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Send News Stories to news@energy-net.org with title on subject
line and first line of body
NUCLEAR POLICY
1 The Herald: Support the alternatives to nuclear power
2 Korea Herald: Head of nuke force gets ambassador rank
3 INSIDE JoongAng Daily: New delegate to six-party talks is career vet
4 Guardian Unlimited: N. Korea Blames S. Korea for Stalled Talks
5 US: Act Now to Terminate Plutonium Activities at Livermore
6 US: NR: DU Disinfo Dupes Project Censored.
7 US: Santa Maria: No defense for the 'missile shield'
8 US: USATODAY.com - And it's all legal ...
9 US: Column: Foot-dragging has put U.S. behind the curve on energy
10 Daily Times: Rao was ‘true father’ of Indian bomb, says Vajpayee
NUCLEAR REACTORS
11 US: [NukeNet] Associated Press- Day of Truth Coming for Hope Creek
12 US: NRC: Notice of Consideration of Amendment Request for Decommissi
13 Times of India: 'Kalpakkam nuclear plant is safe'-
14 US: Daily Times: Tidal waves hit India’s nuclear plant, airbase
15 SIFY: ‘No radiation from Kalpakkam plant due to Tsunami’
16 ITAR-TASS: Russian nuclear power plants ready to boost output in 200
17 US: Newsday.com: A day of truth is coming for a troubled nuclear pow
18 US: NRC: Sunshine Act Meeting; Notice
19 US: News-Miner: Galena council approves nuclear power plant
NUCLEAR SAFETY
NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE
20 OA Online News: Atomic licensing board sets LES hearing
21 US: Bradenton Herald: Former Tallevast residents to get aid
NUCLEAR WEAPONS
US DEPT. OF ENERGY
22 Tri-City Herald: DOE gives Battelle 'outstanding' evaluation
23 DOE: Environmental Management Site-Specific Advisory Board, Fernald
24 DOE: Nuclear Energy Research Advisory Committee
25 WATE: Nuclear scrap hauling may increase to 125 daily truckloads
26 DOE: High Energy Physics Advisory Panel
OTHER NUCLEAR
27 Las Vegas SUN: Tsunami Death Toll Climbs to 52,000
28 BBC: Steam engines could be eco hope
29 csmonitor.com Fusion: Stepping closer to reality |
30 Guardian Unlimited: Tidal Waves Death Toll Rises to 40,000
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FULL NEWS STORIES
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1 The Herald: Support the alternatives to nuclear power
Web Issue 2169 December 29 2004
Deputy Enterprise Minister Allan Wilson's decision to speak
out publicly in favour of the nuclear industry given the
presence of nuclear power stations in his own constituency helps
explain why Scotland is so far behind other nations in terms of
developing a renewable energy industry at a time when the
development of clean energy has never been more important.
Mr Wilson's comments are worrying for two reasons. First,
because although nuclear power is unfortunately reserved to the
UK government, Mr Wilson has day-to-day ministerial
responsibility in Holyrood for renewable energy, much of which
is devolved to Scotland. Secondly, it has been widely understood
that current Labour-LibDem policy is opposed to new nuclear
power stations on Scottish soil.
The Labour Party's dithering over energy policy and favouritism
towards the nuclear industry have already left Scotland lagging
well behind other European countries in terms of renewables.
This is despite Scotland's potential to lead the field given the
many international experts in marine renewables and other
technologies based in this country and the fact that our small
nation's natural assets lend themselves to renewable energy
production. Given Allan Wilson's ministerial responsibility
within the Scottish government for providing political
leadership to the renewables industry, how can he now be trusted
to deliver when he publicly stated his support for the nuclear
option? How can he be expected to offer the drive and ambition
to ensure that Scotland catches up with the rest of Europe by
developing our renewables potential with a view to capturing the
environmental and economic benefits when he believes that
nuclear power can meet our energy needs?
Time and time again, I encounter sheer frustration in the
renewables industry with the Scottish government's half-hearted
and half-cocked approach to renewables.
Rather than falling behind, Scotland should be racing ahead and
putting in place the necessary resources and strategy to ensure
that not only do we move to clean energy but we own new
renewables technologies as well as the manufacturing capacity.
Scotland needs an energy policy and an energy minister able to
offer political leadership to the renewables industry. How can
Allan Wilson offer that leadership now he has undermined his own
credibility?
Any threat of Scotland experiencing an energy gap arises not
from a failure to build new nuclear power stations but because
of a failure by ministers to get fully behind the alternatives.
Richard Lochhead, MSP, shadow minister for energy and
environment, The Scottish Parliament.
ISN'T John Aberdein's oxymoronic fantasy, "the sensible
socialist concept of public ownership of utilities," even mildly
disturbed by the hideous reality of the socialist disaster of
Chernobyl ?
Alastair Ross, 1701 Menara Seputih, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Copyright © Newsquest (Herald & Times) Limited. All Rights
*****************************************************************
2 Korea Herald: Head of nuke force gets ambassador rank
(bluelle@heraldm.com)
By Choi Soung-ah
2004.12.29
The Foreign Ministry yesterday upgraded to ambassadorial rank the
head of the country's nuclear task force as part of its latest
reshuffling of posts.
Cho Tae-yong, director-general of the ministry's task force on
the North Korean nuclear issue and currently No. 2 negotiator on
the South Korean delegation to the six-party talks, is to be made
a special home-based ambassador.
As one of the youngest officials to be titled ambassador, the
48-year-old career diplomat will now have an equivalent rank to
his counterparts in the six-party framework, including U.S.
Ambassador Joseph Detrani and China's Ambassador Ning Fukui.
"The current director-general level in the ministry is ranked
between nine to 11. Ambassadorial titles are ranked between 12 to
14," a ministry official said.
"Director-General Cho will likely maintain his 11th rank for
now, but will be titled ambassador."
The task force, which Cho heads, was established in February
this year. He is highly regarded for his vast experience in
dealing with Washington, with various posts in the ministry's
North American Affairs bureau, including director for both North
America division I and II, as well as protocol secretary for
President Roh Moo-hyun.
Cho is the first official among his colleagues that passed the
14th national High Diplomatic Service Examination and entered the
ministry in 1980, to be titled ambassador.
If and when the main six-nation disarmament talks or head-level
discussions are held, the deputy foreign minister will continue
to be the chief negotiator from South Korea, with Cho as his
second in command.
The new deputy foreign minister, Song Min-soon, chief of the
ministry's Office of Planning and Management, will succeed Lee
Soo-hyuck.
Kim Sung-hwan, former ambassador to Uzbekistan will take Song's
place.
There had been speculation that Ambassador to China Kim Ha-joong
might be named nuclear ambassador and South Korea's chief
negotiator to the six-party talks, but the government changed its
position to avoid possible criticism that he is not an expert in
nuclear talks.
The Foreign Ministry's reshuffle plan also calls for appointment
of Chun Young-woo, deputy ambassador to the United Nations, as
chief of the Office of Policy Planning and International
Organizations.
Cheong Wa Dae on Monday named the country's ambassador to
Britain, Lee Tae-sik, to be the new vice foreign minister. The
59-year-old career diplomat previously served as deputy foreign
minister and various other posts before going to London in 2003.
As deputy foreign minister, Lee was also in charge of the North
Korean nuclear issue in the first several months of the dispute.
The ministry's latest reshuffle will also affect 21 other top
posts, including ambassadorial and consular jobs overseas, but
details are being withheld until all moves are officially agreed.
Other reshuffles at ministry headquarters include Choi
Suk-young, director-general of the ministry's APEC planning
division, to be named as an ambassador.
*****************************************************************
3 INSIDE JoongAng Daily: New delegate to six-party talks is career veteran
December 29, 2004 KST 15:24 (GMT+9)
December 29, 2004 ¤Ń If the six-nation talks to address North
Korea's nuclear arms program ever get going again, Song
Min-soon, a career diplomat with 30 years service with South
Korea's Foreign Ministry, will be Seoul's point man in the
negotiations.
A fourth round of six-party talks was scheduled for September,
but North Korea has been boycotting the talks, citing a
"hostile" U.S. policy.
After serving in various posts, such as ambassador to Poland,
Mr. Song, 56, worked as an aide at the Office of the President,
advising presidents Kim Young-sam and Kim Dae-jung on security
and foreign trade issues between 1997 and 1999.
Upon finishing his tour at the Blue House, Mr. Song became the
director general of the North American Affairs Bureau at the
Foreign Ministry, where he served until December 2000.
His last position was as deputy minister of foreign affairs and
trade for planning and management.
In his new role he has replaced current Vice Minister Lee
Soo-hyuck as head of Seoul's delegation to the six-party talks.
Aiding him will be Cho Tae-yong, who, with the new title of
ambassador, will continue to operate on the working-level
sidelines of the six-party format.
"Considering that the deputy heads of the U.S. and Chinese
missions to the talks are ambassadorial level, we decided to
elevate the title for a more fluent diplomatic dialogue," said a
ministry official.
Both Koreas, the United States, China, Russia, and Japan have
been engaged in the six-party approach since August last year.
by Brian Lee africanu@joongang.co.kr>
Copyright by Joins.com, Inc.
*****************************************************************
4 Guardian Unlimited: N. Korea Blames S. Korea for Stalled Talks
From the Associated Press
[UP]
Tuesday December 28, 2004 1:31 PM
North Korea Blames South Korea for a Stall in the Dialogue
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - North Korea blamed South Korea on
Tuesday for a stall in the dialogue between the two countries and
demanded an apology.
In a lengthy report, the North's Secretariat of the Committee for
the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland cited a mass
defection of North Koreans to the capitalist South earlier this
year - and a joint military exercise the South held with the
United States - as ``anti-reunification acts.''
Cabinet-level talks between the two Koreas were canceled in
August after about 460 North Koreans arrived by plane in South
Korea in an operation shrouded in secrecy. North Korea repeatedly
has called it a ``kidnapping.''
``Due to all the wrong acts of the South Korean authorities,
multichannel dialogues and contacts including the ministerial
talks have stopped and the inter-Korean relations frozen, and the
situation of the Korean Peninsula is rushing headlong to an acute
confrontation and strain,'' the secretariat said in a statement
carried by KCNA, the North's official news agency.
On Tuesday, North Korea also urged South Korean President Roh
Moo-hyun's administration to ``admit its two-year course of acts
against reunification and apologize to the nation at an early
date in whatever form and way considered suitable.''
Relations between the two countries have also been strained by a
continuing international dispute over the North's suspected
development of nuclear weapons.
A spokesman from North Korea's Foreign Ministry also said Tuesday
that the country wouldn't agree to disarm until ``the U.S. drops
its hostile policy aimed at the 'overthrow of the system' in
(North Korea) and opts for co-existence with it.''
Washington has demanded the North completely abandon its nuclear
program before giving any economic or diplomatic concessions. But
the spokesman said in a statement carried by KCNA that ``it will
be something unimaginable that (North Korea) will accept such
coercive and brigandish demand.''
``There is no reason for (North Korea) to make haste,'' the
spokesman added.
Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2004
*****************************************************************
5 Act Now to Terminate Plutonium Activities at Livermore
Date: Tue, 28 Dec 2004 16:43:55 -0800
Dear Friends and colleagues:
ACTION ALERT: We need your help NOW to stop the expansion of plutonium
activities at the Livermore nuclear weapons lab. As you are reading this,
the Dept. of Energy is considering major expansions of nuclear weapons
programs and materials in Livermore. Among other dangerous plans, the U.S.
Department of Energy has proposed to MORE THAN DOUBLE the plutonium limit
at Livermore Lab to 3,300 pounds. This is enough plutonium to make more
than 300 nuclear bombs.
Having this huge amount of plutonium in Livermore presents unstudied risks
-- including -- making the lab a terrorist target, leaving the San
Francisco Bay area vulnerable to environmental releases from accidents or
routine operations, and provoking other countries to follow suit and
increase their stockpiles of nuclear materials.
We need you to take action TODAY to stop the Dept. of Energy from expanding
plutonium activities at Livermore Lab.
*TAKE ACTION*:
http://capwiz.com/wagingpeace/mail/oneclick_compose/?alertid=6718276
Click on the link above to send a letter to the Dept. of Energy and Congress.
Thank you,
Tara Dorabji and Marylia Kelley, Tri-Valley CAREs
Marylia Kelley
Executive Director
Tri-Valley CAREs
(Communities Against a Radioactive Environment)
2582 Old First Street
Livermore, CA USA 94551
- is our web site address. Please visit us
there!
(925) 443-7148 - is our phone
(925) 443-0177 - is our fax
*****************************************************************
6 NR: DU Disinfo Dupes Project Censored.
Date: Tue, 28 Dec 2004 16:47:15 -0800
DU Disinfo Dupes Project Censored.
by Jack Cohen-Joppa
Background:
In September, Project Censored picked "High Uranium Levels Found in Troops
and Civilians" as the #4 most-censored story this year, citing the
following articles:
*URANIUM MEDICAL RESEARCH CENTER, January 2003
Title: "UMRC's Preliminary Findings from Afghanistan & Operation Enduring
Freedom"
and
"Afghan Field Trip #2 Report: Precision Destruction- Indiscriminate Effects"
Author: Tedd Weyman, UMRC Research Team
*AWAKENED WOMAN, January 2004
Title: "Scientists Uncover Radioactive Trail in Afghanistan"
Author: Stephanie Hiller
*DISSIDENT VOICE, March 2004
Title: "There Are No Words`Radiation in Iraq Equals 250,000 Nagasaki Bombs"
Author: Bob Nichols
*NEW YORK DAILY NEWS, April 5,2004
Title: "Poisoned?"
