***************************************************************** 12/05/04 **** RADIATION BULLETIN(RADBULL) **** VOL 12.289 ***************************************************************** RADBULL IS PRODUCED BY THE ABALONE ALLIANCE CLEARINGHOUSE ***************************************************************** Send News Stories to news@energy-net.org with title on subject line and first line of body NUCLEAR POLICY 1 Payvand's Iran: EU nuclear deal suits US as well as Iran, says Jane' 2 Xinhua: Iran urges EU to honor nuclear deal 3 Xinhua: Iran to cooperate with UN nuclear watchdog over military sit 4 Yahoo! UK &Ireland: Iran signals military sites off limits to UN nuc 5 Guardian Unlimited Report: N. Korean, U.S.met This Week 6 INSIDE JoongAng Daily: Roh says North Korea will not collapse 7 United Press International: Official suggests IAEA join N. Korea tal 8 Guardian Unlimited: U.S., Allies in Flurry of Nuclear Talks 9 Guardian Unlimited: Japan Cautious Over N. Korea Sanctions 10 Xinhua: DPRK expects change in US policy before resuming talks 11 US: Fwd: News Media in the 60th Year of the Nuclear Age 12 US: Manhattan Project Morfed Into Hope Of US A-Bomb Monopoly To Shap 13 [NukeNet] Manhattan Project Morfed Into Hope Of US A-Bomb 14 US: Las Vegas SUN: Environmentalists Lose on Spending Bill 15 US: Independent: Bush sets out plan to dismantle 30 years of environ 16 US: Newsweek MSNBC: Whistle-Blower Crackdown Spreads 17 IndiaExpress.Com: South Asia no longer regarded as nuclear flashpoin 18 Arutz Sheva: Does Saudi Arabia Have Nuclear Weapons? 19 independent: Michael Harrison's Outlook: Green is the colour, nuclea 20 Independent: Reborn: nuclear energy prepares for a second chance NUCLEAR REACTORS 21 US: Arizona Republic: Feds concerned about safety 22 Bellona: Russian academician suggests to resume economic activities 23 US: toledoblade.com: Fermi shuts down day after restart 24 Sofia Morning News: Bulgaria's 2nd Nuke Construction to Begin in 200 NUCLEAR SAFETY 25 US: [FOODIRRADIATIONCA] Congress Keeps COOL; Anti-Food Irradiation 26 [DU-WATCH] Atoms for Peace...Radiation for Life...Canadian 27 China Launches New Class of Nuclear Sub 28 [DU-WATCH] throw-away soldiers - US uses DU in falluja 29 US: heraldtribune.com: Claims process is slow for workers 30 Xinhua: Nigeria recovers stolen radioactive materials from US oil co 31 Guardian Unlimited: China Launches New Class of Nuclear Sub 32 Cyprus Mail: US donates nuclear detection gear to Cyprus police 33 Scoop: US nuclear weapons impact on Rongelap 34 Pakistan Times: 'China launches first nuclear submarine' 35 AFP: Bikini Islanders get cash handout from nuclear-devastated homel 36 Health News: Gulf War Syndrome whistleblower is man on a mission NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE 37 US: Nuke Plant w/n 50m VAFB to get Coastal Commission approval for w 38 US: Bradenton Herald: Tallevast seeks to halt new industry 39 US: RGJ: Reid now the face of Senate Democrats 40 US: Salt Lake Tribune: Bear maintains grip on power 41 US: Lompoc Record: Coastal Commission to hear Diablo appeal 42 US: Guardian Unlimited: EPA Sees Toxic Waste Sites, Costs Growing 43 Pahrump Valley Times: State officials find a new way to attack Yucca 44 US: North Adams Transcript: Greylock searches for water solution NUCLEAR WEAPONS 45 Haaretz: Vanunu: Israel's nukes push neighbors to get atomic weapons 46 US: OpinionEditorials.com: The use of nuclear weapons - Morgan US DEPT. OF ENERGY 47 ABQjournal: LANL's 'Flagship' May Be Fading 48 MIT Tech: MIT Will Direct New Nuclear Energy Lab OTHER NUCLEAR 49 [DU-WATCH] Re: space-wars alternative to DU arrived! 50 [DU-WATCH] Nuclear Resister supports the traitor, Greenpeace ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** FULL NEWS STORIES ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** 1 Payvand's Iran: EU nuclear deal suits US as well as Iran, says Jane's editor www.payvand.com/ad/persepolis_ad.jpg"> 12/4/04 London, Dec 4, IRNA -- The European Union's agreement on Iran's nuclear program temporarily suits the US as well as the Islamic Republic, according to the Iran editor of Jane's Sentinel magazine, Alex Vatanka. "It is a win-win situation for both to some extent," Vatanka said in an interview with IRNA. "Time was essential for each to follow their own distinctive agenda with different goals." He said that the US "really needed time to prove their case" because of the lack of evidence, while for Iran, it "takes the pressure off for now." "The Americans were fully aware of where they were going to stand. The Chinese, and particularly the Russians, had been saying for months that to solve the nuclear issue on Iran you don't need to take it to the Security Council," the security analyst said. He said that the dilemma for the US was that it "had to prove Iran is up to no good and clearly the issue of imposing sanctions was not going to happen." "It was not taken too serious so the multilateral forum is where the Americans are standing in seeking more time to prove to the Russians, French and Germans what would happen in the Middle East if Iran went nuclear," Vatanka said. He said that the problem was that the "the clear-cut, very decisive and undisputed evidence is missing." This, he suggested, was due to the "weakness" of US intelligence. "Given what happened in Iraq, it was a stinker in terms of intelligence. It proved to be a total failure and the US cannot afford to do the same thing again," the Iran editor told IRNA. He suggested that there were even conflicting opinions on whether the US had to depend upon claims made against Iran by the Mujahideen-e Khalq (MKO) terrorist groups or if Washington was effectively using the MKO as a mouthpiece. With regard to the possibility of the US attacking Iran or even carrying out limited strikes using Israel as a proxy, Vatanka said limited intelligence was having an effect on the "big debate in Washington about the cost and benefit analysis." "If you have limited intelligence you can be sure the Iranians are going to take the ball from you by mobilizing resources and try to get back at the US, particularly in the region, like in Iraq and Afghanistan," he said. The analyst ruled out an "Iraqi-style invasion of Iran because of the cost." He said that the Americans "simply do not have the troops and are looking at what Iran could do to them in retaliation." The potential targets were also unclear on whether it would be simply sites reported or the Islamic Revolutionary Guards. Because of a lack of intelligence, the US "don't know if it will be enough to kill the nuclear program," he said. Vatanka suggested that the possibility of Iran having a nuclear card was so important for the US, saying it would "shift the balance of power so much that it would seriously undermine a lot of America's efforts in the region." "If the Americans, who are talking about a greater Middle East peace effort are seriously talking about it, they cannot allow a country the size of Iran with its resources to poke them in the eye whenever they choose," he said. Jane's editor believed that the US needed to deal with Iran, but said that it "really has to try the softer approach as the harder approach has not worked." "If you look at it logically, I think this current policy of not dealing with one another is not working," he said, suggesting that the US choice could be to deal with Iran like North Korea, which had not worked very well, or with Libya. The Iran editor also pointed to the way the US accepted Pakistan going nuclear and "suddenly it became one of its closest allies in the region." "If you can reach some kind of understanding with Iran, maybe behind the curtain, that it has gone nuclear or was so close it cannot be stopped, you could accept it as a Cold War-style deterrence, like Pakistan," he suggested. Vatanka pointed out that Iran had not been an aggressor and had not invaded any other country for over 300 years. "Iran is no Saddam Hussein, who attacked neighbors every second day," he said. If the US could get "reassurance from the Iranians they will behave themselves" a compromise could be reached to allow it to be nuclear like Pakistan, he said. But for this to happen, the editor said that Iran would "have to tone down its rhetoric." He said "it would be difficult for Iran, given its history, the size of the country and its natural leadership in the Middle East to have to bite the bullet." For the US to reach some compromise, he referred to US President George W. Bush having nothing to lose in his second and final term in office. "For the Republicans to have some kind of rapprochement with Iran, the way they did with Libya, would be a huge issue and certainly help them in Iraq and Afghanistan," Vatanka said. He warned that it would take a "whole shift of thinking in the way the two countries stand" but believed that the US and Iran "to a large extent have a lot to gain by cooperating," and mentioned the need to keep Iraq together as a stable country as well as Afghanistan. A possible opportunity to move towards some kind of rapprochement could come with next year's elections in Iran, the editor suggested. © Copyright 2004 NetNative [http://www.netnative.com] (All Rights Reserved) ***************************************************************** 2 Xinhua: Iran urges EU to honor nuclear deal www.xinhuanet.com www.chinaview.cn 2004-12-06 01:40:31 TEHRAN, Dec. 5 (Xinhuanet) -- Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, chairman of the powerful Expediency Council of Iran, on Sunday urged European countries to honor a nuclear deal with Tehran, the official IRNA news agency reported. "We hope the Europeans will deliver on their commitments; otherwise it is likely that the results of the agreement will be spoilt," Rafsanjani was quoted as saying. Iran and the European trio of France, Germany and Britain reached an agreement on Nov. 7 in Paris. The European trio, in the agreement, promised a wholesale of offers on trade and nuclear technology in return for Iran's comprehensive suspension of uranium enrichment activities. Iran carried out the suspension on Nov. 22 accordingly, and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on Nov. 29 decided not to refer Iran's case to the UN Security Council. Rafsanjani also described Iran's agreement on the suspension as a "very hard" decision for confidence-building. "Given Iran's very serious and appropriate cooperation, the IAEA and the European Union must now have become convinced that Iran has no nuclear military intentions," Rafsanjani said. On Friday, Rafsanjani said in a speech that the maximum duration of Iran's suspension was six months. Enditem Copyright ©2003 Xinhua News Agency. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 3 Xinhua: Iran to cooperate with UN nuclear watchdog over military sites www.xinhuanet.com www.chinaview.cn 2004-12-06 01:37:01 TEHRAN, Dec. 5 (Xinhuanet) -- Iran on Sunday vowed to cooperate with the UN nuclear watchdog over its military sites as some media reported the watchdog sought access to them, the official IRNA news agency reported. "We will act according to the Non-Proliferation Treaty and in accordance with our commitments and responsibilities," Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid-Reza Asefi was quoted as saying in reaction to a question about the admittance of UN nuclear inspectors to the country's military sites. Some western media said on Thursday that UN inspectors had demanded access to two of Iran's military sites -- the Parchin and Lavizan II military complexes, which are to the southeast and in the northeast of Tehran respectively. Asefi said that Iran was ready to cooperate with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) over these two sites. "Lavizan was inspected by the inspectors once. As for other centers such as Parchin, we are ready to cooperate within the framework of our commitments and agreements with the IAEA," he said. The IAEA has carried out consistent and strict inspections on Iran's nuclear sites for nearly one and a half years. Iran has suspended all of uranium enrichment activities to build confidence. The United States has accused Iran of developing nuclear weapons secretly, but Tehran has denied and said its nuclear plan was completely peaceful. Enditem Copyright ©2003 Xinhua News Agency. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 4 Yahoo! UK &Ireland: Iran signals military sites off limits to UN nuclear inspectors Reuters | AFP | Sky News | Photos Sunday December 5, 08:20 PM TEHRAN (AFP) - Iran said it was not obliged to allow UN atomic energy agency inspectors to visit military sites alleged to be involved in secret nuclear weapons work, but that it was willing to discuss the issue. "It is not a matter of unlimited commitments and unlimited inspections," foreign ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi told reporters when asked if International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) teams would be able to probe two suspect military facilities. "We will act in accordance with the NPT (nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty), our duties and responsibilities," Asefi added. The IAEA is mandated under the NPT to verify that all nuclear material in a country is declared and not being diverted for nuclear weapons purposes, as the United States claims is the case in Iran. But under the NPT and even its additional protocol -- also signed by Iran -- the agency has limited inspection powers. The Vienna-based watchdog has asked Iran if it can visit the Parchin military base east of Tehran, where US officials have said the Iranians may be testing "high-explosive shaped charges with an inert core of depleted uranium" as a dry test for how a bomb with fissile material would work. IAEA director Mohamed ElBaradei told AFP in an interview that he had "every reason to expect that Iran will allow us to go" to the site. But Asefi said Iran has not been officially asked by the IAEA if it can inspect Parchin, although he did add that "we are ready to cooperate within the framework of our commitments with the IAEA." The IAEA is also researching another site in Tehran, Lavizan II, which the exiled Iranian opposition has alleged is a site involved in the secret enriching of uranium. Iran insists its nuclear programme is solely directed at generating electricity, and fiercely denies allegations it is seeking weapons. The country escaped possible UN sanctions last week after agreeing to a deal with Britain, France and Germany to suspend its controversial fuel cycle work in exchange for a package of incentives. "A temporary suspension means a short while, not a long time," Asefi said of the suspension. However he said comments Friday by powerful former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani that the freeze would not last more than six months should not be seen as a firm timeframe. Asefi said Rafsanjani only mentioned six months an "example". An IAEA board of governors resolution on Iran last week had failed to give the agency the "unrestricted access" in the Islamic republic which nations like the United States say is needed if the IAEA is to resolve the Iranian nuclear question. ElBaradei said the issue has been raised that "we do not have the authority to go everywhere" but he said this was a "non-issue because we have received access to every facility we asked for in Iran." The IAEA goes beyond NPT accords in what it calls "transparency visits," when it asks Iran as a confidence-building measure to allow it to inspect sites, even if the agency does not have a suspicion of nuclear material at these places, ElBaradei said. Copyright © 2004 AFP AFP. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 5 Guardian Unlimited Report: N. Korean, U.S.met This Week From the Associated Press [UP] Saturday December 4, 2004 6:31 AM SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - North Korea on Saturday said its U.N. diplomats met U.S. officials in New York twice in the past week but concluded that Pyongyang should hold off on nuclear negotiations until the new U.S. administration is set, according to a report. The report, from Pyongyang's official news agency KCNA, said officials met on Tuesday and Friday. ``Our analysis of the results of the contact in New York prompts us to judge that the U.S. side showed no willingness to change its policy toward us and intends to use the six-party talks as a leverage for forcing us to dismantle all our nuclear programs including the nuclear development for a peaceful purpose first,'' a North Korean spokesman was quoted as saying by KCNA. Three rounds of six-nation talks aimed at persuading the North to halt weapons development have taken place since last year, but without a breakthrough. North Korea boycotted a fourth round scheduled for September, and analysts believed it was holding out for a change in the White House. North Korea contends that President Bush's administration holds a ``hostile'' policy toward Pyongyang. North Korea wants to maintain nuclear facilities for power generation and medical and agricultural research but says it will abandon its nuclear weapons development if the United States provides economic compensation and security guarantees. Washington has demanded an immediate dismantling of all the North's nuclear activities. Since Bush's November re-election, diplomacy has resumed. Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Dai Bingguo met in Washington with outgoing Secretary of State Colin Powell on Thursday, and North Korea's nuclear program was a key topic. Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2004 ***************************************************************** 6 INSIDE JoongAng Daily: Roh says North Korea will not collapse [http://joongangdaily.joins.com] December 6, 2004 KST 14:54 (GMT+9) December 06, 2004 ¤Ñ WARSAW ¡ª In a speech to Korean residents of Poland, President Roh Moo-hyun strongly discounted the chance that North Korea would collapse politically or economically. The president, who is winding up a three-nation tour of Europe this week, said Saturday that China will support Pyeongyang because it wants to prevent a flood of North Korean refugees coming across its border. Mr. Roh also said North Korea would be better able to sustain itself because it is slowly moving toward openness and economic reform. "Some have said that North Korea will collapse," Mr. Roh said. "But I believe there is almost no such possibility. If something happens in North Korea and millions of North Koreans go over the Amnok river, then it will become a very difficult, almost unmanageable problem for China." The Amnok, also known as the Yalu, flows along the border of China and North Korea. Mr. Roh said, "Beijing helps Pyeongyang in many ways so that it cannot collapse." Saying that North Korea would eventually make rational choices for greater openness and market reforms, Mr. Roh said it is "closely examining the situations of Vietnam and China as examples of reform." The president said he saw little chance of Pyeongyang launching a war of aggression. "The Gaeseong Industrial Complex is where North Korea would concentrate soldiers if it wants to attack South Korea," Mr. Roh said. "Gaeseong is a launching point of attack, but military facilities there were removed voluntarily and an industrial complex was built instead." In a series of remarks over the past week, Mr. Roh appears to be urging the United States to soften its approach to Pyeongyang in the effort to bring the North Korean nuclear arms crisis to an end. Later in the afternoon, Mr. Roh restated his views in a meeting with Polish students and academics. "There is only one way to solve the nuclear issue, which is dialogue," he said. "The security and prosperity of the Korean people are preconditions of any solutions." A top Blue House official explained yesterday that Mr. Roh's remarks were aimed at promoting an atmosphere that would encourage Pyeongyang to return to the six-party talks on the nuclear arms issue. In his recent speeches, the president has tried to make it clear to U.S. officials who have insisted a hard line be taken against North Korea that dialogue is needed to end the crisis. Mr. Roh said, "We need to support Pyeongyang not only in terms of money, but also in such areas as removing deep-seated problems." Analysts said yesterday Mr. Roh's remark was another message to Washington that economic sanctions against Pyeongyang need to be eased. Another Blue House official said, "The remarks suggest the possibility that if Pyeongyang comes back to the six-party talks, [Washington] should consider helping Pyeongyang be included in the World Bank and Asia Development Bank." On Saturday, however, a spokesman of North Korea's Foreign Ministry told the Korea Central News Agency, the North's official news outlet, "In the current situation, holding the six-party talks will not produce any results. As the second Bush administration has not yet been launched, we will be patient." by Choi Hoon, Lee Young-jong iamfine@joongang.co.kr> ***************************************************************** 7 United Press International: Official suggests IAEA join N. Korea talks December 04, 2004 Seoul, South Korea, Dec. 4 (UPI) -- Park Jin, of South Korea's Grand National Party, has suggested the country bring the International Atomic Energy Agency into North Korean nuclear talks. "The IAEA will be able to explain all the processes on South Korea's nuclear experiments, the followed inspections and the closing of the issue," Park told The Korea Times. "This kind of explanation could influence Pyongyang in a positive way." Park said he believes the IAEA's participation in six-party talks, aimed at finding a solution to Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions, will make it difficult for the North to justify refusing to attend the talks, the Korea Times reported. North Korea has requested the talks to include Seoul's nuclear experiments as a major agenda. The opposition party's International Committee chairman said he will pitch the idea to Washington government officials during an upcoming visit. [UPI Perspectives] ***************************************************************** 8 Guardian Unlimited: U.S., Allies in Flurry of Nuclear Talks From the Associated Press [UP] Saturday December 4, 2004 10:31 AM By SANG-HUN CHOE Associated Press Writer SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - The key players in international efforts to curb North Korea's nuclear ambitions are picking up the pace in what has become a protracted ritual of talking about talks and discussing how to entice the North's recalcitrant government back into negotiations. But the communist North dug in Saturday, saying its U.N. diplomats met U.S. officials in New York on Tuesday and again on Friday but concluded that Pyongyang should hold off on negotiations until President Bush's administration changes Washington's ``hostile'' policy toward Pyongyang. ``Our analysis of the results of the contact in New York prompts us to judge that the U.S. side showed no willingness to change its policy toward us and intends to use the six-party talks as a leverage for forcing us to dismantle all our nuclear programs, including the nuclear development for a peaceful purpose first,'' a North Korean spokesman said, according to KCNA. Three rounds of six-nation talks aimed at persuading the North to halt weapons development have taken place since last year, all without a breakthrough. North Korea boycotted a fourth round scheduled for September, and analysts believed it was holding out for a change in the White House. North Korea wants to maintain nuclear facilities for power generation and medical and agricultural research but says it will abandon its nuclear weapons development if the United States provides economic compensation and security guarantees, including a peace treaty to replace an armistice that ended the 1950-53 Korean War. Washington has demanded an immediate dismantling of all the North's nuclear activities. ``The U.S. should come out to replace the unstable state of cease-fire with a durable peace mechanism ... to co-exist with the (North) if the bilateral nuclear issue and other security issues are to be fairly solved,'' KCNA said in another dispatch. The American-led U.N. Command, which defended South Korea during the war, signed a truce, not a peace treaty, with North Korea at the end of the war, leaving the Korean Peninsula technically still at war. Since Bush's November re-election, diplomacy has resumed. Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Dai Bingguo met in Washington with outgoing Secretary of State Colin Powell on Thursday, and North Korea's nukes were a key topic. Before Dai's trip, China sent its ambassador for the nuclear dispute, Ning Fukui, to North Korea to sound out the North on the issue. South Korean Deputy Foreign Minister Lee Soo-hyuck arrived in Washington Thursday, while President Roh Moo-hyun, on a visit to London, urged that the ``six-party talks ... be reconvened as soon as possible.'' On Saturday, North Korea said it was not in a hurry. ``As the second Bush administration has not yet emerged, we would like to wait a bit longer to follow with patience what a policy it will shape,'' the North Korean spokesman said. The United States wants the fourth round of talks to begin before February. ``The North Koreans hold the key to when the talks will take place,'' said Lee Kyo-duk, a North Korea expert at Seoul's Korea Institute for National Unification. ``But they will wait until Bush completes his lineups for his second-term administration to have a clear picture of who they will have to deal with.'' Paek Sung-joo, chief North Korea analyst at Seoul's Korea Institute for Defense Analysis, said talks would likely resume in the first quarter of 2005 but probably only on the condition that Washington promises to resume free fuel oil shipments to the energy-starved North. The United States and its allies stopped those shipments after Washington accused North Korea in 2002 of running a clandestine nuclear program. North Korea retaliated by withdrawing from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and by restarting its nuclear facilities frozen under a 1994 deal. In Seoul on Friday, Mitchell B. Reiss, director of policy planning at the State Department, urged North Korea to change its strategy. ``The North likes to loudly declare that it is the United States - or Japan, or South Korea, or even the United Nations - that makes things hard for North Korea,'' Reiss said in a speech. ``But the leaders of North Korea need look no further than their own choices to understand how they came to their current predicament. They have cheated on agreements.'' Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2004 ***************************************************************** 9 Guardian Unlimited: Japan Cautious Over N. Korea Sanctions From the Associated Press [UP] Sunday December 5, 2004 6:46 AM TOKYO (AP) - Japan's foreign minister said Sunday Tokyo remains cautious about imposing economic sanctions on North Korea because the impoverished communist country could use it as an excuse to pull out of bilateral talks. Japanese officials visited Pyongyang last month for talks about Japanese nationals abducted by the North's spies in the 1970s and 80s. But several rounds of talks have brought little progress, prompting calls in Japan for the government to take a harder line against the country - including exploring ways to promote a change of the authoritarian regime. Japan's Parliament passed a law in February that lets Tokyo ban trade or impose economic sanctions on countries, including North Korea. But Foreign Minister Nobutaka M before resorting to such measures. ``If we were to use sanctions, North Korea could use that as a reason or an excuse not to agree to talks,'' he told an Asahi TV morning talk show. North Korea has admitted kidnapping 13 Japanese citizens, five of whom were allowed to return home to Japan in 2002. North Korea said seven of the missing are dead. But many Japanese are skeptical and suspect the missing - and at least two other unconfirmed abductees - could still be alive in the reclusive country. Japan also has been working with the United States, Russia, China and South Korea to persuade North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons program. But three rounds of talks have not led to a breakthrough, and Pyongyang refused to attend a fourth session scheduled for September, weeks before the U.S. election. Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2004 ***************************************************************** 10 Xinhua: DPRK expects change in US policy before resuming talks www.xinhuanet.com www.chinaview.cn 2004-12-04 17:57:17 PYONGYANG, Dec. 4 (Xinhuanet) -- The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) said on Saturday it would wait for a change in the United States policy towards Pyongyang before resuming another round of six-party talks. "We are not impatient for the resumption of talks, nor would welike to make a hasty final conclusion. As the second Bush administration has not yet emerged, we would like to wait a bit longer with patience to follow what policies it will shape," said a spokesman for the DPRK's Foreign Ministry. The spokesman reiterated Pyongyang's stand on the resumption of the six-party talks and its unchanged position to seek a negotiable solution to the nuclear issue between the DPRK and the US. "Our intention is to promote the process of the talks in such away that they can substantially contribute to the denuclearization of the peninsula," the spokesman was cited by the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA). The spokesman said that the deadlock of the six-party talks wasnot because the DPRK waited for the results of the US presidential election or sought talks with the US only. "The stalemate attributed to US, who destroyed the groundwork for talks and reneged on the agreement reached at the third round of the talks. The US was undisguisedly pursuing its hostile acts to bring down the DPRK's system," he accused. "The basis for resuming six-party talks is that the US has to drop its hostile policy aimed at bringing down our system and to express its willingness to co-exist with it," the spokesman added. Enditem Copyright ©2003 Xinhua News Agency. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 11 Fwd: News Media in the 60th Year of the Nuclear Age Date: Sun, 5 Dec 2004 23:17:18 -0600 (CST) From: "Norman Solomon" Subject: News Media in the 60th Year of the Nuclear Age Date: Tue, 30 Nov 2004 00:22:11 -0800 http://www.fair.org/media-beat/041129.html News Media in the 60th Year of the Nuclear Age By Norman Solomon Top officials in Washington are now promoting jitters about Iran's nuclear activities, while media outlets amplify the message. A confrontation with Tehran is on the second-term Bush agenda. So, we're encouraged to obliquely think about the unthinkable. But no one can get very far trying to comprehend the enormity of nuclear weapons. They've shadowed human consciousness for six decades. From the outset, deception has been key. Lies from the White House have been part of the nuclear rationalizing process ever since August 1945. President Harry Truman spoke to the American public three days after the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. Calling the civilian-filled Japanese city a "military base," Truman said: "The world will note that the first atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, a military base. That was because we wished in this first attack to avoid, insofar as possible, the killing of civilians." Actually, U.S. planners had sought a large urban area for the nuclear cross hairs because -- as Manhattan Project director Gen. Leslie Groves later acknowledged -- it was "desirable that the first target be of such size that the damage would be confined within it, so that we could more definitely determine the power of the bomb." Thirty-five years later, when I looked at the U.S. Energy Department's official roster of "Announced United States Nuclear Tests," the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were on the list. We're now six decades into the Nuclear Age. And we're farther than ever, it seems, from a momentously difficult truth that Albert Einstein uttered during its first years, when the U.S. government still held a monopoly on the split atom. "This basic power of the universe cannot be fitted into the outmoded concept of narrow nationalisms," he wrote. "For there is no secret and there is no defense; there is no possibility of control except through the aroused understanding and insistence of the peoples of the world." Today, no phrase could better describe U.S. foreign policies -- or American media coverage -- than "narrow nationalisms." The officials keep putting on a proudly jingoistic show, and journalists report it without fundamental challenge. So, any whiff of sanity is conspicuous. Just before Thanksgiving, when the House and Senate voted to cut funding of research for a new line of tactical nuclear weapons including "bunker buster" warheads, the decision was reported as the most significant victory for arms-control advocates since the early 1990s. That's because the nuclear-weapons industry has been running amok for so long. While Uncle Sam continues to maintain a nuclear arsenal capable of destroying life on Earth, the American finger-wagging at Iran is something righteous to behold. Current alarms, wailing about an alleged Iranian program to develop nuclear weapons, are being set off by the same Bush administration officials who declared that an invasion of Iraq was imperative because Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. As we now know, he didn't. But that hasn't stopped the Bush team from launching the same kind of media campaign against Iran -- based on unverified claims by Iranian exiles with a track record of inaccuracy and a clear motive to pull Washington into military action. Sound familiar? We ought to be able to recognize what's wrong with U.S. officials who lecture Iran about the evils of nuclear-arms proliferation while winking at Israel's arsenal, estimated to include 200 nuclear weapons. When Einstein called for "the aroused understanding and insistence of the peoples of the world," he was describing a need that news media ought to help fill. But instead, mostly we get the official stories: dumbed-down, simplistic, and -- yes -- narrowly nationalistic. The themes are those of Washington's powerful: our nukes good, our allies' nukes pretty good, unauthorized nukes very bad. That sort of propaganda drumbeat won't be convincing to people who doubt that a Christian Bomb is good and a Jewish Bomb is good but an Islamic Bomb is bad. You don't have to be an Einstein to understand that people are rarely persuaded by hypocritical messages along the lines of "Do as we say, not as we do." _____________________________________ Norman Solomon is co-author, with Reese Erlich, of "Target Iraq: What the News Media Didn't Tell You." His columns and other writings can be found at . "Killing Our Own: The Disaster of America's Experience With Atomic Radiation" (Delacorte Press, 1982), a book by Harvey Wasserman and Norman Solomon, is online at: http://www.ratical.org/radiation/KillingOurOwn/ Media Beat is the insightful weekly syndicated column on media and politics written by FAIR associate Norman Solomon http://www.fair.org/media-beat ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Search /RENEGADE/ for articles that mention nukes - http://fornits.com/renegade/peaars.cgi?keywords=NUKES&increment=weeks&many=52 [only articles for the last one year will be indexed] /RENEGADE/ Search - GO TO: http://fornits.com/renegade/peaars.cgi? and just type in your topic. For differing results you may uncheck "article" and search on just "subject," etc. /RENEGADE/ also has "time-frame" in the search, so you can tailor your results that way, too. ----- -- Peace! *STRIDER* Sector Air Raid Warden at /RENEGADE/ Home: http://fornits.com/renegade/ DEDICATED TO SPIRIT, TRUTH, PEACE, JUSTICE, AND FREEDOM Articles posted in the last 10 days: http://fornits.com/renegade/peaars.cgi?search=Search&increment=days&many=10 Blog: http://striders-renegade.blogspot.com/ Bay_Area_Activist list ---- Membership by invitation only - moderated / archives for members only Contact bay_area_activist-owner@yahoogroups.com to request membership. EF! list --------------- earthfirstalert - http://groups.yahoo.com/group/earthfirstalert List-Subscribe: usenet: news:misc.activism.progressive e-mail: mailto:strider@fornits.com strider@fornits.com No War! No Nukes! Impeach! WHEN SPIDERS UNITE, THEY CAN TIE DOWN A LION -- Ethiopian Proverb ***************************************************************** 12 Manhattan Project Morfed Into Hope Of US A-Bomb Monopoly To Shape Global Politics Date: Sun, 5 Dec 2004 22:00:50 -0500 This was originally posted May 5, 2003 by Harsh Kapoor: Such a weapon could be used not only to deter the Nazis, but to craft and maintain a U.S.-dictated post-war new world order, the article says. "They were afraid that if the bomb was a dud, German scientists might recover the plutonium, make a bomb and use it on Britain," said Dr. Arjun Makhijani, author of the article and president of the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research (IEER http://www.ieer.org ), who has published many studies on nuclear-weapon-related questions. "So, they targeted Japanese forces at the island of Truk at first, and then Japanese cities." An electronic copy (PDF) of the article is available from the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists at http://www.thebulletin.org/issues/2003/mj03/mj03makhijani.pdf . http://www.thebulletin.org U.S. Goal of Preventing World Domination by Hitler Turned to Hope of a U.S. Bomb Monopoly to Shape World Politics Wartime Bomb Project Has Created a Moral and Military "Monstrosity" Takoma Park, Maryland, May 2, 2003: Manhattan Project officials began to consider the use of the atom bomb well before it was ready and well before anyone knew when World War II might end. The original purpose of the bomb project to prevent Hitler armed with an atomic-bomb from taking over the world was bent to other purposes during the very first targeting discussion, which took place sixty years ago, according to an article published in the current issue [Spring 2003] Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. While Manhattan Project scientists were still pursuing the bomb with the single-minded desire to beat Hitler to the punch, a meeting of the Project's Military Policy Committee on May 5, 1943 produced the first official signals that the government was beginning to take a much broader view of the project: Such a weapon could be used not only to deter the Nazis, but to craft and maintain a U.S.-dictated post-war new world order, the article says. "They were afraid that if the bomb was a dud, German scientists might recover the plutonium, make a bomb and use it on Britain," said Dr. Arjun Makhijani, author of the article and president of the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research (IEER), who has published many studies on nuclear-weapon-related questions. "So, they targeted Japanese forces at the island of Truk at first, and then Japanese cities." As the project went into 1944, and it was certain that Germany had no effective bomb program, the U.S. program became its own justification, according to the article. The bomb had to be used because it was built. The immense expenditure had to be justified by something more than the fact that a project of deterrence had been undertaken as a precaution. The proof of the scientific and engineering work had to be carried through to a nuclear test. The technical questions about the destructive power of nuclear bombs had to be answered by their use on cities. The power of the bomb had to be demonstrated to the world, especially to the Soviet Union. The idea of using the monopoly of the bomb to dominate the world, the very thing U.S. bomb scientists were afraid Hitler might do, was explicitly discussed with the incoming President Truman by then-Secretary of War, Henry L. Stimson on April 25, 1945. Stimson said that "If the problem of the proper use of this weapon can be solved, we will have the opportunity to bring the world into a pattern in which the peace of the world and our civilization can be saved." "Hiroshima and Nagasaki were really the first experiments on what Stimson called the 'proper use' of the bomb," said Dr. Makhijani. "The unspeakable terror of a single bomb dropped from a lone plane that could destroy a whole city in a flash was to replace the armadas of bombers dropping thousands of bombs that were incinerating Japanese and German cities in early 1945. It was to be the most fearsome kind of 'shock and awe.'" But if a single bomb could replace the power of an entire military, then controlling the world with it depended on the maintenance of a monopoly, which was soon broken. So instead of bringing sole control to the possessor, the fearsome unveiling of the bomb at Hiroshima became the principal driving force in nuclear proliferation. The German threat led to the U.S. bomb to the Soviet bomb and in a chain whose end does not seem to have arrived yet. Well over half the world's population now lives in countries that have nuclear weapons or are allied with a nuclear weapon state. Forty four countries have the technical capability to make nuclear bombs. The article disputes those who argue that nuclear weapons have brought peace. It points out that the United States and the Soviet Union fought proxy wars because they were now too afraid to fight one another in Europe. Nuclear weapons did not stop violence but shifted it. Millions have been killed in proxy wars, whose violence continues. The problem of global terrorism is a direct result of some of those wars. Now some of that terrorism threatens to go nuclear. "Today, sixty years after that fateful decision, the idea that you can dictate your terms to the world if you have the bomb has migrated from the capitals of civilization to the caves of Afghanistan," said Dr. Makhijani. "Osama bin Laden has more than once made reference to Hiroshima in asserting his own determination to use nuclear weapons to destroy and kill." The article catalogs the host of problems that have arisen as nuclear establishments around the world have become entrenched. They have subverted the rule of law and democracy, where they existed, in the name of national security. They have covered up hazards of radiation and lied to their people. For instance, while the U.S. military was reassuring the public that nuclear tests posed no radiation danger, it was contemplating radioactive terror for potential enemies. The article cites a 1947 Joint Chiefs of Staff report: "We can form no adequate mental picture of the multiple disasters that would befall a modern city, blasted by one or more bombs and enveloped by radioactive mists. Of the survivors in the contaminated areas, some would be doomed by radiation sickness in hours, some in days, some in years . . . . Added to every terror of the moment, thousands would be stricken with a fear of death and the uncertainty of the time of its arrival." "Stimson himself had been fearful at other times that the bomb might get out of control instead of a U.S-shaped 'peace of the world'," said Dr. Makhijani. "Today we seem to be on the brink of nuclear chaos in large measure because the most powerful, led by the United States, proclaim loudly their own prerogative to hold on to nuclear weapons, while they are intent on disarming others. India, which complained loudly of 'nuclear apartheid' before it tested the bomb five years ago, now is quiet, having joined the 'White' side of the plutonium club. Not a happy result for the land of Gandhi, whose own struggle for freedom began in apartheid South Africa." Gandhi, while condemning the "misdeeds" and "unworthy ambitions" of the Japanese imperialists, the article notes, thought that that the United States might find itself confronted by nuclear terror one day: "What has happened to the soul of the destroying nation is yet too early to see. . . . A slave holder cannot hold a slave without putting himself or his deputy in the cage holding the slave." "Scientific brilliance is not enough," Dr. Makhijani writes in the article. "Bereft of moral and political vision or consideration for future generations, it can lead to chaos, violence, and, in the case of nuclear weapons, annihilation." -30- An electronic copy (PDF) of the article is available from the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists at http://www.thebulletin.org/issues/2003/mj03/mj03makhijani.pdf . ***************************************************************** 13 [NukeNet] Manhattan Project Morfed Into Hope Of US A-Bomb Date: Sun, 05 Dec 2004 19:28:48 -0800 This was originally posted May 5, 2003 by Harsh Kapoor: Such a weapon could be used not only to deter the Nazis, but to craft and maintain a U.S.