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                         NUCLEAR POLICY
 
1 UPI: Iran may have atom bomb-bearing missile - 
2 Xinhuanet: US still harsh on Iran nuke attempt   
3 independent.co.uk: Iran is working on nuclear missile, warns Powell 
4 Las Vegas SUN: Diplomats: Iran Readying Nuke Processes
5 Korea: Digital Chosunilbo: USFK Commander Says NK Nukes a Threat   
6 Korea: Digital Chosunilbo: Gov't to Send Delegation to IAEA   
7 Korea: Digital Chosunilbo: U.S. Proposed to Make 6-Party Talks Perma
8 Korea Times: What's Happening in the North?
9 US: [DU-WATCH] Fw: Use of Uranium Munitions Under Fire
10 Guardian Unlimited: $388B Spending Bill May Face Votes Soon
11 FPI: Nuclear Suitcase Bombs Can Be Detected From Space Satellites
 
                         NUCLEAR REACTORS
 
12 US: [NukeNet] Wilmington News Journal - UCS says PSEG risking
13 US: NRC: Dr. Michael T. Ryan and Allen G. Croff Elected to New Posit
14 US: News Journal: Scientists want Hope Creek restart postponed
15 US: NRC: NRC Extends Comment Period For Environmental Impact Stateme
16 Medical News: Chernobyl disaster caused cancer cases in Sweden
17 US: TheDay.com: Nuclear Power A Way To Solve Energy Crisis
18 US: NRC: Sunshine Act Meeting
 
                          NUCLEAR SAFETY
 
19 [du-list] Debating the Evidence on Gulf War Illnesses
20 [du-list] Old uranium is a killer
21 [DU-WATCH] Micropartyicles and leukaemia in Germany
22 US: Northumberland News: Committee hopeful for health studies 
23 AxisofLogic: IRAQ: High levels of radioactive pollution seen in the 
24 US: Medical News: U.S. nuclear power workers show no unexepected rad
25 Las Vegas SUN: Report: Russian Submarine Blast Kills 1
 
                         NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE
 
26 US: [du-list] Feds Won't Test Nuclear Waste Casks
27 Las Vegas SUN: Spending bill includes $577 million for Yucca
 
                         NUCLEAR WEAPONS
 
 
                        US DEPT. OF ENERGY
 
28 Seattle Post-Intelligencer: Hanford workers finish storing radioacti
29 Tri-City Herald: Opinions Hastings has capital to protect Hanford 
30 Idaho Statesman: Government considers INEEL for production facility
31 DOE: Environmental Management Site-Specific Advisory Board, Oak Ridg
32 Paducah Sun: Transfer of DOE plant nickel possible
 
                          OTHER NUCLEAR
 
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                         FULL NEWS STORIES
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 1 UPI: Iran may have atom bomb-bearing missile - 

(United Press International)
 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 
  November 19, 2004 			   

Washington, DC, Nov. 19 (UPI) -- U.S. intelligence officials are 
evaluating worrisome new information about an Iranian missile 
purportedly capable of carrying an atomic bomb. 

The intelligence came from a "walk-in" source earlier this month 
and includes more than 1,000 pages purported to be Iranian 
drawings and technical documents, including a nuclear warhead 
design and modifications to enable Iranian ballistic missiles to 
deliver a nuclear bomb, the Washington Post reported Friday.

 The documents included a specific warhead design based on 
implosion and adjustments aimed at outfitting the warhead on 
existing Iranian missile systems.

 Secretary of State Colin Powell and other top U.S. officials 
were briefed last week on the data, which also has been shared 
with British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

 If the new data is confirmed, it would mean the Islamic republic 
is further along than previously known in developing a nuclear 
weapon and the means to deliver it. 

Iran, which Sunday agreed with France, Britain and Germany to 
suspend its nuclear program, has denied it is trying to build 
atomic weapons.

[UPI Perspectives]                                                                    
*****************************************************************
 2 Xinhuanet: US still harsh on Iran nuke attempt   

  www.xinhuanet.com

  www.chinaview.cn 2004-11-19 20:50:58   
  
[US Secretary of State Colin Powell(R) earlier warned that
Washington has information that Iran is attempting covert atomic
weapons development, while Iranian President Mohammad Khatami(L)
played down Iran's nuclear-program aberrations. US is persisting
harsh policy against Iran's nuke ambition, despite Tehran's
promise to suspend its uranium enrichment. ] 

US Secretary of State Colin Powell(R) earlier warned that
Washington has information that Iran is attempting covert atomic
weapons development, while Iranian President Mohammad Khatami(L)
played down Iran's nuclear-program aberrations. US is persisting
harsh policy against Iran's nuke ambition, despite Tehran's
promise to suspend its uranium enrichment. (CRI/Xinhua photo)  

    BEIJING, Nov. 19 (Xinhuanet) -- US is persisting harsh
policy against Iran's nuke ambition, despite Tehran's promise to
suspend its uranium enrichment. 

    Despite Iran's promise to suspend its uranium enrichment
programme, the United States is persisting in its intention to
refer Tehran to the UN Security Council, with sanctions possibly
resulting as a consequence. 

    The White House spokesman Scott McClellan said on Thursday
that Iran should follow through on the suspension deal, and
cooperate with the International Atomic Energy Agency, or IAEA,
to halt its atomic ambitions. 

    US Secretary of State Colin Powell earlier warned that
Washington has information that Iran is attempting covert atomic
weapons development. 

    This came after Iran had reached an agreement with Britain,
France and Germany that it would suspend sensitive nuclear
activities as of next Monday in order to ease regional fears. 

    The United States has been trying for almost two years to
get the IAEA to send the Iranian dossier to the Security
Council, but previously failed to gain enough support from the
agency's 35-nation board of governors. 

    In middle of next month, IAEA is to begin talks with Iran on
building long-term guarantees of its peaceful intentions. 

    (CRIENGLISH.com)   

  Copyright Š2003 Xinhua News Agency. All rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
 3 independent.co.uk: Iran is working on nuclear missile, warns Powell 

By Rupert Cornwell in Washington 

19 November 2004

Iran loomed as the second Bush administration's most urgent 
foreign policy challenge yesterday, as Colin Powell, the outgoing 
Secretary of State, warned that the country was working on a 
missile capable of delivering a nuclear bomb. 

An Iranian exile group has also claimed that the Islamic 
government is operating a clandestine uranium-enrichment 
programme at a secret facility in Tehran, in defiance of its 
undertakings with European governments and the UN's nuclear 
watchdog body, the International Atomic Energy Agency, based in 
Vienna. 

Iran denied the claims late yesterday. A foreign ministry 
spokesman, Hamid Reza Asefi, said the claims were intended to 
damage Tehran's relations with Europe and the UN nuclear agency. 
"The claims are raised to destroy the positive atmosphere that 
resulted from the Paris agreement," Mr Asefi said. 

That agreement with France, Germany and Britain to suspend 
uranium enrichment, was made last weekend in return for as yet 
unspecified economic and political concessions. 

The follow-up from the nuclear claims will be a crucial indicator 
of how US policy in the Middle East develops under General 
Powell's successor, Condoleezza Rice, who is widely seen as more 
hard line. They could also provoke new strains in the fragile 
relations between the Bush administration and Europe. 

General Powell told reporters travelling with him in South 
America that he had seen "information that would suggest they 
have been actively working on delivery systems," adding that "you 
don't have a weapon until you put it in something that can 
deliver a weapon". 

The National Council of Resistance, a leading Iranian opposition 
group, held press conferences in Paris and Vienna in which it 
said that not only was Iran still working on its secret 
enrichment programme, but it had obtained blueprints for a bomb 
from the renegade Pakistani nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan 
and bought enriched uranium on the international black market. 
The claims make it more likely that Iran will be brought before 
the UN Security Council for censure over its nuclear activities, 
something the US has long desired, but agreed not to press openly 
while negotiations with the Europeans offered a chance of 
success. 

The gathering crisis has distinct parallels with the situation 
before the March 2003 invasion of Iraq. Then it was the exiled 
leader Ahmed Chalabi who stoked the fire in Washington, providing 
a stream of now-discredited defectors purporting to have 
"evidence" of Saddam Hussein's weapons programmes. 

The accusations were aired by General Powell, who went before the 
Security Council in February last year to make the case for Iraqi 
weapons of mass destruction, a case that has now collapsed. 

"This could be the perfect storm," said David Kay, the former 
chief of the US weapons inspection team in Iraq. 

"It's likely that Iran is pursuing a nuclear bomb," he said, but 
after the events in Iraq "it will be hard to convince the 
Europeans and the IAEA that that is what is happening". 

Commentators are split over the truth of this week's claims, but 
they are bound to harden the resolve of the new administration to 
deal with Iran.                 

Š 2004 Independent Digital (UK) Ltd   
*****************************************************************
 4 Las Vegas SUN: Diplomats: Iran Readying Nuke Processes

Today: November 19, 2004 at 13:34:27 PST 

 By GEORGE JAHN ASSOCIATED PRESS 

VIENNA, Austria (AP) - 

Raising doubts about its commitment to dispel international
distrust, Iran is producing significant quantities of a gas that
can be used to make nuclear arms just days before it must stop
all work related to uranium enrichment, diplomats said Friday. 

Iran recently started producing uranium hexafluoride at its
gas-processing facilities in the central city of Isfahan, the
diplomats told The Associated Press. 

When introduced into centrifuges and spun, the substance can be
enriched to varying degrees. Low-grade enriched uranium is used
in nuclear power plants. Highly enriched uranium forms the core
of nuclear warheads. 

While Iran says it is only interested in enrichment to generate
power, the United States and its allies accuse Tehran of wanting
the technology to make weapons-grade uranium. 

In the latest accusation, Secretary of State Colin Powell said
Wednesday he had seen intelligence to confirm claims by an
Iranian dissident group that Tehran was secretly running a
program intended to produce nuclear weapons by next year. 

Iranian Foreign Minister spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi dismissed
that allegation Friday. 

"There is no place for weapons of mass destruction in Iran's
defense doctrine," he said, according to the official Islamic
Republic News Agency. 

Asefi suggested that U.S. officials "reconsider their
intelligence sources." 

Iran last week agreed to suspend uranium enrichment and all
linked activities in a deal worked out with Britain, France,
Germany and the European Union. The deal, which goes into force
Monday, prohibits Iran from all uranium gas-processing
activities, as well as other programs linked to enrichment. 

A senior EU diplomat said Iran's decision to carry out uranium
processing right up to the freeze deadline disappointed the
Europeans and cast doubt on Tehran's goodwill - even if it did
not violate the letter of the agreement. 

It also appeared to bolster the U.S. effort to have the U.N.
Security Council examine Tehran's nuclear activities. When the
deal was announced last week, it looked to weaken the U.S.
drive, even though the agreement commits Iran to suspension only
while a comprehensive aid agreement with the EU is finalized. 

Asked about quantities being processed at Isfahan, one of the
diplomats said, "It's not little," but he declined to elaborate. 

But another diplomat familiar with the International Atomic
Energy Agency - the U.N. nuclear watchdog - said the Iranians
apparently were in the process of converting 22 tons of uranium
into gas, either as a precursor to uranium hexafluoride or as
the finished product. 

Iran has huge reserves of raw uranium and has announced plans to
extract more than 40 tons a year. 

That amount, if converted to uranium hexafluoride and repeatedly
spun in centrifuges, could theoretically yield more than 200
pounds of weapons-grade highly enriched uranium, enough for
about five crude nuclear weapons. 

Iranian officials say the Isfahan plant can convert more than
300 tons of uranium ore a year. 

Iran announced suspension of enrichment last week, and the
agency said it would police that commitment starting next week,
ahead of a Nov. 25 IAEA board meeting. 

The main focus of that meeting is Iran, with Tehran and its
allies pushing to close the books on an examination of nearly
two decades of covert nuclear activities and the Americans
seeking to keep open the option of Security Council involvement. 

By opting to freeze - and not scrap - the enrichment program,
Tehran has not dropped plans to run 50,000 centrifuges to enrich
uranium for what it says will be the fuel requirements of a
nuclear reactor to be finished next year. 

Iran currently possesses fewer than 1,000 centrifuges. But even
with 1,500 centrifuges, experts say Iran would be able to make
enough weapons-grade uranium for about a bomb a year. 

--- 

On the Web: 

IAEA: http://www.iaea.org

-- 


 
*****************************************************************
 5 Korea: Digital Chosunilbo: USFK Commander Says NK Nukes a Threat   
 
      Updated Nov.19,2004 16:41 KST   
 
      Gen. Leon J. LaPorte   
          
Gen. Leon J. LaPorte, Combined Forces commander and 8th U.S. Army 
commander, said Friday about President Roh Moo-hyun's recent 
speech about the North Korean nuclear issue that North Korean 
nuclear weapons posed a sufficient threat, and there was the 
possibility the North would sell its plutonium, confirming the 
U.S. State Department position that it believed North Korean 
nuclear weapons would pose a threat to allies and nations 
friendly with the United States. 

