*****************************************************************
11/26/04 ****     RADIATION BULLETIN(RADBULL)       **** VOL 12.282
*****************************************************************
   RADBULL IS PRODUCED BY THE ABALONE ALLIANCE CLEARINGHOUSE
*****************************************************************
Send News Stories to news@energy-net.org with title on subject
line and first line of body

                         NUCLEAR POLICY
 
1 [du-list] Unusual weapons used in fallujah
2 [du-list] MPs attempt to impeach Blair over Iraq
3 'jury Is Still Out' On Iran's Nuclear Ambitions - Iaea Chief
4 Korea Herald: IAEA to rule on S. Korean tests today   
5 Xinhuanet: China hopes to solve S.Korea's nuke issue within IAEA - 
6 Xinhuanet: S.Korea dismisses US newspaper report on nuclear material
7 Xinhuanet: IAEA decision due over referral of South Korea's nuclear 
8 Korea Times: Pyongyang Senses `Good Signs' From Seoul - UN Official 
9 US: Chillicothe gazette: Hobson blocks study of new nuclear bomb - 
10 US: Tidepool: Nevada Sen. Reid commentary
11 Business Day: Moon gas could meet earth's energy demands
12 BBC: EU gets tough on fusion reactor
13 UK The Times: UK's failure on nuclear obligation
14 INSIDE JoongAng Daily
15 MercoPress: IAEA and Brazil agree on atomic inspection 
16 Guardian Unlimited: EU 'declaration of war' over fusion
 
                         NUCLEAR REACTORS
 
17 Expatica: Libya has no pressing nuclear plans, says Chirac
18 SA: Business Day: Environmentalists gear up for hearing
19 Business Day: Earthlife to fight pebble bed reactor approval
20 US: JOURNAL NEWS: Indian Point wins high rating from NRC
21 Deutsche Welle: Europe's Environmental Engagement | EU | 
22 Guardian Unlimited: Labour to look again at nuclear power
23 US: NRC: Notice of Availability of Environmental Assessment and Find
 
                          NUCLEAR SAFETY
 
24 [NYTr] Gulf War Syndrome: Ticking Toxic Timebomb
25 [du-list] Everyday's a battle for sick troops
26 [du-list] 600 New homes for Llanishen (site of d.u. cleanup)
27 BBC: Radiation levels 'negligible'
28 US: Deseret news: Idaho downwinders want to sue
29 US: Deseret news: Army tests ravaged family's land
 
                         NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE
 
30 Nunatsiaq News: Nunavummiut to be consulted on nuclear waste 
31 US: Des Moines Register: Nuclear waste crossing Iowa rises
32 US: herald tribune: Manatee County may test Tallevast plant workers 
33 US: Salt Lake Tribune: Military expansion continually besieges India
34 US: Salt Lake Tribune: Desert is Hill's ace in the hole 
35 US: Tewksbury Advocate: Billerica seen as high perchlorate source
 
                         NUCLEAR WEAPONS
 
 
                        US DEPT. OF ENERGY
 
36 UC Regents Lose Management Contract of Nuclear Weapons Lab
37 Charleston.Net: More funds promised for SRS lab 
38 Deseret news.com: Sandia labs working on solar power farm
 
                          OTHER NUCLEAR
 
39 [du-list] DU in the News - 25th Nov 04
*****************************************************************
*****************************************************************
                         FULL NEWS STORIES
*****************************************************************
*****************************************************************
 1 [du-list] Unusual weapons used in fallujah
 
Date: Fri, 26 Nov 2004 17:00:53 -0800

 
<x-flowed>
   November 26, 2004
 >
 >
 >       'Unusual Weapons' Used in Fallujah
 >
 >Dahr Jamail
 >
 >BAGHDAD, Nov 26 (IPS) - The U.S. military has used poison gas and other
 >non-conventional weapons against civilians in Fallujah, eyewitnesses report.
 >
 >"Poisonous gases have been used in Fallujah," 35-year-old trader from
 >Fallujah Abu Hammad told IPS. "They used everything -- tanks, artillery,
 >infantry, poison gas. Fallujah has been bombed to the ground."
 >
 >Hammad is from the Julan district of Fallujah where some of the heaviest
 >fighting occurred. Other residents of that area report the use of
 >illegal weapons.
 >
 >"They used these weird bombs that put up smoke like a mushroom cloud,"
 >Abu Sabah, another Fallujah refugee from the Julan area told IPS. "Then
 >small pieces fall from the air with long tails of smoke behind them."
 >
 >He said pieces of these bombs exploded into large fires that burnt the
 >skin even when water was thrown on the burns. Phosphorous weapons as
 >well as napalm are known to cause such effects. "People suffered so much
 >from these," he said.
 >
 >Macabre accounts of killing of civilians are emerging through the cordon
 >U.S. forces are still maintaining around Fallujah.
 >
 >"Doctors in Fallujah are reporting to me that there are patients in the
 >hospital there who were forced out by the Americans," said Mehdi
 >Abdulla, a 33-year-old ambulance driver at a hospital in Baghdad. "Some
 >doctors there told me they had a major operation going, but the soldiers
 >took the doctors away and left the patient to die."
 >
 >Kassem Mohammed Ahmed who escaped from Fallujah a little over a week ago
 >told IPS he witnessed many atrocities committed by U.S. soldiers in the
 >city.
 >
 >"I watched them roll over wounded people in the street with tanks," he
 >said. "This happened so many times."
 >
 >Abdul Razaq Ismail who escaped from Fallujah two weeks back said
 >soldiers had used tanks to pull bodies to the soccer stadium to be
 >buried. "I saw dead bodies on the ground and nobody could bury them
 >because of the American snipers," he said. "The Americans were dropping
 >some of the bodies into the Euphrates near Fallujah."
 >
 >Abu Hammad said he saw people attempt to swim across the Euphrates to
 >escape the siege. "The Americans shot them with rifles from the shore,"
 >he said. "Even if some of them were holding a white flag or white
 >clothes over their heads to show they are not fighters, they were all
 >shot.."
 >
 >Hammad said he had seen elderly women carrying white flags shot by U.S.
 >soldiers. "Even the wounded people were killed. The Americans made
 >announcements for people to come to one mosque if they wanted to leave
 >Fallujah, and even the people who went there carrying white flags were
 >killed."
 >
 >Another Fallujah resident Khalil (40) told IPS he saw civilians shot as
 >they held up makeshift white flags. "They shot women and old men in the
 >streets," he said. "Then they shot anyone who tried to get their
 >bodies...Fallujah is suffering too much, it is almost gone now."
 >
 >Refugees had moved to another kind of misery now, he said. "It's a
 >disaster living here at this camp," Khalil said. "We are living like
 >dogs and the kids do not have enough clothes."
 >
 >Spokesman for the Iraqi Red Crescent in Baghdad Abdel Hamid Salim told
 >IPS that none of their relief teams had been allowed into Fallujah, and
 >that the military had said it would be at least two more weeks before
 >any refugees would be allowed back into the city.
 >
 >"There is still heavy fighting in Fallujah," said Salim. "And the
 >Americans won't let us in so we can help people."
 >
 >In many camps around Fallujah and throughout Baghdad, refugees are
 >living without enough food, clothing and shelter. Relief groups estimate
 >there are at least 15,000 refugee families in temporary shelters outside
 >Fallujah.
 >
 >
 >_______________________________________________
 >More writing, photos and commentary at http://dahrjamailiraq.com<about:blank>
 >
 >You are subscribed to the Dahr Jamail's email Iraq Dispatches because you 
requested a subscription at some point.
 >
 >You can visit http://dahrjamailiraq.com/email_list/<about:blank> to 
subscribe or unsubscribe to the email list.
 >
 >Or, you can unsubscribe by sending an email to 
iraq_dispatches-request@dahrjamailiraq.com<about:blank> and write 
unsubscribe in the subject or the body of the email.
 >
 >Iraq_Dispatches mailing list
 >http://lists.dahrjamailiraq.com/mailman/listinfo/iraq_dispatches<about:blank>

		
---------------------------------
Win a castle  for NYE with your mates and Yahoo! Messenger

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]



------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~-->
$9.95 domain names from Yahoo!. Register anything.
http://us.click.yahoo.com/J8kdrA/y20IAA/yQLSAA/FGYolB/TM
--------------------------------------------------------------------~->

To unsubscribe from this groups send a message to 
du-list-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com.  In the body of the message type 
unsubscribe and send.
Yahoo! Groups Links

<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
     http://groups.yahoo.com/group/du-list/

<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
     du-list-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com

<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
     http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
  

</x-flowed>
*****************************************************************
 2 [du-list] MPs attempt to impeach Blair over Iraq
 
Date: Fri, 26 Nov 2004 14:31:19 -0800

 
<x-flowed>
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/story.jsp?story=586445

MPs attempt to impeach Blair over Iraq
By Ben Russell, Political Correspondent
25 November 2004


Tony Blair has become the first prime minister in nearly 200 years to face 
a formal attempt at impeachment.

A group of MPs tabled a little-used motion yesterday to trigger an 
investigation into claims that he was guilty of "gross misconduct" in the 
run-up to war in Iraq.

Celebrities critical of the war joined 23 MPs to call for Mr Blair's 
impeachment in a motion calling for a special committee to investigate his 
claims in the months before the invasion. The authors Frederick Forsyth and 
Iain Banks, the actors Susan Wooldridge, Andy de la Tour and Corin Redgrave 
and the musician Brian Eno visited the House of Commons to show their 
support, along with Reg and Sally Keys, whose son Thomas, 20, a soldier, 
died in Iraq last year.

Campaigners hope to secure a Commons debate on impeachment, putting Mr 
Blair's claims about Saddam Hussein's weaponry and the threat he posed 
under further scrutiny.

Signatories to the motion include the former Tory frontbencher Boris 
Johnson, the former Tory ministers Douglas Hogg and John Gummer, Plaid 
Cymru's parliamentary leader, Elfyn Llwyd, Paul Marsden, who defected from 
Labour to the Liberal Democrats, and the Respect MP George Galloway, who 
was expelled from the Labour Party for his comments on Iraq. No Labour 
backbenchers have signed the motion despite claims by campaigners that 
several have privately expressed their support.

