***************************************************************** 12/10/04 **** RADIATION BULLETIN(RADBULL) **** VOL 12.294 ***************************************************************** RADBULL IS PRODUCED BY THE ABALONE ALLIANCE CLEARINGHOUSE ***************************************************************** Send News Stories to news@energy-net.org with title on subject line and first line of body NUCLEAR POLICY 1 Guardian Unlimited: CIA fired me for not toeing Iraq line, says agen 2 FT.com: UK - Concern over Iran's nuclear technology 3 UPI: IAEA head warns of Iran's nuke program - 4 Korea Herald: [EDITORIAL]N.K. has no time to waste 5 Interfax: Russia concerned over N. Korea nuclear treaty pullout 6 US: Las Vegas SUN: Reid causes stir with talk show appearance 7 US: Capitol Hill Blue: Feds Use 'Secret Laws' to Justify Harassment 8 Las Vegas SUN: Bush picks Bodman for energy secretary 9 ITAR-TASS: Russia weapons of mass destruction under special control 10 ITAR-TASS: Russian nuclear forces to be kept at containment ability 11 RTE News: Deal signed on nuclear safety measures NUCLEAR REACTORS 12 US: [epa-impact] Tennessee Valley Authority; Browns Ferry Nuclear Pl 13 US: [epa-impact] Dominion Nuclear North Anna, LLC; Notice of Availab 14 UK The Times: British Energy slips £234m into the red 15 US: NRC: Dominion Nuclear North Anna, LLC; Notice of Availability of 16 BBC: British Energy's woes continuing 17 US: FT.com: British Energy hit by nuclear shutdowns 18 US: Brattleboro Reformer: Another Mass. town raises objections to Ya 19 US: JOURNAL NEWS: Condition of sirens at issue 20 u.tv: Governments sign nuclear deal 21 US: YDR: TMI lowers power after leak - 22 US: SouthBendTribune.com: Coalition wants Cook closed 23 US: Newsday.com: State regulators hear argument on rate increase 24 US: APP.COM: Residents offer Oyster Creek solutions 25 ThisisLondon: Tougher times at British Energy 26 Australian: Malaysia no to nuclear energy 27 US: NRC: Tennessee Valley Authority; Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant, Uni NUCLEAR SAFETY 28 [DU-WATCH] Richard David vs Honeywell DU adjourned till April 29 BBC: Court adjourns uranium 30 Scotsman.com: Fire Triggered 'Nuclear' Chocolate Scare 31 ITAR-TASS: Baikonur spaceport cleared from radioactive materials NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE 32 US: Bradenton Herald: Lockheed verifies wider pollution 33 HS: Yet another reactor shutdown at Russian nuclear plant near Finla 34 Las Vegas SUN: Experts: Yucca 'backup' sites needed 35 US: Las Vegas RJ: Perchlorate in river'poses no threat' 36 US: Guardian Unlimited: Polluted Nevada Mine Worries Residents 37 FT.com: Lords attack failures on radioactive waste 38 Aftenposten Norway: Nuclear waste languishes 39 US: heraldtribune.com: Tallevast residents left aghast 40 Scotsman.com: Dismay at 'lack of urgency' over radioactive waste 41 UK Indepenent: Lords committee criticises 'lack of urgency' over rad 42 Guardian Unlimited: Bury nuclear waste, says report NUCLEAR WEAPONS US DEPT. OF ENERGY 43 PGE wins Diablo Canyon Nuke Plant dry cask transportable storage 44 DOE: Agency Information Collection Extension 45 Carlsbad Current-Argus: Former DOE office manager returning 46 Tri-City Herald: Fluor contemplates diving into K Basins 47 Tri-Valley Herald: Firm gets one more year at lab OTHER NUCLEAR 48 [DU-WATCH] FW: DRAFT of article about the trial 49 EnergyPulse The Hydrogen Economy: An Objective Look -- ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** FULL NEWS STORIES ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** 1 Guardian Unlimited: CIA fired me for not toeing Iraq line, says agent [http://www.guardian.co.uk/talk/] [UP] Suzanne Goldenberg in Washington Friday December 10, 2004 The Guardian [http://www.guardian.co.uk] A senior CIA analyst who was once decorated for his work on weapons proliferation in the Middle East has accused the spy agency of ruining his career as punishment for his refusal to adhere to official pre-war "dogma" on Iraq's weapons of mass destruction. In a lawsuit filed in a US district court, the unnamed agent, described as a 22-year veteran of the agency's counter-proliferation department, accuses his former supervisors of demanding that he alter his intelligence reporting to conform to the views of CIA management in the run-up to the war on Iraq. The action marks the first time the CIA, which proclaimed that Saddam Hussein had stockpiles of WMD, has been publicly accused by one of its employees of exerting pressure to produce reports that would help the Bush administration make its case to go to war on Saddam. However, one former CIA employee said the process described by the analyst - pressure and retaliation - was a familiar bureaucratic response to agents who did not conform. The agent's refusal to tailor his reports had, he claims, a disastrous effect on a career that had previously been marked by regular promotions and a CIA medal for the operative's recruitment of moles who penetrated a nuclear weapons programme in another Middle Eastern country. "The complaint alleges that there was a pre-war dogma at the CIA concerning weapons of mass destruction, and my client's reports were contrary to the dogma," said Roy Krieger, who represents the agent. "My client was told to conform to the dogma. He refused and retribution followed." The CIA last night rejected the charge. "The notion that CIA managers order officers to falsify reports is flat wrong," said spokeswoman Anya Guilsher. "Our mission is to call it like we see it." The agent's complaint has been heavily blacked out by the CIA, and it makes no mention of the word "Iraq". However, the timing of the operative's run-in with his superiors and other details strongly suggest he ran foul of agency managements for his reports on Saddam Hussein's alleged arsenal during the run-up to the war. But the undercover agent's work was not restricted to Iraq. The first instance of pressure occurred in 2000, when he says he tried to pass on intelligence culled from one of his many "human assets" in the field. Court papers describe how the "plaintiff was subsequently advised by CIA management that his report did not support the earlier assessment... and instructed that if he did not alter his report to support this assessment, it would not be received well by the intelligence community". A year later, the agent obtained intelligence from a "highly respected human asset", which he tried to pass on to his superiors, the complaint says. "Plaintiff was later instructed that he should prepare no written report of the matter", and received assurances that the CIA chief would personally brief the president. However, "upon information and belief, plaintiff avers that no such briefing ever occurred, and therefore the president was misled by the withholding of vital intelligence." The complaint goes on to describe further instances in 2001 and 2002 where the operative's attempts to report "actionable" intelligence were thwarted by CIA superiors. He was also warned to break off contact with the highly regarded source. "Plaintiff was subsequently approached by a senior desk officer who insisted that plaintiff falsify his reporting of this matter," the complaint reads. Some months later, the CIA operative was accused of having sex with one of his female informants. In September 2003, the operative was suspended. He was later accused of stealing funds meant to pay informants, and last September 10 he was sacked. "Plaintiff avers that the termination of his employment at CIA was in further retaliation for, and to contrive a pretext to discredit, his refusal to falsify his intelligence reporting to support the politically mandated conclusion," the complaint says. The CIA has had a torrid two years. Its former director, George Tenet, was quoted as telling President Bush that finding WMD in Iraq was a "slam dunk"; and the agency has been pilloried for the way it dealt with intelligence prior to the September 11 attacks. And under its new chief, Porter Goss, there have been persistent rumblings of mis-management as a series of senior figures have announced their intention to quit. Special report Iraq Chronology Iraq timeline: Feb 1 2004 - present [http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/page/0,12438,1151021,00.html] Iraq timeline: July 16 1979 - Jan 31 2004 [http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/page/0,12438,793802,00.html] Interactive guides The siege of Falluja More click-through graphics on Iraq Key documents Full text of speeches and documents Audio reports Audio reports on Iraq More special reports Politics and Iraq International aid and development Iraq and the media The anti-war movement Useful links Provisional authority: rebuilding Iraq [http://www.rebuilding-iraq.net/] Iraqi-American chamber of commerce [http://www.i-acci.org/main.shtml] cnn.com: David Kay's evidence to US Senate committee [http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/01/28/kay.transcript/] [UP] Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2004 ***************************************************************** 2 FT.com: UK - Concern over Iran's nuclear technology By Roula Khalaf in London Published: December 10 2004 02:00 | Last updated: December 10 2004 02:00 The head of the United Nations nuclear watchdog has suggested that Iran's nuclear technology represents an effective deterrent that should be dealt with through a security dialogue as well as inspections. Nuclear inspectors have found no evidence so far of an Iranian weapons programme. But Mohamed ElBaradei, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, warned in an interview with the Financial Times that acquiring nuclear expertise, even for peaceful purposes, gave countries the core element of a deterrent. "The fundamental issue is that countries look at know-how as a deterrent. Once you get into areas of deterrence, you get into security and insecurity," he said. "If you have nuclear material, the weapon part is not far away." Mr ElBaradei's comments come before next week's first round of talks between Tehran and three European governments - Britain, France and Germany - on nu-clear, economic and security co-operation. The so-called EU3 persuaded Iran last month to suspend its uranium enrichment in return for the wide-ranging dialogue. But the talks are threatened by a key difference between the two sides: Iran considers the suspension of enrichment, which it says is for peaceful use, as a temporary measure. The EU3 are looking for a permanent freeze. In nearly two years of inspections, the IAEA has uncovered a sophisticated Iranian programme to master the fuel cycle. So far, it has not found evidence to support US suspicions that Iran has a weapons programme. Mr ElBaradei, however, argued that the Iran controversy was part of a broader problem in nuclear non-proliferation: countries that master the technology needed for a peaceful enrichment programme and comply with the Nuclear non-Proliferation Treaty can develop a nuclear deterrent. Experts say persuading Iran permanently to give up its pursuit of a fuel cycle would require a normalisation of relations with the US - which the Europeans cannot deliver. But Mr ElBaradei insisted the diplomatic track and inspections remained the best option. The US has been advocating a tougher approach and wants Tehran referred to the UN Security Council for possible sanctions. The IAEA investigation has now moved on to inspectors looking into intelligence claims of nuclear experiments at military facilities - which could indicate a weapons programme. Mr ElBaradei sought, however, to reassure Tehran that he would not act as "an instrument of harassment" in his investigations. But he expected co-operation from Tehran. [ height=] © Copyright The Financial Times Ltd 2004. "FT" and "Financial Times" are trademarks of the Financial Times. ***************************************************************** 3 UPI: IAEA head warns of Iran's nuke program - (United Press International) December 10, 2004 Tehran, Iran, Dec. 10 (UPI) -- The head of the United Nations nuclear watchdog is warning Iran's nuclear program remains a danger to world security. But Mohamed ElBaradei, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, also says there is no alternative to dialogue between Tehran and the IAEA plus credible inspections, the Financial Times reported Friday. "I hope that in discussions everyone puts their cards on the table. This is not just a technical issue, it's a security issue. If you have nuclear material, the weapon part is not far away." ElBaradei's comments come before next week's first round of talks between Tehran and three European governments -- Britain, France and Germany -- on nuclear, economic and security co-operation. The so-called EU3 persuaded Iran last month to suspend uranium enrichment in return for dialogue. But Tehran's Islamic rulers consider the suspension of enrichment, which they say is for peaceful use, temporary; the EU3 wants it to be permanent. "Iran tried to cheat the system. Now they would have second thoughts ... because we've called their bluff," ElBaradei said. Copyright 2004 United Press International ***************************************************************** 4 Korea Herald: [EDITORIAL]N.K. has no time to waste 2004.12.11 Pyongyang must have felt relieved to hear the United States has no intention of using military force against North Korea as a means of ending North Korea's ambitions to develop nuclear weapons. It must also be heartening to hear Washington say it has no plan either to change the Kim Jong-il regime. Richard Armitage, U.S. deputy secretary of state, was recently quoted as saying to South Korean lawmakers that it would be most irresponsible for the United States to launch an attack from South Korea or any other country. An additional reassurance came from Stephen Hadley, national security adviser-designate, who reportedly said the U.S. policy aim is "regime transformation," not regime change. It has been anticipated this much would come from the U.S. administration since President George W. Bush committed himself to resolving the nuclear conflict within the framework of six-party talks when he met South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun in Santiago last month. But Pyongyang must not delude itself in believing that the United States will take few retaliatory actions if it continues to drag its feet and refuses to return to the negotiating table. Contrary to such a belief, the United States does not hide its intention of tightening the screw on Pyongyang if the six-party talks fail to settle the nuclear conflict. When such diplomatic efforts are exhausted, Washington may decide to bring the North Korean nuclear program to the U.N. Security Council or launch a policy designed to contain North Korea with its allies. In particular, a containment policy may appeal to the Japanese government, which is under public pressure to impose economic sanctions on Pyongyang, which is accused of withholding information on Japanese citizens it kidnapped long ago. Pyongyang will do well to refrain from resorting to brinkmanship and testing the limits to the patience of the U.S. administration, as it has often done in the past. It will have to return to the six-party talks promptly, instead of waiting until the second Bush administration starts. It must realize that time is not on its side. 2004.12.11 ***************************************************************** 5 Interfax: Russia concerned over N. Korea nuclear treaty pullout Interfax.com [http://www.interfax.com] Text version Dec 10 2004 1:16PM MOSCOW. Dec 10 (Interfax) - Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said Russia "is seriously concerned about the current situation on the Korean Peninsula." "Our position is that the decision made by the DPRK [Democratic People's Republic of Korea] to withdraw from the treaty on the non- proliferation of nuclear weapons can significantly weaken the global community's efforts aimed at strengthening the regimes against the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction," Ivanov said at a meeting in Moscow on Friday. "On this issue, Russia's military-political leadership is guided by the need for the Korean Peninsula to become a nuclear-free area," he said. © 1991-2004 Interfax All rights reserved ***************************************************************** 6 Las Vegas SUN: Reid causes stir with talk show appearance By Benjamin Grove LAS VEGAS SUN WASHINGTON -- Incoming Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid got a lesson in "lonely at the top" this week. The Nevada senator heard an earful from Republicans and Democrats alike after his first Sunday morning talk show interview as the new leader. Conservatives didn't like Reid calling Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas an "embarrassment" during Reid's appearance on NBC's "Meet the Press." And liberals didn't like Reid implying that he could support Justice Antonin Scalia as a chief justice, calling him "one smart guy." A few conservative critics said Reid's comments were racially biased. Liberals are threatened by Thomas because he is black and conservative, which goes against liberal dogma that someone can't be both, said Tom Fitton, president of Judicial Watch, a conservative public interest group. Reid "is essentially calling Thomas stupid," Fitton said. "There is certain language that is allowed to be used against Clarence Thomas that is not allowed against other black public officials." In newspapers this week syndicated conservative columnist Charles Krauthammer asked how Reid could back Scalia and not Thomas. "I think it's the liberal plantation mentality in which if you're a man of the right it's OK but if you're a man of the right and you're African-American, it's not," Krauthammer wrote. Reid on NBC said Thomas' opinions were "poorly written." Denver Post columnist Al Knight called Reid's comments "nonsense" and he wrote that he doubts Reid has read Thomas decisions. Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, who has often praised Reid as a Senate leader, on a Fox News show this week said, "Frankly, if you read Thomas' opinions they are some of the most articulate, responsible, substantive and interesting opinions on the court." And conservative group Focus on the Family, in a daily news e-mail this week that goes to 111,000 subscribers, included a story about Reid's comments and a link for readers to e-mail responses to Reid. Leaders of the group thought it was "curious" that Reid could like Scalia and not Thomas, spokeswoman Carrie Gordon Earll said. "Their philosophies are so similar," she said. Reid declined to further explain his stance on the justices. "Sen. Reid stands by his comments," spokeswoman Tessa Hafen said. Reid has read Thomas' opinions, Hafen said, although she could not say to what extent. Reid aides noted that Scalia and Thomas have not always agreed, and that Thomas has been the sole dissenter on a number of opinions. Reid strongly disagreed with one Thomas dissent in a case last year that Reid said went against the interests of Nevada's small population of dairy farmers. Meanwhile Reid took flak from allies. Liberal groups this week warned that Scalia, along with Thomas, represented the extreme right of the court and was too conservative to be considered for chief justice. Scalia would be a "disaster," said Ralph Neas, president of People for the American Way. