste.
The commission then watched a video of the demolition of the
containment dome, which covers the reactor, at Maine Yankee in
Wiscasset, Maine.
Curley, who witnessed the destruction of the dome in June, said
the blast left a 75-foot-high pile of ruble. He said 337 charges
were put into eight-to-10-foot holes that were drilled into the
columns.
The columns, he said, were wrapped to keep the blast from
spreading debris.
Connecticut Yankee officials said they don’t know yet what method
they will use to destroy their dome, which is scheduled to be
demolished by January 2005.
Curley said two questions came to mind when he watched the dome’s
destruction. He said he wondered how much noise would be expected
from drilling the holes into the dome and how the debris will be
moved.
Bouchard said the noise won’t be any louder than it is now and
that the material would be taken by trucks.
A total of 266 million pounds of debris will be taken from the
site, he said.
Curley said the Monday night public hearing about Wiscasset,
Maine trying to get more taxes from Maine Yankee, a sister
company of Connecticut Yankee, was valuable and fair.
Peter L. Murray, the Wiscasset attorney, explained to Haddam
residents on Monday what they are doing. The town invited him to
speak so that residents could learn more about the situation and
decide whether they want to pursue a similar action against
Connecticut Yankee.
Curley said he came to the hearing, concerned about it’s effect
on the decommissioning process. But, he said the meeting won’t
effect the process and was instead focused on the question of
taxes.
"I was just concerned (whether) it would create fear in the
decommissioning process," Curley said. "I was pleased with the
presenter from Maine."
To contact Josh Mrozinski, call (860) 347-3331, ext. 222.
or email jmrozinski@middletownpress.com.
©The Middletown Press 2004
*****************************************************************
26 Public Citizen:Public Interest Groups’ Court Case Forces Nuclear
Regulatory Commission to Conduct Public Rulemaking
Sept. 21, 2004
WASHINGTON, D.C. The publics right to comment on security
regulations at nuclear power plants has been restored as the
result of a lawsuit filed by Public Citizen and the California
environmental group San Luis Obispo Mothers for Peace
[http://www.mothersforpeace.org/] , Public Citizen said today.
The groups earlier this year sued the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission [http://www.nrc.gov/] (NRC), accusing the agency of
violating federal law on rulemaking procedures when it issued
new rules in 2003 on the design basis threat (DBT) the
terrorist attack scenario that nuclear plants are required to be
able to guard against without first notifying the public and
allowing an opportunity for public comment.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
has now issued an order that effectively tells the agency to
provide the rulemaking proceeding sought in the lawsuit.
Technically, the order holds the case in abeyance to give the
agency an opportunity to make good on its assurance to the court
that it now intends to conduct a proper rulemaking. If the
agency fails to live up to that commitment, the lawsuit would be
revived. The order was issued Friday but attorneys in the case
first learned of it late yesterday when they received it by
mail.
The lawsuit asked the court to order the agency to conduct a
noticeandcomment rulemaking that complied with the
Administrative Procedure Act and the Atomic Energy Act. The
agency responded that it was not required to do so and that the
court had no jurisdiction to order it to, but after briefs were
filed in the case and shortly before it was argued before the
appeals court on Sept. 10, the NRC reversed course and advised
the court that it now intended to conduct a rulemaking
proceeding. The courts order followed only a week after the
argument.
What the court has decided to do is wait and see whether the
agency follows through on its commitment to conduct a
rulemaking, said Scott Nelson, the Public Citizen attorney who
argued the case. Wed have preferred that the court order the
agency to engage in rulemaking, but this order is nearly as good
because it makes it pretty clear that the court expects the
agency to live up to its promises.
Yet to be determined is whether the agencys rulemaking will
provide a meaningful opportunity for public comment, given the
NRCs penchant for secrecy regarding security matters, and
whether the comments received by the agency are taken into
account in recrafting the rule.
Well be watching the NRC closely to make sure they follow
through on the publics right to know, said Wenonah Hauter,
director of Public Citizens energy program. This is really
something they should have done a year and a half ago when they
issued the rule. Its a shame the NRC continues to waste so
much time in properly upgrading a rule that was flawed even
before September 11.
Public Citizen
*****************************************************************
27 Greenwich Time: State's highest court to hear town case on public records
GreenwichTime.com
By Neil Vigdor Staff Writer
September 22, 2004
Perhaps sensing its potentially far-reaching ramifications after
the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the state's highest court
will now decide a landmark public records case involving access
to aerial reconnaissance photographs and maps of Greenwich.
The town maintains the images in a tightly kept database known as
a geographic information system, which a judge declared to be
public records last December.
The Connecticut Supreme Court announced Monday that it will hear
the town's appeal of that ruling, expediting the case by
leap-frogging the state Appellate Court.
The move virtually coincides with the third anniversary of the
initial complaint in the case, which Greenwich resident and
computer consultant Stephen Whitaker filed with the state Freedom
Information Commission after the town denied his request for an
electronic copy of the entire database for security and privacy
reasons.
Whitaker is seeking the images for potential "commercial and
civic uses" such as taxi routing, assessment services and mapping
out safe school routes for children.
"I could see where the Supreme Court would want to take it," said
Clifton Leonhardt, director of litigation for the state FOIC,
which sided with the computer consultant in the case and is named
a defendant in the town's appeal. "It's a first in the United
States, a case of first impression on a national basis. It really
is a case of 'Where are we going with computerized records?' "
Leonhardt said placing restrictions on the images, which the town
effectively does by making only individual maps available to
citizens, undermines the public's ability to analyze the same
data government relies on in its decision-making.
Assistant Town Attorney Haden Gerrish also noted the significance
of the case, but for different reasons. "I think it shows that
the court recognizes the importance of the public safety issues
involved," said Gerrish, who has long argued that the unfettered
release of detailed information on infrastructure, public safety
facilities, schools and celebrities' homes in electronic form
could lead to breaches in security and privacy.
In an e-mail alert sent to the town's information technology
office and other government agencies just four months after the
terrorist attacks, the FBI warned of the possibility of
terrorists using municipal and state Web sites to gather
information for future plots. It read:
"The FBI has received uncorroborated information indicating that
terrorists may be using U.S. municipal and state Web sites to
obtain information regarding local energy infrastructures, water
reservoirs, dams, highly-enriched uranium storage sites, and
nuclear and gas facilities. Although the FBI possesses no
specific threat information, recipients should remain vigilant to
any unusual activity around such facilities."
State Superior Court Judge Howard Owens Jr. rejected the town's
argument in a Dec. 30, 2003, decision, citing lack of concrete
evidence to support its claim that the materials' release
presented an immediate danger to the community.
A spokeswoman for the Connecticut Supreme Court was unable to
explain yesterday why the state's highest judicial body decided
to take the case.
Arguments could be heard as early as next month in the case.
Whitaker applauded the high court's decision to hear the case,
saying he had considered requesting its intervention to expedite
the process.
"I guess it shows foresight on the court's part to realize how
important it is," Whitaker said. "It's a relief that Greenwich
cannot stall me for another round of appeals because public
records law is supposed to be an immediate process and this has
gone on for years."
Among those public records watchdogs who will be monitoring the
case is Charles Davis, executive director of the Freedom of
Information Center at the Missouri School of Journalism.
"I sense the importance of this case in that it is a good
conceptualization of a post-Sept. 11 clash between access and
privacy," Davis said. In Connecticut, Davis said, the burden of
proof in public records cases rests largely with government
agencies.
"Without access to GIS systems and images, we're allowing
government to create an extremely powerful parallel universe
without any scrutiny of that parallel universe, and that's
fraught with disaster," he said.
Copyright © 2004, Southern Connecticut Newspapers, Inc.
[Aparrtments.com] [Careerbuilder] [Cars.com]
© 2004, Southern Connecticut Newspapers, Inc.
*****************************************************************
28 UK Independent: Brussels clears £3.4bn nuclear bail-out for British Energy
By Stephen Castle and Michael Harrison
23 September 2004
British Energy won approval from Brussels yesterday for its
£3.4bn government-backed bail-out, under the condition that the
cash is used exclusively for decommissioning nuclear power
plants.
The go-ahead for an injection of taxpayers' cash was welcomed by
the Government as a vital step forward in the restructuring of
Britain's biggest power producer, which came close to collapse
in 2002 when electricity prices slumped.
It also strengthens BE's hand in its fight with rebel
shareholders, led by the US hedge fund Polygon Investments, who
are attempting to block the financial restructuring of the
business.
But green groups attacked the decision, arguing it would
encourage other European governments to subsidise their nuclear
industries.
As a condition of yesterday's approval, the EU Competition
Commissioner Mario Monti insisted the state aid must be
ring-fenced and must not be used to subsidise other commercial
activities. In addition, British Energy will not be allowed to
increase its nuclear generating capacity for six years. It will
also be banned from extending its fossil fuel operations outside
the UK or buying hydroelectric power plants from competitors
inside the country.
And the company will not be permitted to undercut prices offered
by other energy providers to big business customers for a period
of five years.
Mr Monti's spokesman, Tilman Lüder, declined to give an official
figure for the size of the government bail-out, arguing that the
decommissioning timescale is so long term that estimates are
unreliable.
The Commission's decision was welcomed by Patricia Hewitt, the
Secretary of State for Trade and Industry.
Green groups were furious, however. Jan Vande Putte of
Greenpeace said: "This decision allows for billions of euros of
taxpayers' money to be squandered on an unsafe energy system,
run by a company which is not capable of making itself viable
without a massive financial prop. It is staggering that the
Commission has allowed subsidies to British Energy."
The state-aid clearance from Brussels paves the way for BE to
put the financial restructuring to a shareholder vote. This is
likely to take another six weeks. In the meantime, Polygon is
attempting to force an extraordinary meeting before that to
throw out the refinancing, which would leave shareholders with
just 2.5 per cent of the company. BE has gone to the US courts
to seek an injunction against Polygon preventing it from
proceeding with its own EGM. A district judge in New York is
expected to rule on BE's application in the next two days.
UK Independent Ltd.