LaPorte's comments are drawing attention as they were an open 
expression of position, as the Combined Forces commander and 8th 
Army commander, concerning the conflicting opinions of the U.S. 
State Department and President Roh. On Nov. 12, President Roh 
said in a speech in Los Angeles that one couldn't conclude North 
Korea's development of nuclear weapons was to attack anyone, 
which was followed by a U.S. State Department position statement 
claiming North Korea's nuclear weapons were a threat to U.S. 
allies. 

At a breakfast hosted by the Air Force Cadet Reserve Officer 
Association at the Chosun Hotel on Friday, one of the 
participants asked LaPorte, "President Roh recently said in Los 
Angeles that there was some logic in North Korean claims that 
their nuclear weapons were for self defense, and later the U.S. 
State Department revealed a contrary opinion. What is your 
opinion on the matter?" LaPorte said he believed North Korea had 
the opportunity to manufacture plutonium, and while it was 
impossible to know North Korean intentions, [North Korean nuclear 
weapons] posed a sufficient threat. 

He said that as the whole world knows, North Korea is selling its 
missiles, missile technology and military hardware, and he 
believed North Korea could sell its plutonium, too, in order to 
secure dollars. 

Ahead of this, LaPorte said he didn't want to make a political 
judgment about President Roh's comment, but North Korea had 1.2 
million men under arms, with fairly impressive military 
capabilities, including special warfare capabilities, submarines 
and missiles, and in terms of capabilities, opportunity and 
intention, North Korea posed a threat to South Korea. 

Asked about the recent removal of portraits of Kim Jong-il within 
North Korea, the general said as an executor of policy, he didn't 
want to make any judgments about political or economic conditions 
in North Korea, and no matter what changes took place in North 
Korea, there would be no gaps in the security entrusted to the 
U.S. and Korean militaries. 

Asked if there has recently been trouble sharing and exchanging 
intelligence between the U.S. and Korea, LaPorte said he knew 
Koreans were interested in that issue, and currently, between the 
two militaries, intelligence was being exchanged in an open and 
transparent manner every hour of every day. 

He said the R.O.K. and U.S. air forces were currently conducting 
joint training and joint operations, and added that while the 
sound of jet fighters might disturb Koreans, he hoped they would 
understand that the sound of jet fighters was the sound of 
freedom. 

(Pak Seung-jun, sjpark@chosun.com ) 
*****************************************************************
 6 Korea: Digital Chosunilbo: Gov't to Send Delegation to IAEA   
 
      Updated Nov.19,2004 17:03 KST   

  The government has decided to send a delegation to the Board
of Governors meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency
(IAEA), which is to be held in Vienna on Nov. 25. Vice Foreign
Minister Choi Young-jin will lead the delegation consisting of
10 officials. The IAEA Board of Governors meeting will decide
whether to refer South Korea's past nuclear material experiments
to the U.N. Security Council. The government has not eliminated
the possibility of being referred to the U.N Security Council. 

According to diplomatic sources, the IAEAĄŻs report pointed out
that South Korea had failed to report four cases of nuclear
material experiments. Seoul failed to report nuclear material
separation experiments using a laser in 2000; uranium conversion
experiments and uranium metal production in the 1980s; plutonium
separation experiments in 1982 and the resulting fusing of fuel
rods, dissolving of uranium and plutonium, and production and
transport of waste; the use of natural uranium in chemical
enrichment experiments in 1979, 

(Lee Ha-won, may2@chosun.com ) 

*****************************************************************
 7 Korea: Digital Chosunilbo: U.S. Proposed to Make 6-Party Talks Permanent: Nikkei   
 
      Updated Nov.19,2004 19:54 KST   

  TOKYO -- The Nihon Keizai Shimbun, quoting several U.S. and
Chinese sources, reported Friday that the U.S. had discussed
with China upgrading the six party talks on the North Korean
nuclear issue to a permanent body. 

The newspaper said U.S. National Security Adviser Condoleeza
Rice delivered that opinion to Chinese leaders during her visit
to Beijing in July. It was the first time for the U.S. to
propose to Chine to transform the six nation talks into a
permanent organization. 

It has been noted that U.S. President George W. Bush will deal
with the issue at his summit with Chinese President Hu Jintao,
which is to be held in Santiago, Chile, on Nov. 20. The U.S. has
suggested the idea of reinforcing the functions of the
six-nation talks and upgrading them to a full-fledged security
consultation organization to discuss conventional weapons and
missile issues after the North Korean nuclear issue is settled.
Washington has proposed to ultimately sign a multinational peace
agreement to replace the armistice agreement, which ended the
Korean War in 1953. The U.S. plans, however, to maintain the six
party talks in their current form until the North Korean nuclear
issue is resolved. 

In response to the U.S. proposal, China has yet to send a
concrete answer, but it did say it generally welcomed ideas that
helped regional stability, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported.
Reportedly, the U.S. unofficially exchanged opinions about the
agenda with South Korea and Japan as well. 

(Jung Kwon-hyun, khjung@chosun.com ) 

*****************************************************************
 8 Korea Times: What's Happening in the North?

Hankooki.com > The Korea Times > Opinion   

 Changes in Personality Cult for Kim Jong-il Draw Concern   

It seems that something is taking place or might have already 
happened in North Korea concerning its Dear Leader Kim Jong-il.

 The International Herald Tribune reported on Thursday that 
``Tokyo analysts are debating the significance of an apparent 
downsizing of the personality cultĄŻĄŻ for the North Korean 
leader. Their explanations range from a demotion of the Stalinist 
regimeĄŻs absolute ruler to an official effort by Pyongyang to 
lower his profile at a time when the North is increasingly in 
WashingtonĄŻs sights for its nuclear program and human rights 
abuses, the IHI said.

 These speculations have been prompted by reports from foreign 
diplomats and aid workers in the North who say some portraits of 
Kim Jong-il in Pyongyang and provincial capitals were taken down 
this autumn. These reports were followed by an Itar-Tass story 
from Pyongyang on Tuesday in which the Russian news agency said 
that guests at recent North Korean Foreign Ministry receptions 
saw only portraits of his father, Kim Il-sung, in the PeopleĄŻs 
Palace of Culture.

 Japanese analysts agree that the disappearance of the portraits 
of the junior Kim from homes, schools and official institutions 
is not happening by accident as the cult of the Kim family is a 
primary biding force in the North, the IHT said.

 Even though there is speculation in Japan and other foreign 
countries about Kim Jong-ilĄŻs status, Pyongyang behaves as if 
nothing has happened. When the Itar-Tass story appeared, a North 
Korean diplomat in Moscow was quoted by the Russian new agency as 
saying: ``This is false information, lies. Can the sun be removed 
from the sky? It is not possible.ĄŻĄŻ

 The Seoul government has also denied the foreign media reports 
by saying that portraits of Kim Jong-il are still in place. 
Washington, on the other hand, has so far kept silent.

 Although events in the North are still shrouded in mystery, many 
local watchers of North Korean affairs have suggested that Kim 
Jung-il might be trying to tone down the ``fanaticalĄŻĄŻ worship 
by his people in order to improve his image in the United States. 
They are of the opinion that the downsizing of the personality 
cult could be aimed at avoiding the brunt of offensives from the 
start of the second Bush administration over its nuclear 
ambitions and human rights issues. 

However, it is generally feared that even if Kim Jong-il is in 
fact making some kind of move, it may backfire as the U.S. and 
the rest of the world are fed up with PyongyangĄŻs nuclear 
brinkmanship and deception.

 We hope that the North will show sincere efforts to end the 
nuclear standoff with the U.S. and improve its dire human rights 
conditions, instead of relying on ``hackneyedĄŻĄŻ hoaxes. 
11-19-2004 19:11         
*****************************************************************
 9 [DU-WATCH] Fw: Use of Uranium Munitions Under Fire
 
Date: Fri, 19 Nov 2004 10:18:42 -0600 (CST)


 
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PLEASE DISTRIBUTE WIDELY
 
Axis of Logic
World News 

U.S. use of depleted uranium under fire 
By LORI MATSUKAWA /
Nov 12, 2004, 06:57

Email this article
 Printer friendly page

Alvin Clark, of Tacoma, developed aplastic anemia he believes is related to
his exposure to depleted uranium dust after he was hit by friendly fire in
Saudi Arabia.
Shells and armor used by U.S. tanks, gunships and helicopters are often made
of depleted uranium because depleted uranium, or D.U., is a heavy metal,
able to pierce armored vehicles or resist being pierced. But it's also
radioactive, a waste product of nuclear enrichment plants like Hanford. 
A pentagon training film shows how the D.U. ordnance bursts into a fiery
powder on contact. 
So, what happens when U.S. Troops are forced to march through the D.U. dust
that's left on the ground? Or get hit by friendly fire? Some vets say it
made them sick. The Pentagon disputes that. 
Shinichi Matsuura of Renton fought in the first Gulf War. His Bradley tank
was hit not once, but twice, by U.S. forces. He breathed a lot of D.U. smoke
 
"Matter of fact I didn't know we were using D.U. until six years ago," said
Matsuura. 
More ...
Or, copy this link to your browser.
http://www.axisoflogic.com/artman/publish/article_13526.shtml

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 10 Guardian Unlimited: $388B Spending Bill May Face Votes Soon
 
From the Associated Press        

[UP] 

Friday November 19, 2004 7:31 AM

AP Photo DCGH109 

By ALAN FRAM 

Associated Press Writer 

WASHINGTON (AP) - Lawmakers and White House budget bargainers
whittled their differences to a handful, fueling hopes Congress
can speed an overdue $388 billion bill to President Bush that
finances most federal agencies. 

The giant measure, which may be ready for votes by late Friday,
bears extra money for priorities like veterans and the war-torn
Darfur region of Sudan, and likely thousands of projects for
lawmakers' home districts. 

But it was largely colored by Bush's demands for curbs on
domestic spending, with only modest increases for favorites like
education and cuts for some of the president's own initiatives. 

The same budget pressures that squeezed the spending bill forced
Republicans to push another measure through Congress late
Thursday that will raise the government's debt limit by $800
billion. That would bring to $2.23 trillion the total borrowing
increases Bush has needed in his four years in the White House -
more than all the debt the country accumulated from its founding
through 1986. 

The new federal borrowing cap would be $8.18 trillion. The House
approved the increase by a mostly party-line 208-204 vote, a day
after it won Senate passage. Its passage was not in doubt
because the alternative was a jarring federal default, but it
was nonetheless a battlefield for partisan finger-pointing. 

``I understand there's been an election, I understand you won
and I commend you for it,'' said Rep. Charles Stenholm, D-Texas,
who was defeated last month after a 26-year career as one his
party's most stalwart deficit hawks. ``But that also means you
have the responsibility for your actions'' because the GOP
controls the White House and Capitol Hill. 

Democrats said GOP tax cuts were the problem and that the
measure should have been accompanied by a revival of a
requirement that the budget be cut to pay for any tax cuts or
spending increases. Republicans said Democratic cries for fiscal
responsibility contrasted with their frequent calls for higher
spending. 

``There's nothing like a reformed lady of the evening,'' said
Rep. Dan Burton, R-Ind. 

In a written statement aimed at reassuring the financial markets
that federal borrowing would be unimpeded, the White House said
Bush would sign the legislation by Monday. 

``The president commends the Congress for passing the debt limit
increase. Passage of this legislation was important to protect
the full faith and credit of the United States,'' the statement
said. 

The debt-limit vote and the progress on the spending bill came
with lawmakers eager to end their lame duck session by the
weekend. Leaders also hope to approve an overhaul of
intelligence agencies before departing. 

The spending bill contains $14.8 billion for programs for
low-income students, 2.5 percent more than last year. Biomedical
research by the National Institutes of Health would grow 2
percent to $28.4 billion, well below the robust boosts it won in
recent years. 

Veterans' health care would grow to $30.3 billion, $1.9 billion
over last year but less than veterans groups wanted. Aid for
refugees in Sudan would be $404 million, including $93 million
to be transferred from Iraq reconstruction money that is being
spent at a snail's pace. 

But the bill would cut grants for local water improvements and
research supported by the National Science Foundation, and hold
the federal subsidy for Amtrak to $1.2 billion, the same as this
year. 

Ending one lingering dispute, lawmakers agreed to $577 million,
the same as last year, to continue developing a nuclear waste
storage site at Yucca Mountain in Nevada, one lawmaker said. 

Late problems included an effort by some legislators to curb
Bush's plan to contract out federal jobs to private businesses,
as well as a plan to pay for some of the bill's increases by
cutting unspent defense funds. 

Spending-bill bargainers also sorted through a stack of policy
changes that lawmakers and lobbyists were trying to shove into
one of the last measures Congress will approve this year. 