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., D-Ill., told the Washington Post that Reid's possible support for Scalia was "outrageous." Reid had said Scalia would have to overcome ethics concerns, a reference to the justice going hunting with Vice President Dick Cheney not long after the court accepted a case involving Cheney. But it's Scalia's stances in civil rights cases and right-wing ideology, not his personal relationship with Cheney, that has Democrats preparing to fight, Gannett News columnist DeWayne Wickham wrote this week. "But a decision by Bush to nominate Scalia to be chief justice will surely spark a confirmation fight, one that as the Senate's top Democrat, Reid should be prepared to lead," Wickham wrote. And the New York Times editorial page today said Reid's NBC appearance was "not terribly encouraging." "There is far more than personal ethics to plumb in Scalia's ultraextreme record, and Democrats reportedly made this clear to Reid after he stepped on his first hornet's nest as leader," the Times wrote. "We hope he learned from his caucus that flashes of brilliance hardly justify Scalia's retrogressive record on constitutional law." In addition, Reid this week braced for an early scuffle with Republican leader Bill Frist of Tennessee. Party leaders are set to spar this month over how much money and how many staffers Democrats will get on committees next year now that the GOP has a new 55-45 majority. The battle is important because much of the work of Congress is done in committees, and lawmakers rely heavily on their panel staffers to handle everything from research to bill-writing. Democrats have proposed that the current 50-50 split of staff and budgets would be fair but GOP leaders want two-thirds. ***************************************************************** 7 Capitol Hill Blue: Feds Use 'Secret Laws' to Justify Harassment of Americans [http://www.capitolhillblue.com] By LANCE GAY Dec 10, 2004, 07:31 Want to see the federal government's regulation authorizing airport security personnel to pat you down before boarding a plane? You can't. It's a secret rule. Would you like to read the government regulation that says all passengers must present identification before being allowed on aircraft, or what sort of identification meets the government requirement? Sorry, you're out of luck. That's a secret law, too. They're just two of several secret regulations issued after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The intelligence bill that Congress sent to President Bush this week establishes a new "privacy council" that's responsible for reviewing government activities and ensuring that privacy rights of Americans are protected. The secret laws are impacting ordinary Americans, from no-fly lists to requirements imposed since 9/11 that Americans declare their identities before they fly. Helen Chenoweth-Hage, a former Republican congresswoman from Idaho, was stopped from flying from Boise to Reno, Nev., last month because she asked to read the regulation authorizing Transportation Security Administration employees to pat her down at the airport gate. Chenoweth-Hage was told she couldn't see the directive because the TSA said it was sensitive security information and so could not be publicly released. "A secret law? I didn't think that happened to Americans," she said. Chenoweth-Hage was given the choice of submitting to the pat-down or not flying. "I was resolved to see the regulation," she said, explaining that she drove to Reno. She has not flown since. She stressed she's not opposed to airport security and wants to see the government scrutinize passengers for likely terrorists. "But this is such a departure from what our founders set up. They wanted to make sure we didn't have a secret government," she said. The secret rules are an outgrowth of a 1974 law that allowed the Federal Aviation Administration to withhold from public disclosure any information "detrimental to the safety of persons traveling in air transportation." After 9/11, Congress transferred airport security to the newly created TSA in the Department of Homeland Security and broadened the FAA rule to cover anything that might be "detrimental to the security of transportation." The government is now declaring all forms of interstate transportation - including airplanes, buses, trains and boats - covered by the cloak of "sensitive security information" and moving to keep information from public scrutiny, said Todd Tatelman, an attorney with the Congressional Research Service. Even the wording of regulations authorizing government employees to carry out the procedures is kept secret. TSA spokesman Darrin Kayser said the regulations aren't available for public reading because that might provide terrorists with information on airport operations. "We don't want terrorists to know our standard operating procedures," Kayser said. "It's not like a specific regulation - it's part of an overall operating procedure that our employees are trained on." He said the pat-down procedure was publicly announced and well-publicized before it was put in place in time for Thanksgiving travel. He said the agency is averaging 10 to12 complaints from the 1.2 million travelers using the airports each week. "It is addressing a specific threat, and that threat has not been done away with," Kayser said. He said new technologies using machines that sniff people electronically for the presence of explosive materials could eventually replace the intrusive procedures, but those machines are currently only experimental. zz Privacy advocate Steven Aftergood of the Federation of American Scientists warns that the secret rules show Congress has given the executive branch too much power without sufficient checks. The Society of Environmental Journalists fears that the procedure will be used to withhold Freedom of Information Act information on roads used by trucks carrying nuclear wastes, for example. The TSA is even imposing its law on other government agencies. In May, the U.S. Coast Guard declared emergency plans by shipping companies and terminal operators should be "sensitive security information" because the government has determined they "must be protected from improper disclosure in order to ensure transportation security." The Department of Homeland Security has also taken steps to ensure that government employees don't spill the beans on what's in the documents. Two unions representing federal employees say nondisclosure documents require department employees and contractors to sign pledges to keep the sensitive information secret. The agency threatens civil penalties against anyone who discloses such information. The TSA has conducted nine investigations of air marshals for allegedly talking to the media about their operations. Two marshals were threatened with arrest and prosecution. But Clark Ervin, Homeland Security's inspector general, noted that unlike the release of government secrets, the release of sensitive security information isn't currently a prosecutable offense. In a letter to outgoing Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge last month, the two unions - the National Treasury Employees Union and the American Federation of Government Employees AFL-CIO - complained that the restrictions on releasing sensitive security information are "unprecedented restrictions and conditions on the free speech rights" and are so broadly drafted they might even permit searches of the homes of government employees without warrants. (Contact Lance Gay at GayL(at)SHNS.com) © Copyright 2004 by Capitol Hill Blue ***************************************************************** 8 Las Vegas SUN: Bush picks Bodman for energy secretary Putting Yucca project on track will be a top issue By Suzanne Struglinski < [suzanne@lasvegassun.com] > SUN WASHINGTON BUREAU WASHINGTON -- President Bush nominated Sam Bodman today as the new energy secretary. Bodman takes over the Energy Department at a time when numerous questions still remain on the Yucca Mountain project in Nevada and Congress has yet to finish a comprehensive energy bill. Nevada officials today were researching stances Bodman may have taken on Yucca Mountain or nuclear power issues, but initial checks didn't reveal much. Incoming Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid of Nevada had a "long and productive" conversation with Bodman today, according to a Reid statement. Reid asked him to keep an open mind on issues facing the department. "I stressed to Dr. Bodman that, while I understand he serves at the pleasure of the president who supports the project, I hoped he would take a fresh look at alternatives to the proposed nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain," Reid said. "He agreed to do so." Reid said he was looking forward to a thorough nomination process in order to examine Bodman's stances on issues facing the department. Bodman will replace Spencer Abraham. Abraham resigned last month after serving with Bush since the beginning of his presidency. Abraham, a former Republican Michigan senator, lost his re-election race in 2000. It's not clear whether Bodman had much involvement with the nuclear industry during his years in business. Bodman today said he spent 14 years managing Cabot Corporation, a global chemical company. Among Cabot's array of products is a chemical processing arm that markets tantalum, niobium and niobium alloys -- materials well suited for high-temperature environments in chemical, pharmaceutical and nuclear plants, according to the company Web site. Bodman's nomination took some by surprise. "He wasn't even on anybody's guess list," said Allison MacFarlane, a research fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who has closely followed the Yucca project for years. She said she had never heard of Bodman. Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., said, "I am confident that Mr. Bodman will face the same rigorous questioning about his position on Yucca Mountain" as his predecessor did. "Should he be confirmed as the next energy secretary, I will remain committed to educating Mr. Bodman on the problems and risks with shipping high level nuclear waste across the entire country to Yucca Mountain, an unsafe and flawed project that will not solve our nation's nuclear waste problems," Gibbons said. Gibbons said he hopes Bodman will choose to invest in "21st century technologies," such as transmutation and reprocessing rather than "wasting millions of dollars on the unsound Yucca Mountain project." Rep. Jon Porter, R-Nev., issued a similar statement. "It is my hope that the secretary designee is open to alternative solutions when it comes to disposing of nuclear waste, though I expect that Mr. Bodman, if confirmed, will carry out the administration's wishes which includes Yucca Mountain," Porter said. "Nothing changes this fight. I will continue to work with my Nevada colleagues to stop the project." Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., said that when it comes to Yucca Mountain, it is "irrelevant" who is nominated to the post because the administration has already made up its mind that it wants the project. "If they have nominated this gentleman, I guarantee he will not stand up to them on this," Berkley said. "He has already passed that test." Berkley said the administration has made clear it is not interested in anyone else's point of view. She said she doubted that Bodman has been "immersed in the Yucca Mountain issue" but that she will send letters and take other actions to make sure he knows of its problems. "But I think we will be whistling in the wind," she said. "This is not someone with independent thoughts or the ability to take independent action." Joe Colvin, president of the Nuclear Energy Institute, the industry's advocacy group and top Yucca supporter, said the industry looks forward to working with Bodman to "maximize nuclear energy's role in achieving the nation's clean air goals and advancing its economic well-being and national security interests." "We are greatly encouraged that the president has chosen an accomplished individual who clearly understands the vital role that dependable, affordable energy plays in fostering economic growth and improving quality of life for every American," Colvin said in a statement sent out by the institute. "Given his extensive experience, Mr. Bodman understands the need for the federal government to send appropriate signals to the private sector that it values the large capital investments that are urgently needed in the nation's energy infrastructure," Colvin's statement said. Bodman is now deputy secretary at the Treasury Department. He previously served as deputy secretary at the Commerce Department, where he managed the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Patent and Trademark Office and the National Institute of Standards and Technology. Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., who leads the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, supports Bodman's nomination and predicted a "swift and smooth Senate confirmation." "He is articulate and brings a broad and impressive set of skills to the Department of Energy," Domenici said in a statement. "His management experience will be a boon to the department. His financial expertise will be a tremendous asset in accurately assessing the economic impact of energy policy and crafting that policy in an environment of fiscal restraint." Abraham's nomination was not without controversy due to his previous working relationships with Michigan's auto manufacturers and his role in an attempt to actually abolish the Energy Department, but the Senate approved him. Abraham's support in the Senate for the Yucca Mountain project followed him to the cabinet position as he became the main face of the administration's support for the nuclear waste storage site 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas. He was also a key advocate for construction of new nuclear power plants. Abraham started the process outlined in the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 that eventually led to the approval of Yucca Mountain as the site for the nation to store its most dangerous nuclear waste. In February 2002, Abraham recommended the project to the president and Bush signed off on the project days later, moving the fight to Congress. Congress eventually approved the site and Abraham was in the Capitol the day the Senate approved the site in July 2002. But Abraham's tenure also saw significant roadblocks for the project that Bodman will have to figure out how to solve. A federal court's decision throwing out a key radiation protection standard and an administrative court's demand for better documentation were among the reasons the department decided not to submit the project's license application by the end of the year as planned. Bodman and the Energy Department's top Yucca official, Margaret Chu, will have to determine a new schedule for the project or explain how it will still open by 2010. Meanwhile, lawsuits against the department for not taking waste in 1998 as required are still pending and those could lead to judgments or settlements of billions of dollars in damages. Bodman was born in Chicago in 1938. He received a bachelor's degree in chemical engineering from Cornell University in 1961. He received his doctorate of science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1965. Bodman gave the Republican National Committee $15,000 this May and gave Bush $2,000 in 2003 for his re-election campaign, according to campaign records compiled by the Center for Responsive Politics. ***************************************************************** 9 ITAR-TASS: Russia weapons of mass destruction under special control 10.12.2004, 12.56 MOSCOW, December 10 (Itar-Tass) - The safeguarding of Russia’s weapons of mass destruction is under special control of the Defence Ministry, Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov said at his meeting with members of the military diplomatic corps in Moscow on Friday. He said results of the special tactical exercise Accident-2004 at one of facilities in the Murmansk region was conducted in the presence of representatives of 17 NATO states, and “despite the statements about allegedly existing problems with safety of nuclear weapons in Russia, prove the contrary”. Ivanov said an antiterrorist scenario had been increasing frequently made a basis of special and general-purpose army exercises. He cited as example the operational strategic exercises Mobility- 2004 during which special operations against terrorist bands and movement of permanent readiness troops from the European part of Russia to the Russian Far East were drilled. © ITAR-TASS. All rights reserved. You undertake not to copy, ***************************************************************** 10 ITAR-TASS: Russian nuclear forces to be kept at containment ability level 10.12.2004, 15.48 MOSCOW, December 10 (Itar-Tass) - A priority task of the Russian Armed Forces at the given phase of their development is “to keep the nuclear forces at a level, guaranteeing their ability to contain an aggression against Russia and its allies,” Russian Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov stated on Friday in the course of his meeting here with representatives of the Moscow military-diplomatic corps. “Russia’s policy is based, as before, on the ability of its nuclear policy to deal retaliatory strikes on the enemy, sufficient enough to call in question the aggressor’s capability of attaining his end goals. Moreover, we are endeavouring to develop all the component parts of the strategic containment forces in a properly balanced way and to keep their combat personnel at the necessary level,” the minister noted. According to the plan, the Strategic Missile Forces are now being rearmed with Topol-M silo-based missile systems, the minister added. The mobile version of this weapon and the new-generation Bulava naval missile complex are now being successfully tested. The Navy will get next year the fourth-generation “Yuri Dolgoruky” strategic nuclear-propelled submarine and the Air Force – two strategic Tu-160 bombers. © ITAR-TASS. All rights reserved. You undertake not to copy, ***************************************************************** 11 RTE News: Deal signed on nuclear safety measures [http://www.rte.ie/news/] 10 December 2004 20:19 The Irish and British governments have signed a package of nuclear safety measures. The measures will allow gardaí and members of the Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland to visit Sellafield. The announcement was made at the Customs House in Dublin by the Minister for the Environment, Dick Roche, and the British Ambassador, Stewart Eldon. Under the measures, the Radiological Protection Board would also have access to the UK's radiation monitoring system. 6.1 News: Vivienne Traynor reports on the signing of an agreement between the British and Irish governments [Deal signed on nuclear safety measures] Dick Roche Minister for the Environment ***************************************************************** 12 [epa-impact] Tennessee Valley Authority; Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant Date: Fri, 10 Dec 2004 11:25:14 -0500 (EST) http://epa.gov/EPA-IMPACT/2004/December/Day-10/ ======================================================================= [Federal Register: December 10, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 237)] [Notices] [Page 71855-71856] From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr10de04-121] ----------------------------------------------------------------------- NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION [Docket Nos. 50-259, 50-260, and 50-296] Tennessee Valley Authority; Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant, Units 1, 2, and 3; Notice of Availability of the Draft Supplement 21 to the Generic Environmental Impact Statement and Public Meeting for the License Renewal of Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant, Units 1, 2, and 3 Notice is hereby given that the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (the Commission) has published a draft plant-specific supplement to the Generic Environmental Impact Statement (GEIS), NUREG-1437, regarding the renewal of operating licenses DPR-33, DPR-52, and DPR-68 for an additional 20 years of operation at Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant, Units 1, 2, and 3 (BFN). BFN is located in Limestone County, Alabama, 16 km (10 mi) southwest of Athens, Alabama. Possible alternatives to the proposed action (license renewal) include no action and reasonable alternative energy sources. The draft Supplement to the GEIS is available for public inspection in the NRC Public Document Room (PDR) located at One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike (first floor), Rockville, Maryland, 20852 or from the Publicly Available Records (PARS) component of NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS). ADAMS is accessible from the Public Electronic Reading Room at the NRC Web site http:// www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html (Note: Public access to ADAMS has been temporarily suspended so that security reviews of publicly available documents may be performed and potentially sensitive information removed. Please check the NRC Web site for updates on the resumption of ADAMS access). Persons who do not have access to ADAMS, or who encounter problems in accessing the documents located in ADAMS, should contact the PDR reference staff at 1-800-397-4209, 301-415-4737, or by e-mail to pdr@nrc.gov. In addition, the Athens-Limestone Public Library, 405 East South Street, Athens, Alabama has agreed to make the draft plant-specific [[Page 71856]] supplement to the GEIS available for public inspection. Any interested party may submit comments on the draft supplement to the GEIS for consideration by the NRC staff. To be certain of consideration, comments on the draft supplement to the GEIS and the proposed action must be received by March 2, 2005. Comments received after the due date will be considered if it is practical to do so, but the NRC staff is able to assure consideration only for comments received on or before this date. Written comments on the draft supplement to the GEIS should be sent to: Chief, Rules and Directives Branch, Division of Administrative Services, Office of Administration, Mailstop T-6D59, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001. Comments may be hand-delivered to the NRC at 11545 Rockville Pike, Room T-6D59, Rockville, Maryland, between 7:45 a.m. and 4:15 p.m. on Federal workdays. Electronic comments may be submitted to the NRC by e- mail at BrownsFerryEIS@nrc.gov. All comments received by the Commission, including those made by Federal, State, and local agencies, Native American Tribes, or other interested persons, will be made available electronically at the Commission's PDR in Rockville, Maryland, and from the PARS component of ADAMS. The NRC staff will hold two public meetings to present an overview of the draft plant-specific supplement to the GEIS and to accept public comments on the document. The public meetings will be held on January 25, 2005, at the Athens State University, Student Center Cafeteria Ballroom, 300 North Beaty Street, Athens, Alabama. The first session will convene at 1:30 p.m. and will continue until 4:30 p.m., as necessary. The second session will convene at 7 p.m. with a repeat of the overview portions of the meeting and will continue until 10 p.m., as necessary. Both meetings will be transcribed and will include: (1) a presentation of the contents of the draft plant-specific supplement to the GEIS, and (2) the opportunity for interested government agencies, organizations, and individuals to provide comments on the draft report. Additionally, the NRC staff will host informal discussions one hour before the start of each meeting at the Athens State University, Student Center Cafeteria Ballroom. No comments on the draft supplement to the GEIS will be accepted during the informal discussions. To be considered, comments must be provided either at the transcribed public meetings or in writing, as discussed below. Persons may register to attend or present oral comments at the meetings by contacting Dr. Michael Masnik, by telephone at 1-800-368-5642, extension 1191, or by e-mail at BrownsFerryEIS@nrc.gov no later than January 18, 2005. Members of the public may also register to speak at the meeting within 15 minutes of the start of each session. Individual oral comments may be limited by the time available, depending on the number of persons who register. Members of the public who have not registered may also have an opportunity to speak, if time permits. If special equipment or accommodations are needed to attend or present information at the public meeting, Dr. Masnik will need to be contacted no later than January 18, 2004, so that the NRC staff can determine whether the request can be accommodated. For Further Information Contact: Dr. Michael Masnik, License Renewal and Environmental Impacts Program, Division of Regulatory Improvement Programs, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001. Dr. Masnik may be contacted at the aforementioned telephone number or e-mail address. Dated in Rockville, Maryland, this 30th day of November, 2004. For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Pao-Tsin Kuo, Program Director, License Renewal and Environmental Impacts Program, Division of Regulatory Improvement Programs, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation. [FR Doc. 04-26906 Filed 12-9-04; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590-01-P ------------------------------------------ Comments: http://www.epa.gov/fedrgstr/comments.htm Search: http://epa.gov/fedreg/search.htm EPA's Federal Register: http://epa.gov/fedreg/ ------------------------------------------ You are currently subscribed to epa-impact as: NEWS@energy-net.org To unsubscribe, send a blank email to leave-epa-impact-46782Y@lists.epa.gov OR: Use the listserver's web interface at https://lists.epa.gov/read/all_forums/ to manage your subscription. For problems with this list, contact epa-impact-Owner@lists.epa.gov ------------------------------------------ ***************************************************************** 13 [epa-impact] Dominion Nuclear North Anna, LLC; Notice of Availability Date: Fri, 10 Dec 2004 11:25:19 -0500 (EST) http://epa.gov/EPA-IMPACT/2004/December/Day-10/ ======================================================================= [Federal Register: December 10, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 237)] [Notices] [Page 71854-71855] From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr10de04-120] ======================================================================= ----------------------------------------------------------------------- NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION [Docket No. 52-008] Dominion Nuclear North Anna, LLC; Notice of Availability of the Draft Environmental Impact Statement for an Early Site Permit (ESP) at the North Anna ESP Site and Associated Public Meeting Notice is hereby given that the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC, the Commission) has published NUREG-1811, ``Draft Environmental Impact Statement for an Early Site Permit (ESP) at the North Anna ESP Site,'' (DEIS). The site is located near the Town of Mineral in Louisa County, Virginia, on the southern shore of Lake Anna. The application for the ESP was submitted by letter dated September 25, 2003, pursuant to 10 CFR Part 52. The application included a site redress plan in accordance with 10 CFR 52.17(c) and 52.25. If the site redress plan is incorporated in an approved ESP, then the applicant may carry out certain site preparation work and preliminary construction activities. A notice of [[Page 71855]] receipt and availability of the application, which included the environmental report (ER), was published in the Federal Register on October 16, 2003 (68 FR 59642). A notice of acceptance for docketing of the application for the ESP was published in the Federal Register on October 29, 2003, (68 FR 61705). A notice of intent to prepare an environmental impact statement and to conduct the scoping process was published in the Federal Register on November 24, 2003, (68 FR 65961). The purpose of this notice is to inform the public that NUREG-1811, ``Draft Environmental Impact Statement for an Early Site Permit (ESP) at the North Anna ESP Site,'' is available for public inspection in the NRC Public Document Room (PDR) located at One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike (first floor), Rockville, Maryland, 20852, or from the Publicly Available Records (PARS) component of NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS), and will also be placed directly on the NRC Web site at http://www.nrc.gov ADAMS is accessible from the NRC Web site at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/ adams.html. (the Public Electronic Reading Room). (Note: Public access to ADAMS has been temporarily suspended so that security reviews of publicly available documents may be performed and potentially sensitive information removed. Please check the NRC Web site for updates on the resumption of ADAMS access.) Persons who do not have access to ADAMS, or who encounter problems in accessing the documents located in ADAMS, should contact the PDR reference staff at 1-800-397-4209, 301-415-4737, or by e-mail to pdr@nrc.gov. In addition, the Louisa County Library, located at 881 Davis Highway, Mineral, Virginia, has agreed to make the DEIS available for public inspection. The NRC staff will hold a public meeting to present an overview of the DEIS and to accept public comments on the document. The public meeting will be held in the Forum at the Louisa County Middle School, 1009 Davis Highway, Mineral, Virginia, on Wednesday, January 19, 2005. The meeting will convene at 7 p.m. and will continue until 10 p.m., as necessary. The meeting will be transcribed and will include: (1) A presentation of the contents of the DEIS, and (2) the opportunity for interested government agencies, organizations, and individuals to provide comments on the draft report. Additionally, the NRC staff will host informal discussions one hour before the start of the meeting outside the Forum in the Louisa County Middle School. No formal comments on the DEIS will be accepted during the informal discussions. To be considered, comments must be provided either at the transcribed public meeting or in writing. Persons may register to attend or present oral comments at the meeting by contacting Ms. Alicia Williamson, by telephone at 1-800-368-5642, extension 1878, or by Internet to the NRC at NorthAnna_ESP@nrc.gov no later than January 14, 2005. Members of the public may also register to speak at the meeting within 15 minutes of the start of the meeting. Individual oral comments may be limited by the time available, depending on the number of persons who register. Members of the public who have not registered may also have an opportunity to speak, if time permits. Ms. Williamson will need to be contacted no later than January 14, 2005, if special equipment or accommodations are needed to attend or present information at the public meeting, so that the NRC staff can determine whether the request can be accommodated. Members of the public may send written comments on the DEIS for the North Anna ESP to the Chief, Rules and Directives Branch, Division of Administrative Services, Office of Administration, Mailstop T-6D59, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington DC 20555-0001, and should cite the publication date and page number of this Federal Register Notice. Comments may also be delivered to Room T-6D59, Two White Flint North, 11545 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland, from 7:30 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. during Federal workdays. To be considered written comments should be postmarked by March 1, 2005. Electronic comments may be sent by the Internet to the NRC at NorthAnna_ESP@nrc.gov. Electronic submissions should be sent no later than March 1, 2005. Comments will be available electronically and accessible through the NRC's PERR link at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Alicia Williamson, License Renewal and Environmental Impacts Program, Division of Regulatory Improvement Programs, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555- 0001. Ms. Williamson may be contacted at the aforementioned telephone number or e-mail address. Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 2nd day of December, 2004. For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Pao-Tsin Kuo, Program Director, License Renewal and Environmental Impacts Program, Division of Regulatory Improvement Programs, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation. [FR Doc. 04-27107 Filed 12-9-04; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590-01-P ------------------------------------------ Comments: http://www.epa.gov/fedrgstr/comments.htm Search: http://epa.gov/fedreg/search.htm EPA's Federal Register: http://epa.gov/fedreg/ ------------------------------------------ You are currently subscribed to epa-impact as: NEWS@energy-net.org To unsubscribe, send a blank email to leave-epa-impact-46782Y@lists.epa.gov OR: Use the listserver's web interface at https://lists.epa.gov/read/all_forums/ to manage your subscription. For problems with this list, contact epa-impact-Owner@lists.epa.gov ------------------------------------------ ***************************************************************** 14 UK The Times: British Energy slips £234m into the red December 10, 2004 By Mike Verdin, Times Online Plant shutdowns to address fire safety fears, and contracts which have valued its electricity at a little over half the market rate, have prompted a near-quadrupling of losses at British Energy. The struggling generator revealed a 13.9 per cent fall in output from its nuclear plants in the April-to-September period after routine inspections at two power stations prompted work to address "flooding and fire threats". Electricity generated was forward sold at below market price, in contracts signed before the recent surge in power costs. While British Energy achieved a 12.6 per cent rise, to £17.80 per megawatt hour, in the price gained for its electricity, the market price has soared by 40 per cent over the six months. At the end of September, the market value of electricity was £33.20 per megawatt hour. The contracts and generating shortfall had a "significant adverse impact on profitability and cash flow", British Energy said. Underlying pre-tax losses soared from £60 million in the April-to-September half last year to £234 million this year. At an operating level, losses before one-off charges widened from £9 million to £83 million. The company, saved from collapse two years ago by a Government cash lifeline, warned of a "challenging" outlook for the rest of the financial year as the forward sales contracts and plant shutdowns affected takings. British Energy has reduced by 7.8 per cent the amount of electricity it expects to generate over the year. Copyright The Times - timesonline.co.uk ***************************************************************** 15 NRC: Dominion Nuclear North Anna, LLC; Notice of Availability of the FR Doc 04-27107 [Federal Register: December 10, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 237)] [Notices] [Page 71854-71855] From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr10de04-120] Draft Environmental Impact Statement for an Early Site Permit (ESP) at the North Anna ESP Site and Associated Public Meeting Notice is hereby given that the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC, the Commission) has published NUREG-1811, ``Draft Environmental Impact Statement for an Early Site Permit (ESP) at the North Anna ESP Site,'' (DEIS). The site is located near the Town of Mineral in Louisa County, Virginia, on the southern shore of Lake Anna. The application for the ESP was submitted by letter dated September 25, 2003, pursuant to 10 CFR Part 52. The application included a site redress plan in accordance with 10 CFR 52.17(c) and 52.25. If the site redress plan is incorporated in an approved ESP, then the applicant may carry out certain site preparation work and preliminary construction activities. A notice of [[Page 71855]] receipt and availability of the application, which included the environmental report (ER), was published in the Federal Register on October 16, 2003 (68 FR 59642). A notice of acceptance for docketing of the application for the ESP was published in the Federal Register on October 29, 2003, (68 FR 61705). A notice of intent to prepare an environmental impact statement and to conduct the scoping process was published in the Federal Register on November 24, 2003, (68 FR 65961). The purpose of this notice is to inform the public that NUREG-1811, ``Draft Environmental Impact Statement for an Early Site Permit (ESP) at the North Anna ESP Site,'' is available for public inspection in the NRC Public Document Room (PDR) located at One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike (first floor), Rockville, Maryland, 20852, or from the Publicly Available Records (PARS) component of NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS), and will also be placed directly on the NRC Web site at http://www.nrc.gov [http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/leaving.cgi?from=leaving FR.html&log=linklog&to=http://www.nrc.gov] ADAMS is accessible from the NRC Web site at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html [http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/leaving.cgi?from=leaving FR.html&log=linklog&to=http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html] . (the Public Electronic Reading Room). (Note: Public access to ADAMS has been temporarily suspended so that security reviews of publicly available documents may be performed and potentially sensitive information removed. Please check the NRC Web site for updates on the resumption of ADAMS access.) Persons who do not have access to ADAMS, or who encounter problems in accessing the documents located in ADAMS, should contact the PDR reference staff at 1-800-397-4209, 301-415-4737, or by e-mail to pdr@nrc.gov [pdr@nrc.gov] . In addition, the Louisa County Library, located at 881 Davis Highway, Mineral, Virginia, has agreed to make the DEIS available for public inspection. The NRC staff will hold a public meeting to present an overview of the DEIS and to accept public comments on the document. The public meeting will be held in the Forum at the Louisa County Middle School, 1009 Davis Highway, Mineral, Virginia, on Wednesday, January 19, 2005. The meeting will convene at 7 p.m. and will continue until 10 p.m., as necessary. The meeting will be transcribed and will include: (1) A presentation of the contents of the DEIS, and (2) the opportunity for interested government agencies, organizations, and individuals to provide comments on the draft report. Additionally, the NRC staff will host informal discussions one hour before the start of the meeting outside the Forum in the Louisa County Middle School. No formal comments on the DEIS will be accepted during the informal discussions. To be considered, comments must be provided either at the transcribed public meeting or in writing. Persons may register to attend or present oral comments at the meeting by contacting Ms. Alicia Williamson, by telephone at 1-800-368-5642, extension 1878, or by Internet to the NRC at NorthAnna_ESP@nrc.gov [NorthAnna_ESP@nrc.gov] no later than January 14, 2005. Members of the public may also register to speak at the meeting within 15 minutes of the start of the meeting. Individual oral comments may be limited by the time available, depending on the number of persons who register. Members of the public who have not registered may also have an opportunity to speak, if time permits. Ms. Williamson will need to be contacted no later than January 14, 2005, if special equipment or accommodations are needed to attend or present information at the public meeting, so that the NRC staff can determine whether the request can be accommodated. Members of the public may send written comments on the DEIS for the North Anna ESP to the Chief, Rules and Directives Branch, Division of Administrative Services, Office of Administration, Mailstop T-6D59, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington DC 20555-0001, and should cite the publication date and page number of this Federal Register Notice. Comments may also be delivered to Room T-6D59, Two White Flint North, 11545 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland, from 7:30 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. during Federal workdays. To be considered written comments should be postmarked by March 1, 2005. Electronic comments may be sent by the Internet to the NRC at NorthAnna_ESP@nrc.gov [NorthAnna_ESP@nrc.gov] . Electronic submissions should be sent no later than March 1, 2005. Comments will be available electronically and accessible through the NRC's PERR link at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html [http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/leaving.cgi?from=leaving FR.html&log=linklog&to=http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html] . FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Alicia Williamson, License Renewal and Environmental Impacts Program, Division of Regulatory Improvement Programs, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555- 0001. Ms. Williamson may be contacted at the aforementioned telephone number or e-mail address. Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 2nd day of December, 2004. For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Pao-Tsin Kuo, Program Director, License Renewal and Environmental Impacts Program, Division of Regulatory Improvement Programs, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation. [FR Doc. 04-27107 Filed 12-9-04; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590-01-P ***************************************************************** 16 BBC: British Energy's woes continuing Last Updated: Friday, 10 December, 2004 [Boiler tubes at power station (British Energy)] British Energy is struggling to turn around its fortunes Struggling nuclear power firm British Energy has seen its losses rise almost fourfold, as it continues attempts to try to turn itself around. For the first half of its current financial year - until 30 September -its pre-tax loss was £234m ($449m) compared to £60m a year earlier. The firm said it has been hit by a number of "unplanned outages" or production halts at its power stations. These include stoppages for inspections at its Hartlepool and Heysham plants. Price woes Back in November, British Energy won an extension to a deadline for a restructuring deal aimed at ensuring its financial future. Creditors agreed to move the deadline for the deal back to 31 March. British Energy said, however, that the debt-for-equity swap - which will cut the stake of existing shareholders to 2.5% - should be completed in January. In 2002, a slump in wholesale power prices pushed the company towards the brink of insolvency. ***************************************************************** 17 FT.com: British Energy hit by nuclear shutdowns By Andrew Taylor, Utilities Correspondent Published: December 10 2004 10:23 | Last updated: December 10 [British Energy] The sorry state of British Energy’s operations were under-scored on Friday when the company reported a bigger than expected £234m pre-tax loss for the six months to the end of September. The figure was almost four times the £60m loss incurred during the corresponding period last year. The nuclear generator, which produces about 20 per cent of the country’s electricity, is subject of a £5bn government backed rescue due to be completed early next year. Mike Alexander, chief executive, blamed the losses on a combination of volatile electricity wholesale prices and reduced electricity output due to the need to replace ageing cast iron pipework at its nuclear power stations at Hartlepool in Teeside and Heysham in Lancashire. The group, which has ruled out restoring its dividend until at least 2007, said “the outlook for the company’s financial and trading prospects for the remainder of the financial year will be challengingâ€. The unplanned closure of the two power stations for repairs forced the group to buy higher priced power in the market to meet commitments to customers, adding to its losses. Nuclear electricity output fell by 14 per cent compared with the corresponding period last year. The group as a result has reduced its forecast for output for the full year to 59.5 terrawatt hours (TWh) from its original target of 64.5 terrawatt hours. This compares with best ever annual output of 67TWh in 2002. British Energy has contracted a group of leading US nuclear engineers to try to improve the reliability of its nuclear power stations all but one of which, Sizewell B in Suffolk, are due to close by 2023. The generator, if performance can be improved, would like to extend the life of its power station by at least five years. This would ease pressures on government which is being urged to back the construction of new nuclear power stations to replace lost capacity and meet climate change targets. The group said its own electricity sales have yet to benefit fully from higher wholesale prices. The increases led to an abortive attempt by some shareholders this Autumn to reopen rescue negotiations with creditors to allow equity investors to share in the benefits of the higher prices. Existing shareholders under the rescue will own just 2.5 per cent of the company with warrants to acquire another 5 per cent. Creditors, following a debt-for-equity swap, will own the rest. British Energy said on Friday that the bulk of its power is currently pre-sold under long term fixed priced contracts negotiated when electricity prices were lower. Realised prices in the first half were therefore £17.80 a megawatt hour (MWh), ahead of the £15.80 earned in the corresponding period last year, but well below recent market prices of £35MWh. and "Financial Times" are trademarks of the Financial Times. Privacy policy| Terms| Advertising| Corporate ***************************************************************** 18 Brattleboro Reformer: Another Mass. town raises objections to Yankee uprate December 10, 2004 Brattleboro, VT By CAROLYN LORIé Reformer Staff BRATTLEBORO -- Residents of Leverett, Mass. have spoken up about their opposition to Entergy Nuclear Vermont Yankee's plan to increase power. In a letter dated Nov. 18, the Leverett Selectboard wrote that residents "voted overwhelmingly to contact [Entergy], the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the Vermont Public Service Board and others objecting to Entergy's placing of profit before the safety of our communities." Leverett is about 20 miles southeast of Vernon. The letter includes several demands, among them are an informational meeting with the NRC, a statement of intent from Entergy regarding the uprate and plans for Leverett residents in the event of an accident at the nuclear reactor. This is not the first time that residents of Massachusetts have expressed concern about the uprate. Several of the state's northern towns lie in the emergency planning zone. Massachusetts state Rep. Stephen Kulik, D-Worthington, and U.S. Rep. John Olver, D-Mass., wrote letters earlier in the year requesting an assessment of the plant. Public officials from New Hampshire have also voiced their concerns. Copyright ©1999-2004 New England Newspapers, Inc., ***************************************************************** 19 JOURNAL NEWS: Condition of sirens at issue Only a test Entergy Nuclear Northeast is conducting a test of the Indian Point Alert and Notification System from 10 to 11 a.m. Wednesday. The sirens will sound simultaneously at full volume for four minutes. By ROGER WITHERSPOON THE JOURNAL NEWS (Original publication: December 10, 2004) A long-simmering dispute over the effectiveness of warning sirens for the Indian Point nuclear power plants flared up yesterday as plant officials prepared to test a system Westchester and Rockland County officials claim is broken. At issue are the 156, 500-pound rotating sirens in Westchester, Rockland, Putnam and Orange counties which are to alert more than 300,000 residents of an emergency situation at the Buchanan site. Westchester County Executive Andrew Spano said some of the sirens fail to rotate and, as a result, there are "dead spots" behind them. In a true emergency, he explained, residents there would have to be notified by police using bullhorns. "If they don't rotate," Spano said, "half the people who are supposed to hear the sirens do not hear them. We don't have the manpower to notify them." Dan Greeley, assistant director of fire and emergency services for Rockland County, said his agency has no way of knowing if all the sirens are working and have to send out police with bullhorns through many areas. "We addressed this problem with the NRC, and they just sent back a reply that we might as well just ask the utilities," he said. Officials at Entergy Nuclear Northeast, which owns the Buchanan plant, declined to comment. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission sent an inspector to the region in August 2003, when the issue first developed. NRC spokesman Neil Sheehan said the agency concluded the sirens are working, but Westchester and Rockland counties were not reading their computer monitoring equipment properly. Sheehan said yesterday that recently, however, "the counties apparently have had additional training and now have a better awareness of how to use the computers." Greeley said the NRC's position leaves the counties "in the middle of a rock and a hard place. This is an old system. There is new technology out there, and they need to investigate and get it installed instead of this antiquated system." And Spano agreed that Entergy should pay for a new, better working system, saying, "If they can advertise on the Yankee games, they have the money to fix the goddamn sirens." Home [http://www.thejournalnews.com] -Business Copyright 2004 The Journal News, a Gannett Co ***************************************************************** 20 u.tv: Governments sign nuclear deal FRIDAY 10/12/2004 12:38:53 The Irish and British Governments signed a unique partnership today to co-operate in the event of a nuclear incident in both countries. Irish environment minister Dick Roche also unveiled a package of nuclear safety and awareness measures with British Ambassador to Ireland Stewart Eldon at the Custom House in Dublin. Mr Roche described the agreement as a "positive development in our shared interest in managing our respective positions on the nuclear energy issue". Mr Eldon also warmly welcomed the agreement. Among the agreed measures, the Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland (RPII) and Irish police will be allowed to visit Sellafield nuclear plant in Cumbria. The RPII will also have access to the UK`s radiation monitoring system (Rimnet). The minister and ambassador also said their governments have had "fruitful and constructive" talks arising from the legal action brought by Ireland under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (Unclos). This will lead to better co-operation in emergency planning, regulator-to-regulator and expert-to-expert dialogue, and improved mechanisms for information exchange. Mr Eldon added: "The governments also discussed a wide range of issues to ensure that the system of inter-governmental notification and co-operation is as robust and effective as it can be." Mr Roche said the package was "about confidence-building and improving communication, co-operation and co-ordination between friendly neighbouring states." The historic bilateral deal - which already exists between the UK and five other neighbouring countries - will ensure the swift exchange of information between the UK and Ireland in the event of a major nuclear accident or radiological emergency. The Irish government has also been increasingly concerned about the catastrophic effect a possible terrorist attack on Sellafield would have on Ireland. An inspection team from Irish radiation watchdog RPII made a three-day visit to Sellafield in September and evaluated hazards in the context of an emergency. Officials also focused on how liquid radioactive waste was stored and the authorisation of radioactive discharges into the Irish Sea. A report will be presented to Mr Roche in the New Year and will then be published. Further visits by RPII officials will be facilitated by the UK in the future. A visit by Irish gardai to review aspects of policing and security arrangements at Sellafield took place in June and a confidential report has been compiled. The Uclos legal action by Ireland against the UK in relation to the Sellafield Mox Plant is currently adjourned for jurisdiction issues to be resolved and a hearing date is expected soon. ¦ [http://www.utvplc.com] ¦ u.tv Journalism Copyright © 2004 UTV Internet and the UTV plc Group. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 21 YDR: TMI lowers power after leak - York Daily Record [ydr.com] Non-radioactive steam leak was never a danger to the public, plant said. By SEAN ADKINS Daily Record/Sunday News Friday, December 10, 2004 At bottom: · SIREN TEST A non-radioactive steam leak in Three Mile Island's Unit 1 Thursday afternoon has forced the plant to reduce power. Shortly after noon, an alarm alerted the control room staff to a problem within the plant's intermediate building, said Ralph DeSantis, spokesman for AmerGen Energy, which runs the Dauphin County nuclear power plant. Neil Sheehan, spokesman for the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, said the intermediate building is a vital area of the plant, between the reactor and steam/turbine buildings. The building houses pumps, valves and pipes between the plant's reactor and turbine systems. Two workers entered the building and found the steam leak on an instrument line fitting, DeSantis said. The leak posed no danger to the public or to plant workers, he said. Plant operators reduced power by 22 percent. Unit 1, which typically produces 890 megawatts of power, enough to power about 300,000 homes, was producing 150 megawatts Thursday afternoon. Customers will not experience a lapse in power as a result of the steam leak, DeSantis said. By Thursday evening, plant crews had stopped the leak and had started to develop a plan to permanently repair it, he said. No workers were injured during the event, DeSantis said. Plant officials do not know when the plant will resume full power. "They will need to troubleshoot this and make repairs," Sheehan said. "Our resident inspectors are following up on this." Reach Sean Adkins at 771-2047 or [sadkins@ydr.com] . SIREN TEST AmerGen Energy tested all of its emergency sirens surrounding Three Mile Island Wednesday evening. All 96 sirens, within 10 miles of the Dauphin County nuclear plant, sounded, said Ralph DeSantis, spokesman for AmerGen Energy. But six sirens — four of them in York County — did not fully rotate — a problem the company fixed Thursday, he said. Copyright © York Daily Record 2004 122 S. George St., P.O. Box 15122 York, PA 17405, (717) 771-2000 ***************************************************************** 22 SouthBendTribune.com: Coalition wants Cook closed December 10, 2004 Environmental groups protest license renewals for nuclear reactors. By JIM MEENAN Tribune Staff Writer Questioning Cook's license renewal A multistate group is challenging American Electric Power's bid to the US. Nuclear Regulatory Commission for 20-year license extensions for the twin reactors at Cook Nuclear Plant in Bridgman. Concerns cited include: + Possible weaknesses in Cook's radiation containment building. + Claims of risky reactor cooling procedures at the plant. + The large amount of additional high-level radioactive waste that would be generated. + Cook's vulnerability to a terrorist attack. American Electric Power Co.'s attempt to renew its license for its twin reactors at the D.C. Cook Nuclear Power Plant in Bridgman is facing stiff opposition from environmental and public interest groups. Groups in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Ohio, as well as a national watchdog on the nuclear power industry, are involved in the opposition. In fact, those groups don't want the licenses renewed for 20 years when the current licenses expire in 2014 and 2017, for units one and two, respectively, and they want the plant closed down. The coalition filed a three-page written statement with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission Wednesday, citing weaknesses in Cook's radiation containment building, risky reactor cooling procedures and the large amount of additional radioactive waste that would be generated during the 20-year period. The coalition believes the concerns provide evidence that the regulatory commission should reject the application for extension. A decision is not expected until sometime in the middle of 2005. The group claims that in late 2000, after Cook's three-year forced shutdown due to major safety concerns, Ross Landsman, veteran Nuclear Regulatory Commission structural engineer, expressed concern that the agency was allowing the two reactors to start without adequate containment. "We fear that no substantial repairs to this 'soft spot' have ever been done," said Gary Karch, Niles spokesman for Don't Waste Michigan. Karch said there could be a release of radioactivity in a serious accident. Not surprisingly, Bill Schalk, spokesman for Indiana Michigan Power, a subsidiary of AEP, sees that and other issues raised by the coalition quite differently. He agreed that there was a question of structural integrity of the interior containment wall of the units. "We presented a repair plan, and it was accepted by the NRC," Schalk said. "We believe the issue is resolved, and there is no soft spot." Schalk also acknowledged there was a differing opinion filed within the NRC. "He (Landsman) disagreed with our experts and (the NRC's) experts, and it's his right to file," Schalk said. "It was considered and not accepted." Schalk also called Cook one of the safest plants in the country prior to Sept. 11, adding additional steps have been taken since. The group also questioned why the utility would file so long in advance for a renewal when the first unit's license is not even up until 2014. Schalk said the reason a utility files so early is because if the renewal is rejected, 10 years is a reasonable amount of time needed to secure replacement power of such magnitude. Kevin Kamps, nuclear waste specialist of the Nuclear Information and Resource Service, expressed concern over the amount of nuclear waste already on the Cook site. "They are sitting on 1,000 cubic metric tons of waste at Cook -- high-level, radioactive waste," he said. Even if the proposed Yucca Mountain site in Nevada is opened for nuclear waste, Kamps believes Cook will always be stuck with at least 1,000 tons of waste, and much more if it does not open. Schalk said there are a lot of opportunities for storage of nuclear waste, but the primary site is Yucca Mountain. "It's safe where it is right now until it is ready," he added, saying that should happen in 2014. Kamps indicated the coalition is frustrated with a past lack of action by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. "Based on the past, we have always been ignored by the NRC," he said. "We will see what happens. If we get rejected, we will turn to Congress." Schalk said the company's primary objective "has been and will always be the safe operation of the plant and the protection of the public's health and safety." Staff writer Jim Meenan: jmeenan@sbtinfo.com [jmeenan@sbtinfo.com] (269) 687-7005 Contact the southbendtribune.com [http://www.southbendtribune.com/copyright.html] ***************************************************************** 23 Newsday.com: State regulators hear argument on rate increase New York City: Friday, Dec 10, 2004, 9:26 PM EST NEW YORK NOW: By LAURA WALSH Associated Press Writer NEW BRITAIN, Conn. -- State regulators on Thursday heard from opponents and backers of a proposed 16.7 percent rate increase for Connecticut Light and Power customers before issuing their opinion on the matter at the end of the month. Attorney General Richard Blumenthal asked regulators to consider other options to the rate increase that include deferring the cost over a number of years and refinancing state bonds that pay for the stranded cost of nuclear plants. Blumenthal said the increase would mean an added $440 million burden for customers next year. Under the proposed increase, an average monthly residential bill would increase by $10.70, to about $71, for the use of 500 kilowatt hours of electricity a month. An attorney representing Connecticut Light & Power told regulators that all but 1 percent of the increase reflects higher costs of electricity from suppliers and a federal mandate to bring power through a poor transmission system in southwest Connecticut. Attorney Daniel Venora said CL&P is acting as a messenger that has "little or no control" over outside costs. CL&P, which serves 1.1 million customers, will take 1 percent of the proposed increase and use it for power line and power station upgrades, he said. Large businesses will suffer the biggest burden of the increase, argued Susan Bruce of the Connecticut Industrial Energy Consumers. She estimated that their electricity bills will increase by more than 25 to 30 percent. "The economic impact that CL&P's application will have on all Connecticut consumers, but particularly industry, will be profound," Bruce said. Both sides say they are working within the boundaries outlined by the General Assembly. Blumenthal's motion argues that the proposed increase is illegal because it violates a rate cap set by legislators that restricts increases to no more than 11 percent more than the January 2003 rate. But Venora, in his argument, refers to legislation in 1998 and 2003 that allows utilities to seek requests above the cap for recovery reasons in the event of unforeseen circumstances. In a recuperating economy, consumers and business owners cannot afford such a spike in prices, Blumenthal told commissioners of the Department of Public Utility Control. "We will be put at a disadvantage compared to other parts of the country at a time when our state can least afford it," Blumenthal said. Representatives from retail energy providers, such as Select Energy Inc., also argued that Blumenthal's proposal to defer the cost over time would kill their competitive edge in the supplier market. They said they wouldn't be able to compete against prices artificially depressed by rate caps and deferrals. "Like CL&P, we incur costs to serve our customers," said Frederic Klein, an attorney for Select. The DPUC expects to issue a draft opinion in a week with a final decision on the rate increase coming Dec. 22. ___ On the Net: Connecticut Light & Power: http://www.cl-p.com/ Copyright © 2004, The Associated Press Copyright © Newsday, Inc. Produced by Newsday Electronic ***************************************************************** 24 APP.COM: Residents offer Oyster Creek solutions ASBURY PARK PRESS Published in the Asbury Park Press 12/10/04 Lawmaker holds public forum on Lacey nuclear power plant By NICHOLAS CLUNN STAFF WRITER TINTON FALLS -- Retiree Sam Attner has a single solution for the two controversies concerning the way New Jersey should get its energy: have offshore windmills replace the aging Oyster Creek nuclear power plant. STAFF PHOTO: MICHAEL SYPNIEWSKI Brendan P. Tobin, a Tinton Falls councilman, speaks to the audience Thursday during a forum on the Oyster Creek nuclear power plant in Lacey. Attner's idea was pitched among many others during a special meeting called by Assemblyman Michael J. Panter Jr., D-Monmouth. He held the meeting to gather perspectives he plans to consider when drafting the state's official position on whether the nuclear plant should be allowed to operate beyond 2009 -- when its operating license expires. Panter asked the approximately 50 people gathered in the Seabrook Village retirement community auditorium to give him their recommendations on what the state Legislature should do about the Oyster Creek operator's plans to apply for a 20-year renewal from federal regulators in about seven months. Panter told Attner he would look into his suggestion, which stemmed from news about two firms wanting to build windmill farms off the Jersey coast. Acting Gov. Codey said Tuesday that he intends to impose a moratorium on the placement of offshore windmills until the state comes up with a policy for the devices. "I would like to see windmills all over the country," said Attner, a Seabrook resident. Panter heard many ideas from Shore area residents and advocacy groups. The opinions given represented multiple sides of the license-renewal issue. One activist called on state officials to immediately close the reactor, which generates 650 megawatts of electricity. Others said they wanted the plant closed when its license expires, although many in that category cited different reasons. Stephen Collins, a vacuum instrument designer from Oceanport, said state officials should not turn to fossil fuel-powered plants to compensate for the loss of Oyster Creek if the reactor closed. The plant's closure, he said, would hurt the state's energy supply. "When the environmentalists talk out of the other side of their mouth, they're talking about global warming," Collins said. Emissions from fossil fuels, such as coal, have been blamed for what some scientists call global warming. The meeting allowed the public more chances to speak than during a public hearing that was held in Brick on Dec. 2. Advocacy groups on both sides of the issues dominated that meeting, which the Assembly Environmental and Solid Waste Committee hosted. Panter, the committee vice chairman, said he held his meeting after many constituents told him they could not attend the one in Brick. Monmouth County residents, he said, wanted to speak about license renewal or learn more about it. Panter said he wants the committee to unanimously agree on a resolution addressing the license renewal but would move ahead alone if the panel -- five Democrats and two Republicans -- failed to find a consensus. Panter said he wasn't sure when he would draft the resolution. License-renewal critics have said that a state position calling for the reactor's decommissioning would sway the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the sole agency responsible for deciding whether Oyster Creek should operate for an additional 20 years. Nicholas Clunn: (609) 978-4597 or nclunn@app.com [nclunn@app.com] ***************************************************************** 25 ThisisLondon: Tougher times at British Energy [http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/ Guy Dresser, This is Money, Evening Standard 11 December 2004 STRUGGLING nuclear power generator British Energy alarmed the City again today with a steep rise in operating losses and an admission that the second half of the year will be challenging. The group, which produces about 20% of the UK's electricity, blamed increased pension costs and an inability to take advantage of electricity price rises and higher depreciation charges for problems in the six months to the end of September. Group losses after tax and one-off items came in at ?262m against ?79m last time. British Energy added that the rest of 2004-2005 would be difficult due to a number of unexpected shutdowns at its plants since mid-March and delays in reopening power stations at Hartlepool and Heysham. The company had already contracted to sell much of its planned nuclear output for the current financial year in 2003 and so did not benefit fully from recent electricity price rises. British Energy nearly collapsed two years ago after weak power prices forced its high-cost operations towards insolvency. The company de-listed its shares in October in a move to fend off shareholders who stand to lose while creditors gain from a rescue plan for the company. Creditors agreed a deal last year with the company and the Government, giving them 92.5% of undiluted equity in return for cancelling more than ?1.3bn debt. Last month, British Energy pushed back the deadline for its restructuring by three months to March 2005 to give it more time to battle potential objections to the plan. ***************************************************************** 26 Australian: Malaysia no to nuclear energy [December 10, 2004] Multimedia [http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/mm] From correspondents in Kuala Lumpur MALAYSIA would not turn to nuclear power as an alternative source of energy despite rising oil prices, it said today. The country should instead harness alternative energy sources from the sun, water and waves to reduce dependence on fossil fuel, Deputy Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Kong Cho Ha said. "Nuclear energy is not an option for the Government," Kong was quoted as saying by the Bernama news agency. "We should look into other alternative energy sources because petroleum price is increasing and unstable, causing a lot of problems to economic growth, especially in developing countries." Malaysia's energy needs are met mainly by natural gas, coal, hydro and oil. privacy terms © The Australian ***************************************************************** 27 NRC: Tennessee Valley Authority; Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant, Units 1, FR Doc 04-26906 [Federal Register: December 10, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 237)] [Notices] [Page 71855-71856] From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr10de04-121] 2, and 3; Notice of Availability of the Draft Supplement 21 to the Generic Environmental Impact Statement and Public Meeting for the License Renewal of Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant, Units 1, 2, and 3 Notice is hereby given that the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (the Commission) has published a draft plant-specific supplement to the Generic Environmental Impact Statement (GEIS), NUREG-1437, regarding the renewal of operating licenses DPR-33, DPR-52, and DPR-68 for an additional 20 years of operation at Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant, Units 1, 2, and 3 (BFN). BFN is located in Limestone County, Alabama, 16 km (10 mi) southwest of Athens, Alabama. Possible