*****************************************************************
29 NRC: NRC Staff to Meet with Southern Nuclear to Discuss Second Farley Plant License
Renewal Inspection
News Release - Region II - 2004-05
U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
Office of Public Affairs, Region II
No. II-04-050 September 21, 2004
CONTACT: Ken Clark (404) 562-4416
Roger D. Hannah (404) 562-4417 E-mail: opa2@nrc.gov
[opa2@nrc.gov]
Nuclear Regulatory Commission officials will meet with Southern
Nuclear Operating Company management at 9:00 a.m. (CDT) on
Friday, Oct. 1, in Dothan, Ala., to discuss the results of the
agencys second inspection of the Farley nuclear plants license
renewal program.
The meeting will be held in the Houston County Commission
Chambers on the 3rd floor of the Houston County Administrative
Building, 462 North Oates Street in Dothan. It will be open to
public observation, and NRC officials will be available prior to
the close of the meeting to answer questions from interested
observers. A report on the inspection will be issued
approximately 45 days after the meeting and will be available to
the public.
The inspection, which began Sept. 13th and runs until Oct. 1st,
is the second license renewal review at the Farley plant, and is
conducted to verify that programs are in place to manage the
material condition of the plants systems, structures and
components during the 20 additional years of operation should
the NRC approve the license renewal application.
The NRC conducted a meeting at the companys offices in
Birmingham in May to discuss results of the agencys initial
inspection of the Farley license renewal program. Southern
Nuclear submitted an application to renew the licenses for the
two units at the Farley plant license in September of last year,
and that application, if approved by the NRC, would extend the
expiration date of the two units operating licenses from 2017
for Unit 1 and 2021 for Unit 2 to 2037 and 2041 respectively.
EDITORS NOTE: As announced in a previous news release (NRC No.
II-04-045), the NRC staff is conducting two similar meetings on
Sept. 30, the day before this meeting, to receive public input
on the draft environmental impact statement for Farley plant
license renewal. Those meetings begin at 1:30 and 7:00 p.m. with
time for informal discussion beginning one hour before each
meeting, and will be held at the Quality Inn on Ross Clark
Circle in Dothan.
Last revised Wednesday, September 22, 2004
*****************************************************************
30 Sofia Morning News: Bulgaria's 2nd Nuke Gets IAEA Support
[Sofia News Agency]
novinite.com
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) head Mohamed
ElBaradei pledged that the agency would keep on assisting
Bulgaria in the construction of the country's second nuke. Photo
by www.irinews.ir
Top news: 22 September 2004, Wednesday.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) vowed its support
to the Bulgarian nuclear energetics.
We shall continue to support the nuclear power industry in
Bulgaria, IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei said during his meeting
with Bulgaria's Energy Minister Milko Kovachev at the 48th annual
IAEA meeting in Vienna.
ElBaradei said that Sofia could rely on IAEA's expert and
technical assistance in all the stages of the construction of the
nuclear power plant in Belene. IAEA will continue to consult
Bulgaria in preparing financial, economic and technical
assessments and safety criteria in the project for a new plant,
ElBaradei said.
Minister Kovachev presented to the IAEA's chief the procedures
linked with the construction of the power plant. He has also
acquainted ElBaradei with the tender for the election of a
financial and technical consultant of the project.
Bulgaria's second nuclear plant in Belene was re-launched for
construction after a government decision end of last year. It had
been set to a halt in 1992 due to protests from
environmentalists.[ 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
*****************************************************************
31 NRC: NRC Staff And Duke Energy to Discuss Corrective Actions for Two Oconee Nuclear
Plant White Findings
News Release - Region II - 2004-05 U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY
COMMISSION
Office of Public Affairs, Region II No. II-04-051
September 21, 2004 CONTACT: Ken Clark (404) 562-4416 Roger D.
Hannah (404) 562-4417 E-mail: [opa2@nrc.gov]
Nuclear Regulatory Commission officials will meet with Duke
Energy management at 10:30 a.m. on Monday, October 4, at the
Oconee nuclear plant site, 155 E. Pickens Highway in Seneca,
S.C., to discuss a supplemental inspection which examined the
companys corrective actions associated with two earlier
findings.
The meeting will be open to public observation, and NRC
officials will be available prior to the close of the meeting to
answer questions from interested observers.
The supplemental inspection, conducted in August, was performed
to assess the licensees problem identification, root cause
evaluation, extent of condition determination and corrective
actions associated with two white findings in the mitigating
systems cornerstone of the NRC oversight program. The white
findings involved the inadequate installation of some electrical
connectors on a Unit 3 pump and potential problems with the
pressurizers for all three Oconee units. A white finding on
the agencys green, white, yellow, red safety significance
scale, means the issue is considered to have a low to moderate
impact on plant safety.
The plant continues to be operated safely and were satisfied
the company has addressed the deficiencies, said Len Wert, NRC
Region II Deputy Director of the Division of Reactor Projects,
but we want to hear what they have to say about what our
inspectors saw as a lack of thoroughness in their corrective
action process as it related to these findings.
Additional details on the white findings and supplemental
inspection are available from the NRC public affairs office in
Region II or through the agencys ADAMS document system at
www.nrc.gov./reading-rm/adams.html. Help in using ADAMS is
available by contacting the NRC Public Document Room at
301-415-4737 or 1-800-397-4209.
Last revised Wednesday, September 22, 2004
*****************************************************************
32 NRC: NRC to Hold Public Meeting Sept. 30 to Discuss Certain Fiscal Year 2005 Emphasis Areas
News Release - 2004-11 U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Office
of Public Affairs Telephone: 301/415-8200 Washington, DC
20555-0001 E-mail: [opa@nrc.gov] No. 04-118 September
22, 2004
Staff from the Nuclear Regulatory Commissions Office of Nuclear
Reactor Regulation (NRR) will meet with interested stakeholders
on Sept. 30 in Rockville, Md., to discuss how NRR plans to
schedule some of its workload in fiscal year 2005.
The meeting will be held in the Randolph Congressional Room of
the Ramada Inn, 1775 Rockville Pike, from 8:30 a.m. until 11:30
a.m. The discussions will help inform stakeholders as to how
resource allocation, scheduling and unanticipated safety efforts
can affect three major program areas: 1) rulemaking and policy
development, 2) advanced reactors, and 3) license renewal.
Given the level of stakeholder interactions in these areas, a
change in stakeholder schedules or any unanticipated complexity
often affects all three areas. Public comments will assist NRR
staff in considering stakeholder assumptions and priorities as
they affect any future workload adjustment.
Members of the public are invited to participate by discussing
these issues with NRC staff at designated points during the
meeting. The meeting agenda is available electronically through
the NRCs Agencywide Documents Access and Management System on
the NRC web site at:
http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams/web-based.html, by entering
accession number ML042510453 . For more information on the
meeting, contact Timothy Reed at 301-415-1462 or via email at
[tjr@nrc.gov] .
Last revised Wednesday, September 22, 2004
*****************************************************************
33 Aid & Development: Radioactive material widespread in Iraq
electronicIraq.net
Report, IRIN, 21 September 2004
[This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the
United Nations]
BAGHDAD, 21 September (IRIN) - While the Coalition has not found
any weapons of mass destruction, Iraq has lots of radioactive
pollution, especially at a known nuclear research site, a new
survey conducted by the Ministry of Environment shows.
Tuwaitha, some 18 km south of the capital, Baghdad, is a site of
previous nuclear weapons research and experiments. It appears to
have the highest ambient radiation in the country, Bushra Ali
Ahmed, author of the radiation survey, told IRIN.
Residents of the area looted containers holding radioactive
materials in the days immediately following the US-led invasion
of Iraq in April 2003. They dumped the radioactive contents on
the ground at the site and used the containers to carry water,
milk and other household materials and foodstuffs.
US troops and nuclear organisation workers paid about 4,500
dinars (US $3) per container to buy them back in May. Officials
at the time said they were not sure they had managed to get all
of the containers back.
"This site was polluted by looting and destroying research
materials," Ahmed wrote in the survey. "We found a number of
containers which had traces of radiation. We also found it in
houses and villages nearby."
At least four surrounding villages are contaminated, the report
said. Ministry officials took 190 samples at Tuwaitha: 70 for
soil, 50 for water, 50 for dairy milk and 20 for other
environmental items.
In addition, more than 4,000 people in Tuwaitha were tested.
Employees who worked in radiation-related fields were also
monitored by officials for the survey, although no conclusions
were drawn.
While no specific numbers are available in the secretive military
industry ministry, an estimated 5,000 workers may have been
exposed to various radioactive materials in recent years,
according to Mohammed Abed Ali, a doctor at the Baghdad Radiation
Hospital.
The Tuwaitha site is currently guarded by US troops and protected
by 30 metre high earth walls. It was bombed by Israeli rockets in
the 1980s after which former President Saddam Hussein agreed to
dismantle a nuclear bomb project.
Radiation was also found at a former military site known as
al-Nasser in the suburbs of Baghdad and in Daura, also on the
outskirts of the capital, the Iraq survey said.
The United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) is now starting
a US $4.7 million pilot project to investigate environmental "hot
spots" and help with cleaning them up, ranging from chemical
spills to oil discharges.
United Nations workers will help Iraq get rid of pollution
threats to human health, wildlife and the wider environment,
Klaus Toepfer, UNEP's executive director, said in a statement.
"Importantly, UNEP will be training Iraqi experts to carry out
the tests in order to build the skills and technical know-how in
the country," Toepfer said. "This is part of our long-term aim of
creating a fully independent Iraqi team of first-class
environmental assessors."
Workers at the newly created Ministry of Environment wrote up the
survey to compile work they have done for the last year, Dalal
Ali, head of the ministry's media department, told IRIN. Ahmed is
the general director of the Centre for Protection from Radiation,
newly created after US-led troops entered Iraq.
Iraqi scientists will send samples to Geneva for additional
testing in European laboratories.
In addition, the Iraq survey found depleted uranium in large
amounts in southern Iraq, including in Hilla, the port city of
Basra, and Karbala and Najaf. Depleted uranium occurs naturally
in the environment, but is often used in munitions fired at tanks
and other armoured vehicles during fighting.
On the positive side, radiation appears not to have spread to
drinking water - the ministry tested 577 water samples around the
country but found no radioactive pollution, Ahmed said.
