*****************************************************************
11/17/04 ****     RADIATION BULLETIN(RADBULL)       **** VOL 12.275
*****************************************************************
   RADBULL IS PRODUCED BY THE ABALONE ALLIANCE CLEARINGHOUSE
*****************************************************************
Send News Stories to news@energy-net.org with title on subject
line and first line of body

                         NUCLEAR POLICY
 
1 Las Vegas SUN: Khatami Warns Europe Over Nuclear Deal
2 Las Vegas SUN: Group: Iran Bought Nuclear Bomb Drawings
3 UPI Report: Iran has secret nuke plant - 
4 albawaba.com: Khatami describes nuclear agreement with EU as ''great
5 The Australian: Threat of 'nukes to spare' in N Korea 
6 Korea: Digital Chosunilbo: Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Expresse
7 INSIDE JoongAng Daily: Pyeongyang regime is stable, says top aide
8 INSIDE JoongAng Daily: Restarting nuclear talks, but with Seoul abse
9 AU ABC: N Korea nuclear capacity growing - ICG. 
10 US: Las Vegas RJ: EDITORIAL: Sen. Reid's ascent 
11 US: Las Vegas RJ: MINORITY POST: Reid elected Senate leader 
12 US: Salt Lake Tribune - Opinion: Nuclear fission 
13 US: SouthBendTribune.com: Halliburton's role in the Middle East runs
14 US: Guardian Unlimited: Senate OKs $800B Debt Limit Hike
15 [NYTr] Vanunu: Long Walk to Freedom
16 Update - Vanunu Questioned Today
17 [EMMAS] Arresting Vanunu While Burying Arafat
18 Australian Financial Review: WMC's uranium not for China
19 Las Vegas SUN: Russia Developing New Nuclear Missile
20 Bellona: Development of new generation nuclear icebreaker to start n
21 Pravda: Russia develops new nuclear missile systems, Putin states
22 Independent: 'I only wish my dead comrades were here to hear this ve
23 Xinhuanet: US says Russia's nuclear plans "not threatening"   
24 Daily Times: Safety of nuclear power plants: ECNEC to approve Rs 480
25 AFP: Libyan nuclear probe hots up 
 
                         NUCLEAR REACTORS
 
26 US: [NukeNet] NY Times - NRC Continues Scrutiny of Hope Creek
27 US: [NukeNet] [UnplugSalem] NY Times - NRC Continues Scrutiny of
28 US: NRC: NRC to Hold Public Meeting Nov. 22-23 on Analyzing Nuclear 
29 US: NRC: NRC Restores Additional, Hearing-Related Documents to its W
30 US: NRC: STP Nuclear Operating Company, et al.; South Texas Project,
31 US: NRC: Sacramento Municipal Utility District; Rancho Seco Nuclear 
32 US: PTI: Nuke reactors may take a decade to run on low risk fuel - U
33 US: NRC: Notice of Availability of Environmental Assessment and Find
34 Japan Times: The nuclear power challenge
35 US: Middletown Press: Nuke plant officials explain ‘smoldering wood’
36 US: NRC: Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards Meeting of the 
 
                          NUCLEAR SAFETY
 
37 [du-list] "Weapons of Self-Destruction" by David Rose
38 [du-list] 11/17 Iraq Watch: Over 1200 US military deaths in
39 [du-list] the "interim US government"  and  DU genocide
40 [du-list] Call to recognise Gulf War effect  - BBC
41 [du-list] Gulf War syndrome report  - USUK  DU  WMD Iraq
42 Guardian Unlimited: Gulf war syndrome is genuine says law lords' inq
43 AP Wire: Gulf War Syndrome Acknowledgment Urged
44 US: Lahontan Valley News: Researcher looks for cancer clues in Fallo
45 Interfax: Russia can guarantee safety of nuclear weapons - Ivanov
46 Bellona:  Russia denies reports of leasing nuclear submarine to Indi
47 BBC: Q: Gulf War illness
48 BBC: Call to recognise Gulf War effect
49 US: Hawk Eye: Demolition at IAAP set for spring 
50 Scotsman: Radioactivity fear for Dounreay workers
51 Guardian Unlimited: Inquiry backs 'Gulf war syndrome' claims
52 Scotsman.com: Inquiry rules Gulf war syndrome is real
 
                         NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE
 
53 [du-list] IEER update: Uranium enrichment basics; Nuclear
54 IEER update: Uranium enrichment basics; Nuclear testing &
55 Times Business: Brussels threat to nuclear clean-up plan
56 US: Bradenton Herald: Time for trust
57 Las Vegas SUN: Reid vows to continue fight on Yucca Mountain as mino
58 Bellona: Russia to loose $33 billion due to spent nuclear fuel impor
59 Bellona: Moscow court approved international nuclear waste dump in R
60 US: Las Vegas SUN: Letter: Inevitable nuke dump wasn't an issue in e
61 Las Vegas SUN: Uncertainty surrounds deadline for Yucca application
62 Las Vegas SUN: White House denies attempt to change Yucca radiation 
63 Las Vegas SUN: Reid vows to continue fighting for Nevada
64 Salt Lake Tribune: Will Reid's new job heat up N-waste fight? 
65 PR: White House Asks Congress to Overturn Court Decision on Yucca Mo
66 CBC North: Inuit to be consulted on nuclear waste storage options fo
67 Scotsman.com: Sci-Tech - Nuclear waste quest begins
68 KRNV: State's nuclear project director says Yucca is dead
69 US: San Bernardino County Sun: Judge rebuffs water board
 
                         NUCLEAR WEAPONS
 
 
                        US DEPT. OF ENERGY
 
70 DOE changes secretaries Piketon, Ohio
71 Tri-City Herald: Tri-City employment remains positive 
72 Idaho Statesman: Battelle has plan to raise cash for INEEL research
73 Amarillo Globe News: Russian group tours Pantex 
 
                          OTHER NUCLEAR
 
74 Cassini/Huygens Mission was lousy gamble, not a "Best Bet"!
75 [du-list] DU in the news  - 18th Nov. 04
76 TCS: Tech Central Station - Weaponizing Space and the Legacy of the 
77 Scotsman.com Health - Inquiry: Gulf War Syndrome does exist
78 Space.com: Untitled: vehicle fuels
*****************************************************************
*****************************************************************
                         FULL NEWS STORIES
*****************************************************************
*****************************************************************
 1 Las Vegas SUN: Khatami Warns Europe Over Nuclear Deal

Today: November 17, 2004 at 2:34:02 PST 

 By ALI AKBAR DAREINI ASSOCIATED PRESS 

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - 

Iranian President Mohammad Khatami called a nuclear deal reached
with European nations a "great victory" but said Wednesday that
Tehran won't respect its commitment if Europeans fail to support
his country at a U.N. nuclear watchdog meeting next week. 

"Europeans, under the agreement, have recognized that Iran can
exercise its rights (in seeking nuclear technology). This is a
great victory," Khatami told reporters. 

The agreement, detailed Monday by Iran and in a report by the
International Atomic Energy Agency, commits Iran to suspend all
uranium enrichment and related activities within a week in
return for European guarantees that Iran has the right to pursue
a peaceful nuclear program. 

Khatami said Iran won't respect its commitments under the deal
if Europeans fail to meet their obligations. The first test, he
said, "is the IAEA board meeting." 

Khatami called "positive" a report by Mohamed El-Baradei, the
IAEA chief, saying the report indicated that there was no need
for any extraordinary investigation of Iran's nuclear activities
and that Iran's dossier needs to be normalized at the agency. 

"Take the first step correctly and use Iran's confidence and
good will. Show good will. If the IEAE board of governors adopts
a correct decision, it will be a step in the direction that will
give us more hope that our rights will be exercised," Khatami
said. 

"If we see that they don't keep their promise, it's natural that
we won't fulfill our promise," he warned. 

The deal has prompted strong criticism by hard-liners who have
accused the government of ignoring Iran's rights. The deal also
prompted conservative lawmakers to summon Iran's top nuclear
negotiator, Hasan Rowhani, to parliament Tuesday to question him
over the agreement. 

-- 


 
*****************************************************************
 2 Las Vegas SUN: Group: Iran Bought Nuclear Bomb Drawings

Today: November 17, 2004 at 9:09:03 PST 

 By GEORGE JAHN ASSOCIATED PRESS 

VIENNA, Austria (AP) - 

Iran bought blueprints of a nuclear bomb from the same
black-market network that gave Libya such diagrams and continues
to enrich uranium despite a commitment to suspend the technology
that can be used for atomic weapons, an Iranian opposition group
said Wednesday. 

Farid Soleimani, a senior official for the National Council for
Resistance in Iran, did not offer evidence for the claims. His
group has said in the past that it gets information on Iran's
nuclear program from opposition sources within Iran, including
some moles who have infiltrated the Islamic Republic's military
and security organizations. 

Mark Gwozdecky, spokesman for the U.N. International Atomic
Energy Agency said, "we follow up every solid lead," but added
the U.N. nuclear watchdog would have no further comment. 

Soleimani said the diagram was provided by Abdul Qadeer Khan,
the Pakistani head of the nuclear network linked to clandestine
programs in both Iran and Libya. 

Between 1994 and 1996, Khan "gave them the same weapons design
he gave the Libyans, as well as more in terms of weapons
design," Soleimani told reporters in Vienna. 

He said that in 2001 Khan also delivered to Iran an amount of
highly enriched uranium, the material that can form the core of
nuclear warheads. Soleimani said he didn't think the amount was
enough to make a weapon. 

Soleimani's organization is the political wing of the People's
Mujahedeen, or Mujahedeen Khalq, which the United States
considers a terrorist organization. While much of its
information has not been confirmed, it was instrumental in 2002
in revealing Iran's enrichment program. 

A diplomat familiar with the IAEA and its investigations into
Libya's and Iran's nuclear programs said the agency has long
believed that Iran received from Khan material similar to
Libya's. But the IAEA has never confirmed it received
blueprints, the diplomat told The Associated Press, speaking on
condition of anonymity. 

Libya bought engineers' drawings of a Chinese-made bomb through
the Khan network as part of a covert nuclear program that it
renounced last year. 

Iran says it does not have such drawings, and no evidence has
been found to dispute that claim. 

The opposition group made its claim days after Iran announced it
would suspend all activities related to nuclear enrichment as
part of an agreement with three European nations aimed at
heading off a confrontation over its nuclear program. 

Soleimani said centrifuges and other equipment needed to produce
enriched uranium had been covertly moved from a facility at
Lavizan-Shian to a nearby site within Tehran's city limits. "As
we speak, the site continues to produce (enriched) uranium,"
Soleimani said, alleging that it "is not the only one that is
being kept secret." 

The diplomat said the IAEA was looking into the possibility
equipment was moved from Lavizan-Shian to an unknown location. 

A report detailing IAEA investigations into Iran's nuclear
programs prepared for the agency's Nov. 25 board meeting notes
that Iran has failed to produce a trailer that apparently
contained nuclear equipment at Lavizan-Shian for IAEA inspection
and declined to provide a list of euqipment used there. 

Enrichment at low levels generates fuel for nuclear power - and
Iran says that is its sole interest. But the United States and
other countries suspect Iran wants to produce weapons-grade
enriched uranium for nuclear warheads. 

The IAEA says it will start monitoring Iran's commitment to halt
enrichment activities starting early next week. 

The suspension pledge reduced U.S. hopes of having the board
refer Iran to the U.N. Security Council for alleged violations
of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. 

Under the agreement, Tehran is to suspend all uranium enrichment
in return for European guarantees that Iran has the right to
pursue a peaceful nuclear program. 

Iranian President Mohammad Khatami called the agreement a "great
victory" but said Wednesday that Tehran won't respect its
commitment if Europeans fail to support his country at the IAEA
board meeting. 

"If we see that they don't keep their promise, it's natural that
we won't fulfill our promise," he said. 

--- 

On the Net:www.iaea.org 

-- 


 
*****************************************************************
 3 UPI Report: Iran has secret nuke plant - 

(United Press International)
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 
  November 17, 2004 			   

Washington, DC, Nov. 17 (UPI) -- An Iranian opposition group has 
claimed evidence of a secret plant where Iran is producing 
enriched uranium. 

The New York Times reported Wednesday the National Council for 
Resistance in Iran said the Islamic Republic was producing 
enriched uranium at the plant, which had not been disclosed to 
U.N. inspectors.

 The site is located in northeast Iran and covers biological and 
chemical warfare projects as well as nuclear activity, The Times 
said.

 The development comes after Iran appeared over the weekend to 
reach a deal with the European Union to halt uranium enrichment, 
a key step toward making nuclear weapons. Although the United 
States says Iran has a covert nuclear program, Tehran insists it 
needs more energy.

 Mohammad Mohaddessin, a top official in the NCRI, told The Times 
the group had shared the information with the International 
Atomic Energy Agency, the U.N. nuclear watchdog. Its claims could 
not be verified, however.

 NCRI is on the U.S. State Department's list of foreign terrorist 
organizations, but has in the past accurately revealed the 
location of secret nuclear sites in Iran.                                                                           

[UPI Perspectives]                                                                    
*****************************************************************
 4 albawaba.com: Khatami describes nuclear agreement with EU as ''great victory''
 
Al Bawaba - Middle East News and Information 

Text of EU - Iran nuclear agreement

  17-11-2004, 13:43  

Iran's President Mohammad Khatami on Wednesday defended Tehran's
nuclear performance and termed the recent agreement signed
between his country and the European big trio as a "great
victory." 

Talking to reporters at the end of a cabinet session, he said,
"we have gained access to peaceful nuclear technology, thanks to
our own efforts". "Iran's nuclear achievement is a source of
glory for my government," the president was quoted as saying by
IRNA. 

He also urged the European states to show good will reaction
towards Iran's positive attitude. If the Europeans did not keep
their promises and did not fulfill their commitments, Tehran
would not keep its words either, he stressed. 

"We never seek to build nuclear weapons. However, we will defend
our rights in the area of nuclear issues," the Iranian leader
stated. (albawaba.com)   				 			  
  
© 2004 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)  
*****************************************************************
 5 The Australian: Threat of 'nukes to spare' in N Korea 

[November 18, 2004]
 	 	
Peter Alford, Tokyo correspondent

NORTH Korea has built enough nuclear weapons to sell some of them 
to other rogue states or terrorist groups and still retain enough 
to deter attacks on its territory.

That must be the new baseline assumption for the US and other 
countries trying to disarm the communist state, according to 
International Crisis Group president and former Australian 
foreign minister Gareth Evans. 

"It's happened in the last two years," Mr Evans told The 
Australian from Seoul. "Since we lost track of the spent fuel 
rods at Yongbyong (nuclear plant), we have to assume they have 
reprocessed enough plutonium to make six to eight weapons." 

A new ICG report says the strong likelihood that North Korea has 
as many as 10 nuclear bombs -- US intelligence assumes two 
weapons existed before a 1994 agreement to freeze plutonium 
production -- makes the task of dismantling the rogue program 
increasingly urgent. 

The study suggests the US-led approach to disarming North Korea 
since the collapse of the 1994 agreement two years ago has been a 
dangerous waste of time. 

"While six-party talks have continued with results in Beijing, 
North Korea has probably reprocessed its (8000) fuel rods and may 
have turned the plutonium into weapons," the report says. 

"It almost certainly has enough bombs to deter an attack and 
still have some to sell to other states or even terrorist 
groups." 

Since October 2002, when the Americans accused Kim Jong-il's 
regime of running another covert nuclear program, there has been 
no effective international oversight of North Korea's nuclear 
industry and its spent rods stockpile. 

Having already breached the 1994 Agreed Framework several times 
previously, Pyongyang in late 2002 renounced the Nuclear 
Non-Proliferation Treaty and International Atomic Energy 
Commission safeguards. 

Since then the US -- working with China, South Korea, Japan and 
Russia -- has insisted on "complete, verifiable, irreversible 
dismantlement" of the weapons programs before it would consider 
resuming energy or food aid or guaranteeing that the North will 
be from attack. 

The six-party process produced no breakthroughs before it stalled 
in September, while the North awaited the outcome of the US 
presidential election. Talks are unlikely to resume before the 
new year. 

"This (period) has been less than non-productive," Mr Evans said 
yesterday. 

"The international community has no basis for self-congratulation 
-- international interests have gone backwards." 

The ICG is now calling for the Americans to lead the six-party 
process in a new direction, by setting out in detail for the 
North Koreans a process of disarmament, accompanied by a series 
of economic and security benefits. 

This would be enforced by sanctions and -- if the North attempted 
to sell weapons or nuclear material to another state or terror 
group -- a credible threat of military force. Mr Evans said he 
awaited more details of the US State Department's "new 
management" under Condoleezza Rice before judging whether the 
Bush administration was ready to change course on North Korea. 

"I'm not assuming that things are going to get any easier," he 
said. "But the US has so few alternatives in terms of approach, I 
believe that in the end some kind of rationality has to prevail." 
		 			 			
© The Australian   

*****************************************************************
 6 Korea: Digital Chosunilbo: Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Expresses Disbelief at Roh
 
      Updated Nov.17,2004 19:03 KST   

  TOKYO -- In regards to Korean President Roh Moo-hyun¡¯s remark
made at a luncheon meeting in Los Angeles on Nov. 13 that there
was some truth in North Korea¡¯s claim that its nuclear programs
were a means to deter threats from outside, Japanese Chief
Cabinet Secretary Hiroyuki Hosoda said he could not believe
President Roh had made such a remark. 

When asked by reporters at the prime minister¡¯s residence if he
thought President Roh¡¯s remark would hamper the cooperative
relationship between Korea, the U.S. and Japan, Hosoda said that
he did not know well what the Korean president said, but since
it could cause misunderstanding he would look into his remark.
He added that such remarks were often taken out of context and
were reported in ways that were different from their original
intention. 

As for North Korean nuclear development, the secretary said it
clearly posed a serious threat to the world¡¯s non-proliferation
efforts and peace in the Far East, and could never be tolerated. 

(Jung Kwon-hyun, khjung@chosun.com ) 

*****************************************************************
 7 INSIDE JoongAng Daily: Pyeongyang regime is stable, says top aide
on North Korea 

November 18, 2004 KST 15:04 (GMT+9) 

November 18, 2004 ¤Ñ In testimony yesterday before the National 
Assembly, Unification Minister Chung Dong-young, South Korea's 
top policymaker on North Korea, carefully dismissed international 
media reports that Pyeongyang's leadership might be undergoing an 
upheaval. 

A Russian wire service reported Tuesday that portraits of Kim 
Jong-il, the North Korean leader, had been removed from public 
display. 

The reports said pictures of Kim Il Sung, Mr. Kim's father and 
the founder of the communist country, were still in evidence, but 
that likenesses of Kim Jong-il had been taken down. "We need to 
do more work to see if the reports are true," Mr. Chung told 
lawmakers at a hearing on foreign and unification policy. 

North Korean television broadcasts showed the two portraits 
hanging side by side, Mr. Chung said. "Kim Jong-il has been 
carrying out his job normally until very recently," he said. 

Video of Mr. Kim touring a North Korean military base was 
broadcast yesterday on North Korean state-run television. 
South Korean intelligence officials expressed skepticism that 
any missing portraits might be connected with changes in North 
Korea's regime. 

"If the portraits had been taken down everywhere in the North, 
we would have known about it beforehand," an intelligence 
official said. 

Other analysts pointed out that in the early 1990s, the 
portraits of Mr. Kim had been taken down at his own order in a 
show of respect for his father. Mr. Kim reportedly said his 
portraits should not be hung next to his fathers' while the top 
leader was still alive. Kim Il Sung died in 1994. 

During his Assembly testimony, Mr. Chung also said South Korea 
should change its views on the North. "Taking into account the 
changed inter-Korean environment after the summit [in June 
2000], the ¡®main enemy' concept must be changed," Mr. Chung 
said. "In the post Cold War era, no country labels a particular 
nation as a main enemy and develops its defense strategy against 
it." 

Main enemy is the term that South Korea has employed in 
referring to the North in its Defense white papers since 1994. A 
North Korean envoy's threat in 1993 to make Seoul "a sea of 
fire" prompted South Korea to label the North the main enemy. 

North Korea has strongly protested against the use of the term. 
Separately, the chairman of the Uri Party, Lee Bu-young, told 
foreign correspondents in Seoul that the Roh administration 
should be willing to hold a summit with North Korea to resolve 
the nuclear crisis, even if North Korean leader Kim does not 
visit the South in return for the 2000 visit to Pyeongyang by 
then-President Kim Dae-jung. 

by Lee Young-jong, Ser Myo-ja myoja@joongang.co.kr> 

http://joongangdaily.joins.com 

Copyright by Joins.com, Inc. Terms of Use | 
*****************************************************************
 8 INSIDE JoongAng Daily: Restarting nuclear talks, but with Seoul absent
 
 November 18, 2004 KST 15:04 (GMT+9)                                                    
                       
  7th of a series   

  November 18, 2004 ¤Ñ Intelligence officers in Seoul watched as
a 150-seat passenger jet departed from Beijing and landed at
Sunan Airport in Pyeongyang, North Korea, on March 8, 2003. The
plane was not a regular flight connecting Beijing and
Pyeongyang. Who entered the North and why became an important
question for the intelligence agency here because the timing was
sensitive. Tensions between North Korea and the United States
had been reaching a new peak every day. On March 2, a North
Korean fighter jet approached a U.S. reconnaissance plane over
international waters; the U.S. plane reported a near-collision. 

Because the passenger plane then departed Pyeongyang and flew to
Samjiyeon Airport near Mount Baekdu, Seoul's intelligence
officials assessed that a senior Chinese official was aboard the
plane. The intelligence community believed that North Korean
leader Kim Jong-il was staying at his retreat near Samjiyeon at
the time. But the identity of his visitor was unknown.

 On the same day, China's ambassador to South Korea, Li Bin,
went to Incheon International Airport near Seoul after he
received instructions to return to his homeland. But at the
airport, he was told his trip was no longer necessary. Mr. Li,
who had served as minister-counselor at China's embassy in
Pyeongyang before being assigned to Seoul, was known to be an
official whom Kim Jong-il trusted.

 "It was known a bit later that the secret Chinese visitor to
the North was Beijing's vice premier, Qian Qichen," a senior
intelligence official in Seoul said. "Mr. Kim had been staying
at his Samjiyeon retreat for a long time since late February. He
was there because reports had been published that the United
States had deployed strategic bombers at Guam and other
locations." 

According to the official, Samjiyeon was a natural fortress and
aerial bombing was not feasible because of its location near the
North Korea-China border. "We believe that a North Korean war
command is located at Samjiyeon," the official said. "The two
men are believed to have met there."

 Others provided different speculations about where the meeting
took place. "China later confirmed that Mr. Kim and Mr. Qian had
met on that day, but refused to confirm where the meeting took
place," a senior government official said. "Some Chinese
officials said it was not at Samjiyeon. There was talk that a
helicopter had transferred someone from Samjiyeon to another
location on March 8. Therefore, it is difficult to identify the
location of the meeting confidently."

 Regardless of the location, the meeting between Mr. Kim and Mr.
Qian was significant. "Mr. Qian proposed to Mr. Kim to have a
three-way dialogue among China, North Korea and the United
States," the official said. "Mr. Kim was positive, saying he
would review the plan. Until then, the North had refused to step
back from its initial position that the nuclear problem must be
resolved bilaterally between the United States and North Korea.

 "Beijing's proposal to Pyeongyang was a compromise plan between
the U.S. position that the nuclear issue was a regional matter
and must be resolved multilaterally and the North Korean
position of bilateral talks," the official said. "Several more
discussions in different channels followed, but that Kim-Qian
meeting paved the way for the three-nation talks."

 Mr. Qian's visit to the North was interpreted as the sign of
China's direct involvement in the nuclear crisis as well as
Beijing's pressure on Pyeongyang. On March 20, the United States
launched its campaign against Iraq. Amid the U.S. victories, the
negotiations to hold the three-nation talks accelerated. On
March 27, on the eve of a meeting between South Korean Foreign
Minister Yoon Young-kwan and U.S. State Secretary Colin Powell,
Seoul and Washington officials met to discuss the nuclear crisis.

 "Korean officials explained to the U.S. officials its
three-step proposal to end North Korea's nuclear ambitions," a
senior government official said. "A freeze of the North's
nuclear activities, restoring the status quo ante and resolving
the nuclear crisis comprehensively were the three steps. After
briefing the U.S. side about the proposal, we asked if
Washington knew about the senior Chinese official's visit to the
North. The U.S. side said, surprisingly, that they had known
about the visit too. The U.S. officials said that Mr. Qian had
visited the North and that Washington, Beijing and Pyeongyang
were discussing a plan to hold a three-nation dialogue."

 At the same time, Donald Keyser, a deputy to Assistant
Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs James
Kelly, arrived at Seoul for a secret visit. "Mr. Keyser visited
Seoul to explain to U.S. Ambassador Thomas Hubbard plans for the
three-way talks. Mr. Hubbard consulted with Ban Ki-moon, then
the Blue House adviser and now foreign minister, about Seoul's
opinion on the matter," a senior government official said.

"President Roh was immediately informed about it. At the time,
the president was putting all his energy into resolving the
crisis. He believed that it was more important to begin
negotiations to end the crisis than persist in demanding South
Korea's participation at the talks. It was a difficult decision,
but he approached the matter pragmatically."

 On March 28, Foreign Minister Yoon told his U.S. counterpart,
Colin Powell, that South Korea supported the three-way talks.
After Washington got the green light from Seoul, a series of
bilateral contacts among the United States, China and the two
Koreas ensued. The U.S-North Korea contacts took place in New
York on March 30 and in Beijing on April 8 and 10.

by Oh Young-hwan, Jeong Yong-su myoja@joongang.co.kr>   

Copyright by Joins.com, Inc. Terms of Use |
*****************************************************************
 9 AU ABC: N Korea nuclear capacity growing - ICG. 

18/11/2004. ABC News Online
 	
"Australian Broadcasting Corporation Online">   

There are new claims that North Korea has the capacity to build
up to 10 nuclear weapons. 

The International Crisis Group (ICG), one of the world's leading
independent think tanks on international politics and security,
says over the past two years North Korea has been stepping up
development of its nuclear programs. 

The ICG has just published a report which it says could lead to
peace on the Korean Peninsula.

 President of the Brussels-based group and former Australian
foreign minister Gareth Evans says the report details a reward
system for which Pyongyang would be required to reveal and
dismantle its nuclear program.

 "It obviously has to commit itself to signing up against the
non-proliferation treaty and allowing intrusive verification of
what's been going on," he said.

 "It has to commit itself, ultimately, to showing that any
weapons it has created have been destroyed or brought under
international safeguards." 


© 2004 Australian Broadcasting Corporation 
*****************************************************************
 10 Las Vegas RJ: EDITORIAL: Sen. Reid's ascent 
 
Wednesday, November 17, 2004
 
Nevadans' voice in Congress just got a lot louder. Harry Reid
was elected Senate minority leader Tuesday, elevating him to the
top of the Democratic Party's dwindling membership in the upper
house.
 
 Sen. Reid's ascent to one of the most important positions in
Washington is a remarkable achievement. From humble beginnings
in hardscrabble Searchlight, the 64-year-old has spent decades
accumulating political capital in Nevada and the nation's
capital. He rose from the Assembly to the lieutenant governor's
office at age 30. He chaired the Nevada Gaming Commission for
five years before winning election to the House of
Representatives in 1982, then the Senate in 1986.
 
 For the past six years, he served as the party's second in
command. Now, despite Nevada's lack of political clout, Sen.
Reid has a chance to lead. No Nevadan has ever held a position
of such power in the nation's capital. 
Sen. Reid will have no honeymoon in his new job. Democrats hold
only 44 of the Senate's 100 seats, their lowest ratio since the
Great Depression. With a weakened minority he'll have to pick
his battles with Republicans carefully, particularly in handling
President Bush's judicial nominations.
 
 But Sen. Reid will have even greater liberty to take up causes
important to Nevada, including the state's opposition to the
planned Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository and misguided
efforts to eliminate legal wagering on college and amateur
sports.
 
 "I always would rather dance than fight," Sen. Reid said
Tuesday. "But I know how to fight."

 
 
Copyright Las Vegas Review-Journal
*****************************************************************
 11 Las Vegas RJ: MINORITY POST: Reid elected Senate leader 
 
Wednesday, November 17, 2004
 
Nevadan promoted on unanimous vote of Democratic caucus 

By STEVE TETREAULT STEPHENS WASHINGTON BUREAU
 
Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., speaks Tuesday to reporters in the 
Capitol after winning election by his Democratic peers as the new 
Senate minority leader for the next session of Congress. THE 
ASSOCIATED PRESS
 
WASHINGTON -- Harry Reid of Nevada was elected Senate Democratic 
leader on Tuesday, achieving a new level of power he said he will 
use to cooperate with President Bush or fight him if necessary.
 
 Reid, who had been the party's second-in-command in the Senate, 
was promoted by a unanimous vote of the Democratic caucus to head 
a new leadership team in the congressional term that begins in 
January.
 
 With his election, Reid solidified his standing as the most 
influential Nevadan ever to serve in Congress, said Guy Rocha, 
Nevada state archivist.
 
 "It's a slam dunk now," Rocha said. "Before, people may have 
argued for Patrick McCarran, but here all debate ends."
 
 McCarran, a Democrat for whom the Las Vegas airport is named, 
served as senator from 1933 to 1954, wrote a series of 
significant bills and was regarded as one of the major 
anti-communist crusaders of the era.
 
 In an interview, the 64-year-old Reid said Nevadans should see 
little difference in how he represents them as the top Democrat 
in the Senate.
 
 "I have different responsibilities than I had a couple hours 
ago, but I still look to Nevada as my first line of 
responsibility," he said. "I have ongoing projects I am going to 
work on. I think people in Nevada will recognize I have ability 
to help more than I have in the past."
 
 Reid inherits leadership of a Senate caucus that contains 44 
Democrats, the fewest since 1931. Democrats' influence is boosted 
somewhat by Sen. Jim Jeffords, an independent from Vermont who 
usually votes with them.
 
 Reid signalled a willingness to work with Bush, but said 
Democrats will not be pushed around by Republicans who may 
interpret Bush's re-election and GOP gains in Congress as a broad 
endorsement of their policies.
 
 `He said four years ago he wanted to be a uniter," Reid said of 
Bush. "It didn't work well the first four years. We hope it works 
the second four years."
 
 "I would rather dance than fight," the former boxer told 
reporters. "But I can fight."
 
 While they lost 19 of 34 Senate elections on Nov. 2, Democratic 
Senate candidates won 3.5 million more votes than Republicans 
nationwide, Reid said. The party also made pick ups among state 
legislatures, he said.
 
 "I think the majority should be careful about throwing words 
around like `mandate,' " Reid said. "President Bush won the 
election but it was certainly no mandate. If one state had turned 
around, Kerry would be president."
 
 Reid had been a constant on the Senate floor for six years, 
managing legislation and floor proceedings as Democratic whip. He 
told reporters he is not an "untested vessel."
 
 After he was elected minority leader, he reintroduced himself at 
a news conference that dwarfed most of those he had sponsored in 
the past. He described his hardscrabble upbringing in tiny 
Searchlight, and opportunities he was given to achieve an 
education and a career as an attorney.
 
 "The reason I am telling this is if I can make it in America, 
anyone can," he said. Democrats, he said, "want people to have 
the same opportunities that Harry Reid had." Democrats chose new 
leaders in the historic Old Senate Chamber, where senators met 
from 1810 until 1859 and debated slavery, western expansion and 
other issues confronting the young nation.
 
 Reid was nominated by a mentor, 46-year Senate veteran Robert 
Byrd of West Virginia. In a move symbolizing outreach to party 
conservatives and the rural Midwest, Reid also asked Sen. Ben 
Nelson of Nebraska to speak on his behalf.
 
 Sen. Richard Durbin of Illinois was elected to Reid's old post 
of Democratic whip. Sen. Debbie Stabenow of Michigan was elected 
conference secretary, the No. 3 position. Both selections were 
unanimous.
 
 While the Democrats met behind closed doors for two hours, 
voting was completed rather quickly. Senators said they spent the 
rest of the time discussing policy and the elections, with little 
handwringing over the party's net loss of four Senate seats 
following defeats in the South.
 
 The Democrats' presidential nominee, Sen. John Kerry of 
Massachusetts, was there and was given several standing ovations, 
Reid said. The elections were attended by senators of the 
incoming Congress, so Tom Daschle of South Dakota, the outgoing 
leader who was defeated, was not present.
 
 While Reid will not take over officially until January, he is 
playing a major role in managing the lame duck session that 
convened on Tuesday, while planning his transition.
 
 Reid will move his leadership staff into Daschle's suite on the 
second floor of the Capitol, steps from the Senate floor. The new 
offices are about a dozen rooms larger than Reid's current digs 
on the third floor of the Capitol. Reid will continue to maintain 
a separate office for Nevada aides.
 
 As leader, Reid will control an $8 million budget that funds the 
Democratic apparatus, including experts who advise senators on 
legislation, policy and floor procedure, communications aides and 
certain officers who report to the Senate sergeant-at-arms.
 
 As one of the few Democrats in Washington who is hiring, Reid 
has received dozens of resumes from staff members for departing 
senators, plus aides who worked on Kerry's campaign.
 
 A Reid staff of roughly 50 people will expand, but aides said it 
was not yet known how many more will be hired to support his 
leadership duties.
 
 Reid said he has hired two Daschle advisers, policy aide Randy 
DeValk and Nancy Erickson, who was the South Dakotan's deputy 
chief of staff. He also has hired Kevin Kayes, formerly Commerce 
Committee staff director for retiring Sen. Ernest Hollings of 
South Carolina.
 
 Reid plans to strengthen the Democrats' communications by 
establishing a "rapid response" team to promote the party message 
and respond to critics, according to chief of staff Susan McCue.
 
 Reid also is expected to control a number of patronage jobs 
within the Senate bureaucracy that figure to be offered to 
supporters in the state.
 
 "Come January you probably will see more Nevadans around here," 
an aide remarked.

Stephens Washington Bureau reporter Samantha Young contributed to 
this story.
 
 
Copyright Las Vegas Review-Journal
*****************************************************************
 12 Salt Lake Tribune - Opinion: Nuclear fission 

Article Last Updated: 11/17/2004 12:44:59 AM 

It would be like bringing a Beta videocassette to play in a 
VHS player. 

Or it would be like that, if the Beta cassette were highly 
radioactive, the store you rented it from locked the door when 
you tried to return it, nobody knew what to do with it - and the 
tape weighed 44,000 tons. 

The plan to store - temporarily, they kept saying - 4,000 
containers of spent nuclear fuel on the Skull Valley Goshute 
Reservation 45 miles from Salt Lake City has been cussed and 
discussed for years. But only in the last few weeks have we 
discovered that: 

1. The type of containers the spent fuel rods are to be 
stored in for their trip from reactors back East, and during 
their 40-year lay-over in Utah, has not been safety tested under 
any real-world conditions; 

2. Waste containers, tested or not, will not be accepted if 
they simply show up welded shut - which they will be - at the 
doorstep of Yucca Mountain, Nevada, the supposed final resting 
place for such hazardous material. 

Thus the stuff is likely to be moved here in containers 
that aren't reassuringly secure and, once here, might never 
leave. 

Utah state officials are now even more determined to convince 
the federal Atomic Safety Licensing Board to deny the Goshutes 
and their client, Private Fuel Storage, approval of their 
project. 

If this information doesn't justify a reconsideration of the 
whole proposal, then the national plan to deal with nuclear 
waste is not just “dysfunctional,” as the state says. It's 
downright disastrous. 

Not that anything else could be expected in underfunded 
bureaucracy. 

PFS is an alliance of nuclear power plants that only want to 
get rid of the stuff as inexpensively as possible. 

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission certifies the fitness of 
containers for shipment of such waste. But it doesn't have the 
money necessary to test the containers that will pass through 45 
states and within glowing distance of 11 million people to see 
if they would survive truck crashes, train derailments and the 
fires that would likely follow. 

The Department of Energy, which is to operate Yucca 
Mountain if it ever opens, is not supposed to accept nuclear 
canned ham, even in NRC-approved cans. It is supposed to satisfy 
itself that the nuclear fuel was packaged properly at its point 
of origin, which it cannot do if the stuff has already been 
shipped to Skull Valley and sat around for decades. Repackaging 
it to Yucca standards in Utah is not in the plans, because it is 
both expensive and scary as all heck. 

It's well past time for someone at the highest levels of 
government to put on the protective suit and sort out this 
politically radioactive mess, once and for all. 

© Copyright 2004, The Salt Lake Tribune. 
*****************************************************************
 13 SouthBendTribune.com: Halliburton's role in the Middle East runs long, deep
 
November 17, 2004 

 MICHIANA POINT OF VIEW

 By DAVID JAMES 

I thought newspapers made corporations pay for their advertising 
space, either to advertise their products or air their corporate 
philosophy ("We do it all for you!" etc.). 

Halliburton received a free five-column editorial "infomercial" 
in The Tribune on Oct. 17, written by Halliburton CEO David 
Lesar. It closes with the following quote: "And we hope the next 
time you hear an attack on Halliburton, you'll question whether 
you're receiving all the facts." 

I question, along with many others, whether Lesar is giving us 
"all the facts." A few things he did not elucidate: 

Cut to the bottom line. He said that for his company, profit 
margins are "extremely low." His profit margin may be low, but 
his profits themselves sure are not. Despite accounting scandals 
and asbestos lawsuits, the company enjoyed revenues last year of 
$12.6 billion. Put in perspective, that's $42.78 for every man, 
woman and child in America, $2 for every person in the world. If 
the revenues were dollar bills laid end to end, they would 
stretch five times the distance to the moon. 