-dictated post-war new world order, the article says. "They were afraid that if the bomb was a dud, German scientists might recover the plutonium, make a bomb and use it on Britain," said Dr. Arjun Makhijani, author of the article and president of the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research (IEER http://www.ieer.org ), who has published many studies on nuclear-weapon-related questions. "So, they targeted Japanese forces at the island of Truk at first, and then Japanese cities." An electronic copy (PDF) of the article is available from the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists at http://www.thebulletin.org/issues/2003/mj03/mj03makhijani.pdf . http://www.thebulletin.org U.S. Goal of Preventing World Domination by Hitler Turned to Hope of a U.S. Bomb Monopoly to Shape World Politics Wartime Bomb Project Has Created a Moral and Military "Monstrosity" Takoma Park, Maryland, May 2, 2003: Manhattan Project officials began to consider the use of the atom bomb well before it was ready and well before anyone knew when World War II might end. The original purpose of the bomb project to prevent Hitler armed with an atomic-bomb from taking over the world was bent to other purposes during the very first targeting discussion, which took place sixty years ago, according to an article published in the current issue [Spring 2003] Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. While Manhattan Project scientists were still pursuing the bomb with the single-minded desire to beat Hitler to the punch, a meeting of the Project's Military Policy Committee on May 5, 1943 produced the first official signals that the government was beginning to take a much broader view of the project: Such a weapon could be used not only to deter the Nazis, but to craft and maintain a U.S.-dictated post-war new world order, the article says. "They were afraid that if the bomb was a dud, German scientists might recover the plutonium, make a bomb and use it on Britain," said Dr. Arjun Makhijani, author of the article and president of the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research (IEER), who has published many studies on nuclear-weapon-related questions. "So, they targeted Japanese forces at the island of Truk at first, and then Japanese cities." As the project went into 1944, and it was certain that Germany had no effective bomb program, the U.S. program became its own justification, according to the article. The bomb had to be used because it was built. The immense expenditure had to be justified by something more than the fact that a project of deterrence had been undertaken as a precaution. The proof of the scientific and engineering work had to be carried through to a nuclear test. The technical questions about the destructive power of nuclear bombs had to be answered by their use on cities. The power of the bomb had to be demonstrated to the world, especially to the Soviet Union. The idea of using the monopoly of the bomb to dominate the world, the very thing U.S. bomb scientists were afraid Hitler might do, was explicitly discussed with the incoming President Truman by then-Secretary of War, Henry L. Stimson on April 25, 1945. Stimson said that "If the problem of the proper use of this weapon can be solved, we will have the opportunity to bring the world into a pattern in which the peace of the world and our civilization can be saved." "Hiroshima and Nagasaki were really the first experiments on what Stimson called the 'proper use' of the bomb," said Dr. Makhijani. "The unspeakable terror of a single bomb dropped from a lone plane that could destroy a whole city in a flash was to replace the armadas of bombers dropping thousands of bombs that were incinerating Japanese and German cities in early 1945. It was to be the most fearsome kind of 'shock and awe.'" But if a single bomb could replace the power of an entire military, then controlling the world with it depended on the maintenance of a monopoly, which was soon broken. So instead of bringing sole control to the possessor, the fearsome unveiling of the bomb at Hiroshima became the principal driving force in nuclear proliferation. The German threat led to the U.S. bomb to the Soviet bomb and in a chain whose end does not seem to have arrived yet. Well over half the world's population now lives in countries that have nuclear weapons or are allied with a nuclear weapon state. Forty four countries have the technical capability to make nuclear bombs. The article disputes those who argue that nuclear weapons have brought peace. It points out that the United States and the Soviet Union fought proxy wars because they were now too afraid to fight one another in Europe. Nuclear weapons did not stop violence but shifted it. Millions have been killed in proxy wars, whose violence continues. The problem of global terrorism is a direct result of some of those wars. Now some of that terrorism threatens to go nuclear. "Today, sixty years after that fateful decision, the idea that you can dictate your terms to the world if you have the bomb has migrated from the capitals of civilization to the caves of Afghanistan," said Dr. Makhijani. "Osama bin Laden has more than once made reference to Hiroshima in asserting his own determination to use nuclear weapons to destroy and kill." The article catalogs the host of problems that have arisen as nuclear establishments around the world have become entrenched. They have subverted the rule of law and democracy, where they existed, in the name of national security. They have covered up hazards of radiation and lied to their people. For instance, while the U.S. military was reassuring the public that nuclear tests posed no radiation danger, it was contemplating radioactive terror for potential enemies. The article cites a 1947 Joint Chiefs of Staff report: "We can form no adequate mental picture of the multiple disasters that would befall a modern city, blasted by one or more bombs and enveloped by radioactive mists. Of the survivors in the contaminated areas, some would be doomed by radiation sickness in hours, some in days, some in years . . . . Added to every terror of the moment, thousands would be stricken with a fear of death and the uncertainty of the time of its arrival." "Stimson himself had been fearful at other times that the bomb might get out of control instead of a U.S-shaped 'peace of the world'," said Dr. Makhijani. "Today we seem to be on the brink of nuclear chaos in large measure because the most powerful, led by the United States, proclaim loudly their own prerogative to hold on to nuclear weapons, while they are intent on disarming others. India, which complained loudly of 'nuclear apartheid' before it tested the bomb five years ago, now is quiet, having joined the 'White' side of the plutonium club. Not a happy result for the land of Gandhi, whose own struggle for freedom began in apartheid South Africa." Gandhi, while condemning the "misdeeds" and "unworthy ambitions" of the Japanese imperialists, the article notes, thought that that the United States might find itself confronted by nuclear terror one day: "What has happened to the soul of the destroying nation is yet too early to see. . . . A slave holder cannot hold a slave without putting himself or his deputy in the cage holding the slave." "Scientific brilliance is not enough," Dr. Makhijani writes in the article. "Bereft of moral and political vision or consideration for future generations, it can lead to chaos, violence, and, in the case of nuclear weapons, annihilation." -30- An electronic copy (PDF) of the article is available from the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists at http://www.thebulletin.org/issues/2003/mj03/mj03makhijani.pdf . _______________________________________________________________________ Subscribe/Unsubscribe Here: http://www.energyjustice.net/nukenet/ Change your settings at: http://energyjustice.net/mailman/listinfo/nukenet_energyjustice.net ***************************************************************** 14 Las Vegas SUN: Environmentalists Lose on Spending Bill By ALAN FRAM ASSOCIATED PRESS WASHINGTON (AP) - From an Alaska land swap to tours of a Georgia barrier island, business interests bested environmentalists in battles that shaped Congress' $388 billion spending bill. The legislation wasn't totally one-sided as it boosted expenditures for operating national parks and continued bans on oil drilling in national monuments and many offshore areas. Lawmakers also omitted business-sought provisions to help a huge Oregon logging project and to ease standards for some pesticide use. Business groups said the spending bill, which with accompanying documents ran 3,646 pages, was too wide-ranging for either side to declare victory. "I'd be hard-pressed to say it was a clear win," Bruce Josten, a top lobbyist for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, said about the legislation that lawmakers soon will send to President Bush for his signature. Even so, much of the measure reflected the pro-business orientation of Bush and Congress' majority Republicans, who dominated the crafting of the package. Oil, ranching, timber and tourism all scored victories. "This bill is harmful to the environment, there's no question about it," said Linda Lance, vice president for public policy for the Wilderness Society. "And to the extent that people see this as a way to do business in the future, that would be enormously harmful." With the GOP seeking to curb spending, the bill - financing every federal agency but the departments of Defense and Homeland Security - limits overall 2005 domestic programs to 1 percent more than last year. The National Park Service gets $1.7 billion to operate its parks, a 6 percent increase that Blake Selzer of the National Parks Conservation Association called "one of the bright spots of the bill." Overall federal land acquisition, though, is about $166 million, well below its $444 million peak of three years ago. The Environmental Protection Agency gets $8.1 billion, 3.4 percent below last year, while agricultural conservation is cut 3 percent from 2004 to $999 million. One section opposed by environmentalists would let up to 900 ranchers forgo full environmental reviews when they submit for renewal their permits for grazing herds on National Forest Service lands. The provision is aimed at helping the service reduce a backlog of nearly 3,800 permits that are up for renewal and would otherwise require intensive environmental analyses. Ranchers whose lands seem to lack serious environmental problems would qualify for the speedier process, eliminating what otherwise could be years of delay. "It's horribly wrong to eliminate people's livelihood because the government was not completing its paperwork on time," said Jeff Eisenberg, executive director of the Public Lands Council, which represents ranchers who use public lands. Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, a chief author of the bill, scored several victories for industry in his home state. The measure would continue a year-old provision limiting the period for legal action available to opponents of logging in Alaska's Tongass National Forest, the nation's largest. It also has a new provision giving 100,000 acres of Alaska's Yukon Flats National Wildlife Refuge to a company that wants to drill there for oil and gas. In exchange, Doyon Ltd., a private company established by Congress for the benefit of native Alaskans, will give land to the refuge, a haven for waterfowl and other animals that is nearly triple the size of Connecticut. The provision has angered many environmental groups. "You shouldn't be swapping land inside a wildlife refuge," said Betsy Loyless, a League of Conservation Voters lobbyist. Supporters say the government will receive valuable habitat land while Doyon gambles that it will find minerals on the parcel it receives. "We have a charge to tend to the social and economic well-being of our shareholders," said James Mery, a Doyon vice president. Another section weighs in on a dispute on the other side of the country, allowing continuation of motorized tours of Georgia's Cumberland Island National Seashore. About half of Cumberland, the East Coast's largest undeveloped barrier island, is a federal wilderness area where vehicles are supposed to be forbidden. It also is dotted with historic structures and opulent estates. Environmental groups have sued to try stopping the tours and the use of roads through the wilderness section of the island. The bill will allow the continued use of the roads and up to eight tours daily. The legislation also: -Thwarts opponents of snowmobiles in Yellowstone National Park by allowing the same 720 snowmobiles per day as last year, and -Blocks a court order won by environmentalists requiring the removal of three 70-year-old outfitter camps from Idaho's Frank Church-River of No Return Wilderness. -- ***************************************************************** 15 Independent: Bush sets out plan to dismantle 30 years of environmental laws [http://www.independent.co.uk] By Geoffrey Lean in Washington 05 December 2004 George Bush's new administration, and its supporters controlling Congress, are setting out to dismantle three decades of US environmental protection. In little over a month since his re-election, they have announced that they will comprehensively rewrite three of the country's most important environmental laws, open up vast new areas for oil and gas drilling, and reshape the official Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). They say that the election gave them a mandate for the measures - which, ironically, will overturn a legislative system originally established by the Republican Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford - even though Mr Bush went out of his way to avoid emphasising his environmental plans during his campaign. "The election was a validation of the philosophy and the agenda," said Mike Leavitt, the Bush-appointed head of the EPA. He points out that over a third of the agency's staff will become eligible for retirement over the President's four-year term, enabling him to fill it with people lenient to polluters. The administration's first priority is the controversial plan to open up the Arctic Wildlife Refuge for oil drilling. Two years ago the Senate defeated plans to exploit the refuge - home to caribou, polar bears , musk oxen and millions of migratory birds - by 52 votes to 48. But with the election of four Republican senators in favour of the drilling, and the disappearance of one who opposed it, the administration now has the votes forvictory. It plans to follow with an energy bill - also defeated in the last Congress - which would investigate vast new tracts for exploitation for oil and gas. It will also encourage the building of nuclear power stations, halted since the 1979 Three Mile Island accident. Far more radical measures are also under way. Joe Barton, the Texas Republican chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, who is to help push through the energy bill, has also announced a comprehensive review of the Clean Air Act, one of the world's most successful environmental laws. Environmentalists predict the emasculation of the Act, which has cut air pollution across the country by more than half over the last 30 years. Not to be outdone, the Republican chairman of the House Resources Committee, Richard Pombo, has announced a review of the Endangered Species Act, for the protection of wildlife. The law has been the main obstacle to the felling of much of the US's remaining endangered rain forest. And in a third assault, Congressional leaders have also announced an attack on the National Environmental Policy Act, which requires details of the environmental effects of major developments before they proceed. Philip Clapp, president of the National Environmental Trust, said last week that the previous Bush administration had largely contented itself with weakening environmental legislation, but the new one intended to go much further. He added: "We will now see an assault on the law which will set the US in the direction of becoming a Third World country in terms of environmental protection." The environmentalists point out that almost every local referendum on environmental issues carried out on election day achieved a green majority. They recall the fate of the assault on environmental law - headed by the former Congressional Speaker, Newt Gingrich, in the mid 1990s - which caused such opposition that Congress enacted tough new green legislation. © 2004 Independent Digital (UK) Ltd ***************************************************************** 16 Newsweek MSNBC: Whistle-Blower Crackdown Spreads [Michael Isikoff and Mark Hosenball-Terror Watch] Whistle-Blower Crackdown SpreadsA judge is ordering government workers to waive their confidentiality agreements with journalists. What impact will the controversial tactic have on the media's ability to report news? WEB EXCLUSIVEBy Michael Isikoff and Mark HosenballNewsweekUpdated: 5:49 p.m. ET Dec. 1, 2004 Dec. 1 - A hard-edged tactic used by a Justice Department special counsel to smoke out anonymous sources in a CIA leak case is about to be expanded to the 2001 anthrax investigation—despite profound misgivings within the department about the legitimacy of the practice. As many as 100 FBI agents, federal prosecutors and other department employees are likely to be asked—possibly as early as the next few weeks—to sign broadly worded statements waiving any confidentiality agreements they had with journalists about the anthrax case, Justice officials tell NEWSWEEK. The waiver statement was recently ordered by a federal judge at the urging of lawyers for bioterrorism expert Dr. Steven J. Hatfill, who has filed a lawsuit alleging that government officials leaked damaging personal information about him  in an effort to connect him with the anthrax attacks. The language is to be patterned on a similar statement distributed last year to White House officials and others in the investigation headed by special counsel Patrick Fitzgerald, a U.S. attorney in Chicago, to determine who leaked the identify of undercover CIA agent Valerie Plame to columnist Robert Novak. Like the upcoming Hatfill waiver, the so-called “Plame waiver†was designed to be an end run around journalists’ claims that they are protecting the confidentiality of sources when they refuse to testify in leak investigations. The statement asserts that a government official who talked to the news media waives “any promise of confidentiality, express or implied†that was offered to them by a reporter, according to a copy of the Plame waiver obtained by NEWSWEEK. It further authorizes any reporter with whom the official talked to disclose to investigators “any communications that I may have had … regarding the subject matters under investigation, including any communications made ‘on background,’ ‘off the record,’ ‘not for attribution,’ or in any other form.â€Â Â Â Â Â Â  The Plame case, including the validity of such “waiver†statements, is headed for a showdown next week when a federal appeals court hears arguments about whether two reporters, Judith Miller of The New York Times and Matthew Cooper of Time magazine, should be incarcerated for refusing to answer questions about their contacts with administration officials who signed the waivers. But largely overlooked is that the Plame waiver appears to be catching on as an accepted practice to pressure reporters to reveal their sources. This is happening even though some top officials within the Justice Department have serious doubts about the waivers. Indeed, although it got little attention at the time, a Justice lawyer recently acknowledged to the judge overseeing the Hatfill suit that the theoretically voluntary waiver poses “significant issues†for the government, including the fact that they could well be construed as coercive by officials who are asked to sign them. The lawyer, Elizabeth Shapiro, also questioned whether the waivers would even be effective in persuading a journalist to disclose confidential communications with a source. “I can’t imagine that the breadth of such a waiver would have significant meaning to a reporter,†she said, according to a transcript of an Oct. 7 hearing before U.S. District Judge Reggie B. Walton, who is on the bench for the Hatfill case.  “It’s very disturbing that this is starting to become used as a way to out the relationship between reporters and sources,†said Floyd Abrams, a prominent First Amendment lawyer who is representing both Miller and Cooper in the Plame case. “On the face of it, [the waivers] are coercive. How could they be anything but?