Congressional aides said they believed a milk subsidy extension
sought by Midwesterners and an effort to repeal required
country-of-origin labels for meat would not make the final bill.
Also thwarted was a drive to ease rules designed to protect
endangered species from pesticides, the aides said. 

The spending measure, covering the government budget year that
started Oct. 1, is an amalgamation of nine separate bills
financing all federal agencies except the Pentagon and the
Homeland Security Department. 
  
      Guardian Unlimited Š Guardian Newspapers Limited 2004
*****************************************************************
 11 FPI: Nuclear Suitcase Bombs Can Be Detected From Space Satellites
 
Blogger Template Style Name: Minima Designer: Douglas Bowman
URL: www.stopdesign.com 

FREE PRESS INTERNATIONAL 
	 	 	 
11.18.2004      

 	Suitcase nuclear bombs can be detected from space satellites.
The Multispectral Thermal Imager (MTI) satellite developed at
	Sandia and Los Alamos national laboratories includes a
sophisticated equipment that can detect any nuclear energy on
earth. 	

 	The US Air Force Space and Missile Test and Evaluation
Directorate launched the MTI into polar orbit in 1999 using an
	Orbital Sciences Corporation Taurus rocket. 	

 	Usama Bin Laden allegedly has already purchased a number of
nuclear suitcase bombs from Chechen organized crime groups and
	there have been reports that he has backpack bombs also. 	

 	So if there are suitcase bombs out there, we should already
know exactly where they are. 	

                Sandia.gov
	 		
*****************************************************************
 12 [NukeNet] Wilmington News Journal - UCS says PSEG risking
 
Date: Fri, 19 Nov 2004 14:54:41 -0800

 
<x-flowed>
http://www.delawareonline.com/newsjournal/local/2004/11/19scientistswanth.html


Scientists want Hope Creek restart postponed
Group cites flaws in cooling system pump
By JEFF MONTGOMERY / The News Journal
11/19/2004

A national science and environmental organization called on PSEG Nuclear
on Thursday to postpone a restart of the Hope Creek nuclear power plant
along the Delaware River, saying the utility's own studies reveal
dangerous flaws in a crucial reactor cooling water pump.

David Lochbaum, a nuclear safety engineer with the Union of Concerned
Scientists, said Wednesday his group is concerned the utility was
needlessly risking plant damage or a nuclear catastrophe by delaying major
repairs to the pump system, one of two near the bottom of the 1,050
megawatt reactor.

"Overwhelming evidence points to the shaft on the "B" recirculation pump
at Hope Creek being both bent and broken. Either condition should, by
itself, be sufficient justification for replacing the shaft," Lochbaum
wrote. Failure to repair the problem, he said, "would be a gamble far
larger than any wagered in Atlantic City."

PSEG spokesman Skip Sindoni said the company was convinced by a
consultant's study that Hope Creek can operate safely without a major
overhaul until its next refueling cycle, about 18 months after it returns
to operation from a shutdown that began Oct. 10.

"Had there been a safety issue, we would replace the pump now," Sindoni
said. He said that PSEG's plans are consistent with industry practices.

PSEG Nuclear operates three reactors along the Delaware River southwest of
Salem, N.J., opposite Augustine Beach. The three can generate more than
3,300 megawatts combined, making Salem/Hope Creek the nation's
second-largest nuclear generating complex.

The pump involved continuously recirculates cooling water through the
reactor core and is capable of moving more than 40,000 gallons per minute.
Safety planners rank its failure as one of the "worst-case" scenarios used
to guide the design of plant backup and safety systems.

PSEG's consultant confirmed evidence of damage, including cracking, caused
by vibrations originating in the pump, and recommended stepped-up
monitoring of the vibrations and other systems. Chicago-based electric
power consultants Sargent & Lundy LLC also advised the company to have a
plan ready for immediate repairs and replacement because "the window
between the [vibration] rise and potential shaft failure is expected to be
small."

PSEG officials provided a top-level briefing on the problem to Lochbaum on
Wednesday, but Lochbaum said the details only increased his concerns.

Delaware Sens. Joe Biden and Tom Carper, both Democrats, and Republican
Rep. Mike Castle called on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to provide
the delegation with details on the pump and safety issues.

"We expect them to address this issue fully prior to the restart of
operations at Hope Creek," the three lawmakers said in a joint statement.

Hope Creek stopped producing electricity Oct. 10 after an abrupt shutdown
was triggered by an unrelated steam pipe break. PSEG officials have said
they would restart the reactor only when they are convinced the plant is
safe to operate.

The regulatory commission is conducting its own investigation and
described the incident as a "shutdown with complications." The commission
has asked the utility to reform what have been described as chronic
maintenance problems and a workplace environment that tends to discourage
worker safety warnings.

NRC spokesman Neil Sheehan said the pump issue may come up during a
scheduled public meeting in Delaware with PSEG Nuclear officials on Dec.
2. Commission experts in the commission's Rockville, Md., headquarters
office are currently reviewing the latest report from PSEG's consultants

"Certainly we will have an answer on this before any decision is made on
restart," Sheehan said.

PSEG's consultant report, released by the group, said Hope Creek already
has operated the pump for at least 50,000 hours longer than the reactor
manufacturer's recommended limit before inspection.

Sindoni said plants typically replace the shafts at inspection time
because the insides of the system are radioactive.

"You don't open it up and inspect it. Once they decide to open it up, they
go ahead and replace," Sindoni said. "It's a very hot area. It's a
radioactive area."

The Union of Concerned Scientists is a nationwide group founded in 1969 by
faculty and students at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and based in
Cambridge. The group says there is a need to devote more scientific
attention to environmental and social needs.

Contact Jeff Montgomery at 678-4277 or jmontgomery@delawareonline.com.


R E C E N T  A R T I C L E S
	

11/13/2004
 Safety at Hope Creek questioned

10/28/2004
 Liquid gas plan worries nuclear plant

10/27/2004
 Access to nuclear plant documents cut

10/26/2004
 Del. lawmakers question nuclear plant

10/23/2004
 Hope Creek plant profits likely to lag

10/21/2004
 Nuke plant's neighbors should get the pill

10/19/2004
 Hope Creek plant staying closed


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*****************************************************************
 13 NRC: Dr. Michael T. Ryan and Allen G. Croff Elected to New Positions on NRC Advisory Committee
 
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. 04-145     November 18, 2004   

The Nuclear Regulatory Commissions Advisory Committee on
Nuclear Waste (ACNW) has elected Dr. Michael T. Ryan as chairman
and Allen G. Croff as vice chairman. They will serve in these
new positions for one year. ACNW provides independent technical
advice on activities, programs and issues associated with
regulating, managing and disposing of radioactive waste. 

Dr. Ryan is an independent consultant in radiological sciences
and health physics, and an adjunct faculty member in the College
of Health Professions at the Medical University of South
Carolina and at the College of Charleston. He has more than 25
years of experience in radioactive waste management and
radiation protection. Dr. Ryan has served on the Board of
Directors of the National Council on Radiation Protection and
Measurements and as the Scientific Vice President for the
Council's Radioactive and Mixed Waste Management program. He has
authored numerous articles and publications in such areas as
radiation dosimetry, radioactive waste management, regulatory
compliance for radioactive materials, and environmental
radiation assessment. He has been a member of ACNW since June
2002. 

Croff worked at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory for 29 years,
retiring in 2003. He held positions in staff, line management,
and program management concerning waste management research and
development, analysis of nuclear fuel cycles and nuclear
materials management, and strategic planning. He remains
involved with international review and oversight related to
nuclear waste. One of Croffs significant achievements was
creating the ORIGEN2 computer code used worldwide to calculate
radionuclide buildup and decay, and its application to nuclear
material and waste characterization, risk analysis and nuclear
fuel cycle analysis. Croff previously served as chair for a
committee of the National Council on Radiation Protection and
Measurements. He has been a member of ACNW since July 2004.   



  


 	Last revised Friday, November 19, 2004 	   
*****************************************************************
 14 News Journal: Scientists want Hope Creek restart postponed

www.delawareonline.com 

Group cites flaws in cooling system pump

 By JEFF MONTGOMERY / The News Journal 11/19/2004 

A national science and environmental organization called on PSEG 
Nuclear on Thursday to postpone a restart of the Hope Creek 
nuclear power plant along the Delaware River, saying the 
utility's own studies reveal dangerous flaws in a crucial reactor 
cooling water pump. 

David Lochbaum, a nuclear safety engineer with the Union of 
Concerned Scientists, said Wednesday his group is concerned the 
utility was needlessly risking plant damage or a nuclear 
catastrophe by delaying major repairs to the pump system, one of 
two near the bottom of the 1,050 megawatt reactor. 

"Overwhelming evidence points to the shaft on the "B" 
recirculation pump at Hope Creek being both bent and broken. 
Either condition should, by itself, be sufficient justification 
for replacing the shaft," Lochbaum wrote. Failure to repair the 
problem, he said, "would be a gamble far larger than any wagered 
in Atlantic City." 

PSEG spokesman Skip Sindoni said the company was convinced by a 
consultant's study that Hope Creek can operate safely without a 
major overhaul until its next refueling cycle, about 18 months 
after it returns to operation from a shutdown that began Oct. 10. 

"Had there been a safety issue, we would replace the pump now," 
Sindoni said. He said that PSEG's plans are consistent with 
industry practices. 

PSEG Nuclear operates three reactors along the Delaware River 
southwest of Salem, N.J., opposite Augustine Beach. The three can 
generate more than 3,300 megawatts combined, making Salem/Hope 
Creek the nation's second-largest nuclear generating complex. 

The pump involved continuously recirculates cooling water through 
the reactor core and is capable of moving more than 40,000 
gallons per minute. Safety planners rank its failure as one of 
the "worst-case" scenarios used to guide the design of plant 
backup and safety systems. 

PSEG's consultant confirmed evidence of damage, including 
cracking, caused by vibrations originating in the pump, and 
recommended stepped-up monitoring of the vibrations and other 
systems. Chicago-based electric power consultants Sargent &Lundy 
LLC also advised the company to have a plan ready for immediate 
repairs and replacement because "the window between the 
[vibration] rise and potential shaft failure is expected to be 
small." 

PSEG officials provided a top-level briefing on the problem to 
Lochbaum on Wednesday, but Lochbaum said the details only 
increased his concerns. 

Delaware Sens. Joe Biden and Tom Carper, both Democrats, and 
Republican Rep. Mike Castle called on the Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission to provide the delegation with details on the pump and 
safety issues. 

"We expect them to address this issue fully prior to the restart 
of operations at Hope Creek," the three lawmakers said in a joint 
statement. 

Hope Creek stopped producing electricity Oct. 10 after an abrupt 
shutdown was triggered by an unrelated steam pipe break. PSEG 
officials have said they would restart the reactor only when they 
are convinced the plant is safe to operate. 

The regulatory commission is conducting its own investigation and 
described the incident as a "shutdown with complications." The 
commission has asked the utility to reform what have been 
described as chronic maintenance problems and a workplace 
environment that tends to discourage worker safety warnings. 

NRC spokesman Neil Sheehan said the pump issue may come up during 
a scheduled public meeting in Delaware with PSEG Nuclear 
officials on Dec. 2. Commission experts in the commission's 
Rockville, Md., headquarters office are currently reviewing the 
latest report from PSEG's consultants 

"Certainly we will have an answer on this before any decision is 
made on restart," Sheehan said. 

PSEG's consultant report, released by the group, said Hope Creek 
already has operated the pump for at least 50,000 hours longer 
than the reactor manufacturer's recommended limit before 
inspection. 

Sindoni said plants typically replace the shafts at inspection 
time because the insides of the system are radioactive. 

"You don't open it up and inspect it. Once they decide to open it 
up, they go ahead and replace," Sindoni said. "It's a very hot 
area. It's a radioactive area." 

The Union of Concerned Scientists is a nationwide group founded 
in 1969 by faculty and students at Massachusetts Institute of 
Technology and based in Cambridge. The group says there is a need 
to devote more scientific attention to environmental and social 
needs. 

Contact Jeff Montgomery at 678-4277 or 
jmontgomery@delawareonline.com.

Š 2004 delawareonline.com/The News Journal 
*****************************************************************
 15 NRC: NRC Extends Comment Period For Environmental Impact Statement on Proposed Uranium Facility in
                           New Mexico
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. 04-146     November 19, 2004   
  
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has extended until Dec. 18 the
public comment period for its draft environmental impact
statement on a proposed uranium enrichment facility to be built
in Lea County, N.M. The deadline was extended because of the
temporary unavailability of the agencys public document library
on its Web site. 

The original public comment period began Sept. 17 and was to
expire Nov. 6. However, the NRC initiated a security review Oct.
25 of publicly available documents to ensure that potentially
sensitive information is removed from the agencys Web site.
Documents are being restored in stages as they are screened for
sensitive information. 