alternatives to the proposed action (license renewal) include no action and reasonable alternative energy sources. The draft Supplement to the GEIS is available for public inspection in the NRC Public Document Room (PDR) located at One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike (first floor), Rockville, Maryland, 20852 or from the Publicly Available Records (PARS) component of NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS). ADAMS is accessible from the Public Electronic Reading Room at the NRC Web site http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html [http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/leaving.cgi?from=leaving FR.html&log=linklog&to=http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html] (Note: Public access to ADAMS has been temporarily suspended so that security reviews of publicly available documents may be performed and potentially sensitive information removed. Please check the NRC Web site for updates on the resumption of ADAMS access). Persons who do not have access to ADAMS, or who encounter problems in accessing the documents located in ADAMS, should contact the PDR reference staff at 1-800-397-4209, 301-415-4737, or by e-mail to pdr@nrc.gov [pdr@nrc.gov] . In addition, the Athens-Limestone Public Library, 405 East South Street, Athens, Alabama has agreed to make the draft plant-specific [[Page 71856]] supplement to the GEIS available for public inspection. Any interested party may submit comments on the draft supplement to the GEIS for consideration by the NRC staff. To be certain of consideration, comments on the draft supplement to the GEIS and the proposed action must be received by March 2, 2005. Comments received after the due date will be considered if it is practical to do so, but the NRC staff is able to assure consideration only for comments received on or before this date. Written comments on the draft supplement to the GEIS should be sent to: Chief, Rules and Directives Branch, Division of Administrative Services, Office of Administration, Mailstop T-6D59, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001. Comments may be hand-delivered to the NRC at 11545 Rockville Pike, Room T-6D59, Rockville, Maryland, between 7:45 a.m. and 4:15 p.m. on Federal workdays. Electronic comments may be submitted to the NRC by e- mail at BrownsFerryEIS@nrc.gov [BrownsFerryEIS@nrc.gov] . All comments received by the Commission, including those made by Federal, State, and local agencies, Native American Tribes, or other interested persons, will be made available electronically at the Commission's PDR in Rockville, Maryland, and from the PARS component of ADAMS. The NRC staff will hold two public meetings to present an overview of the draft plant-specific supplement to the GEIS and to accept public comments on the document. The public meetings will be held on January 25, 2005, at the Athens State University, Student Center Cafeteria Ballroom, 300 North Beaty Street, Athens, Alabama. The first session will convene at 1:30 p.m. and will continue until 4:30 p.m., as necessary. The second session will convene at 7 p.m. with a repeat of the overview portions of the meeting and will continue until 10 p.m., as necessary. Both meetings will be transcribed and will include: (1) a presentation of the contents of the draft plant-specific supplement to the GEIS, and (2) the opportunity for interested government agencies, organizations, and individuals to provide comments on the draft report. Additionally, the NRC staff will host informal discussions one hour before the start of each meeting at the Athens State University, Student Center Cafeteria Ballroom. No comments on the draft supplement to the GEIS will be accepted during the informal discussions. To be considered, comments must be provided either at the transcribed public meetings or in writing, as discussed below. Persons may register to attend or present oral comments at the meetings by contacting Dr. Michael Masnik, by telephone at 1-800-368-5642, extension 1191, or by e-mail at BrownsFerryEIS@nrc.gov [BrownsFerryEIS@nrc.gov] no later than January 18, 2005. Members of the public may also register to speak at the meeting within 15 minutes of the start of each session. Individual oral comments may be limited by the time available, depending on the number of persons who register. Members of the public who have not registered may also have an opportunity to speak, if time permits. If special equipment or accommodations are needed to attend or present information at the public meeting, Dr. Masnik will need to be contacted no later than January 18, 2004, so that the NRC staff can determine whether the request can be accommodated. For Further Information Contact: Dr. Michael Masnik, License Renewal and Environmental Impacts Program, Division of Regulatory Improvement Programs, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001. Dr. Masnik may be contacted at the aforementioned telephone number or e-mail address. Dated in Rockville, Maryland, this 30th day of November, 2004. For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Pao-Tsin Kuo, Program Director, License Renewal and Environmental Impacts Program, Division of Regulatory Improvement Programs, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation. [FR Doc. 04-26906 Filed 12-9-04; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590-01-P ***************************************************************** 28 [DU-WATCH] Richard David vs Honeywell DU adjourned till April Date: Sat, 11 Dec 2004 00:03:18 -0600 (CST) Current from BBC on Richard David Court Case - Pray for a whistleblower. Robert http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/somerset/4084785.stm Last Updated: Friday, 10 December, 2004, 09:55 GMT Court adjourns uranium claim case The case of a former defence worker who claims he became ill after exposure to depleted uranium has been adjourned. Richard David, 49, is suing aircraft parts company Normalair Garrett - now owned by Honeywell - for compensation. The firm denies depleted uranium was ever used at the plant in Yeovil, Somerset, where he worked until 1995. [photo caption] Mr David began working at the company in 1985 Mr David, who lives in Seaton in Devon, asked the High Court for more time to gather evidence. The hearing is due to resume next April. Mr David claims the metal's existence at the plant was denied because it is an official secret. But he says he now suffers from a catalogue of illnesses, including respiratory and kidney problems, bowel conditions and painful joints. He worked as a component fitter on fighter planes and bombers, but left work because of his health problems. He claimed medical tests had revealed mutations to his DNA and damage to his chromosomes that could only have been caused by ionising radiation. LINKS TO MORE SOMERSET STORIES BBC Somerset Going out, 3600 views, travel and more from the BBC website for Somerset FROM OTHER NEWS SITES: Western Morning News 'Aircraft factory made my life a living hell' - 57 hrs ago About these results The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites SEE ALSO: Defence worker's uranium claims 06 Dec 04 | Somerset 'Uranium poisoning' man sues firm 11 Jul 04 | Devon RELATED INTERNET LINKS: Honeywell The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites TOP SOMERSET STORIES NOW Helicopter death crash men named Court adjourns uranium claim case Cat headstone sells for #200,000 ------------------------ 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 BBC: Court adjourns uranium Last Updated: Friday, 10 December, 2004 [Richard David] Mr David began working at the company in 1985 The case of a former defence worker who claims he became ill after exposure to depleted uranium has been adjourned. Richard David, 49, is suing aircraft parts company Normalair Garrett - now owned by Honeywell - for compensation. The firm denies depleted uranium was ever used at the plant in Yeovil, Somerset, where he worked until 1995. Mr David, who lives in Seaton in Devon, asked the High Court for more time to gather evidence. The hearing is due to resume next April. Mr David claims the metal's existence at the plant was denied because it is an official secret. But he says he now suffers from a catalogue of illnesses, including respiratory and kidney problems, bowel conditions and painful joints. He worked as a component fitter on fighter planes and bombers, but left work because of his health problems. He claimed medical tests had revealed mutations to his DNA and damage to his chromosomes that could only have been caused by ionising radiation. ***************************************************************** 30 Scotsman.com: Fire Triggered 'Nuclear' Chocolate Scare Wed 8 Dec 2004 By Joe Churcher, PA Chief Parliamentary Reporter Tonnes of “radioactive†chocolate were destroyed by the authorities amid manufacturers’ fears it could have been contaminated in a nuclear accident, the Government said tonight. Rowntree thought a consignment of its chocolate crumb had been rendered unsafe by a fire which swept through a reactor at the Windscale plant in Cumbria in 1957. Milk produced within 200 square miles of the plant – since renamed Sellafield – was banned four days after the accident after it was contaminated with iodine 131 – a short-lived isotope. But a record in the files of the UK atomic energy authority have shown that the confectionery manufacturer was also concerned about the safety of produce from its factory in nearby Egremont. Energy Minister Mike O’Brien revealed details of the case after it was raised by Liberal Democrat environment spokesman Norman Baker in a written parliamentary question. He said Rowntree wanted compensation from the Government for 90 tonnes of chocolate made in the days following the fire. It was refused by the authorities who insisted that the crumb was “completely safe for consumption†because of the short half-life of the contaminating isotope. After months of negotiations, Rowntree accepted the verdict but insisted it wanted the chocolate destroyed “in the interest of customer relations and commercial prudenceâ€. The UKAEA agreed to destroy it on their behalf and at their cost, Mr O’Brien said. Mr Baker told the Press Association: “Here was Rowntree being cautious and the nuclear industry being cavalier with public health again.†©2004 Scotsman.com [http://www.scotsman.com/] | ***************************************************************** 31 ITAR-TASS: Baikonur spaceport cleared from radioactive materials 09.12.2004, 21.46 MOSCOW, December 9 (Itar-Tass) - The Baikonur spaceport has been cleared from radioactive materials. “Works to clear Baikonur from radioactive materials and their dumping at the Semipalatinsk shooting range in Kazakhstan have been completed,” a source at the press service of the Baikonur-located test and operation centre of the Vympel design bureau told Itar-Tass on Thursday. The problem of dumping unused radioactive sources appeared long ago, the source went on to say. “The (Baikonur) spaceport like any other hi-tech facility received equipment containing radioactive materials or ionisation radiation sources,” he said. The expert explained that those were predominantly various transducers, including radioisotope smoke and icing detectors and devices to check measurement instruments. “Transducers which worked off their service life used to be stored in a special place at the 94A platform,” the press service said. “The measurements, which Russian and Kazakh experts took at the place of storage of radioactive waste upon the completion of all works showed that the gamma-ray emission there didn’t exceed the natural radiation background while the floor and the walls of the storage were not contaminated with radioactive nuclides,” the source emphasized. A team of experts of the Russian scientific-production association Radon cleared the Baikonur cosmodrome from radioactive materials jointly with their colleagues from the Semipalatinsk shooting range. © ITAR-TASS. All rights reserved. You undertake not to copy, ***************************************************************** 32 Bradenton Herald: Lockheed verifies wider pollution | 12/10/2004 | The owner of the former Tallevast beryllium plant is beginning tests to learn the extent of contamination SCOTT RADWAY Herald Staff Writer TALLEVAST - Lockheed Martin Corporation confirmed the groundwater contamination plume in Tallevast is wider than earlier estimated. Tests detected contamination further southwest towards a nearby airport and golf course. But Lockheed spokeswoman Gail Rymer said Thursday those findings do not mean there are new health risks to Tallevast residents. "Yes it is bigger than we thought it might be, but this is not unusual," Rymer said. "This should not cause alarm." Residents in this 85-home community remain skeptical. As part of a state consent order, Lockheed started soil tests and intensive groundwater sampling in November to pinpoint the extent of the cancer-causing solvents that leaked from the old American Beryllium Co. plant. The Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport and the Sun Coast Golf Center lie in the direction of natural groundwater migration, she added. On the health front, Rymer said all the homes within a half-mile radius of the plant with private wells have since been hooked up to county water. That half-mile radius extends well beyond the plume. Florida Department of Environmental Protection spokeswoman Merritt Mitchell said the state is confident no one is drinking bad water today. Mitchell said the water testing is being done to ensure Lockheed cleans all of it up, not to find if there is any ongoing exposure. Final test results are due to the DEP in mid-January. Then Lockheed must design a removal plan. The first notice of trouble for residents came when they watched Lockheed drill crews roll into their neighborhood in late 2003. Lockheed had been studying the contamination since 2000. By the summer of 2004, Tallevast residents found the contamination was widespread in their community. Since then, distrust has been the undertone of every dialogue with the community. Laura Ward, president of Tallevast community group Family Oriented Community United Strong, or FOCUS, said distrust has become a valuable tool. Without distrust the community would not have learned as much as it has, she said. "They first told us it was only on site and they tested our wells (in June) just to appease us," Ward said. "And look what they found. We will not know (the risk) until the final results are in." The issue of the plume being larger than earlier data showed came up Wednesday as community leaders met with state and county health officials to talk about past exposure to contamination. Tim Varney, the community's health consultant, told officials to postpone giving health findings to the community until the plume is fully mapped. Varney said the plume area was "changing as we speak." Varney added that Lockheed had eight drills running around the clock mapping the plume. Rymer said Lockheed has brought more drills in to make up for a week lost in awaiting Federal Aviation Administration permits. Lockheed drills needed special approvals to work close to the airport, she said. No detailed information on the testing was available Thursday. Scott Radway, environmental reporter, can be reached at 708-7919 or at sradway@bradentonherald.com [sradway@bradentonherald.com] . ***************************************************************** 33 HS: Yet another reactor shutdown at Russian nuclear plant near Finland Helsingin Sanomat - International Edition - Foreign Verkkoliite [http://www.helsinginsanomat.fi/] Saturday 11.12.2004 The oldest reactor at the Sosnovyi Bor nuclear power plant, serving the St. Petersburg area near Finland, has shut down for the second time since it was fired up in October after months of extensive repairs. An automatic switch-off took place on Monday. According to the power plant officials, the reactor is scheduled for a restart on Friday night. "I cannot tell you the reason for the switch-off because I don't know it", the power plant's information officer, engineer Valeria Nikitina, told Helsingin Sanomat. The previous shutdown in October followed an incorrect temperature reading caused by old sensors that were used in a new measuring system. The oldest reactor at the Sosnovyi Bor power plant on the southern coast of the Gulf of Finland completed its original 30-year service life in 2003 and was closed for repairs. Among other things the reactor's fuel channels were replaced and a second emergency shutdown system was added. A new safety building furnished with a diesel generator and pressurised water tanks was also constructed. According to Nikitina, the authorities have now extended the reactor's operating life until 2006. After that the power plant intends to apply for another 15-year extension on the use of the reactor. According to Sosnovyi Bor officials Monday's automatic switch-off is proof that the power plant's security systems work impeccably. "The reactor itself does not have any problems. No abnormal radiation readings have been detected." Project manager Kim Söderling from Finland's Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority agrees that the power plant is now a lot safer than it was ten years ago. Russian environmental NGO Zelionyi Mir claims, however, that the stoppages betray the fact that the reactor is unable to operate at full capacity. "For example, we have information that the plant consumes more than the normal amount of helium to cool down its graphite rods, which are used to control and restrain the nuclear reaction", announces Zelionyi Mir organisation's chairman, physicist Oleg Bodrov. Helsingin Sanomat 10.12.2004 - TODAY ***************************************************************** 34 Las Vegas SUN: Experts: Yucca 'backup' sites needed WASHINGTON -- The nation needs Yucca Mountain as part of a the government should also construct above-ground "dry cask" waste storage sites, a coalition of energy experts said today. The nation needs at least two such storage sites, one on each side of the Mississippi River to provide an "interim, backup solution against the possibility that Yucca Mountain is further delayed or derailed -- or cannot be adequately expanded before a further geologic repository can be ready," according to the "Ending the Energy Stalemate" report issued today by a 16-member panel of experts from industry, environmental, academic and government backgrounds. It was the first time an independent commission had called for such a proposal. A 2001 energy task force overseen by Vice President Dick Cheney backed Yucca Mountain but not additional above-ground sites. The nation has put "all its eggs in one basket" in relying on Yucca Mountain as a sole solution to high-level nuclear waste, said John Holdren, co-chairman of the National Commission on Energy Policy and an environmental policy professor at Harvard University. "It's proven technology," Holdren said of dry cask storage. "It's not expensive. It's safe -- it's even terrorist resistant." But a high-profile nuclear industry executive was reluctant to offer explicit support for the proposal. After a press conference today, commission co-chairman and Exelon Corp. chairman and CEO John Rowe said industry leaders would be reluctant to back the commission proposal because it might imply wavering support for Yucca. "My company is committed to supporting the Yucca Mountain solution," he said. But he added that the industry in general supports any effort by the government to meet its obligation to solving the nation's waste problem. The nation has 103 active commercial nuclear reactors that generate highly radioactive waste, which plants now store on site in waste pools, and increasingly, in above-ground dry cask containers. The containers can safely hold waste for 100 years or more, experts say. But Congress promised the industry it would find a permanent solution to storing waste, and since 1987 that solution has been the proposed underground repository at Yucca Mountain, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas. The project has been plagued by controversy, budget woes and delays, and Nevada officials have fought to kill it. Environmental groups, including the Natural Resources Defense Council, generally oppose Yucca. The commission proposal offers an option worth considering, said Ralph Cavanagh, senior attorney and co-director of the defense council's energy program, who also served as a commissioner. "I hope that this is welcome news to Nevadans who are tired of being the nation's dumping ground," said Cavanagh, a nuclear energy skeptic. "Under no circumstances can you assume that Yucca Mountain is a complete solution." The National Energy Commission toiled for three years to assemble a 2,700-page compilation of research and recommendations available on CD Rom and in a 128-page report summary. Commissioners said they plan to advocate their recommendations in Washington as Congress next year continues efforts to draft a comprehensive national energy policy. Commissioners acknowledged some of their findings are not new. The commission supported proposals including: ••• Renewing efforts to establish clean-coal technologies; ••• "Increasing and diversifying world oil production," although the commission took no stance on the controversial proposal to drill in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge; ••• Increasing federal funding for renewable technology by $360 million annually; ••• Creating more incentives for auto makers to offer hybrid cars that are already popular with the public; ••• Creating tougher fuel efficiency standards for cars and light trucks, which the auto industry has opposed. The report recommended $2 billion in federal spending over 10 years aimed at establishing one or two new nuclear plants. It noted that nuclear power represents about 70 percent of "non-carbon" U.S. electricity generation, but no new nuclear plants have been ordered since 1978. Expanding nuclear power would ultimately reduce greenhouse gas emissions that harm the environment and alleviate the nation's dependence on natural gas for electricity. Also, uranium is a relatively inexpensive and available nuclear fuel source, the report noted. But nuclear industry leaders face big hurdles as they pursue plans to build a new generation of new-technology plants in the United States, the report said. Included are the competitive cost of constructing a new plant; the possibility, albeit remote, for accidents or terrorist attacks; and finding a viable waste solution, the report said. ***************************************************************** 35 Las Vegas RJ: Perchlorate in river'poses no threat' Friday, December 10, 2004 Arizona governor calls levels acceptable By PAUL DAVENPORT THE ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOENIX -- A study intended to gauge the safety of drinking water from the Colorado River found some amounts of a chemical component of rocket fuel, but Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano said Thursday the levels were acceptable. Perchlorate can interfere with thyroid function and hormone balance, but the level of perchlorate found in Arizona drinking water "poses no threat to the public," Napolitano said in announcing the findings of a state task force. The lower Colorado River provides drinking water for central and southern Arizona, Southern Nevada and Southern California. A chemical plant near Las Vegas that produced ammonium perchlorate for the space shuttle program and rocket engines has been identified as the primary source of perchlorate contamination in the river. Water containing perchlorate was discharged into unlined evaporation ponds. It then seeped into the aquifer and then Lake Mead and the Colorado River. The Henderson plant, owned by Kerr-McKee Chemical Corp. is being cleaned up. A process deployed near the Kerr-McKee plant in May using a single-celled organism that breaks down perchlorate is cleaning up about 1,000 gallons of contaminated water per minute, replacing a less-efficient process known as ion exchange. The Arizona task force recommended continued monitoring of water quality and oversight of the plant cleanup as well as review of a National Academy of Science study to determine whether Arizona should stand by its nonbinding "health-based guidance level" of 14 parts per billion. Napolitano formed the task force in April from the state Departments of Environmental Quality, Water Resources, Health Services and Agriculture to analyze more than 100 water samples. In forming the task force, Napolitano said she was heeding a report by the American Rivers conservation group that perchlorate, human waste and uranium tailings made the Colorado River the nation's most threatened. American Rivers spokesman Eric Eckl called the study findings "reassuring news." He complimented Napolitano for keeping an eye on the question of how much exposure is acceptable. The issue "remains the subject of some pretty fierce debate in the scientific community," Eckl said. The study said tests found perchlorate levels generally ranging from zero to 7.4 parts per billion. One monitoring well in Yuma, in southwestern Arizona on the Colorado River, recorded 15 ppb. The results generally showed "slow, steady declines" of concentrations from 1999 tests at sites along the river as well as places in central and southern Arizona where Colorado River water is used, the study said. That suggests benefits from the continuing cleanup of the contamination at the Henderson factory site, the study said. While Arizona has its nonbinding "health-based guidance level" at 14 ppb, California environmental officials last spring proposed a standard of 6 ppb. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is studying whether to establish a nationwide limit. An EPA draft suggests allowing no more than 1 ppb of perchlorate in drinking water. Locations sampled for the Arizona review included groundwater, surface water, agricultural areas, groundwater recharge facilities and treatment plants throughout Arizona. When ingested, perchlorate can disrupt the thyroid gland and its production of hormones that regulate metabolism and growth. Infants and pregnant women are particularly at risk to the health effects caused by the disruption of thyroid functions. Review-Journal writer Keith Rogers contributed to this report. Copyright Las Vegas Review-Journal ***************************************************************** 36 Guardian Unlimited: Polluted Nevada Mine Worries Residents From the Associated Press [UP] Friday December 10, 2004 8:16 AM By SCOTT SONNER Associated Press Writer YERINGTON, Nev. (AP) - Peggy Pauly remembers when she was diagnosed with thyroid cancer four years ago. ``My doctor asked if I'd ever been exposed to radiation and I said, `No,''' she said. Now, she isn't so sure. Up until a few weeks ago, Pauly never worried much about the abandoned copper mine next to her family's home in the high desert's irrigated oasis of the Mason Valley, 55 miles southeast of Reno. ``The north end of the mine is my backyard, basically. We built our home here because this was the land we could afford,'' said Pauly, 55, the wife of a Baptist pastor and mother of daughters ages 8 and 9. She knew of tests for arsenic, mercury and heavy metal contaminants in the groundwater at the mine covering nearly six square miles. And she noticed last spring when Atlantic Richfield Co., which is primarily responsible for cleanup, started providing free bottled water to neighbors as a precautionary measure. But she had no reason to doubt Bureau of Land Management officials who said there was no evidence any toxins had gravitated off the mine site itself, or Nevada Division of Environmental Protection officials who said the high levels of uranium in nearby domestic wells most likely were naturally occurring. ``I'm a housewife, not a geologist,'' Pauly said. ``My husband and I have never been pro-Superfund. In my naivete, I thought we were being pretty well informed.'' That started to change last month when she was mailed a newsletter from the BLM, NDEP and Environmental Protection Agency describing the ``radiological hazards that warrant protection of workers in certain areas of the site'' and the need to conduct an aerial survey ``to determine where radiation may be both on and off site.'' ``That was scary to me,'' Pauly said. Officials for Atlantic Richfield - or Arco - as well as the BLM and NDEP, all deny there's been any attempt to hide potential dangers at the mine. ``We would never suppress data,'' NDEP spokeswoman Cindy Petterson said. ``Maybe we haven't been as good about getting information out as people would have liked.'' But Pauly said she learned of a whistleblower complaint filed by the BLM's former project manager at the mine, Earle Dixon. He claims he was fired in October because he drew attention to alleged attempts by state and federal regulators to suppress information about health and safety risks. Pauly started asking questions, writing letters and making calls. And the more she learned, the madder she got. ``We used to drive through the pink dust and I wonder how much did my kids get exposed to that?'' Pauly said. ``Maybe we were stupid, I don't know. But we never even thought about maybe there was some sort of a danger.'' Local suspicions have swirled for years that Arco and state regulators weren't leveling with residents about potential risks at the mine. The concerns took on new significance a year ago with the discovery of decades-old documents in archives at the University of Wyoming. One showed tests of monitoring wells at the mine in 1984 with uranium at up to 40 times the legal limits for public drinking water. New tests the past six months found soil samples at the mine with unusually high levels of radioactivity and concentrations of uranium in mine wells at up to 200 times drinking water standards. Fears were fueled again last month when the Washington, D.C.-based Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility filed the whistleblower complaint on Dixon's behalf with the Labor Department, which is investigating. BLM officials dispute Dixon's claims. ``He was fired because he was not performing his duties appropriately,'' BLM spokeswoman Jo Simpson said. ``Little progress was being made cleaning up the site.'' Dan Cummings, a spokesman for Arco's parent company, British Petroleum, said government regulators are mostly to blame for cleanup delays. ``It took several years for the federal and state authorities to agree to a work plan. Now that we have a work plan, we have made good progress over the past couple of months,'' he said. NDEP said work has accelerated since Dixon was fired. Water sampling of neighboring wells continues on a quarterly basis, air monitoring is scheduled to begin by February and additional soil tests are planned soon. State health workers have ``looked into allegations of incidents of disease'' in the Yerington area but ``have not been able to confirm any clusters,'' Petterson said. Misty Stevens was one of about 20 locals who gathered at a meeting Pauly organized last month to compare notes about the mine. In addition to her own aching joints, headaches and insomnia, Stevens worries about her 13-month-old son's respiratory problems. ``I spent $50 on locks for my cabinets and caps for the electrical plugs to keep my boy safe, but he may be living in a contaminated house,'' she said. --- On the Net: Mine site: http://ndep.nv.gov/yerington/minesite.htm Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility: http://www.peer.org Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2004 ***************************************************************** 37 FT.com: Lords attack failures on radioactive waste By Fiona Harvey Published: December 10 2004 02:00 | Last updated: December 10 The government has been condemned for its failure to develop a coherent policy on radioactive waste management. A report by the House of Lords science and technology committee found that the government instructed a new advisory body to start with a blank sheet on drawing up a strategy, without consulting its scientific experts. Lord Oxburgh, chairman, was "dismayed" by the lack of urgency. "The UK has generated radioactive waste for more than half a century and still hasn't decided how to deal with it," he said. Fiona Harvey [ height=] © Copyright The Financial Times Ltd 2004. "FT" and "Financial Times" are trademarks of the Financial Times. ***************************************************************** 38 Aftenposten Norway: Nuclear waste languishes , Norwegian news in English [Aftenposten Nettutgaven] First published: 10 Dec 2004, 15:22 English frontpage [http://www.aftenposten.no/english] Three years after an expert committee urged the building of a new central repository for Norway's most dangerous nuclear waste radioactive material is being stored behind garage doors. Machinist Knut Arne Hov works at the temporary storeroom for nuclear waste at a garage near the Halden-reactor. PHOTO: KNUT SNARE After 50 years of operation, four research reactors at Kjeller and Halden have produced 16 tons of highly radioactive nuclear waste - chiefly uranium fuel - and 10.1 kilograms of plutonium. This was poses an extreme potential health hazard for thousands of years and an extra security risk as an attraction for terrorists seeking radioactive material for a so-called 'dirty bomb'. Storehouses for low and medium level nuclear waste are built, but no facility exists for securing the most dangerous waste. "We believe it is completely indefensible to have highly radioactive fuel rods stored under reprehensible conditions in the middle of a built-up area," said Erik Martiniussen of environmental group Bellona. "In the center of the city of Halden there are over 10 tons of highly radioactive waste. To get to one of these storage points all you need to do is pass a thin garage door made of aluminum," Martiniussen said. The PST (Norwegian Police Security Service) have carried out a security assessment of the Kjeller and Halden facilities but refused to disclose how they were finally rated. In September 2003 the International Atomic Energy Agency IAEA carried out a ten-day long inspection of the nuclear facilities at Kjeller and Halden and eventually issued strong criticism of the lack physical security. Consultant Heide M. Eidet at the Ministry of Trade and Industry agreed with Bellona that improvements were coming slowly but denied that they were dawdling. Eidet said the matter required careful investigation and that they expected to complete the second phase of preparations in the course of the next two to three years. "Afterwards the issue will likely go to political treatment where it will probably take a lot of time to discuss where storage should be placed," Eidet said. Aftenposten's Norwegian reporter Jan Gunnar Furuly [jan.gunnar.furuly@aftenposten.no] Jonathan Tisdall [jonathan.tisdall@aftenposten.no] Publisher: Aftenposten Multimedia A/S, Oslo, Norway. Telephone: +47 - 22 86 30 00. All rights, including copyright and database right, are owned by or licensed to Aftenposten Multimedia. © Aftenposten Multimedia. ***************************************************************** 39 heraldtribune.com: Tallevast residents left aghast Southwest Florida's Information Leader Thursday, December 9, 2004 At a meeting, state and local health officials say there's no reason to worry about residents' health. By DEBI SPRINGER debi.springer@heraldtribune.com TALLEVAST -- Local residents have no reason to worry about their health, state and local health officials have told a local community action group concerned about the effects of the former American Beryllium Co. plant. But the group, which calls itself FOCUS, was flabbergasted that health officials could make that assessment when they hadn't completed testing in the community, FOCUS members said Wednesday night. They asked that none of the information about test results be shared with the residents until all the data are collected. That request resulted in a change to the meeting agenda to focus solely on free beryllium sensitivity testing. Gladys Branic, director of the Manatee County Health Department, said the free blood tests should begin next week. The tests will be offered to former American Beryllium Co. plant workers who live in Manatee County and their immediate families and residents of Tallevast who live within a quarter mile of the former plant. The health department also plans to go door-to-door to take medical histories from residents in an effort to see if there are any patterns of diseases within the community. Wanda Washington, vice president of FOCUS, said that while the beryllium testing is important, it's only a portion of what's going on in their community. The ground water in Tallevast contains cancer-causing chemicals, some just above state standards and some in concentrations as much as 10,000 times the state standard, DEP officials have said. The tainted water covers as much as 150 acres. The pollution also runs deep: It has seeped more than 300 feet below the surface, into what is known as the intermediate aquifer. Just below that is the Floridan aquifer, which provides drinking and irrigation water for most of Southwest Florida. The state's ground-water tests show levels of the cancer-causing chemical trichloroethylene at one site at 35,000 parts per billion; state drinking water standards limit trichloroethylene to 3 parts per billion. Washington said that nine members of an 11-member family in Tallevast have died from some form of cancer and one of the surviving two also has the disease. Robyn Darville, 36, who was born in Tallevast, suffers from unexplained migraines and has had a stroke and a miscarriage. "This is our life, they've taken it away from us, and we are not happy," Daville Said. Washington wants the industry to take responsibility, but said she knows there is a fight ahead. "After they poisoned us, we have to prove their contaminants did this to us," Washington said. Last modified: December 09. 2004 12:00AM ***************************************************************** 40 Scotsman.com: Dismay at 'lack of urgency' over radioactive waste Fri 10 Dec 2004 BRITAIN has failed to make significant progress on managing radioactive waste despite fears over security in the wake of the September 11 terror attacks. A House of Lords committee expressed dismay at the failure to come up with long-term solutions to the issue. The science and technology select committee said it was "astonished" that without consulting its own scientific experts, the Government instructed a new advisory body, the Committee on Radioactive Waste Management (CoRWM) to start from a "blank sheet of paper" despite an overwhelming international scientific consensus that underground disposal or storage was a safe long-term solution. Lord Oxburgh said: "We are dismayed by the Government’s lack of urgency. The UK has generated radioactive waste for more than half a century and still hasn’t decided how to deal with it." ***************************************************************** 41 UK Indepenent: Lords committee criticises 'lack of urgency' over radioactive waste [http://www.independent.co.uk] By Amanda Brown, PA Environment Correspondent 10 December 2004 Slow progress by the Government in developing a coherent radioactive waste management policy is highlighted today in a damning report by a powerful committee of peers. The House of Lords Science and Technology Select Committee said it was "astonished" that without consulting its own scientific experts, the Government instructed a new advisory body, the Committee on Radioactive Waste Management (CoRWM) to start from a "blank sheet of paper" despite an overwhelming international scientific consensus that underground disposal or storage was a safe long-term solution. Lord Oxburgh said: "In 1976 the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution emphasised the urgent need to find a long-term solution to storing radioactive waste. "In March 1999 and again in November 2001 this Committee argued the case for rapid action, but still no firm progress has been made, even though the events on 9/11 raise questions of the vulnerability of existing storage facilities. "We are dismayed by the Government's lack of urgency. The UK has generated radioactive waste for more than half a century and still hasn't decided how to deal with it. Ministers seem to be using perpetual consultation exercises to put off making the crucial decisions." The Committee said: * The CoRWM should stop wasting considering options that have been discarded by the rest of the international community - such as blasting waste into space -. Instead it should focus on the variants of underground storage or disposal; * The CoRWM also appears to lack the relevant scientific and technical expertise to assess the various options for radioactive waste management; * Ministers failed to take adequate advice when the CoRWM was established, failing to consult Defra's Chief Scientific Adviser; * The Government should either appoint extra members to the CoRWM with expertise in earth science, materials or civil engineering or establish a technical sub committee; * The Government should no longer allow delays in developing a long-term radioactive waste management strategy to be used as a pretext for deferring decisions on the future of nuclear power. Sir David Wallace, vice president of the Royal Society, said: "How we manage and dispose of radioactive waste is a serious and urgent problem that needs to be resolved, regardless of whether a new generation of nuclear power stations is built. "The Committee on Radioactive Waste Management must be informed by the best possible scientific advice in order to determine the most appropriate option for long term management of radioactive waste. "The Royal Society wrote to Margaret Beckett, Secretary of State for the Environment, earlier in the year, expressing its concern that this committee currently does not have adequate expertise in this area. "The Society believes that as well as taking into account wider and informed public views, it is vital that the independent scientific expertise of CoRWM is strengthened to allow it to effectively obtain and evaluate the detailed scientific and technical information that will be required to guide this debate. "The committee must both engage in a genuine public dialogue and be informed by the best science on the issue of radioactive waste management if it is to be seen to be authoritative, independent and therefore able to command public confidence." © 2004 Independent Digital (UK) Ltd ***************************************************************** 42 Guardian Unlimited: Bury nuclear waste, says report Terry Macalister Friday December 10, 2004 The Guardian [http://www.guardian.co.uk] The government's inability to deal with nuclear waste should not delay a decision on a new generation of power stations, a House of Lords committee will argue today. The "small uncertainties" associated with burying waste in the ground were nothing compared with a world ravaged by global warming, the science and technology committee says in a report. Radioactive fuel and other by-products from nuclear power stations are currently stored above ground, whereas the committee believes there is abundant evidence in favour of burying waste in deep caverns. Nuclear plants produce no greenhouse gases, unlike oil, gas and coal facilities. Lord Oxburgh, the committee chairman, pointed out last night that the al-Qaida threat alone was an important reason why there should be a quick government decision on radioactive materials. "The current facilities [for holding waste] were not designed to cope with terrorist attacks," he told the Guardian. Today's report, Radioactive Waste Management, expresses "astonishment" that, 50 years after Britain started generating nuclear material, there was no decision on how to deal with it. The committee expresses grave concern that a new advisory body - the Committee on Radioactive Waste Management - has been told to start "with a blank sheet of paper" when so much work has been done already. The committee insists it is not recommending that the government opt for more nuclear stations. But pro-nuclear campaigners were glad of the latest intervention. "We welcome anything that progresses a mature discussion," said a spokeswoman for the Nuclear Industries Association. Special report The nuclear industry Graphics The Mox ships' journey around the world (pdf) [http://image.guardian.co.uk/sys-files/Guardian/documents/2002/09 /17/nuclear_ship.pdf] Nuclear map of Britain US nuclear map Useful links British Energy [http://www.british-energy.com/] Department of Trade and Industry [http://www.dti.gov.uk/] British Nuclear Fuels Ltd [http://www.bnfl.co.uk/website.nsf/default.htm] Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament [http://www.cnduk.org/] Greenpeace [http://www.greenpeace.org/homepage/] HSE nuclear glossary [http://www.hse.gov.uk/nsd/ilrwglos.htm] UK atomic energy authority [http://www.ukaea.org.uk/] National Radiological Protection Board [http://www.nrpb.org.uk/] Friends of the Earth [http://www.foe.co.uk/campaigns/climate/press_for_change/dump_nuc lear/index.html] World Nuclear Association [http://www.uilondon.org/] World Nuclear Transport Institute [http://www.wnti.co.uk] [UP] Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2004 ***************************************************************** 43 PGE wins Diablo Canyon Nuke Plant dry cask transportable storage Date: Fri, 10 Dec 2004 08:08:12 -0800 (PST) The casks will be very transportable to Yucca Mountain. Diablo waste storage project appeal denied By April Charlton - Staff Writer www.lompocrecord.com 12/9/04 A controversial plan to store highly toxic spent radioactive nuclear fuel rods behind Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant cleared its last regulatory hurdle Wednesday. The California Coastal Commission, meeting in San Francisco, unanimously paved the way for Pacific Gas and Electric Co. to construct and operate an above-ground nuclear waste storage facility at Diablo, located on the coast north of Avila Beach. "It was an interesting decision," said Rochelle Becker, spokeswoman for Mothers for Peace, which along with the Santa Lucia Chapter of the Sierra Club, filed an appeal of the San Luis Obispo County Planning Commission's approval of the project. The appeal was denied by the county Board of Supervisors and subsequently filed with the Coastal Commission. The appeal dealt mainly with safety issues associated with the project - a potential for terrorist attacks, unknown seismic risks at the plant and the lack of a permanent storage facility for spent radioactive fuel anywhere in the United States. Yucca Mountain repository in Nevada has yet to come online and the opening of the facility is still uncertain. Becker said the commission agreed it had conflicting information from seismic experts but chose to side with PG&E's experts and wouldn't hold off making the decision until its next meeting. "It was just amazing," Becker added. Highly radioactive spent plutonium fuel rods from the plant will be stored in 16-foot-tall stainless steel and concrete casks measuring 8 feet across, which will be on the hillside behind the plant's twin reactors. Staff writer April Charlton can be reached at 489-4206, Ext. 5016, or acharlton@pulitzer.net. The dry-cask, spent-fuel storage project consists of constructing seven flat 7.5-foot-thick concrete pads that can store up to 140 casks and help extend the life of the plant for at least another 20 years. PG&E proposed the dry-cask storage plan because Diablo will be out of spent fuel storage space by 2006 unless it reracks the plant's two existing storage pools. The plant is licensed to operate until 2025, according to PG&E spokesman Jeff Lewis. Officials from PG&E couldn't be reached for comment on the decision. But earlier this week, Lewis said the dry-cask storage facility at Diablo will be temporary until the spent-fuel rods can be transferred to a permanent storage site. In addition to approving a coastal development permit for the project, the commission also followed its staff's recommendation that PG&E has to provide more public access to the coastline north of the plant. Staff recommended that PG&E open a three mile-stretch of the coast north of Diablo because the project will likely result in a permanent loss of access to the coastline at the plant site because no permanent nuclear waste disposal site exists. Tom Luster, Coastal Commission project manager for the Diablo project, said the commission gave direction to PG&E to convene a locally based task force that will take an inventory of the environmental resources on the three-mile stretch. The task force will consist of various agencies, nonprofit organizations and county residents. But that's no comfort to Becker and her colleagues. "Our feeling is that, what if people in Nevada decided to tell the Department of Energy it's OK to build a nuclear waste dump in our backyard if we're given public access to climb Yucca Mountain?" she said. "We see it as the same analogy. We've been given access to a nuclear waste site; lucky us." PG&E plans to start construction next year and have the project ready for implementation by 2007, according to Lewis. The spent fuel rods would be moved from inside the plant to the storage casks over a two- to three-year period. Staff writer April Charlton can be reached at 489-4206, Ext. 5016, or acharlton@pulitzer.net. Print this story Email this story ===== 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. ***************************************************************** 44 DOE: Agency Information Collection Extension FR Doc 04-27143 [Federal Register: December 10, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 237)] [Notices] [Page 71807-71808] From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr10de04-61] AGENCY: U.S. Department of Energy. ACTION: Notice and Request for Comments. SUMMARY: The Department of Energy (DOE), pursuant to the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, intends to extend for three years, an information collection package with the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) used by the Department to exercise management oversight and control over contractors including management and operating (M) contractors operating DOE's facilities. This information is used by the Department to perform management oversight regarding implementation of applicable statutory, regulatory and contractual requirements and obligations. The collection is critical to ensure that the Government has sufficient information to judge the degree to which contractors are meeting requirements, that public funds are spent in an efficient and effective manner and that fraud, waste and abuse are avoided. Comments are invited on: (a) Whether the extended collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency, including whether the information shall have practical utility; (b) the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of the proposed collection of information, including the validity of the methodology and assumptions used; (c) ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; and (d) ways to minimize the burden of the collection of information on respondents, including through the use of automated collection techniques or other forms of information technology. DATES: Comments regarding this proposed information collection must be received on or before February 8, 2005. If you anticipate difficulty in submitting comments within that period, contact the person listed below as soon as possible. ADDRESSES: Written comments may be sent to: Richard Langston, ME-61, Procurement Policy Analyst, Office of Procurement and Assistance Policy, Office of Procurement and Assistance Management, U.S. Department of Energy, 1000 Independence Ave, SW., Washington, DC 20585, or by fax at 202-287-1345 or by e-mail at [richard.langston@hq.doe.gov] and to Sharon Evelin, Acting Director, Records Management Division, IM- 11/Germantown Bldg., Office of the Chief Information Officer, U.S. Department of Energy, 1000 Independence Ave, SW., Washington, DC 10585- 1290, or by fax at 301-903-9061 or by e-mail at [ sharon.evelin@hq.doe.gov] . FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Requests for additional information or copies of the information collection instrument and instructions should be directed to Richard Langston at the address listed above. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This package contains: (1) OMB No.: 1910- 4100; (2) Package Title: Procurement; (3) Type of Review: renewal; (4) Purpose: This information is required by the Department to ensure that DOE contracts including management and operation contractors operating DOE facilities are managed efficiently and effectively and to exercise management oversight of DOE contractors; (5) Respondents: 3,811; (6) Estimated Number of Burden Hours: 1,086,529. [[Page 71808]] Statutory Authority: Department of Energy Organization Act, Pub. L. 95-91, as amended. Issued in Washington, DC, on December 2, 2004. Sharon Evelin, Acting Director, Records Management Division, Office of the Chief Information Officer. [FR Doc. 04-27143 Filed 12-9-04; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 6450-01-P ***************************************************************** 45 Carlsbad Current-Argus: Former DOE office manager returning [http://www.currentargus.com/] | News | Outdoors | Updated: December 10, 2004 - 03:36:09 By Victoria Parker-Stevens/Current-Argus Staff Writer CARLSBAD — Former manager Ines Triay plans to return to head the federal Energy Department’s Carlsbad Field Office on a temporary basis. Triay left in January for DOE headquarters in Washington, where she is deputy chief operating officer for environmental management. She served as manager in Carlsbad for 4½ years — the longest tenure of any DOE head here. Triay will be acting manager for up to 120 days, starting in January, she said. Over the holidays, she will remain in Washington in order to fill in for Paul Golan, EM’s acting assistant secretary, who will be out of the country. Former acting manager R. Paul Detwiler returned to his position at DOE headquarters as special assistant to the general counsel early last month. Since then, Lloyd Piper, deputy manager, has served as acting manger in addition to his regular duties. “I will fulfill my commitments to the assistant secretary in assisting Lloyd in two main areas,” Triay said. “I’m going to try to do that in as short a period as possible.” One of those is the exercise of an option to extend the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant’s management and operations contract. Triay was in Carlsbad in October when DOE Deputy Secretary Kyle McSlarrow announced the Energy Department would negotiate with the current contract holder, Washington TRU Solutions, for a five-year extension. The second area is getting an Idaho site ready to take over the role of Rocky Flats, Colo., which is slated to close next year. Rocky Flats has made more shipments to WIPP than any other site — 1,843 as of Dec. 6. Over the course of WIPP’s lifetime, the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory is expected to be No. 2 in terms of total shipments after Hanford, Wash. Idaho has had recent shipment problems, with the state of New Mexico levying a $2.4 million fine for sending un-tested waste to WIPP. Triay’s work with shipping sites resulted in the acceleration in WIPP shipments to at least 25 per week, according to accolades she received during her tenure in Carlsbad. Triay said Piper had expressed concerns about serving in two senior management positions, as one manager is needed to handle day-to-day operations and another to focus on the sites that ship to WIPP. “I asked Paul (Golan), ‘How are we going to do this?’ and we came up with this solution,” Triay said, noting her experience at WIPP makes her very aware of the issues here. The Carlsbad DOE office is unlike others in that it not only manages the WIPP site, but must interact with other DOE sites, Triay said. Thus, ”it’s very appropriate for people from Washington to do that (job),” she said. Unlike her successor, Triay was lauded by local leaders when she worked in Carlsbad. “It’s great for the project,” Mayor Bob Forrest said of her return. “It will give the site a chance to find a good person for the job.” Triay will retain her position in Washington while she serves in Carlsbad, but there will be an acting deputy chief operating officer, she said. Serving in that capacity will be Charlie Anderson, deputy manager for cleanup at the DOE-Savannah River Operations Office. Copyright © 2004 Carlsbad Current-Argus, a Gannett Co., Inc. ***************************************************************** 46 Tri-City Herald: Fluor contemplates diving into K Basins This story was published Wednesday, December 8th, 2004 By Annette Cary Herald staff writer A Hanford contractor is considering sending divers into the murky depths of the heavily contaminated K Basins to speed difficult radioactive waste cleanup work. Commercial nuclear reactors and, more recently, Department of Energy nuclear sites have used divers who specialize in radioactive environments to perform underwater jobs such as cleaning and welding. But the Hanford K Basins are an unusually contaminated environment. In October, Fluor finished removing 2,300 tons of highly radioactive irradiated fuel from the K East and K West basins. But fuel that had been left in the huge indoor pools of water had corroded, creating 65 cubic yards of radioactive sludge on the bottom of the pools. Disturb the sludge, and it disperses in a muddy, radioactive cloud to add to radioactive particles suspended in the water. DOE contractor Fluor Hanford is trying to determine if the dive project is feasible and safe. "We've got some homework to do," said Pete Knollmeyer, vice president for the company. Fluor expects to make a decision Christmas week whether to drop the idea or to pursue the plan for a possible dive as early as January. Fluor sees using divers as a possible way to get cleanup done at the K Basins faster and cheaper. Now, Hanford workers work on top of a steel grating that covers both of the 150-by-80-foot pools 3 feet above water level. They use long-handled tools to reach beneath the grating and perform tasks under the 17 feet of water that shields them from radiation in the pools. It's slow and difficult work. The water can be cloudy, and the workers are bundled in bulky head-to-toe protective clothing. Sometimes they must wear respirators. Because the ceiling hangs 7 feet over the grating, the workers also have little room to maneuver the long-handled tools that may have to reach to the floor of the pool 20 feet beneath the grating. Divers, however, might be able to more easily cut up and remove some of the equipment that remains in the basins, such as racks that once held spent fuel. They also might be able to vacuum up some of the sludge. Trying to vacuum up sludge now among the equipment at the bottom of the basins is like trying to vacuum underneath a couch at home -- but through a small hole drilled in the second floor above, Knollmeyer said. Fluor thinks doing the work faster also could reduce the total radioactive exposure to workers. Although they might be exposed to higher levels of radiation while performing the work, they would spend less time doing it. But the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board pointed out after a presentation on the possible use of divers that no study has been done to show worker exposure would be reduced. Historical looks at divers used elsewhere, however, show that work likely can be done quicker with divers. Fluor is facing aggressive deadlines for cleaning up the K Basins, but has fallen behind schedule. It expects to miss a Dec. 31 commitment to DOE to have the sludge in the K East Basin corralled in underwater containers. While divers cannot help meet that deadline, Fluor believes they might help keep the cleanup on track to meet future deadlines. The basins were built in the 1950s with a design life of 20 years to hold nuclear fuel that had been irradiated in Hanford reactors before it was reprocessed to remove plutonium. Hanford produced plutonium for the nation's nuclear weapons program from World War II through the Cold War. When reprocessing stopped in the mid-1980s, about 2,300 tons of unprocessed fuel was left stranded in the K Basins, 400 yards from the Columbia River. Leaks in the K East Basin in the 1970s and 1990s put several million gallons of radioactive water into the surrounding soil. DOE is required to have the basins emptied and removed by April 2009. DOE supports looking at innovative ways to do the work, said Matt McCormick, DOE assistant manager for Hanford's central plateau. The Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory used trained divers to clean four spent nuclear fuel storage basins there. Divers removed debris at the bottom of the pools and applied a fixative to the sides and bottoms to trap residual contamination that might enter the air when the water was emptied. Divers at commercial nuclear plants also have entered water where the radiation levels were much higher. They use equipment called "sleds" to serve as a physical barrier to keep them from getting too close to sources of radiation in the pools. In addition, dosimeters attached to their feet, hands and helmet can warn divers if they are getting too close to a radiation source. At the K Basins, divers would have to be careful to not get too close to sludge at the bottom of the pools or to the sides, which are heavily contaminated. But Fluor is more concerned about the extensive contamination in the K Basin water that likely would cling to the divers' suits. "The contamination comes out with them," Knollmeyer said. The divers would need to have their suits hosed down, then workers would need to wipe the suits down before helping the diver undress, all without getting any contamination on the divers' or helpers' skin or clothing. Fluor also needs to see if the suits can be decontaminated enough after each dive to allow multiple reuses of each suit. Fluor has a portion of a dive suit it's immersing in the K East Basin now to test and practice decontaminating it. "This is certainly not a done deal," Knollmeyer said, but he said the benefits are significant enough for Fluor to investigate. © 2004 Tri-City Herald, Associated Press &Other Wire Services ***************************************************************** 47 Tri-Valley Herald: Firm gets one more year at lab Article Last Updated: Friday, December 10, 2004 - By FROM STAFF REPORTS The defense firm Lockheed Martin has won an additional year on its contract to run Sandia National Laboratories, with sites in Livermore and New Mexico. The National Nuclear Security Administration, the nuclear-weapons arm of the U.S. Department of Energy, said Thursday that it had awarded the one-year extension based on Sandia's management rating for 2004 of "outstanding." The agency wrote year-by-year extensions into Lockheed's last contract to run Sandia and now is proposing to do the same for the contract to run Los Alamos National lab. "Allowing a contractor to earn annual extensions for exceptional performance offers a unique and powerful incentive for leaders of management and operating contractors," said Linton Brooks, chief of the nuclear agency. Lockheed's extension pushes the end of its current Sandia contract back from 2008 to 2009. Among other things, Sandia managers improved efficiency of their lab operations and were able to turn more money into "mission work" -- nuclear weapons research and engineering -- that the federal government had not funded. Lockheed employs about 800 at the Sandia-California site in Livermore. and more than 8,000 at its main site in Albuquerque. ©2004 by MediaNews Group, Inc. and ANG Newspapers ***************************************************************** 48 [DU-WATCH] FW: DRAFT of article about the trial Date: Sat, 11 Dec 2004 00:04:22 -0600 (CST) fyi, du groups from minneapolis. ---------- From: "Steve Clemens" Date: Fri, 10 Dec 2004 17:36:52 -0600 To: carolm@justview.org, cmasters@bitstream.net, braun044@tc.umn.edu Subject: DRAFT of article about the trial any comments are welcome Steve Clemens 2912 East 24th Street Minneapolis, MN 55406-1322 (612) 724-3255 steveclemens@msn.com A Victory for Conscience and International Law By Steve Clemens, Dec. 10, 2004 A jury of six women returned a verdict of not guilty in the trial of 4 Christian peacemakers in Minneapolis today. John and Marie Braun, Carol Masters, and Steve Clemens were charged with criminal trespass on July 21, 2004 when they attempted to enter the corporate headquarters of Alliant TechSystems in Edina, MN. The four were attempting to deliver a letter and documents to corporate officers concerning Employee Liabilities of Weapons Manufacturers Under International Law. After requesting to meet with one of four corporate officers, the four were arrested after they refused to leave the premises without at least an appointment to meet with them at a future date. The trial, presided over by Judge Regina M. Chu, focused on a provision in the MN trespass law which provides for a claim of right. The defendants successfully argued that it was reasonable for them to be on the property of this weapons manufacturer because of treaties signed by the United States. Quoting Article VI of the US Constitution where International Treaties signed by our government are identified as the supreme law of the land, the defendants then offered into evidence excerpts from the Hague and Geneva Conventions, the CCW Treaty, and the Nuremberg Principles. The Judge also permitted inclusion of articles the defendants had read prior to their nonviolent action that influenced their intent that day. All four defendants testified in a moving fashion, bringing tears to some eyes in the courtroom. The International Law offered into evidence prohibits the manufacture, sale, or use of weapons which are indiscriminate. Those are weapons which continue to kill after a war has ended, those that arent limited to the field of battle, those causing unnecessary suffering and are inhumane, and those which cause long-lasting damage to the natural environment. The four testified that Alliant TechSystems is the primary manufacturer of anti-personnel landmines, cluster bombs, and depleted uranium weapons for the US Military. They described the effects of these weapons, showing them to be indiscriminate and thus illegal. Two of the defendants, Marie Braun and Steve Clemens, testified about their trips to Iraq and the impact that made on them, causing them to take action against these weapons after seeing first-hand the results of their use on the civilian population of Iraq since the 1991 war. They testified that cluster bombs and depleted uranium weapons were used in even greater numbers in the war in Iraq that began in March 2003 and continues today. Carol Masters told the jury about the effects of exposure to depleted uranium to US troops to remind all of us that they are being victimized as well as the Iraqi population. John Braun described the brutal and inhumane effects of landmines and cluster bombs and added additional relevant information about depleted uranium as well. He urged the jury to look at the larger picture when considering the charges against us. If convicted, the defendants could have faced up to 90 days in jail and/or a fine of up to $1,000. They