â€Â  In the Plame case, special counsel Fitzgerald has persuaded a federal judge to hold both Miller and Cooper in contempt of court for refusing to testify about conversations they had with White House officials about Plame’s identify. (Plame, a former CIA undercover officer, is the wife of former U.S. ambassador Joseph Wilson, who had become a critic of the president’s Iraq policy.) In pressing his case that both Miller and Cooper should be jailed if they don’t testify, Fitzgerald has invoked the waiver statements signed by the White House officials as evidence that whatever “reporters’ privilege†the journalists are claiming no longer applies. But Miller and Cooper have countered exactly how Shapiro, the Justice Department lawyer in the Hatfill case, suggested they would: the waivers are meaningless. One reason is that White House officials were effectively compelled to sign them-and risked even losing their jobs if they did not, according to the journalists. "Whatever may have been said publicly or privately within the government to any source of mine that may have cajoled him or her to sign the form prepared by the government-and I am aware of public statements of the president himself urging all officials to cooperate with the investigation-does not affect my promise of confidentiality to my sources in any way," Miller said in an affidavit submitted in the case. "I do not feel at all confident that such a form presented to individuals by their employer . is not signed under extraordinary pressure." Just how much pressure the government has used can be gleaned from the experience of one former White House official who, after the leaving the government, was still pushed repeatedly by the FBI to sign the waiver form. The former official, who asked not to be identified, said he refused to do so because "I didn't think it was fair to the reporters. It struck me as a backdoor way to use pressure." An arrangement between a reporter and a source "has to be all or nothing. It can't be changed after the fact." TERROR WATCH Current Column | Archives  Terror Watch: Hardline Group May Disband An Arabic newspaper is reporting that the fundamentalist group might disband. But its dissolution could make it harder for governments to act against financiers of terror  Terror Watch: The Real Target? New intelligence suggests that Al Qaeda was planning to attack London, not U.S. financial centers, in the run-up to the presidential election. A Kerry adviser blames politics for the timing of the government's summer alert At that point, the FBI agents called up the former official's lawyer and stepped up the pressure, saying that other witnesses at the White House had signed the statements. "If he's got nothing to hide, why won't he sign," one of the agents asked, according to the former official's lawyer. The new use of the Plame waiver stems from claims by Hatfill's lawyers that government officials violated his rights under the Privacy Act by allegedly leaking damaging information about him-to NEWSWEEK, among other publications. (The lawsuit is separate from, and unrelated to, a libel suit filed by Hatfill against New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristoff that was dismissed by a federal judge last week.) Although he was once described by Attorney General John Ashcroft as a "person of interest" in the deadly anthrax attacks, and was widely reported to be a principal focus of the investigation, Hatfill has never been charged in the case. Still, Hatfill lost his job with a government contractor and remains both unemployed and "unemployable" as a result of the widespread publicity he received in the matter, according to a source close to him. In the civil suit, Hatfill's lawyers demanded that the Justice Department conduct a vigorous leak investigation into who provided the news media with incriminating information about Hatfill. As a prod to make them do so, they seized on the idea of pushing Justice to distribute "Plame waivers" to a list of between 50 and 100 federal prosecutors, FBI agents and others who were working on the anthrax case. Justice Department public affairs chief Mark Corallo said that no pressure will be put upon agents, prosecutors and others asked to sign the waivers in the Hatfill case. "We are simply the facilitators," Corallo said. "The individuals who will receive these waivers will be informed they are under no obligation to sign them. It is totally voluntary, and no matter what their decision, it will not reflect on their employment." But Hatfill's lawyers clearly have their own ideas. They intend to depose a long list of the agents and prosecutors who have worked on the anthrax case and intend to, they have indicated, target first and foremost any that declined to sign the waivers. Page 2: The Waivers Are Meaningless© 2004 Newsweek, Inc. ***************************************************************** 17 IndiaExpress.Com: South Asia no longer regarded as nuclear flashpoint - PM 18.07 IST 04th Dec 2004 By IndiaExpress Bureau Contending that political and diplomatic initiatives by the UPA government have improved regional security, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today said South Asia was no longer being regarded as a "nuclear flashpoint". "Our political and diplomatic initiatives have begun to improve the regional security environment... No one now talks of South Asia as a nuclear flashpoint and no travel advisories are being issued apprehending war," he said while addressing the Prime Minister's Trade and Industry Council in New Delhi. Noting that there has been an improvement in the security environment in Jammu and Kashmir and in the North Eastern States, Singh said tourist arrivals into India were increasing. "The number of flights into India are increasing and our airports are clogged with traffic and cargo," he said. Turning to the domestic situation, the Prime Minister said his government has been able to restore social peace, communal harmony and political stability. He hoped all political parties would conduct themselves with responsibility and a sense of national purpose so that the positive state of expectations was further enhanced. ***************************************************************** 18 Arutz Sheva: Does Saudi Arabia Have Nuclear Weapons? 20:08 Dec 05, '04 / 22 Kislev 5765 (IsraelNN.com) According to a November 28 United Press International report, Iranian sources were quoted as saying that Saudi Arabia has access to nuclear weapons and technology, the Middle East Newsline reported. “The sources said Saudi Arabia and Pakistan signed an agreement in 2003 that stated Pakistan would assist the Arab kingdom in the deployment of nuclear weapons and missile delivery systems.” All rights reserved IsraelNationalNews © Arutz Sheva Israel Broadcasting Network webmaster@israelnationalnews.com Binamica - web design in Israel [http://www.binamica.co.il/] ***************************************************************** 19 independent: Michael Harrison's Outlook: Green is the colour, nuclear is the name [http://www.independent.co.uk] 04 December 2004 British Energy may have lived to fight another day. But the more interesting question is whether there is a long-term future for nuclear energy in this country. As we saw this week, the state-financed rescue of the company that dare not speak its name has turned into a gravy train for professional advisers and managers alike ­ the former have already picked up £104m for saving it from the scrap heap and the latter stand to net £30m if they make a success of the business over the next three years. But what does that mean for energy policy over the next 30 years and will atomic power have a role to play? Over the next six months, at least, the Government's energy policy is clear ­ make sure the lights do not go out between now and the next election. It would, we are told, take a Siberian winter of the type Britain experiences only once in every 50 years to put a serious squeeze on supplies. Even then, we are assured, "market mechanisms" would step in to keep the lights on. Industry would find it more profitable to stop production and sell its surplus power back to the grid and even the most uneconomic generating plants would come out of mothballs as the wholesale price of electricity went through the roof. In short, the market would ensure there was enough gas to meet domestic demand for heating and enough electricity to avoid blackouts. There are some sceptics, including a few who run the country's gas terminals, who doubt that the market will perform quite so perfectly. But even if it were to, and the UK avoids any serious power shortages this winter and next, by which time more gas import capacity will have come on stream, are we right to be as sanguine about the longer term? There are two issues which continue to dominate UK energy policy and nuclear power, for better or worse, sits squarely in the middle of both. One is security of supply. The other is diversity of supply and the fuel mix Britain will need to meet its environmental goal of a 60 per cent cut in carbon emissions by 2060. As far as security of supply is concerned, the predictions are coming true more quickly than anyone expected. In its Energy White Paper last year the Government calculated that Britain would become a net gas importer by 2006. In fact, we have already reached that point. Meanwhile, much of the UK's economically viable deep mined coal will have been exhausted by 2010, by which time European legislation governing sulphur emissions may have forced the closure of most of the country's coal-fired stations anyway. Should this worry us? The optimists say no, arguing that much of the imported gas will come from Norway, a country with such affection for Britain that it still sends us a Christmas tree each year as a thank you for Allied support in the Second World War. The pessimists say yes, pointing out that the rest of the gas will need to be imported from places such as North Africa, the Middle East, Latin America and Russia. So, as far as security of supply is concerned, the argument is balanced. The case for nuclear power on environmental grounds is more compelling. Leaving aside for one moment the issue of what to do with the radioactive waste it produces, nuclear is the greenest of fuels. It currently produces nearly a quarter on the UK's electricity but not a single tonne of carbon dioxide or sulphur emissions. But, twenty years from now, its contribution to energy production will have dwindled to 2 per cent, supposing no new nuclear plants are built. The Government is relying upon renewable energy, mainly in the form of onshore and offshore wind farms, to fill the void in generation and spearhead the fight against global warming. It has also made some highly ambitious assumptions about the contribution that energy efficiency could make to reducing emissions. But few energy experts, including most of those building wind farms, believe the target will be met of generating 20 per cent of our electricity from renewable sources by 2020. As for energy efficiency, it is hamstrung by the absence of fiscal incentives to make energy saving attractive to domestic consumers. The energy industry continues to bang on Gordon Brown's door, but so far to no effect. So what future for nuclear? Well, the near death of British Energy did it no favours, exposing an industry which was uneconomic in its own right and only exists today because the taxpayer has relieved it of some £5bn in liabilities. As Patricia Hewitt, the anti-nuclear Trade and Industry Secretary, re-iterated only a month ago, there is not exactly a queue of developers knocking on her door for permission to build new nuclear reactors. For that to change, three things will have to happen. First, nuclear will have to prove its profitability. If the new management of British Energy get even close to earning their £30m bonus then they will have demonstrated that. To trigger the maximum payout, the company's operating profits would need to increase eight-fold to £1.6bn. Second, some mechanism will need to be established which sends out long-term price signals to the market. This will enable developers to build new plant in the knowledge that they will be able to earn an economic return for baseload power such as nuclear over the long-term. Third, the price of other fuels will need to reflect their own back-end costs so that nuclear is not disadvantaged by its legacy costs. Back in the days when British Energy was state-owned, we paid for these through something called the nuclear levy. So what about a gas levy or a coal levy? Where there is a will, there is a way. Left to its own devices, wind power would be too expensive to be attractive, which is why the Government has a renewables obligation requiring electricity suppliers to meet 10 per cent of their needs from green energy. It is a levy in all but name. Likewise, if coal is to enjoy a renaissance in the UK, it will require some serious investment in expensive clean coal technology, which in turn means some fiscal instrument ­ call it a coal levy or a fossil obligation ­ to guarantee it a market. So don't discount the idea of another energy white paper after Tony Blair (a nuclear fan) has won the next election, putting atomic power back on the agenda. The thing he and the nuclear lobby will then have to grip is the thorny issue of what to do with the waste nuclear fission produces. Reprocessing is an economic nonsense. Moreover, it leaves more waste behind in a more concentrated form, with all the proliferation issues that raises. On the other hand, there is no agreed strategy for waste storage, much less an agreed location for storing it. During the course of an energy debate Arthur Scargill once produced a lump of coal from his pocket and volunteered to eat it if the nuclear executive sat opposite did likewise with a piece of plutonium. Crack that, and nuclear could have a future once more. m.harrison@independent.co.uk [m.harrison@independent.co.uk] © 2004 Independent Digital (UK) Ltd ***************************************************************** 20 Independent: Reborn: nuclear energy prepares for a second chance [http://www.independent.co.uk] The CBI wants it. The unions want it. Even some environmentalists want it. But is this power source still too radioactive to be economic? Tim Webb investigates 05 December 2004 At a private dinner organised by the nuclear industry at a Pall Mall Hotel in September, some of the industry's most senior executives did not quite know what to make of their new-found popularity. The Government-rescued British Energy and loss-making BNFL, operator of Sellafield, are used to being pilloried for their record on pollution, safety and honesty (not to mention for their dreadful financial performance). That had begun to change when Professor James Lovelock, a prominent environmentalist, publicly came out last May in favour of nuclear power as the only realistic way to curb global warming (nuclear power stations do not emit the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide). It was a bit of surprise, partly because environmentalists tend to be nuclear power's most vehement critics, seizing on scandals such as BNFL's falsification of nuclear fuel records in 1999 as evidence that the industry cannot be trusted, but also because the Government's energy White Paper last year - which was supposed to frame policy for the next 25 years - favoured renewable forms of energy, such as wind, over nuclear. More was to come. Tony Blair told MPs in the summer that "you cannot remove [nuclear power] from the agenda if you are serious about the issue of climate change". Digby Jones, the head of the Confederation of British Industry, got in on the act by suggesting that six reactors should be built over the next decade. The Amicus trade union has also voiced concern about the effect that closing the UK's reactors would have on security of supply and electricity prices. The nuclear industry has not had so much good publicity for years, one nuclear industry executive at the September dinner remarked. "We're happy to let them all promote nuclear. It's far more effective coming from them. If we did it, the response would be, 'Well, they would say that wouldn't they.'" So why is nuclear cool again? The UK gets around a quarter of its electricity from nuclear power stations. Over the next 15 years, most will be taken out of service. The question is how to fill the gap, without jeopardising the UK's carbon emission reduction targets set out in the Kyoto Protocol. The current answer, outlined in the White Paper, is renewable energy. Helped by Government subsidies, over 10 per cent of the UK's electricity is supposed to come from wind farms by 2010. The target is to hit 20 per cent by 2020, with more offshore wind farms and newer renewable technologies such as wave power and biomass generation. No plans were made to build new nuclear reactors to replace those being decommissioned. The environmentalists hailed the White Paper as a great triumph. The nuclear industry blamed it on the financial meltdown of privatised British Energy. Since then, the nuclear industry has licked its wounds and bided its time. Sure enough, the old doubts about renewables and security of supply have resurfaced. This year, soaring gas, coal and oil prices have raised the cost of fossil fuel generation. Next year, Britain will become a net importer of gas for the first time since the North Sea bonanza began. The UK will have to rely on importing gas from unstable regions such as Kazakhstan in the future, making gas-fired generation less attractive. What happens if Kazakh gas stops flowing and the wind doesn't blow? And who wants to gaze out to sea (or over the hills) and see hundreds of wind turbines dotting the horizon? The Energy minister, Mike O'Brien, says the Government is not partisan about nuclear energy. After the Nuclear Industry Association/British Nuclear Energy Society annual conference on Thursday, he said the market, not the Government, must decide whether we need more generation capacity, and what kind. "There has been much debate about whether the Government is keeping the nuclear option open," Mr O'Brien said. "But at the moment there is no commercial proposition on the table. We are always getting people saying 'We could do something.' But when we check it there is nothing there. If we thought that a [nuclear] project was a commercially serious proposition we would look at it. "There's a lot of passion for nuclear in there," he said, indicating the auditorium. "But passion on its own isn't enough. We are waiting for the market to come forward. We want to see how the private sector would do it. But at the moment, business people are coming up with gas and coal." Clearly, the Government will not get out its cheque book to bankroll another generation of nuclear power stations. With National Grid Transco forecasting 20 per cent spare generation capacity this winter, the need for more power stations to be built is not immediate. As power stations close, electricity prices will rise, encouraging energy companies to build new stations, he says. "In the medium term, we expect the market to indicate whether new plant is viable." So if new nuclear is to be built, the private sector must come up with the cash (over £1bn for each reactor). As things stand, this is unlikely to be forthcoming. To date, all the UK's reactors have been built with government money, while no bank will touch the sector without decommissioning costs being capped. Keith Parker, the chief executive of the NIA, admits: "The industry is working hard to produce economic justification for new build. Part of the problem is that people look at [the industry's] past performance." He points to last year's approval for a private sector initiative to build a new reactor in Finland, the first new one ordered in the European Union for over a decade - and without government financing. Crucially, its decommissioning liabilities will be covered, a commitment the British Government has yet to make. To make nuclear power economic, the Government might not need to make this commitment. The carbon emissions trading scheme, which will be introduced across the EU next month, could prove to be the nuclear industry's Trojan horse, letting it sneak back into the market to provide new generation. By penalising suppliers which emit carbon, the system will give nuclear power stations a huge financial advantage; fossil-fuel generators will be forced to buy carbon certificates from them to comply with the scheme. "The economies of generation will change in the coming decade," says Mr O'Brien. "The new gold will be certificates. They will be worth a lot of money." Because of relatively low electricity prices, it is not economical to build any form of non-renewable generation now. But recent research from energy consultancy Wood MacKenzie estimates that from 2015, for the first time, it could be cheaper to build new nuclear power stations than coal or gas, even including decommissioning costs. There are many caveats: the estimate assumes further rises in gas prices, a high cost of carbon under the carbon trading scheme, that optimistic estimates for nuclear costs can be realised and that uneconomic reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel is discontinued. Stewart Gray, the vice-president of gas and power at Wood MacKenzie, says: "The key problem nuclear has in the UK is that the market is particularly unfavourable for such a capital-intensive, front-loaded technology like nuclear because it is fragmented and competitive. We also have a poor track record for cost and construction time overruns." Mr O'Brien concedes no decision will be made on nuclear until after the general election. A decision to build new nuclear reactors would have to be proposed by another energy White Paper with all the consultation that entails. But he's looking further ahead than that. He has a vision; in 2024, each house would have solar panels on the roof, with a micro-generator inside and a mini wind turbine in the garden. "I really believe this is possible," he says. Whether a nuclear reactor will feature in the background is another question. IF NOT NUCLEAR, THEN WHAT? Biomass This involves the burning of crops such as willow and eucalyptus with coal in coal-fired power stations. "Co-firing" is seen as carbon neutral as the carbon released when the crops are burnt had been absorbed from the atmosphere. Not used in many coal power stations, but growing. Wind The Government is pining its hopes of meeting its 10 per cent renewable target by 2010 on wind. Electricity suppliers must buy a growing proportion of