The NRC remains committed to being an open regulatory agency,
said Daniel M. Gillen, acting director of NRCs Division of
Waste Management and Environmental Protection. Extending the
public comment period is appropriate to allow members of the
public to have time for access to relevant documents while
developing their comments on the draft environmental impact
statement. 

The draft environmental impact statement on the proposed
National Enrichment Facility is available on the NRC Web site at
this address:
http://www.nrc.gov/materials/fuel-cycle-fac/ml042510184.pdf [PDF
Icon] . Public comments should be postmarked by Dec. 18 and
submitted to the Chief, Rules Review and Directives Branch, Mail
Stop T6-D59, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington,
D.C. 20555-0001. Please note docket number 70-3103. Comments may
also be submitted by e-mail to nrcrep@nrc.gov, or by facsimile
to (301) 415-5397, attention Anna Bradford.   



  


 	Last revised Friday, November 19, 2004 	   
*****************************************************************
 16 Medical News: Chernobyl disaster caused cancer cases in Sweden

News-Medical.Net...
 
Posted By: News-Medical in Medical Study News   
  Published: Friday, 19-Nov-2004   

  [A statistically determined correlation between radioactive 
fallout from the Chernobyl accident and an increase in the number 
of cases of cancer in the exposed areas in Sweden is reported in 
a study by scientists at Linköping University, Örebro University, 
and the County Council of Västernorrland County.]   

A statistically determined correlation between radioactive 
fallout from the Chernobyl accident and an increase in the number 
of cases of cancer in the exposed areas in Sweden is reported in 
a study by scientists at Linköping University, Örebro University, 
and the County Council of Västernorrland County. 

It is the first study demonstrating such a correlation. It is 
being published in the scientific journal Journal of Epidemiology 
and Community Health. 

A rise in cancer cases related to the Chernobyl accident has 
previously been established in studies carried out in the former 
Soviet Union. 

After the nuclear power accident at Chernobyl on April 26, 1986, 
some of the radioactive emissions were carried by the wind to 
Sweden. Heavy rain caused a relatively large amount, about 5 
percent of the Cesium-137 released in the disaster, fell on 
Sweden, above all along the coastal area of Northern Sweden and 
northern central Sweden. The fallout in Sweden was unevenly 
distributed and, compared with the areas close to the nuclear 
power station at Chenobyl, considerably less. Knowledge of the 
possible consequences of radioactive fallout on health prompted a 
number of measures to be taken to reduce these consequences at 
the time of the Chernobyl accident. 

The study now being published aims to help answer the question of 
whether there is increased cancer morbidity that can be tied to 
this fallout. The study divides the parishes in the seven 
northernmost Swedish counties into six classes on the basis of 
ground coverage of cesium 137. Most of the parishes in the seven 
counties, 333 out of 450, were impacted by the fallout. One class 
comprising 117 parishes received no fallout, and the individuals 
in these parishes were used as a control group. Those people aged 
0-60 who were resident in the counties in question and who had 
the same address on December 31, 1985 and December 31, 1987, were 
monitored for development of cancer. At the outset of the study 
1,143,182 individuals were included, and 22,409 cases of cancer 
were registered during the years 1988 through 1996. 

There is a statistically established correlation between the 
degree of fallout and an observed rise in the number of cancer 
cases. The increase involves all types of cancer in the 
aggregate. On the other hand, no clear effect can be seen for 
individual forms of cancer, not even for those types that have 
been regarded as especially susceptible to radiation, such as 
leukemia or thyroid cancer. 

It is remarkable that an increase in cancer morbidity could have 
occurred after such a relatively short time following the 
accident, but just such a short time period has been described 
for groups exposed to radioactive radiation. If the correlation 
found here is not a product of chance, or other unknown 
disturbances than those corrected for in the analysis, then one 
possible explanation is that the radiation hastened the growth of 
already established tumors in their early stages, rather than 
that new tumors occurred. 

http://www.vr.se/A statistically determined correlation between 
radioactive fallout from the Chernobyl accident and an increase 
in the number of cases of cancer in the exposed areas in Sweden 
is reported in a study by scientists at Linköping University, 
Örebro University, and the County Council of Västernorrland 
County. 


It is the first study demonstrating such a correlation. It is 
being published in the scientific journal Journal of Epidemiology 
and Community Health. 

A rise in cancer cases related to the Chernobyl accident has 
previously been established in studies carried out in the former 
Soviet Union. 

After the nuclear power accident at Chernobyl on April 26, 1986, 
some of the radioactive emissions were carried by the wind to 
Sweden. Heavy rain caused a relatively large amount, about 5 
percent of the Cesium-137 released in the disaster, fell on 
Sweden, above all along the coastal area of Northern Sweden and 
northern central Sweden. The fallout in Sweden was unevenly 
distributed and, compared with the areas close to the nuclear 
power station at Chenobyl, considerably less. Knowledge of the 
possible consequences of radioactive fallout on health prompted a 
number of measures to be taken to reduce these consequences at 
the time of the Chernobyl accident. 

The study now being published aims to help answer the question of 
whether there is increased cancer morbidity that can be tied to 
this fallout. The study divides the parishes in the seven 
northernmost Swedish counties into six classes on the basis of 
ground coverage of cesium 137. Most of the parishes in the seven 
counties, 333 out of 450, were impacted by the fallout. One class 
comprising 117 parishes received no fallout, and the individuals 
in these parishes were used as a control group. Those people aged 
0-60 who were resident in the counties in question and who had 
the same address on December 31, 1985 and December 31, 1987, were 
monitored for development of cancer. At the outset of the study 
1,143,182 individuals were included, and 22,409 cases of cancer 
were registered during the years 1988 through 1996. 

There is a statistically established correlation between the 
degree of fallout and an observed rise in the number of cancer 
cases. The increase involves all types of cancer in the 
aggregate. On the other hand, no clear effect can be seen for 
individual forms of cancer, not even for those types that have 
been regarded as especially susceptible to radiation, such as 
leukemia or thyroid cancer. 

It is remarkable that an increase in cancer morbidity could have 
occurred after such a relatively short time following the 
accident, but just such a short time period has been described 
for groups exposed to radioactive radiation. If the correlation 
found here is not a product of chance, or other unknown 
disturbances than those corrected for in the analysis, then one 
possible explanation is that the radiation hastened the growth of 
already established tumors in their early stages, rather than 
that new tumors occurred. 

http://www.vr.se/-->   

[News-Medical.Net]   

*****************************************************************
 17 TheDay.com: Nuclear Power A Way To Solve Energy Crisis
 		 		 		
Published on 11/19/2004

Letters To The Editor:

Our elected officials have failed to establish a long-range 
energy policy. Our leaders of industry have lacked the will to 
fight for affordable and ample energy in order to remain 
competitive. The population is willing to hope that something 
called cheep alternative energy that is environmentally friendly 
will magically appear. The fact is we must return to atomic 
energy and start building nuclear power plants. That decision 
should have been made years ago because it takes about four years 
to complete construction of a plant. In the meantime, sufficient 
affordable energy is running out.

The world oil supply is only marginally sufficient and well 
planned terrorist attacks throughout the Middle East will drive 
our economy into a major slowdown. We have no backup and the oil 
reserves, solar power and wind-generated energy will fill only a 
small percentage of our needs. Proposals to switch to electric 
vehicles or hydrogen-fueled vehicles are great ideas, but the 
energy to generate the power and produce the hydrogen now must 
come from oil. Without a plan to become energy in dependent, this 
nation will face some difficult times.

Safe nuclear power plants can be constructed. The waste can be 
controlled easier and more effectively than our ability to 
control greenhouse gases. Our naval nuclear program has 
demonstrated our successful capabilities in nuclear technology. 
In spite of this, we have failed to educate the public of the 
need to switch to nuclear power. 

After spending billions of dollars and many years, we have failed 
to license a storage facility for our existing plants. The public 
has developed an unjustified fear of nuclear power. A realistic 
energy policy including nuclear plants may never be developed 
until we are faced with economic crisis. At that point we will he 
five or six years behind the curve and will pay dearly for the 
delay. 

John Lawrence Gales Ferry

1998-2004 The Day Publishing Co.                
*****************************************************************
 18 NRC: Sunshine Act Meeting
 
                        FR Doc 04-25777 
[Federal Register: November 19, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 223)] 
[Notices] [Page 67765-67766] From the Federal Register Online via 
GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr19no04-91]                         
 
Agency Holding the Meeting: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
 
 
DATES: Weeks of November 22, 29, December 6, 13, 20, 27, 2004.
 
Place: Commissioners' Conference Room, 11555 Rockville Pike, 
Rockville, Maryland.
 
Status: Public and Closed.
 
Matters to be considered: 
 
[[Page 67766]] Week of November 22, 2004 There are no meetings 
scheduled for the Week of November 22, 2004.
 
Week of November 29, 2004--Tentative There are no meetings 
scheduled for the Week of November 29, 2004.
 
Week of December 6, 2004--Tentative Tuesday, December 7, 2004 
9:30 a.m.--Briefing on Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Program 
(Public Meeting) (Contact: Corenthis Kelley, (301) 415-7380).
 
This meeting will be webcast live at the Web 
address--http://www.nrc.gov .
 
Wednesday, December 8, 2004 12:55 p.m.--Affirmation Session 
(Public Meeting) (Tentative) a. Motion to Quash OI Subpoena 
(Tentative) 1 p.m.--Briefing on Status of Davis Besse Lessons 
Learned Task Force Recommendations (Public Meeting) (Contact: 
John Jolicoeur, (301) 415- 1724).
 
This meeting will be webcast live at the Web 
address--http://www.nrc.gov .
 
Thursday, December 9, 2004 2 p.m.--Briefing on Reactor Safety and 
Licensing Activities (Public Meeting) (Contact: Steve Koenick, 
(301) 415-1239).
 
This meeting will be webcast live at the Web 
address--http://www.nrc.gov .
 
Week of December 13, 2004--Tentative Tuesday, December 14, 2004 1 
p.m.--Briefing on Emergency Preparedness Program Initiatives 
(Public Meeting) (Contact: Nader Mamish, (301) 415-1086).
 
This meeting will be webcast live at the Web 
address--http://www.nrc.gov .
 
2 p.m.--Briefing on Emergency Preparedness Program Initiatives 
(Closed--Ex. 1) Week of December 20, 2004--Tentative There are no 
meetings scheduled for the Week of December 20, 2004.
 
Week of December 27, 2004--Tentative There are no meetings 
scheduled for the Week of December 27, 2004.
 
* The schedule for Commission meetings is subject to change on 
short notice. To verify the status of meetings call 
(recording)--(301) 415-1292. Contact person for more information: 
Dave Gamberoni, (301) 415-1651.
 
* * * * * The NRC Commission Meeting Schedule can be found on the 
Internet at: 
http://www.nrc.gov/what-we-do/policy-making/schedule.html. * * * 
* * The NRC provides reasonable accommodation to individuals with 
disabilities where appropriate. If you need a reasonable 
accommodation to participate in these public meetings, or need 
this meeting notice or the transcript or other information from 
the public meetings in another format (e.g. braille, large 
print), please notify the NRC's Disability Program Coordinator, 
August Spector, at (301) 415-7080, TDD: (301) 415- 2100, or by 
e-mail at aks@nrc.gov. Determinations on requests for reasonable 
accommodation will be made on a case-by-case basis.
 
* * * * * This notice is distributed by mail to several hundred 
subscribers; if you no longer wish to receive it, or would like 
to be added to the distribution, please contact the Office of the 
Secretary, Washington, DC 20555 (301) 415-1969. In addition, 
distribution of this meeting notice over the Internet system is 
available. If you are interested in receiving this Commission 
meeting schedule electronically, please send an electronic 
message to dkw@nrc.gov. Dated: November 16, 2004.
 
Dave Gamberoni, Office of the Secretary.
 
[FR Doc. 04-25777 Filed 11-17-04; 9:43 am] BILLING CODE 7590-01-M

 
*****************************************************************
 19 [du-list] Debating the Evidence on Gulf War Illnesses
 
Date: Fri, 19 Nov 2004 14:54:45 -0800

 
<x-flowed>
1- Debating the Evidence on Gulf War Illnesses
2- 'They've been covering up for years and years'
3- Principi should also resign
--

Debating the Evidence on Gulf War Illnesses

nytimes.com
By SCOTT SHANE
November 16, 2004

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/16/health/policy/16gulf.html?oref=login

When a Department of Veterans Affairs panel produced a
provocative report last week on the illnesses of veterans of
the 1991 Persian Gulf war, it stepped into a treacherous
territory where patients' suffering meets scientists'
skepticism.

By dismissing combat stress or other psychological causes
and finding a "probable link" between the veterans' health
problems and exposures to pesticides, sarin or other
chemicals, the Research Advisory Committee on Gulf War
Veterans' Illnesses suggested that it was correcting the
record based on the latest scientific evidence.