Alex Salmond, leader of the Scottish National Party and one of the 
signatories, said he was optimistic that the Speaker, Michael Martin, would 
grant a debate. "This is no gimmick," he said. "No speaker in history has 
turned down a motion on impeachment for debate. My estimation is that, 
given there are 23 names on the order paper, it will depend entirely on the 
breadth and substance of support. The Speaker is an extremely fair man and 
I have got every confidence in his ability to judge that."

Another backer of the motion, Roger Gale, Tory MP for Thanet North, said: 
"I doubt there's a single person here that doesn't accept that Parliament 
was misled, that the House was told there were weapons of mass destruction 
when there were not and that the UK was 45 minutes from doom when it was 
not. What the committee must establish is whether the Prime Minister knew 
those things were false when he told the House of Commons."

A source said: "If we had said in August that we would have an impeachment 
motion on the order paper, people would have laughed. It's there now and 
has been ruled to be in order. Whatever the Speaker decides it will be 
constitutionally important."


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]



------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~-->
$9.95 domain names from Yahoo!. Register anything.
http://us.click.yahoo.com/J8kdrA/y20IAA/yQLSAA/FGYolB/TM
--------------------------------------------------------------------~->

To unsubscribe from this groups send a message to 
du-list-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com.  In the body of the message type 
unsubscribe and send.
Yahoo! Groups Links

<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
     http://groups.yahoo.com/group/du-list/

<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
     du-list-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com

<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
     http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
  

</x-flowed>
*****************************************************************
 3 'jury Is Still Out' On Iran's Nuclear Ambitions - Iaea Chief
 
Date: Thu, 25 Nov 2004 23:00:05 -0500

 
X-Sender-Hostname: mx3.un.org
 
X-Temp-Whitephrase: YES NUCLEAR 

'JURY IS STILL OUT' ON IRAN'S NUCLEAR AMBITIONS - IAEA CHIEF
New York, Nov 25 2004 11:00PM
The United Nations International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has 
accounted for all declared nuclear material in Iran, but it does 
not have a full picture of Tehran's clandestine arms ambitions, the 
Agency's chief said today.

Addressing a meeting in Vienna of the IAEA's Board of Governors, 
Mohamed ElBaradei said the Agency "is not yet in a position to conclude 
that there are no undeclared nuclear materials or activities 
in Iran."

He noted that the normally time-consuming process of determining 
the facts would take even longer with respect to Iran, given the 
country's past pattern of concealing its nuclear activities.

"A confidence deficit has been created, and confidence needs to be 
restored," the IAEA chief told the 35-member Board. "Iran's active 
cooperation and full transparency [are] therefore indispensable."

He also reported that progress has been made in assuring that there 
are no undeclared enrichment activities in Iran and in assessing 
the extent of Tehran's efforts to import, manufacture and use 
centrifuges. 

At the Agency's request, Iran has agreed to let IAEA experts analyze 
samples taken from centrifuges and centrifuge components in the 
countries they came from as a basis for comparison. The aim is 
to "confirm the actual source of contamination and the correctness 
of statements made by Iran," Mr. ElBaradei said. 

The IAEA has also generally been able to verify that Iran has suspended 
its uranium enrichment and reprocessing activities, although 
more work is required to fully assess the situation.

Speaking to reporters before briefing the Board, the IAEA chief sounded 
a note of cautious optimism. "We understand much better Iran's 
programme now, but as I have stated before, the jury is still 
out on our ability to provide assurance that everything has been 
declared to us."
 2004-11-25 00:00:00.000 

________________

For more details go to UN News Centre at http://www.un.org/news

To change your profile or unsubscribe go to:
http://www.un.org/news/dh/latest/subscribe.shtml
*****************************************************************
 4 Korea Herald: IAEA to rule on S. Korean tests today   
 
2004.11.26
 
By Choi Soung-ah 
        
[http://www.voiceware.co.kr]                       

Today is judgment day for government officials and
scientists here as the global nuclear-watchdog agency prepares
to rule on the nation's past experiments with nuclear
substances. 

The International Atomic Energy Agency is set to decide after a
two-day board of governors meeting in Vienna whether to refer
South Korea's one-off nuclear tests to the United Nations
Security Council. 

In September, South Korea admitted to carrying out two separate
nuclear experiments - one in 1982 and another in 2000 - that
resulted in the extraction of meager amounts of plutonium and
enriched uranium. After the disclosure, the IAEA sent three
teams of inspectors at separate times to investigate the
experiments. 

The 35-member nations of the IAEA, including South Korea, began
their meeting yesterday and will take one of three steps: 
- rule that Seoul's failure to report the tests was a breach of
the non-proliferation treaty, but close the case with a warning; 
- postpone the decision until the next meeting in March;, or 
- refer the experiments to the Security Council. 

Officials here say the worst possible outcome will be for the
IAEA to refer the case to the Security Council, which has the
power to impose various sanctions should it find the experiments
were serious violations of international agreements, including
the Non-Proliferation Treaty. 

Seoul's failure to report the experiments at the time may be
considered just a "breach" of the law but, more seriously, ruled
as "non-compliance" of the treaty. 

The international nuclear agency has yet to give any clear sign
which way it is leaning, but officials here believe the case
will be concluded at the board meeting. 

Both Korea watchers and officials here are confident the issue
will not be taken further. 

Unification Minister Chung Dong-young yesterday supported this,
saying, "There will not be a referral of South Korea's case to
the U.N. Security Council." 

Chung said the South Korean government is working to "have the
case concluded" at the current meeting. 

Other officials here feel the IAEA is unlikely to refer the
country's case to the Security Council, citing what they called
a favorable mood among board members. 

"We believe the possibility of our country's referral to the
U.N. Security Council has been significantly reduced as the mood
among the board member countries toward South Korea's nuclear
experiments has improved," a South Korean diplomat here said. 

The changed atmosphere follows a recent report by the
international nuclear agency. 

In the report, distributed among its 35 governing countries on
Nov. 11, the IAEA again maintained South Korea's failure to
report its past nuclear experiments is "a matter of serious
concern." but acknowledged there is no evidence the country is
running a secret nuclear development program. 

Mohamed ElBaradei, director general of the IAEA, had also said
the country's past experiments were "completely legal." 

"These experiments are completely legal. They are not prohibited
per se. The problem is they were not reported," ElBaradei said
during a visit to Seoul last month. 

The IAEA report said the 1982 experiment produced 0.7 gram of
plutonium with an average enrichment level of 98 percent, while
the one in 2000 resulted in 0.2 gram of uranium enriched to an
average 10.2 percent. 

Plutonium and enriched uranium are the main ingredients of
nuclear weapons, but only those substances enriched to over 90
percent are considered weapons grade. More than 15 kilograms of
either substance are required for a single nuclear warhead,
according to nuclear experts. 

(bluelle@heraldm.com) 

By Choi Soung-ah 

2004.11.26
 
*****************************************************************
 5 Xinhuanet: China hopes to solve S.Korea's nuke issue within IAEA - 
 
  www.xinhuanet.com

  www.chinaview.cn 2004-11-26 03:57:47   

    VIENNA, Nov. 25 (Xinhuanet) -- China hopes that South Korea 
will continue to cooperate fully with the International Atomic 
Energy Agency (IAEA) in providing speedily relevant information 
concerning its nuclear activities so as to bring about an early 
solution to the issue within the framework of the agency, a 
seniorChinese diplomat said on Thursday. 

    The Chinese delegation believes that the report on South 
Korea's nuclear issue released by IAEA's Director General Mohamed 
EIBaradei provides a large amount of facts and information, said 
Zhang Yan, permanent representative of China to the UN and other 
international organizations in Vienna, at the IAEA's Board of 
Governors meeting. 

    "The report enables us to understand more accurately and 
comprehensively the nature and scope of South Korea's nuclear 
activities and their impact," Zhang said. 

    Although the quantities of nuclear materials involved in 
SouthKorea's laboratory activities of enrichment and plutonium 
separation have not been significant, yet South Korea failed to 
report the activities in a timely manner to the IAEA, he said. 
"This is a matter that causes serious concerns." 

    But South Korea, he said, has taken corrective actions, and 
adopted an attitude of full cooperation in assisting the IAEA's 
investigation. 

    Zhang said the report believes that no indications show that 
the undeclared experiments still continue, but it requires that 
South Korea make all necessary efforts to provide operational 
records and detailed information on plutonium separation and 
uranium spectroscopy experiments. 

    The IAEA, the UN nuclear watchdog, will continue to verify 
the correctness and comprehensiveness of the relevant 
declaration, andwill report to the IAEA's Board of Governors as 
appropriate, he said. 

    Zhang said that the Chinese delegation expresses concerns 
over the facts in the report on South Korea's nuclear experiment 
activities. 

    "The Chinese side believes that maintaining the 
non-nuclearization of the Korean Peninsula is highly significant 
to the maintenance of the region's security and stability," he 
added.Enditem   

  Copyright �2003 Xinhua News Agency. All rights reserved. 
*****************************************************************
 6 Xinhuanet: S.Korea dismisses US newspaper report on nuclear material experiments - 
 
  www.xinhuanet.com

  www.chinaview.cn 2004-11-25 17:04:41   

    SEOUL, Nov. 25 (Xinhuanet) -- South Korean Science and 
Technology Ministry Thursday dismissed a New York Times report 
alleging that South Korea "covered up a series of nuclear 
laboratory experimentsby falsifying reports or closing buildings 
to international inspectors." 

    In a Nov. 24 dispatch from Tokyo, the US paper described 
South Korea's nuclear materials tests as the "culmination of an 
eight-year sequence of at least 10 experiments" by a 14-member 
team of state-hired scientists. 

    Dismissing the US paper's allegations as groundless, the 
ministry's spokesman reiterated that the two experiments in 1982 
and 2000 were one-off incidents caused by some scientists' 
academic curiosity. 

    Calling the report "ill-intentioned and malicious," the 
spokesman said the Seoul government will no longer stand idle 
toward such misleading news reports. 