Author: Juan Gonzalez
*INFORMATION CLEARING HOUSE, March 2004
Title: "International Criminal Tribune For Afghanistan At Tokyo, The People
vs. George Bush"
Author: Professor Ms Niloufer Bhagwat J.
=-=-=-=-=-=-
It's like confusing a dime for a dollar. That's the difference between the
amount of depleted uranium in weapons the U.S. is known to have used in
Iraq since the invasion of March, 2003 - bad enough at almost 200 tons -
and 2,000 tons, a grossly exaggerated estimate accepted as fact by some
writers, and now also by Project Censored, the Sonoma University project
that each year highlights under-reported news.
So what's the harm if the numbers are off by ten times? Isn't the message
- that troops and civilians are being harmed by this new generation of
radioactive warfare - important enough?
The answer depends upon whether you'd like to see a policy change that
stops the use of depleted uranium weapons. That's what I'd like to see,
because the limited scientific evidence available plus common sense lead me
to conclude that adding more ionizing radiation into the environment in the
the form of highly refined, breathable and ingestible uranium oxides
resulting from combat is a bad idea.
As a long-time anti-nuclear activist, I've learned that outsiders seeking
justice can only hope to change government policy by having truth on our
side. We abandon credibility and will be dismissed in the halls of power
when we present unsupported speculation as scientific fact.
Beyond the issue of credibility, the case for any hazard is better made by
presenting proven numbers, along with evidence of any adverse effect. If
we claim it takes a dollar to do a dime's worth of damage, we're conceding
a big point on dosage.
Project Censored presented their own summary of the articles they cite. It
it, they claim that "Four million pounds of radioactive uranium were
dropped on Iraq in 2003 alone."
The claim in Bob Nichols' article that it "turns out they used about
4,000,000 pounds of the stuff, give or take, according to the Pentagon and
the United Nations" is simply not true. I have repeatedly asked Nichols
and others making this claim, including the Uranium Medical Research
Center (UMRC), to cite their Pentagon or UN sources. None have.
For example, a November, 2003 UMRC paper, "Abu Khasib to Al Ah'qaf: Iraq
Gulf War II Field Investigations Report©", notes five "published estimates
of quantities of uranium munitions." The last, and by far largest
estimate, is attributed to "Associated Press article, UNEP [United Nations
Environmental Program] Environmental Press Release Reports... April
2003." These reports are assembled from UNEP news releases and articles
selected from the world press.
A review of these press release reports from UNEP reveals that the
1,000-2,200 ton estimate is credited to "independent" analysts in some of
the stories, and in others, to "UN and independent" analysts, and
eventually, in Nichols, "to the Pentagon and United Nations". But never is
a UN document or named UN source quoted to give credence to such an
estimate. Follow-up with several of the journalists revealed the
not-uncommon practice of simply citing the work of other journalists
without further fact-checking for themselves. [1]
And of course, no Pentagon source has ever offered such an estimate.
The most comprehensive estimate to date of DU use in Iraq, based on known
DU weapons systems and Pentagon and other government statements, is less
than 200 tons (400,000 lbs.),[2] or 1/10th the inflated claim endorsed by
Project Censored.
WHERE DID THIS INFLATED NUMBER COME FROM?
To understand why this ten-fold greater number is such a popular
misconception, you have to believe, as Project Censored writes, that
"Most American weapons (missiles, smart bombs, bullets, tank shells, cruise
missiles, etc.) contain high amounts of uranium..."
The fact is, there is simply no forensic nor documentary evidence that DU
is used in "high" amounts, or even at all, in "most American weapon
systems." Apart from its less problematic use in armor plating and as
counterweights in some fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft, the only known uses
of uranium in conventional warfare are in various caliber armor-piercing
bullets and tank shells.
The amount known to be fired from tanks and aircraft cannon just can't
approach such a quantity. To believe the hyperbole, you have to believe
Bob Nichols, who writes that you'll find, "...In the case of a cruise
missile, as much as 800 pounds of the stuff..."
This belief that cruise missiles have depleted uranium in their warheads
has its genesis in the misunderstanding of a 1984 Navy memo about Tomahawk
Cruise missile flight tests.[3]
This misunderstanding was compounded by the work of Dai Williams, a British
industrial psychologist and independent researcher. Among the stories
cited by Project Censored, Stephanie Hiller's article, UMRC's reports and
the Tokyo tribunal all move beyond Williams' published hypothesis that many
warheads on bombs and Tomahawk cruise missiles include a very dense metal
penetrator. While Williams concludes only that DU may be what he dubs the
"mystery metal", others have construed Williams' misleading conflation of
facts and speculation [4] as evidence these weapons all contain massive
amounts of DU.
The oft-repeated Tomahawk/DU myth is refuted by several government
documents that specifically deny the use of DU in conventionally-armed
(i.e., non-nuclear) Tomahawk cruise missiles.
To quote just one, G.A. Higgins, U.S. Navy Medical Service Corps Commander
and Executive Secretary, Naval Radiation Safety Committee responded on
March 29, 1999, to an FOIA request made by the Military Toxics Project
(MTP). Higgins' letter reads, in part...
"Responding to your second request for information under the Freedom of
Information Act pertaining to the amount of depleted uranium in Navy
munitions, counterweights, and specifically the Tomahawk cruise missile, as
noted above, the only Navy weapons system using depleted uranium ammunition
is the Phalanx CIWS. [Close-In Weapons System] Each 20 mm round contains
70 grams of depleted uranium.
"Regarding the Tomahawk missile system, there is no depleted uranium used
in or on the deployed version of this weapons system. An unspecified
quantity of depleted uranium is used as mass for test and evaluation
purposes within the United States and is owned by the Department of Energy
(DOE)...."
That last sentence refers to the same circumstance that is the subject of
the misunderstood 1984 Navy memo: a flight test model of the
nuclear-capable Tomahawk. The DU used in such tests provides a suitably
heavy replacement for the intended nuclear warhead, so as to produce
comparable flight dynamics. Other U.S. military documents also confirm
that DU is not used in operational Tomahawk cruise missiles, Air Launched
Cruise Missiles, Advanced Cruise Missiles, or Conventional Air Launched
Cruise Missiles. [5]
I am not saying, nor do I believe, that one must accept all government
documents as truth. But when establishing facts in dispute, more
compelling evidence must be presented to refute government claims.
A keystone of Williams's hypothesis is a handful of U.S. warhead patents
that mention depleted uranium. This circumstantial piece of evidence has,
for some readers, constituted further proof.
But I have read these patents, and in all cases Williams cites, DU is
mentioned not as the primary material for the patented warhead shroud or
penetrator, but only as another suitably dense material, after the mention
of tungsten or similarly dense alloys. Following up on this, I telephoned
two of the named patent holders. Both had no knowledge of any production
of such warheads with DU instead of non-radioactive metals; both expressed
doubt that such production would have proceeded without their knowledge and
both agreed with this writer's assessment of the patent language in
question: that DU is noted as an alternate material simply to protect the
innovations of the patented designs, regardless of which available dense
metal is used.
Even the United Nations Environmental Program, which allegedly endorsed the
1,100-2,200 ton estimate, directly rebutted one of Williams' and UMRC's
central claims regarding the bombardment of Iraq:
"There is currently no evidence that missiles or bombs used during the war
- particularly the AGM-86D CALCM hard target penetrators (153 were used) or
bunker-busting bombs - contain DU."[6]
Finally, a few days after completing my first draft of this examination of
the evidence, I received an unequivocal letter from the Pentagon. More than
a year earlier, I had written at length to Sen. Jon Kyl of Arizona (where I
live), and posed a very specific question: "Have any of the laser or
satellite-guided bombs, guided missiles, or Tomahawk or air-launched cruise
missiles, used in Iraq since March 19, 2003, incorporated any components
manufactured from depleted uranium or an alloy of any type of uranium?"
The reply, addressed to Kyl, was direct to the point: "Our review of the
constituent's specific question regarding the use of certain munitions in
recent operations confirms that none of the guided bombs or cruise missiles
that the U.S. used in Iraq and Afghanistan contained uranium of any
type."[7]
There are other outrageous and unsubstantiated claims made by the authors
of Project Censored's selections, too many to debunk as thoroughly as the
DU in cruise missiles claim. So here is a sample.
* A respected uranium info site maintained by the international
anti-nuclear watchdog World Information Service on Energy (WISE) has
reviewed the uranium contamination data collected from U.S. soldiers by the
UMRC, and reported in the New York Daily News article. They conclude that
where DU is present in the soldiers' urine, the relative levels found are
anything but "high" compared to the levels normally found in humans. [8]
* From the very title of Bob Nichols' article, the hyperbole endorsed by
Project Censored is apparent to thoughtful students of things nuclear:
"...Radiation in Iraq equals 250,000 Nagasaki Bombs."
Further study about the source of this extreme comparison reveals that the
unit measured is "atomicity", an intellectual construct coined by a
Japanese scientist. It is simply the calculated number of radioactive
atoms involved, with no regard for the type of radiation present and its
relative biological impact, method of dispersal, etc. Such comparison is
meaningless at least, misleading at worst.
* The "International Criminal Tribunal for Afghanistan At Tokyo, The People
Vs. George Bush" lays its foundation by accepting Dai Williams' hypothesis
as a conclusion, and on the testimony of Leuren Moret. Moret's testimony
incorporated many of the factual inaccuracies and poorly supported
conclusions already discussed here.
* In interviews and press releases, including an update on Project
Censored's web site, UMRC's Dr. Durakovic and Tedd Weyman have declared
that thousands of tons of uranium warhead bunker busters were dropped and
depleted uranium missiles fired in Afghanistan and Iraq. But in a curious
contrast, their published work cited by Project Censored is far from
concluding that any uranium at all is used in these weapons.
Weyman reveals in Afghan Field Trip #2 Report: Precision Destruction -
Indiscriminate Effects the tentative nature of their public conclusions:
"These results are also indicative that, if uranium is in use, the new
generation of OEF [Operation Enduring Freedom] weapons produce
significantly higher levels of contaminant than DU penetrators." (emphasis
added). In UMRC's Preliminary Findings from Afghanistan and Operation
Enduring Freedom, Weyman states "the possibility of Natural Uranium [as the
source of the uranium in the samples] remains under investigation."
This significant hedge remains in the more recent May, 2004 UMRC poster
summary of data titled The Urinary Concentration of Uranium Isotopes in
Civilians of the Bibi Mahro Region after Recent Military Operations in
Eastern Afghanistan
[http://www.umrc.net/downloads/mp4.pdf].
This document concludes in part that "the explanation of our findings [of
elevated uranium levels in urine samples] could be either of two possible
mechanisms. 1) exposure to contaminated dust in the areas of the bombing
raids by natural uranium containing weapons or 2) unusual geological and
environmental excessively high uranium levels contained in the soil or
drinking water." (emphasis added)
This poster and the poster-reproduction of their Iraq research
[http://www.umrc.net/downloads/UMRC_HPS_2004_Poster2.pdf]
also fail to demonstrate that the bomb craters contain the "significantly
higher levels of [uranium] contaminant", as predicted. In Iraq, the most
radioactive battle sites reported by UMRC were targets of A-10 and tank
rounds made of DU, not cruise missile strikes or aerial bombing as their
other claims would suggest. Furthermore, two of the scientists cited on
the posters as responsible for the work - Gerdes and Parrish - have since
distanced themselves from the conclusions UMRC's attributed to them without
their consent.
I conclude with a few questions of my own.
If it were true, as UMRC claims in Afghan Field Trip #2 Report (absent any
reference), that "the United States and its weapons' contractors
acknowledge the development, expansion and deployment of weapons and
delivery systems that use low, medium and high altitude, air-to-surface and
ship-launched uranium alloyed munitions", what other evidence should exist?
I can think of:
*Handling protocol for ordnance specialists (such protocol exists for the
A-10's DU ammo and the tank rounds);
*DU licenses for production, and production records from the factories
making the warheads;
But significantly, no documents other than the patents already discussed
have been put forward as evidence that uranium of any sort is used in such
a wide spectrum of missiles and bombs.
And finally, if the Pentagon publicly considers DU relatively benign; uses
it indiscriminately in other applications; and even brags of its advantages
for our troops; then why would it keep such warhead uses a deep, dark secret?
While Project Censored has brought attention to an important story, they
did so by endorsing the unsubstantiated and alarmist views of an activist
fringe.
That's my 10˘ worth .
======
======
FOOTNOTES
1) i.e.,
From: Felice & Jack Cohen-Joppa
Sent: Monday, August 04, 2003
To: larryjohnson@seattlepi.com
Subject: Thanks for DU article / ?source for ##s?