But some outside scientists, including several whose earlier
gulf war studies found scant support for the chemical
theory, wondered whether the committee was instead
stretching thin data to tell veterans what they wanted to hear.

"What is their motive in drawing strong conclusions from
weak evidence?" asked Dr. Harold C. Sox, editor of The
Annals of Internal Medicine, who led an earlier gulf war
study for the Institute of Medicine. "I think the process
the V.A. used was flawed. They asked experts to testify who
had at least the appearance of a conflict of interest. And
they didn't have a methodology for assessing the strength of
the evidence."

Whatever the eventual consensus, the disagreement makes
clear that gulf war illnesses have joined a constellation of
contentious health issues that pit the frustration of ailing
patients against scientists' demands for meticulous data.

Like patients who believe their ills can be traced to
silicone breast implants or Agent Orange, the ailing
veterans complain of a daunting variety of symptoms:
headaches, joint pain, fatigue, diarrhea, skin rashes,
dizziness and even hair loss.

Gulf war illnesses - like multiple chemical sensitivity,
chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia - have been
attributed to numerous possible causes. Some veterans have
blamed the anthrax vaccine, smoke from oil fires and
exposure to depleted uranium for their ailments.

"You're dealing with a will-o'-the-wisp," said Dr. Marcia
Angell, former editor of The New England Journal of Medicine
and the author of a 1996 book on the breast implant controversy.

"If someone says rhubarb causes colon cancer, the
presumption is that it doesn't until there's objective
scientific data," Dr. Angell said.

Patients with multisymptom syndromes often suffer from
depression, too, leading some researchers to believe that
some of the ailments are psychosomatic.

But when patients are told their illness has a psychological
origin, it can add to feelings of isolation and frustration.

"I think in general the less competent doctors tell their
patients, 'It's all psychological,' '' said Dr. Paul
Greengard, a Nobel Prize-winning neuroscientist at
Rockefeller University, who says he believes that a
neurotoxin role in gulf war illness is plausible. "That's
the last escape for doctors who can't find an answer."

Financial issues can complicate the picture. With breast
implants, lawyers for women who said they had been harmed
sought damages from manufacturers. With gulf war illnesses,
as with Agent Orange, a finding that a sickness is
"service-connected" can open the door to benefit payments.

Faced with such thorny medical controversies, the
government's response is often to appoint a committee. But
the committee's makeup may influence its conclusions.

For example, the V.A. committee that produced the new report
included four gulf war veterans and six medical scientists,
four of whom had published previous studies of gulf war
health problems.

The committee noted that Desert Storm was a brief war in
which few soldiers saw close-quarters combat that could
cause lasting psychological harm.

Dr. Lea Steele, a Kansas State University epidemiologist and
the panel's scientific director, said the committee found
evidence that troops might have suffered neurological damage
from exposure to pesticides or to sarin, a nerve gas
possibly released when American forces destroyed Iraqi
weapons depots.

In contrast, the Institute of Medicine, composing a
different committee to study the effects of sarin on gulf
war veterans, deliberately chose no veterans and selected
six scientists who had never studied gulf war illnesses.

In August, that group found "insufficient evidence" that
low-level exposure to sarin from the destruction of Iraqi
arms could cause long-terms neurological effects.

"Our committee understood that the issues were highly
politically charged," said Dr. Jack M. Colwill, chairman of
the Institute of Medicine committee. "But we sat down and
focused on the scientific evidence."

James Binns, a former Defense Department official who headed
the new V.A. committee, said he believed his group reached a
different conclusion because it considered animal studies of
sarin that the Institute of Medicine panel ignored. He
acknowledged, however, that panel members' backgrounds
played a role.

Mr. Binns said that when Anthony J. Principi, the secretary
of veterans affairs, selected the panel, he "looked for
people who were open to reaching new conclusions."

Another member of the V.A. panel, Dr. Beatrice Golomb of the
University of California at San Diego, said that if stress
had been wrongly blamed for gulf war illnesses, there was a
precedent. For decades, doctors told their patients that
gastric ulcers were caused by stress.

Then a group of maverick researchers proved that most cases
were caused by a bacterium, Helicobacter pylori. Today,
stress is believed to play a minor role or none at all. "The
medical community was very resistant to accepting a new
idea," Dr. Golomb said, adding that, with gulf war
illnesses, too, "it's challenging, because there have been
very strongly staked out positions."

-----

'They've been covering up for years and years'

TRIBUNE-REVIEW
By Richard Gazarik
November 16, 2004

http://pittsburghlive.com/x/tribune-review/trib/regional/s_273337.html

Ed Barras, of Jeannette, never doubted that the cancer that
killed his son, David, in 1996, was caused by exposure to
depleted uranium during the Persian Gulf War.

Now the government is beginning to think the same thing.

The Veterans Administration last week announced it will no
longer provide funding for studies linking the stress of
combat to Gulf War Syndrome. Instead, $15 million earmarked
for research will fund studies into other theories.

The Research Advisory Committee on Gulf War Illness
recommended the VA shift its focus to toxins, depleted
uranium and pesticides. The committee said more research
also needs to be done into exposure to vaccines, and
depleted uranium used in munitions.

"There weren't too many of us who believed that chemicals
started all this," Barras said. "Me, his brother, his
sister, believed it. Everybody else was doubtful about it."

The Rev. Barry Walker, of East Palestine, Ohio, a former
Army chaplain, said he feels vindicated now that a newly
released government report says exposure to chemicals and a
combination of medications and vaccines may cause a variety
of ailments and diseases known collectively as GWS.

"They've been covering up for years and years and years,"
Walker said. "Some of us have been calling them liars for
years and years and years."

David Barras was a tank mechanic with the 3rd Armored
Division in 1991. His job was to remove demolished Iraqi
tanks from the battlefield after they had been strafed by
A-10 aircraft carrying ammunition with depleted uranium. His
father believed the cancer came from his proximity to the
destroyed tanks that he worked on.

"It's only taken the government about 10 years to come
around," Ed Barras said.

The military takes depleted uranium that has been removed
from nuclear weapons and fuel and places it into the shells
of Gatling guns used by aircraft. These tank-killing
airplanes were very effective in the Gulf War in destroying
Iraqi armored units.

Before he was deployed, Walker received two inoculations to
protect him against anthrax, another for botulism and other
medications to protect him against various diseases. One of
the anti-nerve agent medications he received was
pyridostigmine bromide, which enhances the protective
characteristics of atropine and pralidoxime.

The committee said that although the medications taken
individually would not be toxic enough to make a soldier
ill, a combination of the chemicals could.

As a chaplain, Walker traveled around from unit to unit
helping other chaplains. He was with the Hempfield
Township-based 14th Quartermaster Detachment in 1991 when
the unit was hit by a Scud missile in the closing stages of
the war.

Scud missiles, according to some government reports, were
thought to have contained biological warheads.

"As senior chaplain, I was all over the place trying to fill
the void," he continued. "I was four miles down the road
when they blew up Kafji. There was mustard gas there. I was
in the area. I was exposed."

Kafji is located in Saudi Arabia, where the military blew up
munition dumps. According to Department of Defense reports,
there also were other areas where servicemen and women could
have been exposed to chemical agents.

The Talil Air Force base in southeast Iraq was a chemical
munitions storage site that was blown up by American forces.
At al-Jubayl, a Marine reconnaissance unit may have been
exposed to mustard gas during fighting there, according to
reports.

Another mustard gas storage site was destroyed at Khaydir.
Reports said the site contained 155 mm artillery shells
filled with mustard gas. Airstrikes could have caused the
release of the gas into the atmosphere.

At Khamisiyah in March 1991, 77 large ammunition bunkers
were destroyed along with 45 warehouses, according to
reports that indicated one bunker had 2,160 rockets filled
with chemical agents. A final report on the Khamisiyah
effort said troops "were likely exposed to low levels of
nerve agent."

Since their return, Gulf War veterans have been suffering
from a variety of unexplained ailments, including chronic
headaches, fatigue, stomach and respiratory problems and
skin diseases. Studies also have found a higher incidence of
amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig's disease,
among them that is twice that of veterans who were not
deployed to the Middle East.

At one point, Walker thought he may have contracted
amyotrophic lateral sclerosis when he got sicker after his
doctors took him off an experimental drug, he said. Although
he doesn't think he has it, he said his condition worsened
after he was taken off the medication.

Walker said he keeps in contact with other suffering
veterans. Some, he said, will not admit they are ill.

"I have two people who will not admit they are afflicted,"
he said. "They are afraid they will lose their jobs."

Both men work for the U.S. Army as civilians and could lose
their positions if they are declared unable to work.

"They're fighting hard to stay where they are," he said.

Meanwhile, Barras said his son's physicians at the VA
wouldn't say whether they believed David's cancer could have
been the result of uranium exposure.

"They came close to saying it but wouldn't say it," he said.

Barras said the day before he died, his son received a
government check for $28,000 after he was awarded 100
percent disability.

"He looked at the check and five hours later he fell into a
coma."

Richard Gazarik can be reached at rgazarik@tribweb.com or
(724) 830-6292.

-----

Principi should also resign

The Journal News
November 16, 2004)

http://www.thejournalnews.com/newsroom/111604/16edva.html

As letters of resignation are being dropped on President
George W. Bush's desk, one should certainly be forthcoming
from Veterans Affairs Secretary Anthony Principi. It should
be accepted, and the president should quickly appoint a VA
head who can act decisively for the nation's veterans  from
aging and ailing World War II vets to those now fighting in
Iraq and Afghanistan who will need VA health care on their
return.

Principi is still stuck in the 1991 Persian Gulf War,
announcing that the VA will no longer spend money on studies
to support the federal government's longstanding contention
that stress, not the war, is to blame for the mystery
illnesses that affect thousands of gulf war veterans.

"We are going to look at other possible theories as to what
may be causing these undiagnosed symptoms," Principi said
Friday. "Going to look" at illnesses from a war that ended
13 years ago is one example of Principi's lack of timeliness.

Another is that Congress required the VA to establish a
panel to research gulf war illnesses in 1998. Principi
didn't get around to appointing the Research Advisory
Committee on Gulf War Illnesses until January 2002. A panel
report Friday steered the mystery illness problem from
stress to other possible causes. These would include nerve
gas, an anti-nerve gas drug, pesticide exposure,
chemical-agent coatings on equipment, the use of depleted
uranium in weaponry and oil well fires.

"We must embrace the possibility that unconventional
theories, given the time and resources to test them, may
lead the way to resolving and understanding the unforseen
and unsupported battlefield conditions that existed in 1990,
1991 and may have tunneled silently into the bodies of gulf
war veterans," Principi said. That's what veterans groups
have been saying for more than 10 years.

Nearly half of the almost 700,000 U.S. troops in the gulf
war have filed VA health claims. Of those, the panel said 25
percent to 30 percent suffered from unexplained illnesses
such as chronic fatigue, migraines, memory loss, skin
rashes, joint and muscle pain, diarrhea, dizziness and loss
of balance. Many veterans are too sick to work, but were
unable to get disability compensation because they could not
prove their illnesses were related to their military service.

It's reminiscent of the Agent Orange mystery illnesses of
the Vietnam War that the government denied existed for so long.

Principi also said he would establish a Center for the Study
of Gulf War Illnesses Treatment "to help us investigate the
little understood avenues of medical science that may one
day lead to a breakthrough in our ability to treat gulf war
veterans." Given the lesson of Agent Orange, such a center
for gulf war veterans should have been opened years ago.

Principi can also be criticized for shortchanging the New
York-New Jersey VA region of millions of dollars in recent
years and for his heavy-handed effort to modernize the VA
health-care system, including the questionable downsizing of
the FDR VA Hospital at Montrose and transfer of inpatient
psychiatric and long-term nursing home beds to the smaller
Castle Point Division in Dutchess County.

Principi needs to be replaced with a VA leader who will not
only follow through for gulf war veterans, but who will be
ready when veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan need a
breakthrough of their own without waiting more than a decade.

-----


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 20 [du-list] Old uranium is a killer
 
Date: Fri, 19 Nov 2004 14:54:43 -0800

 
<x-flowed>
Old uranium is a killer

Pulitzer Central Coast Newspapers
Nov. 16, 2004

http://www.santamariatimes.com/articles/2004/11/16/sections/opinion/111604letters.txt

David Baskett's case in his letter, "Old Uranium and its
uses," is written by a corporate cheerleader. Depleted
Uranium (DU) is the Uranium 238 isotope with U234 and U235
removed. As a result, alpha particle emissions are
increased, creating a greater internal hazard to life.

The Pentagon tested this toxic waste during the 1973
Arab/Israeli war. When DU slams into a target, it becomes
pyrophoric and up to 70 percent becomes vaporized, rendering
it toxic dust. The Department of Energy recently admitted
that DU-contaminated uranium has been processed with
neptunium, plutonium and U236 at the Paducah Gaseous
Diffusion plant in Kentucky.