Since Sept. 11, 2001, the Bush administration has awarded the 
company $2.2 billion in defense-related business despite the fact 
that Halliburton came under fire in the early '90s for supplying 
Libya and Iraq with oil drilling equipment which could also be 
used to detonate nuclear weapons. Halliburton Logging Services, a 
former subsidiary, was charged with shipping six pulse neutron 
generators through Italy to Libya. In 1995, the company pleaded 
guilty to criminal charges that it violated the U.S. ban on 
exports to Libya. Halliburton was fined $1.2 million and will pay 
$2.61 million in civil penalties. Since then, Libya has cleaned 
up its act. Has Halliburton? 

A little more than a month ago, Halliburton announced that the 
Securities and Exchange Commission had begun a probe into the 
company's booking of cost overruns on energy-related construction 
jobs. This practice accounted for the overruns as revenue, even 
if customers had not yet approved the charges, and inflated 
Halliburton profits by almost $100 million in 1998. 

Judicial Watch, a "conservative" self-described non-partisan 
group, filed suit recently on behalf of shareholders against Vice 
President Cheney and 13 other Halliburton directors, as well as 
Halliburton itself and its accounting firm, Arthur Andersen LLP 
and Arthur Andersen Worldwide. The suit charges Cheney and 
Halliburton with fraudulent accounting practices and misleading 
press releases resulting in the overvaluation of the company's 
shares, leading to shareholder losses. The lawsuit alleges 
Halliburton overstated revenues by $445 million from 1999 through 
the end of 2001. 

Halliburton has tax havens -- those are tax dodges that you and I 
would be in deep do-do for -- in Panama, Bermuda, Virgin Islands, 
Cayman Islands, Barbados, Antilles, Nevis, Jersey, Liechtenstein, 
Kuwait, Mauritius and Bahrain. Open a post box, dodge millions in 
tax. 

The ongoing investigation of the company by the Government 
Accountability Office points to a sweetheart relationship with 
the Bush administration, with whom they also share the charge of 
mismanagement and chaos in their Iraqi operations. Halliburton is 
helping to cause needless deaths in Iraq under the guise of 
supporting our troops, and I trust neither they nor the 
administration to rectify this. 

In addition to "caring for our troops" the company also helps run 
the internationally-condemned Guantanamo Bay detention site. It 
provides logistical support to the military in many overseas 
locations. In Iraq, the non-competitive, no bid contracts -- 
which total $443.4 million -- include classified planning for 
Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld ($1.8 million) and for the 
army ($37 million), oil well repair ($234,900,000), and running 
prisoner-of-war camps ($28 million). This is only the United 
States -- 85 percent of Iraqi money going for "reconstruction" of 
the Iraqi state (this was touted by the Bush administration as 
"putting the Iraqis on their feet again") also goes to companies 
such as Halliburton. 

In addition to caring for our troops, Halliburton contributed 
more than $1 million dollars to Republican candidates for office. 

Halliburton has 30,000 people in Iraq. What are they doing there? 
Their purpose is to generate revenue for Halliburton. Just like 
an employee of Wal-Mart, except Wal-Mart employees are not so 
obviously dying for their company's profit. 

Next time, make Halliburton pay for their advertising space. 

David James lives in South Bend. 

*****************************************************************
 14 Guardian Unlimited: Senate OKs $800B Debt Limit Hike
 
From the Associated Press        

[UP] 

November 17, 2004 11:46 PM

AP Photo DCGH109 

By ALAN FRAM 

Associated Press Writer 

WASHINGTON (AP) - A divided Senate approved an $800 billion 
increase in the federal debt limit Wednesday, a major boost in 
borrowing that Sen. John Kerry and other Democrats blamed on the 
fiscal policies of President Bush. 

The mostly party line, 52-44, vote was expected to be followed by 
House passage Thursday. Enactment would raise the government's 
borrowing limit to $8.18 trillion - more than eight times the 
total federal debt that existed when President Reagan took office 
in 1981. 

In his first remarks on the Senate floor since his presidential 
bid ended in defeat two weeks ago, Kerry, D-Mass., said his 
former opponent had presided over ``the worst fiscal turnaround 
in our nation's entire history.'' 

He was referring to the change from the $5.6 trillion in 
surpluses that were projected for the next 10 years when Bush 
took office in 2001, to the $2.3 trillion in deficits now 
estimated for the coming decade. Kerry and other Democrats 
complained that those bills will have to be paid by future 
generations. 

``This can be called a birth tax, a birth tax that is dumped on 
the back of every American child unwillingly,'' said Kerry, who 
voted against the borrowing increase. 

Republican senators did not join in the debate, underscoring how 
politically uncomfortable the measure is for them. That 
discomfort was highlighted when they refused to bring the bill to 
a vote before the elections. 

Administration officials urged lawmakers to act quickly. The 
government reached its $7.38 trillion borrowing cap last month, 
and since then the Treasury Department has paid federal bills by 
taking cash from a civil service retirement account, which it 
plans to repay. 

``We are nearing the end of our rope, and it is critical that 
Congress act,'' said Treasury spokesman Rob Nichols. 

Failure to raise the debt ceiling could force a federal default 
and leave the government unable to pay Social Security 
recipients, federal workers and other obligations. 

The Senate's debt-limit vote came as congressional bargainers 
used the lame-duck session to continue writing a giant $388 
billion spending measure to finance scores of agencies over the 
next 10 months. 

That package - a combination of nine separate spending bills - 
will finance the heart of the government's domestic programs, 
everything except the departments of Defense and Homeland 
Security. The measures were supposed to be approved by last Oct. 
1, when the government's budget year began. 

Democrats complained that the bill - which will let non-defense, 
non-domestic security programs grow by about 2 percent next year 
- was too stingy. They said clean water grants, the National 
Science Foundation and federal subsidies for hiring local police 
officers were all being cut from last year, and that funds for 
education, biomedical research and veterans health care were 
inadequate. 

``I don't agree with these priorities, but it is time to move the 
process forward,'' said Sen. Robert Byrd of West Virginia, the 
top Democrat on the Senate Appropriations Committee. 

Even so, Democrats were cooperating in negotiating the bill's 
final form, and many of them were expected to vote for it on 
grounds that it was better than the alternative. 

If the bill is not completed, GOP leaders are offering to simply 
continue programs at last year's levels. That formula would cut 
about $4 billion from overall spending, and eliminate the 
thousands of home-district projects the bill is likely to 
include. 

One of the biggest remaining problems was the bill financing 
energy and water programs, popular with lawmakers because of the 
many local projects it finances. Its knottiest dispute was over 
funds to continue planning and building a nuclear waste 
repository at Nevada's Yucca Mountain, which is opposed by 
incoming Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev. 

Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, 
said if no agreement is reached, Yucca Mountain would probably 
get no more than $500 million, less than last year. 

``We don't have any more money,'' he said. 
  
      Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2004
*****************************************************************
 15 [NYTr] Vanunu: Long Walk to Freedom
 
Date: Wed, 17 Nov 2004 10:48:19 -0600 (CST)

 
Via NY Transfer News Collective  *  All the News that Doesn't Fit
 
The Guardian - 15 November 2004
http://www.guardian.co.uk/g2/story/0,,1351233,00.html

Mordechai Vanunu served 18 years in an Israeli prison for blowing
the whistle on the country's nuclear weapons programme. Last week he
was arrested again - but not before he had given Duncan Campbell the
following exclusive interview

Mordechai Vanunu: Long walk to freedom

By Duncan Campbell

It was precisely noon in Jerusalem and the bells in the tower of St
George's Cathedral were echoing over the city. The short, trim man
in the apricot shirt and dark trousers who was ringing them was
smiling broadly. "Down there," he said, when he had given a final
pull to the centre bell and was gazing from the turrets to the
sprawling civic building below, "down there is where they sentenced
me to 18 years in prison. This is my way of saying I am still here."

That was 10 days ago. Since then, Mordechai Vanunu, who emerged from
his 18-year sentence for revealing that Israel had a nuclear weapons
programme only seven months ago, has been re-arrested and accused of
disclosing classified information and of breaching the restrictions
that forbid him from associating with foreigners. This week, the
Israeli attorney general will decide what action to take. For the
time being, he is back under house arrest in a small room at the
cathedral.

The inscription at the foot of the cathedral's bell tower reads:
"When He beheld the city, He wept over it. O, pray for the peace of
Jerusalem." For the past few months, Vanunu, who converted to
Christianity in 1986, had been climbing the steps to the top of the
tower thrice daily, partly to keep fit but, more importantly, to
behold the city. Once at the top, he was in no hurry to descend,
pointing out the Mount of Olives in the distance, the sun glinting
on the dome of the Russian church, the Palestinian school, the
Hebrew university, the gardens below with their pomegranate and fig
trees and the rose and lavender beds that give the impression of an
English country churchyard transplanted to the Middle East.

"I was very hungry for these views," he said. "One of the greatest
cruelties of prison is that you become like a blind man, you do not
have any views. But I would still rather be on the top of the Tower
of London."

It was from London that Vanunu was lured abroad to Italy 18 years
ago by a woman who was working with Mossad, the Israeli intelligence
agency. Vanunu, a former nuclear technician, had been in England
giving information about the Dimona nuclear plant to the Sunday
Times, but, depressed by the delay in publication, had wanted to get
out of the city, ironically because he feared that Mossad was on his
tail.

"It was a race between me and Mossad, so my concern was to publish
immediately. When the Sunday Times delayed publication I decided to
leave London," he said. But despite his realisation that Mossad must
have known his movements, he was persuaded by the blonde American
woman he met in Leicester Square - who pretended to be a tourist and
critical of Israel - to accompany her to Italy for a romantic break.
Once there, he was overpowered, drugged, bound and shipped back to
Israel where, after a secret trial, he was jailed.

He does not feel anger towards the woman, who called herself
"Cindy". "I see her as a spy, part of a team, rather than as a
woman," he said. "They would like me to be angry with her as a woman
but I am not." And he said that the woman, since identified in the
media as Cindy, supposedly a Mossad agent living in Florida, was not
the one who lured him to Italy.

"She was pure American, she could have been CIA, she could have been
recruited by Mossad but she was not an Israeli woman," he said. He
believes that possibly British, French and Italian intelligence
services were all involved. One of the people on the ship that
carried him clandestinely back to Israel was a Frenchman, he said,
and his flight to Italy from London had been delayed, possibly, he
surmised, because British intelligence services were cooperating.

Famously, when he was bundled into court for his secret trial, he
scrawled the message that he had been kidnapped on his hand. "They
told me I could not talk about the kidnapping or even mention the
word 'Rome'. I hoped that by revealing the kidnapping on the palm of
my hand it would make the government of Italy demand my release."
But the Italian government did nothing and he was jailed for 18
years.

Vanunu was 10 when his family arrived in Israel from Morocco. When
he was 18, he resolved to travel the world, but he ended up first
doing his national service in the Israeli defence force and then
becoming a student studying geography and philosophy, watching
football and basketball and enjoying college life. He became active
in student politics, and identified with the Palestinian students he
met. It was then that he became concerned about peace issues, not
least because one of his professors was jailed at the time for
refusing military service.

Despite his radical student past, he was cleared to work as a
technician at the Dimona nuclear plant in the Negev desert and it
was there that he became disquieted by his discovery of a secret
weapons programme, which is still not officially acknowledged. He
took photos of the plant and smuggled them out. What prompted him to
take such a risk?

He was aware, he said, of what Daniel Ellsberg, now himself a
vociferous admirer of Vanunu, had done by leaking the Pentagon
papers, which had helped to end the Vietnam war. He was also
inspired by the 1979 film, The China Syndrome, the story of a
nuclear whistle-blower, which starred Jane Fonda, Jack Lemmon and
Michael Douglas - "You remember the man inside taking photos, trying
to bring it to the attention of the media and they killed him" -
and, later, by Mike Nichols's 1983 film Silkwood, the true story of
Karen Silkwood, played by Meryl Streep, who leaked her concerns
about the nuclear industry before dying mysteriously. But his main
motivation was Hiroshima, he said. "I didn't have any real role
model, it was more the danger of the atomic bomb."

He did not know what to do with his information, which he first
divulged to a church group in Sydney, where he had arrived on his
travels. He was encouraged by an erratic Colombian freelance
journalist there to go public with the information, which led him
eventually to the Sunday Times.

If he has regrets about what he did, it is about the way he chose to
leak the story. "It was a mistake to go with one newspaper but I
didn't have any experience with the media," he said, sitting in the
cathedral's garden in the morning sun with news of Arafat's
impending death hovering in the background. "My target was to bring
information to the world, so the best way would have been a press
conference or to send it to 20 newspapers so that it would not be
controlled by anyone. Now things have changed and the internet has
made it much easier for information to be passed on."

For more than 11 years he was kept in solitary confinement,
initially in a two-metre by three-metre cell. "There was a lot of
pressure, a lot of attempts at brainwashing," he says. "They would
talk to me about the Holocaust and say that the Palestinians are
terrorists or the Arabs want to destroy the Jewish state so they
need an atomic bomb. I didn't accept this: the Holocaust is not the
real issue, it does not justify having the atomic bomb or taking the
Palestinian land. Also I was very angry about the trial; if I had
received a fair trial, an open trial, that would have been
different."

In prison his main motivation was survival. "I decided from the
beginning that they could have my body in prison but my spirit,
mind, brain, I would keep free, under my control; that would be my
way out. I used my Christianity as my defence, my barrier." He would
sing hymns to himself, he said. He was visited by a priest but there
was a glass between them and they were only allowed to communicate
by exchanging notes. After five years, he decided that he wanted to
meet the priest in person or not at all. The meetings ended.

His conversion to Christianity, which had happened in Australia in
1986 before he went public with the secrets, has been one source of
division, not least with his family, who live in an orthodox
community in Bnei Brek, near Tel Aviv. They do not visit him and
dissociated themselves from him years ago, with the exception of two
of his brothers, Meir, a photographer now travelling the world after
guiding Mordechai's first steps outside jail, and Asher, now
teaching in Chile.

Rumours have abounded since he was released. After he spoke by video
link to the European Social Forum in London last month, word went
round his supporters in Scandinavia that he had "escaped" and was in
England. There were also reports that he had married.

"That is the Israeli media - maybe to prevent other women's interest
in me," he said with the wide smile that frequently punctuates his
often intense manner. "There was a woman who came here, a friend;
she was very friendly. The bishop encouraged me to marry and the
rumours started and they published a picture of us together. Now
every time I go on the street the Palestinians say: 'Are you happily
married now?' But she is now in the United States. But I do plan to
find a woman and have a family."

Currently barred from leaving the country at least for a further
five months, he still hopes to live abroad, preferably in the United
States, where his adoptive parents, an American couple, live. Some
people have asked why he wants to go to the one country in the world
that had actually used an atomic bomb.

"They made a mistake. At least America has not made that mistake
again. That is good - 50 years without the atomic bomb. I am going
there because of its democracy, its freedom, there's a lot of
possibilities to write, to learn. I hope my future will be in the
academic world, reading, teaching. I don't know if I can do it, but
that is what I would like. Also I want to continue to seek the
abolition of nuclear weapons around the world, not only in Israel
but in England, France, the US, China, Pakistan, India. The enemy
now is terrorism but you cannot use atomic bombs against terrorists.
I will try and find a way to contribute. I would like to work with
the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) in Vienna or with the
UN."

There had not been much coverage of his case in the American media
with the exception of the leftwing Pacifica radio network. "Most of
the American journalists are worried that they will be expelled [if
they talk to him] and no one wants to be expelled," he said. "Also
their bosses don't want to be in conflict with Israel. They don't
want to sacrifice their situation here for my case. The US media is
very pro-Israel; they never wrote about their nuclear weapons. They
don't want to be called anti-semitic."

On the current situation between the Israelis and Palestinians, he
said: "If President Bush decided to do something, they could solve
it. What we have now is an apartheid state. There used to be 30%
Christian [Palestinians] in east Jerusalem, now it is less than 2%.
A lot have emigrated. If I was a Palestinian, I couldn't live under
occupation. What kind of life is that?

"But the way to resist the occupation and aggression is not by
terror but by non-violence, civil disobedience and, all-important,
to build a society, an economy, universities to prove that they are
no less educated and developed and compete with them. To have a
classical orchestra, sports teams that can compete abroad, a
scientist who can compete with the Israelis. That is the way. Since
the second intifada, the reality is very, very bad. I used to have
optimism but when I came out and saw the wall and saw the reality
.. young people who live here don't have any hope.

"Non-violence is still the only way to resist. The fact is that
Israel wants the Palestinians to react, they make use of the terror
for two things: to raise a new generation who will be much more
anti-Palestinian and more rightwing and they use the terror for more
occupation, building the wall, justifying what they do to the
Palestinians."

Vanunu had decided to talk despite the fact that the restriction on
him having any contact with foreigners has just been renewed for a
further six months. "I don't know what is the best way to overcome
this restriction - is it by silence or is it by speaking? I decided
it was by speaking," he said, talking a few days before he was
seized by the Israeli army. "If I speak, they can see I have no more
secrets, all I am doing is expressing my views and also I am
teaching them that they cannot silence anyone ... If they take away
your right to speak, you are not a human being any more." He did not
speak at all about Dimona.

Officially, the reason given for him not being allowed to talk or
leave is that he may divulge more secrets. However, Jerusalem-based
correspondents say that some government ministers privately believe
that the restrictions were an error, imposed at the behest of an
intelligence service who were wrong-footed by the disclosures in the
first place and are anxious to avoid further embarrassment. It is
generally accepted that his information is now so old as to be of
little significance.

Vanunu continues to provoke strong reactions. He is lionised in many
countries, particularly in Europe, as a whistle-blower who was
prepared to risk his life to draw attention to the dangers of
nuclear warfare. He has recently received the Lennon Ono peace prize
in New York and the CND building in London was just named after him.
Daniel Ellsberg, on a recent visit to London, hailed him as a hero.
Supporters threw a 50th birthday bash for him last month, complete
with personalised cake. Performers, including Susannah York, Arthur
Smith and Mark Steel, appear this week in a benefit concert for him
in London.

In Israel, however, he is still regarded by many as a traitor and
when he emerged from jail, extremists tried to attack him, rushing
his car and making throat-slitting gestures as he left the prison
gates. Now he faces the courts once more. How had people reacted to
him?

"The people in east Jerusalem are very sympathetic and very happy to
see me; they shake my hand and invite me to coffee. Three or four
times, Israeli youths have shouted at me but I ignore them," he
said. "I have received some hint of threats that they could kill me.
If they want to do something, it's not a big problem for them but I
am not in fear, I am just living my life. Fear will not help me."

He has no income and lives modestly. His room is free, courtesy of
the Anglican bishop. Friends and supporters - and he has a number of
dedicated Israeli peace campaigners who have been battling for him
since the early days - have given him clothes and a laptop. His days
have been spent talking to visitors, walking the nearby streets,
swimming at a local hotel. And, until he was re-arrested at least,
climbing to the top of the bell tower to savour the chimes of
freedom.
       
                                *
Search the NYTr Archives at:
http://olm.blythe-systems.com/pipermail/nytr/

To subscribe or unsubscribe or change your settings via the web, visit:
http://olm.blythe-systems.com/mailman/listinfo/nytr

=================================================================
  NY Transfer News Collective   *   A Service of Blythe Systems
           Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us
              339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012
  http://www.blythe.org                  e-mail: nyt@blythe.org
================================================================= 
*****************************************************************
 16 Update - Vanunu Questioned Today
 
Date: Wed, 17 Nov 2004 17:19:11 -0800

 
<x-flowed>
Free Mordechai Vanunu - Info & Action Alert #41 - November 17, 2004

 From the U.S. Campaign to Free Mordechai Vanunu
www.vanunu.com or http://www.nonviolence.org/vanunu/

** PLEASE FORWARD TO SYMPATHETIC LISTS **

1.  Vanunu questioned today

2.  Write to Mordechai Vanunu

----------------
1.  Vanunu questioned today

Summary of update from Rayna Moss, Israel:

Mordechai Vanunu went to the Petah Tikva detention center for questioning 
at 2:30 p.m. on Wednesday, November 17, as requested by authorities.  He 
said that they had no new material against him nor any new charges - they 
just kept asking about his previous interviews, and he repeated that 
everything he had to say about nuclear weapons he said in 1986.

Mordechai also reported that the police returned some of his DVD's and 
other items, but not his computers.  He was told he would perhaps get those 
back next week.  The 7 days of house arrest issued when he was re-arrested 
on November 11 expires tomorrow, November 18.

-----------
2)  Write to Mordechai

Mordechai would love to hear from his friends and supporters.  You can 
write to him at:
Mordechai Vanunu
c/o Cathedral Church of St. George
20 Nablus Road
PO Box 19018
Jerusalem 91190
Israel

and email him at <vanunumvjc@hotmail.com>
================
-end-




Felice Cohen-Joppa
Coordinator
U.S. Campaign to Free Mordechai Vanunu
POB 43384
Tucson, AZ 85733
Phone/Fax 520-323-8697
freevanunu@mindspring.com
www.nonviolence.org/vanunu

</x-flowed>
*****************************************************************
 17 [EMMAS] Arresting Vanunu While Burying Arafat
 
Date: Wed, 17 Nov 2004 08:10:13 -0600 (CST)

 
http://www.dissidentvoice.org/Nov2004/LaRosa1116.htm
Arresting Vanunu While Burying Arafat
by Mary La Rosa
  www.dissidentvoice.org
  November 16, 2004

They stormed St Georges early in the morning
  just like it was Ramallah
  and the Ghost of some other plot the base of their desire
  Machine guns poised ready to fire
  How many agents do you think it takes
  to intimidate Anglican Bishop Riah?

  How many agents needed to crash a cathedral gate
  How many agents to dash past clergy and Pax Ecclesiae
  How many agents to frighten the Christian pilgrims
  and seize the unarmed Mordechai?

Mr. Vanunu remained calm. 
  They took him away with automatic weapons and hostility
  Later they returned him without harm but missing his technology
  Without regard for laptop sanctity and inviolability
  towards sacred place, circle, temple, mosque or church
  how many security agents DOES it take to represent a fascist state?

-- MLR

  On November 10 2004, Fredrik Heffermehl, Norwegian author of the book
Peace Is Possible and spokesperson for the International Free Vanunu
Campaign distributed an online report and analysis concerning the
ongoing and active campaign for full human and civil rights for Israeli
nuclear whistle blower  Mordechai Vanunu. Mr. Vanunu is currently
living with the ambiguity of not quite full freedom. While it appears
that he was physically released from one Israeli styled prison six
months ago, he is seemingly further punished and being held prisoner by
being forced to remain under court restrictions that prevent him from
leaving the country that does not really want him, but also does not
really want him to be free.  The overt theme of Israel's continued
restrictions over Mr. Vanunu's civil rights and liberties is one
that claims security, not vengeance,  to be at the core paranoia about
Mr. Vanunu's twenty-year-old memory of such "secrets," now known and
published throughout the free world. 

  Fredrik Heffermehl, who is also a lawyer and Vice President of the
International Peace Bureau had only just presented the newly proposed
legal strategy based upon review of Mordechai's situation and the
progress of the campaign thus far. Due to various aspects of Mr.
Vanunu's unique case re: its legality, civil rights, environmental
concerns, an international awareness and interest in the case have
been growing.  Mr. Heffermehl's report welcomed a larger international
presence including special interest groups that support Mordechai and
umbrella together in support of the abolition of nuclear
proliferation.  

Another lawyer and activist, Jennifer Harbury joined Mr. Heffermehl in
Lawyers For Full Freedom For Vanunu. She is currently working on a
project that exposes the various use and users of torture and she
brings to the Vanunu campaign her expertise in championing political
prisoners and human rights causes. 

Less than one day after Mr. Heffermehl posted his report to an
international community of supporters, Mordechai Vanunu was taken away
in a fanfare of commando style mobbing. If indeed this event took
place to contrast the event of Yasser Arafat's death and funeral, why
did Israeli security still deem it so necessary to utilize such
armed force against unarmed Christian clergy and pilgrims? Some
witnesses reported as many as thirty security agents arriving in
various kinds of vehicles brandishing weapons across the threshold
of the sanctity of the Church grounds, and against the much outraged
indignation of the Right Reverend Bishop Riah Abu El-Assal.

Bishop Riah is the Christian leader of the Anglican community at the
Cathedral of St. George in Jerusalem where Vanunu has been living in
sanctuary from those who wish to do him physical harm. This is not the
first time Bishop Riah has been rudely approached by security police
with regards to Mordechai Vanunu.  Since offering Mordechai Vanunu the
hospitality and protection of the Church, Bishop Riah has been stopped
and detained at Tel Aviv airport. There he was subjected to a body
search and was interrogated by the Shin Bet. 

Bishop Riah, as a Palestinian Christian, has experienced most of his
life living under Occupation. Considering his past and present status
in the Anglican community this recent incursion is a great
disrespect and an affront to all Churches.  Since this inappropriate
incident and armed visit that included Mordechai's arrest, the Anglican
Church and the Compass Rose Society have featured Bishop Riah's letter
and reaction to this latest assault.  He remains Mordechai's loyal
friend and spiritual adviser.

The motivation behind making the dramatic kind of arrest at St George's
that befitted some dangerous kingpin with some
equally armed entourage is unclear at this time, except that it has
provided the Vanunu campaign with further vitality in the medias.  Mr.
Vanunu remained calm and the other guests and clergy, after expressing
their initial shock and dismay, are now expressing their outrage. 
It has been alarming to notice how an established religious leader at
his center and consecrated ground, is treated by an over active police
force thus setting further example for those "unofficial" and self
proclaimed police gangs known for acting out racist hatred and violence
near illegal settlements.  Other religious leaders, pilgrims and
concerned travelers must consider if this incident is part of a current
trend by the Israeli government to single out certain types of Jesus
followers, especially those involved in human rights issues and/or
unpopular causes.

  An unpopular cause, besides Mordechai Vanunu's complete
freedom, appears to be any overt defense of the Palestinian people's
basic human rights and needs.  Christians involved in using their
presence in order to protect Palestinians from settler violence have
been physically attacked while walking as a protective presence with
school children.   The Christian Peacemaker Team in Hebron has reported
on such settler violence for some time now.  Israeli and Christian
groups report that the rate of  incidence has increased but with little
or no real policing of the hate crimes.

Recently tensions in Jerusalem involving chronic abuse of Christian
clergy by orthodox students culminated when a Jewish orthodox student
spat at an archbishop during a procession from Jerusalem's Armenian
Quarter to the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, the site that commemorates
the crucifixion and burial of Jesus. The student in this particular
incident was arrested, after ripping the cross from the neck of the
cleric. The Armenian Christians reported that the spitting is an
ongoing and continuous problem and one that comes from adult men and
women, as well teens.

The Presbyterian Church has been recently featured in alternative and
some mainstream medias for its latest strategy and decision to do
something positive on behalf of the existing and continuing suffering
of the Palestinian people living under occupation.  Tired of
waiting for yet another official UN veto to stop even investigation
of human rights violations in the Occupied Territories, the
Presbyterian Church has decided to take direct action against illegal
settlements and the illegal targeting of human rights activists in the
Occupied Territories. 

By making such brave and courageous commitment to peace in the name of
values directly associated with the life and teachings of Jesus, the
Presbyterians,  have come under attack.  

As a proactive commitment to peace and justice, the Presbyterian
Church announced it would target specific companies and businesses that
operate on occupied land, and or companies that support illegal
settlements, build barriers and make business with organizations that
support violence against the Palestinian people. The Church further
explained that all Companies can balance their past bad business
practices by protesting the occupation, helping victims, contributing
to a viable economy for an independent Palestinian state, or employing
Israeli Arabs or Palestinians.

"The goal is not to divest but persuade organizations to change their
behavior," said Jerry Van Marter, director of the Presbyterian News
Service.

This statement and statements like this have inspired bullying and
threats from violent Jewish extremist groups operating in the US and
abroad.   Tensions have risen with the most recent arson
threats that have been directed specifically towards Presbyterian
churches all around the United States. Threats of arson were sent to
individual Churches and included swastika signs condemning each Church
and the Presbyterian organization as a whole, for its human rights
efforts against illegal settlements, that either promote or inflict
apartheid style racism or that defiantly stand as obstacles to peace.

Mr. Vanunu, who is a Christian and who claims his faith
profoundly directed and sustained him during the worse of his
imprisonment, gives much credit to the spiritual teachings of Jesus
Christ.  Throughout his hardship and the loneliness of solitary
confinement, Mordechai held strong to his Christian beliefs. If
eighteen and a half years did not break him of those beliefs, thirty
men with weapons will not succeed either.  Afterall, the universal
message of Christ is one of peace and love and is still held in "some"
popular esteem at his birthplace and elsewhere around the world, more
than two thousand years later.  

This year Mr. Vanunu was once again nominated for the prestigious Nobel
Peace Prize. Had he won he would have had to have made his acceptance
speech from inside Israel while under restrictions for doing that which
put him in prison eighteen and a half years ago which in turn led him
to be nominated.  He was recently honored at the United Nations along
with Seymour Hersh as recipient of the  Lennon Ono Peace Award and also
because of his restrictions he could not attend. Instead, his adoptive
parents, Nick and Mary Eoloff accepted for him and gave his  speech for
him in absentia.

The  Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament recently made a tribute by
naming its national headquarters in London after him. 

In October, Mordechai Vanunu celebrated his 50th birthday. Because of
the court restrictions he could not share his cake and toast with all
his friends, but supporters from all around the world celebrated his
special day. Shortly after, David Frost contacted him and he answered
David's questions in interview format.  This interview was considered a
defiance of the restrictions placed on him upon his release. However,
if David Frost calls Mordechai Vanunu how is it possible to comply with
such restrictions and still be a man free to answer the door or pick up
the phone? 

Among his last words to David Frost:

"I tried to inform the world and to try to stop this nuclear
proliferation"

==============
***NOTICE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this
material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a
prior interest in receiving the included information for research and
educational purposes.***

#################################################################
" Social and economic well-being will become a reality only through the
zeal, courage, the non-compromising determination of intelligent
minorities, and not through the mass."  Emma Goldman

To SUBSCRIBE/UNSUBSCRIBE to the emmasdance list send email to
<majordomo@cs.pdx.edu>
with the message subscribe/unsubscribe emmasdance. [No subject is
needed.]

"If I can not dance, I want no part in your revolution."  Emma Goldman

#################################################################
*****************************************************************
 18 Australian Financial Review: WMC's uranium not for China

  November 17 2004

The Australian government today ruled out a successful bidder
for WMC Resources being allowed to ship uranium from the miner's
Olympic Dam project to China.-->        

2004/11/17-->   COMPANIES-->

The Australian government today ruled out a successful bidder for 
WMC Resources being allowed to ship uranium from the miner's 
Olympic Dam project to China. 

A spokeswoman for Resources Minister Ian Macfarlane pointed out 
that China wasn't a legal recipient of Australian uranium under 
the government's nuclear exports policy. 

"If we don't have a bilateral agreement with that country there 
is no avenue to export uranium to China," the spokeswoman said. 
"There is no way of getting around that," she said, adding that 
it would take about five years for any such arrangement to be 
struck with Beijing. 

Australia has bilateral agreements with the US, Canada, the UK, 
Switzerland, France, Japan and South Korea covering the export of 
uranium for exclusively peaceful purposes. 

WMC Resources' Olympic Dam mine in South Australia contains about 
one-third of the world's uranium resources in a single deposit.
 

The company recently rejected a tentative $7.4 billion bid from 
Switzerland-based Xstrata and hired investment bank Citigroup to 
join existing adviser UBS in exploring "options for maximizing 
value". 

Last week, Mr Macfarlane said he would be "surprised" if Xstrata 
was the only company interested in acquiring WMC Resources, 
citing resources heavyweights Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton as 
possibly coveting Australia's last sizeable independent miner. 

Apart from Rio and BHP, other potential suitors bandied around 
include Brazil's Companhia Vale do Rio Doce, or CVRD, US-based 
Phelps Dodge, Canada's Inco and China Minmetals. 

Citigroup Smith Barney has said interest in WMC Resources from 
China "cannot be ruled out". 

Earlier today, the Australian diversified nickel producer said in 
response to a query from the Australian Stock Exchange that it 
hadn't received any new takeover proposals. 

"WMC can confirm that it is not in receipt of any takeover offer 
or merger proposal, other than as previously disclosed to the 
ASX," WMC said. [Back to top] Top 

*****************************************************************
 19 Las Vegas SUN: Russia Developing New Nuclear Missile

Today: November 17, 2004 at 10:39:02 PST 
 
ASSOCIATED PRESS 

MOSCOW (AP) - 

1117russia-nukes President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday that
Russia is developing a new form of nuclear missile unlike those
held by other countries, news agencies reported. 

Speaking at a meeting of the Armed Forces' leadership, Putin
reportedly said that Russia is researching and successfully
testing new nuclear missile systems. 

"I am sure that ... they will be put in service within the next
few years and, what is more, they will be developments of the
kind that other nuclear powers do not and will not have," Putin
was quoted as saying by the ITAR-Tass news agency. 

Putin reportedly said: "International terrorism is one of the
major threats for Russia. We understand as soon as we ignore
such components of our defense as a nuclear and missile shield,
other threats may occur." 

No details were immediately available, but Defense Minister
Sergei Ivanov said earlier this month that Russia expected to
test-fire a mobile version of its Topol-M ballistic missile this
year and that production of the new weapon could be commissioned
in 2005. 

News reports have also said Russia is believed to be developing
a next-generation heavy nuclear missile that could carry up to
10 nuclear warheads weighing a total of 4.4 tons, compared with
the Topol-M's 1.32-ton combat payload. 

Topol-Ms have been deployed in silos since 1998. The missiles
have a range of about 6,000 miles and reportedly can maneuver in
ways that are difficult to detect. 

Earlier this year, a senior Defense Ministry official was quoted
as telling news agencies that Russia had developed a weapon that
could make the United States' proposed missile-defense system
useless. Details were not given, but military analysts said the
claimed new weapon could be a hypersonic cruise missile or
maneuverable ballistic missile warheads. 

-- 


 
*****************************************************************
 20 Bellona: Development of new generation nuclear icebreaker to start next year
 
The Russian budget will sacrifice $1.7m next year to develop 
design of the new generation nuclear icebreaker. 

2004-11-16 17:48

On October 21, the head of Federal Agency on marine and river 
transport Vyacheslav Ruksha told journalists that it is time to 
start construction of new nuclear icebreakers, otherwise all the 
existing nuclear icebreakers would exceed their lifetime and 
could be taken out of operation by 2015. The price tag of the 
modern nuclear icebreaker today is from $250m to $300m, RBC 
reported. 

According to Ruksha, the development of the new atomic 
icebreaker’s design is to start already in 2005.The end of 
construction could be expected in 2011. The state budget has 
earmarked about $1.7m for the design development next year. Some 
Russian companies operating in the Arctic like Norilsk Nickel and 
Gazprom could be offered to share the bill for the new 
icebreaker’s construction. At the same time the lifetime of some 
nuclear icebreakers could be extended, for example, the lifetime 
of Arctika icebreaker may be prolonged up to 175 thousand hours, 
ITAR-TASS reported. 

All the nuclear-powered icebreakers (except Lenin) were built at 
the Baltiysky shipyard in St Petersburg from 1974 till 1992. Two 
icebreakers Taimyr and Vaygach were constructed at the Finnish 
shipyard Wartsila. Five nuclear icebreakers are currently in 
operation. The construction of nuclear icebreaker ”50 years of 
Victory”, which started 11 years ago, should be completed soon, 
RBC reported. 

Publisher: Bellona 
Foundation, President: Frederic Hauge Information: 
info@bellona.no, Technical contact: webmaster@bellona.no 
Telephone: +47 23 23 46 00 Telefax: +47 22 38 38 62  * P.O.Box 
2141 Grunerlokka, 0505 Oslo, Norway
*****************************************************************
 21 Pravda: Russia develops new nuclear missile systems, Putin states

  Pravda.ru:// RussiaScience and HealthWorldHot spots and

 16:12 2004-11-17

 According to the Russian president, such systems do not have 
analogues anywhere in the world.

Putin, speaking to armed forces chiefs, said although 
international terrorism was one of Russia's main security threats 
the country had also to keep its nuclear defenses in sound 
condition. 

"We know that we have only to weaken our attention to such 
components of our defenses as the nuclear-missile shield, and new 
threats to us could appear," Itar-Tass news agency quoted him as 
saying. He said research and successful testing of new 
nuclear-missile systems technology was being conducted, informs 
Reuters. 

Mr. Putin said it was necessary to create a legal basis for 
cooperation between the government and businesses in priority 
areas. He noted that the state should ensure stable conditions 
for the work of private investors. At the same time, Mr. Putin 
added that the private sector should not be forced to incur 
unreasonable expenses and costs. 

In particular, the President said the government and business 
should cooperate in implementing large transport projects, 
providing electrical power and improving border infrastructure. 
Another priority is knowlegde-intensive industries. "Today, 
Russian business, with its advanced management, logistics and 
communication technologies, is already ahead of the state," Mr. 
Putin stressed. At the same time, he noted that the government 
should retain the right to research projects regarding new 
materials and products, reports Gateway 2 Russia.

  Copyright ©1999 by "Pravda.RU". When reproducing our materials
*****************************************************************
 22 Independent: 'I only wish my dead comrades were here to hear this verdict' 

By Terri Judd 

18 November 2004

An independent inquiry called on the Ministry of Defence 
yesterday to admit the existence of Gulf War syndrome and set 
aside millions of pounds to compensate sick veterans. 