Thanks for today's DU article, Larry.
....Can you tell me your source for these numbers:
"The Pentagon and United Nations estimate that U.S. and British forces used
1,100 to 2,200 tons of armor-piercing shells made of depleted uranium
during attacks in Iraq in March and April..."
From: "Johnson, Larry"
To: 'Felice & Jack Cohen-Joppa'
Subject: RE: Thanks for DU article / ?source for ##s?
Date: Mon, 4 Aug 2003
Forgive my lack of precision, but I've been working on this DU thing since
I came back from Iraq in late June and it has taken on a life of its own.
anyway, as near as I can recall, those numbers come from articles in the
news media in Britain, where the Ministry of Defense has been considerably
more forthcoming than has the Pentagon... those numbers or something
similar (often saying up to 2,000 metric tonnes) are used widely in
Britain... BBC, Times, etc...
Best,
Larry
====
2) [see 'The emergence and decline of the debate over depleted uranium
munitions' at
http://www.antenna.nl/wise/uranium/pdf/duemdec.pdf
]
====
3) See "Uranium Battlefields at Home and Abroad" by McGehee, Lopez and
Bukowski (1993)
====
4) (see charts conflating 'known and suspected' DU weapons at
http://www.eoslifework.co.uk/Uhaz7feb03/sld011.htm)
====
5) Links to US military documents that unequivocally state that DU is not
used in operational Tomahawk cruise missiles, Air Launched Cruise Missiles,
Advanced Cruise Missiles, or Conventional Air Launched Cruise Missiles:
http://www.gulflink.osd.mil/du_ii/du_ii_refs/n52en215/9354_019_0000001.htm
http://www.gulflink.osd.mil/du_ii/du_ii_refs/n52en216/9354_020_0000001.htm
====
6) Environment in Iraq: UNEP Progress Report (20 October, 2003)
========
7)
http://www.antenna.nl/wise/uranium/dissgw.html
========
8) http://www.antenna.nl/wise/uranium/dissgw.html#GERDES.
*****************************************************************
7 Santa Maria: No defense for the 'missile shield'
Date: Tue, 28 Dec 2004 07:30:24 -0800 (PST)
No defense for the 'missile shield'
The recent headline "Bush Missile Shield Fails Major
Test" gives the impression that this failure was an
isolated event. In fact, it would be more newsworthy
if the program were to succeed.
Ronald Reagan awoke one morning, back in the 1980s and
declared that henceforth the nation would produce a
"star wars" defense system capable of protecting the
U.S. against all enemy missile attacks (not unlike
those described in the old Buck Rogers comic books).
We have since poured billions of dollars into this
now-called Missile Defense System, with no end in
sight.
Despite the reservations expressed by members of the
scientific community, we continue to "stay the
course," costs be damned. We are fortunate that a few
billion misspent dollars doesn't concern us just as
long as the military has its way.
The success rate of the Missile Defense System over
the past few years, even when we are in control of all
of the variables (i.e. time and place of incoming
missiles) is only about 30 percent. Even if our
enemies gave us advance warning, we would still most
likely be found in our silos with malfunctioning
missiles, asking ourselves what happened. The real
insult to the American public, however, is Mr. Bush's
touting the Missile Defense System and proudly
boasting tht several missiles are now at Vandenberg
AFB. If that doesn't give the American public a false
sense of security, then we are really in trouble.
Richard J. Silvestro, Santa Maria
www.newspress.com
=====
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.
*****************************************************************
8 USATODAY.com - And it's all legal ...
Posted 12/27/2004 10:48 PM
By Jonathan Turley
Orientation week can be a daunting and confusing process for any
freshman, particularly for the nine new senators and 38 new House
members of the 109th Congress. During the recent orientation week
on Capitol Hill, one freshman, Representative-elect Al Green,
D-Texas, noted "as a neophyte trying to find his way, you need as
many people to direct you as you can."
Indeed, that education is about to begin in earnest, starting
with the ethics book included in their orientation kits. On
their face, the ethics rules would seem to bar any self-dealing
or profit-taking by members. In reality, they actually legalize
conduct that would be viewed as grossly unethical or corrupt in
the other government branches. For Green and the other
neophytes, therefore, the following are four easy lessons on how
to earn millions on a government salary.
Rule No. 1
You can make more in a single stock trade than in a lifetime of
public service. Congress has excluded investment income, such as
stocks, from ethics limitations on income. The result is that
members routinely make killings in the market in areas where
they legislate. One study by the University of Memphis found
that 75% of randomly selected members had "stock transactions
that directly coincided with (their) legislative activity."
Members have the unique ability to predict or even manipulate
stock prices. Another recent study by Alan J. Ziobrowski of
Georgia State University and three colleagues showed that U.S.
senators beat the market handily by 12 percentage points in
their investments outperforming "corporate insiders" by eight
points from 1993 to1998. This may have less to do with their
market skills than their knowledge of upcoming bills or
regulations benefiting certain companies.
Rule No. 2
"Profit-take" before you legislate. It is better to keep
profiteering on a strictly quid pro quo basis: The member gets
government contracts or legislative deals for a lobbyist, and
the lobbyist delivers windfall investments for the member. Take
Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska the ultimate rags-to-riches story
in Congress.
Stevens came to the Senate with modest means, particularly after
heavy investment losses in the 1980s. In 1997, he had a Scarlet
O'Hara "I'll never be hungry again" moment. According to a Los
Angeles Times investigation, he decided to get "serious about
making money" and contacted lobbyists about possible deals.
Real estate developer Jonathan Rubini arranged for Stevens to
get into a deal in which he turned $50,000 into as much as $1.5
million and Stevens was the only investor not liable for any
debts, the Times said. In the meantime, he muscled through a
$450 million contract for Rubini from the military, despite the
view of Air Force officials that Rubini "lacked capacity and
adequate funding."
Of course, one does not actually have to invest to take money
from lobbyists. Rep. Jim Moran. D-Va., took an unsecured $25,000
loan from a drug-company lobbyist and then pushed a bill that
benefited the company.
Rule No. 3
Your children are your security. One way to reap the benefits of
public service is for lobbyists to employ your spouse or
children at huge salaries despite their lack of experience.
Consider Karen Weldon, the 29-year-old daughter of Rep. Curt
Weldon, R-Pa. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported that despite
her lack of foreign-policy experience, Karen was given a
lobbyist contract of a quarter-million dollars from Serbian
interests allied with accused war criminal Slobodan Milosevic,
as well as a $20,000-a-month contract with a Russian aerospace
manufacturer. Rep. Weldon later pushed to get visas for the
Serbians and deals for the Russian company.
Chet Lott ran a Domino's Pizza chain in Kentucky and played
polo. Yet he was given a huge salary representing
telecommunications and other interests, according to the Times
stories. His father, Sen. Trent Lott, R-Miss., was majority
leader. The Times also reported Stevens' wife, Catherine, is
paid by a law firm representing business interests to "monitor
appropriations issues," a task made a bit easier by her being
married to the chairman of the Appropriations Committee.
Rule No. 4
You can never have too much "education." While ethics rules
prohibit gifts and speaking fees, members routinely accept
thousands of dollars in expenses and travel from lobbyists and
business associations. These paid vacations are billed as
"educational" for members of Congress, and they are clearly
eager to learn.
For example, in 2002 Rep. Richard Burr, R-N.C., was "educated"
at the expensive Bellagio Hotel in Las Vegas with first-class
airplane tickets, an open bar for poolside drinks and other
"educational" expenses paid for by the National Association of
Broadcasters, according The Washington Post. The trip's purpose:
a public policy conference. Burr later wanted to learn about the
nuclear site in Nevada's Yucca Mountain. Not content to simply
visit the Nevada desert, Burr and Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio,
arranged for a lobbyist to "educate" them and their spouses in
Barcelona and Seville.
Former representative Tom Bliley, R-Va., then chairman of the
Commerce Committee, had a tobacco company send him and his wife
on the Concorde to London at a cost of $24,000 and then put them
up at the famous Savoy Hotel at $1,000 a night. National Public
Radio also said that they were then "educated" at the Wimbledon
tennis finals with tickets costing roughly $3,000.
For the new members, it is never too early to create a properly
diversified financial plan with a few insider tips, a couple of
well-placed stocks, a lobbying job for the unemployable child
and maybe a few educational trips for you and your spouse to
swank vacation spots.
So, to the Freshman Class of 2005, welcome to Washington, where
public service can truly serve the public servant.
Jonathan Turley is the Shapiro Professor of Public Interest Law
at George Washington University Law School.And it's all legal
...12/27/2004 10:48 PMBy Jonathan Turley -->
© Copyright 2004 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.
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9 Column: Foot-dragging has put U.S. behind the curve on energy
Dec 27, 2004 9:19 AM
As long as the pumps don’t run dry, why worry about tomorrow?
By Hembree Brandon
With all the holiday goings-on, scant notice was given to the
bipartisan National Committee on Energy Policy’s report on
strategies for addressing America’s long-term energy challenges.
More than two years in development, leading experts from
industry, government, labor, academia, and environmental and
consumer groups participated in formulating recommendations for
addressing oil security, natural gas supply, the future of
nuclear energy, climate change, and other issues.
The upshot (to no one’s particular surprise): The United States
will be dependent on fossil fuels, chiefly petroleum, for decades
to come, says William Reilly, committee co-chair.
Solutions, the experts say, hinge chiefly on increased
exploration to boost supplies, conservation to improve
efficiency, policies to address energy challenges, and increased
investment in alternative fuels.
But, they say, ethanol, solar, wind, biomass, hydrogen, and other
alternative power forms can be expected to satisfy only a smidgen
of this country’s (and the world’s) voracious appetite for
energy.
And more than 30 years after the Arab oil embargo sent sticker
shock through an energy-hungry world, this country is no nearer
to a meaningful, coherent, realistic energy policy than it was
when there were long lines for gasoline and consumers and
government were swearing “never again.”
But the oil spigots reopened and over the years, despite the ups
and downs occasioned by OPEC machinations and energy crises of
varying magnitude, the United States has never been able to
muster the fortitude to buckle down and get serious about
reducing its dependence on imported oil.
Gas prices have recently soared above $2 per gallon in much of
the country, but nobody much seemed to care. As long as the pumps
don’t run dry, why worry about tomorrow?
“The near-term key to reducing oil price shocks is curbing U.S.
demand and increasing world supply,” William Reilly says. “We
have to do both, and we have to make big investments in
alternatives like bio-fuels from domestic crops and agricultural
waste.”
Well, duh. Shades of the 1970s, when “bio-fuels” and conservation
were the mantras de jour and researchers were making fuel from
everything from garbage dumps to cottonwood trees. But those
fuels weren’t price-competitive with Mideast oil and nobody was
willing to say, “We’ll bite the bullet and pay more now in order
to build an energy infrastructure that won’t be in total thrall
to Arab sheiks in the future.”
While the United States fiddled and faddled and poured trillions
into Big Oil’s coffers, Brazil was developing an ethanol industry
and now 40 percent of that country’s cars run on 100 percent
ethanol, while the rest use gasoline blended with 22 percent
ethanol. Brazil, the world’s largest producer of ethanol (chiefly
from sugarcane), uses nearly 4 billion gallons of ethanol per
year, compared to only 1.7 billion gallons in the United States,
where it’s blended with gasoline at only a 10 percent rate.
Germany is expected to use 750 million gallons of biodiesel this
year. In the U.S., biodiesel is in its infancy — just last year
finally getting government subsidy assistance.
The commission estimates its recommendations could cut U.S. oil
consumption by 10 percent to 15 percent by 2025.
It would be a start… however belated. Don’t bet on it happening.
2004, PRIMEDIA Business Magazines &Media Inc.
© 2004 Primedia, Inc. All rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
10 Daily Times: Rao was ‘true father’ of Indian bomb, says Vajpayee
Wednesday, December 29, 2004
NEW DELHI: Former Indian prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee
said on Sunday that his predecessor PV Narasimha Rao was the
“true father” of India’s nuclear programme.
Participating at a writers’ convention in Gwalior, an emotional
Vajpayee said that when he assumed the prime minister’s office in
1996 (the 13-day stint), he received a paper from his predecessor
urging him to continue the country’s nuclear programme. “Rao had
asked me not to make it public; but today when he is dead and
gone, I wish to set the record straight.”
He said, “Rao told me that the bomb was ready. I only exploded
it. I did not miss the opportunity.” Vajpayee said the Congress
party also wanted a strong India to counter Pakistan and China.
“In foreign policy matters, they never lacked a commitment.”
“The country’s nuclear programme was never halted,” he said,
adding that he considered Rao the “father of the country’s
nuclear programme”. Rao was often accused of wilting under US
pressure to call off the nuclear test. In a recent book, former
US deputy secretary of state Strobe Talbot claimed that president
Bill Clinton’s hectic, behind-the-scene diplomatic efforts had
dissuaded Rao from conducting the test.