During Operation Desert Storm in 1991, physicist Doug Rokke
was assigned to direct a military clean-up of allied
vehicles hit by DU. Within eight months of their mission,
the first of his team died from larynx cancer due to inhaled
DU dust which permeated Iraq. All members of this team have
died from a variety of cancers.

The military/industrial complex told us the lie that Agent
Orange was safe for our troops in Vietnam. The same
military/industrial complex tells us that DU is safe.
Corporate cheerleaders tell us daily that toxic sludge is
good for you.

James Murr
Santa Maria


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 21 [DU-WATCH] Micropartyicles and leukaemia in Germany
 
Date: Fri, 19 Nov 2004 10:25:59 -0600 (CST)

 
There are some lessons from looking at nuclear power plants and leukemia.

In Germany it appears that during the past 8 years or so experiments have
been done in Geesthacht, near Hamburg, aimed at producing "small" fissile
bombs by packing micro-particles of alpha and beta emitters into egg sized
lumps. The experiments are reported by scientists who have now decided to
"b;low the whistle" to have caused explosions which have liberated
micro-particles of radioactive elements. The widespread distribution of
these micro-particles provides an explanation for a dramatic increase in the
incidence of childhood leukemia in the area. Research andf investigation
appear to have been vigorously suppressed. This is not quite the same as the
irradiation of veterans and target populations by DU but it is closely
related with many similar features. The investigations which have been done
so far are the kind of investigations which have been strenuously resisted
by all involved in the DU crime.

Max

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Ab
stract&list_uids=12747479

University of Bremen, Department of Physics, PO Box 330440, 28209 Bremen,
Germany. ingesf@uni-bremen.de
Attic dust was chosen as the test medium in order to search for traces of
man-made bone seeking alpha and beta emitters. The samples were taken from 5
houses in the community of Elbmarsch situated at the river Elbe, adjacent to
the Krummel nuclear power plant and the nuclear research center of
Geesthacht. Five houses in other regions of northern Germany were taken as a
control. 238Pu, (239,240)Pu, 241Am, and 244Cm were measured by alpha
spectrometry after chemical separation. Additionally, 241Pu was measured by
liquid scintillation spectrometry, and the fission product 90Sr was measured
in a separate investigation. All nuclides except 244Cm showed activities
above the detection limit in the Elbmarsch samples and an elevated mean
concentration compared to the control. It can be concluded from the activity
ratio 241Am/(239,240)Pu that the Elbmarsch contamination cannot be accounted
for by the background levels of transuranic nuclides resulting from weapons
fallout. The derived release of alpha emitters is assumed to have
contributed to the induction of a leukemia cluster in children, which was
observed in Elbmarsch between 1990 and 1996.
PMID: 12747479 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

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 22 Northumberland News: Committee hopeful for health studies 

By Jeanne BeneteauStaff Writer 

author Nov 18, 2004 

PORT HOPE - The Port Hope Community Health Concerns Committee 
(PHCHCC) is hopeful a recent meeting with the federal Minister of 
State for Public Health will prompt comprehensive and long-term 
health studies on current and former residents of the community, 
says the committee chairwoman. 

At a recent council meeting, Chairman Faye More brought Port Hope 
council members up to speed on a meeting she had with Minister 
Carolyn Bennett in Ottawa on Nov. 4. Ms. More told councillors 
she provided the minister with information on Port Hope's 70-year 
history with the nuclear industry. She also discussed the Port 
Hope Area Initiative, the federal government's current project to 
clean up and store local historical low-level radioactive and 
heavy metal waste and Cameco Corporation's proposal to produce 
slightly enriched uranium at its Port Hope plant. Finally, she 
presented the minister with the committees's proposed four-year 
plan for community health studies to determine if decades of 
exposure to radioactive and heavy metal contaminants from the 
nuclear industries has impacted health of residents.

"I stressed the uniqueness of Port Hope and the long wait we have 
had (for thorough, independent health investigations)," says Ms. 
More.

The committee's proposal includes community managed and
controlled health investigations by independent, qualified
investigators with case control studies to investigate problem
disease trends; cohort studies to investigate specific
populations at risk; community health surveys and long-term
monitoring of current and former residents; and biological
testing for presence of contaminants in people. Finally the
proposal includes comprehensive, integrated analysis of all
study results and maps, lists and records of all contaminated
and remediated locations to be available to the public. The
committee has also put together a proposed project structure
which includes a steering committee with PHCHCC board members, a
member of municipal council, Chairman of the Protection to
Persons and Property Committee, Councillor John Morand and
expert advisors Dr. Trevor Hancock, Dr. Eric Mintz and Dr. Brian
Leece, who have contributed their expertise in a volunteer
capacity to the committee in the past. She noted Dr. Asaf
Durakovic of Uranium Medical Research Centre, a world renown
medical doctor with 30 years experience in the field of nuclear
medicine, has also agreed to act as an advisor to the committee.

Ms. More said Minister Bennett showed an understanding of the
difficulty small communities have in accessing health studies.
She added the committee is not counting on anything yet but
noted she walked out of the meeting "feeling optimistic."

 	To date, no comprehensive, independent health investigations
of the people have been undertaken as promised by federal and
provincial officials in 1979, she notes.

 	"This proposal seeks to finally remedy this serious
oversight," she says.     

*****************************************************************
 23 AxisofLogic: IRAQ: High levels of radioactive pollution seen in the south
 	 	 
   Commentaries By News Article Nov 19, 2004, 07:16

BASRA, - Iraqi environmental scientists investigating
radioactive pollution around the southern city of Basra are
finding alarmingly high levels of radiation left by the use of
depleted uranium (DU) in recent wars. 

But given the lack of a permanent, elected government in Iraq
and poor security, they are finding it difficult to get
permission to remove contaminated material amid growing
instances of cancer and birth defects in the area. 

One such scientist is Khashak Wartanian, a researcher at the
University of Basra on radioactive pollution, who also works for
the city's Environmental Direoctory. While carrying out a survey
during the summer on radiation levels in the Qibla area near
Basra, he found two Iraqi tanks which had been hit by DU-tipped
ammunition. They found children playing near the site, which was
then fenced off and marked by warning signs. 

"These tanks are just two in a series of tanks and ammunition we
have uncovered since the Radiation Unit at the Environmental
Directory was set up in 2001," he told IRIN. 

DU is an extremely dense, heavy metal, and a waste product of
atomic bomb production. It has a half-life of over 4 billion
years. It contains trace amounts of plutonium and is 60 percent
as radioactive as naturally occurring uranium. 

According to local residents, the area was a military target
during the 1991 Gulf war and again in 2003, when it came under
heavy fire from US aircraft. Wartanian took a radiation reading
of 0.6 mR/h on one tank and 0.5mR/h on the other. "This is 1,000
times more radioactive than average background radiation," the
researcher said. 

He also checked radiation levels in nearby residential areas and
found they were worringly high. In the home of Abdel-Zahra
Shindy, a resident living near the polluted site, he took a
reading of 0.2 mR/h-0.3 mR/h, compared with normal levels of
0.008R/h. 

DU occurs naturally in the environment but when used in weapons
it burns releasing uranium oxide dust into the air. 

Officials at the Environment Directory in Basra told IRIN that
although they were collecting data on areas exposed to
radioactive debris, the lack of government direction was making
it hard to take measures to remove material. 

They added that there was also a lack of reliable information
about areas contaminated. "We only know about tanks in areas hit
more than 10 years ago, during the Gulf war in 1991," an
official at the directory said. "There were more concerns with
pollution during the former regime. Two radiation units were
established in Baghdad and Basra in 2000 and were provided with
the needed modern equipment," the official said. 

The Pentagon admits to dropping 320 mt of DU in Iraq, although
the environmental organisation Greenpeace puts the estimate at
over 800 mt. Immediately after last spring's war to oust the
former regime, residents said the US military cleared the area,
picking up unexploded ordnance and other debris. However, they
refused to remove many artillery pieces. 

In the aftermath of the war, Wartanian made a reading around a
tank in the centre of Basra, which picked up evidence of Thorium
(th324), a DU equivalent. "Since May 2003 we have been trying to
search for more contaminated areas. We met with the WHO [World
Health Organisation], as well as with British troops, to
investigate the matter but things have moved slowly due to a
continuous deterioration in security," Wartanian said. 

In December 2003, 22 DU-polluted tanks were found in an area 5
km away from Basra city, close to the Iranian border. So far his
team have found DU-polluted tanks across the south in Basra,
Muthana, Abu al-Kahsib and in Samawa. 

Some local residents, unaware of the radiation danger, cut scrap
metals from DU-polluted tanks and sell them. An Environmental
Directory official said that they were trying to warn people of
the dangers of using such metal. Scrap metal plants may also
have released contaminants from destroyed military vehicles, he
said. 

In conjunction with the now defunct Coalition Provisional
Authority (CPA), the directory succeeded in banning licences to
sell scrap metals to other countries last June, but it is
uncertain how effective this has been given the lack of a proper
government to enforce the law. 

"It was sold for 50,000 Iraqi dinars [US $34] per ton, but some
people may still be doing the business unofficially," the
official said. 

Another serious problem, which has long been linked to the use
of DU, is the rise in cancer and birth defects in the area.
Wartanian said that although many of the residents close to
radio-polluted sites may have registered cases of cancer, skin
sensitivity and respiratory diseases, the relation between
radiation and cancer was still controversial. 

However, doctors in Basra have registered an increase of
incidences of colon cancer and thyroid cancer, in addition to
leukemia and lymphomas. 

According to Dr Janan Hassan, an obstetrician at the Basra
Maternity and Children's Hospital, malignancies and leukemia
among children under the age of 15 have more than tripled since
1990. 

Whereas in 1990 young children accounted for only 13 percent of
cancer cases, today over 56 percent of all cancer in Iraq occurs
among children under the age of five. 

"Also, it is notable that the number of babies born with defects
is rising astonishingly. In 1990, there were seven cases of
babies with multiple congenital anomalies. This has gone up to
as high as 224 cases in the past three years," she said. 

Dr Jawad al-Ali, director of the Oncology Centre of Sadr
Educational Hospital in Basra, told IRIN that there were a
number of cases that led some doctors to assume DU's adverse
effects on human health in Iraq. 

"There has been a sharp rise in cancer, birth defects,
miscarriage, and in neurological disorders, muscular disease and
kidney failure; causes have not been identified but they could
be assumed to be caused by the toxicity of DU munitions," the
doctor said. 

According to a study of cancer patients in Basra carried out by
the doctor in 1988, cancer rates were 11 per 100,000 people. The
number went up to 116 in 1991 and 123 in 2002. There was also a
sharp rise in the leukemia patients in 1996 and there has been
another rise in recent years. Many cases are near places where
DU weapons were used, he said. 

*****************************************************************
 24 Medical News: U.S. nuclear power workers show no unexepected radiation related cancer

News-Medical.Net...

Posted By: News-Medical in Medical Study News   

  Published: Thursday, 18-Nov-2004   
  
A first-of-its-kind study of more than 53,000 U.S. nuclear power
workers has found that employees in the commercial nuclear
industry are less likely than the general population to die from
cancer or non-cancer diseases due, in large measure, to the
so-called "healthy worker effect." 

The study by Columbia University's Mailman School of Public 
Healthtracked workers from 15 nuclear utilities in the U.S. for 
periods of up to 18 years between 1979 and 1997. Mortality rates 
of these workers showed that they were 60 percent lower than 
cause-specific U.S. mortality rates for a population similar in 
terms of gender, age and calendar year. In order to work in the 
nuclear industry, workers have to be healthy and are usually 
required to have annual medical check-ups. 

The most important results of this study were findings with 
respect to radiation-related leukemia and radiation-related other 
cancers. According to the records, which were maintained by the 
facilities themselves and by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission 
and the Department of Energy, positive, although 
non-statistically-significant, associations with radiation were 
seen for mortality from some forms of leukemia and other cancers 
as a whole. The magnitude of these associations is very similar 
to those from other radiation studies on which current radiation 
safety standards are based, indicating that the standards are 
appropriate. 

The researchers did report, however, a strong positive and 
statistically significant association between radiation dose and 
death from arteriosclerotic heart disease, including coronary 
heart disease. 

Cautions Geoffrey Howe, PhD, professor of Epidemiology at the 
Mailman School and principal investigator of the study, "While 
associations with heart disease have been reported by some other 
occupational studies, the magnitude of the present association is 
not consistent with them, and, therefore, needs cautious 
interpretation and merits further attention." 

According to Dr. Howe, "With a mean age of 45 years, this cohort 
is still relatively young which explains the small number of 
deaths. Further follow-up and data from an on-going analysis of 
nuclear workers from 15 countries will provide an additional 
opportunity for studying the effects of low-dose radiation 
exposures and greater power to evaluate the present findings." 