electricity from renewable sources under the Renewable Obligation Certificate (ROC) scheme. This guarantees a market for wind, which has costs more than twice as much as coal and gas generators. Wave A long way behind wind as a renewable form of energy and much more expensive to generate. Companies such as Wavegen and OPT want the Government to introduce renewable obligation certificate specifically for wave generators, dubbed wet "ROCs". It is estimated that 10 per cent of the UK's electricity could come from waves, but not for more than a decade. The Government has promised £50m funding for the next three years. Combined Heat and Power These are conventional mini generators which siphon off the steam that is created to provide heat to buildings on site. Highly efficient, but only belatedly afforded renewable status by the Government. Fusion The holy grail of the nuclear industry, it is a form of nuclear energy which powers the sun and other stars. Talked about for years, but John Large, nuclear consultant, says it won't have a commercial future in electricity generation for another 40 years at least. © 2004 Independent Digital (UK) Ltd ***************************************************************** 21 Arizona Republic: Feds concerned about safety [Arizona Republic Online Print Edition] December 5, 2004 AZCENTRAL.COM Max Jarman The Arizona Republic Dec. 5, 2004 12:00 AM Equipment-related outages and concerns about worker-management relations have caused federal regulators to send five teams of investigators to Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station this year. Since August 2003, there have been six reported equipment-related outages at Palo Verde, including three that involved leaking radioactive material. A seventh plant shutdown is thought to have been related to lightning. In 2002, there were no unplanned outages at Palo Verde, the nation's largest nuclear power plant. The shutdowns are costly, because utilities that depend on Palo Verde for power often have to purchase more-expensive electricity on the open market when the plant is not running. The additional costs could be used as justification to raise utility rates. Palo Verde is nearing the midpoint in its estimated 40-year life. Experts note that older plants are more costly to maintain and experience more equipment failures. Earlier this year, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission expressed concerns about the possible erosion of a safety-conscious environment at the plant. Anthony Gody, chief of the NRC's Region IV Reactor Safety Division, said the number of problems at Palo Verde has been high this year, but he believes the incidents are unrelated and don't indicate a pattern of neglect or faulty procedures. "We've noticed some issues, and we've done some supplemental inspections," he said. "But so far, there doesn't seem to be a pattern." Final reports from the last of the teams are expected by the end of the year. APS president confident Jack Davis, president of Arizona Public Service Co., which operates the plant, said the company takes the NRC investigations seriously and would "do whatever they want us to." Davis also said he believes the troubles at Palo Verde this year were random occurrences and not evidence of systemic problems or relaxed maintenance standards. "Palo Verde is so tightly regulated for maintenance that any deviation would be found," he said. Still, he added, "The fact we have had unrelated incidents is a concern." Gary Harper, manager of system operations for Salt River Project, which is part owner of Palo Verde, agreed that APS has had a lot of reliability issues this year. But he said he believes they're an anomaly. "We're confident in their (APS') performance and maintenance standards," Harper said. The NRC investigations at Palo Verde began this year when a team arrived to investigate a steam generator leak in February. In May, a team looked into a potential erosion of a "culture of safety" due to a sharp increase in allegations filed with the NRC by Palo Verde employees, mostly involving frustrations in dealing with management. In June, a special team investigated a power surge from an equipment failure at the Westwing Substation that shut down all three Palo Verde generators and two other power plants in the area. In August, federal regulators sent two separate teams to the plant: one to determine if air found trapped in a safety line posed a significant threat to the plant, and the other to follow up on the June investigation, which raised maintenance and procedural concerns. The initial investigation of the June incident concluded that the safe shutdown of the plant was "complicated by equipment failures, procedural issues and human performance issues." Reports on the June and August visits are expected later this year. Employee dissension Palo Verde led the industry in 2003 in number of allegations filed by employees with the NRC, with 28. Such allegations are generally filed with the NRC when employees believe they cannot get satisfaction from management or fear retaliation. In 2002, crews damaged a radioactive fuel assembly being installed at the plant, but they delayed in reporting the incident to plant managers. An NRC investigation raised concerns about "willful disregard for procedural requirements." In May, Palo Verde employees told the NRC that safety concerns brought to management had gone unheeded. Non-functioning eyewash stations and safety showers near areas where acid is handled, for example, were not repaired for weeks after the conditions were reported. Silverio Garcia, a longtime Palo Verde employee, attributed the rise in allegations to a culture of mistrust between management and employees. After its investigation, the NRC concluded that employees at the plant generally felt comfortable raising significant safety issues with managers. But the agency also asked APS to improve communications between management and employees. Davis said the company has modified systems to make people feel more free to make suggestions. "No issue that is brought up there (Palo Verde) should go unheard," Davis said. Copyright © 2004, azcentral.com. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 22 Bellona: Russian academician suggests to resume economic activities in Chernobyl Russian academician Evgeny Velikhov believes the Chernobyl restricted zone can be gradually included into the Ukrainian economy. 2004-12-03 17:30 The president of the Kurchatov Research Institute Evgeny Velikhov stated this opinion to ITAR-TASS new agency. “We developed and handed over to the Ukrainian government the economical scheme of the Chernobyl restricted zone usage” he said. The academician claims the Kurchatov Research Institute specialists who have been working with the destroyed reactor since 1996 confirm the possibility of the economic activity in Chernobyl. He added that about one thousand volunteers from Kurchatov Research Institute work in Chernobyl every year. Velikhov suggested building a gas-turbine station, a construction plant for soil decontamination facilities, and decommissioning plant for vehicles. Velikhov said the scientific research works should be continued in Chernobyl and the destroyed reactor should receive a new containment. Velikhov believes the money allocated by the European Bank and the European Union could help to resume economic activity to Chernobyl. Publisher: Bellona Foundation [bellona@bellona.no] , President: Frederic Hauge [frederic@bellona.no] Information: info@bellona.no [info@bellona.no] , Technical contact: webmaster@bellona.no [webmaster@bellona.no] Telephone: +47 23 23 46 00 Telefax: +47 22 38 38 62 * P.O.Box 2141 Grunerlokka, 0505 Oslo, Norway ***************************************************************** 23 toledoblade.com: Fermi shuts down day after restart Article published Sunday, December 5, 2004 NEWPORT, Mich. — Less than 24 hours after Detroit Edison Co. set an internal record for getting Fermi II into service, the plant’s nuclear reactor automatically shut itself down yesterday because computers detected a malfunction. Operators diagnosed the problem as a failed automatic voltage regulator on the main steam generator turbine. That device, in a nonnuclear part of the plant, is used to help regulate voltage for the electrical grid, Scott Simons, a spokesman for the utility, said. The shutdown occurred at 4:17 a.m. yesterday when the reactor was at 60 percent power and in the process of ascending to full power after a 27-day outage for normal refueling and maintenance, the shortest turnaround in Fermi II history. The refueling outage was considered to be over at 9:45 a.m. Friday when Fermi II’s reactor was at about 20 percent power, high enough to generate electricity for the grid. Yesterday’s failed regulator was an unexpected development. © 2004 The Blade. By using this The Toledo Blade Company, 541 N. Superior St., Toledo, OH 43660 , (419) 724-6000 ***************************************************************** 24 Sofia Morning News: Bulgaria's 2nd Nuke Construction to Begin in 2006 www.novinite.com [Sofia News Agency] Business: 4 December 2004, Saturday. The construction of the Bulgaria's second nuclear power plant Belene will start in 2006 due to the long licensing process. The country's Agency for Nuclear Regulation said, however, that the construction might be postponed for 2008, which means that the plant will start producing electricity in 2010-2012. The construction of the second Bulgarian nuclear plant was unfrozen end of last year after being shelved in since 1992 due to environmentalists' pressure.[ width=] NOVINITE.COM All Rights Reserved © Novinite Ltd., 2001-2004 - Copyright &Disclaimer - Privacy Policy ISO 9001:2000 Certified Bulgaria news Novinite.com (Sofia News Agency - www.sofianewsagency.com) is unique with being a real time news provider in English that informs its readers about the latest Bulgarian news. The editorial staff also publishes a daily ***************************************************************** 25 [FOODIRRADIATIONCA] Congress Keeps COOL; Anti-Food Irradiation Date: Sun, 5 Dec 2004 01:08:45 -0600 (CST) Victory in Congress: COOL still Mandatory; CAFOs not Exempt from Enviro Regs! Consumers, farmers and environmentalists won two battles in Congress over the weekend, thanks in part to your actions! First, attempts by Congressional leadership to eliminate mandatory country of origin labeling (COOL) failed. This is a big win for domestic farmers, who benefit from COOL because it allows them to distinguish their products in the supermarket. It is also a big win for consumers, who have the right to know where their food comes from. Second, an amendment by Senator Larry Craig of Idaho to exempt confined animal feeding operations (CAFOs) from air emissions reporting also did not make it into the budget bill. CAFOs often produce huge amounts of animal waste that contaminate water and air, and severely impact the environment and health of surrounding communities. Many of you made phonecalls or sent emails on these important measures, and we think your actions made a big difference -- thank you for all your efforts! ********** International Anti-Food Irradiation Week Activists in Milford, Pennsylvania, a community fighting a cobalt-60 food irradiation plant, coordinated events for their second annual Anti-Food Irradiation Week with Nobel Prize nominee Dr. Helen Caldicott. Read the article below. Activists in Australia coordinated anti-food irradiation activities as well. http://www.mcall.com/news/local/all-b3_2rallynov22,0,3188288.story?coll=all-newslocal-hed >From The Morning Call Peace Prize nominee highlights dangers of irradiated food Lower Milford plant could increase risks of terrorism, crowd told. By Charles Malinchak Special to The Morning Call November 22, 2004 A Nobel Peace Prize nominee warned an audience Sunday of the dangers of irradiated food, including possibly harmful effects to consumers and potential terrorist strikes against the irradiation plant. Dr. Helen Caldicott, speaking before more than 60 people in Quakertown Community High School during a rally for International Food Irradiation Day, also took the United States to task for its conspicuous consumption. Caldicott, founder of the Nuclear Policy Institute in Washington, D.C., was part of the program organized by NoCobalt-4-Food of Milford Township. In addition to speakers at the high school, the program included a morning prayer ceremony beside Unami Creek in the township conducted by members of the Lenni Lenape and Cherokee tribes. The daylong event was designed to bring public awareness to the potential hazards of food irradiation, which became a local issue after the opening of CFC Logistics in the township last year. The company is a federally licensed irradiation facility that uses cobalt 60 to kill food bacteria. During her hourlong talk, Caldicott said food that undergoes irradiation is hit with enough radiation to kill a human. Irradiation is designed to kill food bacteria and fungus, which Caldicott said has become a problem because of ''sloppy, inefficient factory farms.'' Caldicott said besides the dangers of eating food exposed to radiation, having a facility such as the one in Milford Township is inherently dangerous. Because the cobalt 60 must remain cool, she said, ''a terrorist wouldn't even need a bomb or a gun.'' ''All they would have to do is fly or drive into a cooling pond,'' she said. '' That would cause the release of 30 times the amount of radiation in a single rod.'' Caldicott sees irradiation as a misuse and tied it to an American society that wastes energy. ''Why does Europe use 50 percent less electricity than the U.S.?'' she asked. '' What God-given right do you have to live so extravagantly?'' Patty Lovera, another speaker and deputy director of the Critical Mass Energy and Environment Program, said the Food and Drug Administration doesn't know what effect irradiated food has on humans. ''We want it thoroughly investigated before it goes into widespread use,'' she said. Even though the FDA has authorized its use, she said, the U.S. Department of Agriculture offered irradiated meat to schools all over the country and all but Minnesota, Texas and Nebraska refused. ''Those states later refused because they found irradiated beef was 50 to 80 cents more per pound,'' she said. This is the second annual event NoCobalt-4-Food has held to recognize the date. Last year's program drew about 300 people. At the morning prayer ceremony, held at the farm of Philip and Judy Stein off Allentown Road, Lenape Nation spokesman Jim Beer said irradiation is ''basically food pollution.'' ''We hate what it symbolizes,'' he said in reference to the CFC facility. ''We hate what it does, but we can't tear it down. We must be peaceful and firm and stand against it.'' Charles Malinchak is a freelance writer. Copyright * 2004, The Morning Call ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Tracy Lerman Senior Organizer Public Citizen, California Office 1615 Broadway, 9th Floor Oakland, CA 94612 ph: 510-663-0888 x 103 f: 510-663-8569 tlerman@citizen.org http://www.citizen.org/california ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ********** If you do not wish to recieve these emails in the future, please send a email to tlerman@citizen.org with "unsubscribe foodirradiationca" in the subject line. ***************************************************************** 26 [DU-WATCH] Atoms for Peace...Radiation for Life...Canadian Date: Sun, 5 Dec 2004 00:55:29 -0600 (CST) http://www.uic.com.au/ral.htm Cameco distributes Hall's paper "Radiation and Life" to residents and citizen groups to support application for a license to begin Canadas first uranium enrichment program (downblending). Community leaders expect Soviet and US HEU from dismantled warhead and reactor fueld bundles to eventual raw material for the retooled plan. http://www.worldcatlibraries.org/wcpa/ow/8cee23a3929cb575a19afeb4da09 e526.html Canada was begging to take US waste a few years ago. To increase the length of the fuel cucle, the CANDU reactor design is now being retooled to burn LEU. It used to burn only NU. The license will bring Cameco's Port Hope operation into a world market leadership position as the garbage can for recycling. ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Make a clean sweep of pop-up ads. Yahoo! Companion Toolbar. Now with Pop-Up Blocker. Get it for free! http://us.click.yahoo.com/L5YrjA/eSIIAA/yQLSAA/Sj.0lB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> [Brought to you by HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK] Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/du-watch/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: du-watch-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ ***************************************************************** 27 China Launches New Class of Nuclear Sub Date: Sat, 4 Dec 2004 19:44:17 -0500 http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/national/AP-US-China-Submarine.html China Launches New Class of Nuclear Sub By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Published: December 4, 2004 Filed at 12:11 a.m. ET WASHINGTON (AP) -- China has launched the first submarine in a new class of nuclear subs designed to fire intercontinental ballistic missiles, U.S. defense officials said Friday. The submarine is, at a minimum, months away from having missiles installed and going on a cruise, one official said, discussing foreign weapons developments only on the condition of anonymity. Still, it is further evidence of China's intentions to expand both its nuclear weapons and submarine forces, officials say. It was widely known that China was building the new class of nuclear-missile submarine, called the ``Type 094,'' but the launch is far ahead of what U.S. intelligence expected, one official said. The launch was first reported in The Washington Times. The newspaper reported that U.S. intelligence spotted the sub at a shipyard 250 miles from Beijing. It would be China's first submarine capable of launching nuclear weapons that could reach the United States from the country's home waters, officials said. The Chinese military has also been developing a new class of submarine-launched ballistic missile, called the JL-2, that is expected to have a range in excess of 4,600 miles. The Type 094 submarine would carry these missiles, but it is not clear whether the missiles are ready for deployment. Previously, China has had only one submarine capable of launching nuclear missiles, called the Type 092, or Xia, class. In 2001, a Pentagon report said the Xia was not operational. Its missiles were of an older class that could fly only 600 miles. Successful cruises by the Type 094 would give China a new strategic deterrent against the United States, no longer limited to land-based ICBMs and weapons carried on aircraft. But U.S. defense officials say China lags behind the United States in its ability to hide submarines from sophisticated sonars and other sensors. China is also modernizing its land-based nuclear missile force, replacing its estimated 20 ICBMs with more modern versions. In a report on China's military issued last May, the Pentagon said China's cache of ICBMs could increase to 30 by next year and 60 by 2010. Although considered unlikely in the near term, the most likely avenue for conflict between the United States and China is over Taiwan, which China regards as a rogue province. Taiwan is seeking high-tech weaponry from the United States, including diesel submarines and anti-submarine aircraft. The United States, France, Russia and the United Kingdom all have submarines capable of launching ballistic missiles with nuclear warheads. ------ On the Net: Defense Department: http://www.dod.gov ***************************************************************** 28 [DU-WATCH] throw-away soldiers - US uses DU in falluja Date: Sun, 5 Dec 2004 22:44:39 -0600 (CST) From: Christopher Bollyn, American Free Press, Washington, DC Dear All, I asked Lt. Col. Joe Yoswa if the U.S. was using DU in Falluja and got a straight "yes" answer. Here is that paragraph from my recent article about Fallujah: "THROW-AWAY SOLDIERS" Having seen what appeared to be a depleted uranium (DU) missile fired at a building in Fallujah on CNN during the first week of the fighting, AFP asked the Pentagon if DU weapons are being used in Fallujah. "Yes," Yoswa said, "DU is a standard round on the M-1 Abrams tank." Because U.S. marines in Fallujah are very close to the poison gas produced by exploded DU shells, AFP asked Yoswa if anything was being done to protect the troops from DU poisoning. Yoswa seemed unaware of the dangers posed by the use of DU. Marion Fulk, a retired nuclear scientist from Livermore National Lab told AFP that U.S. troops in DU contaminated battlefields are considered "throw-away soldiers." The Marines exposed to DU in Fallujah, and elsewhere, face greatly increased risks of cancer, deformed children, and other health problems in the future. (End quote) Here is the article and discussion of Fallujah operations: [ View Thread ] [ Post Response ] [ Return to Index ] [ Read Prev Msg ] [ Read Next Msg ] Rumor Mill News Agents Forum [ Link to Lounge ] THE FUTILE AND CRIMINAL OBLITERATION OF FALLUJAH *PIC* Posted By: ChristopherBollyn Date: Thursday, 2 December 2004, 6:09 p.m. CONTROLLED PRESS IGNORES CRIMINAL OBLITERATION OF FALLUJAH By Christopher Bollyn American Free Press The controlled press has scrupulously avoided discussing the devastation and prima facie evidence of war crimes committed during the U.S. siege and assault of Fallujah. As Americans prepared for Thanksgiving, an estimated 100,000 residents of the besieged Iraqi city of Fallujah, trapped in their homes, struggled to survive without fresh food, water or electricity, reportedly cut off by U.S. forces on November 8. Meanwhile, on the streets of Fallujah, a city of more than 350,000, dogs gnawed on bloated and rotting corpses that remained unburied for weeks. Thousands of families in Fallujah were reported to be in a critical humanitarian situation after U.S. forces prevented the delivery of