Vajpayee said there were several reasons why he decided in favour
of going nuclear. The government had full knowledge that Pakistan
was making similar efforts, he said. “Moreover, we could never
ignore the China factor, too.”However, he clarified that nuclear
power was never meant to be used. “It acts as a powerful
deterrent and has its own advantages,” Vajpayee said, before
reading out some of his favourite poems. iftikhar gilani Home |
Daily Times - All Rights Reserved
and hosted by WorldCALL Internet
*****************************************************************
11 [NukeNet] Associated Press- Day of Truth Coming for Hope Creek
Date: Tue, 28 Dec 2004 20:24:23 -0800
NukeNet Anti-Nuclear Network (nukenet@energyjustice.net)
A day of truth is coming for a troubled nuclear power plant
December 28, 2004, 3:16 PM EST
MOUNT LAUREL, N.J. -- The company that owns the Hope Creek nuclear power
plant in Salem County is hoping to obtain at a Jan. 5 meeting the approval
of federal regulators to restart the plant, which has been shut down since
an Oct. 10 steam leak.
While Public Service Energy Group has been working for more than two
months to fix the problems that caused the leak, activists are hoping a
second problem will keep the plant from being restarted immediately.
Newark-based PSEG does not need formal permission from the federal Nuclear
Regulatory Commission to restart the Hope Creek plant, but agreed after
the October mishap not to restart it until after a meeting with the
commission.
A meeting is now scheduled for Jan. 5 in Bridgeport.
There, NRC officials are expected to present their findings from a special
investigation of the circumstances surrounding the leak, which caused no
injuries.
NRC officials are also working on a separate report regarding the other
issue, a bowed rod in a reactor circulation pump.
When the pump is operating at certain speeds, it creates a clanging that
employees have compared to the sound of a freight train.
PSEG officials have said that the pump is safe enough, though, that it
will not need to be changed until the next regular plant shutdown for
refueling and maintenance, which is scheduled for mid-2006.
Kymn Harvin, a PSEG whistle blower who once worked at the plants, has
urged the NRC to force PSEG to replace the part before restarting.
"We are facing a showdown _ profits first or safety first," Harvin wrote
in an e-mail Tuesday to The Associated Press. The NRC, Harvin said, must
decide which of the values wins.
PSEG is in the midst of a merger with Chicago-based energy company Exelon.
Officials with that firm have said they back the decision to wait to
replace the pump.
NRC spokesman Neil Sheehan said Tuesday that if the report on the pump is
completed in time, it will be discussed at next week's meeting. Otherwise,
it would be the subject of another public meeting.
PSEG is poised to restart the plant after next week's meeting, said
company spokesman Skip Sindoni.
Copyright © 2004, The Associated Press
--
Coalition for Peace and Justice
UNPLUG Salem Campaign; 321 Barr Ave, Linwood
NJ 08221; 609-601-8583; cell 609-742-0982
ncohen12@comcast.net; www.unplugsalem.org
_______________________________________________________________________
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12 NRC: Notice of Consideration of Amendment Request for Decommissioning
FR Doc 04-28298
[Federal Register: December 28, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 248)]
[Notices] [Page 77779-77781] From the Federal Register Online via
GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr28de04-149]
for U.S. Army Research Development and Engineering Command,
Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD, and Opportunity To Request a Hearing
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Notice of license amendment, opportunity to request a
hearing, and solicitation of public comments.
DATES: A request for a hearing must be filed by February 28,
2005.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Tom McLaughlin, Project Manager,
Decommissioning Directorate, Division
[[Page 77780]] of Waste Management and Environmental Protection,
Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear
Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001; Telephone:
(301) 415-5869; fax number: (301) 415-5398; e-mail: tgm@nrc.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: I. Introduction The Nuclear Regulatory
Commission (NRC) is considering issuance of a license amendment
to U.S. Army Research Development and Engineering Command (Army
as the licensee) to amend its License No.
19-10306-02 to authorize decommissioning of Building 7304 located
in Fort Belvoir, Virginia, to allow the termination of this
license.
License No. 19-10306-02 authorizes the licensee to conduct
research and development as defined in 10 CFR 30.4; provide
teaching and training of students; conduct calibration and
checking of licensee's instruments; prepare low level counting
standards; and demonstrate items being developed and/or tested.
The Decommissioning Plan (DP) was submitted by the licensee on
May 17, 2004. An NRC administrative review, documented in a
letter to the U.S. Army Research Development and Engineering
Command on August 24, 2004, found the DP acceptable to begin a
technical review.
If the NRC approves the DP, the authorization to dismantle and
demolish Building 7304 will be documented in an amendment to NRC
License No. 19-10306-02. However, before approving the proposed
amendment, the NRC will need to make the findings required by the
Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, and NRC's regulations.
These findings will be documented in a Safety Evaluation Report
and an Environmental Assessment. The license will be terminated
following issuance of this amendment and following completion of
decommissioning activities and verification by the NRC in
accordance with 10 CFR 20.1401. II. Opportunity To Request a
Hearing The NRC hereby provides notice that this is a proceeding
on an application for a license amendment to License No.
19-10306-02 to allow dismantlement and demolition of Building
7304 at the Army facility located in Fort Belvoir, Virginia. In
accordance with the general requirements in Subpart C of 10 CFR
Part 2, as amended on January 14, 2004 (69 FR 2182), any person
whose interest may be affected by this proceeding and who desires
to participate as a party must file a written request for a
hearing and a specification of the contentions which the person
seeks to have litigated in the hearing.
In accordance with 10 CFR 2.302(a), a request for a hearing must
be filed with the Commission either by: 1. First class mail
addressed to: Office of the Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, Attention: Rulemakings and
Adjudications; 2. Courier, express mail, and expedited delivery
services: Office of the Secretary, Sixteenth Floor, One White
Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD 20852,
Attention: Rulemakings and Adjudications Staff, between 7:45 a.m.
and 4:15 p.m., Federal work days; 3. E-mail addressed to the
Office of the Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
HEARINGDOCKET@NRC.GOV; or 4. By facsimile transmission addressed
to the Office of the Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission, Washington, DC, Attention: Rulemakings and
Adjudications Staff, at (301) 415-1101; verification number is
(301) 415-1966.
In accordance with 10 CFR 2.302(b), all documents offered for
filing must be accompanied by proof of service on all parties to
the proceeding or their attorneys of record as required by law or
by rule or order of the Commission, including: 1. The applicant,
U.S. Army Research Development and Engineering Command, 5183
Blackhawk Road, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland 21010,
Attention: Major General John C. Doesburg, Commander; and 2. The
NRC staff, by delivery to the Office of the General Counsel, One
White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD 20852, or
by mail addressed to the Office of the General Counsel, U.S.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001. Hearing
requests should also be transmitted to the Office of the General
Counsel, either by means of facsimile transmission to (301)
415-3725, or by e-mail to ogcmailcenter@nrc.gov. The formal
requirements for documents contained in 10 CFR 2.304(b), (c),
(d), and (e), must be met. In accordance with 10 CFR 2.304(f), a
document filed by electronic mail or facsimile transmission need
not comply with the formal requirements of 10 CFR 2.304(b), (c),
and (d), as long as an original and two (2) copies otherwise
complying with all of the requirements of 10 CFR 2.304(b), (c),
and (d) are mailed within two (2) days thereafter to the
Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC
20555-0001, Attention: Rulemakings and Adjudications Staff.
In accordance with 10 CFR 2.309(b), a request for a hearing must
be filed by February 28, 2005.
In addition to meeting other applicable requirements of 10 CFR
2.309, the general requirements involving a request for a hearing
filed by a person other than an applicant must state: 1. The
name, address, and telephone number of the requester; 2. The
nature of the requester's right under the Act to be made a party
to the proceeding; 3. The nature and extent of the requester's
property, financial or other interest in the proceeding; 4. The
possible effect of any decision or order that may be issued in
the proceeding on the requester's interest; and 5. The
circumstances establishing that the request for a hearing is
timely in accordance with 10 CFR 2.309(b). In accordance with 10
CFR 2.309(f)(1), a request for hearing or petitions for leave to
intervene must set forth with particularity the contentions
sought to be raised. For each contention, the request or petition
must: 1. Provide a specific statement of the issue of law or fact
to be raised or controverted; 2. Provide a brief explanation of
the basis for the contention; 3. Demonstrate that the issue
raised in the contention is within the scope of the proceeding;
4. Demonstrate that the issue raised in the contention is
material to the findings that the NRC must make to support the
action that is involved in the proceeding; 5. Provide a concise
statement of the alleged facts or expert opinions which support
the requester's/petitioner's position on the issue and on which
the requester/petitioner intends to rely to support its position
on the issue; and 6. Provide sufficient information to show that
a genuine dispute exists with the applicant on a material issue
of law or fact.
This information must include references to specific portions of
the application (including the applicant's environmental report
and safety report) that the requester/petitioner disputes and the
supporting reasons for each dispute, or, if the
requester/petitioner believes the application fails to contain
information on a relevant matter as required by law, the
identification of each failure and the supporting reasons for the
requester's/petitioner's belief.
In addition, in accordance with 10 CFR 2.309(f)(2), contentions
must be based on documents or other
[[Page 77781]] information available at the time the petition is
to be filed, such as the application, supporting safety analysis
report, environmental report or other supporting document filed
by an applicant or licensee, or otherwise available to the
petitioner. On issues arising under the National Environmental
Policy Act, the requester/petitioner shall file contentions based
on the applicant's environmental report. The requester/petitioner
may amend those contentions or file new contentions if there are
data or conclusions in the NRC draft, or final environmental
impact statement, environmental assessment, or any supplements
relating thereto, that differ significantly from the data or
conclusions in the applicant's documents. Otherwise, contentions
may be amended or new contentions filed after the initial filing
only with leave of the presiding officer.
Each contention shall be given a separate numeric or alpha
designation within one of the following groups: 1.
Technical--primarily concerns issues relating to matters
discussed or referenced in the Safety Evaluation Report for the
proposed action.
2. Environmental--primarily concerns issues relating to matters
discussed or referenced in the Environmental Report for the
proposed action.
3. Emergency Planning--primarily concerns issues relating to
matters discussed or referenced in the Emergency Plan as it
relates to the proposed action.
4. Physical Security--primarily concerns issues relating to
matters discussed or referenced in the Physical Security Plan as
it relates to the proposed action.
5. Miscellaneous--does not fall into one of the categories
outlined above.
If the requester/petitioner believes a contention raises issues
that cannot be classified as primarily falling into one of these
categories, the requester/petitioner must set forth the
contention and supporting bases, in full, separately for each
category into which the requester/petitioner asserts the
contention belongs with a separate designation for that category.
Requesters/petitioners should, when possible, consult with each
other in preparing contentions and combine similar subject matter
concerns into a joint contention, for which one of the
co-sponsoring requesters/petitioners is designated the lead
representative.
Further, in accordance with 10 CFR 2.309(f)(3), any
requester/petitioner that wishes to adopt a contention proposed
by another requester/petitioner must do so in writing within ten
days of the date the contention is filed, and designate a
representative who shall have the authority to act for the
requester/petitioner.
In accordance with 10 CFR 2.309(g), a request for hearing and/or
petition for leave to intervene may also address the selection of
the hearing procedures, taking into account the provisions of 10
CFR 2.310. III. Opportunity To Provide Comments In accordance
with 10 CFR 20.1405, the NRC is providing notice to individuals
in the vicinity of the site that the NRC has received a license
amendment request and decommissioning plan from the Army. The NRC
will accept comments concerning this amendment request and DP.
Comments with respect to this action should be provided in
writing within 30 days of this notice and addressed to Mr. Tom
McLaughlin, U.S. NRC, Washington, DC 20555-0001. Comments
received after 30 days will be considered if practicable to do
so, but only those comments received on or before the due date
can be assured consideration.
IV. Further Information Documents related to this action,
including the application for amendment and supporting
documentation, are available electronically at the NRC's
Electronic Reading Room at
http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. From this site, you can
access the NRC's Agency wide Document Access and Management
System (ADAMS), which provides text and image files of NRC's
public documents. The ADAMS accession numbers for the documents
related to this notice is ML041490071. If you do not have access
to ADAMS or if there are problems in accessing the documents
located in ADAMS, contact the NRC Public Document Room PDR
Reference staff at 1-800-397-4209, 301-415-4737, or by e-mail to
pdr@nrc.gov. These documents may also be viewed electronically on
the public computers located at the NRC's PDR, located in O-1
F21, One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD
20852. The PDR reproduction contractor will copy documents for a
fee.
Please note that on October 25, 2004, the NRC suspended public
access to ADAMS, and initiated an additional security review of
publicly available documents to ensure that potentially sensitive
information is removed from the ADAMS database accessible through
the NRC's web site. Interested members of the public may obtain
copies of the referenced documents for review and/or copying by
contacting the Public Document Room pending resumption of public
access to ADAMS.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 20th day of December, 2004.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Daniel M. Gillen, Acting Director, Division of Waste Management
and Environmental Protection, Office of Nuclear Material Safety
and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 04-28298 Filed 12-27-04; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590-01-P
*****************************************************************
13 Times of India: 'Kalpakkam nuclear plant is safe'-
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2004
SUROJIT MAHALANOBIS
TIMES NEWS NETWORK[ TUESDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2004 06:19:34 PM ]
NEW DELHI: Dr AR Gore, Senior Executive Director of Nuclear
Power Corporation India Limited (NPCIL), spoke on the
post-tsunami issues and the safety of the Kalpakkam nuclear
plant, excerpts:
What's the status of the Kalpakkam plant safety?