In a major victory for campaigners, who have fought for 13 years 
to have the illnesses officially recognised, an independent 
public investigation found their complaints to be justified. 

Lord Lloyd of Berwick, the former law lord heading the inquiry, 
said it was time for defence staff to stop "assuming blithely 
that everyone else was wrong" and start restoring the trust and 
confidence of the Gulf War veterans, who felt "let down and 
rejected". 

The Government had already missed one opportunity to begin 
building bridges by refusing to take part in the anonymously 
funded inquiry, he added. While stopping short of blaming the MoD 
for sending the forces into a "very toxic environment", Lord 
Lloyd said: "We are not in the business of establishing blame ... 
Whether they are culpable in a wider sense, it is a matter for 
you to make up your own minds after reading the report." 

In a conclusion which campaigners said went beyond their greatest 
hopes, he continued: "All that the veterans want now is an 
admission from the MoD that they are ill because they served in 
the Gulf and that admission has never been made." 

Major Christine Lloyd, who went to war in peak fitness and 
returned a physical wreck, said she was "absolutely delighted" by 
Lord Lloyd's report. 

"It is the fact that someone independent, an ex-law lord, 
believes in us. It does mean so much. We have been at this for 
such a long time." 

The nursing officer was a 43-year-old reservist when she went to 
Saudi Arabia to set up a field hospital. She went through two 
batches of multiple injections such as anthrax and plague and 
lived in quarters constantly sprayed with pesticides, including 
organophosphates. Upon her return she had developed so many 
neurological conditions that she had to give up her job the 
following year. 

She said yesterday: "I only wish Major Ian Hill, Major Hilary 
Jones and Petty Officer Nigel Thompson [who have since died] were 
here to hear this report." 

At least 640 previously fit members of the services have died 
since the 1991 war, 6,000 are receiving war pensions and 272 have 
had their cases rejected. Lord Lloyd estimated it would cost the 
Government approximately £3m to offer ex-gratia payments to 
sufferers. Rejected cases should also be reviewed, he added. 

In a controversial step, the chairman revealed that the inquiry 
had decided, after considerable deliberation, that the term 
"syndrome" was appropriate for illnesses that formed a 
characteristic pattern but might not necessarily be due to the 
same pathological cause. 

Various factors have been blamed for the syndrome, including the 
cocktail of vaccines such as anthrax injected into servicemen and 
women, the indiscriminate use of organophosphate sprays, exposure 
to nerve gas and depleted uranium dust from exploded munitions. 

Lord Lloyd called on the MoD, which in the words of the Commons 
Defence Select Committee, had been "quick to deny but slow to 
investigate", to commission new research into the subject. He 
said that he remained hopeful the Government would take his 
recommendations seriously, but acknowledged that public pressure 
would have to be sustained.                

© 2004 Independent Digital (UK) Ltd   
*****************************************************************
 23 Xinhuanet: US says Russia's nuclear plans "not threatening"   

  www.xinhuanet.com

  www.chinaview.cn 2004-11-18 04:21:15   

    WASHINGTON, Nov 17 (Xinhuanet) -- A senior US official said
here on Wednesday that Washington is not worried about Russia's
nuclear activities, saying "we are confident that Russia's plans
are not threatening". 

    "We do not perceive Russia's nuclear sustainment and
modernization activities as threatening, and what they are doing
is fully consistent with our mutual obligations under the Moscow
Treaty," deputy State Department spokesman Adam Ereli told a
news briefing. 

    "Our mutual obligations in this area are covered under the
Moscow Treaty. Pursuant to that treaty, we have regular
consultations" with Moscow, Ereli said. 

    "And based on those regular consultations, we are confident
that Russia's plans are not threatening and are consistent with
its obligations, and I think are indicative of a new strategic
relationship between the United States and Russia that is
focused on reducing threats and increasing confidence," he
added. 

    Russian President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday that Russia
is developing a new type of nuclear missile system which no
other nuclear powers possess. 

    News reports have speculated that Russia is developing a new
generation of heavy nuclear missile capable of carrying up to 10
nuclear warheads weighing 4.4 ton. The current generation
Topol-M missiles are limited to a 1.3-ton combat payload. 

    Topol-Ms, which the Russia military have been equipped with
since 1998, have a range of about 10,000 km. 

    The US announced in 2001 that it was abandoning the 1972 ABM
Treaty with Russia in order to develop a new missile defense
shield. Russia has been seeking to upgrade its nuclear arsenal
since then. Enditem 
     
  Copyright ©2003 Xinhua News Agency. All rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
 24 Daily Times: Safety of nuclear power plants: ECNEC to approve Rs 480m project
for PNRA infrastructure 

Thursday, November 18, 2004
 	   
Staff Report 

ISLAMABAD: The government has decided to increase the capacity 
building of the Pakistan Nuclear Regulatory Authority (PNRA) to 
meet the safety requirement of nuclear power plants. 

“The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) 
chaired by Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz will approve the most 
important project of Rs 480 million including the foreign 
exchange component (FEC) of Rs 100 million and local component of 
Rs 380 million for the institutional strengthening and capacity 
building of the PNRA,” a government official told Daily Times. 

The official said a summary seeking the approval of the project 
had been sent to the cabinet division which would be taken up in 
the next ECNEC meeting. 

The official said the government had approved the Chashma Nuclear 
Power Plant Unit-2 (ChasNuPP-2) having a 325 Mega Watt (MW) 
electricity generating capacity. The government had also decided 
to develop a series of nuclear power plants in phases, he added. 
“The strategy is to achieve self-reliance in the energy sector by 
utilising the indigenous energy resources. By 2011, the target 
for an additional 4600 MW through hydel, 600 MW through coal, 900 
MW through gas and 325 MW through nuclear energy has been set,” 
the official said. 

The official said the existing nuclear power capacity was 462 MW 
and the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) was planning to 
commission another nuclear power generation plant in Karachi 
(Karachi Nuclear Power Plant-2) and two more nuclear power plants 
in the next 15 years. “The government wants to strengthen the 
PNRA to ensure a safe operation of nuclear power plants,” he 
added. 

The official said, “Though the PNRA had been set up through an 
ordinance in 2001, it is mostly being manned from the PAEC staff 
and their existing facilities are being used, but it is essential 
that PNRA’s staff is fully trained and is provided with the 
necessary equipment to discharge its responsibilities and 
maintain its independence and regulatory status.” 

“Under the Rs 480 million project, necessary manpower will be 
recruited, computer system and software will be procured, 
consultants will be hired and training will be imparted,” the 
official said. 

He said that a total of 75 people of various categories would be 
employed for the project that would be completed in 72 months by 
2010. Home | National           

Daily Times - All Rights Reserved Site developed and hosted by 
WorldCALL Internet Solutions
*****************************************************************
 25 AFP: Libyan nuclear probe hots up 
		 		 		 		 		 		 		 
November 17, 2004 08:30 - (SA)                                        
 					
KARLSRUHE, Germany - A German engineer has been arrested in 
Switzerland on suspicion of helping Libyan efforts to develop a 
nuclear bomb, German federal  prosecutors have announced. 

The 61-year-old, identified only as Gotthard L., was detained 
over the weekend in the Swiss canton of St Gallen on an 
international arrest warrant. 

He is suspected of helping to develop a gas centrifuge to enrich 
uranium for use in nuclear weapons over a two-year period from 
2001, for which he was paid between four and five million Swiss 
francs, a statement from the prosecutors said. 

His arrest follows others linked to what investigators believe is 
a network of mainly Dubai-based engineers who supplied nuclear 
equipment and know-how to Libya. 

The network is believed to be linked to Abdul Qadeer Khan, the 
Pakistani scientist who admitted this year to supplying nuclear 
technology to other countries. 

Another German man, Gerhard W., was arrested in August and 
released on bail by German authorities before being re-arrested 
in South Africa in September. 

And last month, German authorities arrested Urs Tinner, a 
39-year-old Swiss engineer, on suspicion of involvement in the 
ring. 

Libya announced last year that it was abandoning attempts to 
develop nuclear, biological and chemical weapons after months of 
secret negotiations with London and Washington. 

AFP 					
 					
*****************************************************************
 26 [NukeNet] NY Times - NRC Continues Scrutiny of Hope Creek
 
Date: Wed, 17 Nov 2004 14:37:24 -0800

 
<x-flowed>
November 16, 2004
N.R.C. Continues Scrutiny of Problems at Salem Plant
By JOHN SULLIVAN


wo years ago, federal regulators uncovered problems with a critical system
in one of three reactors at the Salem nuclear power station in South
Jersey. But when regulators returned last July, the company that owns the
reactor, P.S.E.G. Nuclear L.L.C., still had not fixed the endangered
system, and the regulators said that if it was not fixed, the reactor
would have to be shut down. The repairs were finally made, and the
regulators declared themselves satisfied.

But last month, during an emergency shutdown at the reactor, that same
system, the high-pressure coolant-injection system, malfunctioned, and
operators at the plant had to turn to other equipment to make sure the
reactor did not overheat dangerously. Federal investigators, who launched
an immediate investigation, said recently that they do not believe that
the earlier problems with the cooling system were the cause of the
malfunction during the October emergency. But they said their inquiry was
continuing at the troubled plant, where for months regulators and private
consultants have found serious problems with equipment, maintenance and
the ability of employees to raise safety concerns.

"To the best of my knowledge, there is no way the two issues could have a
common cause," Eugene W. Cobey, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission official
in charge of the investigations at Salem, said in a recent interview,
referring to the repairs that were made to the system and the problems it
had last month. "They are totally separate issues."

Other experts are not so sure. David Lochbaum, a nuclear safety engineer
at the Union of Concerned Scientists in Washington, said it was too early
to rule out a connection between the July repairs and the October
malfunction. After reviewing federal reports describing the repairs, Mr.
Lochbaum said it was possible that the changes had contributed to the
malfunction, although he said further tests would have to be made to
discover the actual cause. "That remains to be answered," he said.

The most recent investigation comes at a difficult time for the Salem
station, which is the country's second-largest nuclear plant in terms of
power generation. In a nine-month investigation that concluded this
summer, federal regulators and technical consultants found maintenance
problems such as a leaky generator and malfunctioning pumps. Some
employees said they were reluctant to report maintenance problems for fear
of angering their supervisors. P.S.E.G. Nuclear has pledged to spend
millions to fix the aging equipment and has promised to ensure that
employees feel free to report any new problems. The N.R.C. has placed the
company under increased scrutiny until all the repairs are made.

The high-pressure coolant-injection system was not one of the areas that
attracted the concern of regulators during the nine-month investigation.
The system is an important piece of equipment, but it is rarely used. It
is designed to shoot tremendous amounts of water - about 5,000 gallons per
minute - into the reactor to ensure that overheating does not occur.

The system, which helps maintain water levels that adequately cover the
nuclear fuel, is considered critical because if the water ever dropped
below the fuel, it could result in a meltdown. Unsatisfied with the
company's efforts to fix the two-year-old problems with the system,
regulators determined in July that it was not capable of delivering enough
water in extreme conditions, like very high pressure inside the reactor.
The company solved the problem by increasing the size of openings in pipes
that deliver water to the reactor, enabling the system to pump more water
in a shorter time. The regulators signed off on the improvements.

But then came the emergency last month. A steam pipe burst in a building
outside the reactor, and the control room operators turned to the high-
pressure coolant-injection system to stabilize water levels as the plant
was shut down. But, according to the N.R.C., the operators were forced to
use other equipment when a circuit breaker repeatedly shut off a vacuum
pump on the system.

Experts like Mr. Cobey and Mr. Lochbaum disagree on whether changing the
pipe openings might have increased stress on the vacuum pump. P.S.E.G.
officials have said they do not believe there is a connection between the
malfunction and the July repairs. The question is expected to be addressed
by the company and regulators before the system is reactivated.

Some critics have asked why P.S.E.G. did not perform more intensive tests
before restarting the system in July. The company said it was not required
to perform the more intensive tests because it had not made any
fundamental changes to the system.

The nuclear reactor involved in the shutdown, the Hope Creek reactor, has
remained offline since the shutdown in October. The company said managers
had decided to keep it closed to perform long-scheduled repairs. The
closing was originally scheduled to last 52 days, and P.S.E.G. says the
repairs are on schedule so far.

The three reactors that make up the Salem station are on the Delaware
River about 15 miles south of Wilmington. The station provides about 60
percent of the electric power supplied to P.S.E.G.'s two million
electricity customers in New Jersey.

Company officials say the closing is not expected to have any impact on
consumers. Before the reactor returns to service, P.S.E.G. will report to
the N.R.C. on the causes of the equipment problems and on its repair
efforts.

Copyright 2004 The New York Times Company | Home | Privacy Policy | Search
| Corrections | RSS | Help | Back to Top

-- 
Using Opera's revolutionary e-mail client: http://www.opera.com/m2/


_______________________________________________________________________
Subscribe/Unsubscribe Here: http://www.energyjustice.net/nukenet/
Change your settings at:
http://energyjustice.net/mailman/listinfo/nukenet_energyjustice.net

</x-flowed>
*****************************************************************
 27 [NukeNet] [UnplugSalem] NY Times - NRC Continues Scrutiny of
 
Date: Wed, 17 Nov 2004 14:37:28 -0800

 
<x-flowed>
November 16, 2004
N.R.C. Continues Scrutiny of Problems at Salem Plant
By JOHN SULLIVAN


wo years ago, federal regulators uncovered problems with a critical system
in one of three reactors at the Salem nuclear power station in South
Jersey. But when regulators returned last July, the company that owns the
reactor, P.S.E.G. Nuclear L.L.C., still had not fixed the endangered
system, and the regulators said that if it was not fixed, the reactor
would have to be shut down. The repairs were finally made, and the
regulators declared themselves satisfied.

But last month, during an emergency shutdown at the reactor, that same
system, the high-pressure coolant-injection system, malfunctioned, and
operators at the plant had to turn to other equipment to make sure the
reactor did not overheat dangerously. Federal investigators, who launched
an immediate investigation, said recently that they do not believe that
the earlier problems with the cooling system were the cause of the
malfunction during the October emergency. But they said their inquiry was
continuing at the troubled plant, where for months regulators and private
consultants have found serious problems with equipment, maintenance and
the ability of employees to raise safety concerns.

"To the best of my knowledge, there is no way the two issues could have a
common cause," Eugene W. Cobey, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission official
in charge of the investigations at Salem, said in a recent interview,
referring to the repairs that were made to the system and the problems it
had last month. "They are totally separate issues."

Other experts are not so sure. David Lochbaum, a nuclear safety engineer
at the Union of Concerned Scientists in Washington, said it was too early
to rule out a connection between the July repairs and the October
malfunction. After reviewing federal reports describing the repairs, Mr.
Lochbaum said it was possible that the changes had contributed to the
malfunction, although he said further tests would have to be made to
discover the actual cause. "That remains to be answered," he said.

The most recent investigation comes at a difficult time for the Salem
station, which is the country's second-largest nuclear plant in terms of
power generation. In a nine-month investigation that concluded this
summer, federal regulators and technical consultants found maintenance
problems such as a leaky generator and malfunctioning pumps. Some
employees said they were reluctant to report maintenance problems for fear
of angering their supervisors. P.S.E.G. Nuclear has pledged to spend
millions to fix the aging equipment and has promised to ensure that
employees feel free to report any new problems. The N.R.C. has placed the
company under increased scrutiny until all the repairs are made.

The high-pressure coolant-injection system was not one of the areas that
attracted the concern of regulators during the nine-month investigation.
The system is an important piece of equipment, but it is rarely used. It
is designed to shoot tremendous amounts of water - about 5,000 gallons per
minute - into the reactor to ensure that overheating does not occur.

The system, which helps maintain water levels that adequately cover the
nuclear fuel, is considered critical because if the water ever dropped
below the fuel, it could result in a meltdown. Unsatisfied with the
company's efforts to fix the two-year-old problems with the system,
regulators determined in July that it was not capable of delivering enough
water in extreme conditions, like very high pressure inside the reactor.
The company solved the problem by increasing the size of openings in pipes
that deliver water to the reactor, enabling the system to pump more water
in a shorter time. The regulators signed off on the improvements.

But then came the emergency last month. A steam pipe burst in a building
outside the reactor, and the control room operators turned to the high-
pressure coolant-injection system to stabilize water levels as the plant
was shut down. But, according to the N.R.C., the operators were forced to
use other equipment when a circuit breaker repeatedly shut off a vacuum
pump on the system.

Experts like Mr. Cobey and Mr. Lochbaum disagree on whether changing the
pipe openings might have increased stress on the vacuum pump. P.S.E.G.
officials have said they do not believe there is a connection between the
malfunction and the July repairs. The question is expected to be addressed
by the company and regulators before the system is reactivated.

Some critics have asked why P.S.E.G. did not perform more intensive tests
before restarting the system in July. The company said it was not required
to perform the more intensive tests because it had not made any
fundamental changes to the system.

The nuclear reactor involved in the shutdown, the Hope Creek reactor, has
remained offline since the shutdown in October. The company said managers
had decided to keep it closed to perform long-scheduled repairs. The
closing was originally scheduled to last 52 days, and P.S.E.G. says the
repairs are on schedule so far.

The three reactors that make up the Salem station are on the Delaware
River about 15 miles south of Wilmington. The station provides about 60
percent of the electric power supplied to P.S.E.G.'s two million
electricity customers in New Jersey.

Company officials say the closing is not expected to have any impact on
consumers. Before the reactor returns to service, P.S.E.G. will report to
the N.R.C. on the causes of the equipment problems and on its repair
efforts.

Copyright 2004 The New York Times Company | Home | Privacy Policy | Search
| Corrections | RSS | Help | Back to Top

-- 
Using Opera's revolutionary e-mail client: http://www.opera.com/m2/



------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~-->
Make a clean sweep of pop-up ads. Yahoo! Companion Toolbar.
Now with Pop-Up Blocker. Get it for free!
http://us.click.yahoo.com/L5YrjA/eSIIAA/yQLSAA/xbTolB/TM
--------------------------------------------------------------------~->

Unplug Salem Campaign; Coalition for Peace and Justice;
321 Barr Ave; Linwood NJ 08221
609-601-8583/8537
Yahoo! Groups Links

<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
     http://groups.yahoo.com/group/UnplugSalem/

<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
     UnplugSalem-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com

<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
     http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/





_______________________________________________________________________
Subscribe/Unsubscribe Here: http://www.energyjustice.net/nukenet/
Change your settings at:
http://energyjustice.net/mailman/listinfo/nukenet_energyjustice.net

</x-flowed>
*****************************************************************
 28 NRC: NRC to Hold Public Meeting Nov. 22-23 on Analyzing Nuclear Power Plant Fire Hazards
 
News Release - 2004-14 U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Office 
of Public Affairs     Telephone: 301/415-8200 Washington, DC 
20555-0001     E-mail: No. 04-143     November 15, 2004   
  


The Nuclear Regulatory Commission will hold a public meeting
Nov. 22-23 in Rockville, Md., to discuss state-of-the-art
methods for performing fire hazard calculations at nuclear power
plants. 

The meeting will focus on the NRCs report, NUREG-1805, Fire
Dynamics Tools (FDT) - Quantitative Fire Hazard Analysis Methods
for the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Fire Protection
Inspection Program. The report will help agency inspectors
perform initial analyses of potential fire scenarios, using
principles of fire dynamics. Both NRC inspectors and plant
operators can use this reports tools to examine fires capable
of damaging the equipment necessary to safely shut down a
nuclear power plant. All U.S. nuclear power plants must have
fire protection plans that meet NRC requirements for safely
dealing with fires. 

The meeting will be held in the Auditorium of Two White Flint
North, 11545 Rockville Pike, from 8:30 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. both
days. Copies of NUREG-1805 and a CD of the reports software
tools will be provided. NRC staff will discuss each of the fire
dynamics tools in detail. Participants are encouraged to bring
laptop computers with Microsoft Excel 2000 installed (full
batteries are recommended due to limited AC outlets) to work
sample problems along with the instructors. 

The NRC issued a draft version of the report in June 2003 for
public comment and technical peer review. Stakeholder and
reviewer comments were taken into account in preparing the final
report, which is available on the NRC's Web site at:
http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/nuregs/staff/sr1805
/. 

Any technical questions regarding NUREG-1805 should be sent via
e-mail to Naeem Iqbal () or Mark Salley (), faxed to (301)
415-2300, or sent by regular mail to U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation, Mail Stop
O11-A11, Washington, D.C. 20555-0001. Any questions concerning
the November public meeting should be sent to James Downs via
e-mail at .   



  


 	Last revised Wednesday, November 17, 2004 	   
*****************************************************************
 29 NRC: NRC Restores Additional, Hearing-Related Documents to its Web Site
 
News Release - 2004-14 U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Office 
of Public Affairs     Telephone: 301/415-8200 Washington, DC 
20555-0001     E-mail: opa@nrc.gov No. 04-144     November 16, 
2004   

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has restored additional
documents to its Web site, after reviewing them for security
sensitivity. The restored documents pertain to reactor-related
matters and two nuclear materials cases in the agencys
Electronic Hearing Docket. 

As announced on Oct. 25, the NRC suspended public access to
major portions of its Web site to conduct a security review and
remove documents that could reasonably be expected to aid a
potential terrorist.
 
The restored portion of the Electronic Hearing Docket may now be
publicly accessed at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/ehd.html.
Available at this Web site location are Atomic Safety and
Licensing Board orders, transcripts, pleadings and other
documents submitted as part of ongoing hearings involving
reactors and hearings regarding Sequoyah Fuels and Hydro
Resources. 

The high-level radioactive waste portion of the Electronic
Hearing Docket was restored earlier, as announced in a Nov. 4
press release. Access has also been restored to references to
the NRC staffs document collection in its electronic Licensing
Support Network (www.lsnnet.gov) for a possible application for
a high-level waste repository. 

We are moving expeditiously to complete the necessary
determinations and restore public access to appropriate
documents on our Web site because we believe there is great
benefit in being as open with the public as possible while
preserving national security, said NRC Chairman Nils J. Diaz.
We will take the time needed to thoroughly review the
information and remove any remaining questionable documents. 

The NRC expects to restore access to additional documents on
nuclear reactors, and other documents not related to specific
facilities soon, after security reviews are completed. However,
the agency will continue to withhold any information that could
be useful, or could reasonably be expected to be useful, to a
potential terrorist. 

Public web access to additional non-reactor documents (i.e.,
documents related to nuclear materials licenses) will be
restored later, after document reviews are completed. 

In addition, access has been restricted to the NRCs Sealed
(Radioactive) Source and Device registry. 

Pending further restorations of the agency Web site at
www.nrc.gov, time-sensitive documents related to opportunities
for hearings or needed for public reviews and comments, on
regulatory matters such as license amendment applications, may
be available by contacting the NRC Public Document Room at
1-800-397-4209 or 301-415-4737, or pdr@nrc.gov, as will be
announced in appropriate Federal Register notices.   



  


 	Last revised Tuesday, November 16, 2004 	   
*****************************************************************
 30 NRC: STP Nuclear Operating Company, et al.; South Texas Project,
 
                        FR Doc 04-25459 
[Federal Register: November 17, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 221)] 
[Notices] [Page 67368-67370] From the Federal Register Online via 
GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr17no04-86]                         
 
Units 1 and 2; Notice of Consideration of Approval of Application 
Regarding Proposed Acquisition and Opportunity for a Hearing The 
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC or the Commission) is 
considering issuance of an order under Section 50.80 of Title 10 
of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) approving the 
indirect transfer of Facility Operating License Nos. NPF-76 and 
NPF-80 for South Texas Project (STP), Units 1 and 2, 
respectively, to the extent held by Texas Genco, LP (Texas 
Genco).
 
The application requests the consent of the NRC to the proposed 
indirect transfer of control of the STP, Units 1 and 2, licenses 
to the extent held by Texas Genco by virtue of the transfer of 
ownership of approximately 81 percent of the stock of Texas 
Genco's indirect parent company, Texas Genco Holdings Inc. (TGN), 
from CenterPoint Energy, Inc., (CenterPoint Energy) to GC Power 
Acquisitions, LLC (GC Power). Texas Genco is an indirect 
subsidiary of TGN and TGN is an indirect subsidiary of 
CenterPoint Energy. The transaction would result in the indirect 
transfer of control of Texas Genco's 30.8 percent undivided 
ownership interest in STP, Units 1 and 2. In addition to its 30.8 
percent undivided ownership interest in STP, Units 1 and 2, Texas 
Genco holds a corresponding 30.8 percent interest in STP Nuclear 
Operating Company (STPNOC), a not-for-profit Texas corporation, 
which is the licensed operator of STP, Units 1 and 2. The 
application further requests, as necessary, approval of the 
indirect transfer of control of this 30.8 percent interest in 
STPNOC, to the extent such indirect transfer would result in an 
indirect transfer of the licenses as held by STPNOC, thereby 
requiring NRC approval.
 
(According to the application, Texas Genco's 30.8 percent 
ownership interest is expected to increase as a result of Texas 
Genco's exercising its right of first refusal under the Amended 
and Restated South Texas Project Participation Agreement, 
pursuant to which Texas Genco has entered into a Purchase and 
Sale Agreement dated September 3, 2004, to acquire an additional 
13.2 percent undivided ownership interest in STP, Units 1 and 2, 
from AEP Texas Central Company.
 
This acquisition would result in an
 
[[Page 67369]] increase in Texas Genco's ownership interest in 
STP, Units 1 and 2, and related interest in STPNOC to 44 percent. 
This transaction will be addressed in a separate application and 
is not the subject of this notice.) Pursuant to 10 CFR 50.80, no 
license shall be transferred, directly or indirectly, through 
transfer of control of the license, unless the Commission gives 
its consent in writing. The Commission will approve an 
application for the indirect transfer of a license, if the 
Commission determines that the proposed transaction effectuating 
the indirect transfer will not affect the qualifications of the 
holder of the license, and that the transfer is otherwise 
consistent with applicable provisions of law, regulations, and 
orders issued by the Commission pursuant thereto. Before issuance 
of the proposed Order, the Commission will have made findings 
required by the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended (the Act), 
and the Commission's regulations.
 
The filing of requests for hearing and petitions for leave to 
intervene with regard to the license transfer application, are 
discussed below.
 
Within 20 days after the date of publication of this notice, the 
licensee may file a request for a hearing with respect to 
issuance of the amendment to the subject facility operating 
license and any person whose interest may be affected by this 
proceeding and who wishes to participate as a party in the 
proceeding must file a written request for a hearing and a 
petition for leave to intervene. Requests for a hearing and 
petitions for leave to intervene shall be filed in accordance 
with the Commission's rules of practice set forth in Subpart M, 
``Hearing Requests and Procedures for Hearings on License 
Transfer Applications,'' of 10 CFR part 2. Interested persons 
should consult a current copy of 10 CFR 2.309, which is available 
at the Commission's Public Document Room (PDR), located at One 
White Flint North, Public File Area 01F21, 11555 Rockville Pike 
(first floor), Rockville, Maryland. Publicly available records 
will be accessible from the Agencywide Documents Access and 
Management System's (ADAMS) Public Electronic Reading Room on the 
Internet at the NRC Web site, 
http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/cfr/. (Note: Public 
access to ADAMS has been temporarily suspended so that security 
reviews of publicly available documents may be performed and 
potentially sensitive information removed. Please check the NRC 
Web site for updates on the resumption of ADAMS access.) If a 
request for a hearing or petition for leave to intervene is filed 
within 20 days after the date of publication of this notice, the 
Commission or a presiding officer designated by the Commission or 
by the Chief Administrative Judge of the Atomic Safety and 
Licensing Board Panel, will rule on the request and/or petition; 
and the Secretary or the Chief Administrative Judge of the Atomic 
Safety and Licensing Board will issue a notice of a hearing or an 
appropriate order.
 
As required by 10 CFR 2.309, a petition for leave to intervene 
shall set forth with particularity the interest of the petitioner 
in the proceeding, and how that interest may be affected by the 
results of the proceeding. The petition should specifically 
explain the reasons why intervention should be permitted with 
particular reference to the following general requirements: (1) 
The name, address and telephone number of the requestor or 
petitioner; (2) the nature of the requestor's/petitioner's right 
under the Act to be made a party to the proceeding; (3) the 
nature and extent of the requestor's/petitioner's property, 
financial, or other interest in the proceeding; and (4) the 
possible effect of any decision or order which may be entered in 
the proceeding on the requestors/petitioner's interest. The 
petition must also identify the specific contentions which the 
petitioner/requestor seeks to have litigated at the proceeding.
 
Each contention must consist of a specific statement of the issue 
of law or fact to be raised or controverted. In addition, the 
petitioner/requestor shall provide a brief explanation of the 
bases for the contention and a concise statement of the alleged 
facts or expert opinion which support the contention and on which 
the petitioner/ requestor intends to rely in proving the 
contention at the hearing. The petitioner/requestor must also 
provide references to those specific sources and documents of 
which the petitioner/requestor is aware and on which the 
petitioner intends to rely to establish those facts or expert 
opinion. The petition must include sufficient information to show 
that a genuine dispute exists with the applicant on a material 
issue of law or fact. Contentions shall be limited to matters 
within the scope of the amendment under consideration. The 
contention must be one which, if proven, would entitle the 
petitioner/requestor to relief. A petitioner/ requestor who fails 
to satisfy these requirements with respect to at least one 
contention will not be permitted to participate as a party.
 
Those permitted to intervene become parties to the proceeding, 
subject to any limitations in the order granting leave to 
intervene, and have the opportunity to participate fully in the 
conduct of the hearing.
 
Nontimely requests and/or petitions and contentions will not be 
entertained absent a determination by the Commission or the 
presiding officer of the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board that 
the petition, request and/or the contentions should be granted 
based on a balancing of the factors specified in 10 CFR 
2.309(a)(1)(i)-(viii). A request for a hearing or a petition for 
leave to intervene must be filed by: (1) First class mail 
addressed to the Office of the Secretary of the Commission, U.S. 
Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, 
Attention: Rulemaking and Adjudications Staff; (2) courier, 
express mail, and expedited delivery services: Office of the 
Secretary, Sixteenth Floor, One White Flint North, 11555 
Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852, Attention: Rulemaking 
and Adjudications Staff; (3) e-mail addressed to the Office of 
the Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 
HEARINGDOCKET@NRC.GOV; or (4) 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. A copy of 
the request for hearing and petition for leave to intervene 
should also be sent to the Office of the General Counsel, U.S. 
Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, and it 
is requested that copies be transmitted either by means of 
facsimile transmission to (301) 415-3725 or by e-mail to 
OGCMailCenter@nrc.gov. A copy of the request for hearing and 
petition for leave to intervene should also be sent to Mr. John 
E. Matthews, Morgan, Lewis, & Bockius, LLP, 1111 Pennsylvania 
Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20004, attorney for the licensee.
 
The Commission will issue a notice or order granting or denying a 
hearing request or intervention petition, designating the issues 
for any hearing that will be held, and designating the presiding 
officer. A notice granting a hearing will be published in the 
Federal Register and served on the parties to the hearing.
 
For further details with respect to this action, see the 
application dated October 12, 2004, of which a nonproprietary 
version is available for public inspection at the Commission's 
PDR, located at One White Flint North,
 
[[Page 67370]] Public File Area 01 F21, 11555 Rockville Pike 
(first floor), Rockville, Maryland, and accessible electronically 
through the Agencywide Documents Access and Management System 
(ADAMS) Public Electronic Reading Room on the Internet at the NRC 
Web site, http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams/html. (Note: Public 
access to ADAMS has been temporarily suspended so that security 
reviews of publicly available documents may be performed and 
potentially sensitive information removed. Please check the NRC 
Web site for updates on the resumption of ADAMS access.) Persons 
who don't have access to ADAMS or who encounter problems 
accessing the documents located in ADAMS, should contact the NRC 
PDR Reference staff by telephone at 1-800-397-4209, (301) 
415-4737, or by e-mail to pdr@nrc.gov. Dated at Rockville, 
Maryland this 10th day of November 2004.
 
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
 
David H. Jaffe, Senior Project Manager, Section 1, Project 
Directorate IV, Division of Licensing Project Management, Office 
of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
 
[FR Doc. 04-25459 Filed 11-16-04; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590-01-P

 
*****************************************************************
 31 NRC: Sacramento Municipal Utility District; Rancho Seco Nuclear 
 
                        FR Doc 04-25460 
[Federal Register: November 17, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 221)] 
[Notices] [Page 67371] From the Federal Register Online via GPO 
Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr17no04-88] [[Page 67371]]
 
Generating Station; Environmental Assessment and Finding of No 
Significant Impact AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
 
ACTION: Notice of availability.
 
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: John B. Hickman, Project 
Manager, Reactor Decommissioning Section, Decommissioning 
Directorate, Division of Waste Management and Environmental 
Protection, Office of Nuclear Material and Safeguards 
Information, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC, 
20555. Telephone: 301-415-3017; fax number: (301) 415-5397; 
e-mail: jbh@nrc.gov.
 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission 
(NRC) is considering granting a partial exemption from the 
Recordkeeping requirements of Title 10 of the Code of Federal 
Regulations (10 CFR) part 50.71(c); 10 CFR part 50, Appendix A; 
10 CFR part 50, Appendix B, for the Rancho Seco Generating 
Station (Rancho Seco) as requested by Sacramento Municipal 
Utility District (SMUD) on September 2, 2004. An environmental 
assessment (EA) was performed by the NRC staff in support of its 
review of the exemption request.
 
I. Introduction SMUD is the licensee and holder of Facility 
Operating License No. DPR-54 for Rancho Seco, a permanently 
shutdown decommissioning nuclear plant. Although permanently 
shutdown, this facility is still subject to all rules, 
regulations, and orders of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission 
(NRC).
 
SMUD shut down Rancho Seco permanently on June 7, 1989, after 
approximately 15 years of operation. On August 29, 1989, SMUD 
formally informed the NRC that the plant was shut down 
permanently. On May 20, 1991, SMUD submitted the Rancho Seco 
decommissioning plan and on March 20, 1995, the NRC issued an 
Order approving the decommissioning plan and authorizing the 
decommissioning of Rancho Seco.
 
II. Environmental Assessment Summary Identification of Proposed 
Action The exemption will allow the disposal of records, prior to 
termination of the Rancho Seco Possession Only License No.
 
DPR-54, that (1) are associated with the operation, design, 
fabrication, erection, and testing of structures, systems, and 
components that are no longer quality-related and/or important to 
safety or have been removed from the plant for disposal, and (2) 
require storage in their original hardcopy format due to 
practical and feasibility limitations associated with 
transferring them to microfilm or microfiche.
 
Need for Proposed Action The requested exemption and application 
of the exemption will eliminate the requirement to maintain 
records that are no longer necessary due to the permanently 
shutdown status of the facility and thereby reduce the financial 
burden on ratepayers associated with the storage of a large 
volume of hardcopy records.
 
The Affected Environment and Environmental Impacts The proposed 
action is purely administrative in nature and will not 
significantly increase the probability or consequences of 
accidents. No changes are being made in the types of effluents 
that may be released off site and there is no significant 
increase in the amount of any effluent released offsite. There is 
no significant increase in occupational or public radiation 
exposure. Therefore, there are no significant radiological 
environmental impacts associated with the proposed action.
 
With regard to potential nonradiological impacts, the proposed 
action does not have a potential to affect any historic sites.
 
It does not affect nonradiological plant effluents, and it has no 
other environmental impact. Therefore, there are no significant 
nonradiological environmental impacts associated with the 
proposed action.
 
Accordingly, the NRC concludes that the proposed action will have 
no significant effect on the environment.
 
Environmental Impacts of the Alternatives to the Proposed Action 
As an alternative to the proposed action, the staff considered 
denial of the proposed action (i.e., the ``no-action'' 
alternative). Under this alternative Rancho Seco would continue 
to store the records in question until license termination which 
would result in no change in current environmental impacts. The 
environmental impacts of the proposed action and the alternative 
action are similar.
 
Agencies and Persons Contacted None.
 
III. Finding of No Significant Impact Based on this review, the 
NRC staff has concluded that there are no significant impacts on 
the quality of the human environment. Accordingly, the staff has 
determined that preparation of an Environmental Impact Statement 
is not warranted, and a Finding of No Significant Impact is 
appropriate.
 
IV. Further Information For further details with respect to the 
proposed action, see the licensee's letter dated September 2, 
2004 (Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS) 
Accession No. ML042540018). Publicly available records will be 
accessible electronically from the ADAMS Public Electronic 
Reading Room on the Internet at the NRC Web site, 
http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. Persons who do not have 
access to ADAMS or who encounter problems in accessing the 
documents located in ADAMS, should contact the NRC's 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, 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. The NRC Public Document Room is located at NRC 
Headquarters in Rockville, MD, and can be contacted at 
800-397-4209 or (301) 415-4737 or

 
pdr@nrc.gov. Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 9th day of 
November, 2004.
 
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
 
Claudia M. Craig, Acting Deputy Director, Decommissioning 
Directorate, Division of Waste Management and Environmental 
Protection, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards.
 
[FR Doc. 04-25460 Filed 11-16-04; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590-01-P

 
*****************************************************************
 32 PTI: Nuke reactors may take a decade to run on low risk fuel - UN agency
 
  Nov 17, 2004 02:11:00 PM 

New York, Nov 17 (PTI) It will take the better part of a decade
for all the world's civil nuclear research reactors to be
converted to run on fuel that poses a lower risk of
proliferation of weapons-grade high-enriched uranium (HEU), the
UN atomic watchdog agency reports in its latest update on the
issue.

 Although much progress has been made, among the biggest 
challenge is developing the types of uranium fuel that converted 
reactors require. More than 60 civilian research reactors 
worldwide still run on HEU fuels and are targeted for conversion 
over the next 10 years, the International Atomic Energy Agency 
(IAEA) says.
 