    The ministry's refutation just came before the IAEA's board 
of governors' meeting to be held later in the day. Seoul is 
nervouslywaiting for the result of the meeting, which is to 
decide whether to refer South Korea to he United Nations Security 
Council. 

    In September, South Korea admitted to carrying out two 
nuclear experiments, one in 1982 and another in 2000, that 
resulted in theproduction of small amounts of plutonium and 
enriched uranium. 

    In an report distributed among its 35 governing countries on 
Nov. 11, the IAEA again maintained South Korea's failure to 
reportits past nuclear experiments is "a matter of serious 
concern," butacknowledged there is no evidence the country is 
running a secret nuclear development program. 

    The IAEA report said the 1982 experiment produced 0.7 gram of 
plutonium with an average enrichment level of 98 percent, while 
the one in 2000 resulted in 0.2 gram of uranium enriched to an 
average 10.2 percent. 

    Plutonium and enriched uranium are the main ingredients of 
nuclear weapons, but only those substances enriched to over 90 
percent are considered weapons grade, and more than 15 kilograms 
of either substance are required for a single nuclear warhead, 
according to nuclear experts. Enditem 

  Copyright �2003 Xinhua News Agency. All rights reserved. 
*****************************************************************
 7 Xinhuanet: IAEA decision due over referral of South Korea's nuclear case to UN - 

  www.xinhuanet.com

  www.chinaview.cn 2004-11-25 21:24:44   

    VIENNA. Nov. 25 (Xinhuanet) -- The International Atomic
Energy Agency (IAEA) will decide Thursday whether to refer South
Korea's past nuclear experiments for discussion at the United
Nations Security Council. 

    An initial decision on the issue from the IAEA's 35-member
board of governors meeting in Vienna is expected at about 1630
local time (1530 GMT), IAEA officials said. 

    On Monday, South Korea sent a team of officials, led by Vice
Foreign Minister Choi Young-jin, to the meeting in an attempt to
prevent the referral. 

    South Korea, which admitted in September that its scientists
produced small amounts of plutonium in 1982 and enriched uranium
in 2000 without informing the IAEA, has faced a series of tense
IAEA inspections. 

    Since the breach was first revealed, the IAEA has dispatched
three inspection missions to South Korea to investigate the
allegations. 

    Seoul claimed its nuclear experiments were purely scientific
and not linked to any military goals. 

    Earlier this month, the IAEA submitted an official report
saying that although South Korea had violated international
nuclear safeguards on a wider scale than previously declared,
the programs were experimental and small-scale and that South
Korea had cooperated with IAEA investigations. Enditem   

  Copyright �2003 Xinhua News Agency. All rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
 8 Korea Times: Pyongyang Senses `Good Signs' From Seoul - UN Official 

Hankooki.com > The Korea Times > Nation   

By Ryu Jin Staff Reporter

 North Korean officials accepted South Korean President Roh 
Moo-hyun��s remarks in the United States last week as being 
``objective,���� regarding them as ``positive signs���� to help 
enable resumption of the six-party nuclear talks, a top U.N. 
official said Thursday.

 U.N. General Assembly President Jean Ping, who came here after a 
weeklong visit to the North, said Pyongyang was well aware of the 
usefulness and importance of the six-party process, but wants a 
better atmosphere so it can return to the negotiation table.

 ``In short, what the North wants is the creation of a more 
favorable atmosphere,���� Ping said at a press conference at 
South Korea��s Foreign Affairs and Trade Ministry.

 The visiting U.N. official stressed North Korea has already been 
sensing the ``positive signs���� from outside, especially from 
the South, citing an episode while in Pyongyang.

 ``Actually, I couldn��t tell exactly what remarks President Roh 
made in Los Angeles and Hawaii until the North Korean officials 
told me about it,���� Ping said. ``They described his comments as 
`objective.������

 On his way to the recently finished Asia-Pacific Economic 
Cooperation (APEC) forum, Roh said ``it is a bit 
understandable���� for the North to claim it is pursuing nuclear 
arms to safeguard itself and not as means of attack.

 He said North Korea ``should not lose this good opportunity,���� 
saying the United States assured Pyongyang will surely get a 
security guarantee if it abandons its nuclear ambitions.

 ``While in Pyongyang, I felt the North Koreans really want 
dialogue,���� Ping, concurrently the foreign minister of Gabon, 
told reporters in his mother tongue, French, which was 
immediately translated into Korean by an interpreter.

 ``North Korean officials asked me to convey their messages to 
other nations involved in the six-party talks,���� he said. ``I 
did so in Beijing and then Seoul. Now I have a message to take to 
the U.S.����

 The two Koreas, the U.S., Japan, Russia and China have met three 
times in Beijing to try to end the 25-month diplomatic impasse, 
but have so far failed to produce a major breakthrough. At their 
last meeting in June, they agreed to hold a fourth round of talks 
by the end of September, but Pyongyang has been boycotting it, 
accusing the U.S. of its ``hostile���� policy toward it.

 Asked about the recently reported signs of cracks in Kim Jong-il 
regime, based on rumors that his portraits and badges are 
disappearing in public places, Ping answered: ``Aucun changement 
(no change).����

 In North Korea, Ping met with the Stalinist regime��s No. 2 
leader, Kim Yong-nam and Foreign Minister Paek Nam-soon, among 
others. In Seoul, he met with President Roh, Unification Minister 
Chung Dong-young and Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon.

 The U.N. official, who celebrated his 62nd birthday in Seoul 
Wednesday, is scheduled to return to New York this morning. 

jinryu@koreatimes.co.kr 11-25-2004 22:28         
*****************************************************************
 9 Chillicothe gazette: Hobson blocks study of new nuclear bomb - 
 
www.chillicothegazette.com

Thursday, November 25, 2004   

By Greg Wright Gannett News Service 

WASHINGTON -- Ohio Republican David Hobson blocked funding for a 
new nuclear bomb study, although his stance put him at odds with 
Bush administration officials who want to develop a weapon that 
can burrow deep underground to destroy targets. 

Congress did not include $27.5 million to study the so-called 
Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrator in a massive 2005 federal 
spending bill that passed last weekend. Hobson was en route to 
Kosovo Wednesday to visit U.S. troops for Thanksgiving and was 
unavailable for comment. 

Hobson, chairman of the House panel that decides spending on 
energy projects, had joined Democrats who said the United States 
already has a huge nuclear arsenal and should not make more 
bombs. Using his committee post, Hobson did not include the 
funding in the final version of the energy section of the 
spending bill even though the Senate approved it. 

The Bush administration wants to study a new nuclear bomb that 
could destroy enemy bunkers 300 feet below ground. Existing bombs 
can only dig 50 feet underground before exploding. 

"We cannot advocate for nuclear proliferation around the globe 
and pursue more nuclear weapons options here at home," Hobson 
said in a speech to the National Academy of Sciences in August. 

Bush administration officials argued they merely wanted to study 
a new bomb and the $27.5 million was not enough to build the 
weapon. "We had carefully crafted a budget request that ensured 
that our programs met our most important national security 
objectives and responsibilities," said Bryan Wilkes, spokesman 
for the Energy Department's National Nuclear Security 
Administration. 

Hobson, a veteran lawmaker, said he is not worried that the Bush 
administration will retaliate against him. Hobson's staff said 
the congressman believes his action was the right thing to do. 

Wilkes refused to comment on how Hobson's action will play among 
Bush administration officials. Last year, Congress already had 
slashed test funding for the "bunker busting" weapon to about 
$7.5 million, half what the Bush administration wanted. 

"I don't want to address any one particular member," Wilkes said. 
"It's safe to say we are disappointed." 

The Arms Control Association, a nonpartisan group against nuclear 
proliferation, praised Hobson. 

"The congressional budget cuts send a strong signal to the White 
House that Republicans and Democrats will resist efforts to 
create new and more usable nuclear weapons or resume nuclear 
testing," said Daryl Kimball, executive director of the group. 

"We cannot advocate for nuclear proliferation around the globe 
and pursue more nuclear weapons options here at home." 

Originally published Thursday, November 25, 2004
 
[http://www.gannettfoundation.org]    
*****************************************************************
 10 Tidepool: Nevada Sen. Reid commentary

 | Features | Zuckerman
 
[http://www.hcn.org/opinion.jsp]

Can a teetotaling Mormon from a busted mining town in Nevada lead 
Democrats to the Promised Land of national power? This much is 
certain: Democrats rallied behind Harry Reid in the hope that he 
can take them through purgatory --or is it hell? -- as minority 
leader of the 44-member Democratic caucus in the U.S. Senate. 

Many doubted at first that a man with his mild demeanor had the 
right stuff to represent underdog Democrats at their nadir. I 
think Reid has what it takes. 

First, he is an insider, known as one of the best players in the 
inside baseball game of the Senate, where deals are made in the 
cloakroom and not on the floor. This means Reid will help shape 
the issues that shape the future of Democrats. 

Second, Reid's highest personal ambition is winning back the 
Senate for the Democrats and then becoming majority leader. This 
means he will cultivate and advance new leaders for the party. 

Finally -- and as important as the others but little noticed in 
the national puzzlement over how Reid got where he is -- he 
understands the West. Nov.2 indicates that the key to the 
Democratic Party's future nationally is in the West. The signs 
are hopeful. Western Democrats did surprisingly well, even though 
the states went for Bush. 

How did Reid end up in charge of a party most see as coastal and 
liberal? His hard-luck biography says a lot. His father, a 
prospector and miner in Searchlight, Nev., committed suicide when 
Reid was a young man. To get a better education, Reid hitchhiked 
40 miles each week to go to high school in Henderson, near Las 
Vegas. 

After college, he worked his way through law school as a Capitol 
Hill cop in Washington, D.C. Back in Nevada, he became head of 
the state gaming commission and took on the mob in the casino 
industry. Reid is not a big man, but he was a boxer in high 
school, a scrapper who puts up a good fight. 

Reid grew up in a backwater of the old West but came of age 
politically in a new West. The region was transformed after World 
War II by military spending, the interstate highway system, the 
rise of tourism and the growth of its metropolitan cities. Those 
forces came together to make this the fastest-growing region in 
the country. 