Iraq's water treatment system has long been neglected, however,
with some aid agencies estimating that 70 percent of childhood
deaths come from illness related to drinking contaminated water.
"Now our centre wants to test food material and imports to make
sure no new radiation is introduced," Ahmed said.
Now that the survey is complete, Ahmed has a list of
recommendations, including modernising existing countrywide maps
of radiation and the environment; undertaking more measurements
for radon gas, which indicates the presence of the highly toxic
uranium-238, used to make nuclear bombs; training workers;
beefing up laboratories that test for radiation; and embarking on
a public awareness campaign so that people will not dump
radioactive materials again.
The UNEP project plans to examine five out of an estimated 300
contaminated sites around the country. The UN agency expects to
deal with sites such as the Al-Mishraq Sulphur State Company,
where sulphur fires appeared to have contaminated soil and
groundwater; and the Midland (Al-Doura) Refinery where 5,000 mt
of chemicals, including tetra-ethyl lead, were spilled or dumped.
In addition, oil spills caused by frequent sabotage of the
country's pipelines have created an environmental mess, the UNEP
statement said. And scrap metal plants may have released
contaminants such as halons and asbestos from destroyed military
vehicles.
IRIN-Asia, Tel: +92-51-2211451, Fax: +92-51-2292918, Email:
IrinAsia@irin.org.pk [IrinAsia@irin.org.pk]
This Item is Delivered to the "Asia-English" Service of the UN's
IRIN humanitarian information unit, but may not necessarily
reflect the views of the United Nations. For further information,
free subscriptions, or to change your keywords, contact e-mail:
IRIN@ocha.unon.org [IRIN@ocha.unon.org] or Web:
http://www.irinnews.org [http://www.irinnews.org] . If you
re-print, copy, archive or re-post this item, please retain this
credit and disclaimer. Reposting by commercial sites requires
written IRIN permission.
Page last updated: 21 September 2004, 18:10
This page is part of Electronic Iraq/electronicIraq.net
*****************************************************************
34 Guardian Unlimited: UK sends uranium to Kyrgyzstan
Owen Bowcott
Thursday September 23, 2004
The Guardian [http://www.guardian.co.uk]
Around 1,800 tonnes of uranium-contaminated material are to be
shipped out of Britain for re-processing in a former Soviet
republic.
The residues, left over from production of the UK's first
generation of Magnox reactors, are being stored at the
Springfields reactor fuel manufacturing plant near Preston.
The transaction is being carried out by British Nuclear Fuels
because the material is too radioactive to be stored in a
landfill site.
The drums are being exported to the Kara Balta uranium mining and
processing facility in northern Kyrgyzstan, this week's New
Scientist magazine reveals, because it is one of the few plants
capable of separating the uranium from the graphite.
The scheme is opposed by environmental groups and the prime
minister, Nikolai Tanayev, has indicated his disapproval. A
government commission has, however, given it the go-ahead.
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
*****************************************************************
35 Bangornews.com: Concerned scientist warns of rogue nukes
Wednesday, September 22, 2004
[http://www.bangornews.com
Kevin Knobloch (standing), president of the Union of Concerned
Scientists, chats with Emily Markides, adjunct faculty member in
the peace studies department, and Lee Davis (left), retired
biology professor, before speaking about nuclear threat.
By Misty Edgecomb, Of the NEWS Staff
[medgecomb@bangordailynews.net]
ORONO - When Kevin Knobloch, president of the Union of Concerned
Scientists lies awake at night, it's not climate change or toxic
pollution that keeps him tossing and turning, but a fear that one
of the thousands of nuclear weapons that remain from the Cold War
- or one of the new weapons that he predicts will result from
United States policies - will someday be put to use. In the dark
days after Sept. 11, 2001, early intelligence reports incorrectly
indicated that an al-Qaida operative had stolen such a weapon and
planned to detonate it in Manhattan, where it would have killed a
half-million people instantly, and left hundreds of thousands
more to suffer the effects of radiation poisoning.
That "crime of historical proportions" never occurred, but the
danger remains very real, Knobloch said, speaking at the
University of Maine Tuesday afternoon.
Such an incident could wreak "a devastation that makes Sept. 11 a
footnote in American history," yet his group believes that recent
policy changes aimed at protecting Americans from terrorism could
actually increase the potential danger from "outlaw regimes," by
encouraging worldwide nuclear proliferation, he said.
Today, 6,000 American weapons remain ready to be fired within a
moment's warning, with another 4,000 in storage and ready for
deployment in a matter of months. Russia has a few less weapons
on standby, but more in storage, and many tons of stored enriched
uranium that is not well-protected.
Recently, President George W. Bush has moved forward with a
treaty stating that both the United States and Russia would
reduce their deployed weapons to 2,000 - still a substantial
number considering the fact that just 600 weapons could devastate
either nation, Knobloch said.
"It's not what it could be, but it's a step [forward], and the
president deserves credit," he said.
But the president also has said that an arsenal of improved
weapons, like so-called "mininukes" a third the size of the bomb
used at Hiroshima, and the controversial "robust nuclear earth
penetrator" (known more commonly as the bunker-buster) is
necessary to ensure domestic security in these uncertain times.
President Bush's doctrine of pre-emption against non-nuclear
nations, his advocacy for restoring the nation's nuclear testing
program (halted in a treaty with the Russians in 1992), and his
desire to develop new American weapons only encourage other
nations to seek out these materials and develop weapons for their
own protection, Knobloch argued.
Today, only the United States, Russia, France, England, Israel,
India, Pakistan and China are known to have nuclear weapons,
though other nations, including Iran and North Korea, are
believed to have some nuclear weapons technology. For any nation
to continue developing nuclear weapons while telling other
nations they cannot acquire this symbol of power is hypocritical,
he said.
"The policies coming out of this administration seem to be aimed
at starting a nuclear arms race," Knobloch said.
The Union of Concerned Scientists, founded in 1969 - in part
because of a growing nuclear threat - is a nonpartisan group made
up of professional scientists from all disciplines and will not
endorse a presidential candidate. Rather, their concerns are
based on analyses developed by their team of scientists, often
taking aim at both parties.
"We're equal opportunity criticizers," Knobloch said Tuesday.
However, nuclear defense has become a somewhat partisan issue in
Washington. Maine's U.S. Reps. Tom Allen and Mike Michaud, both
Democrats, have opposed the president's policies, while
Republican Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins have supported
the White House's call for a new arsenal. Neither senator could
be reached for comment Tuesday night, though both have previously
asserted their support for a strong national defense.
Knobloch argues that safety can only be ensured by reducing the
number of deployed weapons, if necessary by negotiating with
rogue nations, and by working to guarantee that those existing in
stockpiles are well-guarded and safely stored.
"No matter how many nuclear weapons we have, it won't stop a
terrorist who gets his or her hands on [one] from using it," he
said.
For more information about the Union of Concerned Scientists,
visit their Web site at www.ucsusa.org.
©2004 Bangor Daily News. All rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
36 AFP: New test will monitor ailing British Gulf veterans for uranium - report
Reuters | Press Assocation | AFP | Sky News | The Scotsman |
Thursday September 23, 12:37 AM
LONDON (AFP) - Britain is to test thousands of veterans of the
1991 Gulf War who have suffered a range of unexplained ailments
for the possible presence of depleted uranium in their bodies, a
report said.
Four clinics will undertake the tests in a fresh attempt to
explain so-called Gulf War Syndrome, the Times newspaper said.
Both British and US forces in the conflict used armour-piercing
shells tipped with depleted uranium, and veterans' groups have
long argued that radioactive dust from the shells could have
caused illnesses.
However previous British tests have failed to establish a link,
although some of the research has been condemned as unreliable,
the Times said.
Britain's Ministry of Defence is set to announce the
establishment of four specialist screening centres where Gulf
veterans, as well as soldiers who served in the 1999 Kosovo war,
where the uranium shells were also used, can be properly tested.
David Coggan, the scientist overseeing the programme, told the
Times that the new tests would be able to detect any amounts of
depleted uranium in veterans' urine sufficient to cause
ill-health.
The tests would be sufficiently "sensitive and accurate" to
uncover even "tiny traces" of uranium, he told the paper.
Around 5,000 British troops have complained of experiencing a
range of mysterious maladies after taking part in the Gulf War,
in which British troops joined a US-led campaign to liberate
Kuwait, invaded the previous August by Saddam Hussein's Iraq.
Common symptoms -- also reported by many American veterans --
include neurological problems, headaches, depression, weakness,
joint and muscle pain, rashes and shortness of breath.
Veterans' groups have slammed the British government's response
to the situation as insufficient and demanded a public inquiry.
In June, principal ex-soldiers' organisation the Royal British
Legion announced its own probe into Gulf War Syndrome, presided
over by a retired judge.
Copyright © 2004 AFP. All rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
37 Las Vegas RJ: Nevada loses nuclear waste grant
Wednesday, September 22, 2004
NRC rejection of $13.75 million request threatens efforts to
fight Yucca Mountain Project By STEVE TETREAULT
STEPHENS WASHINGTON BUREAU
WASHINGTON -- Nevada has been turned down for a $13.75 million
nuclear waste grant, potentially threatening the state's legal
and science campaigns against the Yucca Mountain Project, an
official said Tuesday.
After learning the Nuclear Regulatory Commission had rejected
the application, the state's nuclear waste manager said he may
seek $1 million in supplemental funds from the state Board of
Examiners and the Legislature later this year to stay afloat.
"I guess we're going to sit tight and see what happens, and
then make a decision whether to go to the Legislature or not,"
said Bob Loux, executive director of the Nevada Agency for
Nuclear Projects.
"We can limp along here for now," Loux said. "We're probably OK
until November or December."
Loux said the impact is difficult to measure because the Energy
Department also is facing uncertainties due to a budget impasse
in Congress and a legal ruling this summer that invalidated a
key radiation safety standard.
DOE delays on the Yucca project could buy time for the state
until Congress acts or federal courts hear a pending lawsuit
that seeks additional government funding, Loux said.
The state already had instructed contract scientists to slow
their work.