Kalpakkam plant is in safe shut down condition. Our focus now is
on restoring the normalcy in the township so that all employees
and their families (1000 plus) can return to their homes at the
earliest. Also we want to make sure that there is no epidemic.
Our medical teams are already at Kalpakkam with required
medicines such as chlorine tablets, anti-tetanus serums (ATSs)
and those to stop gastroenteritiss and dysentery etc. Though
there has not been any outbreak there of any epidemic or
diseases as yet, ours is only a precautionary step. Water
entered the Kalpakkam plant tower only, which is situated near
the coast and not in the plant. Water entered only the pump
house (PH) in the tower. As soon as water entered the PH the
condensers cooling the water pumps stopped and the operator
tripped the turbine as result of which the reactor was brought
into safe shut down condition (technical term). It's being
maintained so. (Not to be quoted: "It can be maintained like
that for indefinite period, if necessary.)
How many nuclear facilities at Kalpakkam might have been
affected by the tidal wave?
None. At Kalpakkam, there are a few major nuclear installations
such as Madras Atomic Power Station, a fast breeder test reactor
and numerous test labs of Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic
Research (IGCAR) Laboratories. These apart, a 500 megawatt fast
breeder nuclear facility is under construction. All away from
the coastline. So, there was no question of damage to any
reactor.
What about casualties at your Kalpakkam plant site?
There is no casualty in the plant site. Most casualties are in
the township due to drowning in the floods. The victims got
trapped in water and were drowned. Total number of our
casualties is five employees and about 25 members of their
families. The balance out of total 60 casualties in Kalpakkam,
is from the adjacent villages. Soon after we felt the
aftershocks, all plant people were alerted. They saw the water
is not settling to a certain level, there was constant upheaval
and so we could take proper alarm. We constantly monitored the
seismic activities and followed United States Geological Survey
monitoring reports which said about 27 tremors recurring between
6 to 9 on the Richter and most at Sumatra and Nicobar Islands.
Is any aftermath hazard in the offing?
No hazards now we think. The water has gone down to normal
level. The drinking water has not yet contaminated by sea water
ingress. No house collapsed here, they were only flooded in
certain areas in the township. As for the plant premises, you
may recall the Bhuj earthquake. At Bhuj we have the Atomic Power
Station. The plant had remained intact, functional and was
operating even during the tremor, such was the quality design
and construction. The Kalpakkam plant also remained intact after
this tidal wave onslaught.
In India the sewer and drinking water pipelines generally go
side by side. Was there any report of breakage in the pipelines
and ingress or mix-up of the contents?
So far no. We are scrutinising everything. Such things will of
course not escape our notice.
Copyright © 2004 Times Internet Limited. All rights reserved. ||
*****************************************************************
14 Daily Times: Tidal waves hit India’s nuclear plant, airbase
Wednesday, December 29, 2004
By Iftikhar Gilani
NEW DELHI: Tidal waves that swept southern India on Sunday have
affected two important defence installations.
Though India on Tuesday dismissed reports of any threat of
radiation from the Kalpakam nuclear plant in the southern state
of Tamil Nadu, nearly 100 people have lost their lives there
including 16 employees of the nuclear plant. A Silvaraj, design
engineer of the plant has also been reported dead.
The joint services command at Andoman Nicobar overlooking seas of
Mayanmar, Bangladesh and an airbase have also been devastated.
The government has confirmed that 27 air force personnel had died
while some 80 were still missing. The authorities have given up
hopes for their survival. National Security Advisor (NSA) JN
Dixit said that no radiation occurred in the Kalpakam nuclear
plant and it was safe. He admitted that operations in the plant
have been put on halt as a precautionary measure but denied
deaths in the plant.
Anil Kakodkar, Department of Atomic Energy secretary, told
reporters that only part of the plant under construction had been
affected and that nobody suffered radiation as a result of the
incident. Group Captain Bandopadhyay, Andoman Nicobar airbase
commander, compared the tidal waves that lashed the island to a
wall of water, saying it was at least 10 to 15 metres high. Its
speed was estimated at between 500 and 800km per hour.
Air Chief Marshal S Krishnaswamy, who visited the island on
Monday along with Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Defence
Minister Pranab Mukherjee, was emotionally charged to see
Bandopadhyay who had no uniform, not even proper clothes to wear.
“In my 34 years of service, I have never seen an IAF base
commander receiving his chief in a vest, pyjamas and slippers. He
has nothing left,” he said. Home | National
Daily Times - All Rights Reserved
and hosted by WorldCALL Internet
*****************************************************************
15 SIFY: ‘No radiation from Kalpakkam plant due to Tsunami’
Tuesday, 28 December , 2004, 18:52
Kalpakkam: Dismissing reports of radiation threat from the
Kalpakkam nuclear power plant due to Sunday’s fury of tidal
waves, the government on Tuesday assured that no radiation had
taken place and it was safe.
Stating that no plant had been effected due to the tidal waves
nor was their any casualty in the plants, secretary in the
Department of Atomic Energy Anil Kakodkar told reporters that
only a construction site of the plant was affected.
"There is absolutely no issue related to radiation as a result of
this particular incident," he said. Unfortunately, some scare had
spread despite clarifying this aspect to the media on Monday, he
added.
"There is no concern about radiation release from any vicinity at
Kalpakkam site. There was no casualties in the plant," he said.
© Copyright Sify Ltd, 1998-2004. All rights reserved.
Sify.comhosted at SifyHosting India's first Level 3 Internet
DataCentre.
*****************************************************************
16 ITAR-TASS: Russian nuclear power plants ready to boost output in 2005
28.12.2004, 19.41
MOSCOW, December 28 (Itar-Tass) - Russian nuclear power plants
are ready to boost electricity generation next year, head of the
federal agency for nuclear energy /Rosatom/ Alexander Rumyantsev
told reporters on Tuesday.
Power output will be foremost boosted due to the successful
launching in mid-December 2004 of the 3rd VVER-1000 reactor at
the Kalininskaya plant, according to Rumyantsev.
"This reactor already generates electricity, in the regime of
balancing and commissioning works, and in the middle of 2005, it
will operate under a commercial load of 1,000 mW," he
emphasized.
In addition, the reactors modernized and brought to rated
capacity in the outgoing year at the Leningrad, Kola, and Kursk
plants will contribute to an increase in power generation.
In 2004, 30 operating reactors at ten Russian nuclear power
plants with an aggregate capacity of 22.242 Gigawatt and one
reactor in the balancing and commissioning mode should generate
143 billion kW/h energy, which is slightly below the target
figure.
It is explained by the stoppage of several reactors for
scheduled overhaul and modernizing, and the works to extend the
service life of several 1st generation reactors.
At present, Russian nuclear power plants account for 16 percent
of all electricity produced in the country.
In European Russia, this indicator makes up some 30 percent, and
in the northwest - some 40 percent, Rumyantsev said.
© ITAR-TASS. All rights reserved. You undertake not to copy,
*****************************************************************
17 Newsday.com: A day of truth is coming for a troubled nuclear power plant
December 28, 2004, 3:16 PM EST
MOUNT LAUREL, N.J. -- The company that owns the Hope Creek
nuclear power plant in Salem County is hoping to obtain at a Jan.
5 meeting the approval of federal regulators to restart the
plant, which has been shut down since an Oct. 10 steam leak.
While Public Service Energy Group has been working for more than
two months to fix the problems that caused the leak, activists
are hoping a second problem will keep the plant from being
restarted immediately.
Newark-based PSEG does not need formal permission from the
federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission to restart the Hope Creek
plant, but agreed after the October mishap not to restart it
until after a meeting with the commission.
A meeting is now scheduled for Jan. 5 in Bridgeport.
There, NRC officials are expected to present their findings from
a special investigation of the circumstances surrounding the
leak, which caused no injuries.
NRC officials are also working on a separate report regarding the
other issue, a bowed rod in a reactor circulation pump.
When the pump is operating at certain speeds, it creates a
clanging that employees have compared to the sound of a freight
train.
PSEG officials have said that the pump is safe enough, though,
that it will not need to be changed until the next regular plant
shutdown for refueling and maintenance, which is scheduled for
mid-2006.
Kymn Harvin, a PSEG whistle blower who once worked at the plants,
has urged the NRC to force PSEG to replace the part before
restarting.
"We are facing a showdown _ profits first or safety first,"
Harvin wrote in an e-mail Tuesday to The Associated Press. The
NRC, Harvin said, must decide which of the values wins.
PSEG is in the midst of a merger with Chicago-based energy
company Exelon. Officials with that firm have said they back the
decision to wait to replace the pump.
NRC spokesman Neil Sheehan said Tuesday that if the report on the
pump is completed in time, it will be discussed at next week's
meeting. Otherwise, it would be the subject of another public
meeting.
PSEG is poised to restart the plant after next week's meeting,
said company spokesman Skip Sindoni.
Copyright © 2004, The Associated Press
*****************************************************************
18 NRC: Sunshine Act Meeting; Notice
FR Doc 04-28451
[Federal Register: December 28, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 248)]
[Notices] [Page 77781-77782] From the Federal Register Online via
GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr28de04-150]
Agency Holding the Meetings: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Date: Weeks of December 27, 2004, January 3, 10, 17, 24, 31,
2005.
Place: Commissioners' Conference Room, 11555 Rockville Pike,
Rockville, Maryland.
Status: Public and Closed.
Matters to be Considered: Week of December 27, 2004 There are no
meetings scheduled for the week of December 27, 2004.
Week of January 3, 2005--Tentative Wednesday, January 5, 2005 2
p.m.--Affirmation Session (Public Meeting) (Tentative). a.
Private Fuel Storage (Independent Spent Fuel Storage
Installation); Docket No. 72-22-ISFSI (Tentative). Week of
January 10, 2005--Tentative Tuesday, January 11, 2005 9:30
a.m.--Discussion of Security Issues (Closed--Ex. 1 & 9).
Wednesday, January 12, 2005 9:30 a.m.--Discussion of Security
Issues (Closed--Ex. 1). Week of January 17, 2005--Tentative There
are no meetings scheduled for the week of January 17, 2005.
Week of January 24, 2005--Tentative Monday, January 24, 2005 9:30
a.m.--Discussion of Security Issues (Closed--Ex. 1). 1:30
p.m.--Discussion of Security Issues (Closed--Ex. 1). Tuesday,
January 25, 2005 9:30 a.m.--Discussion of Security Issues
(Closed--Ex. 1). Week of January 31, 2005--Tentative There are no
meetings scheduled for the week of January 31, 2005.
* The schedule for Commission meetings is subject to change on
short
[[Page 77782]] notice. To verify the status of meetings call
(recording)--(301) 415- 1292. Contact person for more
information: Dave Gamberoni (301) 415- 1651.
* * * * * The NRC Commission Meeting Schedule can be found on the
Internet at: http://www.nrc.gov/what-we-do/
policy-making/schedule.html * * * * * The NRC provides reasonable
accommodation to individuals with disabilities where appropriate.
If you need a reasonable accommodation to participate in these
public meetings, or need this meeting notice or the transcript or
other information from the public meetings in another format
(e.g. braille, large print), please notify the NRC's Disability
Program Coordinator, August Spector, at 301-415-7080, TDD:
301-415- 2100, or by e-mail at aks@nrc.gov. Determinations on
requests for reasonable accommodation will be made on a
case-by-case basis.
* * * * * This notice is distributed by mail to several hundred
subscribers; if you no longer wish to receive it, or would like
to be added to the distribution, please contact the Office of the
Secretary, Washington, DC 20555 (301-415-1969). In addition,
distribution of this meeting notice over the Internet system is
available. If you are interested in receiving this Commission
meeting schedule electronically, please send an electronic
message to dkw@nrc.gov. Dated: December 22, 2004.
R. Michelle Schroll, Office of the Secretary.
[FR Doc. 04-28451 Filed 12-23-04; 9:29 am] BILLING CODE 7590-01-M
*****************************************************************
19 News-Miner: Galena council approves nuclear power plant
Fairbanks Daily News-Miner · 200 North Cushman Street ·
Fairbanks, AK · 99707 · (907) 456-6661
December 28, 2004 Fairbanks, AK
The Associated Press
ANCHORAGE--Galena city officials have approved plans to build a
10-megawatt nuclear power plant there as a test case in providing
cheap power to rural communities.
City representatives and Toshiba Corp. officials will now
develop an application to federal regulators for a license for
the small-scale reactor near the Yukon River community, a process
that could take several years.
The reactor unit would be 50 feet to 60 feet tall and 6 to 8
feet in diameter. It would be built outside of Alaska and be
encased in several tons of concrete not to be opened during its
operating life, estimated at 30 years.
The plant, called a battery, would be able to supply the
community's electricity for about a quarter of the cost of diesel
fuel, according to a U.S. Department of Energy study.