chose to request a jury trial instead of accepting an offer to plead guilty in exchange for community service. Speaking to a jury, they felt, can help spread the word about International Law and the realities of these weapons. While we celebrate this legal victory, there is much more work to do. Another group of four conscientious citizens from the Annatoth Community in Luck, WI are presently on trial for the same offense committed the week following the July 21 action. Four more groups of 3-5 people face trials for the same witness in the coming months. But while a modest celebration is in order (six sister citizens understood it today), we must continue to work for the day when Alliant TechSystems chooses or is forced to beat its depleted uranium swords into implements of peace. For more information about this movement, please go to www.circlevision.org and click on the Alliant Action section. ------------------------ 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/ ***************************************************************** 49 EnergyPulse The Hydrogen Economy: An Objective Look -- Part 2: Hydrogen and Utilities Insight Analysis and Commentary on the Global Power Industry [http://www.energypulse.net] 12.10.04 In Part 1, Hydrogen as Transport Fuel, we looked briefly at some general issues involving hydrogen production and its potential use as a future automotive fuel. That's where the most intense controversy surrounding the hydrogen economy is found. However, hydrogen is likely to have an increasing role to play in the future economy, regardless of how it fares as a transport fuel. In this article, we'll look at some aspects of that. The Current Hydrogen Economy Hydrogen is already used heavily in the oil and chemical industries. Firm numbers are hard to come by, but estimates for U.S. hydrogen consumption range from 9 to 15 million tons per year. About half is used to produce ammonia for fertilizer. Most of the other half is used in oil refining. It breaks heavy crude oil fractions into lighter products such as naphtha, kerosene, and diesel fuel in a process known as "hydrocracking". A milder process, known as "hydrotreating" or "hydropurification" is used to remove sulfur and other "hetero-atoms" from crude. The need for hydrogen in these applications will be increasing rapidly in the coming years, as supplies of "sweet light crude" diminish and refiners are forced to turn to grades that are heavier and/or have higher sulfur content. By some estimates, the need for hydrogen will increase four-fold over the next ten years. Where will it come from? That’s an interesting question. In North America, nearly all hydrogen used in the oil and chemical industries has been made from natural gas, by steam reforming. But gas production in North America has peaked. Many of the older and larger fields which have supplied the lion's share of North American gas have declined sharply or stopped producing altogether, and many others are nearing that point. While a great deal of gas is thought to remain in the ground, it is now widely dispersed in small pockets that are costly to tap. Newer wells often produce for only a year or two, and barely repay the cost of roads, pipelines, and drilling operations -- to say nothing of their steep environmental costs. Tightness of gas supplies has driven up the cost of natural gas -- and the hydrogen made from it -- to the point where many fertilizer and some chemical plants in the U.S. have been forced to close. Those that remain in operation are squeezed on their margins. They find it tough to compete with plants in countries where natural gas remains cheap. The infrastructure hurdles associated with increased imports of liquefied natural gas mean that there will be no relief for natural gas prices any time soon. This in turn means that the present shortage of refinery capacity in the U.S. for heavy crude is likely to persist. North American refiners are reluctant to invest in the new plants and equipment needed to process lower grades of imported crude, when the hydrogen that plays a central role in that processing can be produced more cheaply overseas. It makes more economic sense just to build additional refinery capacity overseas, and import the refined products to the U.S. The result is that, far from reducing our trade deficit and becoming less dependent on oil imports, the natural trend will be for continued job losses, increased imports, and more dependence on foreign supplies. Reducing Dependency The reality is that the market, per se, is blind to issues of employment, trade balances, and national energy security. Consideration for those issues can only be imposed on the market by political means. The tools available include taxes and tax incentives, subsidized R, low interest loans, and loan guarantees or other programs that reduce risk to investors. All of these tools are "double-edged" and must be used carefully. No program to steer the market can be successful if it simply aims to encourage the use of domestic oil and gas over imports. It would be disastrous, for example, to subsidize the purchase of natural gas by oil refiners and chemical companies so that they could produce hydrogen as cheaply as it can be produced overseas. Since it’s high demand for natural gas relative to North American supply that has caused the high prices in the first place, the last thing one should do is subsidize more consumption. Any programs aimed at reducing imports and improving energy security must therefore focus on: + reducing consumption of oil; + reducing consumption of natural gas; and + increasing the fraction of energy we derive from sources that don’t have to be imported. Reducing oil consumption mostly means reducing total miles driven and/or improving average mileage. Options for that were covered in Part 1. So let’s now take a look at options for points b) and c). Reducing Natural Gas Consumption High prices have already reduced natural gas consumption (or limited its increase) by making it unprofitable to operate businesses that depend on supplies of cheap natural gas. However, forcing businesses to close or move offshore is hardly the solution we want. Cutting back on gas for electrical power generation could also reduce gas consumption, but again, it’s an unappealing solution. Gas offers the most cost-efficient way to generate power, and is far cleaner than coal. If we had a choice about it, we’d want gas to replace coal for power generation, not the other way around. [1] There are, however, positive ways to reduce gas consumption. One is by developing alternative means for producing hydrogen at affordable prices; we’ll look at that further below. But first, let’s consider the largest single use for natural gas in the U.S.: low grade heating. According to the U.S. Department of Energy’s EIA, residential water and space heating accounts for 24% of gas consumption. Consumption by the commercial sector, which is also mostly low grade heating, is another 14% of consumption. Can we cut these figures? Most homes built in the last 25 years meet stricter codes for insulation and infiltration, and most older homes have been upgraded as well. There’s still some room for improvement, but we can’t expect to see major gains from the kinds of conservation measures that were effective in the ‘70s. However, there are two measures not yet widely deployed that could make big differences. The most immediately deployable method is the use of geothermal heat pumps (GHPs) [2]. GHP Basics When a heat pump draws from a thermal reservoir at moderate temperatures, it can easily deliver four times as much output heat as it consumes in electrical energy. The natural gas that its use replaces, when burned in a modern CCGT plant, can produce at least twice as much electrical energy as the heat pump consumes. So every home that switches from natural gas heating to a GHP system effectively frees up for other uses an amount of gas equal to half of what it was previously using. As a bonus, GHPs are also highly efficient as air conditioners. Their use can reduce electrical demand for summer air conditioning by more than half. Existing homeowners, unfortunately, are unlikely to invest in GHP systems on their own initiative. For new homes, the added cost of a GHP system over a conventional HVAC system is quickly made up in lower utility bills. But for an existing home that already has an installed HVAC system, the cost to be made up is much greater. Utilities and state governments may need to implement incentive programs, in the form of low interest loans or tax credits, to encourage switching. Utilities might also want to consider offering a new type of service: district thermal ballast [3]. This would substitute for the local ground loop heat exchanger in individual homes -- the most costly component of a GHP system. Thermal ballast water would circulate to each subscribing home in a district. In winter, it would serve as the heat source to the heat pump in each home; in summer it would serve as the heat sink. The service differs from familiar district heating and cooling systems in that the thermal ballast water is never much warmer or cooler than the ground around the buried pipes that carry it. Heat leakage around the pipes and the cost of insulation to reduce it are therefore non-issues. Local CHP The other measure that could reduce heating-related use of natural gas is deployment of systems for Combined Heat and Power (CHP) at the level of individual homes. Gas is used to generate electricity, and waste heat from power generation is used for heating. Locally generated power replaces a portion of centrally generated power, and heating tags along for free. It’s an efficient system. While still not common, the process is beginning to be used more widely in industry. There, gas combustion turbines generate the power, and their exhaust supplies heat. Combustion turbines are not practical for home use, but it’s expected that in the near future, fuel cells powered by natural gas will become cheap enough to make home CHP an attractive option. Many advocates of the hydrogen economy find this vision of a decentralized power infrastructure appealing. It would be very easy to substitute locally produced hydrogen or synthesis gas for natural gas. There are some significant technical hurdles that have to be overcome before home scale CHP is practical. However, those issues are beyond the scope of this article. Time permitting, I’ll write about them in a future article. Alternative Hydrogen Now let’s look at ways to produce hydrogen that don’t require natural gas. In Part 1, Hydrogen as Transport Fuel, we briefly covered methods of producing hydrogen. Here we’ll look a little more at the economic issues for different approaches. There are three general alternatives to natural gas for producing hydrogen: + electrolysis of water or steam; + chemical production from fuels other than natural gas; and + thermo-chemical production from high temperature heat sources. Production of hydrogen by electrolysis of water has a reputation among hydrogen detractors as inefficient and grossly uneconomical [4]. The basis of this is the observation that a given quantity of natural gas can produce twice as much hydrogen by steam reforming as it can by being used to generate electricity for electrolysis. The observation is valid, but doesn’t really say as much as those making it may want to claim. It just means that to be an economically competitive way to produce hydrogen, electrolysis needs electricity at half the price of electricity from natural gas. There are situations where that requirement is met. I’ll say more about that shortly. Chemical production of hydrogen starting from fuels other than natural gas is possible, and economical as long as the fuels are available. It is likely to be the cheapest way to produce hydrogen through at least the next decade. The chemical bond energies for hydrogen, oxygen, and carbon are such that any carbon or hydrocarbon fuel, mixed with steam at high temperature, will produce a similar equilibrium mixture of gases. CO and H2, along with excess steam, will predominate. Smaller quantities of CO2, methane, and methanol, plus traces of other gases, will also be present. The fuel may be anything from heavy crude to coal to biomass. If the hydrogen is selectively removed, the concentration of the other gases shifts to compensate. The result is to produce more hydrogen. Ultimately, the end effect is that the hydrocarbon fuel is completely "burned" in high temperature steam, producing hydrogen and CO2. But the reaction is strongly endothermic, so heat must be supplied to drive it. That’s normally done by mixing oxygen with the steam, burning a portion of the fuel in a conventional manner. This reduces the amount of hydrogen that can be produced from a given amount of fuel, but it’s the easiest way to do the job. The amount of hydrogen that can be produced is still double or more what it would be if the same amount of fuel were burned to provide power for electrolysis of water. The possibility does exist to use other means to supply the thermal energy needed to drive the reforming reactions. Doing so might increase the hydrogen yield from a given amount of fuel by 25 – 50%, depending on fuel type and reaction efficiencies. On the other hand, if a high temperature heat source is available, there are a number of closed loop reaction schemes that will produce hydrogen and oxygen from water and heat alone, not consuming any fuel. These are thermo-chemical production methods. One of the most favorable is the sulfur iodide cycle, studied by General Atomics and others for producing hydrogen from nuclear reactors [5]. Economics of Electrolysis I wrote earlier that there were circumstances where the cost of electricity could be low enough to make hydrogen production by electrolysis of water economical. Currently, that cost is about 3¢ per kilowatt-hour. The average retail cost of electricity in the U.S. is 7.5¢ per kilowatt-hour. How can we get large quantities of electricity at only 40% of the average retail price? Given an appropriate regulatory environment and IT infrastructure, short term variations in power demand over the course of a day would make it attractive for utilities to run a "spot market" for electricity. When there is supply whose costs have been "sunk" and which would otherwise be wasted, it makes sense for utilities to sell it cheaply for applications that can match their use to available supply. Electrolysis is perfect for that. The capital cost of water electrolysis equipment is not so great that the equipment must be run full time to recoup its cost. Because its power level can be changed instantaneously, online electrolysis capacity can be used for load leveling. It would permit fuller utilization of cheaper baseload electric capacity, and minimize the need for peaking units. Dispatchable electrolysis capacity also facilitates the integration of wind and solar power into the grid. There will be times, for instance, when wind farm output is high while regular demand is low. Being able to increase power to the electrolysis units at such times allows the temporarily excess supply to be used productively. So long as the amount of hydrogen and oxygen produced this way have a ready market in the oil refining and chemical industries, it isn’t necessary to worry about the comparatively poor round-trip efficiency of hydrogen as a solution for power buffering [6]. Both electrolytic and thermo-chemical hydrogen production have the advantage that they do not consume hydrocarbon fuel and they emit no CO2 -- assuming that the source of electricity or heat is wind, solar, or nuclear energy. When used for oil refining, hydrogen and oxygen produced from water will increase the yield of gasoline, diesel, or jet fuel obtained from each barrel of crude oil. Depending on the grade of crude, the difference can be significant. In the extreme case of processing bitumen from Athabascan tar sands in Alberta, 100 barrels of bitumen will yield 76 barrels of "syncrude" when processed without hydrogen, or 106 barrels when processed with hydrogen [7]. For conventional grades of crude, the difference is less, but it’s still large enough to justify the cost of hydrogen production. Conclusion Regardless of how hydrogen fares as a future transportation fuel, the demand for hydrogen is already substantial and is growing rapidly. It will continue to grow in the years ahead, as lower grades of crude must be refined and production of synthetic fuels ramped up. Natural gas has been the preferred source of hydrogen, but there is currently insufficient supply within North America. A well-formulated incentive program could slash the considerable amount of natural gas now used for low-grade heating, and free up some supply for more economically productive power and hydrogen generation. In addition, electrolytic production of hydrogen is viable, and has several advantages: + With discounted off-peak electricity, it is economically competitive. + On-line electrolysis capacity, under real-time control by utilities, can be used to stabilize the grid, minimize the need for inefficient peaking units, and enable higher penetration by wind and solar. + Electrolytic or thermo-chemical hydrogen production powered by wind, solar, or nuclear reduces CO2 emissions, and increases the refinery yield from each barrel of crude. Oil and gas depletion are long term problems that will not go away, and cannot be permanently "solved" by efficiency measures alone. However, the above measures for more intelligent use of natural gas and for alternative production of hydrogen take us in the right direction. They help to get us moving along a path that we will have to take in any case, if we hope to survive the end of cheap oil. Further Reading The hydrogen economy is a large and controversial topic. Even in a two-part article such as this, it’s impossible to cover more than a fraction of the relevant issues and options. For a balanced understanding, there are four articles available on the Internet that I especially recommend. One is Twenty Hydrogen Myths by Amory Lovins, a favorite of hydrogen’s boosters. Another is a favorite of hydrogen’s detractors: The Future of the Hydrogen Economy: Bright or Bleak, by Bossel, Eliasson, and Taylor . The last two are critiques of the first two. The articles can be found at the following URLs: + http://www.rmi.org/images/other/Energy/E03-05_20HydrogenMyths.pdf + http://www.methanol.org/pdfFrame.cfm?pdf=HydrogenEconomyFinalRepo rt.pdf + http://www.hydrogennews.org/hydrogen/crea.htm + http://tinyurl.com/5j8zk For the hard core, there’s a page at my own web site that has some 40 links, along with short descriptions of each one. These are links to the web sites I drew on for this article. Go to http://www.silverthornengineering.com and click on the "links" navigation button. End Notes and References [1] Which, of course, was precisely the plan, until we found that gas wasn’t as abundant and easy to obtain as we’d been led to believe. [2] A good fact sheet explaining geothermal heat pumps and their operation can be found at http://www.eere.energy.gov/consumerinfo/factsheets/geo_heatpumps. html [3] http://www.silverthornengineering.com/Tech Papers/ThermalBallast.html [4] A good technical article that makes this point is by Don Lancaster in his July 2001 Tech Musings newsletter: http://www.tinaja.com/glib/muse151.pdf [5] http://gcep.stanford.edu/pdfs/hydrogen_workshop/Schultz.pdf [6] The round-trip efficiency of electricity to hydrogen and back to electricity is currently about 50%. Several other methods, including pumped hydro-electric storage, compressed air energy storage (CAES), and so-called "flow" batteries, manage around 80%. [7] http://www.eia.doe.gov/oiaf/aeo/issues_4.html Copyright 2004 CyberTech, Inc. Readers Comments Len Gould 12.10.04 Good to see you injecting some cool common sense into the debates. Kudos. Especially important is your statement "the market, per se, is blind to issues of employment, trade balances, and national energy security. Consideration for those issues can only be imposed on the market by political means." It seems unfortunate that most of the tools normally used for the purpose have recently been given away through international trade agreements eg. WTO etc. I'd guess its time to relegate domestic refining to the list of "rustbelt" industries and start trying to figure out how to organize afterward. Apart from servicing each other's consumption it's hard to see a role for the large majority of population. Looks like the elites have figured this out a long time ago. BTW, love the concept of "district heat sinking". Should be readily doable as a low-cost retrofit if heat-pumps are desireable. I think instead we shouldn't be waiting for residential fuel cells. The easiest is, starting now with northern climates, adding small CHP engine/generators and some thermal storage to each padmount transformer. Pick up nearby nat. gas supply at high enough pressure to supply the burners without costly compressors. Stays under utility ownership / management, no liklihood of injuring linemen. Move meters for electricity and thermal into the padmount where they can be cheaply read remotely with the same simple phone line used to shut them down etc. on grid failures. Easy, no? Roger Arnold 12.10.04 In line with your comment, Len, not too long after I finished and submitted this article, there was a pertinent news article. It announced that Saudi Arabia was building facilties that will use hydrogen to upgrade the heavy, sour crudes that apparently comprise much of their remaining reserves. It makes sense for them to do so, since they also have a lot of stranded gas for making hydrogen. The investment should pay off nicely for them, because the spread between sweet, light crude and heavy, sour crude is currently close to $10 a barrel. The Saudi plans could be seen as vindication for US refiners, who have been very cautious about investing in facilities for handling heavy, sour crude in this country. But it's yet another hit to our trade balance. We really, really need to be developing industries that will produce viable exports. We can't continue on the basis of arms sales--which are becoming an increasing fraction of what we do manage to export. I vote for energy conservation and alternative energy technologies. They're bound to be growth markets. ***************************************************************** 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: *****************************************************************