Additionally, Loux said Clark County may be asked to contribute
about $150,000 for ongoing research on projects involving waste
container corrosion and possible volcano impacts at the
repository site.
The financial setback comes when the state needs additional
money the most. It has increased spending on lawyers, technical
experts and research to prepare for Yucca Mountain license
hearings before the NRC.
State officials had projected they would spend about $10
million a year for the next four years or more to mount an
aggressive challenge.
The state recently renewed a $6 million contract with Egan,
Fitzpatrick, Malsch &Cynkar, of McLean, Va., to represent the
state during Yucca licensing, an amount that also funds major
technical consultants.
To finance its repository research, Nevada has relied on an
appropriation from Congress each year. But lawmakers allocated
only $1 million for 2004, about 80 percent less than the state
requested.
No money has yet been set aside for 2005.
The NRC turned down Nevada's grant request in a 43-page opinion
issued Thursday that was received by the state Tuesday.
The agency said federal laws restricted its ability to give
Nevada the money it sought. Even if the request could be
honored, the grant would have forced cutbacks in other programs,
it said.
Nevada Attorney General Brian Sandoval sued the Energy
Department on March 17 for more government funding. That case is
scheduled to be heard by a federal judge panel in Washington on
Jan. 10.
Copyright Las Vegas Review-Journal
*****************************************************************
38 Las Vegas RJ: Plan to change radiation standard angers group
Wednesday, September 22, 2004
By KEITH ROGERS REVIEW-JOURNAL
Upset with an Environmental Protection Agency official's comment
that the agency intends to quickly develop a new radiation
standard for the planned Yucca Mountain nuclear waste
repository, a statewide environmental group sent a letter to
President Bush Tuesday demanding that he direct the EPA to "back
off."
"This latest ploy by your Administration shows total disregard
for the people of our state," reads the letter from Peggy Maze
Johnson, executive director of the group, Citizen Alert.
The letter references Jeffrey Holmstead, chief of EPA's air and
radiation programs, who said Monday the agency is working
quickly to develop a standard despite court rulings expressing
doubt that standards could be met. He said it would be possible
to have a new standard by early next year.
In July, a federal appeals court in Washington, D.C. ruled the
EPA failed to follow a recommendation of the National Academy of
Sciences that radiation safety standards should protect the
public for hundreds of thousands of years, well beyond the
10,000-year guideline the EPA adopted for the repository site,
100 miles northwest of Las Vegas.
"We ask, 'What standard?' The Yucca Mountain Project has had
years to try to get this right. By what stretch of the
imagination can we believe that it will get done by early next
year. Based on what kind of science?" Maze Johnson wrote.
"Yucca Mountain is a flawed project. Nuclear waste is the
deadliest substance known to humankind. Before you put it on the
roads, railways and waterways of this country to get it to
Nevada, you must base your decision on 'sound science' as you
promised Nevadans in 2000."
John Kerry's campaign issued a statement saying the EPA move
"is further evidence of how the Bush Administration is actively
defying science and threatening Nevadans' future to push this
project through."
Copyright Las Vegas Review-Journal
*****************************************************************
39 Las Vegas SUN: Comments sought on target disposal
The Air Force is seeking public comment on a draft environmental
assessment for disposal of targets hit by depleted uranium
cannon rounds on the Nevada Test and Training Range.
The public comment period began Tuesday and will continue
through Oct. 22.
The Air Force said about 180 targets, mostly tanks, are
designated for disposal or reuse.
The draft environmental assessment focuses on air quality,
soils and water resources, hazardous materials and waste, health
and safety, biological resources and cultural resources.
The document is available at a handful of libraries in Southern
Nevada, on the Web site www.cevp.com, and at the Nellis Air
Force Base Public Affairs Office at 4370 N. Washington Blvd,
Suite 223.
For more information, call Mike Estrada at the Air Warfare
Center Directorate of Public Affairs at (702) 652-6448 or email
michael.estrada@nellis.af.mil [michael.estrada@nellis.af.mil] .
*****************************************************************
40 Las Vegas SUN: Nevada's plea for grant to oversee Yucca denied
By Benjamin Grove SUN WASHINGTON BUREAU
WASHINGTON -- The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has rejected
Nevada's request for a $13.75 million grant to oversee Yucca
Mountain, a blow to the state's effort to act as watchdog of the
federal project.
The state relies largely on federal money, mostly from
Congress, to help pay its legal and research bills in its
long-standing effort to kill the nuclear waste dump project.
This year, for the first time, Nevada requested oversight money
from the NRC, which will be responsible for licensing and
regulating Yucca. Nevada's top Yucca Mountain watchdog Bob Loux
and the state's top Yucca attorney Joe Egan went to the NRC to
request money in July.
But in a lengthy ruling delivered to the state Tuesday the NRC
rejected the request, on the basis of "applicable statutes,
regulations, Commission precedent and the agency's available
funds."
The state was hoping to use that money for an array of
oversight work, including about $2 million to continue analysis
of the repository performance and $1.8 million to continue study
of how waste containers might corrode in the repository.
Now the state may have to scramble to keep its Yucca oversight
projects going because federal money from Congress is drying up,
Loux said.
In past years Nevada and nine counties have received several
million dollars annually from Congress for Yucca oversight. The
state requested $5 million from Congress last year, but received
only $1 million.
"We have some dwindling resources," said Loux, executive
director of the Nevada Nuclear Waste Projects Office. The office
has enough money to keep it running through the end of the year,
he said.
Loux said he may ask the Nevada Legislature for as much as $1
million for next year.
Congress has not specifically set aside any money for Nevada
Yucca oversight for next year as lawmakers are still working out
the details of a final Yucca budget. The House approved $131
million, far less than the White House requested, with none of
that money specifically earmarked for Nevada; the Senate has not
acted.
The Department of Energy project is aimed at constructing a
national nuclear waste repository under the mountain, 90 miles
northwest of Las Vegas. The project has entered an important
phase as the Energy Department plans to submit an application
for a license to construct the underground repository by the end
of the year.
*****************************************************************
41 Las Vegas SUN: Rural counties weigh nuke benefits
By Stephen Curran LAS VEGAS SUN
CALIENTE -- An Energy Department-funded oversight committee on
Tuesday reviewed a plan passed by the Lincoln County Commission
to gauge residents' feelings on the proposed railroad line to
Yucca Mountain.
The plan, passed Monday, lets the Central Nevada Community
Protection Planning Working Group hire a consulting group made
up of two former teachers.
The consultants will conduct studies on possible socioeconomic
fallout from the project, members of the Joint City/County
Impact Alleviation Committee said at the meeting at Caliente
City Hall.
The joint committee was formed in 1984 to study the potential
long-term effects of the proposed nuclear waste dump.
The working group includes members of the Caliente City Council
and the Nye, Esmeralda and Lincoln county commissions. It was
formed earlier this year to allow the governments to coordinate
their dealings with the Energy Department.
The state is continuing to sue the government to stop the
project at Yucca Mountain, which is 90 miles northwest of Las
Vegas. State leaders and officials in Las Vegas have pledged to
fight the dump.
In the rural areas, though, there has been some support of the
project. Many leaders see it as a way to bring jobs and money
into their counties.
Vaughn Higbee, a school superintendent-turned-consultant, said
his group, L Associates, has interviewed about eight landowners
and ranchers living along the proposed 319-mile rail route from
Caliente to Yucca Mountain.
That route would be expected to carry thousands of tons of
nuclear waste.
Higbee formed the consulting group with former school principal
Larry Lytle, also a native Lincoln County resident.
Both men touted their roots in the area as qualifications for
the position.
"I'm from the northern part of the county and Larry (Lytle) is
from the south," Higbee said. "Between the two of us, there
aren't a whole lot of people we don't know."
The studies are part of a slate of Energy Department
activities, which include public "open house" tours of the
proposed site and town hall-style meetings throughout the three
counties that would be home to the railroad.
The working group, which uses federal money for Yucca Mountain
oversight, came under fire in April after a Pahrump newspaper
reporter and two local citizens were asked to leave a meeting,
which members of the group said was closed to the public.
Lawyers for the attorney general's office, responding to a
complaint by the Nevada Press Association, were reviewing
Tuesday whether or not the group broke the state's open-meeting
laws, Tom Sargent, a spokesman for the attorney general's
office, said.
No date has been set for the working group's next meeting.
Bryan Elkins, director of community development for the City of
Caliente and member of the joint city-county committee, said the
agencies will continue planning for the proposed dump even
though the project's future could be jeopardized by a federal
court ruling this summer that said the Environmental Protection
Agency's 10,000-year radiation standard falls short of a
stricter standard suggested by the National Academy of Sciences.
"There's a lot of uncertainty around the project," he told the
committee.
The efforts come as the department works to complete its
license application to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which
must approve plans for the dump.
The Energy Department plans to submit the application by the
end of the year to meet its goal of opening the dump by 2010.
*****************************************************************
42 The Sun News: Federal government fined for waste sent from S.C.
| 09/22/2004 |
By Shannon Dininny
The Associated Press
SEATTLE - Washington state officials fined the federal government
a record $270,000 on Tuesday for shipping unknown waste from
another nuclear site to south-central Washington's Hanford
nuclear reservation.
The state Department of Ecology had threatened the enforcement
action against the U.S. Department of Energy in June, two months
after inspectors discovered the violations during a routine
inspection.
The penalty is the largest the state has ever issued to the
Energy Department.
The violations center on 83 drums of debris from the Savannah
River nuclear site in South Carolina, which has been conducting
treatment studies on waste from Hanford's 177 underground waste
tanks.
The tanks hold 53 million gallons of highly radioactive liquid,
sludge and salt cake from World War II and Cold War-era plutonium
production.
"This is a very serious offense, and we are concerned that it's
just the tip of the iceberg," Mike Wilson, manager of Ecology's
nuclear waste program, said in a news release.
"The people who failed to verify and document the containers of
debris waste coming from Savannah River are also responsible for
verifying containers of waste generated at Hanford," he said. "At
this point, we have no confidence in the waste tracking system at
Hanford."
A spokesman for the Energy Department did not immediately return
a telephone message seeking comment.