Some 200 experts from across the globe gathered at IAEA 
headquarters in Vienna last week to take stock of developments at 
an International Meeting on Reduced Enrichment for Research and 
Test Reactors, focusing on converting research and test reactors 
running on HEU to low-enriched urani um (LEU), which is 
unsuitable for use in a nuclear weapon.
 
For more than 20 years the IAEA has supported global efforts to 
reduce the amount of HEU in international commerce.
 
        It plays an active role in helping countries convert 
their reactors to LEU fuels. Through its technical cooperation 
programme, the Agency currently has more than 20 projects on 
research reactors that tackle issues concerning fuel, 
decommissioning, waste management, reactor use and safety. PTI 

  © Copyright PTI 2003-2004
*****************************************************************
 33 NRC: Notice of Availability of Environmental Assessment and Finding
 
                        FR Doc 04-25461 
[Federal Register: November 17, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 221)] 
[Notices] [Page 67370] From the Federal Register Online via GPO 
Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr17no04-87]                         
 
of No Significant Impact for License Amendment for the Exxon 
Mobil Research and Engineering Company's Facility in Paulsboro, 
NJ AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
 
ACTION: Notice of availability.
 
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Judy Joustra, Materials Security 
& Industrial Branch, Division of Nuclear Materials Safety, Region 
I, 475 Allendale Road, King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, 19406, 
telephone (610) 337-5355, fax (610) 337-5269, or by e-mail: 
JAJ@nrc.gov.
 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: I. Introduction The Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission (NRC) is terminating Materials License No. 29-00505-02 
issued to The Exxon Mobil Research and Engineering Company 
(Exxon) and authorizing release of its facility in Paulsboro, New 
Jersey for unrestricted use. NRC has prepared an Environmental 
Assessment (EA) in support of this action in accordance with the 
requirements of 10 CFR part 51. Based on the EA, the NRC has 
concluded that a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) is 
appropriate. The license will be terminated following the 
publication of this notice.
 
II. EA Summary The purpose of the action is to terminate the 
license and authorize the release of the licensee's Paulsboro, 
New Jersey facility for unrestricted use. Exxon has been 
authorized by NRC since November 1, 1956 to use radioactive 
materials for research and development purposes at the site. On 
February 10, 2004, Exxon requested that NRC release the facility 
for unrestricted use. Exxon has conducted surveys of the facility 
and provided information to the NRC to demonstrate that the site 
meets the license termination criteria in subpart E of 10 CFR 
part 20 for unrestricted use.
 
The NRC staff has prepared an EA in support of the license 
termination. The facility was remediated and surveyed prior to 
the licensee requesting the termination of the license. The NRC 
staff has reviewed the information and final status survey 
submitted by Exxon. Based on its review, the staff has determined 
that there are no additional remediation activities necessary to 
complete the proposed action. Therefore, the staff considered the 
impact of the residual radioactivity at the facility and 
concluded that since the residual radioactivity meets the 
requirements in subpart E of 10 CFR part 20, a Finding of No 
Significant Impact is appropriate.
 
III. Finding of No Significant Impact The staff has prepared the 
EA (summarized above) in support of the license termination and 
release the facility for unrestricted use. The NRC staff has 
evaluated Exxon's request and the results of the surveys and has 
concluded that the completed action complies with subpart E of 10 
CFR part 20. The staff has found that the environmental impacts 
from the action are bounded by the impacts evaluated by 
NUREG-1496, Volumes 1-3, ``Generic Environmental Impact Statement 
in Support of Rulemaking on Radiological Criteria for License 
Termination of NRC-Licensed Facilities'' (ML042310492, 
ML042320379, and ML042330385). On the basis of the EA, the NRC 
has concluded that the environmental impacts from the action are 
expected to be insignificant and has determined not to prepare an 
environmental impact statement for the action.
 
IV. Further Information Documents related to this action, 
including the application for the license amendment and 
supporting documentation, are available electronically at NRC's 
Electronic Reading Room at 
http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. From this site, you can 
access the NRC's Agencywide 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 are: The Environmental Assessment (ML043130124), 
Letter dated February 10, 2004 requesting termination of the 
license (ML040630698), Letter dated May 13, 2004 providing 
additional information (ML041730600), Letter dated August 23, 
2004 providing additional information (ML042450527), E-mail dated 
October 6, 2004 providing additional information (ML042870539), 
and Letter dated October 18, 2004 from New Jersey Department of 
Environmental Protection (ML042990034). Please note that on 
October 25, 2004, the NRC terminated 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. The NRC Public Documents Room is located at NRC 
Headquarters in Rockville, MD, and can be contacted at (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, O 1 F21, One White Flint 
North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD 20852. The PDR 
reproduction contractor will copy documents for a fee. The PDR is 
open from 7:45 a.m. to 4:15 p.m., Monday through Friday, except 
on Federal holidays.
 
Dated at King of Prussia, Pennsylvania this 9th day of November, 
2004.
 
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
 
John D. Kinneman, Chief, Materials Security & Industrial Branch, 
Division of Nuclear Materials Safety Region I.
 
[FR Doc. 04-25461 Filed 11-16-04; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590-01-P

 
*****************************************************************
 34 Japan Times: The nuclear power challenge

  Wednesday, November 17, 2004   

EDITORIAL

 Japan's nuclear power industry today holds a very large amount 
of spent nuclear fuel that has accumulated over 38 years of 
nuclear energy production. The question is what should be done 
with this radioactive waste? There are two basic options: One is 
to recycle spent fuel through reprocessing; the other is to 
dispose of it directly by burying it deep underground.

 The conclusion by a policy panel of the Atomic Energy Commission 
is that the present fuel-recycling policy should be continued. 
The panel says reprocessing is better than disposal for a variety 
of reasons, including the stability it gives energy supplies, the 
lack of environmental risks and the flexibility it affords energy 
policy. In other words, reprocessing amounts to recognition of 
the reality that fuel recycling is the only feasible way to keep 
nuclear plants running.

 At present, there are 52 nuclear reactors across the country, 
accounting for more than one-third of Japan's total electricity 
output. It is estimated that about 60 reactors may be needed in 
the future to achieve the twin objectives of maintaining stable 
energy supplies and preventing global warming through a reduction 
in carbon dioxide emissions.

 The nuclear fuel cycle involves extracting plutonium and uranium 
from spent fuel and reprocessing both into fresh fuel. How spent 
fuel is regarded depends on the method used to deal with it. 
Under the reprocessing method, it is seen as something useful; in 
the disposal method, it is viewed as waste material. Which method 
is more economical is another question. 

Reprocessing has been an integral part of Japan's nuclear energy 
program, although the actual work has been done at British and 
French facilities. The panel's decision makes it certain that 
domestic reprocessing will begin in due course at a plant now 
under construction in the village of Rokkasho, Aomori Prefecture. 
In 2000, batches of spent fuel from power plants across the 
country began arriving at the plant's fuel pool. Now, 1,000 tons 
of spent fuel are stored there awaiting reprocessing.

 The Rokkasho plant is being built by a consortium of electric 
power companies at a cost of 2.2 trillion yen. If everything goes 
according to plan, the facility will go into operation in 2006. 
Preparations reportedly have been almost completed for uranium 
tests in the runup to a test operation.

 In economic terms, however, disposal has a definite advantage 
over reprocessing, according to a cost comparison by the panel's 
technical subcommittee. The study shows that reprocessing is 50 
to 80 percent more expensive than disposal. This works out to an 
increase in electricity bills of 600 yen to 840 yen a year per 
household. 

The economic factor is important, but there is a compelling 
reason to complete the reprocessing project in Rokkasho. If the 
project is canceled, the relationship of trust between the 
nuclear industry and Aomori Prefecture will collapse, possibly 
leading to the suspension of spent-fuel shipments to the Rokkasho 
plant. As a result, power plants holding spent fuel in excess of 
their storage capacity could be forced to halt operation in 
several years' time.

 Moreover, other cost estimates show different results. It is 
assumed that changing the reprocessing program in favor of 
disposal will entail enormous costs. If these additional costs 
are included, operating the reprocessing plant as scheduled will 
be less expensive than depositing nuclear waste in underground 
storage facilities.

 The cost issue aside, the reprocessing formula faces various 
obstacles. The biggest problem is that the operation of the Monju 
experimental fast-breeder reactor -- the "dream reactor" that 
produces more plutonium than it consumes -- has been suspended 
since a 1995 accident (coolant leakage). As things stand, 
prospects for commercial operation are dim. So the only 
alternative is the "pluthermal" program, which is designed to 
burn plutonium at existing plants.

 To run the program, it is necessary to build a plant for 
producing fuel known as MOX (a mixture of plutonium and uranium 
oxides). It is also necessary to set up temporary storage 
facilities for spent fuel in excess of reprocessing capacity. It 
remains to be seen whether the Rokkasho plant will be able to 
reprocess 800 tons of spent fuel a year as scheduled.

 The policy debate is over, for now at least, but the road ahead 
looks tortuous. The challenge for the government and the nuclear 
industry is to make steady efforts to develop the reprocessing 
and pluthermal programs with priority given to public disclosure 
and nuclear safety. At the same time, they would do well to 
maintain sufficient policy flexibility to explore other options, 
such as making better use of storage facilities and disposing of 
some spent fuel. 

The Japan Times: Nov. 17, 2004 (C) All rights reserved 
*****************************************************************
 35 Middletown Press: Nuke plant officials explain ‘smoldering wood’ incident                    
 	 			 							 							
By JOSH MROZINSKI, Middletown Press Staff11/17/2004

MIDDLETOWN --Details concerning a Tuesday morning smoldering wood 
incident in the containment dome at the Connecticut Yankee Atomic 
Power plant dominated Tuesday night’s Community Decommissioning 
Advisory Committee meeting.                                                   

There were no injuries from the incident, officials of the 
Connecticut Yankee said. Although the containment dome is 
three-quarters of a mile from the spent-fuel and greater than 
Class-C Waste storage site, it is adjacent to a spent-fuel pool. 

But there was no danger of a fire spreading if the smoldering 
wood had become a fire, Kelley Smith, spokeswoman for the plant, 
said.

"The building doesn’t support the spread of fire," Smith said.

She said a fire wouldn’t be able to spread because the building 
has negative pressure, has four-and-a-half feet of reinforced 
concrete walls and has very little combustible material. 

"It never became a fire," Smith said. "It was just smoldering 
wood."

Two plant workers discovered the smoldering wood when they came 
into work at around 8:30 a.m. 

The wood had become hot from the prior day’s work, where 
personnel cut steel with torch equipment. The wood, in the center 
of the steel ring and used to support an excavator, was covered 
with a fireproof blanket.

But the wood became hot from the steel beneath it. The steel, 
being cut Monday until about 5 p.m. stayed hot overnight and the 
heat traveled down into the wood.

Officials Tuesday said an investigation has begun and they don’t 
know how far the wood was from where the steel was being cut. The 
exact amount of time that the wood smoldered is also being 
investigated.

Smith said such incidents have the potential of happening when 
equipment that can cause combustion is used. 

She said personnel might not have checked underneath the wood to 
see whether anything could have caused it to ignite, because they 
might have thought it was far enough away from the torchcutting 
for nothing to happen.

The smoldering wood was extinguished by plant fire personnel 
before the East Hampton Volunteer Fire Department arrived.

This incident happened nearly two months after a fire in a 
two-story building on the non-nuclear side of the plant. That 
building was in the process of being demolished as part of the 
decommissioning process when the fire broke out.

Smith said then that it was a relatively small fire.

Personnel were pulling down steel beams when the fire happened. 

They had earlier been cutting the beams with torch equipment and 
the insulation behind the beams had become hot. 

The insulation caught fire after the personnel exposed the 
insulation to air by pulling down the steal beams.

Hugh Curley, chairman of the Community Decommis-sioning Advisory 
Committee, said everyone at the plant did their job when the wood 
began to smolder on Tuesday. 

"No one tried to cut any corners," Curley said. "I believe the 
company is doing something about it."

He said the plant’s record shows the it is concerned about 
safety. 

Gary Bouchard, director of nuclear safety and regulatory affairs, 
reported at Tuesday’s meeting that the plant has gone four years 
without a lost time accident.

 Bouchard also reported at the meeting that 50 percent of the 
decommissioning was completed as of Oct. 31.

Two of the greater than Class-C Waste and 24 spent fuel canisters 
have been transferred to the storage pad, he reported. 

The fuel transfer project, which involves moving 43 spent fuel 
and greater than Class-C Waste canisters to the storage site, is 
still expected to be complete by the end of the first quarter in 
2005, he said. 

To contact Josh Mrozinski, call (860) 347-3331, ext. 222 or email 
jmrozinski@middletownpress.com 

©The Middletown Press 2004                                      
*****************************************************************
 36 NRC: Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards Meeting of the 
 
                        FR Doc 04-25508 
[Federal Register: November 17, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 221)] 
[Notices] [Page 67372] From the Federal Register Online via GPO 
Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr17no04-89] [[Page 67372]]
 
Subcommittee on Plant License Renewal; Notice of Meeting The ACRS 
Subcommittee on Plant License Renewal will hold a meeting on 
December 1, 2004, Room T-2B3, 11545 Rockville Pike, Rockville, 
Maryland.
 
The entire meeting will be open to public attendance.
 
The agenda for the subject meeting shall be as follows: 
Wednesday, December 1, 2004--1 p.m. until 4:30 p.m. The purpose 
of this meeting is to review the License Renewal Application and 
associated Draft Safety Evaluation Report (SER) related to the 
License Renewal of the Arkansas Nuclear One, Unit 2. The 
Subcommittee will hear presentations by and hold discussions with 
representatives of the NRC staff, Entergy Operations, Inc., and 
other interested persons regarding this matter. The Subcommittee 
will gather information, analyze relevant issues and facts, and 
formulate proposed positions and actions, as appropriate, for 
deliberation by the full Committee.
 
Members of the public desiring to provide oral statements and/or 
written comments should notify the Designated Federal Official, 
Mr. Cayetano Santos (telephone 301/415-7270) five days prior to 
the meeting, if possible, so that appropriate arrangements can be 
made. Electronic recordings will be permitted.
 
Further information regarding this meeting can be obtained by 
contacting the Designated Federal Official between 7:30 a.m. and 
4:15 p.m. (e.t.). Persons planning to attend this meeting are 
urged to contact the above named individual at least two working 
days prior to the meeting to be advised of any potential changes 
to the agenda.
 
Dated: November 9, 2004.
 
John H. Flack, Acting Branch Chief, ACRS/ACNW.
 
[FR Doc. 04-25508 Filed 11-16-04; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590-01-P

 
*****************************************************************
 37 [du-list] "Weapons of Self-Destruction" by David Rose
 
Date: Wed, 17 Nov 2004 14:43:26 -0800

 
<x-flowed>
Weapons of Self-Destruction
By David Rose

Is Gulf War syndrome - possibly caused by Pentagon ammunition - taking its
toll on G.I.'s in Iraq?


When he started to get sick, Staff Sergeant Raymond Ramos's first instinct
was to fight. "I had joint pains, muscle aches, chronic fatigue, but I tried
to exercise it out," he says. "I was going for runs, working out. But I
never got any better. The headaches were getting more frequent and sometimes
lasted all day. I was losing a lot of weight. My overall physical demeanor
was bad."

A 20-year veteran of the New York National Guard, Ramos had been mobilized
for active duty in Iraq in the spring of 2003. His unit, the 442nd Military
Police company, arrived there on Easter, 10 days before President Bush's
mission accomplished appearance on the U.S.S. Abraham Lincoln. A tall,
soft-spoken 40-year-old with four children, the youngest still an infant,
Ramos was proud of his physique. In civilian life, he was a New York City
cop. "I worked on a street narcotics team. It was very busy, with lots of
overtime-very demanding." Now, rising unsteadily from his armchair in his
thickly carpeted living room in Queens, New York, Ramos grimaces. "The shape
I came back in, I cannot perform at that level. I've lost 40 pounds. I'm
frail."

At first, as his unit patrolled the cities of Najaf and al-Diwaniyya, Ramos
stayed healthy. But in June 2003, as temperatures climbed above 110 degrees,
his unit was moved to a makeshift base in an abandoned railroad depot in
Samawah, where some fierce tank battles had taken place. "When we first got
there, I was a heat casualty, feeling very weak," Ramos says. He expected to
recover quickly. Instead, he went rapidly downhill.

By the middle of August, when the 442nd was transferred to Babylon, Ramos
says, the right side of his face and both of his hands were numb, and he had
lost most of the strength in his grip. His fatigue was worse and his
headaches had become migraines, frequently so severe "that I just couldn't
function." His urine often contained blood, and even when it didn't he would
feel a painful burning sensation, which "wouldn't subside when I finished."
His upper body was covered by a rash that would open and weep when he
scratched it. As he tells me this, he lifts his shirt to reveal a mass of
pale, circular scars. He was also having respiratory difficulties. Later, he
would develop sleep apnea, a dangerous condition in which he would stop
breathing during sleep.

Eventually, Ramos was medevaced to a military hospital in Landstuhl,
Germany. Doctors there were baffled and sent him on to the Walter Reed Army
Medical Center, on the outskirts of Washington, D.C. There, Ramos says, one
neurologist suggested that his condition could have been caused by some
long-forgotten head injury or might just be "signs of aging." At the end of
September 2003, the staff at Walter Reed ordered him to report to Fort Dix,
New Jersey, where, he says, a captain went through his record and told him,
"I was clear to go back to Iraq. I got the impression they thought I was
faking it." He was ordered to participate in a long-distance run. Halfway
through, he collapsed. Finally, on July 31, 2004, after months of further
examinations, Ramos was discharged with a medical disability and sent home.

Symptoms such as Ramos's had been seen before. In veterans of Operation
Desert Storm, they came to be called Gulf War syndrome; among those posted
to Bosnia and Kosovo in the 1990s, Balkans syndrome. He was not the only
member of the 442nd to suffer them. Others had similar urinary problems,
joint pains, fatigue, headaches, rashes, and sleep apnea. Today, some
scientists believe that all these problems, together with others found in
war-zone civilians, can be traced to the widespread use of a uniquely deadly
form of ammunition.

In the ongoing Iraq conflict, just as in the Gulf War of 1991 and in the
Balkans, American and British forces have fired tens of thousands of shells
and cannon rounds made of a toxic and radioactive material called depleted
uranium, or D.U. Because D.U. is dense-approximately 1.7 times as dense as
lead-and ignites upon impact, at a temperature of about 5,400 degrees, it
can penetrate armor more effectively than any other material.

It's also remarkably cheap. The arms industry gets its D.U. for free from
nuclear-fuel processors, which generate large quantities of it as a
by-product of enriching uranium for reactor fuel. Such processors would
otherwise have to dispose of it in protected, regulated sites. D.U. is
"depleted" only in the sense that most of its fissile U-235 isotope has been
removed. What's left-mainly U-238-is still radioactive.

Three of the main weapons systems still being used in Iraq-the M-1 Abrams
tank, the Bradley Fighting Vehicle, and the A-10 Warthog attack jet-use D.U.
ammunition. A 120-mm. tank round contains about nine pounds of solid D.U.
When a D.U. "penetrator" strikes its target, up to 70 percent of the shell's
mass is flung into the air in a shower of uranium-oxide fragments and dust,
some in the form of aerosolized particles less than a millionth of a meter
in diameter. When inhaled, such particles lodge in the lungs and bathe the
surrounding tissue with alpha radiation, known to be highly dangerous
internally, and smaller amounts of beta and gamma radiation.

Even before Desert Storm, the Pentagon knew that D.U. was potentially
hazardous. Before last year's Iraq invasion, it issued strict regulations
designed to protect civilians, troops, and the environment after the use of
D.U. But the Pentagon insists that there is little chance that these
veterans' illnesses are caused by D.U.

The U.S. suffered only 167 fatal combat casualties in the first Gulf War.
Since then, veterans have claimed pensions and health-care benefits at a
record rate. The Veterans Administration reported this year that it was
paying service-related disability pensions to 181,996 Gulf War
veterans-almost a third of the total still living. Of these, 3,248 were
being compensated for "undiagnosed illnesses." The Pentagon's spokesman, Dr.
Michael Kilpatrick, deputy director of its Deployment Health section, says
that Gulf War veterans are no less healthy than soldiers who were stationed
elsewhere.

Those returning from Operation Iraqi Freedom are also beginning to report
illnesses in significant numbers. In July 2004, the V.A. disclosed that
27,571 of them-16.4 percent of the total-had sought health care. Of that
group, 8,134 suffered muscular and skeletal ailments; 3,505 had respiratory
problems; and 5,674 had "symptoms, signs and ill-defined conditions." An
additional 153 had developed cancers. The V.A. claims that such figures are
"typical of young, active, healthcare-seeking populations," but does not
offer figures for comparison.

There is also evidence of a large rise in birth defects and unprecedented
cancer rates among civilians following the first Gulf War in the Basra
region of southern Iraq, where the heaviest fighting took place. Dr.
Kilpatrick says, "I think it's very important to try to understand what are
the causes of that high rate of cancer and birth defects. There has to be a
good look at that, but if you go to the M. D. Anderson hospital, in Houston,
Texas, you're going to find a very high rate of cancer. That's because
people from all over the country with cancer go there, because it's one of
the premier care centers. Basra was the only major hospital in southern
Iraq. Are the people there with these different problems people who lived
their entire lives in Basra, or are they people who've come to Basra for
care?" It is possible, he says, that some other environmental factor is
responsible for the illnesses, such as Saddam's chemical weapons or poor
nutrition. "I don't think anything should be taken off the table."

In October 2004, an early draft of a study by the Research Advisory
Committee on Gulf War Veterans' Illnesses, a scientific panel run by the
V.A., was leaked to The New York Times. According to the Times, the panel
had concluded that there was a "probable link" between veterans' illnesses
and exposure to neurotoxins, including a drug given to troops in 1991 to
protect them from nerve gas, and nerve gas itself, which was released when
U.S.-led forces destroyed an Iraqi arms depot. Asked why there was no
mention of D.U. in the report, Dr. Lea Steele, the panel's scientific
director, says that her group plans to address it in a later report: "We've
only just begun work on this topic. We are certainly not ruling it out."

D.U.'s critics, meanwhile, say it's entirely possible that both neurotoxins
and D.U. are responsible for the widespread sickness among veterans.

Members of the 442nd have vivid memories of being exposed to D.U. Sergeant
Hector Vega, a youthful-looking 48-year-old who in civilian life works in a
building opposite Manhattan's Guggenheim Museum, says he now struggles with
chest pains, heart palpitations, headaches, urinary problems, body tremors,
and breathlessness-none of which he'd ever experienced before going to Iraq.
He recalls the unit's base there: "There were burnt-out Iraqi tanks on
flatbed trucks 100 yards from where we slept. It looked like our barracks
had also been hit, with black soot on the walls. It was open to the
elements, and dust was coming in all the time. When the wind blew, we were
eating it, breathing it. It was everywhere." (The Department of Defense, or
D.O.D., says that a team of specialists is conducting an occupational and
environmental health survey in the area.)

Dr. Asaf Durakovic, 64, is a retired U.S. Army colonel and the former head
of nuclear medicine at a veterans' hospital in Wilmington, Delaware. Dr.
Durakovic reports finding D.U. in the urine of 18 out of 30 Desert Storm
veterans, sometimes up to a decade after they were exposed, and in his view
D.U. fragments are both a significant cause of Gulf War syndrome and a
hazard to civilians for an indefinite period of time. He says that when he
began to voice these fears inside the military he was first warned, then
fired: he now operates from Toronto, Canada, at the independent Uranium
Medical Research Centre.

In December 2003, Dr. Durakovic analyzed the urine of nine members of the
442nd. With funds supplied by the New York Daily News, which first published
the results, Durakovic sent the samples to a laboratory in Germany that has
some of the world's most advanced mass-spectrometry equipment. He concluded
that Ramos, Vega, Sergeant Agustin Matos, and Corporal Anthony Yonnone were
"internally contaminated by depleted uranium (D.U.) as a result of exposure
through [the] respiratory pathway."

The Pentagon contests these findings. Dr. Kilpatrick says that, when the
D.O.D. conducted its own tests, "our results [did] not mirror the results of
Dr. Durakovic." "Background" sources, such as water, soil, and therefore
food, frequently contain some uranium. The Pentagon insists that the 442nd
soldiers' urinary uranium is "within normal dietary ranges," and that "it
was not possible to distinguish D.U. from the background levels of natural
uranium." The Pentagon says it has tested about 1,000 vets from the current
conflict and found D.U. contamination in only five. Its critics insist this
is because its equipment is too insensitive and its testing methods are
hopelessly flawed.

At a briefing before the Iraq invasion in March 2003, Dr. Kilpatrick tried
to reassure reporters about D.U. by citing the cases of about 20 Desert
Storm vets who had D.U. shrapnel in their bodies. "We have not seen any
untoward medical consequences in these individuals," he said. "There has
been no cancer of bone or lungs, where you would expect them." It appears
that he misspoke on that occasion: one of these veterans had already had an
arm amputated for an osteosarcoma, or bone tumor, at the site where the
shrapnel entered. Dr. Kilpatrick confirms that the veteran was treated by
the V.A. in Baltimore, but says his condition may not have been linked with
the shrapnel: "Osteosarcomas are fairly common." Studies have shown that
D.U. can begin to move through the body and concentrate in the lymph nodes,
and another of the vets with shrapnel has a form of lymphatic cancer. But
this, Dr. Kilpatrick says, has "no known cause." He concedes that research
has not proved the negative, that D.U. doesn't cause cancer. But, he says,
"science doesn't in 2004 show that D.U. causes any cancer."

It does, however, show that it may. Pentagon-sponsored studies at the Armed
Forces Radiobiology Research Institute, in Bethesda, Maryland, have found
that, when D.U. was embedded in animals, several genes associated with human
tumors underwent "aberrant activation," and oncoproteins of the type found
in cancer patients turned up in their blood. The animals' urine was
"mutagenic," meaning that it could cause cells to mutate. Another institute
project found that D.U. could damage the immune system by hastening the
death of white blood cells and impairing their ability to attack bacteria.

In June 2004 the U.S. General Accounting Office (G.A.O.) issued a report to
Congress that was highly critical of government research into Gulf War
syndrome and veterans' cancer rates. The report said that the studies on
which federal agencies were basing their claim that Gulf War veterans were
no sicker than the veterans of other wars "may not be reliable" and had
"inherent limitations," with big data gaps and methodological flaws. Because
cancers can take years to develop, the G.A.O. stated, "it may be too early"
to draw any conclusions. Dr. Kilpatrick dismisses this report, saying it was
"just the opinion of a group of individuals."

Yet another Pentagon-funded study suggested that D.U. might have effects on
unborn children. After finding that pregnant rats transmitted D.U. to their
offspring through the placenta, the study concluded: "Fetal exposure to
uranium during critical prenatal development may adversely impact the future
behavioral and neurological development of offspring." In September 2004,
the New York Daily News reported that Gerard Darren Matthew, who had served
in Iraq with the 719th Transportation Company, which is based in Harlem, had
tested positive for D.U. after suffering migraines, fatigue, and a burning
sensation when urinating. Following his return, his wife became pregnant,
and their daughter, Victoria Claudette, was born missing three fingers.

Ultimately, critics say, the Pentagon underestimates the dangers of D.U.
because it measures them in the wrong way: by calculating the average amount
of D.U. radiation produced throughout the body. When we meet, Dr. Kilpatrick
gives me a report the Department of Defense issued in 2000. It concludes
that even vets with the highest exposures from embedded shrapnel could
expect over 50 years to receive a dose of just five rem, "which is the
annual limit for [nuclear industry] workers." The dose for those who inhaled
dust from burned-out tanks would be "far below the annual guideline (0.1
rem) for members of the public."

But to measure the effect of D.U. as a whole-body radiation dose is
meaningless, Asaf Durakovic says, because the dose from D.U. is intensely
concentrated in the cells around a mote of dust. The alpha particles D.U.
emits-high-energy clumps of protons and neutrons-are harmless outside the
body, because they cannot pass through skin. Inside tissue, however, they
wreak a havoc analogous to that of a penetrating shell against an enemy
tank, bombarding cell nuclei, breaking chains of DNA, damaging fragile
genes. Marcelo Valdes, a physicist and computer scientist who is president
of Dr. Durakovic's research institute, says the cells around a D.U. particle
2.5 microns in diameter will receive a maximum annual radiation dose of 16
rads. If every pocket of tissue in the body were to absorb that amount of
radiation, the total level would reach seven trillion rads-millions of times
the lethal dosage.

In the potentially thousands of hot spots inside the lungs of a person
exposed to D.U. dust, the same cells will be irradiated again and again,
until their ability to repair themselves is lost. In 1991, Durakovic found
D.U. in the urine of 14 veterans who had returned from the Gulf with
headaches, muscle and skeletal pain, fatigue, trembling, and kidney
problems. "Immediately I understood from their symptoms and their histories
that they could have been exposed to radiation," he says. Within three
years, two were dead from lung cancer: "One was 33, the other 42. Both were
nonsmokers, in previously excellent health."

D.U., he says, steadily migrates to the bones. There it irradiates the
marrow, where stem cells, the progenitors of all the other cells the body
manufactures in order to renew itself, are produced. "Stem cells are very
vulnerable," Durakovic says. "Bombarded with alpha particles, their DNA will
fall apart, potentially affecting every organ. If malfunctioning stem cells
become new liver cells, then the liver will malfunction. If stem cells are
damaged, they may form defective tissue."

If D.U. is as dangerous as its critics allege, it can kill even without
causing cancer. At her home in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, Susan Riordon recalls
the return of her husband, Terry, from the Gulf in 1991. Terry, a security
captain, served in intelligence during the war: his service record refers to
his setting up a "safe haven" in the Iraqi "theatre." Possibly, Susan
speculates, this led him behind enemy lines and exposed him to D.U. during
the long aerial bombing campaign that preceded the 1991 invasion. In any
event, "when he came home, he didn't really come home," she says.

At first, Terry merely had the usual headaches, body pain, oozing rash, and
other symptoms. But later he began to suffer from another symptom which
afflicts some of those exposed to D.U.: burning semen. "If he leaked a
little lubrication from his penis, it would feel like sunburn on your skin.
If you got to the point where you did have intercourse, you were up and out
of that bed so fast-it actually causes vaginal blisters that burst and
bleed." Terry's medical records support her description. In England, Malcolm
Hooper, professor emeritus of medicinal chemistry at the University of
Sunderland, is aware of 4,000 such cases. He hypothesizes that the presence
of D.U. may be associated with the transformation of semen into a caustic
alkali.

"It hurt [Terry] too. He said it was like forcing it through barbed wire,"
Riordon says. "It seemed to burn through condoms; if he got any on his
thighs or his testicles, he was in hell." In a last, desperate attempt to
save their sex life, says Riordon, "I used to fill condoms with frozen peas
and insert them [after sex] with a lubricant." That, she says, made her pain
just about bearable. Perhaps inevitably, he became impotent. "And that was
like our last little intimacy gone."

By late 1995, Terry was seriously deteriorating. Susan shows me her
journal-she titled it "The Twilight Zone"-and his medical record. It makes
harrowing reading. He lost his fine motor control to the point where he
could not button his shirt or zip his fly. While walking, he would fall
without warning. At night, he shook so violently that the bed would move
across the floor. He became unpredictably violent: one terrible day in 1997
he attacked their 16-year-old son and started choking him. By the time armed
police arrived to pull him off, the boy's bottom lip had turned blue. After
such rages, he would fall into a deep sleep for as long as 24 hours, and
awake with no memory of what had happened. That year, Terry and Susan
stopped sleeping in the same bedroom. Then "he began to barricade himself in
his room for days, surviving on granola bars and cartons of juice."

As he went downhill, Terry was assessed as completely disabled, but there
was no diagnosis as to why. His records contain references to "somatization
disorder," post-traumatic stress, and depression. In 1995 the army doctors
even suggested that he had become ill only after reading of Gulf War
syndrome. Through 1998 and 1999, he began to lose all cognitive functions
and was sometimes lucid for just a few hours each week.

Even after he died, on April 29, 1999, Terry's Canadian doctors remained
unable to explain his illness. "This patient has a history [of] 'Gulf War
Syndrome' with multiple motor, sensory and emotional problems," the autopsy
report by pathologist Dr. B. Jollymore, of Yarmouth, begins. "During
extensive investigation, no definitive diagnosis has been determined....
Essentially it appears that this gentleman remains an enigma in death as he
was in life."

Not long before Terry's death, Susan Riordon had learned of Asaf Durakovic,
and of the possibility that her husband absorbed D.U. His urine-test
results-showing a high D.U. concentration eight years after he was
presumably exposed-came through on Monday, April 26: "Tuesday he was
reasonably cognitive, and was able to tell me that he wanted his body and
organs to go to Dr. Durakovic," she remembers. "He knew it was too late to
help him, but he made me promise that his body could help the international
community. On the Wednesday, I completed the purchase of this house. On
Thursday, he was dead.

"It was a very strange death. He was very peaceful. I've always felt that
Asaf allowed Terry to go: knowing he was D.U.-positive meant he wasn't crazy
anymore. Those last days he was calm. He wasn't putting the phone in the
microwave; he had no more mood swings."

After Riordon's death, Dr. Durakovic and his colleagues found accumulations
of D.U. in his bones and lungs.

Dr. Durakovic suspects the military of minimizing the health and
environmental consequences of D.U. weapons, and suggests two reasons it may
have for doing so: "to keep them off the list of war criminals, and to avoid
paying compensation which could run into billions of dollars." To this might
be added a third: depleted uranium, because of its unique armor-penetrating
capabilities, has become a defining feature of American warfare, one whose
loss would be intolerable to military planners.

In 1991, the U.S. used D.U. weapons to kill thousands of Iraqis in tanks and
armored vehicles on the "highway of death" from Kuwait to Basra. The
one-sided victory ushered in a new era of "lethality overmatch"-the ability
to strike an enemy with virtual impunity. A Pentagon pamphlet from 2003
states that a central objective of the American military is to "generate
dominant lethality overmatch across the full spectrum of operations," and no
weapon is better suited to achieving that goal than D.U.

The value of depleted uranium was spelled out more simply in a Pentagon
briefing by Colonel James Naughton of the army's Materiel Command in March
2003, just before the Iraq invasion: "What we want to be able to do is
strike the target from farther away than we can be hit back.... We don't
want to fight even. Nobody goes into a war and wants to be even with the
enemy. We want to be ahead, and D.U. gives us that advantage."

If the Pentagon is right about the risks of D.U., such statements should not
be controversial. If it is wrong, says retired army colonel Dr. Andras
Korenyi-Both, who headed one of the main field hospitals during Desert Storm
and later conducted some of the first research into Gulf War syndrome, the
position is less clear-cut. "You'd have to deal with the question of whether
it's better not to use D.U. and have more of your soldiers die in battle or
to use D.U. and lose very few in the field-but have them get sick and die
when they get home."

One desert morning in the early spring of 1991, while sitting in his office
at the Eskan Village military compound near Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Lieutenant
Doug Rokke was shown a memorandum. Rokke, a health physicist and training
specialist, was a reservist and had recently been ordered to join the Third
U.S. Army's depleted-uranium-assessment team, assigned to clean up and move
American vehicles hit by friendly fire during Operation Desert Storm. The
memo, dated March 1, came from a senior military officer at the Los Alamos
National Laboratory, in New Mexico.

During the Gulf War, it said, "D.U. penetrators were very effective against
Iraqi armor." However, "there has been and continues to be a concern
regarding the impact of D.U. on the environment. Therefore, if no one makes
a case for the effectiveness of D.U. on the battlefield, D.U. rounds may
become politically unacceptable and thus, be deleted from the arsenal.... I
believe we should keep this sensitive issue at mind when after-action
reports are written."

Rokke says: "I interpreted the memo to mean: we want this stuff-don't write
anything that might make it difficult for us to use it again."

Rokke's assignment was dangerous and unpleasant. The vehicles were coated
with uranium-oxide soot, and dust lay in the sand outside. He wore a mask,
but it didn't help. "We could taste it and smell it," he says of the D.U.
"It tasted very strong-and unmistakable." Years later, he says, he was found
to be excreting uranium at 5,000 times the normal level. Now 55, he pants
during ordinary conversation and says he still gets a rash like the one
Raymond Ramos of the 442nd suffers from. In addition, Rokke has joint pains,
muscle aches, and cataracts.

In 1994, Rokke became director of a Pentagon project designed to learn more
about D.U. contamination and to develop training that would minimize its
risks. "I'm a warrior, and warriors want to fulfill their mission," Rokke
says. "I went into this wanting to make it work, to work out how to use D.U.
safely, and to show other soldiers how to do so and how to clean it up. This
was not science out of a book, but science done by blowing the shit out of
tanks and seeing what happens. And as we did this work, slowly it dawned on
me that we were screwed. You can't do this safely in combat conditions. You
can't decontaminate the environment or your own troops."

Rokke and his colleagues conducted a series of experiments at the U.S.
Department of Energy's Nevada nuclear-test site. They set fire to a Bradley
loaded with D.U. rounds and fired D.U. shells at old Soviet tanks. At his
remote, ramshackle farmhouse amid the rural flatlands of central Illinois,
Rokke shows me videos of his tests. Most spectacular are those shot at
night, which depict the fiery streak of the D.U. round, already burning
before impact, followed by the red cascade of the debris cloud. "Everything
we hit we destroyed," he says. "I tell you, these things are just ...
fantastic."

The papers Rokke wrote describing his findings are more sobering. He
recorded levels of contamination that were 15 times the army's permissible
levels in tanks hit by D.U., and up to 4.5 times such levels in clothing
exposed to D.U.