The 4S reactor unit is referred to as a battery because it does
not have moving parts, and once installed, its fuel will not
need to be replaced as in conventional nuclear reactors.
The Galena city council directed city manager Marvin Yoder to
"establish a process and timeline leading to evaluations,
industrial partners, and financial and contractual arrangements
necessary to bring the economic and environmental benefits of
the 4S to Galena."
The council's resolution directed Yoder to work with the
community's Washington, D.C.-based attorney and Toshiba in
developing the application to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Licensing will be an involved process that will take several
years and substantial funding by Toshiba, Yoder said.
Toshiba has offered to install the reactor at Galena free of
cost if the licensing is approved as a commercial demonstration
of the nuclear battery in a remote location.
If the technology is approved for use in the United States,
Toshiba believes there will be opportunities for sales
worldwide, and elsewhere in rural Alaska, according to Robert
Chaney, a researcher with Science Applications International
Corp.
SAIC coordinated the Department of Energy study of long-term
energy supply options for Galena, including the Toshiba battery.
The University of Alaska and Idaho National Engineering and
Environmental Laboratory worked with SAIC in the study.
Chaney said the DOE study weighed nuclear power against other
ways of providing Galena with improved energy, including more
efficient diesel generation, a small coal-fired power plant, and
wind, solar and hydropower from the nearby Yukon River.
Wind, solar and hydropower were determined not to be practical
options for Galena, Chaney told an Alaska Miners Association
group in a Dec. 17 briefing on the project.
If the nuclear battery went into operation in 2010, by 2020 it
could supply electricity to Galena for 5 to 14 cents a kilowatt
hour, assuming the community pays only operating costs, the
analysis showed.
Galena's power is now 28 cents per kilowatt hour.
The costs could vary depending on the level of security federal
regulators require at the site, Chaney said.
The plant would supply far more electricity than Galena now
uses, but could enable local residents to convert their home
heating from homes from expensive fuel oil to more affordable
electricity and operate greenhouses to grow produce year-round,
Chaney said.
The risks include the use of liquid sodium as a heat transfer
medium and the long-term disposal of the radioactive waste,
according to Ron Johnson, a professor of engineering at
University of Alaska Fairbanks who is working with engineering
aspects of the DOE study.
Johnson said small nuclear plants may not be the answer for
rural power, regardless of the fate of the Galena experiment.
"If the technology is successfully deployed in Galena, its
economic viability in other Alaska villages and elsewhere
depends on the actual life cycle costs, which are yet to be
quantified," he said.
©2004 MediaNews Group, Inc. and Fairbanks Daily
News-Miner, Inc.
*****************************************************************
20 OA Online News: Atomic licensing board sets LES hearing
28 December 2004
American Online
c /o Odessa American 222 E. 4th Street P.O. Box 2952 Odessa, TX
79760
Company wants to build uranium enrichment plant
Despite requests from the Nuclear Information and Resource
Service and Public Citizen to delay it, the Atomic Safety and
Licensing Board has scheduled a hearing on the National
Enrichment Facility for Feb. 7.
Louisiana Energy Services wants to build the $1.2 billion
National Enrichment Facility, a uranium enrichment plant, near
Eunice, N.M.
A venue and time has not yet been decided for the hearing,
but Nuclear Regulatory Commission spokesman Dave McIntyre said it
would probably be the Eunice Community Center in Eunice, N.M., or
the Lea County Event Center in Hobbs, N.M.
A protective order was also issued by the Atomic Safety and
Licensing Board to have the intervenors — those with concerns
about the uranium enrichment plant — sign a non-disclosure
agreement so they can get sensitive information, McIntyre said.
Without signing the agreement, the intervenors — the New Mexico
Attorney General’s Office, New Mexico Environment Department,
NRIS and Public Citizen — would get access to redacted documents,
he said.
Sensitive information could include the location of radioactive
material, inventories of radionuclides and building floor plans,
hesaid.
There were delays in information access due to the temporary
shutdown of the NRC’s electronic document system to allow staff
to perform security reviews of documents.
*****************************************************************
21 Bradenton Herald: Former Tallevast residents to get aid
| 12/28/2004 |
DONNA WRIGHT
Herald Staff Writer
The federal government has come up with money to help pay for
medical screening for former Loral American Beryllium workers
living outside of Manatee County.
The federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry has
agreed to spend $50,000 to expand a medical screening program to
former American Beryllium workers nationwide, said Randy
Merchant, head of the health team investigating health problems
among Tallevast residents.
Merchant hopes to test former Tallevast residents who lived near
the plant for the past four decades but have since moved away.
Details on how the expanded program will be offered are still
under study, Merchant said.
The federally funded part of the screening program must pass
muster with the Florida Department of Health Institutional
Review Board before it can begin. That review process will take
at least a month to complete, Merchant said.
Tallevast residents found out one year ago about solvent leaks
from the plant to surrounding areas.
The primary toxins include potentially cancer-causing solvents
that leaked from the plant and past exposure to beryllium dust
created when the rare metal was milled and machined.
Merchant requested the funds to match a $60,000 Manatee County
grant to offer beryllium blood tests to former workers, their
family members and Tallevast residents who are current Manatee
County residents.
The federal funds can be used to offer beryllium blood tests to
any former American Beryllium worker, regardless of where they
live, said Merchant, who works for the Florida Department of
Health.
"It's about time," said Ray Stephens, former American Beryllium
worker and union officer.
Stephens and Terry Owen, the last union president at American
Beryllium, are tracking down their co-workers to make sure they
know about the test. Their goal is to get funding so all
American Beryllium workers can be tested free of charge,
Stephens said.
"Every thing is coming forth that we set out to do," Stephens
said. "And it's transpired a lot more quickly than I thought it
would."
Stephens credits Dr. Gladys Branic, Manatee's health department
director, who requested funding from both the county and the
state to begin the screening program.
"Without Dr. Branic's help I don't think that we could have come
this far," Stephens said. "The county and state grants go way
beyond my expectations."
The county's $60,000 program should cover blood tests for 250
people, according to Branic.
The $50,000 in federal funds will cover tests for 200 more,
Merchant said.
The blood test can detect the presence of beryllium sensitivity,
an allergic reaction some people develop when they are exposed
to beryllium dust.
Former American beryllium workers and Tallevast residents say
beryllium dust was prevalent in and around the factory.
From the early 1960s through mid-1990s, those workers milled and
machined beryllium to produce parts for nuclear weapons and
missile guidance systems for the federal government.
Today, some are paying the price with a debilitating lung
disease.
Inhaling beryllium dust can create scarring in some people,
which may lead to a severe respiratory condition. If not
treated, beryllium disease can be fatal.
The blood test to screen for beryllium sensitivity is expensive,
running from $210 to $600, depending upon which speciality lab
does the analysis.
While former employees who worked at the plant during 1968 and
from Jan. 1, 1980 through 1989 are eligible for medical benefits
and possible compensation if they develop the disease, they must
pay for the blood test up front. Then, they are reimbursed only
if the test is positive.
The catch is, it can take up to 30 years for the beryllium
sensitivity to develop. A negative test one year does not rule
out a positive reaction in the future.
Paying for the test has been an obstacle for many workers,
Branic said.
The burden is even greater for residents, Branic said, because
they are not covered under the federal compensation program.
Health department staff drew blood from 94 former workers and
Tallevast residents on Dec. 16. Those samples were shipped to
National Jewish Medical and Research Center in Denver - one of
only a handful of labs nationwide that offers the beryllium
sensitivity test.
Branic said she chose National Jewish because the center is the
leader in beryllium research.
She expects to have the results from the first round of tests in
early January.
The second round of tests for county residents will be scheduled
soon after, Branic said.
Merchant said the federally funded part of the program will
likely follow Branic's model.
The county program offers the blood tests first to former
workers and Tallevast residents who lived within one quarter
mile of the American Beryllium plant.
During the second round of county testing, family members of
workers and residents who tested positive will be screened to
determine if they may have been sickened by dust tracked home
from the plant.
SCREENING
The Herald continues its examination of toxic pollution in
Tallevast and its effects on the community.
*****************************************************************
22 Tri-City Herald: DOE gives Battelle 'outstanding' evaluation
This story was published Tuesday, December 28th, 2004
By Brent Champaco Herald staff writer
Battelle is finishing 2004 with another stellar evaluation from
the U.S. Department of Energy, which gave the contractor an
"outstanding" rating for its management and operation of the
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland.
This is the seventh straight year Battelle has earned DOE's top
rating, and it likely will bring Battelle $7.7 million as a
performance-based cash award, which is 99 percent of the
possible maximum.
DOE's announcement Monday was based on evaluations in four
areas: science and technology, relevance to DOE's missions and
national needs, research facilities and equipment and program
management.
The scores, which were based on a scale up to 4 points, were
outstanding across the board.
Science and technology rated a 3.87 and was worth 30 percent of
the composite score. Relevance to DOE's missions and national
needs got a 3.8 and also accounted for 30 percent.
Research facilities and equipment earned a 3.73 rating, and
program management a 3.93. Both areas were worth 20 percent.
The composite score was 3.84.
"We are thrilled with our rating, and it's really something all
3,900 (of our) staff made happen," PNNL Director Len Peters said
in a prepared statement. The lab is one of DOE's nine major
multiprogram labs across the country.
"DOE continues to be pleased with Battelle's overall
performance, and our review indicated that Battelle generally
met or exceeded expectations throughout (fiscal year) 2004,"
wrote Paul Kruger, DOE's Pacific Northwest site office manager,
in a letter to Peters reporting the evaluation.
Kruger cited Battelle's high quality, externally recognized
scientific research and development programs. He also praised
Battelle's work in biomolecular networks, computational sciences
and homeland security initiatives.
The DOE headquarters offices for science, nuclear
nonproliferation, intelligence, counterintelligence, homeland
security, assistant secretary for energy efficiency and
renewable energy, assistant secretary for fossil energy and
environmental management each rated Battelle's overall
performance as outstanding.
Kruger also praised Battelle's performance earlier this year
when DOE conducted an exercise to measure how well the
laboratory controlled classified computer software and hardware.
He noted a number of awards Battelle received this year,
including Training Magazine's 2004 Training Top 100 Award, the
International Facility Management Association's Outstanding
Achievement in Facility Management Award and the White House
Closing the Circle Award for Environmental Management Systems.
Although Battelle met or exceeded all standards, safety remains
a major concern, Kruger wrote.
"This area must receive continuous senior management ...
attention during 2005," he wrote.
PNNL spokesman Greg Koller said the laboratory aims to improve
safety, particularly in communications with employees.
"It's more of just reminding people of the safety involved in
their workplace," he said.
Overall, DOE is happy with Battelle's work, said Julie Erickson,
deputy manager of DOE's Pacific Northwest Site Office.
"We really continue to be impressed with the quality of science
that Battelle does," Erickson said.
© 2004 Tri-City Herald, Associated Press &Other Wire Services
*****************************************************************
23 DOE: Environmental Management Site-Specific Advisory Board, Fernald
FR Doc 04-28387
[Federal Register: December 28, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 248)]
[Notices] [Page 77747] From the Federal Register Online via GPO
Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr28de04-84]
AGENCY: Department of Energy.
ACTION: Notice of open meeting.
SUMMARY: This notice announces a meeting of the Environmental
Management Site-Specific Advisory Board (EMSSAB), Fernald. The
Federal Advisory Committee Act (Public Law No. 92-463, 86 Stat.
770) requires that public notice of this meeting be announced in
the Federal Register.
DATES: Saturday, January 8, 2005, 8:30 a.m.-12 noon.
ADDRESSES: Fernald Closure Project Site, Crosby Township Senior
Center, 8910 Willey Road, Harrison, Ohio 45030.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Doug Sarno, The Perspectives
Group, Inc., 1055 North Fairfax Street, Suite 204, Alexandria, VA
22314, at (703) 837-1197, or e-mail;
djsarno@theperspectivesgroup.com.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Purpose of the Board: The purpose of
the Board is to make recommendations to DOE in the areas of
environmental restoration, waste management, and related
activities.
Tentative Agenda: Goals: Finalize outline for History of the
Fernald Citizens' Advisory Board.
Develop plans for March History Workshop.
8:30 a.m.--Call to Order 8:35 a.m.--Updates and Announcements
9:30 a.m.--Plans to Document History of the Fernald Citizens'
Advisory Board 10:15 a.m.--Break 10:30 a.m.--Planning for March
Public Workshop on Fernald History 11:40 a.m.--Revised FY 2005
Meeting Plan 12:00 p.m.--Adjourn Public Participation: The
meeting is open to the public.
Written statements may be filed with the Board chair either
before or after the meeting. Individuals who wish to make oral
statements pertaining to agenda items should contact the Board
chair at the address or telephone number listed below. Requests
must be received five days prior to the meeting and reasonable
provisions will be made to include the presentation in the
agenda. The Deputy Designated Federal Officer, Gary Stegner,
Public Affairs Office, Ohio Field Office, U.S. Department of
Energy, is empowered to conduct the meeting in a fashion that
will facilitate the orderly conduct of business. Individuals
wishing to make public comment will be provided a maximum of five
minutes to present their comments.