relief supplies. An Iraq Red Crescent Society (IRCS) humanitarian aid convoy, reportedly blocked by U.S. troops for more than two weeks, was allowed to deliver aid to residents in the heart of the city on November 25. On Thanksgiving, U.S. forces permitted the IRCS convoy carrying thousands of food parcels, blankets, tents and medical supplies to enter the city and allowed one of the clinics to be converted into a temporary hospital to treat the injured. Rana Sidani of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Geneva, Switzerland however, told American Free Press on Nov. 30 that "many civilians" were still prevented from receiving aid or medical care. At the beginning of the U.S. operation in Fallujah on Nov. 5, a hospital in the central Nazzal district of Fallujah was "reduced to rubble" as a result of U.S. air and artillery bombardment. "Only its fagade, with a sign reading Nazzal Emergency Hospital, remained intact," Reuters reported. "A nearby compound used by the main Falluja Hospital to store medical supplies was also destroyed," witnesses told Reuters. Fallujah's main hospital was occupied by U.S. forces when the ground offensive began. These actions are apparent violations of international humanitarian law. "Bodies can be seen everywhere and people were crying when receiving the food parcels," Muhammad al-Nuri, a spokesman for the IRCS in Baghdad, said. "It is very sad. It is a human disaster." Al-Nuri said that it is difficult to move in the city due to the large number of dead bodies in the streets. The ICRS estimates there are more than 6,000 dead in Fallujah, al-Nuri said. AFP asked Major Jay Antonelli at the Coalition Press Information Center (CPIC) in Baghdad if the ICRS estimate of 6,000 dead in Fallujah was credible. "We do not keep a count of dead Iraqis," Antonelli said. Asked the same question, the ICRC's Sidani said, "We don't know." Antonelli said, "U.S. forces never blocked aid convoys from reaching the wounded. We only recommended to the aid convoys that they should not enter the city because the MNF [Multi-National Forces] could not guarantee their security or safety." "The ICRC is very worried about the humanitarian situation in Falluja," Sidani said. Asked what the ICRC was doing to alleviate the suffering in Fallujah, Sidani said: "We are reminding the parties of their responsibilities under international humanitarian law." It should be noted that the U.S.A. and Britain, the belligerent occupying powers in Iraq, are the two largest contributors to the ICRC, providing more than 42 percent of its budget for field operations. A second convoy from Baghdad, headed by Dr. Said Ismael Haki, the IRCS president, delivered aid to Fallujah on Nov. 26. "There are no houses left in Fallujah, only destroyed places." Haki said. "I really don't know how the people will return to the city. No one will find their homes." As U.S. troops in Fallujah engaged in what has been described as the most intense urban combat since Vietnam, the controlled press scrupulously avoided discussion or footage of the devastation of the rebellious Sunni city. For example, during the second week of the attack, rather than discuss the widespread devastation of Fallujah, U.S. television news programs focused largely on a brawl between basketball players and fans in Detroit. Lt. Col. Brandl, commander of the 1st Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, was filmed giving a "pep talk" to his marines: "The enemy has got a face he's called Satan," Brandl said. "He's in Fallujah, and we're going to destroy him." At least 136 U.S. soldiers were killed during November in Iraq, and more than 800 were wounded, most of them in Fallujah, making it the most costly month, and operation, in terms of U.S. lives lost since the invasion of Iraq began in March 2003. FOR WHAT CAUSE? Michael Ware, Baghdad bureau chief for Time magazine, who has been in Fallujah during the fighting, said U.S. actions in Fallujah are "creating the nightmare that we are seeking to prevent." "I stood there as I saw American boys die," Ware told Chris Matthews of MSNBC on Nov. 24, "I mean, a man shot at close range, blown apart by a rocket propelled grenade. He dies there in front of you and I can't help but think why? For what cause? "I see us creating the very thing that the president said we went there to prevent," Ware said, "subsequent to this invasion and the occupation and the guerrilla war that is currently underway, we are the midwives of the next generation of al Qaida and Islamic terrorist." Ware, who has interviewed senior insurgent leaders, said they study the writings of the Vietnamese general Vo Nguyen Giap, Che Guevara, and Mao Zedong. "They're bringing it straight from the Vietnam, and the broader insurgency playbook," Ware said. "The name of the game is deny the population to the insurgents," Ware said. "That's what we're trying to do, win hearts and minds. But we're not winning them." The U.S. struggle to win Iraqi hearts and minds suffered a further set back when NBC TV broadcast footage of a U.S. marine executing a wounded and unarmed Iraqi in a Fallujah mosque. The much-publicized shooting, apparently part of a massacre of a group of wounded resistance fighters, "was a rare crack in the fagade that Washington, with the complicity of most of the corporate media, has tried to present to the world of its brutal assault on the rebel Iraqi city," Rohan Pearce wrote in The Greenleft Weekly Australia on Nov. 24. The New York Times has reported actions taken by U.S. forces in Fallujah, which appear to be prima facie evidence of war crimes, without mentioning that the actions constitute clear violations of the Laws of Land War found in the U.S. Army Field Manual 27-10. For example, a Nov. 20 Times article by Edward Wong, with two correspondents in Fallujah, reports that U.S. marines had transformed a mosque into a fortress with snipers and machine gunners perched on the roof. Then, using the passive form, Wong goes on to say that "no neutral group has been able to enter the city," without mentioning that U.S. forces blocked humanitarian aid convoys. Likewise, Wong wrote, "Electricity and water had been cut off." The Times, whose motto is "All the news that's fit to print," apparently didn't think that it's readers needed to know the U.S. forces had cut off the water and power to a city of 340,000 people. Asked if U.S. forces had cut power and water to Fallujah, Maj. Jay Antonelli of CPIC wrote: "MNF did, with approval of the Interim Iraqi Government, cut off electricity to the city of Fallujah as Operation Al-Fajr began. Water was not cut off intentionally, however the water system did sustain some kinetic damage during strikes." American Free Press asked the Pentagon's Lt. Col. Joe Yoswa if it is true that U.S. forces were using mosques as fortresses. "It's not possible," Yoswa said. "Under no circumstances. We would not set up snipers in a mosque in an offensive position." CPIC's Antonelli said: "MNF would not use a mosque as a 'fortress.' MNF and Iraqi security forces would only fire from a mosque if they were being fired upon and were firing back in self-defense." Abu Sabah, a refugee from Fallujah, reported seeing phosphorus bombs: "They used these weird bombs that put up smoke like a mushroom cloud. Then small pieces fell from the air with long tails of smoke trailing behind them. These exploded on the ground with large fires that burnt for half and hour," Abu Sabah said. "When anyone touched these fires their bodies burnt for hours." Eyewitnesses from Fallujah also reported seeing "melted" bodies. "THROW-AWAY SOLDIERS" Having seen what appeared to be a depleted uranium (DU) missile fired at a building in Fallujah on CNN during the first week of the fighting, AFP asked the Pentagon if DU weapons are being used in Fallujah. "Yes," Yoswa said, "DU is a standard round on the M-1 Abrams tank." Because U.S. marines in Fallujah are very close to the poison gas produced by exploded DU shells, AFP asked Yoswa if anything was being done to protect the troops from DU poisoning. Yoswa seemed unaware of the dangers posed by the use of DU. Marion Fulk, a retired nuclear scientist from Livermore National Lab told AFP that U.S. troops in DU contaminated battlefields are considered "throw-away soldiers." The Marines exposed to DU in Fallujah, and elsewhere, face greatly increased risks of cancer, deformed children, and other health problems in the future. OBLITERATION OF FALLUJAH The "obliteration of Fallujah" is a serious war crime, according to Francis A. Boyle, a professor of international law at the University of Illinois. "The obliteration of Fallujah continues apace," Boyle wrote in his Nov. 15 article, A War Crime in Real Time: Obliterating Fallujah. "Article 6(b) of the 1945 Nuremberg Charter defines a Nuremberg War Crime in relevant part as the 'wanton destruction of cities, towns or villages.' According to this definitive definition, the Bush administration's destruction of Fallujah constitutes a war crime for which Nazis were tried and executed." Finis Fallujah in ruins: Iraqi Red Crescent worker looks at deserted and devastated street in Fallujah, Friday Nov. 26 2004. U.S. forces are reflecting on the fight, their often-unseen foes and the future of a city which lies in ruins. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban) The Names of 140 Dead Americans from November --------------------------------- Moving house? Beach bar in Thailand? New Wardrobe? Win #10k with Yahoo! Mail to make your dream a reality. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Make a clean sweep of pop-up ads. Yahoo! Companion Toolbar. Now with Pop-Up Blocker. Get it for free! http://us.click.yahoo.com/L5YrjA/eSIIAA/yQLSAA/Sj.0lB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> [Brought to you by HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK] Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/du-watch/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: du-watch-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ ***************************************************************** 29 heraldtribune.com: Claims process is slow for workers Southwest Florida's Information Leader Suffering from chronic beryllium disease, former American Beryllium Co. worker Tim Brady, 40, had dropped to about 100 pounds until his specialist put him on a monthly IV treatment more than two years ago. He has since regained 30 pounds. More photos [Picture] STAFF PHOTO / THOMAS BENDER / [thomas.bender@heraldtribune.com] Charlie Ziegler's claim was recently denied after the Department of Labor received his blood test results. As of mid-November, only one claim filed after a workshop in August had been approved. Ex-American Beryllium plant employees slog through bureaucracy. By DEBI SPRINGER debi.springer@heraldtribune.com MANATEE COUNTY -- Getting help was never supposed to be this hard. For former employees of the American Beryllium Co. plant in Tallevast -- some already sick and others worried about their health -- the government compensation process has turned into a nightmarish slog through bureaucracy. Workers have to dredge up obscure employment and medical records, take expensive blood tests and try to decipher complicated requirements. And they have to do it all within a 30-day period or request an extension in writing. One employee has endured multiple immunological illnesses, but still is unable to prove to the government that he's sick. Another former employee, Robert Smith, has cancer and difficulty breathing. He just wants to know if he qualifies for help. "I'll probably be dead by the time I hear from them," said Smith, 76, who worked in the machine shop at American Beryllium and inhaled beryllium dust every day. Workers are waiting for government assistance promised to them under the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program, which was signed into law in 2000 to ensure compensation for thousands of employees who got sick working in defense plants during the Cold War. Beryllium is a toxic, lightweight metal that workers at American Beryllium cut to produce components for nuclear weapons. Workers breathed the fine black beryllium dust, which can cause an incurable fatal lung disease. The plant ran 24 hours a day from 1961 to 1996, employing about 200 people at any one time. The Department of Labor came to Bradenton in August to aid workers in the application process. An agency spokeswoman insists the department is doing everything it can to assist former workers and attributes the delays to incomplete employment and medical files. "Some people needed to send us employment verifications, and some needed to have medical tests completed," said Barbara Armstrong, technical assistant for the Department of Labor. For those claimants who needed more time to get medical records or have further testing done, Armstrong said extensions were given. But workers say they need more help to navigate the federal bureaucracy surrounding the program, which pays a maximum of $150,000 per approved claim. "If the government is going to come in and scare the pants off you, they need to have more help available than just filling out paperwork," said former employee Terry Owen. Some employees are seeking outside help to file their claims. Heather Davis of the National Jewish Medical and Research Center said she gets calls every day from residents of Sarasota and Manatee counties. The center advocates for people with respiratory diseases and has helped people deal with beryllium-related illnesses. "I know it's incredibly frustrating for people," she said. "They've gone through the checklist and they are stuck in the process. More often than not they'll hear, 'It's under review.'" At the August workshop, employees learned the first step in filing a claim was a blood test for beryllium sensitivity. But some employees don't have insurance and can't afford the $260 test. Manatee County has stepped in to pay for about 200 tests, but the majority of the workers are from Sarasota County and don't qualify for that help. Former worker Tim Brady, 40, has sent so much proof of his symptoms and illnesses to the government that he purchased a fax machine and photocopier. Glen Spencer, 64, and his wife, Karolyn, worked together at American Beryllium Co. and both filed cases with the government over the summer. "It's a pretty cumbersome process," Spencer said. Spencer worked for the company for 33 years and suffers shortness of breath. His wife, who worked there 21 years, doesn't show any symptoms but isn't taking any chances. She's getting the test done, too. "It's the long-term exposure that takes its toll," Spencer said. "Those we know who died from the disease, they gradually got sick." Ray Stephens, 68, a former machinist at American Beryllium from 1980 to 1992, filed his claim in August and is still waiting to hear a decision. He paid $259 for the blood test out of his own pocket. His test came back positive for beryllium sensitivity. "I was lucky, I could afford it," Stephens said. Eventually, Stephens said his benefits from the Department of Labor will kick in and he won't have to pay for the recommended yearly beryllium sensitivity tests. But the results from the government program so far don't offer much hope. As of mid-November, only one claim filed after the two-day workshop in August had been approved and one had been denied. The remaining 153 are still pending. ***************************************************************** 30 Xinhua: Nigeria recovers stolen radioactive materials from US oil company www.xinhuanet.com www.chinaview.cn 2004-12-05 21:22:21 LAGOS, Dec. 5 (Xinhuanet) -- Two stolen radioactive materials thatcan be used to make "dirty bombs" have been returned to Nigeria byUS oil services company Halliburton, head of the Nigerian Nuclear Regulatory Authority (NNRA), was quoted as saying Sunday. The materials, which contained Caesium-137, were reported missing while in transit between the Nigerian oil cities of Warri and Port Harcourt by Halliburton's Nigerian subsidiary, HESNL, on Dec. 3, 2002. The NNRA last year suspended Halliburton from carrying out any activity involving the use, importation, transport and transfer ofa radioactive source in Nigeria until the missing materials were recovered. And in September 2003, the Nigerian government imposed an indefinite ban on the award of contracts to the HENSL for its negligence leading to the loss and its refusal to "cooperate with government authorities in ensuring the return." But the News Agency of Nigeria quoted Shamsudeen Elegba, director-general of the NNRA, as saying Sunday: "The (stolen radioactive) items are now legally under our control, while the company is physically having them, but we have sealed the items with special packs that cannot be broken without our consent." Elegba said that the NNRA had conducted various tests to ascertain integrity of the materials and confirm that they were the "real ones taken away." The ban on the company, however, could not be lifted unless President Olusegun Obasanjo nodded his approval, Elegba added. The stolen radioactive materials, which are primarily used to X-ray oil pipelines for cracks but can also be used to make "dirty bombs," were reportedly first found in Germany following their disappearance. But Germany refused Nigeria's request to repatriate the materials and instead returned them to Halliburton, which moved them to the United States in January this year. Enditem Copyright ©2003 Xinhua News Agency. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 31 Guardian Unlimited: China Launches New Class of Nuclear Sub From the Associated Press [UP] Saturday December 4, 2004 2:46 AM By JOHN J. LUMPKIN Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) - China has launched the first submarine in a new class of nuclear subs designed to fire intercontinental ballistic missiles, U.S. defense officials said Friday. The submarine is, at a minimum, months away from having missiles installed and going on a cruise, one official said, discussing foreign weapons developments only on the condition of anonymity. Still, it is further evidence of China's intentions to expand both its nuclear weapons and submarine forces, officials say. It was widely known that China was building the new class of nuclear-missile submarine, called the ``Type 094,'' but the launch is far ahead of what U.S. intelligence expected, one official said. The launch was first reported in The Washington Times. The newspaper reported that U.S. intelligence spotted the sub at a shipyard 250 miles from Beijing. It would be China's first submarine capable of launching nuclear weapons that could reach the United States from the country's home waters, officials said. The Chinese military has also been developing a new class of submarine-launched ballistic missile, called the JL-2, that is expected to have a range in excess of 4,600 miles. The Type 094 submarine would carry these missiles, but it is not clear whether the missiles are ready for deployment. Previously, China has had only one submarine capable of launching nuclear missiles, called the Type 092, or Xia, class. In 2001, a Pentagon report said the Xia was not operational. Its missiles were of an older class that could fly only 600 miles. Successful cruises by the Type 094 would give China a new strategic deterrent against the United States, no longer limited to land-based ICBMs and weapons carried on aircraft. But U.S. defense officials say China lags behind the United States in its ability to hide submarines from sophisticated sonars and other sensors. China is also modernizing its land-based nuclear missile force, replacing its estimated 20 ICBMs with more modern versions. In a report on China's military issued last May, the Pentagon said China's cache of ICBMs could increase to 30 by next year and 60 by 2010. Although considered unlikely in the near term, the most likely avenue for conflict between the United States and China is over Taiwan, which China regards as a rogue province. Taiwan is seeking high-tech weaponry from the United States, including diesel submarines and anti-submarine aircraft. The United States, France, Russia and the United Kingdom all have submarines capable of launching ballistic missiles with nuclear warheads. On the Net: Defense Department: http://www.dod.gov Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2004 ***************************************************************** 32 Cyprus Mail: US donates nuclear detection gear to Cyprus police By Staff Reporter THE US embassy yesterday announced that it has donated anti-WMD proliferation equipment worth $126,000 to Cypriot police and customs, designed to make sending nuclear material through Cyprus more difficult. “The US and Cyprus have expanded their joint efforts to combat proliferation of weapons of mass destruction by undertaking a new initiative aimed at detecting nuclear material,” an announcement said. The American Embassy’s Export Control and Related Border Security (EXBS) Office has donated radiation pagers, low-light binoculars, digital cameras, and Customs inspectional tool kits. “This equipment will increase the ability of the Cypriot police and the Cypriot Department of Customs and Excise to identify and interdict nuclear materials, and to protect the borders of Cyprus,” the embassy said. The 40 radiation pagers, which detect gamma-ray radiation and are hundreds of times more sensitive than traditional Geiger counter-type detectors, were delivered earlier yesterday. The devices are approximately the size of a message pager and are designed for easy use. Binoculars, cameras, and tool kits make up the rest of the package. The equipment presented is valued at $126,000. The Export Control and Related Border Security (EXBS) Program is a co-operative effort between the US Department of State and the US Department of Homeland Security, Customs and Border Protection, designed to provide assistance to government agencies in Cyprus that are involved in export control, border security, and the prosecution and investigation of violations relating to the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. Previous