The good news was that it was possible, using a special Department of Energy
vacuum cleaner designed for sucking up radioactive waste, to reduce
contamination from vehicles and equipment to near official limits, and to
"mask" the intense radiation around holes left by D.U. projectiles by
sealing them with layers of foam caulking, paint, or cardboard. (Such work,
Rokke wrote, would naturally have to be carried out by teams in full
radiological-protection suits and respirators.)

When it came to clothes, however, D.U. particles "became imbedded in the
clothing and could not be removed with brushing or other abrasive methods."
Rokke found that even after he tried to decontaminate them the clothes were
still registering between two and three times the limit. "This may pose a
significant logistics impact," Rokke wrote, with some understatement.

The elaborate procedures required to decontaminate equipment, meanwhile,
would be almost impossible to implement in combat. "On a real battlefield,
it's not like there's any control," Rokke says. "It's chaos. Maybe it's
night. Who's going to come along and isolate contaminated enemy tanks?
You've got a pile of rubble and mess and you're still coming under fire. The
idea that you're going to come out in radiological suits and vacuum up a
building or a smashed T-72 [tank]-it's ridiculous."

Large amounts of black D.U.-oxide dust were readily visible within 50 meters
of a tank hit by penetrators and within 100 meters of the D.U.-packed
Bradley that was set on fire. But less obvious amounts were easily detected
at much greater distances. Worse, such dust could be "re-suspended" in the
atmosphere "upon contact, if wind blew, or during movement." For American
troops, that meant that "respiratory and skin protection is warranted during
all phases of recovery." For civilians, even ones at considerable distances,
it meant they might be exposed to windblown D.U. far into the future.

After Rokke completed the project, he was appointed head of the lab at Fort
McClellan where it had been based. He resigned the staff physicist post he'd
held for 19 years at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and
moved south with his family. Early in 1996, after he began to voice the
conclusions he was drawing about the future viability of D.U. weapons, he
was fired. "Then I remembered the Los Alamos memo," he says. "They'd wanted
'proponency' for D.U. weapons, and I was giving them the opposite." I ask
Dr. Kilpatrick, the D.O.D. spokesman on D.U., about Rokke's test firings.
His reply: "One, he never did that. He was in Nevada as an observer. He was
not part of that program at all. At that time he was working in education at
an army school, and his assignment was to develop educational materials for
troops." Rokke, he says, may have spent a few days observing the tests but
did not organize them.

Documents from Rokke's service record tell a different story. His appraisal
from December 1, 1995, written by Dr. Ed Battle, then chief of the radiation
laboratories at Fort McClellan, describes Rokke's mission as follows: to
"plan, coordinate, supervise and implement the U.S. Army ... depleted
uranium training development project." He continued: "Captain Rokke has
repeatedly demonstrated the ability to function well above his current rank
and is as effective as any I have known." He had directly participated in
"extremely crucial tests at the Nevada Atomic Test Site," and his
achievements had been "absolutely phenomenal."

Rokke was awarded two medals for his work. The citation for one commended
him for "meritorious service while assigned as the depleted uranium project
leader. Your outstanding achievements have prepared our soldiers for hazards
and will have a vast payoff in the health, safety, and protection of all
soldiers."

Rokke's work in Nevada helped persuade the military that D.U. weapons had to
be dealt with carefully. On September 16, 2002, General Eric Shinseki, the
U.S. Army chief of staff, signed Army Regulation 700-48, which sets forth
strict rules for handling items, including destroyed or disabled enemy
targets, that have been hit and contaminated by D.U. "During peacetime or as
soon as operational risk permits," it states, local commanders must
"identify, segregate, isolate, secure, and label all RCE [radiologically
contaminated equipment]. Procedures to minimize the spread of radioactivity
will be implemented as soon as possible." Under pre-existing regulations,
damaged vehicles should be moved to a collection point or maintenance
facility, and "covered and wrapped with canvas or plastic tarp to prevent
spread of contaminants," with loose items placed in double plastic bags.
Soldiers who carry out such tasks should wear protective equipment.

The burned-out tanks behind the 442nd's barracks in Samawah may not have
been the only D.U.-contaminated pieces of equipment to be left where they
lay. In the fall of 2003, Tedd Weyman, a colleague of Dr. Durakovic's, spent
16 days in Iraq, taking samples and observing the response of coalition
forces to General Shinseki's directive. "When tanks shot up by D.U.
munitions were removed, I saw no precautions being taken at all," he says.
"Ordinary soldiers with no protection just came along and used chains to
load them onto flatbeds, towing them away just as they might your car if it
broke down on the highway. They took them to bases with British and American
troops and left them in the open." Time after time, Weyman recorded high
levels of contamination-so high that on his return to Canada he was found to
have 4.5 times the normal level of uranium in his own urine.

A Pentagon memo, signed on May 30, 2003, by Dr. William Winkenwerder, an
assistant defense secretary, says that any American personnel "who were in,
on, or near combat vehicles at the time they were struck by D.U. rounds," or
who entered such vehicles or fought fires involving D.U. munitions, should
be assessed for possible exposure and receive appropriate health care. This
category could be said to include any soldier who fought in, or cleaned up
after, battles with Iraqi armor.

Still, the Pentagon insists that the risks remain acceptably small. "There
isn't any recognized disease from exposure to natural or depleted uranium,"
Dr. Kilpatrick says. He tells me that America will mount a thorough cleanup
in Iraq, disposing of any D.U. fragments and burying damaged vehicles in
unpopulated locations, but that, for the time being, such an operation is
impossible. "We really can't begin any environmental assessment or cleanup
while there's ongoing combat." Nevertheless, he says, there's no cause for
concern. "I think we can be very confident that what is in the environment
does not create a hazard for those living in the environment and working in
it."

As this article was going to press, the Pentagon published the findings of a
new study that, according to Dr. Kilpatrick, shows D.U. to be a "lethal but
safe weapons system."

In his Pentagon briefing in March 2003, Dr. Kilpatrick said that even if
D.U. weapons did generate toxic dust, it would not spread. "It falls to the
ground very quickly-usually within about a 50-meter range," he said. "It's
heavy. It's 1.7 times as heavy as lead. So even if it's a small dust
particle ... it stays on the ground." Evidence that this is not the case
comes from somewhere much closer than Iraq-an abandoned D.U.-weapons factory
in Colonie, New York, a few miles from Albany, the state capital.

In 1958, a corporation called National Lead began making depleted-uranium
products at a plant on Central Avenue, surrounded by houses and an Amtrak
line. In 1979, just as the plant was increasing its production of D.U.
ammunition to meet a new Pentagon contract, a whistle-blower from inside the
plant told the county health department that N.L. was releasing large
amounts of D.U. oxide into the environment.

Over the next two years, he and other workers testified before both the New
York State Assembly and a local residents' campaign group. They painted a
picture of reckless neglect. D.U. chips and shavings were simply
incinerated, and the resulting oxide dust passed into the atmosphere through
the chimneys. "I used to do a lot of burning," William Luther told the
governor's task force in 1982. "They told me to do it at night so the black
smoke wouldn't be seen." Later, many of the workers were found to have
inhaled huge doses into their lungs, and some developed cancers and other
illnesses at relatively young ages.

In January 1980 the state forced N.L. to agree to limit its radioactive
emissions to 500 microcuries per year. The following month, the state shut
the plant down. In January alone, the D.U.-chip burner had released 2,000
microcuries. An official environmental survey produced horrifying results.
Soil in the gardens of homes near the plant was emitting radiation at up to
300 times the normal background level for upstate New York. Inside the
11-acre factory site, readings were up to five times higher.

The federal government has been spending tax dollars to clean up the Colonie
site for the past 19 years, under a program called fusrap-the Formerly
Utilized Sites Remedial Action Program. Today, all that is left of the
Colonie plant are enormous piles of earth, constantly moistened with hoses
and secured by giant tarpaulins to prevent dispersal, and a few deep pits.
In its autumn 2004 bulletin to residents, the fusrap team disclosed that it
had so far removed 125,242 tons of contaminated soil from the area, all of
which have been buried at radioactive-waste sites in Utah and Idaho. In some
places, the excavations are more than 10 feet deep. fusrap had also
discovered contamination in the neighboring Patroon Creek, where children
used to play, and in the reservoir it feeds, and had treated 23.5 million
gallons of contaminated water. The cost so far has been about $155 million,
and the earliest forecast for the work's completion is 2008.

Years before fusrap began to dig, there were data to suggest that D.U.
particles-and those emitted at Colonie are approximately the same size as
those produced by weapons-can travel much farther than 50 meters. In 1979,
nuclear physicist Len Dietz was working at a lab operated by General
Electric in Schenectady, 10 miles west of Colonie. "We had air filters all
around our perimeter fence," he recalls. "One day our radiological manager
told me we had a problem: one of the filters was showing abnormally high
alpha radiation. Much to our surprise, we found D.U. in it. There could only
be one source: the N.L. plant." Dietz had other filters checked both in
Schenectady and at other G.E. sites. The three that were farthest away were
in West Milton, 26 miles northwest, and upwind, of Colonie. All the filters
contained pure Colonie D.U. "Effectively," says Dietz, "the particles' range
is unlimited."

In August 2003, the federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry
published a short report on Colonie. On the one hand, it declared that the
pollution produced when the plant was operating could have increased the
risks of kidney disease and lung cancer. Because the source of the danger
had shut down, however, there was now "no apparent public health hazard."
Thus there was no need to conduct a full epidemiological study of those who
had lived near and worked at the factory-the one way to produce hard
scientific data on what the health consequences of measurable D.U.
contamination actually are.

The people of Colonie have been trying to collect health data of their own.
Sharon Herr, 45, lived near the plant for nine years. She used to work 60
hours a week at two jobs-as a clerk in the state government and as a
real-estate agent. Now she too is sick, and suffers symptoms which sound
like a textbook case of Gulf War syndrome: "Fourteen years ago, I lost my
grip to the point where I can't turn keys. I'm stiff, with bad joint and
muscle pain, which has got progressively worse. I can't go upstairs without
getting out of breath. I get fatigue so intense there are days I just can't
do much. And I fall down-I'll be out walking and suddenly I fall." Together
with her friend Anne Rabe, 49, a campaigner against N.L. since the 1980s,
she has sent questionnaires to as many of the people who lived on the
streets close to the plant as possible. So far, they have almost 400
replies.

Among those who responded were people with rare cancers or cancers that
appeared at an unusually young age, and families whose children had birth
defects. There were 17 cases of kidney problems, 15 of lung cancer, and 11
of leukemia. There were also five thyroid cancers and 16 examples of other
thyroid problems-all conditions associated with radiation. Other people
described symptoms similar to Herr's. Altogether, 174 of those in the sample
had been diagnosed with one kind of cancer or another. American women have
about a 33 percent chance of getting cancer in their lifetimes, mostly after
the age of 60. (For men, it's nearly 50 percent.) Some of the Colonie cancer
victims are two decades younger. "We have what look like possible suspicious
clusters," says Rabe. "A health study here is a perfect opportunity to see
how harmful this stuff really is."

On June 14, 2004, the army's Physical Evaluation Board, the body that
decides whether a soldier should get sickness pay, convened to evaluate the
case of Raymond Ramos of the 442nd Military Police company. It followed the
Pentagon's approach, not Dr. Durakovic's. The board examined his Walter Reed
medical-file summary, which describes his symptoms in detail, suggests that
they may have been caused by serving in Iraq, and accepts that "achieving a
cure is not a realistic treatment objective." But the summary mentions no
physical reason for them at all, let alone depleted uranium.

Like many veterans of the first Gulf War, Ramos was told by the board that
his disability had been caused primarily by post-traumatic stress. It did
not derive "from injury or disease received in the line of duty as a direct
result of armed conflict." Instead, his record says, he got "scared in the
midst of a riot" and was "emotionally upset by reports of battle
casualties." Although he was too sick to go back to work as a narcotics cop,
he would get a disability benefit fixed at $1,197 a month, just 30 percent
of his basic military pay.

On the day we meet, in September 2004, his symptoms are hardly alleviated.
"I'm in lots of pain in my joints. I'm constantly fatigued-I can fall asleep
at the drop of a dime. My wife tells me things and I just forget. It's not
fair to my family."

For the time being, the case against D.U. appears to remain unproved. But if
Asaf Durakovic, Doug Rokke, and their many allies around the world are
right, and the Pentagon wrong, the costs-human, legal, and financial-will be
incalculable. They may also be widespread. In October, the regional health
authority of Sardinia, Italy, began hearings to investigate illnesses
suffered by people who live near a U.S. firing range there that tests D.U.
weapons.

In 2002 the United Nations Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of
Human Rights declared that depleted uranium was a weapon of mass
destruction, and its use a breach of international law. But the difference
between D.U. and the W.M.D. that formed the rationale for the Iraqi invasion
is that depleted uranium may have a boomerang effect, afflicting the
soldiers of the army that fires it as well as the enemy victims of
"lethality overmatch."

The four members of the 442nd who tested positive all say they have met
soldiers from other units during their medical treatment who complain of
similar ailments, and fear that they too may have been exposed. "It's bad
enough being sent out there knowing you could be killed in combat," Raymond
Ramos says. "But people are at risk of bringing something back that might
kill them slowly. That's not right."

David Rose is a Vanity Fair contributing editor. His book Guantánamo: The
War on Human Rights is an in-depth investigation of the atrocities taking
place at the Cuban prison.




------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~-->
Make a clean sweep of pop-up ads. Yahoo! Companion Toolbar.
Now with Pop-Up Blocker. Get it for free!
http://us.click.yahoo.com/L5YrjA/eSIIAA/yQLSAA/FGYolB/TM
--------------------------------------------------------------------~->

To unsubscribe from this groups send a message to 
du-list-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com.  In the body of the message type 
unsubscribe and send.
Yahoo! Groups Links

<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
     http://groups.yahoo.com/group/du-list/

<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
     du-list-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com

<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
     http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
  

</x-flowed>
*****************************************************************
 38 [du-list] 11/17 Iraq Watch: Over 1200 US military deaths in
 
Date: Wed, 17 Nov 2004 14:37:40 -0800

 
<x-flowed>



Fallujah: Ugly the War
Iraq Watch Specials: From Peace No War  Network
November 17, 2004

URL: _http://www.PeaceNoWar.net_ (http://www.peacenowar.net/)



Over 1,200 US military deaths reported  in Iraq since war begins
November  17, 2004
People's Daily Online (China)
_http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200411/17/eng20041117_164199.html_
(http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/200411/17/eng20041117_164199.html)



A total of 1,210 US soldiers have been killed in Iraq since the United
States launched war against the Middle Eastern country in March 2003, latest
figures from the Pentagon showed on Tuesday.

Of the dead, 943 were killed in combat and 267 in non-battle  circumstances.

Ninety-one casualties were reported for November so far, bringing the  number
to 1,210 from 1,119 at the beginning of this month. Many of the deaths
occurred during the US military operation in Falluja that began on Nov. 7.

A total of 38 US soldiers were killed in the week-long offensive, which  was
aimed at helping pave the way for the general elections in Iraq scheduled  for
January next year. November would become the second-deadliest month for
American forces since March 2003, following April this year when 135 deaths 
were
reported.

Since the start of the war, 8,956 US servicemen have been wounded,  including
at least 320 US soldiers who were wounded in the Falluja operation.



U.S. Troop Death Toll This Month  Nears 100
Los Angeles Times
November 17, 2004
_http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/iraq/complete/la-fg-dead17nov17,1,795
947.story?coll=la-iraq-complete_
(http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/iraq/complete/la-fg-dead17nov17,1,795947.story?coll=la-iraq-complete) 


BAGHDAD — Three soldiers and a Marine were killed Tuesday in  separrate
incidents in Iraq, pushing U.S. deaths this month to almost 100 — 
tthe  second-worst
toll since American forces invaded in 2003, according to military  officials
and records.

Two of the soldiers were killed near Balad,  northwest of Baghdad, one by
small-arms fire and the other by a roadside bomb.  The third soldier was 
killed
in a vehicle accident, military officials  said.

South of Fallouja, the Marine died in a suicide car bomb attack, an  officer
said.

The worst month for U.S. fatalities was April, with 135  deaths, when the
insurgency intensified and Marines fought fierce battles in  Fallouja before
withdrawing.

Before this month, the second-deadliest  month was November 2003, with 82
deaths.

The rising death toll coincides  with U.S. military commanders' efforts to
pacify areas of Iraq that need to be  brought under Iraqi government control
before elections scheduled for late  January. It also reflects an 
escalation of
attacks by the insurgents, although  some U.S. commanders say they believe 
this
may be a last-gasp effort by rebel  forces outmatched by U.S. firepower.

Most of the deaths this month have  been in the Fallouja offensive that began
Nov. 8.

An exact current count  of U.S. deaths is difficult to obtain because of time
lags between the  military's initial reporting of fatalities and the
subsequent identification of  those killed.

As of Tuesday, the Pentagon said 1,210 U.S. service  members had died in Iraq
since the conflict began 20 months ago. At the  beginning of November, the
Pentagon count stood at 1,119, and it rose rapidly as  the Fallouja fighting
intensified and guerrillas struck back in other cities and  towns.




Useful Links:

Los Angeles Times has a  complete biographical Information on U.S. Soldiers
Killed:
_http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/external/fmmac2.mm.ap.org/war2/adv_search.php?SI
TE=CALOS&SECTION=MIDEAST_
(http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/external/fmmac2.mm.ap.org/war2/adv_search.php?SITE=CALOS&SECTION=MIDEAST) 



For more photos and Videos from Iraq,  visit:
"Report from Baghdad" July, 2003
_http://www.actionla.org/Iraq/IraqReport/intro.html_
(http://www.actionla.org/Iraq/IraqReport/intro.html)


=============================================================
Peace, No War
War is not the answer, for only love can conquer hate
Not in  our Name! And another world is possible!

Information for antiwar  movements, news across the World, please  visit:
http://www.PeaceNoWar.net





Please Join PeaceNoWar Listserv, send e-mail to:
peacenowar-subscribe@lists.riseup.net


Please Donate to Peace No War  Network!
Send check pay  to:
ActionLA/SEE
1013 Mission St. #6
South Pasadena CA 91030
(All  donations are tax deductible)



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]



------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~-->
Make a clean sweep of pop-up ads. Yahoo! Companion Toolbar.
Now with Pop-Up Blocker. Get it for free!
http://us.click.yahoo.com/L5YrjA/eSIIAA/yQLSAA/FGYolB/TM
--------------------------------------------------------------------~->

To unsubscribe from this groups send a message to 
du-list-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com.  In the body of the message type 
unsubscribe and send.
Yahoo! Groups Links

<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
     http://groups.yahoo.com/group/du-list/

<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
     du-list-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com

<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
     http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
  

</x-flowed>
*****************************************************************
 39 [du-list] the "interim US government"  and  DU genocide
 
Date: Wed, 17 Nov 2004 14:37:22 -0800

 
<x-flowed>

http://www.medialens.org/   -  message board -

http://members5.boardhost.com/medialens/msg/202473.html

  Hi David E.,

Here is my response to HB, but I need a password.. I think I may  have 
registered before but  have to  divert to other issues right now.

db



  Chere  Helen Boaden,

  Merci beaucoup pour  votre response.

  Yes, we know that the  journalists are operating under great danger..The 
Federation of Journalists reports that 62 have been killed in Iraq, (and 
many of them by US forces, I might add)
  As I stated in my letter, I think there may be a legal danger to those 
with desk jobs like your too, based on complicity in the  USUK war crimes 
by failure to relay the truth.

  I see you have omitted reference to your headline " Humanitarian aid 
enters Falluja"  3 days ago to which  I  responded with a claim of 
misrepresentation and raised the question possible liabilities thereby 
incurred. Aid still has not been  allowed into the areas of need.

Why have you adopted this particular vocabulary of the primary belligerent 
state,  the US ..eg "embedded" as in..

  - "We have made clear that correspondents embedded with the marines have 
seen little of civilians and their reports are restricted." -

(Of course not, they are  dead under rubble or  lying on the road, or still 
hiding on the floor inside..... reports  have said the US  army fires at 
anything that moves, small arms fire is met with shell from tank rounds, 
possibly with DU shells etc.)

Does this "embedding" of their  vocabulary illustrate an intelligence blind 
to  the larger issue of the illegality of the actions of the  belligerent 
states ?

  - "I have reminded our newsrooms that it is important to use the word 
"interim" when talking about the Iraqi government, to reinforce the fact 
that it is as yet non-elected by popular vote. " -

  Given the  wide evidence of the election fraud in the US and the 
estimated  3,000,000 uncounted and  ethnically cleansed from the rolls, 
will you now be referring to the  to the Bush administration as the 
"interim US government" ?

  -- "INSURGENTS

The use of such words is often contentious. This term was decided upon 
because it describes people who are "rising in active revolt". It is the 
best word to use in situations of rebellion or conquest when there is no 
free-standing government." --

I see  that on your Q&A section on the BBC website, your  answerer has 
responded to a query refering to " the resistance".

IMHO this is the proper word, as  this is the common usage for an occupied 
people fighting their occupiers. Admittedly the area is comprised of 
diverse regional interests that were only united by the British imperial 
power earlier this century.

  IMHO, in reality the Iraqi people will continue to oppose the USUK 
occupiers. As in Vietnam, the US  fails , or pretends to fail, to recognize 
that their opponents  are motivated by simple nationalism. Here this 
combines with a strong religious motive and  this is why USUK  can never 
"win" the certainty of  the  Iraqi oil supplies, other than by a policy 
of  genocide.

It is this policy of genocide that is a primary war crime, ranking with the 
invasion itself. The use of  USUK DU has been the primary tool for  the 
USUK genocide to date , and the   provocation of the natives by almost 
every action  by US troops, from torture to shooting demonstrators to 
bombing, creating a  resistance  fighters faster than they can be shot, 
seems  like a ploy to enable this second, faster means of genocide 
exemplified by the Phantom Fury" operation.

The question I raised last week was  the  liability of  the media as a 
party to the  USUK war crimes by  it's failing to report the horrific  and 
inhumane nature and illegality of events as they unfold to the sponsors 
with the power to prevent them, viz the British people.
  A majority of the  UK population opposed the illegal invasion, and in 
Spain some 90% opposed  the Aznar  decision 
to  provide  token  forces.  Although USUK does not itself have a proper 
democracy with PR as in Germany, an informed population is a first step to 
installing  a humane  government, lead by intelligent people, 
not  religious fundamentalist  looneys like Bliar.  While there is little 
hope of this in the US, where the  media is owned and/or controlled by the 
same interests that profit from arms manufacture and  their expenditure 
and  other  supplies to army contractors, in the UK it  has a reasonable 
chance of success. This difference would not mitigate the basic legal 
question raised of  the liability  of a complicit media, but impinges on 
the urgent need for the underlying change  of  the premise and 
understanding required in reporting events.



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]



------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~-->
$9.95 domain names from Yahoo!. Register anything.
http://us.click.yahoo.com/J8kdrA/y20IAA/yQLSAA/FGYolB/TM
--------------------------------------------------------------------~->

To unsubscribe from this groups send a message to 
du-list-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com.  In the body of the message type 
unsubscribe and send.
Yahoo! Groups Links

<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
     http://groups.yahoo.com/group/du-list/

<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
     du-list-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com

<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
     http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
  

</x-flowed>
*****************************************************************
 40 [du-list] Call to recognise Gulf War effect  - BBC
 
Date: Wed, 17 Nov 2004 14:37:38 -0800

 
<x-flowed>
       Call to recognise Gulf War effect

       Includes..
       It accepted the illnesses suffered by the veterans were likely to be 
due to a combination of causes.

       These included multiple injections of vaccines, the use of 
organophosphate pesticides to spray tents, low level exposure to nerve gas, 
and the inhalation of depleted uranium dust.

       http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/4018603.stm

       An independent inquiry has concluded that Gulf War syndrome probably 
does exist.
       The inquiry called on the Ministry of Defence to accept thousands of 
veterans suffered ill health as a result of their service in the 1991 
conflict.

       It said the MoD should establish a special fund to make compensation 
payments to veterans whose health had been damaged.

       The inquiry was headed by the former law lord Lord Lloyd of Berwick.

       About 6,000 veterans of the conflict are believed to be suffering 
from ill health.

       However, despite paying pensions to thousands of veterans, the MoD 
has never accepted that their illnesses are linked to their service.

       The inquiry report said all the scientific studies agreed Gulf 
veterans were twice as likely to suffer from ill health as if they had been 
deployed elsewhere.

       It accepted the illnesses suffered by the veterans were likely to be 
due to a combination of causes.

       These included multiple injections of vaccines, the use of 
organophosphate pesticides to spray tents, low level exposure to nerve gas, 
and the inhalation of depleted uranium dust.

       Further research was needed to try to pinpoint the causes more 
precisely, the report said.

       However, that was no reason for the MoD not to accept that the 
illness were the result of service in the Gulf.

       Announcing the findings of the inquiry, Lord Lloyd said: "What the 
veterans now want above all else is a clear recognition by the MoD that 
they are ill because they served in the Gulf.

       "Are they entitled to that recognition? In our view they are."

       The inquiry was set up at the request of Labour peer Lord Morris of 
Manchester, the parliamentary adviser to the Royal British Legion, after 
the MoD refused an official inquiry.

       The MoD refused to allow serving officials or military personnel to 
appear before the inquiry although it did submit written evidence.

       However, the inquiry was still able to take evidence from former 
personnel including the commander of the British forces in the Gulf, 
General Sir Peter de la Billiere, scientific experts, and some 35 veterans 
or their families.






[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]



------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~-->
$9.95 domain names from Yahoo!. Register anything.
http://us.click.yahoo.com/J8kdrA/y20IAA/yQLSAA/FGYolB/TM
--------------------------------------------------------------------~->

To unsubscribe from this groups send a message to 
du-list-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com.  In the body of the message type 
unsubscribe and send.
Yahoo! Groups Links

<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
     http://groups.yahoo.com/group/du-list/

<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
     du-list-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com

<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
     http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
  

</x-flowed>
*****************************************************************
 41 [du-list] Gulf War syndrome report  - USUK  DU  WMD Iraq
 
Date: Wed, 17 Nov 2004 17:19:18 -0800

 
<x-flowed>
Gulf War syndrome report

http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/story.jsp?story=584030

An independent inquiry calls on the Ministry of Defence to admit the 
existence of Gulf War syndrome and sets aside millions of pounds to 
compensate sick veterans, who hail the report as vindication. More than 
6,000 men and women who served in the 1991 war claim their illnesses are 
due to a combination of vaccines, sprays, nerve gas and depleted uranium.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/military/story/0,11816,1353230,00.html

Inquiry backs 'Gulf war syndrome' claims

Press Association
Wednesday November 17, 2004

An independent inquiry into Gulf war illnesses today called on the Ministry 
of Defence to finally accept that thousands of veterans had suffered ill 
health as a result of their service in the 1991 conflict.

The inquiry, headed by the former law lord Lord Lloyd of Berwick, said 
there was "every reason" to accept the existence of a "Gulf war syndrome", 
the existence of which has always been denied by the MoD.

Its report said it accepted that the illnesses suffered by the veterans 
were likely to be due to a combination of causes, including multiple 
injections of vaccines, the use of pesticides to spray tents, low level 
exposure to nerve gas, and the inhalation of depleted uranium dust.

However, the report said all the scientific studies agreed that Gulf 
veterans were twice as likely to suffer from ill health as if they had been 
deployed elsewhere, and said "there is therefore every reason to call the 
illnesses by the label 'Gulf war syndrome'".

Around 6,000 veterans of the conflict are believed to be suffering from ill 
health, with thousands more cases thought to be likely among US service 
personnel.

Illnesses suffered have included cancers, motor neurone disease, chronic 
fatigue, skin rashes, traumatic stress and aching joints.

The report said only a "small proportion" of those who were ill could have 
been said to have been suffering from post-traumatic stress.

Lord Lloyd's inquiry said the MoD should now set up a special fund to make 
compensation payments to those veterans who had suffered as a result of 
their service in the war to liberate Kuwait from Saddam Hussein.


However, the former law lord stressed that the aim of his inquiry had not 
been to establish blame, saying there was "no question " of the MoD being 
legally culpable in any way.

Tony Flint, of the National Gulf Veterans and Families Association, said: 
"The report was a lot better than I thought it was going to be ... to have 
Gulf war syndrome recognised means a hell of a lot to us."

He called on the MoD to act on Lord Lloyd's recommendations and compensate 
veterans for the illnesses they have suffered.

Speaking after the release of his report, Lord Lloyd said there was no 
reason why the term "Gulf war syndrome" should not be used. "Gulf war 
syndrome means something - it has a certain resonance," he said.

"As they [the veterans] are the ones who are ill, it seems reasonable that 
they should name their disease."

He admitted his report did not compel the government to act, but said he 
hoped the MoD would seize the opportunity to accept its findings. "Our 
report in itself can do nothing," he said. "It depends on the usual 
pressure being brought to bear on the MoD by the public, by the press, and 
by parliament."

The inquiry was set up at the request of Labour peer Lord Morris of 
Manchester, the parliamentary adviser to the Royal British Legion, after 
the MoD refused to hold an official inquiry.

The MoD declined to allow serving officials or military personnel to appear 
before the inquiry, although it did submit written evidence, including a 
contribution from the commander of the British forces in the Gulf at the 
time, General Sir Peter de la Billiere. Lord Lloyd said the MoD had lost an 
opportunity to start a "reconciliation" with veterans.

A spokesman for the MoD said that the ministry had just received a copy of 
the report and would "consider any of the recommendations" before 
"responding in due course".

"Lord Lloyd has a serious interest in this issue, and we would look to 
address the points he has made," the spokesman said.

He added that the MoD's policy on the term "Gulf war syndrome" was that 
medical and scientific consensus was that there were too many factors 
involved in the illnesses for it to be called a syndrome.




[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]



------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~-->
Make a clean sweep of pop-up ads. Yahoo! Companion Toolbar.
Now with Pop-Up Blocker. Get it for free!
http://us.click.yahoo.com/L5YrjA/eSIIAA/yQLSAA/FGYolB/TM
--------------------------------------------------------------------~->

To unsubscribe from this groups send a message to 
du-list-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com.  In the body of the message type 
unsubscribe and send.
Yahoo! Groups Links

<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
     http://groups.yahoo.com/group/du-list/

<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
     du-list-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com

<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
     http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
  

</x-flowed>
*****************************************************************
 42 Guardian Unlimited: Gulf war syndrome is genuine says law lords' inquiry
 
Veterans justified in feeling let down by the government              
 		
James Meikle, health correspondent
Thursday November 18, 2004
The Guardian 		
 		
Veterans of the 1991 Iraq conflict were jubilant yesterday as the 
head of an inquiry into illnesses among them agreed that they 
were victims of Gulf war syndrome and censured the government for 
having dismissed their plight. 

Lord Lloyd, a former appeal court judge, said veterans' feelings 
of being let down and rejected by the government were justified. 
The damage to their health of having served in the first Gulf war 
was "indisputable" and the government should seek reconciliation 
by beginning negotiations over one-off payments to up to 6,000 
troops. 

The findings, though without official status, could prove 
politically difficult for the government which has consistently 
refused a public inquiry, saying scientific research should come 
first. It has always rejected the notion of a syndrome, while 
recognising some veterans who were ill believed "this ill health 
is unusual and related to their Gulf experience". 

Lord Lloyd is a pillar of the establishment. He was Eton-educated 
and a former vice-chair of the security commission. His medical 
adviser was Norman Jones, formerly a senior figure in the Royal 
College of Physicians, while Sir Michael Davies, formerly head of 
the management board of the House of Lords, completed the panel. 

Lord Lloyd goes further than US government advisers in agreeing 
there is a "syndrome", although he admits this is contentious. He 
wants the government to follow up US research using brain scans 
suggesting veterans suffered cell damage as a direct result of 
exposure to toxins. 

Paul Tyler, Liberal Democrat MP for North Cornwall, immediately 
tabled demands for a Commons debate saying "successive defence 
ministers should hang their heads in shame". 

Veterans and their supporters greeted the report with glee though 
one, Charles Plumridge, from Romsey, Hampshire, said "half of me 
fears [the MoD] will keep their heads in the sand and do all in 
their power to rubbish it". 

Lord Morris of Manchester, a long-time campaigner for the 
veterans and the architect of the inquiry, said Lord Lloyd's 
conclusions had "a relentless and compelling logic ... Until now, 
if executive government refused an independent inquiry, it was 
'end of story'. This inquiry ends that veto." 

The Lloyd team said the jury was still out on the exact causes of 
the illnesses, suffered in some cases by troops who never 
deployed but who received a cocktail of vaccinations. Possible 
causes included the jabs, indiscriminate spraying of tents by 
pesticides, low level exposure to nerve gas, or depleted uranium 
dust from Allied forces' tank-busting weaponry. 

But Lord Lloyd said veterans were entitled to the recognition 
"that they are ill because they served in the Gulf" ... and "the 
most likely explanation may be a combination of more than one 
cause against a background of stress, since at least some of the 
causes are thought to have a potentiating effect on each other". 
The Gulf had been "in any view a very toxic environment". 

He added: "Rather than tell a child that his father died of 
'symptoms and signs of ill-defined conditions', it is surely 
better to tell him he died of Gulf war syndrome." 

Extra one-off payments might cost no more than £3m, around half 
the annual sums he estimated were paid to soldiers who received 
pensions or lump-sum gratuities because the government could not 
prove the illnesses were not due to their service in the Gulf. 
But these should not be paid to anyone who came forward in future 
except those who might fall victim to diseases such as cancers. 

Legal action by veterans alleging government negligence was 
dropped in February. Lord Lloyd, who questioned more than 60 
witnesses at 10 days of hearings over the summer, told a press 
conference: "As far as I know there is no question of the 
Ministry of Defence being legally culpable. Whether they are 
culpable in a wider sense it is for you to make up your mind on 
the basis of the whole report." 

The government said it would consider its response. It refused to 
allow any representative to appear at the inquiry, although it 
provided documents, many already on its website, and turned down 
an invitation to answer criticism made to the inquiry. 

Ivor Caplin, the junior defence minister, told Lord Lloyd in a 
letter two weeks ago: "I do not agree we need to restore trust 
between the Ministry of Defence and the vast majority of the 
53,000 or so veterans deployed to the Gulf in 1990-91." 

Ministers want Lord Lloyd to reveal how his inquiry was funded. 
It is estimated to have cost less than £60,000, employed a tiny 
support staff, and completed its work in five months. 

Lord Lloyd received no payment, his colleagues will receive 
expenses, and Sir Michael will get "a modest honorarium". Most 
funding came from a charitable source which demanded anonymity. 
There were two other substantial donations, plus sums including 
£100 from a pensioner. 

Lord Lloyd said: "We cannot see it is any business of the MoD to 
make any inquiry as to where the money came from." 

Simon Wessley, of the centre for military health research at 
King's College London, said the term "Gulf war syndrome" was a 
useful "aide-memoire" but should not be used as scientifically. 

Lord Lloyd "did not hear a very full spectrum of scientific 
opinion and even then I think he is very wise not to come to any 
firm conclusion, other than that there is something about the 
Gulf". 
	
[UP] 
Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2004
*****************************************************************
 43 AP Wire: Gulf War Syndrome Acknowledgment Urged

| 11/17/2004 | 

EMMA ROSS

 Associated Press

LONDON - A new report on Gulf War illness urges the British 
government to acknowledge that Gulf War syndrome is real and 
calls for compensation for veterans who became ill following 
service in the 1991 conflict. 

The inquiry, led by retired senior judge Lord Lloyd of Berwick, 
was not commissioned by the government. The investigation was set 
up at the request of Lord Morris of Manchester, the parliamentary 
adviser to the Royal British Legion, after the Ministry of 
Defense refused an official inquiry. 

The panel, which released its findings Wednesday, refused to 
disclose who funded the report, saying that the money was given 
for the project on condition that the source be kept secret. 

Many thousands of Gulf War veterans have experienced undiagnosed 
illnesses with symptoms such as chronic fatigue, loss of muscle 
control, diarrhea, migraines, dizziness, memory problems and loss 
of balance. 

Suspected causes include stress, bacterial infection, chemical or 
biological weapons, pollutants from burning oil fields, 
depleted-uranium munitions and vaccinations for anthrax and other 
potential biological weapons. 

For years the U.S. and British governments denied the mysterious 
illnesses were linked to the war. However, both governments now 
acknowledge that at least some, but not all, of the sicknesses 
were due to wartime service. They say, however, that there is not 
enough evidence of a unique "Gulf War syndrome" with specific 
characteristics. 

A U.S. government panel concluded in 1996 that combat-related 
stress was the most likely source of the illnesses, although it 
recommended pursuing other possible reasons. 

Last week, a follow-up investigation by another U.S. government 
panel concluded that more recent studies suggest the veterans' 
illnesses are not caused simply by stress. It said there was a 
"probable link" between illnesses suffered by American veterans 
and exposure to toxins, including nerve gases such as sarin. 

The British Ministry of Defense refused to allow serving 
officials or military personnel to testify before the Lloyd 
inquiry, but it did submit written evidence. 

Lloyd's inquiry did hear testimony from the commander of the 
British forces in the Gulf, Gen. Peter de la Billiere, scientists 
and 35 veterans and their families. 

Several studies have consistently found that veterans of the Gulf 
War are twice as likely to suffer illness as soldiers who didn't 
fight. Veterans argue that the correlation is a real 
cause-and-effect relationship, even though those kinds of studies 
merely spot suspicious associations and do not prove cause and 
effect. 