Minutes: The minutes of this meeting will be available for public
review and copying at the Department of Energy's Freedom of
Information Public Reading Room, 1E-190, Forrestal Building, 1000
Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC, 20585 between 9 a.m.
and 4 p.m., Monday- Friday, except Federal holidays. Minutes will
also be available by writing to the Fernald Citizens' Advisory
Board, Phoenix Environmental Corporation, MS-76, Post Office Box
538704, Cincinnati, OH 43253-8704, or by calling the Advisory
Board at (513) 648-6478.
Issued at Washington, DC on December 22, 2004.
Carol A. Matthews, Acting Advisory Committee Management Officer.
[FR Doc. 04-28387 Filed 12-27-04; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 6450-01-P
*****************************************************************
24 DOE: Nuclear Energy Research Advisory Committee
FR Doc 04-28389
[Federal Register: December 28, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 248)]
[Notices] [Page 77748] From the Federal Register Online via GPO
Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr28de04-86]
AGENCY: Department of Energy.
ACTION: Notice of open meeting.
SUMMARY: This notice announces a meeting of the Nuclear Energy
Research Advisory Committee. The Federal Advisory Committee Act
(Public Law No. 92-463, 86 Stat. 770), requires that public
notice of the meetings be announced in the Federal Register.
DATES: Tuesday January 11, 2005, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. and
Wednesday, January 12, 2005, 9 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.
ADDRESSES: Hyatt Arlington, 1325 Wilson Blvd., Arlington, VA
22209.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Mark Roth, Designated
Federal Officer, Nuclear Energy Research Advisory Committee, U.S.
Department of Energy, NE-20, 1000 Independence Avenue, SW.,
Washington DC 20585, Telephone Number 301-903-5501, E-mail:
mark.roth@hq.doe.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Purpose of the Meeting: To provide
advice to the Director of the Office of Nuclear Energy, Science
and Technology (NE) of the Department of Energy on the many
complex planning, scientific and technical issues that arise in
the development and implementation of the Nuclear Energy research
program.
Tentative Agenda Tuesday January 11, 2005 Welcome Remarks.
Status of Office of Nuclear Energy, Science and Technology
Programs and Budget.
R Programs.
Idaho Site.
Subcommittee Reports.
Organizational Issues.
Wednesday, January 12, 2005 Subcommittee Reports and Organization
Issues (continued).
Open Discussion.
Public comment period.
Public Participation: The day and a half meeting is open to the
public on a first-come, first-served basis because of limited
seating. Written statements may be filed with the committee
before or after the meeting. Members of the public who wish to
make oral statements pertaining to agenda items should contact
Mark Roth at the address or telephone listed above. Requests to
make oral statements must be made and received five days prior to
the meeting; reasonable provision will be made to include the
statement in the agenda. The Chair of the committee is empowered
to conduct the meeting in a fashion that will facilitate the
orderly conduct of business.
Minutes: The minutes of this meeting will be available for public
review and copying at the Freedom of Information Reading Room.
1E-190, Forrestal Building, 1000 Independence Avenue, SW.,
Washington, DC, between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m., Monday through Friday,
except holidays.
Issued in Washington, DC on December 22, 2004.
Carol A. Matthews, Acting Advisory Committee Management Officer.
[FR Doc. 04-28389 Filed 12-27-04; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 6450-01-P
*****************************************************************
25 WATE: Nuclear scrap hauling may increase to 125 daily truckloads
December 28, 2004
OAK RIDGE (AP) -- An accelerated cleanup of the K-25 uranium
enrichment plant could mean 125 daily truckloads of radioactive
scrap going into the government's nuclear landfill at Oak Ridge.
The pace could continue over three years.
John Owsley is the state's environmental oversight director in
Oak Ridge. He says the traffic volume would be about one truck
every five minutes.
The landfill was opened a couple of years ago to take in a broad
range of rubbish from the Energy Department's cleanup operations
at Oak Ridge.
A special haul road is being constructed so that trucks can go
directly from K-25 to the landfill several miles away without
clogging public highways.
The trash ranges from old cars to motor wiring. Some of it has
been at the plant since the 1950's, but most came in the 1960s
and '70s when the uranium-enrichment facilities were upgraded.
Copyright 2004 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.
Copyright 2000 - 2004 WorldNow and WATE. All Rights Reserved.
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26 DOE: High Energy Physics Advisory Panel
FR Doc 04-28390
[Federal Register: December 28, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 248)]
[Notices] [Page 77747-77748] From the Federal Register Online via
GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr28de04-85]
AGENCY: Department of Energy.
ACTION: Notice of open meeting.
SUMMARY: This notice announces a meeting of the High Energy
Physics Advisory Panel (HEPAP). Federal Advisory Committee Act
(Public Law 92- 463, 86 Stat. 770) requires that public notice of
these meetings be announced in the Federal Register.
DATES: Monday, February 14, 2005; 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. and
Tuesday, February 15, 2005; 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.
ADDRESSES: Hilton Washington Embassy Row, 2015 Massachusetts
Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20036. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
CONTACT: Bruce Strauss, Executive Secretary; High Energy Physics
Advisory Panel; U.S. Department of Energy; SC-20/ Germantown
Building, 1000 Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC
20585-1290; Telephone: 301-903-3705.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Purpose of Meeting: To provide advice
and guidance on a continuing basis with respect to the high
energy physics research program.
Tentative Agenda: Agenda will include discussions of the
following: Monday, February 14, 2005, and Tuesday, February 15,
2005 Discussion of Department of Energy High Energy Physics
Programs.
Discussion of National Science Foundation Elementary Particle
Physics Program.
Reports on and Discussions of Topics of General Interest in High
Energy Physics.
Public Comment (10-minute rule).
Public Participation: The meeting is open to the public. If you
would like to file a written statement with the Panel,
[[Page 77748]] you may do so either before or after the meeting.
If you would like to make oral statements regarding any of these
items on the agenda, you should contact Bruce Strauss,
301-903-3705 or
Bruce.Strauss@science.doe.gov (e-mail). You must make your
request for an oral statement at least 5 business days before the
meeting. Reasonable provision will be made to include the
scheduled oral statements on the agenda. The Chairperson of the
Panel will conduct the meeting to facilitate the orderly conduct
of business. Public comment will follow the 10-minute rule.
Minutes: The minutes of the meeting will be available for public
review and copying within 90 days at the Freedom of Information
Public Reading Room; Room 1E-190; Forrestal Building; 1000
Independence Avenue, SW.; Washington, DC, between 9 a.m. and 4
p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays.
Issued at Washington, DC on December 22, 2004.
Carol A. Matthews, Acting Advisory Committee Management Officer.
[FR Doc. 04-28390 Filed 12-27-04; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 6450-01-P
*****************************************************************
27 Las Vegas SUN: Tsunami Death Toll Climbs to 52,000
Today: December 28, 2004 at 12:39:45 PST
By ANDI DJATMIKO ASSOCIATED PRESS
BANDA ACEH, Indonesia (AP) -
1228tidal Mourners in Sri Lanka used their bare hands to dig
graves Tuesday while hungry islanders in Indonesia turned to
looting in the aftermath of Asia's devastating tsunamis.
Thousands more bodies were found in Indonesia, dramatically
increasing the death toll across 11 nations to more than 52,000.
Indonesia's Health Ministry said in a statement that 27,178
people were confirmed killed on Sumatra island, the territory
closest to the epicenter of Sunday's earthquake, which sent a
giant tsunami rolling across the Indian Ocean.
The ministry statement said this figure did not include data
from districts on Sumatra's hard-hit western coast, including
the town of Meulaboh - meaning that the final death toll will
almost certainly rise significantly.
Earlier, the country's national disaster director, Purnomo
Sidik, said 10,000 people were killed in Meulaboh alone.
There was no immediate explanation why the Health Ministry
statement did not count the figure given by Sidik or figures
from other parts of the west coast.
--
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28 BBC: Steam engines could be eco hope
Last Updated: Tuesday, 28 December, 2004
By Jo Twist BBC News science and technology reporter
Think of steam engines and hazy, romantic images of chugging
great beasts of old fill the mind.
[The Inspiration steam car design]
Inspiration aims to break the record next summer
Steam-powered vehicles are not usually deemed as being parked at
the cutting edge of transport technology.
Nor do they seem to be the type to race across desert landscapes
in a bid to smash land speed records in the 21st Century.
But British design engineer Glynne Bowsher and his team have
almost finished building a super-fast vehicle reminiscent of the
Batmobile.
And this car puts a new technological breath of life into what is
regarded as a traditional means of power.
He knows engine and vehicle design like old friends, having
worked on Richard Noble's record-breaking Thrust 2 jet car and
having designed ThrustSSC, the first vehicle to break the sound
barrier on land.
His team, the British Steam Car Challenge (BSCC), is hoping that
its Inspiration vehicle will live up to its name and not only
break a long-standing steam-car speed record, but also inspire
thinking about alternative fuels for the future.
In and out
The search for a suitable alternative fuel source to hydrocarbons
which can cleanly power our vehicles has touched on various
different options.
Fuels which do not "rot" the environment usually bring to mind
images of gently humming electric cars, clean hydrogen, natural
gas, or hithane - a concoction of hydrogen and methane.
[Steam engine and boy]
Steam engines usually conjure up romantic images of days gone by
The most promising, believes Mr Bowsher, is either nuclear or
hydrogen fuel.
The public is reluctant to explore nuclear; but researchers and
engineers across the world are exploring how best to generate
and, more importantly, store hydrogen fuel, one of the main
barriers to its widespread use.
Nine European cities are taking part in a pilot scheme to use
hydrogen fuelled buses on certain routes, for instance.
But until a viable mass-scale way of storing and distributing
hydrogen effectively is developed, it remains limited in use.
INSPIRATION STEAM CAR
Construction: Tubula steel spaceframe with composite/metal panels
Length: 5.25m Width: 1.70m Height: 1.10m Fuel: LPG
(Liquified petroleum gas) Working fluid: Water/steam
Performance: Maximum speed 200+ mph (320km/h); Initial
acceleration: 0.52G Brakes: Twin front wheel brakes and twin rear
inboard rear disc brakes Steering: Rack and pinion
Mr Bowsher believes that until then, designers could look to
Inspiration for a different take on good old steam.
The key to its potential is the difference between internal and
external combustion technologies.
External combustion engines - like steam ones - hold several
advantages over internal ones.
They have the potential to produce fewer harmful nitrogen oxides
(NOx) than conventional cars which use internal combustion
engines.
Although steam engines still need to burn hydrocarbon-based fuels
like petrol and diesel, which in turn release carbon dioxide,
external combustion engines can control the release and the
production of CO2 more efficiently.
And because such engines can work well at lower peak temperatures
and pressures, the creation of NOx compounds can be almost
negligible.
Steam lad
Inspiration is a far cry from the steam cars made famous by the
Stanley brothers, however.
The 1906 record, set by a Stanley Steamer at what is now Daytona
Beach, is the longest-standing officially recognised land speed
record for a steam car.
It was set at a time when the battle for supremacy between
petrol-powered internal combustion engines and steam-powered
external combustion engines was in full sprint.
Although Stanley Steamers had enjoyed a boom in the early 1900s,
they were quickly being overtaken by internal combustion engines.
[Design engineer Glynne Bowsher] src=]
I grew up with steam locomotives in my own town, so steam was a
part of my life Glynne Bowsher Some hi-tech oil alternatives
The steam car, driven by Fred Marriott, reached 127.7mph (205.5
km/h), beating four petrol-powered vehicles to pick up the Dewar
Trophy rewarding the fastest vehicles on land.
Even before steam became speedy, a steam-powered engine designed
by Nicolas Joseph Cugnot drove the first self-propelled vehicle
in 1769.
But it had to rest every 15 minutes to generate enough steam
power to send it on its way again.
To Mr Bowsher, it is steam's historical legacy that has always
attracted him.
"I grew up with steam locomotives in my own town, so steam was a
part of my life. When I was young we didn't have a car - my
father never owned one," he explains.
"We went on the railway or the bus. It was quite important to me;
I always had a love of aviation and steam so those two things in
terms of transport are still with me."
Own design
Designing a steam engine fit for the demands of a 21st Century
land-speed attempt has proved somewhat of a challenge, however.
"We basically had to come up with our own design, which is
innovative in some ways," says Mr Bowsher. So innovative, in
fact, that the team is exploring patenting the design.
Inspiration's engine works in quite a simple way, he explains.
Water is passed through a steam generator where it is heated by
burning propane gas into superheated steam at 400C and at 40-bar
pressure (4 million Pa).
That steam is then fed into four nozzles on a two-stage turbine
arrangement.
"With a turbine, you either use the pressure energy or velocity
energy. In this case, we turn the pressure energy into high
velocity.
"Then the moving gas stream strikes the turbine wheels and starts
them rotating - a bit like a small-scale power station," explains
Mr Bowsher.
"Once we have a turbine that goes round, rotational power, that
along with gear ratios can be used to drive the wheels and once
we have the wheels rotating we can make it go forward fast."