Las Vegas, where Reid focused his political career, has been 
caught up in this maelstrom of change. But Reid has also had to 
represent the rest of Nevada as well, the mining towns, ranches 
and farms and Indian reservations. He has learned to make 
important compromises on mining, water, grazing, wilderness, and 
with Native American tribes. What is most interesting about his 
compromises is that they are not haphazard. They flow out of his 
vision of the future. 

Reid in his speeches and in personal interactions tells one story 
over and over. In it, he is taking his wife to see a spring 
hidden among the Joshua trees in the desert west of Searchlight, 
where he went as a boy to escape his life. They find the spring, 
but it has been trashed. Reid is heartbroken: It is a beautiful 
thing from his past that he wanted to share with his wife in the 
present. This is one of the few personal stories you will hear 
from this reticent man. The other involves the suicide of his 
father, which he only recently began to talk about. 

What do the stories signify? They tell him and his listeners that 
the old ways have got to change. Those stories drive him to find 
a way out of the dead-end dilemma of the old West, which sees 
compromise as unmanly. 

What might Reid's leadership of the Senate minority mean for the 
West? He will do everything possible to stop the proposed nuclear 
dump at Yucca Mountain, 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas. And if 
the Senate minority leader can do one thing, it is to clog up the 
system and delay action. Unlike the House of Representatives, the 
majority in the Senate cannot ride roughshod over the minority. 

More important for the nation, Reid will also be able to shape 
the legislative agenda behind the scenes. If he can shape the 
Democratic agenda, he might succeed in moving the party toward 
the center and toward the West. Reid could be the instrument by 
which the West replaces the South as a key part of a Democratic 
coalition, which once again makes that party a contender. Jon 
Christensen is a contributor to Writers on the Range, a service 
of High Country News (hcn.org). He spent 12 years as journalist 
in Nevada and is currently on a graduate fellowship in history at 
Stanford University in California. 

Writers on the Range is an op-ed service of <I>High Country 
News.</I> [http://www.hcn.org] Writers on the Range produces and 
sells three op-ed articles weekly to newspapers throughout the 
American West. Please contact <I>Betsy Marston</I> 
[betsym@hcn.org] <betsym@hcn.org> if you are interested in 
<I>writing or buying articles.</I> 
[http://www.hcn.org/signup.jsp]   

*****************************************************************
 11 Business Day: Moon gas could meet earth's energy demands
 
[http://www.businessday.co.za/

By Jay Shankar 

UDAIPUR - A potential gas source found on the moon's surface
could hold the key to meeting future energy demands as the
earth's fossil fuels dry up in the coming decades, scientists
said. Mineral samples from the moon contained abundant
quantities of helium 3, a variant of the gas used in lasers and
refrigerators as 
well as to blow up balloons. 

"When compared to the earth the moon has a tremendous amount of
helium 3," said Lawrence Taylor, a director of the US Planetary
Geosciences Institute, Department of Earth and Planetary
Sciences. "When helium 3 combines with deuterium (an isotope of
hydrogen) the fusion reaction proceeds at a very high
temperature and it can produce awesome amounts of energy,"
Taylor told AFP. 

"Just 25 tonnes of helium, which can be transported on a space
shuttle, is enough to provide electricity for the US for one
full year," said Taylor, who is in the north Indian city of
Udaipur for a global conference on moon exploration. 

Helium 3 is deposited on the lunar surface by solar winds and
would have to be extracted from moon soil and rocks. To extract
helium 3 gas the rocks have to be heated above 800 degrees C.
Some 200 million tonnes of lunar soil would produce one tonne of
helium, Taylor said, noting that only 10 kilos 
of helium are available on earth. 

Indian President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam told the International
Conference on Exploration and Utilisation of the Moon that the
barren planet held about one million tonnes of helium 3. 

"The moon contains 10 times more energy in the form of Helium 3
than all the fossil fuels on the earth," Kalam said. However,
planetary scientist Taylor said the reactor technology for
converting helium 3 to energy was still in its infancy and could
take years to develop. 

"The problem is that there is not yet an efficient type of
reactor to process helium 3. It is currently being done mostly
as a laboratory experiment. Right now at the rate which it
(research) is proceeding it will take another 30 years," he
said. 

Other scientists said the reactor would be safe in terms of
radioactive elements and could be built right in the heart of
any city. "Potentially there are large reservoirs of helium 3 on
the moon, said D.J. Lawrence, planetary scientist at the US Los
Alamos National Laboratory. 

"Just doing reconnaissance where the minerals are and to find
out where helium 3 likes to hang out is the first step, so when
the reactor technology gets to work we are ready and have
precise information," Lawrence said. 

"It really could be used as a future fuel and is safe. It is not
all science fiction." 

"There are visionaries out there and now the question arises
where the funds come from. If people get on board to do it there
is no doubt it could be done," he said. 
Taylor echoed Lawrence's views adding that there were no funds
available for funding non-petroleum energy projects in the
United States. 

He warned of the exhaustion of fossil fuels such as coal, oil
and gas on earth. 

"By 2050 the whole world will have a major problem. We need to
be thinking ahead," Taylor said. "Right now we are not thinking
ahead enough. Some of us are. But then the people who make the
decisions and put money on the projects are not. They think only
about the next elections. 

"If we set our hearts on the moon and have the money to do it,
then we do it pretty fast. However, it could be done well within
10 years if the sources of finance are generated to get this
(reactor) going," he said. 

AFP 
                                                                          
Saturday 27 November 2004                                                                                                                 

 BDFM Publishers (Pty) Ltd disclaims all liability for any loss,
BDFM Publishers 2002 
  
*****************************************************************
 12 BBC: EU gets tough on fusion reactor
 
  Last Updated: Friday, 26 November, 2004
 
	
ITER - NUCLEAR FUSION PROJECT 		 [Iter, BBC] 	

Project estimated to cost 10bn euros and will run for 35 years

It will produce the first sustained fusion reactions    

Final stage before full prototype of commercial reactor is built      

European research ministers say they are ready to press ahead 
with the Iter nuclear fusion project even if it means losing 
Japanese support. 

The multi-billion-euro reactor will produce energy from nuclear
reactions like the ones that fuel the Sun. 

But the international project has been stalled because the
parties involved cannot agree on a location to build it. 

Now, EU ministers say that if no deal is done soon, they will go
it alone with a reactor at Cadarache in France. 

The fact that they a setting a deadline for their rival to make a 
concession is something like a declaration of war Satoru Ohtake, 
Japan's Office of Fusion Energy          

This is not an ultimatum, but we wish to reach a political 
agreement before the end of the year," French research minister 
Francois D'Aubert told reporters on Friday. 

He added: "If the negotiations do not come to a rapid conclusion, 
the commission has the possibility to choose a different path." 

And the EU's research commissioner, Janez Potocnik, added: "I do 
not think that it is useful to put a deadline on this. We have 
not discussed that today. 

"As long as there is the slightest possibility of a positive 
outcome, I am committed to negotiate." 

Different views 

After the International Space Station, the International 
Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (Iter) would be the largest 
global research and development collaboration. 

There are currently six parties involved. The EU has the support 
of China and Russia to build the reactor at Cadarache. 

Japan has the backing of the US and South Korea to construct Iter 
at Rokkasho in the north of its territory. 

A decision on the location should have been made a year ago - but 
the parties are deadlocked. 

Europe would like Japan to stand down and accept a major support 
role - in what the EU calls a "genuine partnership". This would 
involve Japan getting a materials testing facility needed to push 
forward the Iter project. 

The facility would also be well placed to win any contracts to 
supply the commercial reactors that could come after Iter. 

Japan, however, is adamant that it has the best candidate site 
and has been upset by the EU's attempt to force the issue by 
threatening to go it alone. 

	 		

			
                                                        [Impression 
of Iter at Cadarache (Europa)] Europe would build Iter on the 
French Mediterranean                                              
		

                                         "It is extremely 
regrettable. We hope that the EU will handle this matter 
appropriately and honestly," said Takahiro Hayashi, deputy 
director of the Office of Fusion Energy at Japan's energy 
ministry. 

"There is no deadline for the talks. We will continue until both 
sides reach an agreement," he told the AFP news agency. 

And the office's director, Satoru Ohtake, told Reuters news 
agency: "The two sides have different ideas, and therefore we 
should take time to have good discussions." 

He added: "The fact that they are setting a deadline for their 
rival to make a concession is something like a declaration of 
war." 

Technical obstacles 

Unlike in fission reactions, in which atomic nuclei are split to 
release energy, fusion reactions release energy when nuclei are 
forced together. 

The process is the same as the one that powers the Sun. Achieving 
stable and sustained reactions on Earth, however, present an 
immense challenge. 

The Iter design is for the reactions to take place inside a 
100-million-degree gas (plasma) suspended in an intense 
doughnut-shaped magnetic field. 

[Jet, Europe's 'star']                                  
Jet has shown the plasma (right) approach should succeed                                                                 

Several research facilities, such as the Joint European Torus 
(Jet) project at Culham, UK, have shown this is feasible; but 
none has so far been able to sustain the reactions for long 
periods. 

Iter will consolidate all that has been learnt over many decades 
of study. It is expected to produce 500MW of fusion power during 
pulses of at least 400 seconds. 

If it achieves this and its technologies are proven to be 
practical, the international community would then build a 
prototype commercial reactor, dubbed Demo. 

Fusion could help fill the void as the world moves away from oil, 
coal and natural gas. 

The fusion fuels are plentiful and produce no greenhouse 
emissions when "burnt". The systems are said to be inherently 
safe because they shutdown in a malfunction; and although 
radioactive materials are produced, they are not of the 
high-level long-lived variety that has so burdened nuclear 
fission. 
*****************************************************************
 13 UK The Times: UK's failure on nuclear obligation

Letter 
November 26, 2004                      
 
From Professor Sir Joseph Rotblat, FRS
		   		 		
Sir, You take Iran to task for stalling on nuclear agreements 
(leading article, November 24) and you conclude: �Iran wants to 
be taken seriously by the international community, yet does not 
take its international obligations seriously. One is not possible 
without the other.� 

How very true. 