This study represents the culmination of efforts by individuals 
in industry, government and academia to combine available sources 
of information on occupational radiation doses received by U.S. 
commercial nuclear workers. Currently, there is no single 
depository of radiation doses in the U.S. and researchers believe 
one is desirable. 

The study, "Analysis of the Mortality Experience Amongst U.S. 
Nuclear Power Industry Workers After Chronic Low-Dose Exposure to 
Ionizing Radiation," is published in the November issue of 
Radiation Research (Rad Res 162, 517-526, 2004), the official 
journal of the American Radiation Research Society. The 15 
nuclear utilities voluntarily participated in the study conducted 
by the independent researchers. The results are of value in 
informing U.S. nuclear workers about the latest findings on the 
safety of their workplace. 

http://www.mailman.hs.columbia.eduA first-of-its-kind study of 
more than 53,000 U.S. nuclear power workers has found that 
employees in the commercial nuclear industry are less likely than 
the general population to die from cancer or non-cancer diseases 
due, in large measure, to the so-called "healthy worker effect." 


The study by Columbia University's Mailman School of Public 
Healthtracked workers from 15 nuclear utilities in the U.S. for 
periods of up to 18 years between 1979 and 1997. Mortality rates 
of these workers showed that they were 60 percent lower than 
cause-specific U.S. mortality rates for a population similar in 
terms of gender, age and calendar year. In order to work in the 
nuclear industry, workers have to be healthy and are usually 
required to have annual medical check-ups. 

The most important results of this study were findings with 
respect to radiation-related leukemia and radiation-related other 
cancers. According to the records, which were maintained by the 
facilities themselves and by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission 
and the Department of Energy, positive, although 
non-statistically-significant, associations with radiation were 
seen for mortality from some forms of leukemia and other cancers 
as a whole. The magnitude of these associations is very similar 
to those from other radiation studies on which current radiation 
safety standards are based, indicating that the standards are 
appropriate. 

The researchers did report, however, a strong positive and 
statistically significant association between radiation dose and 
death from arteriosclerotic heart disease, including coronary 
heart disease. 

Cautions Geoffrey Howe, PhD, professor of Epidemiology at the 
Mailman School and principal investigator of the study, "While 
associations with heart disease have been reported by some other 
occupational studies, the magnitude of the present association is 
not consistent with them, and, therefore, needs cautious 
interpretation and merits further attention." 

According to Dr. Howe, "With a mean age of 45 years, this cohort 
is still relatively young which explains the small number of 
deaths. Further follow-up and data from an on-going analysis of 
nuclear workers from 15 countries will provide an additional 
opportunity for studying the effects of low-dose radiation 
exposures and greater power to evaluate the present findings." 

This study represents the culmination of efforts by individuals 
in industry, government and academia to combine available sources 
of information on occupational radiation doses received by U.S. 
commercial nuclear workers. Currently, there is no single 
depository of radiation doses in the U.S. and researchers believe 
one is desirable. 

The study, "Analysis of the Mortality Experience Amongst U.S. 
Nuclear Power Industry Workers After Chronic Low-Dose Exposure to 
Ionizing Radiation," is published in the November issue of 
Radiation Research (Rad Res 162, 517-526, 2004), the official 
journal of the American Radiation Research Society. The 15 
nuclear utilities voluntarily participated in the study conducted 
by the independent researchers. The results are of value in 
informing U.S. nuclear workers about the latest findings on the 
safety of their workplace. 

http://www.mailman.hs.columbia.edu-->   

  
[News-Medical.Net]   
  
*****************************************************************
 25 Las Vegas SUN: Report: Russian Submarine Blast Kills 1

Today: November 19, 2004 at 14:54:05 PST 
 
ASSOCIATED PRESS 

MOSCOW (AP) - A Russian seaman was killed in an accident on
board a Russian nuclear submarine at a Pacific base, a navy
spokesman said Friday. 

The sailor, Dmitry Koval, received fatal injuries when a pipe
burst, the ITAR-Tass and Interfax news agencies quoted Russian
navy spokesman Capt. Igor Dygalo as saying. 

Dygalo said the accident occurred last Sunday while the
submarine was docked at the Vilyuchinsk base in the far eastern
Kamchatka Peninsula. 

The accident damaged one section of the submarine but the vessel
has remained fully operable, he said. 

Dygalo identified the submarine as the K-223, Interfax said.
According to Russian Web resources, the K-223 is a
Delta-III-class submarine built in 1980. It is equipped to carry
16 intercontinental ballistic missiles. 

Russia's NTV television quoted Koval's mother as saying naval
officials told her her son was fatally injured in a gas
explosion. Two other crewmen were injured, it said. 

-- 


 
*****************************************************************
 26 [du-list] Feds Won't Test Nuclear Waste Casks
 
Date: Fri, 19 Nov 2004 14:54:36 -0800

 
<x-flowed>
    Posted at www.buzzflash.com

             http://tv.ksl.com/index.php?nid=5&sid=132696







       Feds Won't Test Nuclear Waste Casks
       Nov. 14, 2004
       SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- A federal agency is lacking the funds to test 
casks that will be used to transport nuclear waste across the country to 
the underground repository planned for Yucca Mountain in Nevada.

       But even without that testing, the federal Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission has approved the casks for transporting 3,000 tons of waste 
yearly past more than 11 million people in 45 states -- including Utah -- 
to the repository 90 miles north of Las Vegas.

       The NRC, however, won't test casks to demonstrate their ability to 
survive severe real-world accidents, The Salt Lake Tribune reported Sunday. 
The agency, instead, is relying on computer analyses and scale modeling.

       One in question is the cask model destined to hold waste at a 
temporary storage facility in Utah.

       Critics contend the computer simulations are inadequate.

       "The NRC has adopted as fact the fictional notion there are no 
real-world accidents that could cause casks to fail," said Bob Halstead, a 
consultant to Nevada on Yucca Mountain transportation issues.

       NRC senior transportation adviser Earl Easton says the agency 
doesn't have the money to do real-world testing.

       "We're trying to scrape together the funds," Easton said.

       The states of Utah and Nevada are demanding full testing of the casks.

       NRC regulations require casks to pass a series of hypothetical 
accident conditions: a 30-foot free fall onto an unyielding surface, 
followed by a 40-inch fall onto a steel rod six inches in diameter.

       Then, casks would be subjected to a 1,475-degree Fahrenheit fire for 
30 minutes before being submersed in 3 feet of water for eight hours. The 
sequence is supposed to mimic a rail or truck crash.

       The casks are protected by "impact limiters," which are caps on both 
ends that make the containers resemble barbells and cover vulnerable seals 
and bolts.

       The NRC has tested full-scale impact limiters by dropping them onto 
unyielding surfaces. But Halstead said the most dangerous impact wouldn't 
be to the limiters.

       "It's a sideways truck jackknifing so the bridge abutment hits the 
cask in the body, bypassing the limiter, causing it to twist and force the 
lid to pop open, like Popeye's can of spinach," he said.

       That could cause a tiny opening and allow lethal radioactive cesium 
and strontium to escape.

       The casks, weighing between 25 and 125 tons, are made of multiple 
layers of steel and other materials. The NRC has certified 16 different 
designs, including a rail-transport model made by New Jersey-based Holtec 
International that Private Fuel Storage would use at its facility proposed 
for the Skull Valley Goshute Reservation 45 miles southwest of Salt Lake City.

       Holtec would be willing to sell the $3 million casks for any kind of 
testing NRC would want to do, said Joy Russell, a Holtec spokeswoman.

       Private Fuel Storage, a consortium of eight utilities, is planning 
to send 40,000 tons of spent nuclear fuel to an open-air storage site in 
Skull Valley.

       The Nuclear Regulatory Commission's Atomic Safety and Licensing 
Board is expected to decide early next year whether Skull Valley can safely 
keep nuclear fuel. The board in March 2003 stalled construction by ruling 
the chances of a fighter jet from Hill Air Force Base crashing into the 
storage pad makes the project too risky. It has taken arguments for and 
against that decision and is weighing other aspects of the project.

       As planned, the storage pad would hold up to 4,000 casks filled with 
depleted nuclear fuel -- about 10 million rods -- across 100 acres of the 
Skull Valley. The waste would be shipped over rail lines, mostly from 
reactors east of the Mississippi. Utah has no nuclear power plants.

       (Copyright 2004 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)





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 27 Las Vegas SUN: Spending bill includes $577 million for Yucca

Today: November 19, 2004 at 11:22:18 PST 

Reid aide nominated for nuke commission

 By Suzanne Struglinski <suzanne@lasvegassun.com> SUN WASHINGTON 
BUREAU

 WASHINGTON -- Congressional leaders, scrambling to finalize a
massive spending bill, agreed on a Yucca Mountain budget after a
long night of meetings, ending much political wrangling and
behind-the-scenes negotiations.

 The nuclear waste project budget for the fiscal year that began
Oct. 1 would be $577 million, the same budget as the last fiscal
year, said Tessa Hafen, spokeswoman for Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev.

 The Energy and Water Spending bill is finalized and there is
little chance the number would change. The bill does not contain
any proposed change to the Environmental Protection Agency's
radiation standard.

 At the center of the Yucca deal-making were Energy and Natural
Resources Chairman Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., a leading
pro-Yucca lawmaker, and Reid, who has long battled Yucca and was
elected this week to lead the Senate Democrats.

 The Energy Department asked for $880 million, and after a fight
over how to fund it, the House only approved $131 million. The
Energy Department, which is trying to submit its license
application for Yucca Mountain to the Nuclear Regulatory
Commission by the end of the year, has not said how the final
budget will affect the project.

 Hafen said the $577 million is not ideal for Reid, but when
starting at an almost $1 billion request, it is almost half of
the amount the department wanted.

 Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Ted Stevens, R-Alaska,
agreed to small across-the-board cuts for all other projects to
make up the money needed to fund the Yucca projet, Hafen said.

 Back-room debate over Yucca took a leading role this week in a
lame-duck session of Congress. Lawmakers have been working
feverishly to finalize a $388 billion budget bill for federal
agencies and domestic programs, and Yucca was one of a handful
of important sticking points.

 Reid tried as he does every year to slice the budget. Domenici
fought to maintain at least the same level of funding as last
year.

 Lawmakers are trying to get work done by this evening or
Saturday before they leave the Capitol until the new session
starts in January.

 The giant measure contains extra money for priorities such as
veterans and the war-torn Darfur region of Sudan, and likely
thousands of projects for lawmakers' home districts.

 But the legislation was largely defined by Bush's demands for
curbs on domestic spending, with only modest increases for
favorites such as education and cuts for some of the president's
own initiatives.

 "Everybody took hits," said House Appropriations Committee
Chairman Bill Young, R-Fla., a chief author of the measure.
"There will be members who aren't totally satisfied, but we were
committed to stay within the budget number."

 In other news, it was unclear today where Reid's nomination to
the Nuclear Regulatory Commission -- one of Reid's top aides,
Greg Jaczko -- stood. The commission ultimately would license
and regulate Yucca. Domenici and other pro-Yucca lawmakers
oppose the nomination.

 Reid was working to include Jaczko in a large nominations
package under negotiation. The package could contain up to 100
different people awaiting confirmation including nominees for
federal judgeships, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission,
assistant U.S. attorney and other federal positions. Reid has a
hold on a number of those nominations, although not judges.

 Hafen said Reid is determined to get Jaczko on the commission,
so if Domenici wants to hold his nomination up he will bring
down the entire nominations package.

 "Sen. Reid is very serious about that," Hafen said.

 Reid will lift his hold on other nominees as long as Jaczko is
in the package, so the ball will be in Domenici's court, Hafen
said.

 Domenici spokesman Chris Gallegos said he did not know where
the situation stood earlier today.

 The debate on Jaczko's nomination was held up largely this year
by Republicans who said they wanted to consider a Republican
nominee and they would wait to move both together.

 On Monday the White House nominated Albert Henry Konetzni Jr.
of New York for a spot on the commission.

 Konetzni retired as a Navy vice admiral in July after 38 years,
according to the White House. He was a nuclear submariner.

 He served as deputy commander of the U.S. Fleet Forces Command
and U.S. Atlantic Fleet. He received his bachelor's degree from
the United States Naval Academy and his master's degree from
George Washington University, according to the White House
nomination announcement issued Monday.

 Mitch Singer, spokesman for the pro-Yucca Nuclear Energy
Institute, said the group would prefer both Jaczko and Konetzni
go through the appropriate hearing process, rather than be
pushed through during the final hours of a lame-duck session.

 "This thing needs to go through a full confirmation," Singer
said. "We'd rather see them not rush it."

 The Nuclear Energy Institute and some senators oppose Jaczko's
nomination because they see him as possibly biased due to his
past work in Reid's office against the proposed nuclear waste
storage site planned for Yucca Mountain, 90 miles northwest of
Las Vegas. 
 