Federal law allows the waste to be shipped to South Carolina for
study and returned to Hanford, exempting it from provisions of
state and federal hazardous-waste regulations. A review by the
state Department of Ecology review found that 60 drums and more
than 800 small containers of tank waste had been appropriately
returned to Hanford.
But those exemptions do not apply to waste generated at Savannah
River - debris such as equipment, clothing and supplies that may
have been contaminated in the testing process, the Ecology
Department said.
During the April inspection, Ecology officials located one
55-gallon drum at Hanford that contained debris generated at
Savannah River. A subsequent investigation found that at least 83
drums of debris had been shipped to Hanford.
About MyrtleBeachOnline.com | About the Real Cities Network |
[http://www.knightridder.com] Copyright
*****************************************************************
43 Pahrump Valley Times: LETTER: Yucca rip-off
Sept 22, 2004
Regarding the Yucca Mountain Project, please consider the
following:
Why was the project begun? The answer is because the nation had
and has nuclear waste that must be safely disposed or stored. How
was Nevada selected? It was by vote of Congress.
Nevada politicians and businesses have sought every dollar
possible from the American taxpayers out of this project, for 15
years or more. Remember Bullfrog County?
How many more billions of dollars will be required, and how much
additional time, to reach this same stage of development in some
other location?
What happens if terrorists attack the current storage locations
in the interim? What will be the horrendous cost in lives and
property?
Won't Nevada bear some of the responsibility? The time to have
rejected it was long ago, before greedily grasping the money for
all of these years.
Mr. McMurdo, could you please publish an audit showing how much
taxpayer money has been spent on the Yucca Mountain Project,
detailing how it has been spent? And, who have been the
recipients? Thank you.
Mrs. Wanda Blohm
For comment or questions, please e-mail
webmaster@pahrumpvalleytimes.com
[webmaster@pahrumpvalleytimes.com] Copyright © Pahrump Valley
Times, 1997 - 2004
*****************************************************************
44 Salt Lake Tribune - Opinion: Nuclear disposal
If they have to change the rules - again - to permanently bury
radioactive waste in Nevada's Yucca Mountain, it would be far
better to bury the Yucca Mountain plan instead. Permanently.
The longer Yucca Mountain roams the land as the undead, the
more attractive is the stop-gap plan to store some of the
nastiest stuff on Earth on the Goshute Skull Valley reservation
50 miles from Salt Lake City.
If, that is, you can call a facility that might last 100
years a stop-gap.
Utah officials have been largely supportive of Yucca
Mountain, the plan to permanently store radioactive waste in an
underground facility near Las Vegas. With that project either in
business or very nearly so, there would be less pressure to
bring the waste to Utah, for now or forever.
But if Yucca remains just over the horizon, with neither an
operating license nor a stake through its heart, storage in Utah
becomes more likely, not less. If Yucca Mountain truly dies, so,
probably, will the Goshute plan.
Nevada politicians, armed with the clout that comes with
representing a political swing state, want Yucca Mountain
abandoned. Instead, they reasonably say, we should find a
de-centralized solution, maybe long-term storage on the site of
each waste generator, until a proper final resolution is found.
But the nuclear industry wants the waste removed from sites
in 39 states ASAP. It's not only to pass off the cost of
storage, but also to make any future nuclear power plants less
distasteful to communities, communities that might balk if they
knew that permanent on-site storage were part of the deal.
The was a July appeals court finding that the government was not
following its own rules for the proposed final resting place for
77,000 tons of nuclear waste.
Congress had ordered that a 1995 National Academy of Sciences
study be written into Yucca's rules. The Environmental
Protection Agency said it had done so, finding that the facility
could safely contain radioactivity for the next 10,000 years.
But the court read the NAS report to mean that the facility
must be up to containing radiation for upwards of 300,000 years.
That's widely thought to be a standard Yucca Mountain can't meet.
EPA boss Mike Leavitt is considering asking Congress for a
more attainable target. Congressional willingness to keep the
project alive is waning, though, and the current administration
has too little credibility when it comes to making policy based
on accurate science.
The good news is that now, rather than being pitted against
one another, Utah and Nevada can work together to end the
gridlock and send the whole thing back to the drawing board.
© Copyright 2004, The Salt Lake Tribune.
*****************************************************************
45 Pahrump Valley Times: Nevadans urge DOE to rescind Yucca spending guidelines
Sept 22, 2004
By Steve Tetreault PVT WASHINGTON BUREAU
WASHINGTON - Federal lawmakers on Thursday called on Energy
Secretary Spencer Abraham to rescind new guidelines that some
Nevada counties complain are hindering their involvement in the
Yucca Mountain Project.
If Abraham does not comply, the next step could be legislation in
Congress to overturn the new rules. Or perhaps yet another
lawsuit against the Energy Department, according to aides to
Nevada lawmakers.
Five Nevadans in Congress asked Abraham in a letter to explain
new DOE guidelines for how counties can spend federal money they
are given each year through the Yucca program.
Ten counties have divided $4 million this year. Subject to
certain restrictions, the money can be spent to assess how the
proposed nuclear waste repository will affect county residents.
Guidelines for 2005 that were given to counties on Aug. 27
include new limits on spending for "transportation activities,"
including commenting on DOE's proposal to build a railroad from
Caliente across rural Nevada to the repository site in Nye
County.
Also, counties would be unable to spend federal money to load
their research into a Yucca Mountain licensing database, an
initial step to participate in Nuclear Regulatory Commission
hearings, according to Nevada officials.
Energy Department officials said they were interpreting federal
law. But Nevadans say the new guidelines interpret the law more
strictly than in the past, when spending to participate in
licensing and transportation were permitted.
"It seems to me the timing is really suspicious," said Abby
Johnson, a nuclear waste consultant to Eureka County. "At a time
when transportation planning on the part of DOE is actually
starting to occur, when we are actually looking at ground impact
from the construction of a rail line, they would find suddenly
there is no basis for affected local governments to participate
in those activities.
"I just have to wonder if this is a way to marginalize the
counties," Johnson said.
The DOE guidelines contained some positives for the counties.
Counties holding unspent funds at the end of a fiscal year can
carry it over into the new year, the department said. Also,
counties can keep any interest accrued on federal aid, as long as
it is spent on approved Yucca Mountain activities.
Nye County commissioner Candice Trummel said the DOE rules were
mixed as far as their impact. She said she doubted Nye would
pursue any complaints about them.
"There were positives as far as Nye County was concerned, and the
negatives are things we can work around," Trummel said. Unlike
Clark County and some other rural counties, Nye County
participates in cooperative agreements with the Energy Department
that provide funding to carry out specific Yucca activities.
Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., plans to wait for an Abraham response
before deciding whether to introduce legislation to reverse the
guidelines, a spokeswoman said.
Other Nevada lawmakers have begun research to determine if legal
action might be warranted, congressional officials said.
The letter to Abraham was signed by Reid, Sen. John Ensign,
R-Nev., and Reps. Jim Gibbons and Jon Porter, both R-Nev., and
Shelley Berkley
For comment or questions, please e-mail
webmaster@pahrumpvalleytimes.com
[webmaster@pahrumpvalleytimes.com] Copyright © Pahrump Valley
Times, 1997 - 2004
*****************************************************************
46 Columbus Progressive Alliance: Rad. Alert: Nuclear Dollars versus the Common Good.
Events for Saturday, September 25, 2004
Location: Columbus State Community College, Nestor Hall
(NH on map at http://www.cscc.edu/Map/index.htm
[http://www.cscc.edu/Map/index.htm] )
Everything you never knew and wanted to know about what the US
has been doing relative to Nuclear Weapons, Nuclear Power,
Nuclear Safety, Nuclear Wastes, Unregulated Nuclear Exposure,
Nuclear Contamination of the Environment, and the lies and junk
science the Nuclear Industry is using to persuade the uninformed.
The actual human and environmental costs of nuclear related
technologies are also being ignored as collateral damage by the
interests of corporate profitability against the common good.
Sessions will include the relicensing and retooling of the
Piketon Uranium Enrichment plant, the use of the Piketon site as
the "temporary" storage site for Nuclear wastes from other
facilities, the use of Depleted Uranium in the name of Peace and
Democracy, International and Domestic Issues related to Nuclear
Technologies, and other sessions.
Dr. Walter A. Davis, Keynote Speaker, Professor Emeritus of the
English Department of Ohio State University. He has written
extensively in a wide range of areas, including philosophy,
psychiatry, psychology, and literature. "Up-rooting the
`Guarantees' of Nuclear Tragedies" Dr. Doug Rokke,
Retired Army Reserve Medical Corps officer who specialized in
nuclear medicine; nuclear, biological and chemical warfare
operations and intelligence; medical operations; and emergency
field medicine as a former enlisted combat medic.
"Crimes by Depleted Uranium" & "Environmental and Medical Impacts
of Nuclear Material" Dr. Bob Fitrakis, Political Science
Professor at Columbus State Community College, Attorney, Editor
of Columbus Free Press, long term activist, and author.
"Unregulated Nuclear Exposure" Harvey Wasserman, Senior Adviser
to Greenpeace USA and the Nuclear Information & Resource Service,
author and coauthor of several books, Senior Editor for Columbus
Free Press.
"Nuclear Power, Nuclear Waste, and the Alternatives" Terry Lodge,
Attorney in litigation against First energy Corporation regarding
the Davis Besse and the Perry Nuclear Reactor Electrical
Generation Plants.
"Nuclear Industry Crimes Against the Common Good" Tadit Anderson,
Independent sociologist and community organizer, long term
activist. "The False Economics of the Nuclear Industry" &
"Community Organizing" Ewan Todd, Physicist, teacher, and
activist.
"Nuclear Science for the Scientifically Challenged" & "The
Retooling of the Piketon Uranium Enrichment Plant" Bonnie Awan,
Geologist, Owner & Chief Petrographer of NPS, and activist.