"Since the Gulf veterans were twice as likely to become ill as if 
they had stayed in the U.K., the government ought now, in 
fairness, and not before time, to accept that the illnesses of 
those who were deployed to the Gulf were caused by their 
deployment," the report said. 

The report also recommended that the illnesses be called Gulf War 
syndrome, as they are referred to by veterans, and that, while 
research into the causes continues, the government set up a 
special fund to make compensation payments to those veterans who 
had suffered as a result of their service. 

Lloyd conceded his report did not compel the government to act 
but said he hoped it would seize the opportunity and accept the 
findings. 

"Our report in itself can do nothing," he said. "It depends on 
the usual pressure being brought to bear on the MoD by the 
public, by the press and by Parliament." 

The Ministry of Defense said it intends to review the report and 
issue a response.   

*****************************************************************
 44 Lahontan Valley News: Researcher looks for cancer clues in Fallon dust

November 17, 2004     

JOSH JOHNSON, jjohnson@lahontanvalleynews.com

 A researcher from the University of Arizona recently finished 
testing dust surrounding Fallon in a study designed to seek out 
links between the presence of heavy metals and cancer.

Paul Sheppard, an assistant professor at the University of 
Arizona, was in Fallon Nov. 8-12 collecting dust samples from 
outside several residences around town. Though hampered by rains 
that cleanse the air and stifle dust formation, Sheppard said 
adequate samples were collected. 

The collections sought levels of cadmium, uranium, arsenic and 
nickel, which Sheppard called the "standard bad boys" of heavy 
metals. Particular interest was paid to tungsten, a heavy metal 
with high local concentration but no official label as a toxin.

"With the prior interest in tungsten, we are interested in how it 
varies town to town," Sheppard said. "We don't really know if it 
causes any health issues, but tungsten could be environmentally 
different in Fallon."

Results from the collections will be available in two months, 
Sheppard said. A public forum will be held in the upcoming months 
with the results, along with presentations from University of 
Arizona colleague Mark Witten.

Though tungsten has never been defined as a carcinogen, several 
studies have found increased levels of tungsten in Fallon 
residents and area trees. 

Fallon was the epicenter of a childhood leukemia cluster that 
sickened 16 children. Three died, but there has not been a 
locally diagnosed case in more than two years. Despite massive 
investigations by the Centers for Disease Control, Nevada 
Division of Health and Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease 
Registry, no cause was found for the cancer cluster.

A January 2003 report from the Centers for Disease Control and 
Prevention found that 80 percent of Fallon leukemia cluster 
families and control subjects that were tested for heavy metals 
had elevated levels of tungsten in urine samples. The national 
average is 10 percent.

Tungsten is commonly used to reinforce steel in alloys, lightbulb 
filaments, X-ray and electron tubes and as a non-toxic 
alternative to lead shot in shotgun shells. The metal was 
nominated to the National Toxicology Program for additional 
testing in August 2002.

Josh Johnson can be contacted at jjohnson@lahontanvalleynews.com

All contents © Copyright 2004 lahontanvalleynews.com Lahontan 
Valley News and Fallon Eagle Standard - 562 North Maine Street - 
Fallon, NV 89406                                                  
*****************************************************************
 45 Interfax: Russia can guarantee safety of nuclear weapons - Ivanov

Nov 17 2004 2:29PM
 
MOSCOW. Nov 17 (Interfax) - Russia can guarantee the safety of
its nuclear arsenals, said Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov. 

"We possess everything necessary to safely protect our nuclear
arsenals from any forms of unsanctioned access and to prevent
possible accidents," Ivanov said at a meeting of the armed
forces' top brass in Moscow on Wednesday. 

In support of this statement, Ivanov cited outcomes of the
Accident-2004 special tactical exercises. "These exercises were
conducted together with the Federal Atomic Energy Agency at a
Defense Ministry site located in the Murmansk region," the
minister said. 

The exercises were monitored by 49 representatives from 17 NATO
countries, Ivanov said. "Contrary to statements that we have
problems providing security for our nuclear weapons, which are
made abroad from time to time, our partners in the NATO-Russia
Council could see the opposite with their own eyes," he said.   
 
© 1991-2004 Interfax
 
*****************************************************************
 46 Bellona:  Russia denies reports of leasing nuclear submarine to India 

Russian Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov denying reports that 
Russia will lease a nuclear submarine to India. 

2004-11-17 15:20

The Interfax news agency says Mr. Ivanov told reporters on 
October 22 that he had discussed military cooperation with India, 
but reports on the lease are false. On October 21, Interfax 
quoted sources in Russia's defence industry as saying India would 
lease an Akula-class nuclear-powered submarine. The report said 
the deal was signed earlier this year and could earn Russia tens 
of millions of dollars per year. A high-ranking official from the 
Russian military-industrial complex quoted by the agency said 
“Moscow and New Delhi have signed a contract according to which 
India’s navy will lease a Project 971 nuclear-powered submarine 
for 10 years.” The official said that the contract was signed at 
the beginning of 2004. The submarine to be leased is being 
constructed at the Amur shipbuilding facility, in the Far East 
city of Komsomolsk-on-Amur. “It is 85-percent ready right now,” 
the source said. 

The submarine should be finished by 2007. An Indian crew was 
reportedly then to arrive in Russia to train on the submarine. 
This submarine belongs to Russia’s most advanced Akula-II class 
and is comparable to the U.S. Sea Wolf and modernised Los 
Angeles-class submarines. It costs $1.7 billion, MosNews 
reported. 

In 1990s, India and Russia had agreed on a package to boost 
Indian Navy's blue water capability, which included the 
simultaneous acquisition of Admiral Gorshkov aircraft carrier, 
lease of two Akula class nuclear submarines and four Tu-22M3 
(Nato name Backfire) strategic bombers. Last January, Russian 
Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov announced that Russia had reached 
a preliminary agreement to sell India an aircraft carrier along 
with 28 MiG-29K fighter jets in a deal worth approximately $1.5 
billion, paving the way for progress on other components of the 
package. 

In 1988 Russia leased to India a nuclear submarine less 
sophisticated than Akula-II.
   
Publisher: 
Bellona Foundation, President: Frederic Hauge Information: 
info@bellona.no, Technical contact: webmaster@bellona.no 
Telephone: +47 23 23 46 00 Telefax: +47 22 38 38 62  * P.O.Box 
2141 Grunerlokka, 0505 Oslo, Norway
*****************************************************************
 47 BBC: Q: Gulf War illness
 
  Last Updated: Wednesday, 17 November, 2004
 
[A British tank and crew in the desert]                                 
Some Gulf veterans have suffered from various complaints                                                             

An independent inquiry has backed Gulf War veterans claims that 
some did suffer ill-health as a result of their service in the 
1991 conflict. 

What has this inquiry found? 

Headed by former law lord Lord Lloyd of Berwick, the inquiry said 
the Ministry of Defence should accept that veterans have suffered 
ill-health directly linked to their time in the Gulf. 

It called on the MoD to provide compensation payments to those 
whose health has been affected. 

The inquiry's report said all the scientific studies had shown 
Gulf veterans were twice as likely to suffer from ill health than 
soldiers who had been deployed elsewhere. 

Lord Lloyd said all potential causes were related to the 
veterans' service, and "no other possible causes had been 
proposed". 

He also said that although the illnesses suffered by veterans 
were probably caused by combinations of different factors, it 
would not be medically incorrect to describe their ailments 
collectively as a syndrome. 

The inquiry was set up after the MoD had refused to hold an 
official inquiry. 

What is the Ministry of Defence's standpoint? 

It continues to deny the existence of Gulf War syndrome. 

The MoD argues that there was no single cause of the illnesses 
reported by veterans from the conflict. 

However, it produced its own report earlier this month in which 
it accepted it had not been open about the vaccinations it had 
given troops in case of a biological or chemical attack. 



So what do veterans claim Gulf war syndrome is? 

Ex-soldiers and navy and air force personnel report mood swings, 
memory loss, lack of concentration, night sweats, general fatigue 
and sexual problems. 

Veterans have also suffered from cancers, motor neurone disease 
and stress disorders. 

Tony Flint, of the National Gulf War Veterans and Families 
Association said: "What we're hoping is that this inquiry will 
vindicate what we have been saying for the last 13 to 14 years; 
that there is a Gulf War Syndrome." 

How many veterans believe they suffer from the syndrome? 

Support groups claim about 6,000 veterans have suffered 
unexplained poor health since the 1991 war. 

What do the troops think caused their medical problems? 

The theories broadly fall into three categories - vaccines, 
chemicals and weapons. 

Before fighting the war, military personnel were given multiple 
vaccines, sometimes as many as five a day, to protect them 
against a range of dangers, including anthrax and the plague. 
Critics say the troops' immune systems were overloaded. 

But there have also been suggestions nerve agents from Iraqi 
chemical weapons storage facilities, pesticides used locally in 
Iraq and exposure to pollution from burning oil wells could have 
caused the ill-health. 

The use of depleted uranium (DU) in weapons - military commanders 
favoured it because of its ability to punch through armoured 
vehicles - has proved controversial. The Gulf war was the first 
case where DU, which is radioactive, was used on a significant 
scale. 

Some scientists believe a combination of these factors could have 
caused the ill-health. 

What research has been carried out? 

There has been a number of inquiries and studies in recent years, 
giving a variety of conclusions. 

The most recent was published last week by the US Veterans 
Department in Washington saying there was a "probable" link 
between illnesses suffered by American veterans and exposure to 
toxins, including nerve gases such as sarin. 

The strongest evidence in favour of the syndrome was reported by 
the New York Times newspaper in October 2004. The US 
government-appointed Research Advisory Committee on Gulf War 
veterans' illness said, according to leaks, the syndrome did 
exist and exposure to certain substances in the Gulf may have 
altered some troops' body chemistry. 

A 2002 study by the Gulf War Illness Research Unit in London also 
found the poor health suffered by the veterans could not be 
explained by mental health problems. In a study of 200 Gulf war 
veterans and 130 soldiers who had served in the Balkans and other 
conflicts, the team found those who fought in the Gulf were no 
more likely to suffer anxiety or post-traumatic stress. 

However, a US Institute of Medicine study found there was 
insufficient evidence to determine there was a link between low 
level exposure to sarin and long-term neurological effects. 

And in May 2003 the Medical Research Council (MRC) said there was 
no such thing as Gulf war syndrome. 

The study said there was "little evidence" the illnesses of 
campaign veterans were caused by the multiple vaccinations they 
received. The government-funded body also said there was no 
evidence of a link between veterans' symptoms and the use of DU 
shells or nerve agents. 

The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine published its 
study of more than 40,000 former soldiers in July. It concluded 
that the soldiers were more likely to report symptoms, but that 
similar symptoms were reported by both those who served in the 
Gulf, and those who did not. 

What have the veterans done to push their case for recognition? 

The British Legion first called for a public inquiry into the 
illnesses surrounding the 1991-1992 Gulf War veterans seven years 
ago. 

Some veterans have taken their case to court. In May 2003, ill 
veteran Shaun Rusling won an appeal after he was denied his army 
pension. An appeal court ruled that Gulf War syndrome did exist - 
and was caused by active service. 

	 



*****************************************************************
 48 BBC: Call to recognise Gulf War effect
 
  Last Updated: Wednesday, 17 November, 2004
 
[UK marine]                             
Some 6,000 Gulf veterans have suffered from various complaints                                                                

An independent inquiry has concluded thousands of UK Gulf War 
veterans were made ill by their service. 

The inquiry said there probably were a number of causes - but 
said it was fair to describe the illnesses collectively as Gulf 
War syndrome. 

It called on the MoD to establish a special fund to make 
compensation payments to veterans of the 1991 conflict whose 
health had been damaged. 

The inquiry was headed by the former law lord Lord Lloyd of 
Berwick. 

It was funded by private parties who do not wish their identity 
to be exposed. 

Veterans Minister Ivor Caplin criticised a lack of transparency 
behind the report's funding. 

A small proportion of tho who are ill have the classic symptoms 
of post traumatic stress disorder, but this could not account for 
the great majority of those that are ill Lord Lloyd Q: Gulf War 
illness                                     
Veterans welcome report                 

About 6,000 veterans of the conflict are believed to be suffering 
from ill-health. 

However, despite paying pensions to thousands of veterans, the 
MoD has never accepted that their illnesses are linked to their 
service. 

The inquiry report said all the scientific studies agreed Gulf 
veterans were twice as likely to suffer from ill health than if 
they had been deployed elsewhere. 

It accepted the illnesses suffered by the veterans were likely to 
be due to a combination of causes. 

These included multiple injections of vaccines, the use of 
organophosphate pesticides to spray tents, low level exposure to 
nerve gas, and the inhalation of depleted uranium dust. 

Recognition 

Stress may have been a contributory factor, but could not alone 
explain the illnesses. 

Further research was needed to try to pinpoint the causes more 
precisely, the report said. 

[Lord Lloyd]                            
Lord Lloyd believes illnesses must be properly recognised                                                          

However, that was no reason for the MoD not to accept that the 
illnesses were the result of service in the Gulf. 

Announcing the findings of the inquiry, Lord Lloyd said: "What 
the veterans now want above all else is a clear recognition by 
the MoD that they are ill because they served in the Gulf. 

"Are they entitled to that recognition? In our view they are." 

Lord Lloyd said many veterans had been told they were not ill, 
and that their problems were all in the mind. 

"A small proportion of those who are ill have the classic 
symptoms of post traumatic stress disorder, but this could not 
account for the great majority of those that are ill," he said. 

Any doubt had been removed by a top-level US report published 
earlier this month, he said. 

"It is not acceptable for the MoD to say 'yes you are ill, but 
since we do not know which of the possible causes has caused your 
particular illness, we are not going to admit your illness is due 
to your service'." 

Is it a syndrome? 

Lord Lloyd said even though the illnesses suffered by the 
veterans were probably caused by a variety of factors, there was 
no medical reason not to describe their ailments collectively as 
Gulf War syndrome. 

"People who are ill like to have a name for their illnesses. 
Rather than tell a child that his father died of symptoms and 
signs of ill-defined conditions, it is surely better to tell him 
that he died of Gulf War syndrome." 

The inquiry was set up at the request of Labour peer Lord Morris 
of Manchester, the parliamentary adviser to the Royal British 
Legion, after the MoD refused an official inquiry. 

	

	
SUSPECTED CAUSES OF ILLNESS IN VETERANS Multiple vaccines 
Organophosphate pesticides      Nerve gas Depleted uranium dust 
Stress  Source: The Independent Inquiry Group           

The MoD refused to allow serving officials or military personnel 
to appear before the inquiry although it did submit written 
evidence. 

However, the inquiry was still able to take evidence from former 
personnel including the commander of the British forces in the 
Gulf, General Sir Peter de la Billiere, scientific experts, and 
some 35 veterans or their families. 

Tony Flint of the National Gulf Veterans and Families Association 
said the report conclusions justified what the veterans had been 
saying about Gulf war syndrome for years. 

He said it was now time for the MoD to take heed of Lord Lloyd's 
proposals and compensate the veterans for the illnesses they have 
suffered. 

"We've said all along that it exists now we have an eminent body 
saying it as well. "We call on the Ministry of Defence to accept 
the conclusions of the committee and take on board its 
recommendations." 

Government response 

Veterans Minister Ivor Caplin said: "What I need to with 
officials at the Ministry of Defence is to give the report proper 
consideration. 

"I have always said, as has the government, that there are Gulf 
veterans who are ill. That's never been denied. 

[Image of Ivor Caplin] Lord Lloyd consistently refuses to tell us 
how this inquiry was funded. Veterans Minister Ivor Caplin           

"What I'm keen make sure we do is ensure that there are the right 
levels of pension support and benefits given to veterans. That's 
what is important." 

He said more research was needed and questioned the financial 
backing behind the independent inquiry. 

"It didn't have the backing of government. 

"There's concern that whilst we as a government have been 
completely open with the Gulf veterans since 1997, that Lord 
Lloyd consistently refuses to tell us how this enquiry was 
funded. 

"He should be open and transparent." 

Ian Townsend, secretary general of the Royal British Legion, 
said: "We asked for an independent public inquiry. The government 
denied us that. 

"What we have actually got is as independent an inquiry as we 
could possibly have got and I do not think anyone could have been 
more independent than Lord Lloyd."          



*****************************************************************
 49 Hawk Eye: Demolition at IAAP set for spring 
 	
Wednesday, November 17, 2004, Site updated daily at 11 a.m. CST 
 
Slow process will include burning some structures and will cost 
$13 million. 

By MATTHEW LeBLANC mleblanc@thehawkeye.com 

Crews will begin work early next year to demolish 249 buildings 
at the Iowa Army Ammunition Plant contaminated by decades of 
weapons manufacturing. 

The demolition, which will include burning many of the buildings 
to the ground in a process called thermal decontamination, will 
begin in the spring. The burning is expected to take place some 
time later, according to plant officials and a contractor that 
will oversee the work. 

"This spring, we may start the demolition," said Rick Arnseth of 
Tetra Tech, a Pasadena, Calif.–based firm that will oversee part 
of the cleanup of IAAP grounds. "The burn may happen much later." 

As part of a decade–old effort to clean up plant grounds where 
workers built, test–fired and disassembled components of nuclear 
weapons, in addition to assembling conventional weapons, crews 
plan to burn buildings in seven areas where the majority of the 
contamination exists. 

The project is expected to cost nearly $13 million and includes 
363,000 square feet of space. 

Initially, crews will begin removing dangerous chemicals and 
materials like asbestos from the buildings around April to ensure 
that the substances aren't released into the air during the 
burns. Buildings have been destroyed by thermal decontamination 
at ordnance plants in Nebraska and Ohio. 

The process would be a first for Iowa, however, and permits have 
to be secured from the state before the buildings are burned. So 
far, according to Arnseth, no one at the state level has been 
contacted. 

Funding for the project is also a concern. The project is part of 
a decade–old cleanup effort costing $127 million, but federal 
funding for the burns has yet to be secured. That's expected to 
happen some time next year. 

And plant officials are unsure whether all of the buildings 
included in the proposed burn areas need to be destroyed. 
Different levels of contamination will determine what action 
demolition crews will take. 

Initial plans list seven areas where workers manufactured nuclear 
and conventional weapons. 

"We'll do maybe one of these a year," said Leon Baxter, chief of 
installation management at IAAP. "Maybe two a year." 

Plant and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers officials plan to study 
the buildings' past uses before proceeding with demolition plans. 
A public hearing also will be held before any of the buildings 
are burned. 

"This is the first one that has ever been done in the state, and 
we want to make sure we get it right," said Lt. Col. Rory 
Tegtmeier, commander at IAAP. 

The 19,000–acre Middletown ordnance plant was first put on an 
environmental National Priorities List in 1989 after water 
contaminated by work there was found on its grounds. Now a 
federal Superfund site, more than $88 million has been spent on 
cleanup, which is expected to top $127 million and be finished by 
2014. 

Burning buildings at the plant was first discussed last year, 
when the topic was broached at a Restoration Advisory Board 
meeting in Burlington. Rick Callahan, a demolition expert with 
Stafford, Texas–based MKM Engineers Inc., told the panel that 
thermal decontamination was "secure and effective." 

In thermal decontamination, explosive charges ignite combustible 
materials in the buildings. The buildings are allowed to burn at 
800 degrees for about 20 minutes, which destroys nearly all 
contamination associated with weapons manufacture, Callahan said. 
The process is sometimes the only option for buildings because 
lead paint and some explosives are too dangerous to remove by 
hand, environmentalists say. 

MKM oversaw the burns in Nebraska and Ohio. 

The Hawk Eye 800 S. Main St., Burlington, Iowa 52601 319-754-8461 
· 1-800-397-1708 · FAX 319-754-6824 · webmaster@thehawkeye.com
*****************************************************************
 50 Scotsman: Radioactivity fear for Dounreay workers
 
Scotsman.com

Thursday, 18th November 2004             

ROB TOMLINSON 

TEN workers at the Dounreay nuclear reactor may have been exposed 
to low-level radioactivity during decommissioning work, it 
emerged last night. 

The men, who were all working within the Pulse Column building at 
the Dounreay plant in Caithness, were decommissioning a 
biological laboratory. 

The possible contamination was revealed during a monitoring 
programme, which involves each member of staff giving a routine 
nose-blowing test into a tissue, the results of which are then 
analysed. 

Of the ten men, five have had nose-blows where the radiation dose 
may be about the "action level", which means it warrants further 
investigation. 

Of these five there were two positive nose-blows, one in August 
and another in October. 

June Love, a spokeswoman for the plant, said: "A number of 
workers have been involved, and we have put them in a biological 
monitoring programme and put extra controls in. 

"As part of the programme they have to do a nose-blow. They then 
have to put through a lot of samples." 

The radiation intake is thought be far less than the legal limit 
of 20 millisieverts, which works out as less than 4 per cent of 
the annual limit for radiation workers. 

The plant is currently being decommissioned. Last month The 
Scotsman reported how the bill to clean up the site has been cut 
by Â£1 billion, with the job now scheduled to be completed 11 
years earlier than expected. 

The completion of the project to return the complex to a near 
greenfield site has been accelerated to 2036 and the cost reduced 
from an initial Â£3.6 billion to Â£2.6 billion.                   

&copy;2004 Scotsman.com
*****************************************************************
 51 Guardian Unlimited: Inquiry backs 'Gulf war syndrome' claims
 
Press Association
Wednesday November 17, 2004 		
 		
An independent inquiry into Gulf war illnesses today called on 
the Ministry of Defence to finally accept that thousands of 
veterans had suffered ill health as a result of their service in 
the 1991 conflict. 

The inquiry, headed by the former law lord Lord Lloyd of Berwick, 
said there was "every reason" to accept the existence of a "Gulf 
war syndrome", the existence of which has always been denied by 
the MoD. 

Its report said it accepted that the illnesses suffered by the 
veterans were likely to be due to a combination of causes, 
including multiple injections of vaccines, the use of pesticides 
to spray tents, low level exposure to nerve gas, and the 
inhalation of depleted uranium dust.

However, the report said all the scientific studies agreed that 
Gulf veterans were twice as likely to suffer from ill health as 
if they had been deployed elsewhere, and said "there is therefore 
every reason to call the illnesses by the label 'Gulf war 
syndrome'".

Around 6,000 veterans of the conflict are believed to be 
suffering from ill health, with thousands more cases thought to 
be likely among US service personnel.

Illnesses suffered have included cancers, motor neurone disease, 
chronic fatigue, skin rashes, traumatic stress and aching joints. 

The report said only a "small proportion" of those who were ill 
could have been said to have been suffering from post-traumatic 
stress. 

Lord Lloyd's inquiry said the MoD should now set up a special 
fund to make compensation payments to those veterans who had 
suffered as a result of their service in the war to liberate 
Kuwait from Saddam Hussein. 

However, the former law lord stressed that the aim of his inquiry 
had not been to establish blame, saying there was "no question " 
of the MoD being legally culpable in any way. 

Tony Flint, of the National Gulf Veterans and Families 
Association, said: "The report was a lot better than I thought it 
was going to be ... to have Gulf war syndrome recognised means a 
hell of a lot to us." 

He called on the MoD to act on Lord Lloyd's recommendations and 
compensate veterans for the illnesses they have suffered. 

Speaking after the release of his report, Lord Lloyd said there 
was no reason why the term "Gulf war syndrome" should not be 
used. "Gulf war syndrome means something - it has a certain 
resonance," he said. 

"As they [the veterans] are the ones who are ill, it seems 
reasonable that they should name their disease."

He admitted his report did not compel the government to act, but 
said he hoped the MoD would seize the opportunity to accept its 
findings. "Our report in itself can do nothing," he said. "It 
depends on the usual pressure being brought to bear on the MoD by 
the public, by the press, and by parliament." 

The inquiry was set up at the request of Labour peer Lord Morris 
of Manchester, the parliamentary adviser to the Royal British 
Legion, after the MoD refused to hold an official inquiry. 

The MoD declined to allow serving officials or military personnel 
to appear before the inquiry, although it did submit written 
evidence, including a contribution from the commander of the 
British forces in the Gulf at the time, General Sir Peter de la 
Billiere. Lord Lloyd said the MoD had lost an opportunity to 
start a "reconciliation" with veterans.

A spokesman for the MoD said that the ministry had just received 
a copy of the report and would "consider any of the 
recommendations" before "responding in due course". 

"Lord Lloyd has a serious interest in this issue, and we would 
look to address the points he has made," the spokesman said.

He added that the MoD's policy on the term "Gulf war syndrome" 
was that medical and scientific consensus was that there were too 
many factors involved in the illnesses for it to be called a 
syndrome.
 	
[UP] 

      Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2004
*****************************************************************
 52 Scotsman.com: Inquiry rules Gulf war syndrome is real
 
Thursday, 18th November 2004    	 

ALISON HARDIE HEALTH CORRESPONDENT 

THE Ministry of Defence may face compensation claims running into 
millions of pounds after an independent inquiry yesterday ruled 
conclusively that Gulf war syndrome does exist. 

The inquiry, headed by Lord Lloyd of Berwick, a former law lord, 
said there were probably a number of causes but added it was 
clear the cocktail of health problems suffered by up to 6,000 
veterans could fairly be described collectively as Gulf war 
syndrome. It urged the MoD to establish a special fund to make 
one-off compensation payments to those affected. 

Tony Flint, of the National Gulf Veterans and Families 
Association, said the reportâ€™s conclusions justified what the 
veterans had been saying about Gulf war syndrome for years. 

He said it was now time for the MoD to take heed of Lord 
Lloydâ€™s proposals and compensate the veterans for the illnesses 
they have suffered. 

Mr Flint added: "Weâ€™ve said all along it exists, now we have an 
eminent body saying it as well. We call on the MoD to accept the 
conclusions of the committee and take on board its 
recommendations." 

One veteran, Noel Baker, added: "This report vindicates the 
veterans and it shows we are not malingerers - there is a real 
problem." 

However, the initial response to the inquiry from the MoD was not 
positive with Ivor Caplin, the veteransâ€™ minister, criticising 
the reportâ€™s lack of transparency after it was funded by 
anonymous donors. 

Despite paying pensions to thousands of veterans, the MoD has 
never accepted their illnesses are linked to service in the Gulf 
in the early Nineties. 

The inquiry report said studies carried out by the MoD had shown 
veterans who served in the Gulf were twice as likely to suffer 
from ill-health as those who had not. "We can see no good reason 
why they [the MoD] should not accept Gulf war syndrome," the 
report said. "It does not imply a single disease with a single 
cause. It will not expose them to any new claims. It will make no 
practical difference. But it will make a great difference to the 
veterans and their families, if only for symbolic reasons." 

Lord Lloyd said: "Gulf war syndrome means something, it has a 
certain resonance. As they [the veterans] are the ones who are 
ill it seems reasonable that they should name their disease." 

The report said more scientific research was needed into the 
causes of the various conditions suffered by the veterans. 
However, it accepted the illnesses suffered by the veterans were 
likely to be due to a combination of causes. 

These included multiple injections of vaccines, the use of 
organophosphate pesticides to spray tents, low level exposure to 
nerve gas, and the inhalation of depleted uranium dust. 

Lord Lloyd said: "All these causes are directly related to the 
veteransâ€™ service in the Gulf, in what was a very toxic 
environment. No other possible causes have been proposed." 

The inquiry was set up at the request of the Labour peer Lord 
Morris of Manchester, parliamentary adviser to the Royal British 
Legion, after the MoD refused an official inquiry. 

The MoD prevented serving military personnel and officials from 
appearing before the inquiry although it did submit written 
evidence. The inquiry was still able to take evidence from former 
personnel. 

Lord Lloyd was scathing about the MoDâ€™s failure to co-operate 
fully with his investigation. He said: "The MoD thus lost a 
valuable opportunity to start the process of reconciliation with 
the ill veterans, an opportunity which would have cost them 
nothing." 

And he added: "What the veterans now want above all else is a 
clear recognition by the MoD that they are ill because they 
served in the Gulf. Are they entitled to that recognition? In our 
view they are." 

Lord Morris said the inquiry showed that it was possible to 
challenge the government if it would not accept the case for an 
official investigation into a particular issue of concern. 

The Ministry of Defence said it needed more time to consider Lord 
Lloydâ€™s report and would issue a response once it had had a 
chance to assess its findings.
 
 MURRAY Lomax, now 38, joined the army in November 1989. He was a 
lance bombardier in 40 Regiment Royal Artillery (The Lowland 
Gunners) during the Gulf war, serving as an air defence missile 
operator and driver. 

Prior to the Gulf, he was given the first of many vaccinations, 
the records of which are now "unobtainable" or "lost in transit". 

When, in October 1990, he was sent to the Gulf, he received two 
anthrax vaccinations and the plague vaccine. He was then issued 
with NAPS (nerve agent protection set), taken in pill form three 
times daily for virtually the duration of the war. He also 
received BATS (biological agent treatment set), but cannot recall 
the quantity and dosage he took. There was also a daily dose of 
quinine (anti-malaria tablets) and vaccinations against cholera 
and typhoid. 

When the war began, he was exposed to a nightmare combination of 
toxins, gases, pesticides, nuclear radiation from depleted 
uranium and organophosphates, which were in general use at the 
time as "sheep dip". Troops were issued with "dose meters", 
black-faced wristwatch devices which monitored radiation levels, 
but could only be read accurately by authorised personnel. 

Recalling the beginning of the conflict - when his unit was 
deployed to provide anti-aircraft defence for 7th Brigade (Desert 
Rats) HQ, he said: "It was chaos, confusing. We were continually 
on the move. You ate, slept, picked your nose, and lived danger 
in your wagon among the kit, ammunition, phosphorous grenades and 
missiles." 

After two weeks in Kuwait, he was sent to the frontline, 50 miles 
inside Iraq, to fight Iraqâ€™s Republican Guard. 

On 19 March, 1991, three weeks after the end of hostilities, Mr 
Lomax returned to base in Germany. Already, his physical and 
mental health was beginning to deteriorate. He trembled 
constantly, he could not remember things, he was depressed and 
found sleep impossible. He suffered severe stomach pains and 
diarrhoea, and was diagnosed with blood disorders. Increasingly, 
he fell back on alcohol for comfort. 

He wanted moral support and medical assistance, but said he was 
treated instead as a malingerer. He was stripped of the rank of 
lance bombardier and demoted to gunner. He was discharged in June 
1996. "They gave me Â£100 and a one-way ticket to Edinburgh." 

Now 38, Mr Lomax lives in Longniddry, East Lothian, with his 
collie dog, Max. He awaits recognition of his symptoms and is 
fighting for an enhanced pension. He recently discovered he has 
metal fragments in his skull and is troubled they may be 
fragments of depleted uranium. He cannot remember a time when he 
was healthy. 

He welcomes Lord Lloydâ€™s report, but wonders if the MoD will 
take any notice.                  [ border=]             

*****************************************************************
 53 [du-list] IEER update: Uranium enrichment basics; Nuclear
 
Date: Wed, 17 Nov 2004 17:17:35 -0800

 
<x-flowed>
Here are the 4 latest postings to the Institute for Energy and

Environmental Research web site, www.ieer.org.  We hope they are useful to
you.  Comments are welcome.  Apologies for multiple postings.  Regards,
Lisa Ledwidge, IEER


Testimony before the National Academy of Sciences Committee on the
Radiation Exposure Screening and Education Program
http://www.ieer.org/comments/fallout/nastestimboise.html
November 11, 2004


Cash Crop on the Wind Farm
http://www.ieer.org/sdafiles/12-4.pdf
PDF, 977kB
Science for Democratic Action, Volume 12 Number 4
October 2004


What the DOE Knows it Doesn't Know about Grout
Serious Doubts Remain About the Durability of Concrete Proposed to
Immobilize High-Level Nuclear Waste in the Tank Farms at the Savannah River
Site and other DOE Sites
http://www.ieer.org/reports/srs/grout.pdf
PDF, 188kB
October 18, 2004


Uranium Enrichment: Just Plain Facts to Fuel an Informed Debate on Nuclear
Proliferation and Nuclear Power
http://www.ieer.org/reports/uranium/enrichment.pdf
PDF, 2MB
October 15, 2004

d

Lisa Ledwidge
Outreach Director, United States, and Editor of Science for Democratic Action
Institute for Energy and Environmental Research (IEER)
PO Box 6674  |  Minneapolis, MN 55406  USA
tel. 1-612-722-9700  | fax: please call
first  |  ieer@ieer.org  |  http://www.ieer.org

IEER's main office:   6935 Laurel Ave. Suite 201 |  Takoma Park,
MD  20912  USA  |  tel. 1-301-270-5500  |  fax 1-301-270-3029

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]







------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~-->
Make a clean sweep of pop-up ads. Yahoo! Companion Toolbar.
Now with Pop-Up Blocker. Get it for free!
http://us.click.yahoo.com/L5YrjA/eSIIAA/yQLSAA/FGYolB/TM
--------------------------------------------------------------------~->

To unsubscribe from this groups send a message to 
du-list-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com.  In the body of the message type 
unsubscribe and send.
Yahoo! Groups Links

<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
     http://groups.yahoo.com/group/du-list/

<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
     du-list-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com

<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
     http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
  

</x-flowed>
*****************************************************************
 54 IEER update: Uranium enrichment basics; Nuclear testing &
 
Date: Wed, 17 Nov 2004 17:17:27 -0800

 
<x-flowed>
Here are the 4 latest postings to the Institute for Energy and 
Environmental Research web site, www.ieer.org. We hope they are useful to 
you.  Comments are welcome.  Apologies for multiple postings.  Regards, 
Lisa Ledwidge, IEER


Testimony before the National Academy of Sciences Committee on the 
Radiation Exposure Screening and Education Program
http://www.ieer.org/comments/fallout/nastestimboise.html
November 11, 2004


Cash Crop on the Wind Farm
http://www.ieer.org/sdafiles/12-4.pdf
PDF, 977kB
Science for Democratic Action, Volume 12 Number 4
October 2004


What the DOE Knows it Doesn't Know about Grout
Serious Doubts Remain About the Durability of Concrete Proposed to 
Immobilize High-Level Nuclear Waste in the Tank Farms at the Savannah River 
Site and other DOE Sites
http://www.ieer.org/reports/srs/grout.pdf
PDF, 188kB
October 18, 2004


Uranium Enrichment: Just Plain Facts to Fuel an Informed Debate on Nuclear 
Proliferation and Nuclear Power
http://www.ieer.org/reports/uranium/enrichment.pdf
PDF, 2MB
October 15, 2004

d

Lisa Ledwidge
Outreach Director, United States, and Editor of Science for Democratic Action
Institute for Energy and Environmental Research (IEER)
PO Box 6674  |  Minneapolis, MN 55406  USA
tel. 1-612-722-9700  | fax: please call 
first  |  ieer@ieer.org  |  http://www.ieer.org

IEER's main office:   6935 Laurel Ave. Suite 201 |  Takoma Park, 
MD  20912  USA  |  tel. 1-301-270-5500  |  fax 1-301-270-3029  

</x-flowed>
*****************************************************************
 55 Times Business: Brussels threat to nuclear clean-up plan

thetimes.co.uk

November 18, 2004                      

By Angela Jameson, Industrial Correspondent
 		   		 		
BRITAINS plan to set up an agency to oversee the £48 billion 
clean-up of contaminated nuclear sites is facing a threat from 
Brussels. 

The European Commission is expected to announce a full 
investigation into the Governments proposal for a Nuclear 
Decommissioning Authority (NDA) on the ground that it may break 
state aid rules. 

The move comes five months before the body is due to open for 
business and industry experts said yesterday that it would 
jeopardise the authoritys ability to award contracts for 
decommissioning. 

An investigation will take between a year and 18 months, during 
which time the NDA will not be granted any new decommissioning 
funds. This is not a great start to the decommissioning agenda. 
There will be months of delay with an investigation, one 
industry source said. 

The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) said last night that 
it had put in place contingency arrangements in the event of a 
full investigation occurring. If that happens, only existing 
resources are used to fund the NDA, the spokesman said. 

According to the DTI, the NDA will have a budget of £2 billion a 
year, which will be taken from existing decommissioning funds set 
aside for British Nuclear Fuels, the government-owned nuclear 
group. 

These interim arrangements would enable the NDA to begin 
operating on the April 1, 2005, as the Government promised in its 
Energy White Paper. 

However, environmental campaigners believe that an 18-month 
investigation into the finances of the NDA could scupper the 
authority altogether. 

Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth object to the creation of the 
authority because they say it has conflicting aims and will 
perpetuate the nuclear waste problem, rather than concentrate on 
dealing with the legacy. 

They argue that the NDA will continue to generate new nuclear 
waste and will rely on reprocessing spent nuclear fuel for 
income. The environmental groups believe that storing nuclear 
waste would save the taxpayer billions of pounds in reprocessing 
costs and would ultimately be safer.                    

Copyright 2004          Times Newspapers Ltd.
*****************************************************************
 56 Bradenton Herald: Time for trust

| 11/17/2004 | 

State, county working on Tallevast cleanup

Tallevast residents' distrust of plans to clean up chemical 
contamination of the soil beneath their community is 
understandable. After all, they were kept in the dark about the 
potential risk for three years while state regulators and the 
owner of the plant responsible for the pollution, Lockheed Martin 
Co., dealt with it in secret. And even when the problem was 
confirmed, early projections of its scale proved to be much too 
conservative. 

Now facing the added worry of the consequences of exposure to 
beryllium dust after years of living next door to the old 
American Beryllium Co. plant, the residents have a right to be 
jittery about the future with their and their families' health 
and property values at stake. 