All the five �recognised� nuclear states: USA, Russia, UK, France 
and China, have signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty 
(NPT), and thus (under Article VI) committed themselves to the 
abolition of their nuclear arsenals. 

Yet they have done nothing to show that they take their 
international obligations seriously. 

The UK is formally committed to nuclear disarmament, but it will 
not implement it as long as other states keep nuclear weapons. In 
the institution designated to deal with this issue, the 
Conference on Disarmament in Geneva, nobody is taking the 
initiative. The subject has been stalled for years, and is not 
even put on the agenda. 

With the re-election of George W. Bush, his nuclear policy � 
which includes the development of new nuclear warheads and their 
first-use, even pre-emptively if need be � is very likely to be 
pursued, leading to a new nuclear arms race. 

An initiative to implement the NPT is urgently needed and, for 
the reason stated above, the UK should feel obliged to take it. 

Yours faithfully, JOSEPH ROTBLAT, (President Emeritus of the 
Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs), 8 Asmara Road, 
West Hampstead, NW2 3ST. pugwash@mac.com [pugwash@mac.com] 
November 24.                    

							   	 	
Copyright The Times - timesonline.co.uk
*****************************************************************
 14 INSIDE JoongAng Daily
 
[http://joongangdaily.joins.com]

  November 26, 2004 �� 

Despite evidence in a UN agency report
that South Korea failed to disclose forbidden nuclear research,
diplomats said yesterday they believe a decision to send Seoul's
case to the UN Security Council is likely to be deferred, adding
that further inspections appear necessary.

 The International Atomic Energy Agency's board of governors is
currently meeting in Vienna, Austria. The 35-member board is
assessing South Korea's unauthorized nuclear experiments over
two decades based upon an agency report submitted Nov. 11. A
copy of the report was leaked Wednesday to the international
press.

 The IAEA investigators conducted three rounds of inspections of
South Korea after Seoul admitted in August that it had conducted
undeclared nuclear experiments. 
Reuters quoted diplomats on the IAEA board who said the decision
whether to refer South Korea to the Security Council would
probably be put off until March. The UN body has the power to
impose economic and military sanctions and can go so far as
authorizing the use of force in relation to nuclear
nonproliferation violations.

 The Reuters report quoted a Western diplomat on the nuclear
agency's board as saying the IAEA does not want to make a
decision on South Korea's case until further investigations are
complete.

 The eight-page report, obtained by the JoongAng Ilbo, indicates
that further inspections are necessary to verify South Korea's
past nuclear activities. The report also revealed a project that
Seoul did not admit to until last month. 

The report, entitled "Implementation of the NPT Safeguards
Agreement in the Republic of Korea," states that South Korea
failed to make timely and accurate reports to the IAEA about its
experiments at a state-run research institute over a 20-year
period. The report also said South Korea had rejected UN
requests for access to certain facilities or for environmental
samples early this year. 

In August, Seoul admitted its scientists enriched uranium on
three separate occasions between January and February 2000 using
the atomic vapor laser isotope separation method; the report
charged that at least 10 such experiments were conducted between
1993 and 2000. 

Seoul has insisted the experiments, which used 3.5 kilograms of
uranium metal, had resulted in only 200 milligrams of enriched
uranium; at one point, the enrichment level reached 77 percent
�� 13 percentage points short of weapons grade.

 Seoul's declaration in August also failed to include all its
uranium conversion activities, the report said, adding that some
activities were revealed "only as a result of the agency's
verification activities." 

The inspectors also revealed that South Korea had conducted
plutonium separation experiments in the 1980s, but failed to
inform the IAEA at the time. Seoul later provided inaccurate
information to the agency and has not yet submitted an updated
report, the report said. The report urged South Korea to provide
detailed records and information on these experiments. 

The report noted Seoul conducted a project that had not been
disclosed to the public. South Korea acknowledged to the IAEA
last month that it conducted chemical uranium-enrichment
experiments. Seoul claimed the project, between 1979 to 1981,
was terminated. The agency is in the process of assessing the
matter, based on inspections this month. 

Although the quantities of nuclear material involved were small,
the nature of the activities �� uranium enrichment and plutonium
separation �� and failures by Seoul to report the activities in
a timely manner are matters of serious concern, the report said.
It added that there was no indication that the undeclared
experiments were continuing. 

by Ser Myo-ja, Ryu Kwan-ha myoja@joongang.co.kr>   

[http://joongangdaily.joins.com/faq.html]    		 		

Copyright by Joins.com, Inc. Terms of Use |
*****************************************************************
 15 MercoPress: IAEA and Brazil agree on atomic inspection 

Falklands-Malvinas & South Atlantic News
 
[MercoPress - www.mercopress.com]   
              
- Friday, 26 November

�We have reached an agreement in principle with the Brazilian
government to verify safeguards at the enrichment facility in
Resende", revealed Mohamed El Baradei IAEA chief of the United
Nations nuclear proliferation watchdog. 

Earlier in the week Brazil said the IAEA gave it the green light
to produce enriched uranium following a standoff lasting months
on inspections. 

Brazilian Science and Technology Minister Eduardo Campos
announced that the IAEA had authorized his country to enrich
uranium, but joint inspections of safeguards at the Resende
plant must still be completed. 

With IAEA approval, the plant located in Resende, in Rio de
Janeiro state, will enrich small amounts of uranium. This
limited production will last 6-8 months, while authorities make
the final adjustments to carry out the process to enrich larger
quantities of uranium bound for Brazil's two nuclear power
plants. Uranium which is used as fuel for nuclear power plants
can also be turned into making nuclear weapons. 

Though Brazil has abundant uranium deposits, the mineral is sent
to Canada and then Europe for further processing as a gas,
before being sent back to Brazil, where it is finally converted
into solid fuel the country�s nuclear plants. 

Vienna-based IAEA and the Brazilian government have argued for
months over inspections of the Resende plant. Brasilia denying
inspectors� access to its centrifuges on the grounds that the
Brazilian developed technology cost the country twenty years of
research and one billion US dollars. 

Brazil claims the right to protect what it sees as trade secrets
and has repeatedly denied that it is trying to develop an atomic
bomb. 

After months of negotiations, the IAEA agreed to the
restrictions imposed by Brazil on the inspections. The
technicians who made the visit were given limited access to the
centrifuges but were able to see enough to confirm that no
diversion of the enriched mineral for other purposes was being
carried out. 

The Brazilian centrifuges, developed by the military, use
electromagnetic levitation that consume less fuel and costs 25%
less than enrichment methods used by nations such as the United
States. 

Working with German technology Brazil has two nuclear energy
plants Angra I and Angra II in Rio de Janeiro but a third unit
Angra III has been paralyzed for 20 years. 

Fin del Texto - Mercosur - Friday, 26 November 

        MERCOPRESS is a news agency concentrating in Mercosur
countries which operates from Montevideo, Uruguay, and includes
in its area of influence the South Atlantic and insular
territories. � 1997-2001 Mercopress - E-mail:
admin@mercopress.com [admin@mercopress.com] - Web technical
help: webmaster@mercopress.com [webmaster@mercopress.com]       
 

*****************************************************************
 16 Guardian Unlimited: EU 'declaration of war' over fusion
 
Staff and agencies
Friday November 26, 2004 		
 		
Japan said today it would continue with its bid to host a global 
nuclear fusion project and warned the European Union against 
going ahead without Tokyo. 

However, EU ministers agreed in Brussels to continue seeking 
Japan's backing to build the world's first thermonuclear reactor 
in France - but to go ahead without Tokyo if there was no deal by 
the end of the year. 

"It is regrettable that they are talking about taking unilateral 
action," Satoru Ohtake, director for fusion energy at Science and 
Technology Ministry, told Reuters. "There is no change in Japan's 
policy to seek to host the project." 

Nuclear fusion has been touted as a long-term solution to the 
world's energy problems, ,but 50 years of research have so far 
failed to produce a commercially viable fusion reactor. 

The EU would prefer an agreement with all six parties in the 
project: itself, Japan, China, Russia, the United States, and 
South Korea. But if no deal was reached, the EU would press ahead 
and build the 10bn euro reactor in Cadarache, France, with as 
many partners as possible. 

"The two sides have different ideas, and therefore we should take 
time to have good discussions," Ohtake said. "The fact that they 
are setting a deadline for their rival to make a concession is 
something like a declaration of war." 

The United States and South Korea have supported building the 
reactor in Rokkasho, a Japanese fishing village, but EU sources 
believe they would back Cadarache if Tokyo steps aside. The EU 
might offer Tokyo a privileged partner role in the mammoth 
nuclear fusion research plan to compensate for not building it in 
Japan, officials said. But Japan has stood firm on its proposal. 

"We don't know about their plan to compensate. But if it is the 
same proposal as what they had before, it is worth no 
consideration," Ohtake said. "It is not acceptable that the EU 
offers compensation to Japan on condition that the EU hosts the 
project." 

Construction of the International Thermonuclear Experimental 
Reactor (ITER) is currently forecast to cost some 4.6bn euros 
over a 10-year period. The EU intends to cover 40 percent of that 
from its budget while France has proposed doubling its 
contribution to 20 percent of the costs. Diplomats say the EU 
offer might include creating a fusion institute in Japan worth 
one billion euros for pre-research activity linked to the project 
on condition that Japan raised its financial contribution to the 
reactor. Including a development phase, the ITER project is 
forecast to last 30 years.
 	
 	
Further reading 22.11.2004: Fusion power faces big crunch 
11.11.2004: It's the sun what does it

Guardian Unlimited � Guardian Newspapers Limited 2004
*****************************************************************
 17 Expatica: Libya has no pressing nuclear plans, says Chirac

French news in English
 
TRIPOLI, Nov 25 (AFP) - French President Jacques Chirac said 
Thursday that oil-rich Libya may have ambitions to develop a 
nuclear energy programme but that it was not on the cards right 
now. 