EXBS assistance to Cypriot customs includes transfers of an x-ray van, radiation pagers, computers and specialised inspectional equipment. Copyright © Cyprus Mail 2004 ***************************************************************** 33 Scoop: US nuclear weapons impact on Rongelap [http://www.scoop.co.nz/] Monday, 6 December 2004, 9:34 am Press Release: Peace Movement Aotearoa Marshall Islands Senator: US nuclear weapons impact on Rongelap Senator Abacca Anjain-Maddison from Rongelap, in the Marshall Islands, will be in Aotearoa in the second week of December 2004. This is a rare opportunity to hear a speaker from Rongelap talk about the impact of US nuclear weapons testing there, and the ongoing struggle to get compensation and medical assistance from the US government. Details of her public meetings in Wellington, on 7 December, and in Auckland, on 9 December, are below. When the US government signed the UN Trusteeship Agreement for Micronesia, they promised to protect the people, their island homes and surrounding ocean, and to assist them to move towards self-government or independence as determined by the wishes of the people. [http://www.scoop.co.nz/mason/link-out?url=http%3A%2F%2Fad.nz.dou bleclick.net%2Fclk%3B12416482%3B10592886%3Bk] Instead they exploded sixty-seven nuclear bombs in the Marshall Islands. Some islands were completely obliterated in the nuclear bomb blasts; and others were so contaminated that people may never live there again, nor safely gather food and other resources from the surrounding ocean. On 1 March 1954 the US armed forces detonated a nuclear bomb in a test codenamed 'Bravo' - it had an explosive force almost 1,000 times larger than the bomb exploded over Hiroshima. Fallout from 'Bravo' contaminated an area of 7,000 square miles. Rongelap was directly in the path of the deadly radioactive cloud produced by the blast. The people of the Marshall Islands were used as human 'guinea pigs' in the US government's insane pursuit of nuclear weapons supremacy. Their way of life has been seriously harmed, their environment irreparably poisoned, and they have suffered appalling health problems - including genetic damage which means that future generations will be similarly affected. For more information about US nuclear weapons, ballistic missile, and 'Star Wars' weapons tests in the Marshall Islands see http://www.converge.org.nz/pma/rmi.htm * WELLINGTON, Tuesday, 7 December * Public meeting with Senator Abacca Anjain-Maddison who will speak about the impact of US nuclear weapons testing on the people of Rongelap, the ongoing struggle to get compensation and medical assistance from the US government, and plans for a Rongelap Peace Museum to educate about the horrors of nuclear warfare. At 7pm, in the McKenzie Room, St John's in the City Conference Centre, corner Willis &Dixon Streets, Wellington. Organised by the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (Wellington Branch), contact tel (04) 382 8129 or email pma@xtra.co.nz There is a flyer for the Wellington meeting online at http://www.converge.org.nz/pma/miwgtn04.doc * AUCKLAND, Thursday, 9 December * Senator Abacca Anjain-Maddison will be speaking at the 'Human Rights in the Pacific: Problems, Progress and Prospects' forum to mark Human Rights Day (10 December). Other speakers on the panel are: Ben Kinah from Osi Tanata in Bougainville, Sarah Garap from Meri Kirap in Papua New Guinea, Virisila Buadromo from Fiji Women's Rights Movement, and Robert Newson, Kaumatua for Human Rights Commission, New Zealand At 7-30pm, St Columba Centre, 40 Vermont Street, Ponsonby (close to Ponsonby Rd - with a large car park at rear of building). Supper will be provided, a gold coin koha would be appreciated. Organised by the Human Rights Network (with the support of the Human Rights Commission, Auckland); for more information contact Joan Macdonald, tel (09) 360 8001 or email joanmac@pl.net There is a flyer for the Auckland meeting online at http://www.converge.org.nz/pma/miakld04.doc [http://www.scoop.co.nz/welcome.htm] | ***************************************************************** 34 Pakistan Times: 'China launches first nuclear submarine' [Pakistan Times (PakistanTimes.net | DailyPakistanTimes.com)] Pakistan Times Monitoring Report WASHINGTON (US): China has launched the first submarine in a new class of nuclear subs designed to fire intercontinental ballistic missiles, US defence officials said. The submarine is, at a minimum, months away from having missiles installed and going on a cruise, one official said Friday, discussing foreign weapons developments only on the condition of anonymity. Still, it is further evidence of China’s intentions to expand both its nuclear weapons and submarine forces, officials say. ‘Type 094’ It was widely known that China was building the new class of nuclear-missile submarine, called the ‘Type 094,’ but the launch is far ahead of what U.S. intelligence expected, one official said. The launch was first reported in a Washington daily. The newspaper reported that U.S. intelligence spotted the sub at a shipyard 250 miles (400 kilometers) of Beijing. Capable of launching Nuclear weapons It would be China’s first submarine capable of launching nuclear weapons that could reach the United States from the country’s home waters, officials said. The Chinese military has also been developing a new class of submarine-launched ballistic missile, called the JL-2, that is expected to have a range in excess of 4,600 miles. The Type 094 submarine would carry these missiles, but it is not clear whether the missiles are ready for deployment.Ï [ ] [ ] www.PakistanTimes.net | www.DailyPakistanTimes.com Technical Courtesy: IT Wizards Copyright © 2003-2004 TIMES Group of Publications All rights ***************************************************************** 35 AFP: Bikini Islanders get cash handout from nuclear-devastated homeland MAJURO (AFP) Dec 05, 2004 Nearly 60 years after Bikini Islanders were forced into exile by US nuclear tests, they are at least getting some payback from their devastated homeland. Every man, woman and child from Bikini -- 3,470 people to be exact -- this month received 29 dollars from the Bikini Atoll dive program. It's the fourth year that the islanders, displaced since 1946 by US nuclear tests, have benefited from international scuba divers venturing to this remote necklace of coral islands to dive on the fleet of World War II vessels that lie on the lagoon bottom. The total payment of approximately 100,000 dollars represents half the profits from the dive program with another 100,000 dollars used to provide supplemental food for displaced islanders living on nearby islands. The Bikinians launched their dive operation in the mid-1990s in an effort to turn a liability into an asset, according to Bikini liaison official Jack Niedenthal. "This is our fourth year of payments," he said. "The money always goes directly to the community." Niedenthal said the Bikinians had benefitted by about 800,000 dollars from the diving program over the past four years, with increased profits forecast for next year when a new air service linking Australia with Majuro is expected to bump up the number of Australian divers. The 1946 nuclear tests sent more than a dozen warships and submarines to the bottom of the 170 foot lagoon, including the aircraft carrier USS Saratoga and the Nagato, which was the flagship of Japanese Admiral Yamamoto. Today, they are sought-after dive attractions that bring divers from as far away as Europe. With scientific reports showing that radiation exposure on the islands is minimal, provided visitors don^1t eat locally grown food, divers have readily paid top dollar to visit this former ground zero for 23 US nuclear tests. In 1954, Bikini was the testing ground for Bravo, the largest hydrogen bomb ever tested by the United States. All rights reserved. © 2004 Agence France-Presse ***************************************************************** 36 Health News: Gulf War Syndrome whistleblower is man on a mission Health ; Gulf War Syndrome whistleblower is man on a mission 20 Hours,34 minutes Ago Health News, "I AM just a doctor, a scientist who did not compromise with his dignity, honour and integrity for a few dollars. I cannot be bought and my honour is not for sale." This is how Asaf Durakovic, the whistleblower on Gulf War Syndrome or the effect of depleted uranium on soldiers used in the first Gulf War, describes himself. Frail but firm in his belief, Durakovic, who served as the chief of the medical unit of the US Army during the first Gulf War, withstood pressure from the US, British and Canadian governments to put the lid on the use and effects of the depleted uranium on soldiers and civilians. The Second National Convention for Nuclear Disarmament and Peace, held in Jaipur recently, honoured him with the Nuclear-Free Future Award for bringing to the world's notice the first case of 'radioactive warfare'. Durakovic, who heads the Washington-based Uranium Medical Research Centre, says a recent UK study has found that inhaling depleted uranium dust caused severe illnesses among the soldiers. Durakovic, who is conducting medical research on soldiers who fought in two Gulf wars, says he has found in them a high ratio of depleted uranium that was used in the tank shells for higher penetration power. Another startling disclosure Durakovic made during the Jaipur conference was that his latest studies have found alarmingly high levels of non-depleted uranium among the people living in Afghan cities of Kabul and Mazar-e-Sharif. These chemicals were used in bombs that were dropped on Afghan cities in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks on the US. He said levels hover around 2,500 nanogram per litre of urine sample, whereas the normal level would be around 10. Durakovic says his critics claim that it is natural uranium deposits that got mixed with the dust because of the bombing. Rubbishing such claims, Durakovic says Afghanistan has no such high-level of uranium deposit and the uranium that found in the samples was an isotope that is enriched. It is not natural. Canadian citizen Durakovic says: "We are working on various mathematical models but we are still really very far away". Durakovic says a 'malicious' campaign has been mounted against his work but my mission will go on." (Agencies) Web www.keralanext.com ***************************************************************** 37 Nuke Plant w/n 50m VAFB to get Coastal Commission approval for waste storage Date: Sat, 4 Dec 2004 10:11:39 -0800 (PST) www.santamariatimes.com Saturday, December 4, 2004 Diablo appeal to be decided Staff report The California Coastal Commission will decide next week whether Pacific Gas and Electric Co. can move forward with its plans to construct and operate a radioactive waste storage facility at Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant. The Coastal Commission will meet at 10 a.m. Wednesday at the Hyatt Regency Center, 5 Embarcadero, San Francisco, for its monthly meeting. Commissioners are scheduled to hear an appeal of the county's approval of the project filed by San Luis Obispo Mothers for Peace and the Sierra Club's Santa Lucia Chapter, among others, including two commissioners. The appeals are based on a variety of safety issues alleged to be associated with the controversial project. PG&E must have the commission's approval - the last regulatory obstacle the proposed project faces - to construct the above-ground spent-fuel storage facility behind Diablo's reactor containment domes. Commission staff is recommending approval of PG&E's request for a coastal development permit for the project, but with the caveat that the company open up more public access to lands surrounding Diablo, specifically a three-mile stretch of coastline north of the site. PG&E officials are expected to oppose the recommendation during the commission's public hearing. The public will also be given the opportunity to address the commission about the spent-fuel project during public comment period. Time limits will be noted on speaker sign-up sheets, which will be available at the hearing. Written comments may be sent to the commission at least three days prior to the meeting at: 45 Fremont St., Suite 2000, San Francisco, CA 94105; Attn. Tom Luster, Diablo Canyon project, No. A-3-SLO-04-035. Comments can also be sent by e-mail, which must also be received by Monday, to tluster@coastal.ca.gov Dec. 4, 2004 ===== www.justdissent.org Just Dissent Bill, called "Non-Violent Civil Disobedience Protection Act" was passed by the California State Senate, but vetoed by then governor Gray Davis. The bill recognized dissent's role in creating a better society, and therefore sought to greatly shorten sentences of those who commit civil dissent of our government; in doing so, follow a higher law. ***************************************************************** 38 Bradenton Herald: Tallevast seeks to halt new industry | 12/04/2004 | SCOTT RADWAY Herald Staff Writer MANATEE - Over the past year, the 85-home Tallevast community was shaken by revelations about potential exposure to cancer-causing toxins released from the former American Beryllium Co. plant. Now residents want measures taken to help avoid more unseen discoveries. They want a temporary halt to major construction in their neighborhood until the extent of soil and groundwater contamination is pinpointed and a removal plan is devised. Industrial zones hem in Tallevast homes. The fear is another factory, industrial park or perhaps a planned county road-widening project could disturb and spread the lurking contamination in the soil and groundwater. Residents say they're not targeting new homes. "Why should (business or government) be allowed to bring in more things to harm us?" said Laura Ward, president of the Tallevast community group Family Oriented Community United Strong. The community group plans to make a formal request at the county commission meeting Tuesday. Officials from Lockheed Martin Co. - which is responsible for cleaning up the contamination - have said the extent of pollution and the removal plan should be completed early next year. So a six-month moratorium is the goal. County Commissioner Joe McClash, who met recently with FOCUS to discuss a building halt, supports the idea. McClash said government normally imposes a building moratorium when an economic or health issue needs to be studied further. "Certainly this situation in Tallevast meets the requirements for a moratorium to be put in place," McClash said. But McClash said the moratorium might have to be a blanket moratorium on all construction and could also stop a handful of homes that are proposed for the neighborhood. McClash said the Tallevast community stretches only from 15th Street East to U.S. 301 along Tallevast Road and is not a growth area. Tallevast has few projects in the works, so a moratorium should not impact many property owners. But the peace of mind for residents would be substantial, he said. Residents of the community have lived flush with heavy industry for decades, a vestige of how cities were zoned before experts realized the health risks of putting homes next to factories. The Tallevast community was first shocked in late 2003 when residents learned that contamination might have escaped from the former American Beryllium plant, which operated from 1961 to 1999. Earlier this year, residents learned the contamination was in high concentrations in the groundwater under their homes. They also learned contaminated soil from the plant was given to residents as fill dirt years ago. Scores of questions were then raised about the exposure of workers at the plant to beryllium - another carcinogen. Some experts suspect workers over the years also carried that substance into the community as dust on their clothes. The County Commission on Tuesday backed a plan to pay $54,000 for tests to determine where workers and their families were exposed to beryllium. That money is not expected to cover all of tests for residents, but Ward said it is a start. "It is going to push some of the others along," Ward said, explaining she believes the state and perhaps federal government might also step up now to offer financial aid. And perhaps now the county will grant a moratorium, Ward said. Scott Radway, environmental reporter, can be reached at 708-7919 or at sradway@bradentonherald.com [sradway@bradentonherald.com] . ***************************************************************** 39 RGJ: Reid now the face of Senate Democrats ||| Home [http://www.rgj.com/] | Doug Abrahms [online@rgj.com] RENO GAZETTE-JOURNAL 12/3/2004 06:12 pm WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. Harry Reid showed his mastery of Senate procedure this past week by pushing his staff member onto the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s board despite opposition by both the White House and many Senate Republicans. Reid will need that kind of political skill when he takes over in January as leader of the Senate Democrats. He will be put in a precarious political position — his predecessor lost re-election — as head of a party that lost four Senate seats Nov. 2 and has less clout in a government dominated by Republicans. But Reid, just re-elected to a fourth six-year term, said he can continue to work with Republican lawmakers and for Nevada constituents on many issues. “We’re ready to work with the majority, but we’re not going to be pushed around,” said Reid, a one-time amateur boxer. “We have to make sure we have to pick fights we can win.” The party is struggling with its direction after November’s election losses and can use a leader like Reid who is moderate and not considering a run for president, said Eric Herzik, a Republican and political science professor at the University of Nevada, Reno. “Reid can give the Democrats some breathing space while they figure out what their message is to the rest of the country,” Herzik said. “I think he’s the right guy for the Democratic Party at this time. He knows how to play this game behind the scenes.” The NRC board appointment is one example of the way Reid plays the game. Reid held up approval for 175 Bush administration nominees for federal positions until his staff adviser Gregory Jaczko, who has a doctorate in physics, was given a temporary seat on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The commission will soon start reviewing the application to build a nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain, which Reid opposes. “Reid is really one of the people that understands how the process works,” said Ross Baker, a political science professor at Rutgers University who specializes in Congress. “Although his manner is low key and deferential, he’s a tough character and a hard bargainer.” Party’s face Reid will become one of the main faces of the Democratic Party when he takes over in January from Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle. That can be politically dangerous when your party is out of power. Daschle lost re-election in South Dakota to John Thune, a Republican strongly backed by the White House. Daschle was labeled an obstructionist by Republicans. And he was forced to take positions in support of Senate Democrats that sometimes conflicted with interests of South Dakotans, said University of South Dakota political science professor Bill Richardson. “I think what happened to Tom Daschle is a cautionary tale to Sen. Reid,” Richardson said. “(Senate Democrats) are not supposed to be a rubber stamp, but given the acute partisanship that’s going on now and the inevitable hostilities between the parties that will play itself out in the Senate … I think Senator Reid is in for some really nasty fights,” he said. Like Daschle, Reid is more liberal than most voters he represents, Herzik said. But unlike Daschle, Reid cruised through his re-election this month with 61 percent of the vote — by far the largest margin of victory in his four Senate races. Reid has shown balance in environmental issues, for example, because he is able to maintain support of environmentalists while also helping the mining industry, Herzik said. Impact on Nevada Reid doesn’t expect his new position to significantly change work on Nevada issues. He plans to continue to oppose Yucca Mountain, and will fight to bring federal money to Lake Tahoe and slow the increase in royalty fees mining companies pay the federal government. Nevada first-term U.S. Sen. John Ensign, a Republican, said Reid’s elevation to minority leader can only help the Silver State. “My experience with Sen. Reid is if you have the right relationship with him, you can get things done,” he said. “In the past, when he’s given me his word, he’s kept his word.” Reid has spent nearly all his adult life in Nevada politics, starting as a city attorney in Henderson and becoming the state’s youngest lieutenant governor at 30. He has been representing Nevada in Congress and then in the Senate since 1983. For the past six years, he has been the party’s No. 2 leader in the Senate. As minority whip, his job was to round up votes for legislation. Whether that behind-the-scenes expertise will make him a good front man for the Democrats remains to be seen, Ensign said. Democrats’ agenda Senate Republicans will be bolder next year because they will have 55 votes instead of 51, but they still lack the 60 votes needed to end debate on legislation, Ensign said. Reid isn’t specifying which issues Senate Democrats plan to highlight next year, noting that the agenda in Washington will be set by Republicans, who control the White House and both houses of Congress. He said the Bush administration will have to confront several problems it has created, including: o A huge budget deficit, o More funding to implement Bush’s No Child Left Behind Act education reform law, and o The war in Iraq. U.S. troops will have to remain in Iraq for years, said Reid, who voted for the resolution to give Bush authority to invade Iraq. “I voted to go into Iraq. The problem is the plan was faulty,” Reid said. “But I think we have to stay there and win.” Senate