"The Retooling of the Piketon Uranium Enrichment Plant" Draft
Program: http://www.cpanews.org/events/pdf/radalert_program.pdf
[http://www.cpanews.org/events/pdf/radalert_program.pdf] Parking
is free Registration opens at 8:00 AM, programs from 9:00 AM to
5:00 PM. Registration is $15.00/person on or before Friday,
September 17th and $20.00/person after September 17th. Lunch is
included. Limited scholarships are available. Please make checks
payable to RAD. ALERT, and mail to: Conference Coordinator, 978
E. 19th Avenue, Columbus, Ohio 43211. Registration form:
http://www.cpanews.org/events/pdf/radalert_registration.pdf
[http://www.cpanews.org/events/pdf/radalert_registration.pdf]
Contact: Tadit Anderson (614) 299-4702 E-mail: ideasinc@ee.net,
[ideasinc@ee.net,] Bonnie Awan (614) 451-5628. To join a
citizens' email list primarily concerning Ohio's nuclear industry
send a blank email to nukes-subscribe {at} cpanews {dot} org.
Friday-Sunday, September 24-26, 2004. Affair of the Hort
Inniswood Metro Gardens, 940 Hempsted Rd. in Westerville. Fri.,
5-7 pm; Sat., 10-7 pm; Sun 11-5 pm. The entire family will enjoy
this free horticultural event featuring lectures, demonstrations,
garden vendors and entertainment. Neil DiBoll, prairie ecologist
will speak at 2 pm Sat. and 1:30 pm Sun.
Saturday, September 25th, 2004, 9 AM - 5 PM. Simply Living's
first Yard Sale in conjunction with the Clintonville Farmer's
Market at Hometown Flooring's location, 3559 N. High St. in
Clintonville. Donations of saleable items will be accepted one
week prior to the sale at Hometown Flooring. This event will be a
fund-raiser for Simply Living's programs and a great opportunity
to de-clutter!
September 24th through 27th. "Eyes Wide Open: The Human Cost of
War in Iraq.
The American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) exhibit, "Eyes
Wide Open: the Human Cost of War in Iraq," will open Friday
September 24 at Cross Creek Community Church, 667
Miamisburg-Centerville Rd., (SR 725 &Congreee Park Dr.)
The exhibit features:
A wall of names memorializing the estimated 16,000 Iraqis killed
in the war.
A field of empty combat boots symbolizing the 860+ US soldiers
who have lost their lives.
" An indoor exhibit detailing the losses in photos, video, and
interpretive materials.
For more information about Eyes Wide Open go to:
www.afsc.org/eyes [http://www.afsc.org/eyes] .
Metadata associated with this page:
http://www.cpanews.org/events/2004/09/25/index.shtml.rdf
[http://www.cpanews.org/events/2004/09/25/index.shtml.rdf]
Copyright © 2003-2004, Columbus Progressive Alliance, All Rights
*****************************************************************
47 UK Independent: British nuclear waste to be sent to central Asia
By Charles Arthur Technology Editor
23 September 2004
British nuclear Fuels plans to ship 1,800 tons of radioactive
materials to Kyrgyzstan for reprocessing, in a scheme that has
been condemned as "a back-door route to dump British nuclear
waste on an impoverished former Soviet republic".
The company defended the decision, which will recover 90 tons of
reactor-grade uranium while, in effect, removing 10,600 drums of
slightly radioactive waste from its Springfields reactor plant
near Preston, in north-west England, for disposal in a uranium
mine in the central Asian country.
The plan was condemned by activists who pointed out that it
would be simpler, and cheaper, to buy fresh uranium directly
from the mine.
A spokesman for BNFL Springfields said it was "economically
viable to process these residues and extract the uranium, and a
benefit is it will reduce the store on site". He said British
Energy, which runs the Magnox power stations which would need
the fuel, would buy the extracted uranium.
Pete Roche, a consultant to the environmental pressure group
Greenpeace said it was "morally objectionable" to send British
nuclear products abroad "any way you look at it".
UK Independent Ltd.
*****************************************************************
48 Las Vegas SUN: Liechtenstein Ratifies Nuclear Test Ban
ASSOCIATED PRESS
VIENNA, Austria (AP) - Liechtenstein has ratified the
Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty, bringing to 116 the
number of nations that have endorsed the pact, the Vienna-based
treaty organization said Wednesday.
Lawmakers in the tiny alpine republic ratified the treaty
Tuesday, the Comprehensive Test-Ban Treaty Organization said in
a statement.
The treaty outlaws all nuclear weapons test explosions. It was
drafted at an international conference in Geneva and adopted by
the U.N. General Assembly in 1996.
The accord still has not come into effect, however, because only
32 of 44 nations listed in an annex to the treaty have signed
and ratified the pact, the group said.
--
*****************************************************************
49 Business Day: Bail application for nuclear accused continues
[http://www.businessday.co.za
The bail application of two Randburg engineers arrested for
allegedly possessing equipment that could be used to make weapons
of mass destruction is to continue at the Vanderbijlpark Regional
Court on Wednesday.
Gerhard Wisser, managing director of Krisch Engineering, and
Daniel Geiges, a director, have been in custody since their
arrest on September 7 on four charges under the Non-Proliferation
of Weapons of Mass Destruction Act and the Nuclear Energy Act.
The charges relate to a lathe, a centrifuge and piping that could
be used to enrich uranium, which is used in nuclear weapons.
They were apprehended shortly after similar charges were
withdrawn against Johan Meyer, a fellow engineer from
Vanderbijlpark.
After his arrest, authorities seized 11 containers of equipment
at the firm where Meyer is a director.
At the time of the arrests, the Council for the Non-Proliferation
of Nuclear Weapons - a South African statutory body - said the
action was part of an international investigation into a nuclear
components trafficking network.
The network was linked to Libya's now abandoned nuclear weapons
programme.
The council said the network was also linked with AQ Khan -
formerly a leading figure in Pakistan's nuclear bomb programme.
Wednesday's proceedings were expected to start at 2pm.
Sapa Thursday 23 September 2004
BDFM Publishers (Pty) Ltd disclaims all liability for any loss,
*****************************************************************
50 DOE: Office of Science; DOE/NSF Nuclear Science Advisory Committee
FR Doc 04-21263
[Federal Register: September 22, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 183)]
[Notices] [Page 56749] From the Federal Register Online via GPO
Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr22se04-40]
AGENCY: Department of Energy.
ACTION: Notice of open meeting.
SUMMARY: This notice announces a meeting of the DOE/NSF Nuclear
Science Advisory Committee (NSAC). Federal Advisory Committee Act
(Pub. L. 92- 463, 86 Stat. 770) requires that public notice of
these meetings be announced in the Federal Register.
DATES: Thursday, October 7, 2004, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
ADDRESSES: Quality Suites, 3 Research Court, Rockville, Maryland
20850.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Brenda L. May, U.S. Department
of Energy; SC-90/Germantown Building, 1000 Independence Avenue,
SW., Washington, DC 20585-1290; Telephone: 301-903-0536.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Purpose of Meeting: To provide advice
and guidance on a continuing basis to the Department of Energy
and the National Science Foundation on scientific priorities
within the field of basic nuclear science research.
Tentative Agenda: Agenda will include discussions of the
following: Thursday, October 7, 2004 Perspectives from Department
of Energy and National Science Foundation.
Presentation and discussion on the interim report from the
Relativistic Heavy Ion Sub-Committee.
Discussion of NSAC response and transmittal letter on the
Relativistic Heavy Ion Report.
Public comment (10-minute rule).
Public Participation: The meeting is open to the public. If you
would like to file a written statement with the Committee, you
may do so either before or after the meeting. If you would like
to make oral statements regarding any of these items on the
agenda, you should contact Brenda L. May, 301-903-0536 or
Brenda.May@science.doe.gov [Brenda.May@science.doe.gov] (e-
mail). You must make your request for an oral statement at least
5 business days before the meeting. Reasonable provision will be
made to include the scheduled oral statements on the agenda. The
Chairperson of the Committee will conduct the meeting to
facilitate the orderly conduct of business. Public comment will
follow the 10-minute rule.
Minutes: The minutes of the meeting will be available for public
review and copying within 30 days at the Freedom of Information
Public Reading Room; Room 1E-190; Forrestal Building; 1000
Independence Avenue, SW.; Washington, DC, between 9 a.m. and 4
p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.
Issued at Washington, DC on September 17, 2004.
Rachel Samuel, Deputy Advisory Committee, Management Officer.
[FR Doc. 04-21263 Filed 9-21-04; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 6450-01-P
*****************************************************************
51 The Olympian: Our Views: Clean up Hanford with Initiative 297
[http://www.theolympian.com]
Initiative 297 is an expression of disgust with the way hazardous
wastes have been handled at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation in
Eastern Washington. ADVERTISEMENT The core message behind I-297
is that the federal government needs to clean up the mess it has
made at Hanford before shipping in additional radioactive and
nonradioactive material.
It's a reasonable demand. Voters should approve I-297 at the Nov.
2 general election.
Proponents make a compelling case. They claim that Hanford is
already the most contaminated place in the western hemisphere,
with two-thirds of the country's high-level waste from nuclear
weapons.
Contamination has been well documented. More than 1 million
gallons of high-level nuclear waste has leaked from the
underground storage tanks at Hanford, and that contamination is
headed toward the Columbia River.
The Department of Energy has announced plans to ship in 23,000
truckloads of high-level radioactive waste, with an option of
expanding that to 92,000.
I-297 puts the brakes on that plan.
It makes sense to force the federal government to clean up the
mess it has made at Hanford before accepting other shipments. The
federal "Superfund" law allows states to limit waste shipments at
sites that don't meet existing standards.
The initiative demands that waste be "stored, treated, or
disposed of in compliance with all state and federal environment
laws" before additional shipments are allowed.
The initiative forbids the disposal of radioactive waste in
unlined soil trenches and requires the federal government to
clean up the leaking tanks at Hanford.
Initiative proponents are adamant that their ballot proposition
does not apply to the disposal of medical waste because none of
it is disposed of at Energy Department landfills.
The federal government has spent about $85 million in eight years
to clean up the contaminated groundwater. Yet an audit by the
federal government shows that investment has been largely
ineffective.
It's time to get serious.
The Energy Department has had decades to clean up the Hanford
Nuclear Reservation and, indeed, has made some progress in recent
years. But the reservation is a long way from clean.