"That could of course be an ambition of Libya but it is not on 
the agenda today," Chirac said as he wrapped up a landmark visit 
to Tripoli, the first by a French head of state since Libyan 
independence half a century ago. 

"There are no moves of that kind," said Chirac, who met Libyan 
leader Moamer Kadhafi three times during his visit of less than 
24 hours. 

Asked about the possibility of France transferring nuclear 
technology, Chirac said: "France, like other nuclear powers, is 
under IAEA constraints which lay down conditions for the transfer 
of the technology necessary for the development of a civilian 
nuclear programme." 

Kadhafi has undergone a dramatic diplomatic reversal in the past 
year since agreeing to stop developing weapons of mass 
destruction, denouncing terrorism and acknowledging 
responsibility for the Lockerbie and French UTA plane bombings in 
the 1980s.
 
� AFP 

Subject: French News
  
� copyright 2004 Expatica Communications BV 

Expatica, Expatica.com and 'I am not a tourist' are registered
*****************************************************************
 18 SA: Business Day: Environmentalists gear up for hearing
 
[http://www.businessday.co.za/

Environmental activists were on Thursday gearing up for next 
week's high court battle against Eskom's plan to set up a second 
nuclear reactor on the outskirts of Cape Town. 

Members of the NGO Earthlife Africa were painting banners and 
posters they plan to use in a demonstration outside court as the 
case gets under way. 

Co-ordinator Liz McDaid said they would have liked to wear skull 
masks, to echo the grim skull and crossbones symbol on one of the 
banners, but this would have contravened a City of Cape Town 
by-law. 

Eskom has received approval from the Department of Environment 
Affairs for the 110 megawatt pebble bed modular reactor it 
intends to build at Koeberg, alongside the existing nuclear power 
station. 

Earthlife is challenging the decision on procedural grounds, 
arguing that it was not given full opportunity to comment and 
make representations. 

McDaid said the hearing, before a full bench, had been set down 
for two days. 

"It has been a long and tiring road but the rewards are 
enormous," she said. 

"If we can win this court battle, then we can hopefully play a 
small part in ensuring that South Africa directs its considerable 
human and capital resources into environmentally sound, 
affordable energy provision." 

Sapa Saturday 27 November 2004                                                                                                                 

 BDFM Publishers (Pty) Ltd disclaims all liability for any loss,
BDFM Publishers 2002 
*****************************************************************
 19 Business Day: Earthlife to fight pebble bed reactor approval
 
[http://www.businessday.co.za

 
Environmental group Earthlife Africa will go to court on Monday 
as part of the group's legal battle against power utility Eskom's 
proposed pebble bed modular reactor (PBMR), with the court case 
aimed at upholding South Africa's environmental rights, Earthlife 
said in a statement. 
  
The Legal Resources Centre will be representing Earthlife Africa 
in the case. 
  
The authorisation of Eskom's proposed PBMR will come under 
judicial scrutiny on November 29, 2004 and November 30, 2004 when 
a full bench of the Cape Town High Court considers whether the 
authorisation of the plant given on 25 June, 2003 was unlawful. 
  
The legal action is part of a campaign against environmental 
injustices in the Cape Town area and to participate in 
environmental decision-making processes with a view to promoting 
and lobbying for good governance and informed decision-making, 
Earthlife said. 
  
Earthlife Africa will argue that the Director General of the 
Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism, Dr Chippy Olver, 
who authorised the plant, was obliged to afford them a fair 
hearing before taking the decision to grant the authorisation and 
failed to, that he failed to properly address the problems posed 
by nuclear waste and he abdicated responsibility to properly 
consider safety issues by deferring to the national nuclear 
regulator. 
  
Consultants undertook the environmental impact assessment (EIA) 
for the PBMR. 
  
The public, including Earthlife Africa, commented on the draft 
EIA document and also made vigorous efforts to obtain access to 
further information and documents relating to the draft 
environmental impact assessment from government, Eskom, the 
consultants and others. 
  
"Their efforts were, however, largely unsuccessful," Earthlife 
said. 
  
After receiving submissions, the consultants produced a final 
environmental impact report, which it submitted to the Department 
of Environmental Affairs and Tourism. 
  
"However, no opportunity was given to interested parties to 
comment on it," Earthlife Africa said. 
  
On 21 May, 2003, Earthlife Africa launched an unsuccessful 
application to the Transvaal provincial division of the High 
Court for access to all the information that Eskom had placed 
before Olver in support in of its application for authorisation, 
and for a reasonable opportunity to make representations to the 
department on his decision whether to grant or refuse Eskom's 
application. 
  
The application failed due to the fact that the court found that 
it was not urgent. 
  
One of Earthlife Africa's key objections is that the final EIA 
report contained a substantial number of documents that were not 
previously made available to the public including extracts from 
the safety analysis report. 
  
Another concern raised by Earthlife Africa is the fact that Olver 
should have considered the views of the National Nuclear 
Regulator (NNR) on the safety of the project before coming to his 
decision to make his own judgment on these issues. 
  
"The NNR has expertise in this area that is not otherwise 
available to Olver," Earthlife Africa said. 
  
"However, he put the cart before the horse by making his decision 
before the NNR had formed and communicated its views to him," 
Earthlife said. 
  
Earthlife Africa has asked for the authorisation to be set aside 
and for the respondents to pay its costs including costs of 3 
counsel. 
  
"It has been a long and tiring road but the rewards are enormous. 
If we can win this court battle, then we can hopefully play a 
small part in ensuring that South Africa directs its considerable 
human and capital resources into environmentally sound, 
affordable energy provision in a way that does justice to our 
commitment to sustainable development," said Earthlife Africa 
spokesperson Liz McDaid. 

I-Net Bridge 
  
Saturday 27 November 2004                                                                                                                 

 BDFM Publishers (Pty) Ltd disclaims all liability for any loss,
BDFM Publishers 2002 
*****************************************************************
 20 JOURNAL NEWS: Indian Point wins high rating from NRC

By ROGER WITHERSPOON
 THE JOURNAL NEWS
(Original publication: November 25, 2004)

The twin nuclear power plants at Indian Point have received high 
marks for a safe, effective operation in their third-quarter 
evaluation by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. 

The "green" rating, the highest the agency awards in its 
color-coded evaluation system, means Indian Point is considered 
among the best-run of the nation's 103 nuclear plants. By year's 
end, it will begin receiving the minimum level of oversight and 
inspections for the first time in four years. 

"It has been a slow, gradual climb for Indian Point back to the 
performance levels it should be at," NRC spokesman Neil Sheehan 
said. "Since 2000, they had red, then yellow or white findings, 
so it was a turning point for them earlier this year when, for 
the first time, they didn't have any findings beyond green." 

The agency's inspectors did write "deviation memos" when the 
green rating first was issued in April, requiring a heavier load 
of inspections than normal at Indian Point. The increased 
inspections were needed because there still were problems with 
equipment, training and procedures. The memos are still in 
effect, but the number of extra inspections has been reduced as 
plant performance has improved. 

"There has been a gradual stepping down in oversight, so they are 
not getting the baseline inspections," Sheehan said. "They still 
have issues to work on, though, and we will continue to keep a 
close watch on Indian Point." 

The evaluation, covering the quarter that ended Sept. 30, found 
some minor problems with maintenance practices at Indian Point 2 
and 3. The evaluation was released this week by the NRC. Entergy 
Nuclear Northeast, which owns the plants in Buchanan, declined 
comment on the evaluation. 

NRC inspectors were critical of Entergy's ability to find the 
causes of major equipment failures. The plant shut down twice in 
September, and reduced power on a third occasion, because of 
problems maintaining proper water levels in one of the plant's 
four steam generators. 

Brian McDermott, the NRC's lead evaluator of both plants, said 
Entergy's staff "made several unsuccessful attempts to identify 
the direct cause of the feedwater problems, due to the fact that 
they didn't apply a very formal troubleshooting and root cause 
analysis. They did things on a piecemeal basis and didn't work 
together as well as they should have." 

McDermott said the lack of a systematic problem-solving system 
during the first shutdown Sept. 1 led to the two subsequent 
interruptions at the site. But, he said, Entergy officials 
learned from their mistakes and correctly evaluated the situation 
when the second shutdown occurred Sept. 24. There was no danger 
to the public during the incidents. 

  Copyright 2004 The Journal News, a Gannett Co
[http://www.gannett.com/] . Inc. newspaper serving Westchester,
Rockland and Putnam Counties in New York.
Service [http://www.thejournalnews.com/include/terms.html]
(updated 12/17/2002)   


*****************************************************************
 21 Deutsche Welle: Europe's Environmental Engagement | EU | 
                
[http://dw-world.de/select_html/]                                            

25.11.2004                                                                           
 		     	 
Will solar power stations help to meet Europe's energy needs?                                                                             

The EU has around 500 directives that relate to environmental and 
climate protection. These regulations have often proved 
successful, but have also led to a number of difficulties in 
member states.
 	 	 						
Germany is often cited as a model for the environmental sector. 
Ninety-two percent of Germans regard the environment as being an 
important topic, according to a study by Germany's top state-run 
environmental agencies. German enthusiasm for environmental 
protection, which had fallen in the 1990s, appears to be on the 
rise again. 

  [Both new and renovated homes will have to contain proper 
insulation, as an energy saving measure. ]   

This increased environmental conscience has been reinforced by a 
number of new laws. Anyone deciding to build a new house or to 
redevelop an existing one, for example, is now bound by the 
energy saving directive that insists on sufficient thermal 
insulation being used. This, naturally, reduces the amount of 
thermal energy that is lost, reducing energy usage, and saving 
the householder on energy bills. 

Fixed price for green electricity 

Germany has also introduced an energy usage law, which was drawn 
up to increase the amount of solar, wind, water and biogas energy 
pumped into the electricity market. Consumers that use an 
eco-electricity company not only benefit from state subsidies but 
also a fixed price for every kilowatt hour they consume from the 
national grid. 

Germans are also world leaders when it comes to sorting rubbish. 
They want an end to the use of atomic energy, are full 
subscribers to the Kyoto Protocol and are the first nation in 
Europe to have elected a green party as partners in a coalition 
government. Environmental policies are high on the national 
agenda. 