It sounds simple enough, but there were big challenges
technologically to generate enough power in such a small
vehicular space - 300 brake horsepower to be precise.
That is 225kW of power operating at 12,000rpm. Formula 1 engines
typically operate at more than 17,000rpm, while aircraft turbine
engines turn at 85,000rpm and above.
"One difficulty was getting a turbine and transmission system in
such a small space.
"But the worst problem was providing a steam generator to provide
steam the turbine needed in such a small space."
INSPIRATION ENGINE SPEC
Two stage turbine o single spool Output: 300bhp at 12,000rpm
(turbine speed) (225kw) Output shaft gear ratio: 4:1 or
4.45:1 to twin output shafts Differential: Epicyclic type with
viscous couplings
It is a method of steam production that seems not to have been
used previously, according to Mr Bowsher.
He does not imagine that steam cars will be the complete road
ahead for cars on our streets.
"Gas turbines have been used in the past," he says. "But the
problem of turbines is that to be efficient, they have to run at
a predetermined speed.
"The very nature of road cars is that their speed changes all the
time, so this design would be no good for road vehicles."
But he can imagine the engine design being used in diesel-based
commercial vehicles which belch out a large proportion of
pollution, like buses and lorries.
"Burning propane is environmentally more friendly than burning
diesel. If the technology could be adapted, then it might just be
a possibility - it is something we are investigating," he says.
*****************************************************************
29 csmonitor.com Fusion: Stepping closer to reality |
Sci/Tech > Science & Space
from the December 09, 2004 edition
Scientists now say 100 million degrees C is not too hot to
handle in this powerful energy-generating process.
By Peter N. Spotts | Staff writer of The Christian Science
Monitor
When two physicists gather at a restaurant with steak on the menu
and fusion on the agenda, you're likely to find scribbles. Or so
it must have seemed to the server who cleared Robert Goldston's
table recently.
A colleague had missed a talk Dr. Goldston had given on new
developments in fusion-energy research. So the two repaired to a
local eatery for a recap. By the time the check arrived, "the
napkins and half the table cloth were covered with equations,"
recalls Goldston, director of Princeton's Plasma Physics
Laboratory.
Fusion, in other words, is generating renewed excitement among
scientists in the field.
Given the challenges facing today's nuclear reactors, they have
long dreamed of harnessing the same energy source that powers
the sun. In theory, they could generate power more efficiently,
more safely, and with less nuclear waste than today's reactors,
and use a virtually limitless source of fuel - hydrogen. Fusion
reactors represent a kind of holy grail for an energy-dependent
world.
Now, researchers are poised to take the next big step in
evaluating the technology's commercial potential. Scientists say
they are more confident than ever that they can successfully
build and operate a planned experimental fusion reactor. The
bigger hurdle now looks political. The six-nation project -
called the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor, or
ITER - is caught in a big-money squabble over where to put the
$5 billion reactor. Japan and France both want the privilege.
Scientists, meanwhile, are chafing to loose the bulldozers.
"There have been dramatic advancements in our scientific
understanding" over the past five to 10 years, Goldston notes.
The basic conclusion: The "fire" in the type of reactor planned
for ITER may not be as finicky to control as many had previously
believed.
Initial simulations had suggested that triggering and sustaining
the fusion reactions might be too difficult. But "we've made
enormous steps forward," says Anne Davies, director of the US
Energy Department's Office of Fusion Energy Science. An
International Atomic Energy Agency meeting last month in
Portugal generated considerable excitement because experiments
with test reactors around the world suggested ITER's reactor
would work as designed.
The idea behind fusion is fairly straightforward. Today's
nuclear reactors derive their energy by splitting atoms in a
process called fission. Fusion works by combining them -
actually the nuclei of two forms of hydrogen known as deuterium
and tritium. Fusing nuclei requires more energy than splitting
them, but the payoff is larger. A fusion reaction gives off
three to four times as much energy as a fission reaction does.
The challenge: For fusion to occur, the surroundings must be
torrid. Researchers anticipate their experimental reactor will
run at 100 million degrees C - roughly six times as hot as the
sun's core. At these temperatures, atoms and their electrons
part company and form a roiling particle soup called a plasma.
Such temperatures also give the nuclei of the atoms enough speed
to fuse with other nuclei when they hit them. But because the
plasma is filled with electrically charged particles, many
researchers hold that the only way to keep the plasma bottled up
is with magnetic fields.
Enter ITER, which would represent a major step toward a
commercial fusion reactor. Researchers have designed it to
generate at least five times the amount of power it consumes in
sustaining fusion reactions. It would use a reactor roughly
shaped like a hollow doughnut, surrounded by magnets. The plasma
forms and the reactions occur within the doughnut. The magnetic
fields are designed to keep the plasma from hitting the reactor
walls. If it did, it would cool sufficiently to snuff the
reactions. "No one would get hurt, but if you were trying to
sell electricity, you wouldn't be very happy," Goldston quips.
For years, researchers worried that at the energy levels ITER
was aiming for, the plasma would fail to remain stable or that
the magnetic fields would fail to keep the plasma bottled up.
But since the mid-'90s, technological advances have yielded
fresh insights into the way such reactors can operate. They
include improved test equipment, new ways to tweak the reactions
from outside the reactor vessel, and more-powerful computers
that model the conditions in the reactors. "Now we know what
we're looking at," Goldston says.
For example, when the plasma grows turbulent, it forms eddies
and the plasma cools. Researchers had a difficult time figuring
out what determined the size of the eddies and how to control
them. With the added computational horsepower and the new
instruments, they determined the factors that controlled their
size. Just as important, they found that they could apply more
push to the flowing plasma than the system would generate on its
own, shearing off the eddies almost before they got started.
"If you play that card right, you get these regions that are
very quiet" and have distinctly higher temperatures than the
regions surrounding them, Goldston says.
Another troublesome question revolved around how powerful a
magnetic field the ITER reactor would need to contain the
plasma.
"This is a key issue," he says. "Magnetic fields cost money and
plasma makes fusion. If you can hold a lot of plasma in a little
magnetic field, you can make money. If you can only hold a
little bit of plasma in a big magnetic field, then you ought to
find a different job."
Researchers are encouraged by the results they've gotten in this
area so far.
Scientists are targeting other issues as well, the DOE's Dr.
Davies says. A search is under way for materials that can line
the reactor chamber without succumbing to the corrosive effects
of the reactions. Scientists are also seeking new materials that
will lose lethal levels of radioactivity faster than is
currently the case. Today's fission reactors generate large
amounts of long-lasting radioactive waste. Fusion reactors are
expected to generate smaller amounts of highly radioactive
waste. Scientists would like to use materials, such as silicone
carbide, that don't become radioactive at all.
In addition, researchers are looking at alternative approaches
to designing the reactor core itself.
"The fusion energy program has risen to a new level of
scientific understanding," Davies says. "We're now measuring and
controlling plasmas consistent with computer simulations. This
represents an enormous step forward."
SCOTT WALLACE - STAFF / SOURCE: FUSION POWER ASSOCIATES
www.csmonitor.com | Copyright © 2004 The Christian Science
Monitor. All rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
30 Guardian Unlimited: Tidal Waves Death Toll Rises to 40,000
From the Associated Press
[UP]
Tuesday December 28, 2004 12:31 PM
AP Photo XAI116
By ANDI DJATMIKO
Associated Press Writer
BANDA ACEH, Indonesia (AP) - The death toll from the epic
tsunami that rocked 11 countries rose to 40,000 people Tuesday,
and food and supplies poured into the region, part of what the
U.N. said would be the biggest relief effort the world has ever
seen. Millions remained homeless.
Rescuers struggled to reach remote locations where thousands
more were likely killed by the deadliest tsunami in 120 years.
Bodies, many of them children, filled beaches and choked
hospital morgues, raising fears of disease across the region.
Sri Lanka raised its death toll past 18,700. Hundreds died when
a train carrying 1,000 passengers from Colombo to Galle was
thrown off its tracks by Sunday's waves, police chief B.T.B.
Ariyapala said Tuesday.
The waves wrenched most of the train's cars into twisted metal,
he said. The passengers were dead or missing; about 150 bodies
had been recovered.
In Indonesia, the country closest to Sunday's 9.0 magnitude
quake that sent walls of water crashing into coastlines
thousands of miles away, the count rose to 15,000, a number the
vice president said could rise.
Purnomo Sidik, the national disaster director, told The
Associated Press the toll rose by almost 10,000 people after the
government received reports from the previously unreachable
western coast of Sumatra.
Some 4,400 died in India; 1,500 perished in Thailand. The Red
Cross said malaria and cholera could add to the toll.
Desperate residents on Indonesia's Sumatra Island - 100 miles
from the quake's epicenter - looted stores Tuesday. ``There is
no help, it is each person for themselves here,'' district
official Tengku Zulkarnain told el-Shinta radio station.
The disaster could be the costliest in history, with ``many
billions of dollars'' of damage, said U.N. Undersecretary Jan
Egeland, who is in charge of emergency relief coordination.
Hundreds of thousands lost all they owned, he said.
In Galle, Sri Lanka, officials used a loudspeaker atop a fire
engine to tell residents to place bodies on the road for
collection. Muslim families used cooking utensils and even their
bare hands to dig graves. Hindus in India, abandoning their
tradition of burning bodies, held mass burials.
Soldiers and volunteers in Indonesia combed through destroyed
houses to try to find survivors - or bodies. The toll in
Thailand included at least 700 foreign tourists.
Stories of survival emerged amid the devastation.
A blond-haired 2-year-old found sitting alone on a road in
Thailand and taken to a hospital was reunited with his uncle,
who saw the boy's picture on the hospital's Web site.
``When I saw Hannes on the Internet, I booked an air ticket to
come here in less than five hours,'' said a man who identified
himself only as Jim. Hannes Bergstroem's mother died in the
tsunami; his father was in another hospital, the Swedish paper
Aftonbladet reported.
In Malaysia, a 20-day-old baby was found floating on a mattress
soon after the waves hit Sunday. She and her family were
reunited.
But the geographic scope of the disaster was unparalleled.
Relief organizations used to dealing with a centralized crisis
had to distribute resources over 11 countries on two continents.
Helicopters in India rushed medicine to stricken areas. In Sri
Lanka, the Health Ministry dispatched 300 physicians to the
disaster zone by helicopter.
Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar said the United
States was sending helicopters. An airborne surgical hospital
from Finland arrived, and a German aircraft was en route with a
water purification plant.
UNICEF officials said about 175 tons of rice arrived in Banda
Aceh, Indonesia, and six tons of medical supplies were to arrive
by Thursday. But most basic supplies were scarce.
A new danger emerged Tuesday: UNICEF said uprooted land mines in
Sri Lanka threatened to kill or maim aid workers and survivors.
``Mines were ... washed out of known mine fields, so now we
don't know where they are,'' said Ted Chaiban, the Sri Lanka
chief of UNICEF.
Scores of people were also killed in Malaysia, Myanmar,
Bangladesh, and Maldives. Deaths were even reported in Africa -
in Somalia, Tanzania and Seychelles, close to 3,000 miles away.
On the remote Indian islands of Andaman and Nicobar, off the
northern tip of Sumatra, officials still hadn't established
communications. An estimated 3,000 deaths there were not counted
in the official toll.
It was the deadliest known tsunami since the one caused by the
1883 volcanic eruption at Krakatoa - located off Sumatra's
southern tip - which killed an estimated 36,000 people.
Many of the dead and missing were children - as many as half the
victims in Sri Lanka.
``Where are my children?'' asked 41-year-old Absah, as she
searched for her 11 youngsters in Banda Aceh, the city closest
to Sunday's epicenter. ``Where are they? Why did this happen to
me? I've lost everything.''
The streets in Banda Aceh were filled with overturned cars and
rotting corpses. Shopping malls and office buildings lay in
rubble, and thousands of homeless families huddled in mosques
and schools.
Relatives wandered hallways lined with bodies at the hospital in
Sri Lanka's southern town of Galle, a stunned hush broken only
by wails of mourning.
Momentum grew to create a tsunami warning system like the one
that guards Pacific coasts. Foreign Minister Alexander Downer
said Australia would push for its creation.
``I know it looks like a bit like closing the door after the
horse has bolted,'' Downer said Tuesday. But he said he hoped
such a system would save lives in the future.
The United States dispatched disaster teams and prepared a $15
million aid package. Japan pledged $30 million and Australia $8
million.
Indonesia's Aceh province exemplified the challenge to aid
workers. The government until Monday barred foreigners because
of a separatist conflict. Communications lines were still down
and remote villages had yet to be reached.
``There is not anyone to bury the bodies,'' said Steve Aswin, a
UNICEF official in Jakarta. ``They should be buried in mass
graves but there is no one to dig graves.''
Sri Lankan police waived the law calling for mandatory
autopsies, allowing rotting corpses to be buried immediately.
``We accept that the deaths were caused by drowning,'' police
spokesman Rienzie Perera said.
India on Tuesday said a nuclear power plant damaged by tidal
waves was safe and that there was no threat of radiation.
Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2004
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material is distributed without profit or payment to those who
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