*****************************************************************
 28 Seattle Post-Intelligencer: Hanford workers finish storing radioactive waste
                            
  [seattlepi.com]     

Friday, November 19, 2004 

 Transfer of liquid material completed early 

By SHANNON DININNY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

YAKIMA -- Workers at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation have 
finished transferring liquid radioactive waste from a plutonium 
finishing plant to underground waste storage tanks. 

Work to transfer the waste was completed about seven months ahead 
of schedule, the Energy Department said yesterday. 

The Tri-Party Agreement, which is the 1989 cleanup pact signed by 
the state, the Energy Department and the U.S. Environmental 
Protection Agency, had called for the work to be completed by 
June 30, 2005. 

"Transferring this liquid waste -- along with the completion of 
plutonium stabilization earlier this year -- highlights the 
beginning of the end for the Plutonium Finishing Plant," Keith 
Klein, manager of the Energy Department's Richland Operations 
Office, said in a statement. 

Beginning in 1949, the Plutonium Finishing Plant was the last 
step in converting plutonium nitrate solutions into pure 
plutonium "buttons" about the size of hockey pucks. The buttons 
were then sent to other Energy Department sites to make atomic 
bombs. The work stopped in 1989 at the end of the Cold War, 
leaving more than 18 tons of materials containing plutonium. 

The last 3,000 gallons of radioactive liquid waste from a holding 
tank at the plant were transferred to the underground waste tanks 
Nov. 8. Earlier this year, state and federal officials celebrated 
the completion of a project to stabilize and package the last of 
the plant's plutonium. 

  [Seattle Post-Intelligencer] 101 Elliott Ave. W. Seattle, WA 
98119 (206) 448-8000
 
 Send comments to newmedia@seattlepi.com Š1996-2004 Seattle 
*****************************************************************
 29 Tri-City Herald: Opinions Hastings has capital to protect Hanford 

This story was published Friday, November 19th, 2004 

President Bush wasn't the only candidate to accumulate political 
capital in the November election. U.S. Rep. Doc Hastings ended up 
with a nice nest egg, too. He should be feeling especially flush 
after winning nearly 63 percent of the vote in his bid for a 
sixth term. 

Unfortunately, Hastings doesn't have a lot of time to contemplate 
how to spend it. Threats to the progress of Hanford cleanup loom 
too large and are too immediate to afford that luxury. 

The resignation of Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham puts Hanford 
in a predictably vulnerable position. Momentum is threatened 
whenever there's transition in the upper echelons of the 
Department of Energy. 

In the worst case, the department can end up saddled with a top 
layer of political hacks who know more about raising campaign 
funds than cleaning up the environment. Even under the best of 
circumstances, a change in energy secretary and top deputies will 
stall progress as everyone gets up to speed. 

The danger to Hanford is compounded by Initiative 297, which 
Washington voters approved Nov. 2. The initiative's restrictions 
on bringing new nuclear wastes into the state won't win any 
friends at Energy Department headquarters. The D.C. bureaucrats 
are wrestling with a national problem that they can't solve if 
parochial obstructionists have their way. 

The headaches caused by Washington and other states taking a hard 
line have put the national environmental program in jeopardy. The 
situation is bad enough that groups like the Hanford Advisory 
Board are warning that the effort to clean up the Cold War's mess 
is facing gridlock. 

If that threat materializes, I-297 assures that Washington will 
get its share of the blame, and then some. How that blame would 
play out in the competition for federal dollars remains to be 
seen. DOE is obligated to seek enough money to meet its 
obligations under the Tri-Party Agreement with the state and the 
Environmental Protection Agency. But Congress isn't bound to 
fulfill the request. 

Hastings is in a unique position to help minimize the damage with 
Congress and the administration. 

His long tenure and landslide victory this year give him a 
clearer claim on representing his district than other candidates 
might enjoy. It was especially true in the Tri-Cities. The 
residents of Benton and Franklin counties not only favored 
Hastings by nearly 2-to-1, they produced a third of all the votes 
he got on Nov. 2. 

And voters here handed him a second bullet for his arsenal when 
they rejected I-297. In making a case for Hanford cleanup, 
Hastings can point out that Benton and Franklin were the state's 
only counties to vote down the measure. In other words, the 
people living closest to the problem recognize that a solution 
isn't possible without compromise and cooperation. 

That's a powerful message for Hastings to carry to his 
congressional colleagues and DOE headquarters. His leadership in 
the House Nuclear Cleanup Caucus that he helped build gives him a 
ready forum to deliver it. 

Other members of the bipartisan panel, composed of House members 
from states that are home to nuclear weapons production sites, 
need to hear that Hanford's closest neighbors see a need for 
unity in pushing a national cleanup funds and programs. 

No one presumes Hastings can dictate Bush's choice of energy 
secretary, but he can surely have a voice in decisions about the 
secretary's priorities, top deputies, funding levels and cleanup 
programs. 

Hastings has proved his ability to work behind the scenes to deal 
with Hanford's needs on issues ranging from annual appropriations 
to pension funds. The tasks ahead may be tougher to resolve, but 
they're no less critical. The cleanup program can't afford to let 
I-297 define Hanford's relationship with the Energy Department or 
Congress. 

Š 2004 Tri-City Herald, Associated Press &Other Wire Services
*****************************************************************
 30 Idaho Statesman: Government considers INEEL for production facility

11-19-2004       
         
The Associated Press

ARCO  The government wants to consolidate production of power 
systems fueled by plutonium-238 at the Idaho National Engineering 
and Environmental Laboratory, merging programs benefiting space 
exploration and national security.

The plan to build the systems used on federal projects like the 
recent Cassini mission to Saturn would take advantage of the 
INEEL's Advanced Test Reactor, which is already used in the 
production process.

The other two sites now involved do not have reactors, 
eliminating them from consideration.

The Energy Department wants public assessment on the potential 
environmental and other impacts the project could have on eastern 
Idaho before making a final decision next fall. Public hearings 
are planned next month at several eastern and southern Idaho 
sites.

The government expects to begin construction of the $230 million 
production facility in three years with the completion targeted 
for late 2010, program director Timothy Frazier said.

The United States currently relies on plutonium-238 purchased 
from Russia for the radioisotope power systems for space while 
relying on an inventory of the material for defense projects. A 
recent federal audit concluded that failure to establish the 
country's own production capability could mean national security 
and space needs would go unmet.

"We cannot use the plutonium we purchase from Russia for national 
defense," Energy Department spokesman Brad Bugger said. "We would 
like to establish a domestic source."

Frazier could not comment on the national security applications 
for the systems.

To manufacture the radioisotope power systems, plutonium-238 must 
be processed at INEEL and then purified and encapsulated, Frazier 
said. He acknowledged that radioactive waste will be generated.

"We're going to take great pains to reuse the waste," he said. 
"There will likely be some remote-handled transuranic waste," 
which is essentially lower-level but longer-lived 
plutonium-contaminated material.

The Idaho INEEL Oversight Office currently estimates about 63,000 
cubic meters of transuranic waste is still stored at the site 
above ground and says it's possible that much more is buried. The 
government is shipping the above-ground waste to the federal dump 
in New Mexico.

The economic impact of the project will not be fully assessed 
until next summer, Bugger said, but the government does not 
expect a major increase in jobs.

Frazier said design of the plant will take into consideration 
worker safety, air quality and possible pollution of the Snake 
River Plain Aquifer, which sits beneath the INEEL.                                   

*****************************************************************
 31 DOE: Environmental Management Site-Specific Advisory Board, Oak Ridge 
 
                        FR Doc 04-25693 
[Federal Register: November 19, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 223)] 
[Notices] [Page 67713] From the Federal Register Online via GPO 
Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr19no04-39] [[Page 67713]]
 
Reservation AGENCY: Department of Energy.
 
ACTION: Notice of open meeting.
 
SUMMARY: This notice announces a meeting of the Environmental 
Management Site-Specific Advisory Board (EMSSAB), Oak Ridge 
Reservation. The Federal Advisory Committee Act (Pub. L. 92-463, 
86 Stat. 770) requires that public notice of this meeting be 
announced in the Federal Register.
 
 
DATES: Wednesday, December 8, 2004, 6 p.m.
 
ADDRESSES: DOE Information Center, 475 Oak Ridge Turnpike, Oak 
Ridge, TN.
 
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Pat Halsey, Federal Coordinator, 
Department of Energy, Oak Ridge Operations Office, PO Box 2001, 
EM-90, Oak Ridge, TN 37831. Phone (865) 576-4025; Fax (865) 
576-5333 or e- mail: halseypj@oro.doe.gov or check the Web site 
at http://www.oakridge.doe.gov/em/ssab .
 
 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Purpose of the Meeting: To provide an 
update on the Witherspoon site in South Knoxville. The 
Witherspoon 901 site served as a scrap metal recycling facility 
for 45 years. The site received scrap from the Atomic Energy 
Commission, a DOE predecessor agency, and other organizations. 
Contaminated surface water and soil have been found at the site. 
Primary contaminants include uranium, heavy metals, organics and 
polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). The site is now a Tennessee 
Department of Environmental and Conservation Superfund site. DOE 
is overseeing the site cleanup in accordance with a Memorandum of 
Understanding with the State of Tennessee.
 
Tentative Agenda: Update on Witherspoon site in South Knoxville. 
Speaker-- Jason Darby of U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). Public 
Participation: The meeting is open to the public.
 
Written statements may be filed with the Committee either before 
or after the meeting. Individuals who wish to make oral 
statements pertaining to agenda items should contact Pat Halsey 
at the address or telephone number listed above. Requests must be 
received five days prior to the meeting and reasonable provision 
will be made to include the presentation in the agenda. The 
Deputy Designated Federal Officer is empowered to conduct the 
meeting in a fashion that will facilitate the orderly conduct of 
business. Individuals wishing to make public comment will be 
provided a maximum of five minutes to present their comments.
 
Minutes: Minutes of this meeting will be available for public 
review and copying at the Department of Energy's Information 
Center at 475 Oak Ridge Turnpike, Oak Ridge, TN between 8 a.m. 
and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, or by writing to Pat Halsey, 
Department of Energy Oak Ridge Operations Office, PO Box 2001, 
EM-90, Oak Ridge, TN 37831, or by calling her at (865) 576-4025.
 
Issued in Washington, DC on November 16, 2004.
 
Rachel M. Samuel, Deputy Advisory Committee Management Officer.
 
[FR Doc. 04-25693 Filed 11-18-04; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 6450-01-P

 
*****************************************************************
 32 Paducah Sun: Transfer of DOE plant nickel possible

Paducah, Kentucky 

By Joe Walker jwalker@paducahsun.com--270.575.8656 

Thursday, November 18, 2004 

Economic development leaders say they're encouraged that the 
Nuclear Regulatory Commission is drafting a rule governing the 
release of lightly radioactive contaminated materials for limited 
industrial use. 

If approved, the rule could pave the way for 9,700 tons of 
contaminated nickel at the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant to be 
cleaned and sold to industry. Because of safety concerns, the 
Department of Energy banned reusing contaminated scrap metal at 
its plants in 1999. 

"This is the first movement on this issue since then," said John 
Anderson, director of the Paducah Area Community Reuse 
Organization, a DOE-funded economic development group. "There is 
an opening in the dam." 

The NRC regulates the Paducah plant, owned by DOE and run by USEC 
Inc. Although the Energy Department doesn't need NRC approval to 
lift the moratorium, it was imposed because of concerns from 
citizen groups that contaminated metal might end up in consumer 
products. 

After a review by NRC commissioners next spring, the proposed 
rule is expected to be released for public comment by midsummer. 

Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham, who did not tamper with the 
ban, resigned Monday as President George W. Bush approaches his 
second four-year term. "With those two things happening, the 
potential for getting the ban lifted is as good as it's ever 
been," Anderson said Wednesday at a meeting of the PACRO finance 
committee. 

PACRO officials, wanting to create jobs by acting as agent for 
the nickel, say they are concerned about safety but believe the 
nickel can be sufficiently cleansed. Anderson said limited 
testing by the USEC plant lab and the Kentucky Radiation 
Environmental Monitoring Section indicates the nickel must be 
extremely clean to match the natural radiation level in six 
random samples of commercial nickel. 

A firm called Chemical Vapor Metal Refining-USA wants eventually 
to build a factory at the plant to clean nickel and other scrap 
metal left over from decades of Cold War weapons work and sell it 
for limited industrial use. CVMR officials say very pure nickel 
is extremely expensive and in heavy demand. The value of the 
Paducah plant nickel is estimated at $8 million to $10 million. 

Company officials said earlier this year that the factory's 
chances hinge on proving the nickel can be made safe and getting 
DOE to lift the ban. 
    
*****************************************************************

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> 
    
*****************************************************************