Less enthusiasm elsewhere 

That's not so much the case in Britain, even though the country, 
at least as far as following EU directives goes, ranks high in 
environmental protection.  

The disposal of rubbish like refrigerators, for instance, has led 
to many problems in the island nation. The British parliament 
failed to pass legislation to ensure that the harmful gases 
emitted from refrigerators are dealt with adequately. As a 
result, the whole country is full of old refrigerators awaiting 
proper disposal. 

Illegal discharges 

Each year Britain emits around five million tons of toxic waste, 
which were dumped next to household rubbish until recently. Since 
last summer, this practice has been stopped, according to EU 
legislation. The number of dump sites that now accept toxic 
material is in decline, which leads to a fear that the practice 
of illegally dumping such substances could now be on the 
increase. 



  [Britain may be struggling to provide adequate disposal 
facilities for poisionous waste.]   
    

But Elliot Morley, cabinet minister for the environment, is 
convinced that after some initial problems, there are now ample 
storage and disposal facilities for toxic material. 

"We have enough dumps," he said. "It will mean an unavoidable 
reduction in the space available at the dump sites, which is to 
be expected in the early stages (of the new directive's) 
introduction. Yes, we will begin to increase the number of 
landfill sites available, and when the needs for the disposal of 
toxic waste increases, the industry will surely react." 

The government hopes that the new directives that industry is 
currently bringing on stream, will lead to less poisonous waste 
being generated. But it does depend on the necessary legislation 
and the industry's readiness to organize itself on how best to 
deal with the disposal of harmful substances. 

Discussions on how the decontamination of poisonous substances 
can be brought under control with the help of tax measures have 
been going on for years. A corresponding bill is yet to be 
introduced, In the meantime, a new business is flourishing, where 
truck drivers pick up poisonous substances, and then dump them 
illegally out on the streets. 

Romania remains a problem child 

EU accession candidate Romania is working on its environmental 
policy. Measures included in the progress report from the 
European Union show that they are content that adjustments 
required in EU policy have been reached. But the new 
environmental laws have not yet been implemented. Corruption in 
the country is the biggest issue. 

The Greens in Hungary seem to have been given some encouragement. 
On the points of environmental policy, rubbish sorting and 
recycling, and water usage, there exist local directives, but 
there can often be a shortage of implementation. 

  [This new nuclear power plant in Normandy is more efficient, 
safer and more environmentally friendly than current models.]   
    

The French are struggling with a completely different problem: 
Since the recent sharp rise in oil prices the country is becoming 
more and more reliant on nuclear energy. Independence from crude 
oil is an argument for those who are fans of nuclear power. 

Permit-trading of dangerous substances 

The environmental policy in Europe should help to reduce the 
emission of harmful substances. The beginning of 2005 will see 
the start of an emission trading system between the EU's 25 
member states. The first multinational emission trading system in 
the world is the cornerstone of the EU's objective to fulfil the 
targets of the Kyoto Protocol. Between 2008 and 2012, an 8 
percent reduction in levels of carbon dioxide emissions is to be 
achieved, compared to 1990 levels. 

Petra Kohnen (gb) [de:mehr]                                               
 			
Drivers in Berlin can fill up their cars with hydrogen at the
world's largest service station for fuel cell vehicles. Opened
on Friday, the project paves the way for widespread use of
alternative energy. (Nov. 13, 2004)
 					 											 						Putin Signs up Russia for Kyoto Pact
						
Russian President Vladimir Putin put his signature to the UN's
Kyoto climate change treaty on Friday, just over a week after
his country's parliament voted to ratify the document, the
Kremlin said. (Nov. 5, 2004)
 					 											 						Europe Heats Up 						
According to a new report by Europe's leading Environment
Agency, the continent only has 50 years to adapt to changing
weather conditions with three-quarters of Europe's glaciers
expected to melt. (Aug. 19, 2004)
 					   			     		 	
*****************************************************************
 22 Guardian Unlimited: Labour to look again at nuclear power
 
Support for new plants may follow election             
 		
Terry Macalister
Friday November 26, 2004
The Guardian [http://www.guardian.co.uk]  		
 		
Britain's nuclear lobby yesterday expressed confidence about the 
future - buoyed by the country's growing need for home-grown 
energy and a need to curb greenhouse gases. 

Top business executives met politicians, union officials and 
consultants in London to look at ways of convincing a sceptical 
public it should support a new generation of atomic plants. 

Martin O'Neill MP, chairman of the trade and industry select 
committee, expressed optimism a new Labour government would take 
another hard look at nuclear "within 12 months" of winning an 
election. 

"Within two years we could have a situation where a number of 
building blocks are in place," he said, making clear that 
controversial issues such as disposal of waste "can be 
addressed". 

But he believed a new consortium of companies rather than the 
country's main nuclear generator, British Energy, would be the 
most likely vehicle for building new capacity. 

Mike Alexander, the chief executive of BE, insisted his 
restructured company had a good future but admitted it still 
needed to convince itself and the public it was a truly competent 
operator. 

"We need to pull our socks up," said Mr Alexander who joined last 
year from gas and electricity group, Centrica. 

Professor James Lovelock, a long-time environmentalist who 
shocked some of his green colleagues this year by arguing nuclear 
power was a vital tool to tackle global warming, was back on the 
offensive. At the conference, organised by white collar union 
Prospect and titled Keeping the Nuclear Option Open - What Will 
It Take?, Prof Lovelock said green opposition to nuclear was 
completely misguided. 

"Now that we have made the earth sick, it will not be cured by 
alternative green remedies like wind turbines and bio fuels 
alone. This is why I recommend instead the appropriate medicine 
of nuclear energy." 

Prof Lovelock, a fellow of Oxford University, argued that 
renewable energy was "ruinously expensive" and gas was "the most 
dangerous" energy source of all. 

"During the next 20 to 50 years even a 2% leak of the natural gas 
from the production sites to the power stations makes it as bad 
as burning coal or oil. There seems to be no answer other than 
draconian energy saving and the widespread use of nuclear power." 

The government energy white paper published last year kept 
mention of nuclear down to a minimum but said the issue of 
whether to proceed with a new generation of atomic plants would 
be revisited. Nothing is expected to happen before a general 
election. 

Mr Alexander said new stations would need the go-ahead by 2007 
given the long lead time to build them and the fact that BE's 
plants are rapidly ageing. 

Only three of BE's eight stations could remain in action by 2015 
unless they are given life extensions. 

Chris Lambert, a director with the lobby group Westminster Energy 
Policy Forum, said it was planning a series of seminars and 
conferences on nuclear issues over the next 12 months. 

Six City firms - including lawyers, insurers and credit agencies 
- are expected to fund the exercise. Mr Lambert was unwilling to 
say who they were ahead of details being finalised. 
	
Useful link
Green party of England and Wales [http://www.greenparty.org.uk] 

politics.editor@guardianunlimited.co.uk] 

[UP] 

Guardian Unlimited � Guardian Newspapers Limited 2004
*****************************************************************
 23 NRC: Notice of Availability of Environmental Assessment and Finding
 
                        FR Doc 04-26135 
[Federal Register: November 26, 2004 (Volume 69, Number 227)] 
[Notices] [Page 68981-68982] From the Federal Register Online via 
GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr26no04-117]                         
 
of No Significant Impact for License Amendment for West Virginia 
School of Osteopathic Medicine's Facility in Lewisburg, WV 
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
 
ACTION: Notice of availability.
 
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Orysia Masnyk Bailey, Materials 
Security & Industrial Branch, Division of Nuclear Materials 
Safety, Region I, 475 Allendale Road, King of Prussia, 
Pennsylvania 19406, telephone (404) 562-4739, fax (404) 562-4955; 
or by e-mail: omm@nrc.gov [omm@nrc.gov] .
 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: I. Introduction The Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission (NRC) is terminating Materials License No. 47-19315-01 
issued to the West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine and 
authorizing release of its facility in Lewisburg, West Virginia 
for unrestricted use. NRC has prepared an Environmental 
Assessment (EA) in support of this action in accordance with the 
requirements of 10 CFR Part 51. Based on the EA, the NRC has
 
[[Page 68982]] concluded that a Finding of No Significant Impact 
(FONSI) is appropriate. The license will be terminated following 
the publication of this Notice.
 
II. EA Summary The purpose of the action is to terminate the 
license and authorize the release of the licensee's Lewisburg, 
West Virginia facility for unrestricted use. The West Virginia 
School of Osteopathic Medicine was authorized by the NRC from 
June 6, 1980 to use radioactive materials for research and 
development purposes. On June 6, 2003, the West Virginia School 
of Osteopathic Medicine requested that the NRC release the 
facility for unrestricted use. Belair Quartz has conducted 
surveys of the facility and provided information to the NRC to 
demonstrate that the site meets the license termination criteria 
in Subpart E of 10 CFR Part 20 for unrestricted release.
 
The NRC staff has prepared an EA in support of the license 
termination. The facility was remediated and surveyed prior to 
the licensee requesting the license amendment. The NRC staff has 
reviewed the information and final status survey submitted by the 
West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine. Based on its 
reviews, the staff has determined that there are no additional 
remediation activities necessary to complete the proposed action. 
Therefore, the staff considered the impact of the residual 
radioactivity at the facility and concluded that since the 
residual radioactivity meets the requirements in Subpart E of 10 
CFR Part 20, a Finding of No Significant Impact is appropriate.
 
III. Finding of No Significant Impact The staff has prepared the 
EA (summarized above) in support of the termination of the 
license and release the facility for unrestricted use. The NRC 
staff has evaluated the West Virginia School of Osteopathic 
Medicine's request and the results of the survey and has 
concluded that the completed action complies with the criteria in 
Subpart E of 10 CFR Part 20. The staff has found that the 
environmental impacts from the action are bounded by the impacts 
evaluated by NUREG- 1496, Volumes 1-3, ``Generic Environmental 
Impact Statement in Support of Rulemaking on Radiological 
Criteria for License Termination of NRC- Licensed Facilities'' 
(ML042310492, ML042320379, and ML042330385). On the basis of the 
EA, the NRC has concluded that the environmental impacts from the 
action are expected to be insignificant and has determined not to 
prepare an environmental impact statement for the action.
 