It's time to force the federal government to recognize that
Hanford is the most contaminated site in the United States and
that the government has an obligation to clean up the disposal
site before adding to the mess.
Vote "yes" on Initiative 297 on Nov. 2.
Initiative 297
- Ballot proposition: Initiative Measure No. 297 would add
new provisions concerning "mixed" radioactive and nonradioactive
hazardous waste, requiring cleanup of contamination before
additional waste is added, prioritizing cleanup, and providing
for public participation and enforcement through citizen
lawsuits. Should this measure be enacted into law?
[http://www.theolympian.com/readernet/]
©2004 [http://www.theolympian.com] , 111 Bethel Street NE,
Olympia, Washington 98506, 360-754-5400.
*****************************************************************
52 Seattle Post-Intelligencer: State fines U.S. over N-waste
[seattlepi.com]
Wednesday, September 22, 2004
Record $270,000 penalty levied for shipments to Hanford
SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER STAFF AND NEWS SERVICES
Washington state officials fined the federal government a record
$270,000 yesterday for shipping unknown waste from another
nuclear site to the Hanford Nuclear Reservation.
The state Department of Ecology had threatened the enforcement
action against the U.S. Department of Energy in June, two months
after inspectors discovered the violations during a routine
inspection.
The penalty is the largest the state has ever issued to the
Energy Department.
The violations center on 83 drums of debris from the Savannah
River nuclear site in South Carolina, which has been conducting
treatment studies on waste from Hanford's 177 underground waste
tanks.
The tanks hold 53 million gallons of highly radioactive liquid,
sludge and salt cake from World War II and Cold War-era plutonium
production.
"This is a very serious offense, and we are concerned that it's
just the tip of the iceberg," Mike Wilson, manager of Ecology's
nuclear waste program, said in a news release.
"The people who failed to verify and document the containers of
debris waste coming from Savannah River are also responsible for
verifying containers of waste generated at Hanford," he said. "At
this point, we have no confidence in the waste-tracking system at
Hanford."
An official for the Energy Department said the agency was
"perplexed" by the accusations and fine.
The state was "fully aware" of what was happening with the waste,
said Colleen French, a Hanford spokeswoman. For months, there has
been a disagreement between the departments over who had the
authority to determine what happened with the material, she said.
"We're going through the claim and looking through the inspection
report and trying to determine whether to appeal (the fine) and
how soon," French said. She didn't know whether Ecology's action
would affect ongoing cleanup efforts at Hanford.
Federal law allows the waste to be shipped to South Carolina for
study and returned to Hanford, exempting it from provisions of
state and federal hazardous-waste regulations. A review by
Ecology found that 60 drums and more than 800 small containers of
tank waste had been appropriately returned to Hanford.
But those exemptions do not apply to waste generated at Savannah
River -- debris such as equipment, clothing and supplies that may
have been contaminated in the testing process, Ecology said.
During the April inspection, Ecology officials found one
55-gallon drum at Hanford that contained debris generated at
Savannah River. A subsequent investigation found that at least 83
drums of debris had been shipped to Hanford.
The waste could have been legally shipped to Washington state,
but it should have been recorded, declared and done in an open
manner, said Ecology spokeswoman Sheryl Hutchison.
Ecology also contends that some of the drums may contain
transuranic waste, typically plutonium-contaminated trash such as
discarded protective gear, tools and equipment, that is highly
radioactive and can take thousands of years to decay to safe
radiation levels.
If that is the case, Ecology officials say some of the shipments
may have violated a court order banning out-of-state shipments of
waste to Hanford until a lawsuit is resolved.
The lawsuit, filed by the state to stop imports of transuranic
waste from other states, demands that the Energy Department
provide written plans and deadlines for ensuring that both the
transuranic waste already buried at Hanford and the imported
waste will move on to a repository in New Mexico.
The Energy Department has said it wants to truck transuranic
waste from other sites for inspection and repacking at Hanford
before shipping the barrels off to New Mexico's Waste Isolation
Pilot Plant.
The lawsuit is pending in U.S. District Court.
An initiative to go before voters this fall would block the
federal government from sending radioactive waste from other
states to Hanford until all the existing waste at the site is
cleaned up.
Supporters of the ballot measure cheered Ecology's actions.
"It just shows that there is no accountability and the Department
of Energy can't be trusted when it comes to its desire to dump
more waste at Hanford," said Gerald Pollet, a longtime Hanford
watchdog. select.nwsshopads{font-size:8pt;width:140px;}
[Seattle Post-Intelligencer] 101 Elliott Ave. W. Seattle, WA
98119 (206) 448-8000
Send comments to newmedia@seattlepi.com
©1996-2004 Seattle Post-Intelligencer
*****************************************************************
53 The Columbian In Our View: Cleanup Overdue
[http://www.columbian.com] Serving Clark County, Washington
Wednesday, September 22, 2004 Columbian editorial writers
Nuclear waste produced by a nation is a national problem, and
residents of Washington state should be willing to do their parts
in solving a national problem. But by the same token, federal
clean-up obligations should be met, and for decades now the feds,
under different presidents, have dragged their feet in cleaning
up the Hanford Nuclear Reservation near Richland.
That's why we like Initiative 297 on the Nov. 2 ballot and
urge its passage. I-297 carries many requirements for regulating
radioactive and nonradioactive hazardous waste sites, but the
measure can be distilled into three words: "no more, until. … "
If passed, I-297 would ban shipping more radioactive waste to
the state until contamination at Hanford is cleaned up. That
stipulation is so immersed in common sense, it makes us wonder
why the feds would ever disagree. Still, there are two minor
concerns about I-297 that have arisen, but which can be easily
addressed.
First, should states be telling the federal government what
to do in solving this national problem? Well, after decades of
neglect and half-hearted efforts by federal officials, we'd say
it's certainly a justifiable strategy.
Second, will I-297 withstand legal challenges? Well, that
could be asked of just about any public initiative, and the
answer is simple: If the measure passes and the U.S. Department
of Energy disagrees with its requirements, let the matter be
taken to court. But even in that scenario, a more gratifying
resolution for state and federal interests would be for Hanford
to be cleaned up as scheduled.
The feds say they're trying. Indeed, in June the DOE set more
reasonable limits on the amount of low-level wastes that will be
allowed from other states, adding the pledge not to bury them in
unlined trenches.
But they're not trying hard enough. The 560-square-mile site
near Richland has been contaminated virtually since its creation
in the 1940s as part of the Manhattan Project. Heart of America
Northwest, I-297's sponsor, claims that as much as to 152,800
cubic meters of plutonium and transuranic wastes would be
abandoned under current policies.
I-297 contains other common-sense, hard-to-dispute
requirements: setting standards for cleanup and granting permits,
prohibiting waste disposal in unlined soil trenches, requiring
cleanup of tank leaks and creating more public participation in
the issue.
The most parochial view tells us that the Columbia River
flows for 50 miles through Hanford, and Clark County is less than
215 miles downstream. The broader, national perspective tells us
that forcing the federal government to meet its long overdue duty
to clean up Hanford is the right thing to do.
Vote "yes" on Initiative 297.
Copyright © 2004 by The Columbian Publishing Co. P.O. Box180,
Vancouver, WA 98666.
*****************************************************************
54 Tri-City Herald: HEHF retiree benefits returned
This story was published Wednesday, September 22nd, 2004
By Annette Cary Herald staff writer
Medical benefits will be restored to workers who retired from
Hanford's former occupational medicine contractor, the Hanford
Environmental Health Foundation, Rep. Doc Hastings, R-Wash.,
announced Tuesday.
The restored coverage will be retroactive to June 6, when
AdvanceMed Hanford took over the contract to provide occupational
medicine services to about 11,000 Hanford workers.
After AdvanceMed won the Department of Energy contract, benefits
to HEHF retirees were severely eroded, said Patricia Blackburn,
present of the HEHF Retirees' Association.
The 68 retirees ages 58 to 93 from HEHF lost vision and dental
coverage. Prescription benefits were reduced. In addition, their
lifetime maximum medical cap was reduced to $50,000 from up to $1
million, Blackburn said.
Retirees approached Hastings for help.
Hastings said getting retirement benefits restored was an issue
of "simple fairness," according to a statement from his office.
The DOE Richland office agreed AdvanceMed was required to
continue a retirement benefit program comparable to the HEHF
program, said Colleen French, DOE spokeswoman. "We did not expect
wholesale changes," she said.
The DOE contract awarded to AdvanceMed said the contractor had
flexibility to make adjustments, but DOE expected those to be
minor changes and that they would have to be approved by DOE,
French said.
"Once we clarified the language in the contract, AdvanceMed
immediately stepped up and committed to make whole the retiree
benefit package," French said.
The federal government pays the costs of the retirement benefits.
An AdvanceMed official has met with HEHF retirees to outline the
benefits package and answer questions, according to Hastings'
office.
© 2004 Tri-City Herald, Associated Press &Other Wire Services
*****************************************************************
55 Tri-City Herald: Ecology fines DOE $207,000
This story was published Wednesday, September 22nd, 2004
By Annette Cary Herald staff writer
The Washington state Department of Ecology has fined the
Department of Energy and two Hanford contractors $270,000 for
what the state considers slipshod work to verify and track
radioactive waste.
It's the largest penalty the state has ever issued to DOE. The
fine also was jointly assessed to DOE contractor Fluor Hanford
and its subcontractor, Duratek Federal Services of Hanford.
"This penalty is a big, fat wake-up call," said Linda Hoffman,
director of the Department of Ecology, in a prepared statement.
"We need to see some immediate improvements to assure our
citizens that the problems at Hanford are getting better, not
worse."
The state says an untrained worker signed documents saying what
type of radioactive waste was in containers, that the waste was
shipped without appropriate documents, that records of contents
were not maintained and that workers left early rather than watch
all the waste packed into containers.
"Part of our sense of outrage is that we've had 50 years of
putting waste in the ground without always knowing what is going
in the ground and where it's going," said Sheryl Hutchison,
communication director for the Department of Ecology. "That's
plagued the cleanup program. Our concern is it is more of the
same."
Bob Wilson, compliance specialist for the state department's
Nuclear Waste Program, called the problems identified by the
state "a breakdown in basic waste management function."