Yet they must trust that state regulators will follow the correct 
protocol in defining the extent of the pollution plume and 
devising a plan to clean it up. Simply put, no one else is going 
to do it. The state Department of Environmental Protection is 
supervising the project while Lockheed Martin, though not 
responsible for causing the spill, is paying for it. The 
residents have been given funds to hire independent experts to 
assess the testing methods and have Lockheed's promise to share 
water samples from each well to verify results. 

This appears to be a committed effort to get to the bottom of a 
very serious pollution case. But it will not be a short process. 
Residents were told Monday night that it could take "anywhere 
from years to decades" to cleanse the soil. But there is hope 
that it will eventually be successful. The DEP has years of 
experience overseeing comparable spills around the state. 

The beryllium dust exposure issue is part of an overall 
health-risk assessment effort by the state begun in June. As yet, 
however, there is no funding to run the blood tests necessary to 
measure individual beryllium exposure levels. The Manatee County 
Health Department is seeking funding but can't guarantee when or 
if it will come through. Meanwhile, the Health Department has 
offered to take blood samples from concerned residents who fear 
exposure to beryllium dust, but for now individuals will have to 
pay the $260 it costs to have a blood sample shipped and tested 
at one of four specialty labs in the country. 

The situation is complicated by the fact that there isn't even a 
standard that sets a safe level of beryllium exposure. So if a 
former worker's blood test comes back positive there is no 
guideline on what it means. 

But certainly residents have a right to know if they are 
beryllium-free or not. It will give them some peace of mind about 
their long-term health prospects - something that is badly needed 
in Tallevast these days.   

*****************************************************************
 57 Las Vegas SUN: Reid vows to continue fight on Yucca Mountain as minority leader
 
 By ERICA WERNER
 ASSOCIATED PRESS 

WASHINGTON (AP) - Sen. Harry Reid promised Tuesday to maintain 
his opposition to the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste dump in his 
new position as Senate minority leader. 

"I'll continue to fight as hard as I can on Yucca Mountain," 
Reid, D-Nev., told The Associated Press in an interview just 
hours after he was elected as Democratic leader. 

Reid acknowledged that he has little room to maneuver. The fight 
over the dump planned for 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas, and 
approved by Congress in 2002, is taking place mostly in court. 

"The options are relatively limited compared to what they used to 
be," Reid said. 

Even as minority leader, Reid is expected to maintain his 
position as top-ranking Democrat on the Senate Appropriations 
subcommittee for energy and water, which handles Yucca Mountain 
funding. In that position he's been able to trim the project's 
funding levels, which haven't been determined for 2005. 

Reid and a spokeswoman for the subcommittee's chairman, 
Republican Sen. Pete Domenici of New Mexico, said Tuesday that 
they don't anticipate a stand-alone bill funding Yucca Mountain 
and other energy and water projects would pass Congress this 
year. 

Instead, they predict a continuing resolution will be passed 
maintaining 2004 funding levels for Yucca Mountain and other 
projects through 2005. Congress budgeted $577 million for Yucca 
Mountain in 2004, far below the $880 million Bush requested in 
his 2005 budget proposal. 

Reid said his opposition to Yucca Mountain funding levels 
proposed by the administration isn't to blame for the Senate's 
failure to pass an energy and water spending bill. Rather he said 
disagreements between Republicans in the Senate and House have 
delayed the bill. 

Domenici spokeswoman Marnie Funk said House and Senate 
negotiators were working on a funding bill for energy and water 
projects and hoped to get it passed early next year, at which 
point it would supersede the continuing resolution. The House 
passed a $28 billion spending bill for energy and water projects 
in June. 

"There were some differences between the House and Senate, we've 
made some progress, we're moving forward both with a (continuing 
resolution) and continuing to work toward reconciling the two 
bills," Funk said. 

It wasn't clear how much funding Yucca Mountain would receive if 
an energy and water spending bill does pass. 

The $880 million Bush administration proposal relied on a funding 
mechanism that Reid and other Nevada lawmakers oppose - $749 
million from a special nuclear waste fund that takes in fees from 
customers of nuclear utilities. 

When the House passed its energy and water bill this summer, it 
cut Yucca Mountain funding to $131 million. 

-- 


 
*****************************************************************
 58 Bellona: Russia to loose $33 billion due to spent nuclear fuel import
 
A new study on the economical aspects of the nuclear waste import 
to Russia reveals gigantic unaccounted expenses – the cost of 
radioactive materials storage and disposal. 

2004-11-11 20:08

According to the new study on the economical aspects of the 
Russian Atomic Agency plans on spent nuclear fuel import, the 
unaccounted expenses would be $33.87 billion, daily Noviye 
Izvestia reported. This information is published in the report by 
Konyashkin (Department of Natural Resources of Tomsk Region 
Administration) and Malyshev (Tomsk State Architect-Construction 
University). The report was presented at the international 
conference ”Radioactivity and human environment”, which took 
place in Tomsk, Siberia, from 20 to 23 October. The Russian 
Federal Agency on Atomic Energy was one of the organisers of the 
conference. 

While planning to earn billions on spent nuclear fuel import, the 
Minatom’s specialists forgot to take into account disposal of the 
low-, medium- and high-level liquid radioactive waste activity. 
Such waste would be definitely generated during foreign spent 
nuclear fuel reprocessing in Russia. Disposal of this waste would 
additionally require $3.62 billion. Besides, the storage of the 
spent fuel during 260 years was not counted as well as plutonium 
storage during 50 years what requires $4.8 billion and $24 
billion respectively. Minatom planned to reprocess the part of 
the fuel and generate plutonium. The major part of the imported 
spent fuel will be stored and not reprocessed in Russia. 

The Minatom’s specialists claimed it would be possible to earn 
$20 billion during 10 years thanks to the import of 20 thousand 
tonne of the spent nuclear fuel. Russia should have earned $4 
billion already by 2003. But according to co-chairman of 
Ecodefense group Vladimir Slivyak, all operations with imported 
spent nuclear fuel from 2001 to 2003 let Minatom earn just $100m. 
  
Publisher: 
Bellona Foundation, President: Frederic Hauge Information: 
info@bellona.no, Technical contact: webmaster@bellona.no 
Telephone: +47 23 23 46 00 Telefax: +47 22 38 38 62  * P.O.Box 
2141 Grunerlokka, 0505 Oslo, Norway 
*****************************************************************
 59 Bellona: Moscow court approved international nuclear waste dump in Russia 

On October 20, the Moscow municipal court (Mosgorsud) approved
the storage of radioactive waste from Bulgaria in Russian. 

2004-11-11 20:30

Mosgorsud examined the appeal filed by a group of the Russian 
citizens against the decision of the Zamoskvoretsky district 
court from May 5, 2003, to refuse to hear the case on illegal 
import of spent nuclear fuel from Bulgaria. 

The fuel was imported in accordance to the contract between JSC 
"Tekhsnabexport" and Bulgarian NPP "Kozlodui" The contract 
violated the Russian legislation that prohibits import of 
radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel for storage. Several 
Russian citizens brought a suit on the case. However, judges, 
once again, forgot that according to the paragraph 1 of the 
contract, it is imported for storage (which was prohibited by the 
legislation). 

"Such shortsightedness can easily be explained, - says Ivan 
Blokov, Greenpeace Russia campaign coordinator. - The global 
nuclear complex has no place to send their waste, but there is a 
Russian Atomic Energy Agency, which is ready to take dangerous 
waste without considering the consequences of this decision. Both 
the judges and top officials of Russia do not care about the 
citizens, 93% of them being against such projects, and their 
descendants who will have to be responsible for these burial 
grounds". 

Total 120 tons of spent nuclear fuel have been imported into the 
country since 2001. There are no facilities to reprocess it; this 
means that the spent nuclear fuel was imported for eternal 
storage. It is going to be stored in Zheleznogorsk (former 
Krasnoyarsk-26) - the town in the Krasnoyarsk region, where the 
Russian government is planning to organise an international 
nuclear waste storage ground, Greenpeace-Russia reported.
   
Publisher: 
Bellona Foundation, President: Frederic Hauge Information: 
info@bellona.no, Technical contact: webmaster@bellona.no 
Telephone: +47 23 23 46 00 Telefax: +47 22 38 38 62  * P.O.Box 
2141 Grunerlokka, 0505 Oslo, Norway
*****************************************************************
 60 Las Vegas SUN: Letter: Inevitable nuke dump wasn't an issue in election
 
The smoke has finally cleared from a close, expensive and
negative campaign but one has to be encouraged because the voter
turnout was unprecedented and the people have spoken.

 I have read columnists who say that with John Kerry's loss, we
deserve the nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain and that
if we do get it, we will have no one to blame but ourselves. I
say, give the readers and voters a little more credit -- Yucca
Mountain just wasn't an election issue.

 Yucca Mountain opponents spent millions on a campaign that was
based on falsehoods and fear. They tried to scare residents
about the dangers of transportation with facts and figures that
were false and misleading. I predict the waste will never go
through Las Vegas. Rural Nevada is going to bear the burden of
Yucca Mountain's transportation program. What needs to happen
now is for rural Nevada to be provided with the best emergency
response equipment and training. Also, any project-related
facilities need to be located in rural Nevada.

 A story in this paper said rural Nevada carried President Bush
to victory. If that's the case, I applaud rural Nevada because
its residents seem to be an independent bunch who separate the
facts from the rhetoric.

 One thing is clear: A nuclear waste repository at Yucca
Mountain is ultimately inevitable. The question is: When will
our elected officials and some in the media face that reality? 

RYAN MOORE

 
 
*****************************************************************
 61 Las Vegas SUN: Uncertainty surrounds deadline for Yucca application
 
By Suzanne Struglinski <suzanne@lasvegassun.com> SUN WASHINGTON 
BUREAU

 WASHINGTON -- The only thing certain about the Yucca Mountain
project is a lot of uncertainty, officials from the department
and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission said Tuesday.

 With six weeks to go until the end of the year, there's a
complete draft of the license application for the proposed
nuclear waste repository at Yucca, 90 miles northwest of Las
Vegas, but there is no clear answer as to whether the Energy
Department will meet its self-imposed deadline of getting a
final version to the commission before 2005.

 Questions about the project's budget, documentation rules and
licensing requirements remain and the department is still
meeting with its lawyers on what to do next, Joseph Ziegler,
director of project's license application and strategy office,
said at a meeting of the commission's Advisory Commission on
Nuclear Waste Tuesday.

 Ziegler said he needed to "dodge" a question on the project's
schedule due to all the surrounding circumstances.

 "There are a lot of things that have happened over the past
several months," Ziegler said. "I don't have an answer."

 Congress's extension on the 2004 budget expires Saturday
leaving the department's funding for the project in limbo. Even
if it stays at the $577 million level it received for the 2004
fiscal year, it would be less than the $880 million the
department wanted for 2005 and money would most likely have to
be reshuffled. Ziegler did not know how it would be reallocated
and the Yucca Mountain Project press office will not comment
until Congress takes action on the matter.

 For most of the year the department has insisted it would get
the application to the commission by the end of the year, but
questions arose after the July ruling by the appeals court that
threw out a key radiation protection standard. A commission
board also said the project's documents were not in order.

 Department spokesman Joe Davis will not answer questions about
when the application might be done. He refers to earlier
statements that the department is still evaluating its next
steps.

 There is no specific date the department is working toward to
make its decision on what it will do with the application, he
said. There is also no clear answer as to the department's
progress in getting more documents to the commission for the
License Support Network, a database of material used to support
the fact in the application. But Ziegler said so far the
application is fine.

 "I think it's a pretty good application," although it is still
being reviewed by management, Ziegler said.

 He noted that all 293 key technical issues agreements, or
requests for additional scientific data on specific portions of
the project, have been answered and the commission has deemed
124 closed. Closed does not mean the information is right or
wrong but that enough data exists to make that determination. Of
the remaining issues, about 30 are considered high priority,
said C. William Reamer, director of the commission's High Level
Waste Repository Safety Division.

 Reamer said the commission is interested in the department's
schedule and its also waiting to see what the EPA does to create
a new standard and what the department decides to do with the
application

 He said the commission is aware that the court's ruling shot a
hole in the standard and the licensing rule. If the department
chooses to submit a license application before a new standard is
in place, he expects it will include an explanation from the
department as to how the commission can review it.

 There is to be a meeting on Monday involving Reamer and other
commission staff, and Margaret Chu, the department's assistant
secretary that oversees the project. 


 
*****************************************************************
 62 Las Vegas SUN: White House denies attempt to change Yucca radiation rules
 
By Suzanne Struglinski <suzanne@lasvegassun.com> LAS VEGAS SUN

 WASHINGTON -- The White House today denied a report that it is
pushing Congress to change the radiation standard for the
proposed Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository in an apparent
attempt to overturn a federal appellate court ruling.

 Congressional Quarterly, a Washington publication that tracks
action on Capitol Hill, reported Tuesday that the White House
wanted to attach to a spending bill a provision that would set
the radiation standard, which a Washington appellate court this
year threw out.

 Chad Kolton, spokesman for the Office of Management and Budget,
denied the report.

 "The president has said the administration will live with the
court's decision," Kolton said, asking "what White House" this
proposal came from.

 During the campaign, President Bush told Nevadans that he would
not ask Congress to change the standard and pledged he would let
the court process play out.

 The Energy Department and other federal agencies have made
clear they are not appealing the ruling to the Supreme Court.
Energy Department spokesman Joe Davis said the Environmental
Protection Agency would develop an appropriate regulatory
response to the court's decision, as recommended in the court's
opinion.

 The federal court ruling was a blow to the administration,
which was pushing to file its license request this year because
it put the key standard -- how long the mountain is to keep
radiation inside -- at issue and could delay the project.

 If Congress passed a law setting a new standard, it would pave
the way for the administration to move forward on the planned
nuclear waste repository 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas.

 Congressional Quarterly also reported that the White House was
pushing to get more funding for Yucca Mountain by allowing
Congress to dip directly into the Nuclear Waste Fund.

 Marnie Funk, Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee
spokeswoman, said both requests came in about three days ago.

 Sens. Harry Reid, D-Nev., and John Ensign, R-Nev., knew nothing
about the proposal to change radiation standards.

 Gov. Kenny Guinn and Attorney General Brian Sandoval also were
not aware of the EPA proposal, according to their offices.

 Democrats on the Energy and Natural Resources committee also
had not heard of the proposal yet, spokesman Bill Wicker said.

 Ensign was told by the White House today that is was only
pushing for the Nuclear Waste Fund change, spokesman Jack Finn
said.

 Kolton said the administration is strongly encouraging Congress
on the waste fund to avoid further delays.

 But Bush has wanted to reclassify the Nuclear Waste Fund since
he first introduced his 2005 budget in February.

 Taking Yucca "off-budget" is a proposal that has long been
advanced by project proponents, but has met with resistance not
just from Nevada lawmakers but fiscal hawks in Congress who do
not want to relinquish annual budget control.

 The House Energy and Commerce Committee considered a similar
proposal earlier this year but the proposal failed.

 News of these possible riders broke at the same time if became
clear that a stalemate in the Senate over the Yucca budget would
not likely be broken as the lame-duck Congress tried to finalize
business for the year.

 The Energy and Water spending bill has been reported to be left
out of consideration of a larger bill that will roll eight
spending bills in one.

 Reid and Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Pete
Domenici, R-N.M., couldn't agree on the Yucca budget for the
current fiscal year, which began Oct. 1. Domenici also heads the
Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee.

 Each year, Reid wants to cut the funding while Domenici and
pro-Yucca lawmakers attempt to secure what the Energy Department
requested.

 The department wanted $880 million. The House approved $131
million, and the Senate has not been able to come to a
compromise. The resulting impasse likely will result in
lawmakers simply allocating to Yucca the same amount the project
got in the last fiscal year.

 Reid on Tuesday hinted that he hasn't given up hope of working
out a compromise on the Yucca budget that could mean a lower
project budget. He said today that the project would most likely
be left at the $577 million. Reid and Domenici have talked on
the phone several times with each other since the Senate
reconvened on Tuesday.

 But a Domenici aide said there's no time left in the session
for more negotiation. Domenici will not accept less than the
$577 million, said Funk, Domenici spokeswoman.

 "It's a little late in the game to be considering other
options," Funk said. 


 
*****************************************************************
 63 Las Vegas SUN: Reid vows to continue fighting for Nevada
 
Today: November 17, 2004 at 11:15:41 PST 

By Benjamin Grove <grove@lasvegassun.com> SUN WASHINGTON BUREAU

 WASHINGTON -- Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., vowed today to balance
his duties as the Senate's top Democrat with his duties to serve
Nevada.

 Reid on Tuesday was unanimously elected by Senate Democrats to
be their new leader.

 He will replacing Tom Daschle of South Dakota, whose opponent,
John Thune, ousted Daschle by arguing that the veteran lawmaker
had forgotten South Dakota.

 Reid said he would continue to serve Nevada as he did as the
minority whip, the Senate's No. 2 Democrat.

 "I really don't think it will be any different than what I've
been doing," Reid said in an interview today.

 He promised to continue his long-running fight against turning
Yucca Mountain, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas, into the
nation's high-level radioactive waste dump.

 Reid is working with Energy and Natural Resources Committee
Chairman Pete Domenici, R-N.M., to finalize the current fiscal
year's budget for Yucca. Reid vowed to continue to work to slice
the project budget each year.

 The legal and legislative battles over constructing a national
nuclear waste repository at Yucca will continue to be a problem
for President Bush because people will lose faith in the
government's ability to establish a safe project, Reid said.

 "What they should do is just save money and leave (waste) where
it is," Reid said.

 Reid said he had a number of other Nevada-specific projects in
the works that would demand his time in the next session, which
begins in January. Those include Walker and Colorado River
issues, and other special programs, including transportation
projects in the state, that would require federal funding.

 "We have some very, very big projects, and then we have some
small ones," Reid said. "But they are all big to the people that
get the money."

 Reid said he is making plans with the Democratic National
Committee and other strategists to help the Democratic Party do
a better job of articulating its agenda to voters, which will be
a big challenge given that Republicans control Congress and the
White House. Reid noted that the Democrats are making big
strides in reclaiming some of the talk radio market from
conservatives.

 Reid's $8 million leader's office budget will allow for some
new hires, including several in his communications office, and
200 resumes have already been received.

 "Our message is going to get out more than it has in the past,"
Reid said.

 Reid said his leadership style will evolve.

 "Everyone knows my close personal relationship and affinity
with Sen. Daschle, but I'm a different person," Reid said. "But
people will be able to see in a few months how we differ."

 Reid this week is meeting with senators on both sides of the
aisle and is intimately involved in negotiations on a huge
omnibus spending bill pending in the final days of a lame duck
session. Lawmakers are hoping to finish business as early as the
end of this week.

 Reid has been inundated with media interview requests. He
planned interviews on three CNN shows today.

 Reid said he would do "as much as I have to" in terms of
national media interviews but said he would share the media
spotlight with colleagues.

 "I do have a lot of people (Democratic senators) who are
willing to go to the cameras," Reid said. "I'll lateral the ball
when I feel it's appropriate."

 Reid today reiterated that he planned to work to bridge
partisan divides in the Senate.

 "But remember the Senate wasn't set up by the founding fathers
to be easy," Reid said. "It was set up to make government
better. That's what the bicameral legislature is all about. I
represent millions of people out there and I want to make sure
that the initiatives the majority has, that we keep in mind the
millions of people that we represent."

 Reid said he had no comment on who he would like to become the
next Energy Secretary, whose department oversees the Yucca
Mountain project. Secretary Spencer Abraham resigned this week.

 "It doesn't matter," Reid said. "They take their orders from
the president."

 On another topic, Reid said he recommended Republican Attorney
General Brian Sandoval to President Bush for a federal judge job
this week because he was a qualified candidate.

 "I like Brian Sandoval," Reid said. "He's a fair, honest man."

 But Reid added that, under a Democratic administration, his
first choice would have been U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Linda Riegle.
Reid recommended her to President Clinton for a job as a federal
judge in Nevada, but the nomination stalled and died in Senate
in 2000, shortly before President Bush took office.

 Reid said he was not motivated to recommend Sandoval because it
takes a talented Republican off a political track to higher
office.

 "He's a free agent," Reid said. "No one twisted his arm. I
called and asked him if he wanted this and he said yes."

 Republicans this week were closely eyeing Reid and their
Democratic colleagues.

 Reid and the Democrats will have to "redefine" their agenda,
said Sen. Wayne Allard, R-Colo., if they expect to make progress
with Republicans. Reid faces a big challenge in creating party
unity after dramatic losses on Election Day, Allard said.

 "He's partisan, but I wouldn't say he's highly partisan,"
Allard said of the new Democratic leader.

 Reid continues to gather praise from fellow Democrats. Rising
Democratic star and senator-elect Barack Obama, D-Ill., said he
happily gave his support to Reid when Reid called him shortly
after their Election Day victories.

 "I think he has the right mix of toughness and openmindedness
that the caucus is looking for," Obama said. "Sen. Reid has seen
hardship in his life and he is not likely to get rattled under
difficult circumstances, and certainly right now, the Democratic
caucus is looking for that kind of leadership."

 Sen. Tom Carper, D-Del., said he was "in mourning" for a week
after the elections because of the losses by so many Democrats,
including Kerry.

 But Reid was rallying the troops already, he said.

 "By the end of today's caucus, my spirits had lifted
significantly," Carper said. 


 
*****************************************************************
 64 Salt Lake Tribune: Will Reid's new job heat up N-waste fight? 

Article Last Updated: 11/17/2004 07:39:03 AM 

			 			 			 			 			 			 			 			 			 			 					 Yucca Mountain vs. 
Skull Valley: The minority leader has battled Utah senators to 
keep spent fuel out of Nevada 

By Christopher Smith The Salt Lake Tribune 

WASHINGTON - Harry Reid's selection as the new Senate 
Democratic leader may pit his personal ties to Utah against his 
irritation with the state's congressional delegation for lining 
up against Nevada in the nuclear-waste fight. 

While the new Senate minority leader and native Nevadan is 
known as someone who is willing to work with Republicans, he 
also plays to win on key issues like keeping spent fuel rods 
from the nation's nuclear plants out of the designated Yucca 
Mountain repository, 90 miles north of Las Vegas. 

Asked whether he would continue to block passage of a 2005 
spending bill for energy and water projects because of his 
opposition to funding Yucca, Reid said he hoped to reach 
agreement with GOP lawmakers this week. At the same time, the 
former boxer and Utah State University graduate gave no hint of 
taking off the gloves. 

"I always would rather dance than fight, but I know how to 
fight," Reid told reporters after the closed-door caucus vote. 

As Reid's battle against further funding adds to continued 
delays at Yucca, there is concern that a proposed private 
temporary storage site on the Skull Valley Indian Reservation 
west of Salt Lake City could become - by default - the 
Department of Energy's alternative site. 

When Congress began debating burying the nation's toxic 
nuclear power-plant waste in Nevada, the state's two Democratic 
senators, Reid and Richard Bryan, launched the long fight 
against it. And for the 12 years Bryan was in the Senate, the 
former Nevada governor distinctly remembers each friend and foe. 

"We never, on any issue involving Yucca Mountain, got any 
support from Utah, not once," Bryan said from Las Vegas, where 
he now practices law after retiring from the Senate in 2000. 
"That was always profoundly disappointing." 

Monday's resignation of Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham from 
President Bush's cabinet also stirred speculation on the future 
of the proposed "temporary" nuclear waste storage site on 
Goshute tribal lands. Abraham brokered a deal with Utah 
Republican Sens. Orrin Hatch and Bob Bennett the day before a 
critical 2002 Senate vote on whether to move forward with the 
Yucca repository. 

Hatch and Bennett met with the energy secretary and Bush's 
Chief of Staff Andrew Card and agreed to back the 
administration's plans to build the dump in Nevada. In return, 
the Bush administration would oppose federal funding for the 
Goshute project, which has yet to be licensed. 

Spencer gave the assurance in a vaguely worded letter to 
Bennett and the Utah lawmakers voted with a 60-39 majority to 
proceed with Yucca Mountain, a rare legislative defeat for Reid. 

Later that year, then-Rep. Jim Hansen of Utah inserted 
language into a defense bill to create a wilderness area on the 
Utah Test and Training Range, effectively blocking rail 
shipments to the proposed Goshute storage site. Reid got the 
Hansen wilderness provision struck from the final bill and 
Hansen cried payback. 

"It was because he was so doggone mad at Hatch and Bennett" 
for their Yucca votes, Hansen told the Associated Press at the 
time. 

The possibility of quid-pro-quo also was raised when Reid 
refused to support the annexation of Wendover, Utah, by West 
Wendover, Nevada. He said he opposed the plan because of the 
business impact on stateline casinos from moving the Utah-Nevada 
border eastward. 

Lobbyists who have worked with the staffs of the two states' 
delegations say Utah's Yucca Mountain support periodically 
flares up on certain issues. 

"Essentially you have two states that don't want nuclear 
waste, but there is a real tension between the two," said Peter 
Downing, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance legislative director. 

Reid's staff has consistently discounted any notion of a 
grudge against the Utah lawmakers and Reid himself has 
maintained close ties to several state leaders. One of his sons, 
Josh, is a Salt Lake City attorney who ran unsuccessfully this 
month for a spot on the Cottonwood Heights City Council. 
According to one Utah associate, Reid has vacationed at the Deer 
Valley cabin owned by the family of Gov.-elect Jon Huntsman Jr. 

Bennett and Hatch downplay any edginess in their working 
relationships with the new Democratic leader, who is a fellow 
member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 

"Senator Reid is a good friend of mine and we're very close," 
Hatch said Tuesday. "Having said that, he's tough as nails." 

Nevada political scientist Erik Herzik is skeptical that Reid 
would try to leverage his political influence to extract revenge.

"It will be interesting to see if Harry Reid continues to 
make Yucca Mountain his personal crusade to the point he would 
go out of his way to punish Utah," said Herzik. "And Utah is not 
without some chips in this game, because your senators are in 
the majority and have some clout." 

Bryan won't hazard a guess if the lawmaker Las Vegas 
newspapers call "Ruthless Reid" still harbors any ill will over 
Utah senators' votes in favor of sending tons of highly 
radioactive spent nuclear fuel to be buried in Nevada. 

"What implications that may have I don't know," said Bryan. 
"But I've never frankly seen any reciprocity from Utah on this 
issue. That's always disturbed me." 

As Senate Minority Leader, Reid becomes the highest ranking 
LDS Church member in Congress. 

© Copyright 2004, The Salt Lake Tribune. 
*****************************************************************
 65 PR: White House Asks Congress to Overturn Court Decision on Yucca Mountain!
 
alt="http://www.nirs.org"><hr>
URGENT!!
 
Contact your Senators now!
 
Congressional Quarterly is reporting today that the White House
is asking the lame duck Congress to overturn last summer´s
federal court decision that threw out the Environmental
Protection Agency´s 10,000-year radiation protection standard
for the proposed Yucca Mountain high-level radioactive waste
dump. The court ruled that Congress had required EPA to abide by
the recommendations of the National Academy of Sciences, which
has stated that the highest radiation doses from Yucca could
come in the hundreds of thousands of years. 

The White House apparently is asking that this be done as a
rider to the Energy and Water Appropriations bill now being
considered by the Senate Energy and Water Appropriations
Subcommittee. 

This is absolutely inappropriate. There have been no hearings on
this issue. The Senate (and House) have not examined this issue.

Further, the court decision was correct, and should not be
overturned. This is yet another transparent effort to put
politics above science (which candidate Bush in 2000 said he
wouldn´t do!) and license Yucca Mountain at any cost to Nevada
and the environment generally. 

There is not much time to act, but your actions right now will
make a huge difference. Congress does have to pass the Energy
appropriations measure, but it also wants to go home. If we can
flood the Congress with phone calls this week, Congress will
decide this is just too much to handle right now. So, please,
call your Senators and Representatives right now (Capitol
Switchboard, 202-224-3121). Then, ask your friend and neighbors
to call. Alert your own e-mail lists and phone trees. Write a
quick letter to the editor. Call radio talk shows. We need to
raise this issue as loudly as possible as quickly as possible. A
vote could occur by the end of the week. It is especially
important to contact the members of the Senate Appropriations
Subcommittee on Energy and Water (listed at the end of this
message). But all Senators and Representatives should be called. 

The message is simple: Congress must not, in a lame duck
session, put politics above science and overturn this reasoned
federal court decision. At the very least, Congress should wait
until it can hold full hearings and investigate the issue. 
Thank you for your help! 

Michael Mariotte
 Executive Director
 Nuclear Information and Resource Service
 202.328.0002
 November 16,2004, 5 pm 

Members of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and
Water
 Senator Pete Domenici (Chairman) (NM)
 Senator Thad Cochran (MS)
 Senator Mitch McConnell (KY)
 Senator Robert Bennett (UT)
 Senator Conrad Burns (MT)
 Senator Larry Craig (ID)
 Senator Christopher Bond (MO)
 Senator Harry Reid (Ranking Member) (NV)
 Senator Robert C. Byrd (WV)
 Senator Ernest Hollings (SC)
 Senator Patty Murray (WA)
 Senator Byron Dorgan (ND)
 Senator Diane Feinstein (CA) 
. . .
   


*****************************************************************
 66 CBC North: Inuit to be consulted on nuclear waste storage options for Arctic 

                WebPosted Nov 17 2004 07:57 AM MST              


 IQALUIT - The national Inuit political organization is 
conducting a study to see how Inuit feel about nuclear waste 
coming North.           


`I assume the whole world kind of looks at isolated places to 
store anything dangerous'  Jose Kusugak]    
  
'I assume the whole world kind of looks at isolated places to 
store anything dangerous' – Jose Kusugak  

The federal government is trying to find a place to store used 
nuclear waste. 

  + INDEPTH: Quirks and Quarks: Burying a Problem, or a
Solution? The Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami has started consulting
with Inuit organizations on the issue of long-term management of
nuclear waste.                                           

The first meeting was held with Nunavut

Tunngavik last week, and officials plan other meetings with
Inuit organizations this winter. This study is being funded by
the Nuclear Waste Management Organization.                       

That organization is spending $150,000 visiting more than 30 
communities across Canada to talk to Canadians about nuclear 
waste management. It will submit recommendations to the federal 
government next November. ITK president Jose Kusugak says there's 
no hidden agenda, and no suggestion that the Arctic will be used 
as a dumping ground for nuclear waste. 

  + LINK: Nuclear Waste Management
Organization:

Inuit Specific Consultation However he says Inuit need to be open 
to the options. "I assume the whole world kind of looks at 
isolated places to store anything dangerous," he says. "As you 
know the United States stores their nuclear waste at Yucca 
Mountain in Nevada, which in their opinion, is out of harm's way. 
So obviously if you're Canadian looking at isolated places you're 
going to look at the Arctic." 

[The U.S. has yet to begin full-scale storage at the Yucca 
Mountain repository site, about 160 kilometers from Las Vegas. 
Congress approved the site in 2002, but court battles continue to 
dog the plan.] ITK says in the past, Inuit have been opposed to 
the storage of nuclear waste in the Arctic. However Kusugak says 
this study will officially put the feelings of Inuit on the 
record to the federal government. "I think the federal government 
is genuinely looking at real concerns and real suggestions from 
different parts of Canada, what they should do with nuclear 
waste," he says. Officials with the Nuclear Waste Management 
Organization will be in Iqaluit Dec. 7-8 for public information 
and discussion sessions. They'll also be travelling to other 
Inuit regions, like Labrador and Nunavik. 

ITK president Jose Kusugak speaks with CBC Iqaluit reporter 
Joanne Awa about the prospect of long-term storage of nuclear 
waste in Nunavut. 

/north.cbc.ca
*****************************************************************
 67 Scotsman.com: Sci-Tech - Nuclear waste quest begins
 
Wed 17 Nov 2004   			 			

THE search for a safe way of disposing of nuclear waste gets 
under way today as part of the biggest nationwide public 
consultation on the subject. 

Various options ranging from surface or underground repositories 
to launching waste into space have been suggested. 

An independent committee on radioactive waste management is 
holding a detailed discussion of how the current list of 15 
options for dealing with waste can be narrowed down.              










*****************************************************************
 68 KRNV: State's nuclear project director says Yucca is dead

  
  CARSON CITY, NV, November 17

As soon as it became clear President Bush would remain in office 
another four years many Nevadans immediately turned their 
attention to Yucca Mountain and what happens now. 

It was mentioned in every single Democratic visit in Nevada 
during election season. The plan, push Yucca Mountain and win 
Nevada. It didn't work and the president who approved Yucca as 
the nations nuclear waste dump remains in office. 

But does this mountain of controversy really depend on who's in 
the White House. 

Bob Loux is the Nevada Director of Nuclear Projects. He says that 
no matter who was elected, the project is dead. "It made no 
difference who was elected president. If Kerry was elected 
president perhaps this might have occurred a little sooner, but 
the project is dead anyway, it didn't matter." 

The site is still sitting in limbo, submerged in court decisions 
and EPA requirements. Loux says that's where the project will 
remain, and eventually die. 

The Department of Energy is far from conceding, but refused to 
comment on Yucca Mountain until further decisions on the project 
are made. 

Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham resigned Monday leaving Yucca's 
future even more up in the air. 

Loux also says that if Nevada hadn't have fought the project, it 
would have become a reality. 

In the early 1990's the department of energy tried to play "Lets 
Make a Deal" with Nevada, offering 10 million a year until the 
waste arrived, and 20 million a year after that. Loux says the 
state wasn't buying then, and even if a greater amount was 
offered, they wouldn't buy it now. 

"It's not gonna happen in Nevada. The legislature the governor 
and the congressional delegation have all made crystal clear. 
There's never gonna be any negotiation or retreat on Yucca 
Mountain." 

And so it sits, right now not much more than a high tech hole in 
the ground, and only time will tell if this mountain of 
controversy will ever live up to its name. 
  
      All content © Copyright 2001 - 2004 WorldNow and KRNV. All
Rights Reserved.
*****************************************************************
 69 San Bernardino County Sun: Judge rebuffs water board

Article Published: Tuesday, November 16, 2004 -
 		   	 	
By SCOTT VANHORNE, Staff Writer

RIALTO - A regional water board went overboard when it ordered a 
corporation with an obscure link to pollution here to pay for a 
probe of the problem, a judge has ruled.

 The decision exempts Emhart Industries Inc., a subsidiary of 
Black and Decker Corp. and one of the few water-pollution 
suspects with deep pockets, from complying with an earlier 
mandate.

 Two years ago, the Santa Ana Regional Water Quality Control 
Board ordered Emhart and 19 other entities to investigate 
perchlorate contamination emanating from land in north Rialto.

 The board erred by not providing Emhart a chance to refute 
charges that it is the successor to West Coast Loading Corp., the 
company suspected of allowing perchlorate to leak into 
groundwater in the early 1950s, Riverside Superior Court Judge 
Gary Tranbarger ruled last week. 

Perchlorate is a salt used to make rockets and fireworks. It 
impairs thyroid functioning, and some scientists contend the 
chemical can affect fetal and newborn brain development. Others 
say minuscule amounts in area water supplies are benign.

 Emhart fought the board's order from the get-go, first making an 
unsuccessful appeal to the state water board and then taking the 
issue to court.

 The water board considered fining the company $269,000 for not 
investigating soil and groundwater contamination in Rialto but 
held off because of the ongoing court challenge.

 In his ruling, Tranbarger noted that the board deemed evidence 
related to the company inconclusive before issuing the 
investigation orders and that Emhart would have to spend 
thousands of dollars on a pollution probe.

 "There's no way for (the water board) to repay the company if in 
fact (the water board) turns out to be wrong,' Emhart attorney 
Bob Wyatt said.

 San Bernardino County, which was also targeted by the board, has 
spent about $3 million tracking perchlorate coming from landfill 
property. The land was once home to rocket and munitions storage 
bunkers.

 Kurt Berchtold, the water board's assistant executive officer, 
said the ruling has no immediate effect on efforts to determine 
who is responsible for the pollution.

 "In the short term, it doesn't mean anything because Emhart has 
never made any effort to comply with our order,' he said.

 Losing Emhart, however, could have an impact later on because 
the company is one of the few entities with a big bankroll and 
what the board contends is a strong link to perchlorate 
pollution.

 Others include the Defense Department, San Bernardino County and 
B.F. Goodrich.

 Kathleen Kenealy, a deputy state attorney general who defended 
the board's order, said the ruling will not affect other parties 
given investigation orders without a hearing.

 "We don't think that is required, but even if it is, (the judge) 
is only talking about Emhart,' she said.

 The company isn't off the hook yet.

 The water board can appeal the judge's ruling, or it can hold a 
hearing to let board members dEtermine if there is enough 
evidence to link Emhart to the pollution problem.

 Berchtold said information developed through investigations so 
far have helped solidify the link.

 "We certainly want to make sure that they do their part to solve 
this problem,' he said. "It's just a question of how we go about 
accomplishing that.'