Democrats must do a better job defining who they represent, Reid said, as well as getting their message across. For example, despite approving 206 federal judges and blocking only 10, Senate Democrats were labeled obstructionists, Reid said. “One of the myths out there is Democrats have held up the president’s judges,” Reid said. “We haven’t done that.” “I don’t think (Democrats) need to change,” he said. “I think we need to project who we are better.” Copyright Reno Gazette-Journal, a Gannett Co. Inc. ***************************************************************** 40 Salt Lake Tribune: Bear maintains grip on power [http://www.sltrib.com] Article Last Updated: 12/05/2004 12:17:53 AM Critics find it difficult to oust him from Goshute leadership By Patty Henetz The Salt Lake Tribune Leon Bear, chairman of the Skull Valley Band of Goshutes, in 2001. (Trent Nelson/Tribune file photo ) Leon Bear's decision two weeks ago to forgo Skull Valley Band of Goshutes leadership elections because there wasn't a quorum of voting members has allowed him to remain tribal chairman beyond the four-year term he began in November 2000. The action violates tribal traditions, says one of Bear's most persistent critics, because it bypassed the tribe's adult members, who cast votes as the tribe's General Council. "He can't tell people he is still the chairman. He has to have other people tell him that," Margene Bullcreek said. "His term is up." But because of the way the tribe has chosen to organize itself, there may be little anyone can do to stop Bear from leading as he sees fit or remaining chairman as long as he likes - and thereby retaining control of a lucrative deal that would allow a private company to store 44,000 tons of spent nuclear fuel on the reservation. "As long as he can claim the leadership by not having the quorum in place, he can continue as the leader out there without a valid election indefinitely," said Mark EchoHawk, an Idaho attorney and tribal law expert. EchoHawk and his brother, Paul, have represented Bullcreek and other dissident Goshutes in their disputes with Bear over tribal business, including a 1997 agreement with a nuclear utility consortium that wants to build a nuclear waste storage facility in Skull Valley. Mark EchoHawk views Bear's action as a move away from tribal ways that rely on precedent. "The most important question is not should Mr. Bear continue to be chairman, but does the Skull Valley Band have a fair procedure to elect an official?" he said. Bear did not respond to repeated requests for an interview. Attorney Scott York, who represents the Goshute Band as directed by its leadership, said Friday that Bear doesn't intend to "manipulate the process." Neither was it necessary for Bear to step down from leadership just because the election term is up. "You still need to keep the tribe doing business or it comes to a screeching halt," York said. Bullcreek, who says she will continue to challenge Bear's leadership of the tribe, said Bear is behaving as if he were a chief executive of a corporation, not a tribe. With some trepidation, she has sought help from Chester Mills, the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs Uintah-Ouray superintendant based in Fort Duchesne, whose office has jurisdiction over the Skull Valley Band. Mills usually attends the tribal meetings. "We don't really want the BIA to be involved in this because it is a tribal matter. Our sovereignty is really important to us," Bullcreek said. On the other hand, having Mills or another BIA official at the meeting offers a measure of protection for the process. Mills this week said he was at the BIA regional office in Phoenix when the Goshute tribe notified him of the meeting, but his Fort Duchesne staff didn't forward the message to him. He said had he known, he would have sent a representative. The BIA "really wouldn't have any role at all except to observe. We do not interfere [and] do not have any role to play in tribal elections," Mills said. The BIA has injected itself, however, when it affirmed Bear's leadership after other tribal members claimed they ousted him three years ago. On Nov. 20, the tribal elections didn't proceed as scheduled when Bear called off the meeting around 10:30 a.m. Bullcreek, who had planned to challenge Bear for the leadership post, said about 35 people were present at the time. Tribal rules require that half the 81 adult members be present for a quorum. Miranda Wash, another Bear critic who says she and two others were elected to tribal leadership after Bear was ousted in August 2001, said Skull Valley Goshutes came from Colorado, Idaho and Nevada for the failed election. Wash said the latest meeting lasted only five or 10 minutes. Bear promised to hold another election meeting in March and quarterly thereafter until a quorum could assemble for a vote, they said. York confirmed their account. "If they keep trying to get a quorum quarterly, that's great," he said. Bear is scheduled to go to trial on federal embezzlement and tax fraud charges Feb. 22. Blackbear, Wash and Marlinda Moon, who claim they were elected to tribal leadership in 2001 and therefore within their rights when they moved tribal funds between multiple bank accounts, are scheduled to go to trial on bank fraud charges Dec. 13. Bullcreek is trying to contact the tribe's members to call another meeting - something they would be allowed to do as the General Council, she said. It's not clear that the General Council has a say over election matters, Mills said. The band may have passed resolutions allowing the tribe's executives that power. If Bullcreek wants to prove her allegations, he said, the first step is to get copies of the resolutions regarding how the band governs itself. But Bullcreek said Bear won't cooperate. In 1934, Congress passed the Wheeler-Howard Act, also known as the Indian Reorganization Act, that restored to Indian tribes the right to manage their own assets. The bill also returned to the tribes the right to local self-government. Some tribes organized with bylaws and constitutions; others, like the Skull Valley band, chose to maintain more traditional tribal ways. The Goshutes' adult members form the General Council, which uses majority rule on votes. The tribe also governs itself by resolutions passed by a majority of the General Council, and has a three-person executive committee made up of a chairperson, a vice-chairperson and secretary. EchoHawk said he isn't certain how elections now are governed. There is no set code that contains all the tribal laws. "We're concerned that Leon Bear controls the elections, and notice about the elections, and frankly, we don't have any assurance that he sent out adequate notice to all the members before the election," EchoHawk said. "If I had Mr. Bear's ear, I would say, 'Show me the law that says you can continue as leader when your term has expired.' " There is no way to compel Bear to answer, however, because the Goshutes don't have a tribal court. Bear won't even give Bullcreek or her attorneys a list of tribal members' addresses. York dismissed the concern of the dissidents, whom he characterized as troublemakers stirred to action by people outside the reservation, particularly former Gov. Mike Leavitt. Bullcreek and others have tried to get help from federal courts, but have been turned away because they haven't exhausted administrative remedies through the Department of the Interior, the BIA's umbrella agency. Two administrative appeals are pending with Interior. One pertains to a leadership dispute between Bear and Sammy Blackbear, who claims he was chosen to be tribal chairman after Bear was ousted in an August 2001 vote of the tribe. EchoHawk said mediation attempts on that matter "are just kind of floating out there." The BIA didn't respond to a request for information on the appeal's status. The other appeal is Bullcreek's request that Interior reconsider the BIA's 1997 conditional approval of the lease agreement with Private Fuel Storage, a consortium of eight nuclear power utilities. PFS wants to store 4,000 concrete and steel casks, each weighing 172 tons. The casks would sit on a 100-acre cement slab across the state highway from the Goshute reservation village, 45 miles southwest of Salt Lake City. The consortium is seeking a 20-year renewable license for the $3.1 billion facility, which is advertised as interim storage for nuclear waste that eventually will go to a federal repository at Yucca Mountain, 90 miles north of Las Vegas. Utah leaders oppose the deal, and have passed laws and filed multiple lawsuits to stop it. © Copyright 2004, The Salt Lake Tribune. ***************************************************************** 41 Lompoc Record: Coastal Commission to hear Diablo appeal Serving the Lompoc Valley [http://www.lompocrecord.com/contact/] r [http://www.opinioneditorials.com] This site is provided as an educational service of Frontiers of Freedom (FOF). © 2002 - 2004 [http://www.ff.org] | All rights reserved | [http://www.opinioneditorials.com/terms.html] ***************************************************************** 47 ABQjournal: LANL's 'Flagship' May Be Fading ABQjournal.com Saturday, December 4, 2004 Albuquerque Journal--> By Adam Rankin Journal Staff Writer A Los Alamos National Laboratory particle accelerator, once considered the "flagship" of the nation's nuclear science effort, may be nearing the end of its useful life, according to a new federal audit. The Los Alamos Neutron Science Center, with its $90 million annual budget, is failing and works only about 77 percent of the time— 8 percent below the national standard for similar accelerators, according to the audit. And in August 2003, the reliability of the accelerator's beam dropped to a low of 44 percent due to equipment failures. The facility has also accumulated more than $42 million in deferred maintenance costs, including $10 million in environmental remediation and the replacement of parts designed to prevent the buildup of radioactive material in the device. The audit from the U.S. Department of Energy's Inspector General recommends that the National Nuclear Security Administration, which oversees LANL, evaluate the future need of the neutron science center, given the availability of more modern accelerators elsewhere in the country. "The ability of LANSCE to provide needed research capabilities in the future is uncertain," wrote Gregory Friedman, DOE's inspector general, in a letter accompanying the review. "Increasing reliability problems, coupled with the lack of a long-term plan detailing funding and mission priorities, increased the risk that LANSCE may not be capable of operating effectively in the future," he wrote. Built in 1972 for $57 million, LANSCE's one-mile-long linear particle accelerator at one time generated a proton beam with energies of up to 800 million electron volts that was more intense than beams from all comparable accelerators in the world combined. Designed to investigate the nuclear structure and the interaction of atomic particles, the facility has been used to support weapons research, nuclear stockpile stewardship and basic research. By 1974, the first full year of operation, the beam was used in 73 experiments involving 371 scientists from 72 institutions. But since 2001, the beam's reliability has dropped significantly, from 92 percent to a low of 44 percent in 2003. NNSA has a $138 million plan to prolong the facility's life, but for only another 10 years. A full analysis to determine whether LANSCE has a viable future mission has not been done, and the audit also notes that NNSA officials have "been hesitant to invest in revitalizing LANSCE." In response, NNSA acknowledged that many of LANSCE's components are obsolete, that there has been excessive accumulation of deferred maintenance and that there are concerns about whether LANSCE can operate effectively in the future. Michael Kane, NNSA's associate administrator for management and administration, wrote the inspector general in November to say the agency and LANL are discussing the facility's future and that they are preparing an action plan to resolve the issues raised in the audit. A primary concern raised in the audit is that component parts have operated far beyond their intended lifespan, and few spares are available. [Get Copyright Clearance] Copyright 2004 Albuquerque Journal ***************************************************************** 48 MIT Tech: MIT Will Direct New Nuclear Energy Lab 12/3/04 By Meghana Limaye MIT is leading a group of universities and companies in a new nuclear energy laboratory whose goal will be to develop a next-generation nuclear power plant. The Idaho National Laboratory, a combination of the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory and Argonne National Laboratory West, will give MITs Department of Nuclear Engineering more funding from the US Department of Energy, said David Moncton, director of the MIT Nuclear Reactor Laboratory. Currently, the MIT reactor is involved in testing new fuels and materials for a next-generation power plant. Many graduate students are already involved in this research, and this number will increase with the new funding for the Nuclear Engineering Department. There will also be opportunities for students to go to Idaho to perform experiments not possible here, said Moncton. Students would be working with the Advanced Test Reactor in Idaho, a more powerful reactor than the one at MIT. The mission of the Idaho National Laboratory is to develop a prototype reactor to carry the future of nuclear power and hydrogen production, Moncton said. Hydrogen production, which is needed to move to a fuel-cell economy, is a good complement for nuclear power because of the high temperatures and electricity needed. The MIT Nuclear Reactor will play a significant role in the research of the laboratory. Smaller-scale experiments needed to develop the next generation power plant will take place in the MIT reactor rather than in the larger one in Idaho, said Edward S. Lau, Superintendent of Reactor Operations. MIT is the only university in the consortium to have a working test reactor. The other universities in the consortium include the University of New Mexico, North Carolina State, Ohio State University, Oregon State University, and a regional collaboration of the major Idaho universities (the University of Idaho, Idaho State University, and Boise State University). Each of these schools has a strong nuclear engineering department and acts as a center in their own region. The idea is to establish a network of universities interested in participating in the next generation nuclear power plant; but the network will not be exclusively these five, said Moncton. The five schools will lead other interested universities, and all will be led by MIT, he said. Faculty in the MIT Nuclear Engineering Department were already working towards a new type of nuclear reactor and looking to the future of nuclear energy, but the creation of the Idaho National Laboratory will give new focus to the research currently being conducted. The new lab will help move the research at MIT from technology development to mission-driven technology, which will add excitement to the work being done here, Moncton said. This story was published on Friday, December 3, 2004. Volume 124, Number 58 Copyright and distribution information ***************************************************************** 49 [DU-WATCH] Re: space-wars alternative to DU arrived! Date: Sun, 5 Dec 2004 13:26:32 -0600 (CST) Anyone, especially from a local non- Master Race background, is labeled "crazy" if one made a step forward of the born to monopolize even a shadow of any intellectual activities as seen in Australia. The more broad participation of folks from all walks in science and engineering for instance, makes the USA a country hard to compete with. --- In du-watch@yahoogroups.com, josh lynam wrote: This opens a whole new question they say that people that fantasize about this sorta stuff are crazy well there either crazy or just not fully aware of the reality star wars defence sheilds i mean come on. Michael wrote:Microwave gun to be used by US troops on Iraq rioters By Tony Freinberg and Sean Rayment, Defence Correspondent (Filed: 19/09/2004) Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml? xml=/news/2004/09/19/wirq319.xml&sSheet=/news/2004/09/19/ixworld.html Microwave weapons that cause pain without lasting injury are to be issued to American troops in Iraq for the first time as concern mounts over the growing number of civilians killed in fighting. The non-lethal weapons, which use high-powered electromagnetic beams, will be fitted to vehicles already in Iraq, which will allow the system to be introduced as early as next year. Using technology similar to that found in a conventional microwave oven, the beam rapidly heats water molecules in the skin to cause intolerable pain and a burning sensation. The invisible beam penetrates the skin to a depth of less than a millimetre. As soon as the target moves out of the beam's path, the pain disappears. Because there are no after-effects, the United States Department of Defence believes that the weapons will be particularly useful in urban conflict. The beam could be used to scatter large crowds in which insurgents operate at close quarters to both troops and civilians. "The skin gets extremely hot, and people can't stand the pain, so they have to move - and move in the way we want them to," said Col Wade Hall of the Office of Force Transformation, a body formed in November 2001 to promote rapid improvement across all of the American armed services. Rich Garcia, a spokesman for the Air Force Research Laboratory in New Mexico, where the systems were developed, took part in testing the weapon and was subjected to the microwave beam which has a range of one kilometre. "It just feels like your skin is on fire," he said. "[But] when you get out of the path of the beam, or shut off the beam, everything goes back to normal. There's no residual pain." A heated battle on a crowded Baghdad street last week that left 16 Iraqis dead, highlighted once again the pressing need to reduce the number of civilian casualties, and at the same time prevent further damage to relations between American troops and the Iraqi population. American commanders later admitted using seven helicopter-launched rockets and 30 high-calibre machine gun rounds in last Sunday's incident. The armoured vehicles will be named Sheriffs once they have been modified to carry the microwave weapons, known as the Active Denial System (ADS). Col Hall said that US army and US marine corps units should receive four to six ADS equipped Sheriffs by September 2005. The project was initiated only three months ago but US military chiefs intend to rush the Sheriffs into the front line, believing that they can be of immediate assistance. In another development, the Sheriffs will be fitted with Gunslinger, a rapid-fire gun currently under development that will detect enemy snipers and automatically fire back at them. If the Sheriffs prove successful, their use will be expanded in combat zones. They will also be deployed for security at ports and air force bases, and could take part in border patrols. [Brought to you by HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK] Yahoo! Groups SponsorADVERTISEMENT --------------------------------- Yahoo! Groups Links To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/du-watch/ To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: du-watch-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Make a clean sweep of pop-up ads. Yahoo! Companion Toolbar. Now with Pop-Up Blocker. Get it for free! http://us.click.yahoo.com/L5YrjA/eSIIAA/yQLSAA/Sj.0lB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> [Brought to you by HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK] Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/du-watch/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: du-watch-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ ***************************************************************** 50 [DU-WATCH] Nuclear Resister supports the traitor, Greenpeace Date: Sun, 5 Dec 2004 13:26:54 -0600 (CST) Once again, Jack C-J is in bed with a turn coat - Greenpeace; another one. Greenpeace has consistently landed on the side of the NRPB, US Defence and CNSC. Greepeace are traitors just like Diehl, Fahey, MTP, NGWRC and the members of ICBUW that publish and promote the traitor, Fahey. Tell me Jackie lad, what's the difference in the biological effects of Plutonium and Uranium. What's the difference in their emissions and toxicity? How come Greenpeace is such an anti-Pu hero and yet it is pro-Uranium. Opportunistic fund raising hype. Your in it for glory and fame and your egos make you an easy target to be manipulated by defense and nuke industry. If you promote Greenpeace, you promote uranium weapons by default. Nuclear Resister should figure out who its resisting and who its facilitating. http://www.serve.com/nukeresister/ http://www.llrc.org/wobblyscience/subtopic/cerrie.htm http://www.guardian.co.uk/letters/story/0%2C3604%2C1337415%2C00.html http://www.traprockpeace.org/chris_busby_08may04.html http://omega.twoday.net/topics/Nuclear+Power Get some intergrity. ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> $9.95 domain names from Yahoo!. Register anything. http://us.click.yahoo.com/J8kdrA/y20IAA/yQLSAA/Sj.0lB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> [Brought to you by HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK] Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/du-watch/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: du-watch-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ ***************************************************************** NOTE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107 this material is distributed without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for non-profit research and educational purposes only. For more information go to: *****************************************************************