DOE says the state is fining the federal government and its
contractors for not following rules that do not apply to certain
waste.
At issue is at least 83 drums of debris such as test tubes and
laboratory equipment contaminated when tests were run on samples
of radioactive waste from Hanford's underground tanks. The 53
million gallons of waste in the tanks are left from the past
production of plutonium at the Hanford Site for the nation's
nuclear weapon's program.
Samples of the waste were sent to a laboratory in Savannah River,
S.C. The lab sent back to Hanford the samples of the waste after
testing, plus drums of any equipment and supplies that had become
contaminated with the waste.
The state believes that the leftover waste samples could be
returned to Hanford under a law that specifically excludes
testing samples and their residues from certain dangerous-waste
regulations. That waste goes back into the tanks.
But the drums of contaminated equipment cannot be returned under
the same legal exclusion, the state believes.
DOE was required to have trained workers watch what was packed
into the drums, verify the type of waste and then affix a
tamper-resistant seal to the drums, according to the state.
DOE believes the barrels of tainted equipment were exempt from
those regulations -- that the radioactive waste in the drums was
legally a residue. The samples were being tested to make sure a
$5.7 billion vitrification plant being built at Hanford will be
correctly designed to confine the radioactive waste in a sturdy,
glass-like material for permanent burial.
It's common practice to pay for testing equipment and accept the
equipment that becomes contaminated back to the originating site,
said Colleen French, spokeswoman for DOE in Richland. She spoke
on behalf of the contractors, the Richland Operations Office and
the Office of River Protection, all of which were included in the
fine.
DOE has followed regulations, such as shipping the drums of
debris with a bill of lading that lists what's in the drums, she
said. Once the drums arrived at Hanford, they were surveyed and
assayed, and then the state was notified of the waste, she said.
The state is asking for paperwork and documentation of procedures
that are not required for waste that started at Hanford and came
back to Hanford, according to DOE.
The largest portion of the fine, $130,000, is for inadequate
recordkeeping, according to the state.
State officials asked Fluor and Duratek workers for verification
records for specific containers, but workers could not locate
some of the records or say why they were missing, according to
state documents. They could not confirm with other documents
whether the waste contents in the drums had been verified,
according to the state.
The fine includes $100,000 for faulty waste analysis, according
to state documents. Duratek employees sent to Savannah River to
verify what waste was packed into drums left South Carolina
before the drums were filled, according to the state. At least
four drums were missing tamper-resistant seals.
Employees said they were at Savannah River for surveillance of
waste, not verification of drum contents. But the state said
waste must be verified before it is accepted at Hanford. In one
instance, a shipment was accepted at Hanford and then the
contents were verified two months later, the state said.
The state found that Hanford employees only checked drums that
Savannah River selected for them to survey.
The remaining $40,000 of the fine was for inadequate personnel
training, according to state documents. In one case, a supervisor
who had not completed verification training and had not gone to
Savannah River completed and signed waste verification
documentation.
DOE and the contractors have 30 days to decide whether to appeal
the fine or an administrative order in which the state requires
improvements to be made.
While those decisions are being made, DOE is complying with the
state's order, French said.
The order includes three pages of instructions, including
retaining verification records, improving security on its
electronic tracking system and compiling and submitting lists and
records to the state.
The state also is requiring Hanford to examine the contents of
each container of laboratory waste received from Savannah River
since 1996 within 90 days.
The state believes that DOE should have known that laboratory
debris was not exempt from certain hazardous waste laws. The
state said it discovered that DOE was bringing waste back to
Hanford improperly this spring when an inspector asked questions
about a drum of waste stored in central Hanford.
The state believes some of the waste is contaminated with enough
plutonium to qualify as transuranic waste, which cannot be sent
to Hanford from another site under a federal court injunction.
But DOE, in a letter to the state in July, said the legal
exclusion it believes covers the waste had been addressed in
correspondence between the agencies, conference calls, briefings,
discussions at various meetings and annual reports.
"We've got a system that's broken, that needs some work and
there's a lot more discussion with DOE to come," Hutchison said.
© 2004 Tri-City Herald, Associated Press &Other Wire Services
*****************************************************************
56 Daily Herald: Argonne's shooting for $1 billion accelerator project
[http://www.dailyherald.com]
Wednesday, September 22, 2004
By Marni Pyke Daily Herald Staff Writer
The ability to understand particles of matter is no small matter
to Illinois.
In fact, it's worth millions to the state if Argonne National
Laboratory can secure a $1 billion contract with the U.S.
Department of Energy to build a rare isotope accelerator here.
Argonne, near Darien in southeast DuPage County, is eager to
spearhead the project, which could create 16,000 construction
jobs and permanent employment for 400 people. Another contender
to build the facility is Michigan State University in East
Lansing, Mich.
Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich on Tuesday announced the creation
of a task force to help bring those jobs home. Its members
include U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert, U.S. Sens. Richard
Durbin and Peter Fitzgerald, U.S. Rep. Judy Biggert, plus the
leaders of the Chicago Federation of Labor and the University of
Chicago, which partners with Argonne to operate the laboratory.
"It's a great sign the state is supporting Argonne's
participation in this extremely important project," Argonne media
relations manager Catherine Foster said.
The group will lobby the Department of Energy to support
Argonne's quest to build the rare isotope accelerator.
Biggert, a Hinsdale Republican, said Michigan representatives
already have a similar task force in place.
"Our task force demonstrates the Illinois delegation, the
governor's office, workers organizations and universities are all
in support of Argonne," she said. "I think we have a very good
case."
The accelerator is a tool for examining elements such as uranium.
It takes particles of matter -- isotopes -- and sends them
through a chamber at high speed. At the same time, an
electromagnetic beam is shot at the isotopes. The process causes
the particles to break down further. The fragmented isotopes are
used by researchers to understand different physical properties
of elements.
Those discoveries can be applied to medical research or defense
purposes. Ultimately, the technology could uncover more about the
elements that make up the universe, leading to a greater
understanding of our origins, scientists believe.
"I don't think we can imagine today what will be discovered and
used in the future," Biggert said.
A decision on where the accelerator is built is probably months
off.
Illinois leaders said they intend to use every opportunity to
emphasize to federal officials how well-suited Argonne is for the
project. They said they hope at least $637 million would be spent
in Illinois on construction and materials.
Contract: Argonne competing with university for project
[http://www.dailyherald.com
*****************************************************************
57 lamonitor.com: IG offers disputed advice
The Online News Source for Los Alamos
[http://www.lac-nm.us]
ROGER SNODGRASS, roger@lamonitor.com [roger@lamonitor.com] ,
Monitor Assistant Editor
A new report from the Department of Energy found that the three
national nuclear weapons laboratories have generally complied
with the legislation spelling out how they should prepare the
Annual Stockpile Assessment package for the president. But the
National Nuclear Security Administration rejected even minor
criticisms as inappropriate and nuclear watchdogs found major
shortcomings in the IG's audit.
Since 1995, Los Alamos, Lawrence Livermore and Sandia National
laboratories have been responsible for a yearly certification
that the stockpile is safe and reliable. The formal requirements
were updated two years ago and the assessment letters at the end
of last year were the first submitted under the new system.
Reviewing the most recent submissions, DOE's Inspector General
Gregory Friedman raised two issues that he acknowledged as minor.
One had to do with the inconsistency in the content and
presentation of the assessments. Another matter concerned the
"red teams" which are required to perform independent reviews of
conclusions reached by each of the laboratories. On the first
point, the IG found that the laboratories were not completely
answering all the questions set forth in the Defense Act of 2003,
which defines the assessment.
In one example, the IG stated that Sandia met the congressional
request for "a concise statement concerning the adequacy of tools
and methods employed by the manufacturing infrastructure," but
that Livermore and Los Alamos "considered the overall adequacy of
the manufacturing tools to be outside their work scope and
instead discussed the importance of the manufacturing complex and
items of interest for the future." On the second concern, the
audit noted, Congress required experts from each of the other
national weapons laboratories to be included in the red teams
that potentially challenge and criticize each laboratory's
findings.
On this point, Livermore complied, but Los Alamos and Sandia
neglected to include the required statements when they reported
to the NNSA's Stockpile Coordinator.
In response the NNSA defended the process as providing the
"personal assessments of each of the laboratory directors."
Maintaining confidentiality was considered important, an NNSA
official responded in a formal reply.
"If the IG's intent is something other than what we understand,
then NNSA believes it would be inappropriate," wrote Michael
Kane, an NNSA associate administrator. "We strongly note that the
Red Teams are an asset of each of the laboratory directors."
LANL spokesperson Jim Danneskiold said, "The laboratory provided
input to and concurs with NNSA's response."
Critics of the weapons program found the IG's report to be
inadequate in other ways.
"What's notable is what's not there," said Jay Coghlan of Nuclear
Watch New Mexico, especially the IG's own findings in previous
reports concerning the surveillance campaign to monitor
stockpiled weapons for defects and signs of age.
"They need to deal with the elephants in the room," he said.
"Los Alamos and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories and the
Pantex Plant had not completed critical work as scheduled in four
of the six major technical elements: pits, canned sub-assemblies,
high explosives and non-nuclear materials," said the IG in April
of this year.
The IG audit continued, "(F)ailure to complete critical enhanced
surveillance milestones as scheduled could delay warnings of
manufacturing and aging defects, impact the annual certification
of the nuclear weapons stockpile, and hinder facility planning
decisions."
In a previous report, the IG had called the surveillance
component "the linchpin between stewardship activities and the
annual certification process."
Jacqueline Cabasso, executive director of the Western States
Legal Foundation, a nuclear abolition advocacy group in Oakland,
Calif., called the report really lame.
"It's about modernizing the U.S. nuclear arsenal in the service
of a hypocritical and unsustainable 'preemptive' war policy," she
said, "The question of who gets access to the red teams' assets
is a red herring. While the IG recommends rearranging the deck
chairs on the Titanic, we're all going down."
The deadline for the next assessment letters is Dec. 1.
© 2003 Los Alamos Monitor All Rights Reserved.
*****************************************************************
NOTE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107 this
material is distributed without profit or payment to those who
have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for
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