 Emhart is also targeted in a lawsuit filed by Rialto, which 
seeks damages from 42 entities it claims have links to the 
perchlorate pollution in the city.                              
   			  
Copyright © 2004 San Bernardino County Sun Los Angeles 
*****************************************************************
 70 DOE changes secretaries Piketon, Ohio
 
Date: Wed, 17 Nov 2004 17:19:08 -0800

 
<x-flowed>
clear6.gifmasthead6.gif
curve1.gif
November 17, 2004
DOE changes secretaries

Piketon
Jeff Barron, PDT Staff Writer
PIKETON The resignation on Monday of Energy Department Secretary Spencer 
Abraham should not affect operations at the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion 
Plant, officials said.
The DOE owns the plant and leases it to the United States Enrichment Corp. 
USEC plans to build a commercial enrichment plant in Piketon by 2009, and 
also plans to open a plant to test a new uranium enrichment process next year.
We have a good working relationship with the Department of Energy,USEC 
Communications Director Elizabeth Stuckle said Tuesday. We expect that will 
continue in the future.
Scioto County Economic Development Director Steve Carter is a Southern Ohio 
Diversification Initiative Board of Directors member. That agency is a 
liaison between the local community and the DOE.
Carter said since Abraham dictated national energy policy, his resignation 
would have little local impact. He also said the DOE and USEC have already 
agreed to long-term projects.
Locally, we always have a plan and we continue to make progress over 
time,Carter said. Ive seen four or five DOE secretaries change, and it 
doesnt affect us.
Dan Minter, Paper, Allied-Industrial Chemical and Engineers Union 
President, said he is not surprised at Abrahams resignation because cabinet 
changes usually occur when a president is re-elected.
We hope to continue working with him as he prepares to exit,Minter said. 
And it is critical that we have a close relationship with his successor, 
whomever that happens to be.
President George W. Bush has not yet named Abrahams successor.
Abraham was not the only cabinet member to resign Monday. Secretary of 
State Colin Powell will leave and be replaced by national security advisor 
Condoleeza Rice. Also resigning were Education Secretary Rod Paige and 
Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman.
Abraham, 52, a former senator from Michigan, joined the administration 
after he lost a bid for re-election, becoming the nations 10th energy 
secretary. Abraham struggled to persuade Congress to endorse the presidents 
broad energy agenda.
In a related issue, USEC President and CEO William Timbers urged Bush and 
Congress to develop a strategic national energy policy.
If necessity is the mother of invention,Timbers said in a statement, then 
America is the right place to develop inventive solutions.
He said there are four ways to further develop the energy policy:
" The establishment of incentives to increase the supply of all domestic 
energy resources.
" Research and development on advanced coal, nuclear, natural gas and 
energy-efficient technologies.
" Incentives to increase energy efficiency.
" Bold initiatives to accelerate results.

The Associated Press contributed to this story. JEFF BARRON can be reached 
at (740) 353-3101, ext. 236.
clear6.gif
Story created Wednesday, November 17, 2004.



</x-flowed>


Attachment Converted: clear642.gif: 00000001,5990c5cf,00000000,00000000
Attachment Converted: masthead62.gif: 00000001,5990c5d0,00000000,00000000
Attachment Converted: curve11.gif: 00000001,5990c5d1,00000000,00000000
Attachment Converted: clear643.gif: 00000001,5990c6c8,00000000,00000000
*****************************************************************
 71 Tri-City Herald: Tri-City employment remains positive 

This story was published Wednesday, November 17th, 2004 

By Jeff St. John Herald staff writer 

October brought some welcome news for Tri-City job seekers -- 
economic growth over the past four months has been a little bit 
better than it first appeared. 

That's according to data released Tuesday by the Washington state 
Employment Security Department that pegged Tri-City nonfarm 
employment at 85,750 in October -- up 2.2 percent from the 83,920 
jobs in the same month last year. 

At first, that appears higher than the average 1.2 percent growth 
rate seen in the past few months, said Dean Schau, state labor 
economist for the Tri-City region. 

But in fact, Schau said, newly collected data that gives a more 
complete picture of hiring by Hanford contractors and 
subcontractors indicates that those previous growth estimates 
should be adjusted to about 2 percent growth as well. 

"The job total was a bit greater and the job growth a bit better" 
than initial data showed, he said. While major Hanford 
contractors are sampled monthly to find out how many people they 
employ, state economists have to wait for quarterly tax data to 
indicate how many people are employed by subcontractors who "come 
and go" from the site. 

Hanford waste treatment-related jobs saw the biggest upward 
revision based on the new data, he said. That category, which 
includes CH2M Hill Hanford Group and Fluor Hanford Inc., as well 
as smaller contractors, stood at 10,300 jobs in October, up 7.3 
percent from an estimated 9,600 jobs in the same month last year. 

Job figures also received a boost this month, when it was 
discovered a large Hanford contractor hadn't been getting its 
information to the state, Schau noted. 

As always, the $5.7 billion Hanford vitrification plant being 
built by Bechtel National and a network of subcontractors has 
helped keep craft workers and engineers and other professionals 
employed, he said. 

Bechtel employed 2,407 nonmanual and 1,311 manual workers on that 
job as of Oct. 31, down slightly from employment in July but up 
from March, said spokeswoman Carrie Meyer. 

Overall, Schau called the Hanford employment picture a "trickle, 
as in trickle downward," with slight losses across the fields of 
government, contractor and subcontractor jobs associated with the 
nuclear reservation. 

Otherwise, Schau said, the Tri-City economy in October featured 
seasonal cutbacks in farm-related jobs balanced by slow and 
steady growth in construction and services jobs. 

Construction shed about 200 jobs between September and October, 
to fall to about 5,200, but that figure was still 2 percent 
higher than the 5,100 jobs recorded in October 2003, he noted. 
Finance, insurance and real estate jobs also ticked up about 100 
jobs, or 3 percent, to 3,300 jobs in October, he said. 

Both sectors have been helped by a housing market that's 
continued to be strong through 2004, said Jerry Bastin, president 
of the Tri-City Association of Realtors. 

In terms of the number of homes sold, "We're going to be pretty 
darn close to where we were last year, maybe a hair ahead," he 
said. 

Although the median sales price of homes on the market has crept 
up this year to about $163,000 compared with $160,000 for the 
same period last year, continuing low interest rates have kept 
buyers in the market, he said. 

Schau said retail jobs remained stable over 12 months, with the 
holiday season hiring spree just getting under way. In Kennewick, 
JCPenney plans to hire 100 holiday workers and Target plans to 
hire 130, store managers have reported. 

At the same time, new businesses continue to expand the 
employment base. The new Home Depot store being built at the 
corner of Highway 395 and 27th Avenue in Kennewick is searching 
for applicants to staff about 100 jobs for its planned Jan. 6 
opening day, and about 20 people already have been hired, company 
spokeswoman Kathryn Gallagher said Tuesday. 

Still, Schau noted that 2004 hasn't come close to matching 2002, 
when job growth averaged 5 percent and Benton and Franklin 
counties led the state in percentage growth of per-capita income. 

"We're just not getting the same kind of growth we saw a couple 
of years ago," he said. 

In fact, Tri-City job growth last month closely matched the 
state's overall job growth of 2.3 percent compared with a year 
ago, according to Tuesday's data. 

The state's seasonally unadjusted October unemployment rate of 
5.2 also matched that of the Tri-Cities, though Franklin County's 
5.9 percent rate reflected the seasonal slump in farm-related 
jobs. 

But overall, the number of unemployed in the Tri-Cities fell to 
5,700 in October, down from 7,600 in the same month last year, 
Schau said. 

For the state, October's unemployment fell to low levels not seen 
since February 2001, with 61,000 jobs created in the past 12 
months. That trend has helped fast-growing Pierce, Clark and 
Thurston counties exceed the Tri-Cities in their rates of job 
growth, Chang Mook Sohn, the state's chief economist, said 
Tuesday. 

© 2004 Tri-City Herald, Associated Press &Other Wire Services
*****************************************************************
 72 Idaho Statesman: Battelle has plan to raise cash for INEEL research

11-17-2004       
 
Contractor says strategy involves private industry
 
The Associated Press

IDAHO FALLS  The leader of the company taking over research 
operations at the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental 
Laboratory said he is ready to implement a plan that will bring 
in the extra cash needed to build a world-class nuclear power 
research program at the facility.

John Grossenbacher, who is charged with creating that program at 
what will become the Idaho National Laboratory, said he would not 
provide details of the fund-raising strategy until all details 
get Energy Department approval.

But, he said, "you can bring private industry into the lab in 
ways that don't interfere with government work."

The cash to be raised by the Battelle Energy Alliance is critical 
since the department's budget request for the next year is only 
$50 million higher than the INEEL and Argonne National 
Laboratory-West received for research operations this past year. 
The two laboratories are being combined under the new contract.

William Magwood, who runs the department's nuclear energy, 
science and technology office, said Battelle is not only expected 
to generate additional cash, but "to bring that effort to a whole 
new level, especially on the national security side."

There are areas that can start bringing in research and 
technology funding from other federal agencies and industry right 
away, said Don McConnell, who oversees Battelle extensive 
laboratory operations.

"The trick of the trade in this lab is that it builds strong 
science and technology capabilities, which can then be applied, 
primarily to DOE, but not only," McConnell said. "I think private 
industry funding could triple over the life of the contract 
because I believe they will want to piggyback on federal 
funding."

A key alliance partner in that effort will be EPRI, formerly the 
Electric Power Research Institute that the power industry formed 
30 years ago to improve its grid system. It operates a research 
and technology transfer center in Charlotte, N.C.

"EPRI will use the lab to extend their resources to include those 
available at the lab, and the lab will have access to industry 
approaches," senior technical manager Jack Lance said.

For example, the INEEL's test reactor could be used for 
industry-funded experiments at the right price, Lance said, 
replacing reactors the institute has been using in Norway. The 
institute also has significant interest in INEEL programs to 
develop new nuclear fuels.

"We've set some specific, measurable objectives," Grossenbacher 
said.                                

*****************************************************************
 73 Amarillo Globe News: Russian group tours Pantex 

amarillo.com: 

11/17/04

By Jim McBride jim.mcbride@amarillo.com

A top-level delegation from Russia's atomic energy ministry 
toured the Pantex Plant on Sunday and visited other nuclear 
weapons sites to review U.S. procedures for safeguarding nuclear 
materials, a National Nuclear Security Administration official 
confirmed Tuesday.

 The delegation represented the Federal Atomic Energy Agency, 
which is responsible for overseeing the physical protection and 
material accounting procedures for Russia's weapons-grade nuclear 
materials, NNSA spokesman Bryan Wilkes said Tuesday.

 "The United States has been working with our Russian 
counterparts for the past 10 years to ensure the security of 
nuclear-weapons grade materials," Wilkes said. "The group was 
here to discuss the importance of nuclear materials security and 
the best practices for protecting such material as well as to see 
such measures demonstrated at one of our NNSA sites."

 Wilkes said he did not know what specific areas of Pantex the 
delegation visited but said the trip was tightly controlled.

 "They were under full escort," he said. "Any visit at Pantex is 
conducted under strict guidelines, and these guidelines are used 
for visits to our other sites."

 The group's visit included trips to the Savannah River Site, a 
U.S. weapons facility in South Carolina, the NNSA's Training 
Center in Albuquerque, N.M., and Sandia National Laboratories, a 
nuclear weapons design lab in New Mexico, Wilkes said.

  "They were under full escort."

 Bryan Wilkes, National Nuclear Security Administration

John German, a Sandia spokesman, said the delegation visited the 
training center Monday and was meeting with Sandia officials 
Tuesday.

 "They are in meetings at our international programs building,
which is where we do a lot of nonproliferation work," he said
late Tuesday. "We host a lot of international visits there."

 In 1992, U.S. and Russian officials discussed the possibility
of sending specialized railcars and Pantex personnel to Russia
to help secure weapons shipments from former Soviet Republics,
but the plan was scrapped because U.S. railcars weren't
compatible with Russian railways.

 Last month, NNSA officials announced the United States planned
to complete security upgrades at Russian naval facilities by
2006 and help secure 600 metric tons of nuclear materials at
Russian weapons production facilities by 2008.

 "That program will continue to work with ... the Russians, to
continue to improve security at their sites that contain
materials of concern," Wilkes said.

 According to the NNSA, security improvements at nearly 70
percent of Russian sites have been completed.

*****************************************************************
 74 Cassini/Huygens Mission was lousy gamble, not a "Best Bet"!
 
Date: Wed, 17 Nov 2004 17:17:24 -0800

 
<x-flowed>
(Note to readers:  The North County (CA) Times has apparently chosen not to 
publish this letter. -- rdh )

To: "Editor, NC Times" <opinion@nctimes.com>
North County Times
November 15th, 2004
Re: "Today's Best Bets" (Page 2, North County Times, November 15th, 2004)

To The Editor:

I think it's extremely poor journalism that you would publish (under 
"Today's Best Bets") that NASA/JPL "Solar System Ambassador" Jay Levine 
will be showing pictures in Oceanside today from the Cassini / Huygens 
space mission, without ALSO at least mentioning that Cassini was a 
disgusting piece of filth which NASA should never have launched.  Levine 
should be apologizing for, not promoting, that mission.

Cassini's 72.3 pounds of plutonium dioxide (mostly Pu-238, with about 15% 
Pu-239, for a total of about 406,000 Curies of plutonium) was the most ever 
launched at one time.  There were world-wide protests.  (Readers can verify 
this by typing "plutonium, Cassini, 72.3 pounds" or anything similar into 
any good search engine.)  But you can be sure this "Ambassador" will either 
ignore Cassini's plutonium or, if challenged, he will claim the protesters 
didn't understand the safety precautions NASA took to ensure the success of 
the launch.

However, it will be a LIE if he says anything like that!  In fact, the 
protesters studied ALL the available documentation carefully -- including 
researching the effects of so-called "low-level radiation" on large 
populations.  The protesters interviewed numerous scientists on both sides 
of the debate and, through this research and investigation, they found the 
NASA documentation to be lacking in veracity and, where it was in some 
sense truthful, it still didn't add up to a reasonable assessment of the 
true dangers -- instead, it added up to a hoax on the American people 
through carefully-worded technobabble, whenever NASA wasn't using 
assumptions based on thin air.

For example, in a gravitational flyby reentry accident (Cassini did a 
"flyby" of Earth at 43,000 miles per hour just 400 or so miles above our 
atmosphere), fully 1/3 of the plutonium payload was expected to be 
released, much of it as respirable particles, according to NASA's original 
(1995) "Environmental Impact Statement" on the mission.  The protesters 
were actually able to successfully use that number to alert the world to 
the dangers of the mission, because that's a lot of plutonium.  But in the 
"Final" (1997) EIS, NASA changed the number to only about 1% released -- 
how did they do that?

A very careful analysis of more than half a foot of bookshelf space of 
documentation, sent to this author by NASA and its subcontractors upon 
written request with a copy to a Congressperson, revealed that for the 
"Final" EIS, NASA decided the craft would tumble in a very specific way, 
and therefore, all three Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generators (RTGs) on 
board Cassini, each with 23.8 pounds of plutonium, would break off from the 
disintegrating space probe safely, then break apart into individual General 
Purpose Heat Source modules (GPHSs, 18 per RTG), and NONE of the 54 
individual GPHSs would bust apart from any reentry effects.  They had 
previously assumed at least one of the RTGs would get hung up in the other 
debris and be smashed pretty much to smithereens, and several GPHSs might 
break apart by, for example, smashing into each other or into other debris 
from the probe.  All these scenarios were eliminated in the "Final" 
EIS.  It's so easy to lie with statistics, and NASA is exquisitely good at it!

I'm sure Columbia's last mission had a "Final" EIS which gave the Green 
Light to that mission, as well.  It was obviously wrong about 
something.  Cassini's success was lucky, but NASA claimed it would have 
only a 1 on one million chance of failure.  THAT was the biggest lie of 
all!  This is why nuclear missions must be stopped -- failures WILL happen 
and plutonium WILL be released!  (Columbia's last mission might have 
included secret radioactive contents, but none have been admitted to by any 
public official except one Texas sheriff, shortly after the accident.)

There are also about 130 "RHU's" on board Cassini/Huygens, which are small 
Radioactive Heater Units (RHUs were also used on the more recently launched 
Mars probes).  Try as they might, NASA could not come up with ANY 
Cassini/Huygens reentry scenarios where ANY of the RHUs would "survive" 
reentry.

If Mr. Levine covers the topic of Cassini's plutonium at all, he will 
undoubtedly say that Pu-238 is not "weapons grade" plutonium as if, 
therefore, it is safe.  But saying it's not "weapons grade" excludes 
weapons known as "dirty bombs", of which a bomb made from captured Pu-238 
would be ideal, from the terrorist's point of view.  In fact, it would be 
280 times BETTER than one made from Pu-239!  Per microgram, Pu-238 is about 
280 times more lethal than so-called "weapons-grade" plutonium (Pu-239), 
when vaporized into the atmosphere as Cassini could have done, or as a 
terrorist could do with the same material.  To be fair, I should note that 
Pu-238 is dangerous for about 1/280th as long as Pu-239, because Pu-238's 
half-life is about 1/280th as long (about 88 years versus about 24,000 
years).  It normally takes about 20 half-lives for a substance to 
completely decay, so for Pu-238 that's about 20 human lifespans and about 
60 to 80 reproductive human generations.

As a dust cloud of plutonium drifts down through the atmosphere following a 
reentry accident and vaporization (imagine the Columbia accident but with 
72.3 pounds of plutonium on board, and streaking in about 10 times FASTER), 
billions of people -- most of the population of the earth -- would breath 
the radioactive vapors.  Plutonium gathers in men's testes, in the lungs, 
and many other organs of the human body.  It takes years to settle out of 
the skies the first time, and then a portion of it bioaccumulates through 
plant and animal food chains, and another portion of it revaporizes into 
the atmosphere in the normal cycle of the oceans which vaporize in the sun, 
which then falls as rain.  Much of the plutonium would recycle through the 
biosphere for its whole radioactive life (and then the radioactive daughter 
products would do the same).  The plutonium (and its daughter products) 
would be here killing people for a long, long time.

NASA risks global irradiation of the population not only when it launched 
Cassini, but they risk it on dozens of other missions, too.

This MUST be STOPPED, not permitted or -- as you have done by publishing 
this biased announcement -- encouraged!  No Nukes in Space!

Although Cassini did not fail at launch, or during the flyby, launching it 
was a brazen thing for NASA to do, not a brave thing, and certainly not 
scientifically vital (the same scientific return could have been obtained 
with solar and/or fuel cell power and heat sources).  Columbia showed NASA 
for the cowboys that they are.  Dangerously pigheaded, they have NEVER 
given the opposition fair say within their own community and have crushed 
fair debate on these issues for years.  It is clear from your promotional 
piece, that tonight's presentation will be biased and unfair -- a shameless 
promotion of a shameful thing.

NASA told 1000 lies to get Cassini launched.   No good science can ever 
come of something based on so many lies.  Pretty pictures?  Don't publish 
them.  NASA/JPL's "Solar System Ambassador" coming to town?  Here's what he 
deserves: Grill him with questions about NASA"s current nuclear plans, like 
"Prometheus."  How many Curies will it launch with?  How many will it have 
two minutes, or two years, after turning on the reactor?  How close to 
earth will it be started?  What type of fuel source will be used to launch 
it from Earth?  When is the first launch expected?  What is the 
budget?  Who is supplying the radioactive parts?  Why is it necessary?  Who 
needs to know about Pluto and the outer planets so badly that we couldn't 
wait for fuel cell options, which would work just as well or at least, well 
enough?

Ask him if the push for radioactive "civilian" missions is really just a 
cover for a military nuclearization of space.  Go ahead, just ask him, okay?

But no.  Instead of this, you've given NASA/JPL and their "Ambassador" a 
free pass to promote NASA's nuclear agenda and their pack of lies!

I request this be published as an OP-ED, since it's obviously too long for 
your letters section, with its pathetic 200-word limit.  (You can blame the 
length of this document on the intricacies of NASA's deceit -- the complex 
verbiage with which they fool even their most ardent supporters (of whom I 
used to be one).)

Sincerely,

Russell Hoffman
Former NASA supporter,
Concerned Citizen,
Editor, STOP CASSINI newsletter,
Carlsbad, CA

*************************************************
** THE ANIMATED SOFTWARE COMPANY
** Russell D. Hoffman, Owner and Chief Programmer
** P.O. Box 1936, Carlsbad CA 92018-1936
** (800) 551-2726
** (760) 720-7261
** Fax: (760) 720-7394
** Visit the world's most eclectic web site:
** http://www.animatedsoftware.com
*************************************************

IF YOU RECEIVED THIS EMAIL IN ERROR AND/OR DO NOT WISH TO RECEIVE ANY MORE 
EMAILS FROM US FOR ANY REASON, PLEASE CONTACT RUSSELL HOFFMAN AT:

rhoffman@animatedsoftware.com

MailTo:rhoffman@animatedsoftware.com?Subject=Unsubscribe-me-please .
Please be sure that "Unsubscribe-me-please" appears in the subject line.



</x-flowed>
*****************************************************************
 75 [du-list] DU in the news  - 18th Nov. 04
 
Date: Wed, 17 Nov 2004 17:17:43 -0800

 
<x-flowed>
Wednesday, November 17, 2004 11:28 AM PST
Your Keyword News Alert for [depleted uranium]
matched the following stories:

Reuters via Yahoo! News, Wed, 17 Nov 2004 7:14 AM PST
Britain Must Acknowledge Gulf War Syndrome -Report 
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/nm/20041117/hl_nm/health_britain_gulfwar_dc_1
The British government must acknowledge that thousands of soldiers who 
served in the 1991 Gulf War are suffering serious illnesses as a direct 
result, a heavyweight inquiry concluded on Wednesday. A damning report said 
the Ministry of Defense must admit for the first time that "Gulf War 
Syndrome" exists.

AP via Yahoo! News, Wed, 17 Nov 2004 5:17 AM PST
Gulf War Syndrome Acknowledgment Urged 
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20041117/ap_on_he_me/gulf_war_syndrome_1
A new report on Gulf War illness urges the British government to 
acknowledge that Gulf War syndrome is real and calls for compensation for 
veterans who became ill following service in the 1991 conflict.

AFP via Yahoo! News, Wed, 17 Nov 2004 4:55 AM PST
British inquiry finds 'every reason' to accept Gulf War syndrome 
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/afp/20041117/hl_afp/britain_gulf_health_inquiry_041117125546
There is &quot;every reason&quot; to believe that the Gulf War syndrome is 
genuine, and the British government must now accept that it afflicts 
thousands of veterans of the 1991 conflict, an indepedent inquiry found.

AFP via Yahoo! News, Wed, 17 Nov 2004 6:11 AM PST
British inquiry finds 'every reason' to accept Gulf War syndrome 
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/afp/20041117/hl_afp/britain_gulf_health_041117141153
There is &quot;every reason&quot; to believe that the Gulf War syndrome is 
genuine, and the British government must now accept that it afflicts 
thousands of veterans of the 1991 conflict, an independent inquiry concluded.

BBC News, Wed, 17 Nov 2004 2:36 AM PST
Gulf War effect is 'indisputable' 
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/click/rss/0.91/public/-/1/hi/health/4018603.stm
An independent inquiry has concluded that Gulf War syndrome probably does 
exist.

Evening Standard, Wed, 17 Nov 2004 10:10 AM PST
MoD urged to accept Gulf illness 
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/articles/PA_NEWDEFENCEGulfWed10Gulfillne?source=
An independent inquiry into Gulf War illnesses has called on the Ministry 
of Defence finally to accept that thousands of veterans had suffered ill 
health as a result of their service in the 1991 conflict.

AFP via Yahoo! UK & Ireland Finance, Wed, 17 Nov 2004 4:02 AM PST
UK inquiry finds 'every reason' to accept Gulf War Syndrome exists 
http://uk.biz.yahoo.com/041117/323/f6sgm.html
LONDON (AFX) - There is 'every reason' to believe that the Gulf War 
syndrome is genuine, and the UK government must now accept that it afflicts 
thousands of veterans of the 1991 conflict, ...

SanLuisObispo.com, Wed, 17 Nov 2004 5:32 AM PST
for http://www.sanluisobispo.com/mld/sanluisobispo/10204207.htm
Parents, coaches and rec league officials are invited to submit their stars 
of the week. Please remember that kids can appear only once a month. And if 
your star doesnâ?Tt make it the first time, try, try again.

Telegraph.co.uk, Wed, 17 Nov 2004 6:24 AM PST
Peer's report: Gulf War Syndrome 'exists' 
http://news.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2004/11/17/usyndrome.xml
An independent inquiry into Gulf War illnesses has found there is 'every 
reason' to believe that a syndrome exists.

ePolitix.com, Wed, 17 Nov 2004 4:10 AM PST
MoD criticised over Gulf War syndrome 
http://www.epolitix.com/EN/News/200411/8b07a955-666b-458d-b23a-9bfafb7cc7e1.htm
The Ministry of Defence is coming under increasing pressure to accept the 
existence of Gulf War syndrome. It follows the publication of an inquiry 
that found there is "every reason" to accept it was a real disorder.

See more news stories that match your keyword at:
http://search.news.yahoo.com/search/news/?c=&p=depleted+uranium


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]



------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~-->
$9.95 domain names from Yahoo!. Register anything.
http://us.click.yahoo.com/J8kdrA/y20IAA/yQLSAA/FGYolB/TM
--------------------------------------------------------------------~->

To unsubscribe from this groups send a message to 
du-list-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com.  In the body of the message type 
unsubscribe and send.
Yahoo! Groups Links

<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
     http://groups.yahoo.com/group/du-list/

<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
     du-list-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com

<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
     http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
  

</x-flowed>
*****************************************************************
 76 TCS: Tech Central Station - Weaponizing Space and the Legacy of the Cold War
 
  By Glenn Harlan Reynolds      

Published       11/17/2004    
Contributing Editor, TCS   

Last monthI wrote about the prospects for the militarization of 
Outer Space in light of recent statements and papers from the Air 
Force. I wasn't the only one to think about this. But 
unfortunately, much of the discussion seems mired in Cold War 
dynamics that don't apply today. 

Writing in Arms Control Today, Michael Krepon argues that 
militarizing outer space is a terrible idea: 
  
"If the United States leads the way in flight-testing and 
deploying new anti-satellite (ASAT) weapons, other states will 
surely follow suit because they have too much to lose by allowing 
the Pentagon sole rights to space warfare. U.S. programs will 
cost more and be far more sophisticated than the ASAT weapons of 
potential adversaries, who will opt to kill satellites cheaply 
and crudely. The resulting competition would endanger U.S. troops 
that depend on satellites to an unprecedented degree for 
battlefield intelligence, communication, and targeting to win 
quickly and with a minimum of casualties. 
  
"Space warfare would have far-reaching adverse effects for global 
commerce, especially commercial transactions and 
telecommunication services that use satellites. Worldwide space 
industry revenues now total almost $110 billion a year, $40 
billion of which go to U.S. companies. These numbers do not begin 
to illuminate how much disruption would occur in the event of 
space warfare. For a glimpse of what could transpire, the failure 
of a Galaxy IV satellite in May 1998 is instructive. Eighty-nine 
percent of all U.S. pagers used by 45 million customers became 
inoperative, and direct broadcast transmissions, financial 
transactions, and gas station pumps were also affected." 
  
Krepon's piece makes a number of good points, and having written 
something very similar in 1992, I suppose I'm in a poor position 
to argue. Here's what I wrote then: 
  
"Military battles in space are unlikely to occur because outer 
space is already too valuable as a center of commercial activity. 
Satellite communications alone are a multibillion-dollar-per-year 
industry, and the value of satellite communications in tying 
together global industries is far greater than the dollar figure 
suggests. A major disruption of satellite communications -- a 
near-certain side effect of significant space combat, even among 
automated devices -- would bring global business to a 
near-standstill in short order, with phenomenal costs. And 
satellite communications is only one of the many civilian and 
commercial activities that already take place in outer space, 
although not necessarily the most valuable activity over the long 
term. 
  
"In short, outer space makes no more sense as an arena for 
'clean' warfare than do the floors of the world's stock 
exchanges, and the ultimate consequences of such warfare would be 
similar." 
  
But there are some differences. The Cold War was just drawing to 
a close when I wrote those words, and the paradigm case for space 
warfare back then still involved a conflict of the Cold War 
variety, between adversaries who both had something to lose and 
knew it. 
  
Today's environment is rather different. The biggest threat to 
U.S. space assets isn't Russia, or (probably) even China: It's 
some rogue nation or group trying to create economic disruption 
at low cost. An attack on satellites might produce a lot of 
economic damage, and -- since it wouldn't directly kill anyone -- 
might even do so without risking the kind of swift and sharp 
response that, say, the Taliban encountered. When you add to this 
that today's Islamist terrorist are in opposition to modernity, 
and to the worldwide spread of Western (and especially American) 
culture, that sort of attack looks more plausible. And though 
bringing down satellites isn't child's play, it's not so hard 
that it's beyond the capability of well-funded groups or even 
small states. North Korea, I suspect, has the resources to bring 
down a lot of satellites, either through crude means such as 
lofting gravel into intersecting orbits or through exploding 
nuclear weapons in outer space, damaging satellites via 
electromagnetic pulse. 
  
This means that the big question isn't whether to have a military 
presence in space, but rather what kind we should have. Arguably, 
we should be worrying more about defending against rogue threats 
who can't be deterred by a symmetric response, meaning that 
government ASAT and SDI plans are just as stuck in the Cold War 
paradigm as the examples quoted above. But so is an "arms 
control" approach that assumes that treaties and international 
agreements -- or just the United States' force of example -- can 
prevent military action in space. 
  
Just as the Air Force seems to think of space warfare issues in 
ways that -- shockingly -- produce more missions for the Air 
Force rather than in ways (such as requiring commercial-satellite 
hardening or backups) that don't, the arms control community 
tends to think of space warfare issues in ways that involve arms 
control. But that's probably missing the point. Just as with the 
Air Force, these groups probably need to devote more energy to 
thinking outside the box. Then there's thisarticle in the 
Guardian: 
  
"Plans for a 'thin constellation of three to six spacecraft' in 
orbit, which would target enemy missiles as they took off or 
landed, are planned... the 1967 Outer Space Treaty, which outlaws 
the use of weapons in orbit, will be ignored." 
  
Actually, as I've noted here before, the Outer Space Treatyonly 
outlaws the placing of nuclear weapons "or any other kinds of 
weapons of mass destruction" in orbit, and the establishment of 
military bases or fortifications on the Moon and other celestial 
bodies. It's rather troubling to see this distinction so 
frequently ignored by opponents of space militarization, as these 
omissions do not improve their credibility. 
  
I'm an agnostic on the value of space-based missile defense. But 
the best arguments against it are practical -- will it protect us 
from the kinds of threats we face, or not? -- rather than legal. 
And the answers to those questions are likely to be found outside 
the now obsolete Cold War frameworks, too. I hope that both our 
military, and its critics, will take a more original approach to 
these questions in the future. 

*****************************************************************
 77 Scotsman.com Health - Inquiry: Gulf War Syndrome does exist
 
Wed 17 Nov 2004   			 			
 		  
  REPORT: an independent inquiry has accepted that Gulf War
syndrome does affect thousands of veterans, something the MoD
has consistently denied.

Picture: Jonathan Buckmaster/ PA  

GAVIN CORDON 

AN independent inquiry into Gulf War illnesses today called on
the Ministry of Defence finally to accept that thousands of
veterans had suffered ill health as a result of the 1991
conflict. 

The inquiry headed by the former law lord Lord Lloyd of Berwick
said there was "every reason" to accept the existence of a "Gulf
War syndrome". 

It said the MoD - which has consistently denied the existence of
a distinct syndrome affecting veterans - should now set up a
special fund to pay compensation to veterans who suffered as a
result of their service in the war to liberate Kuwait from
Saddam Hussein. 

Gulf war veterans today said the findings of the Lloyd Inquiry
were better than even they had hoped for and called on the MoD
to accept its findings without delay. 

The report said all the scientific studies agreed Gulf veterans
were twice as likely to suffer from ill health than if they had
been deployed elsewhere. 

It accepted the illnesses suffered by the veterans were likely
to be due to a combination of causes - including multiple
injections of vaccines, the use of organophosphate pesticides to
spray tents, low-level exposure to nerve gas and the inhalation
of depleted uranium dust. 

While it said further research was needed, the inquiry said that
was no reason for the MoD not to accept now that the illnesses
were a result of service in the Gulf. 

"Since the Gulf veterans were twice as likely to become ill as
if they had stayed in the UK, the Government ought now, in
fairness, and not before time, to accept that the illnesses of
those who were deployed to the Gulf were caused by their
deployment," the report said. 

"May their illnesses be described as a syndrome? Yes. The
symptoms are not unique. What is unusual is the extent and
intensity of the symptoms. There is therefore every reason to
call the illnesses by the label â€˜Gulf War syndromeâ€™." 

The inquiry was set up at the request of Labour peer Lord Morris
of Manchester, the parliamentary adviser to the Royal British
Legion, after the MoD refused an official inquiry. 

It took evidence from former personnel including the commander
of the British forces in the Gulf, General Sir Peter de la
Billiere, scientific experts and some 35 veterans or their
families. 

Lord Lloyd condemned the MoDâ€™s failure to co-operate fully
with his investigation. 

"The MoD thus lost a valuable opportunity to start the process
of reconciliation with the ill veterans, an opportunity which
would have cost them nothing," he said. 

About 6000 veterans, including former personnel from Lothian,
are believed to be suffering from ill health. 

Their problems have included cancers, motor neurone disease,
chronic fatigue, skin rashes, traumatic stress and aching
joints. 

Tony Flint, of the National Gulf Veterans and Families
Association, said the report conclusions justified what the
veterans had been saying about Gulf War syndrome for years. 

He said it was now time for the MoD to take heed of Lord
Lloydâ€™s proposals and compensate the veterans for the
illnesses they have suffered. 

"The report was a lot better than I thought it was going to be,"
said Mr Flint. "And to have Gulf war syndrome recognised means a
hell of a lot to us." 

An MoD spokeswoman said: "Once we have had the opportunity to
fully assess Lord Lloydâ€™s findings and recommendations, we
will consider our response."   		  [ border=]    	 

&copy;2004 Scotsman.com 
*****************************************************************
 78 Space.com: Untitled: vehicle fuels

You wouldn't think that humanity has been this busy in space - 
but there are over eight thousand satellites and other large 
objects in orbit around the Earth, along with many smaller 
objects. These objects include spent vehicle upper stages, 
separation bolts, lens caps, momentum flywheels, nuclear reactor 
cores, auxiliary motors and launch vehicle fairings. Material 
degradation due to atomic oxygen, solar heating and solar 
radiation produces particulate matter. Solid rocket motors used 
to boost satellite orbits leave motor casings, nozzle slag, 
solid-fuel fragments and exhaust cone bits. More than 124 
satellite breakups have been verified; many more are believed to 
have occurred; these are generally caused by explosions and 
collisions. Satellites or other objects in orbit higher than 700 
kilometers will stay there for hundreds of years; LEO satellites 
have an average working life of just five years. 

Studies have shown that low Earth orbit is not a limitless 
resource and should be managed more carefully. Some sort of 
debris-mitigation measures are needed to solve the problem of 
old, unusable satellites and space junk. 

Arthur C. Clarke had exactly this problem when he was trying to 
build his fictional space elevator in his wonderful 1978 novel 
The Fountains of Paradise; he initiated Operation Cleanup: 

For two hundred years, satellites of all shapes and sizes, from 
loose nuts and bolts to entire space villages, had been 
accumulating in Earth orbit. All that came below the extreme 
elevation of the Tower, at any time, now had to be accounted for, 
since they created a possible hazard... 

Fortunately, the old orbital forts were superbly equipped for 
this task... (Read more about Operation Cleanup) 

It has been suggested that every satellite deployed should carry 
extra propellant so the satellite can boost itself up to a higher 
"graveyard" orbit. Unfortunately, not only must the extra 
kilograms of propellant be boosted up from Earth, the rocket and 
guidance systems must be usable for many years after launch. 
Also, graveyard orbits merely leave satellites up higher, where 
micrometeorite damage slowly causes these objects to break apart; 
smaller fragments will filter back down, leaving this problem for 
our children to solve. These smaller fragments are almost 
impossible to clean up. 
  
[ src=] Little, but lethal, the Terminator Tether  

Extra propellant could also bring the satellite down; of course,
this also requires that the rocket and guidance systems work at
the end of the satellite's life. If either system fails to work,
the satellite stays right where it is. 

It would be more practical (as well as more responsible) to
solve this problem at the start. 

The Terminator Tether (TM) from TUI may be able solve this
problem. Currently under development, the Terminator Tether will
provide a low-cost, lightweight and reliable method of removing
objects from LEO. It consists of a lightweight electrodynamic
tether 5 kilometers in length wound onto a spool. 

Here's how it works: 

The Terminator Tether is bolted onto the satellite during
construction. Once launched and operational, the device is
dormant, waking up periodically to check the status of the
satellite and to listen for activation commands. When the
command to deorbit the spacecraft is given, the 5 kilometer
cable is deployed. The cable interacts with ionospheric plasma
and the Earth's magnetic field; this produces a current along
the tether which causes a net drag on the spacecraft, lowering
its orbit until it burns up in the Earth's atmosphere. (To find
out about the forces that electrodynamic tethers bring to bear
on spacecraft, read Electrodynamic Tethers - Bring Down Debris
or Boost Spacecraft and Non-conductive Tethers - Artificial
Gravity in Orbit.) 

Here are some comparative figures on deorbit times for
satellites: 

  Constellation     Altitude     Inclination
(Degrees)     
Deorbit
(Natural)     Deorbit Time
(with Terminator
Tether)   
  Orbcomm1     775 km     45     100 years     11 days   
  LEO One USA     950 km     50     100 years     18 days   
  GlobalStar     1390 km     52     9,000 years     37 days  

 

TUI has a promising histoy of development and funding. Started
by Dr. Robert P. Hoyt and Dr. Robert L. Forward in 1994, TUI has
won almost $1.5 million in grants from NASA in the past year;
TUI also won a $230,000 DARPA seedling grant for space tether
technologies in June of this year. This past September, they
conducted successful zero-g tests in microgravity. 

register at SPACE.com   
    
*****************************************************************

NOTE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107 this 
material is distributed without profit or payment to those who 
have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for 
non-profit research and educational purposes only. For more 
information go to: 
<http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml> 
    
*****************************************************************