IV. Further Information Documents related to this action, 
including the application for the license termination and 
supporting documentation, are available electronically at the 
NRC's Agencywide Document Access and Management System (ADAMS), 
which provides text and image files of NRC's public documents. 
The ADAMS accession numbers for the documents related to this 
Notice are: The Environmental Assessment (ML042720038), and 
Letter dated June 6, 2003 transmitting Final Status Survey Report 
(ML031611054). On October 25, 2004, the NRC terminated public 
access to ADAMS and initiated an additional security review of 
publicly available documents to ensure that potentially sensitive 
information is removed from the ADAMS database accessible through 
the NRC's web site. Interested members of the public may obtain 
copies of the referenced documents for review and/or copying by 
contacting the Public Document Room pending resumption of public 
access to ADAMS. The NRC Public Documents Room is located at NRC 
Headquarters in Rockville, MD, and can be contacted at (800) 
397-4209, (301) 415-4737 or by e-mail to: pdr@nrc.gov 
[pdr@nrc.gov] . These documents may also be viewed electronically 
on the public computers located at the NRC's PDR, O 1 F21, One 
White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD 20852. The 
PDR reproduction contractor will copy documents for a fee.
 
Dated at King of Prussia, Pennsylvania this 18th day of November, 
2004.
 
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
 
John D. Kinneman, Chief, Materials Security & Industrial Branch, 
Division of Nuclear Materials Safety, Region I.
 
[FR Doc. 04-26135 Filed 11-24-04; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590-01-P

 
*****************************************************************
 24 [NYTr] Gulf War Syndrome: Ticking Toxic Timebomb
 
Date: Thu, 25 Nov 2004 14:29:41 -0600 (CST)

 
Via NY Transfer News Collective  *  All the News that Doesn't Fit
 
[The Brits have finally admitted that Gulf War Syndrome is "real." 
US experts have begun to identify what they believe are some of the
causes.]

sent by John Clancy

The Guardian Weekly 2004-11-19, page 6

Toxins Linked to Gulf Illness

by James Meikle

Troops who have become ill since the first Gulf war may have fallen victim
to a ticking toxic timebomb, US government advisers said last week.

Scientists and veterans from the 1991 conflict went further than any
previous official body on either side of the Atlantic in identifying a
complex chemical cocktail of nerve agents, pills to protect troops from
those agents and multiple pesticides as a possible cause for their health
problems.

Psychiatric illness, combat experience or other stresses from deployment did
not explain ill health in the "vast majority" of 100,000 sick US veterans,
according to the advisers' report. On the contrary, evidence supported a
"probable link" between the toxins and veterans' illness.

Many troops had been exposed to substances belonging to a class of compounds
affecting the nervous system and a "growing body of research" indicated that
ill veterans differed from healthy ones "on objective measures of
neuropathology and impairment".

Animal studies indicated that exposure to nerve agents at levels too low to
produce acute symptoms could result in "chronic adverse effects on the
nervous and immune systems". In addition, research suggested that if the
neurotoxins were combined, they would be more poisonous.

The report was published by the US department of veterans affairs. The
committee responsible included Robert Haley, the scientist who has suggested
that three types of Gulf-related cell damage exist in veterans, the worst
associated with confusion and vertigo, another related to thinking problems,
depression and sleep disorders, and a third to pain.

This is not accepted in the UK, although there is consideration as to
whether some of the 6,000 British veterans who have complained of illness
should undergo similar brain scans. The Ministry of Defence insists there is
no Gulf war syndrome, and no more deaths among veterans than among troops
who never went to the Gulf. It accepts that many more veterans who served
there report illness.

The US veteran affairs secretary, Anthony Principi, said the VA would set
aside up to $15m for a year of Gulf war illness research. "We must embrace
the possibility that unconventional theories . . . may lead the way to
resolving and understanding the unforeseen and unsupposed battlefield
conditions that existed in 1990, 1991 and which may have tunnelled silently
into the bodies of Gulf war veterans," he said.
       
                                *
Search the NYTr Archives at:
http://olm.blythe-systems.com/pipermail/nytr/

To subscribe or unsubscribe or change your settings via the web, visit:
http://olm.blythe-systems.com/mailman/listinfo/nytr

=================================================================
  NY Transfer News Collective   *   A Service of Blythe Systems
           Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us
              339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012
  http://www.blythe.org                  e-mail: nyt@blythe.org
================================================================= 
*****************************************************************
 25 [du-list] Everyday's a battle for sick troops
 
Date: Fri, 26 Nov 2004 14:32:03 -0800

 
<x-flowed>
Every day's a battle for sick troops

Scotsman.com

Julia Horton

23 Nov 2004

http://news.scotsman.com/features.cfm?id=1347792004

AT first glance David Beaton�s home looks much like any
other in a Lothian village. A few ornaments - two dogs and a
horse - are arranged above the fireplace in the lounge.
There is a stereo playing near the door with an old heavy
metal record propped up against it.

But while the room feels homely enough, one thing is missing.

There are no family photographs. In fact there are no
photographs at all. On the kitchen table, among some fruit
and a packet of cigarettes, lies the only obvious - and
unintended - clue to their absence. It is a printout of an
article about Gulf War Syndrome.

Father-of-three Beaton has been forced to move into the
house in Easthouses outside Dalkeith following the breakdown
of his marriage. He blames the split solely on the fact that
he developed the crippling illness after serving in the RAF
in the first Gulf War.

Last week, an independent inquiry ruled that the
controversial syndrome is real - following years of fighting
by the 6000 Gulf War veterans in Britain, including Beaton,
who say they developed GWS after being exposed to a
multitude of toxins designed to protect them from biological
and chemical attack.

The landmark ruling comes too late to save Beaton�s
marriage. But the 35-year-old hopes that it will save
countless other military men and women from going through
the same hell - or even worse torments - which he and so
many of his former colleagues in the armed forces have suffered.

Speaking about his estranged wife, May, who lives in what
was the family home in Edinburgh, Beaton, says: "Due to my
illness, me and the missus did separate, about a year ago.
The marriage started going downhill because I was suffering
from sleepless nights, agonising joint pains, mood swings,
because of my illness.

"I didn�t always know what was happening, because of the
mental and physical effects of the syndrome. My marriage
just disintegrated."

Breaking off and looking around his new home, he explains:
"I only moved here in August, I haven�t unpacked everything
yet, a lot of my photographs are still in the garage."

Commenting on last week�s ruling from Lord Lloyd of
Berwick�s inquiry, he adds: "It [the ruling] is helping us
[veterans with GWS] because at the end of the day what we
want is recognition of our illness.

"I would say that was more important [than compensation].
The main thing for all the veterans is to get that
recognition, because the longer it goes on the longer people
are suffering and dying and the longer their lives are being
ruined like mine was."

Understandably, he is angered by the way the syndrome
destroyed his own life, adding: "I do feel angry and there
are more in my situation who are probably a lot worse off.

"When you join up you accept that you are going to have to
go to war, and you might get injured or shot or blown up.

"What you don�t accept is that you will be injected with a
lot of different viruses which you know nothing about,
working with explosives which are tipped with depleted
uranium in an atmosphere where they [commanders] say you
should ignore alarms [warnings of dangerous levels of
chemical and biological agents] because they are faulty, and
you don�t have the correct protective equipment."

Beaton�s eldest daughter, Angela, who lives with him, is now
19 - about the same age as her father was when he joined the
RAF as a weapons technician.

Asked if he thought the military would offer him a
glamorous, exciting career he agrees, saying: "I suppose I
did. Wearing the uniform, being proud to serve my country. I
wanted a military life.

"As a weapons technician I worked with everything from small
weapons like rifles to large explosives like sidewinders and
missiles in bomb dumps. My job included loading up aircraft
with weapons, refuelling them, strapping the pilots in
[before they went off on bombing missions], and
decontaminating the aircraft when they came back."

That was around 1988, when Beaton was assigned to RAF
Lossiemouth. When the call came to fight in the first Gulf
War he was based at RAF Bruggen in Germany. The bombing
squadron was the first to be sent out to the Gulf, serving
there from around August 1990 to May 1991.

Beaton remembers being given a host of injections which he
says he took without objecting: "You did not argue, you just
did what you were told. You had your apprehensions, but
going to war was your purpose, that was why you were there."

Beaton and his squadron were stationed in Saudi Arabia and
Bahrain during the fighting. He recalls being ordered to
ignore basic safety precautions while being exposed to
deadly toxins as he loaded and cleaned planes.

"The tents were sprayed with pesticides, we were using
unlabelled decontaminants [to clean the planes] and we were
not wearing full individual protective equipment.

"There were detectors the size of jerry cans at the
perimeter of the airbase to monitor for chemical and
biological agents. But when the alarms went off we were told
to ignore them because they were faulty.

"The first few times you masked up, but after that you
stopped bothering because you were being told not to because
they were not working properly.

"We would be cleaning aircraft without full protective gear,
without masks, and offloading shells which were tipped with
depleted uranium. We should have been wearing all of the
protective equipment. But you did not really worry at the
time. You just did your job."

After serving in the Gulf, Beaton was posted back to Germany
for a few weeks. During his time off he visited his
then-girlfriend, May, whom he proposed to soon afterwards.

The couple married in August 1991 on the Isle of Skye, where
Beaton grew up. But over the following months he began to
suffer from problems sleeping, moodiness and painful joints.

It was his wife who first realised something was seriously
wrong, but for years Beaton tried to ignore his symptoms,
such was his determination to continue his RAF career.

However, his condition got worse and worse. Visits to RAF
medics failed to bring any clear diagnosis, but when he
applied to extend his service with the RAF he was refused.

"They put me down as �non-applicable�. That did not explain
anything.

"I still did not know much about Gulf War Syndrome then
because we were not allowed to talk to groups like the war
veterans� associations. They [the RAF] must have known
something more."

Beaton was left with no choice but to leave the forces in
1997, after which he moved from job to job, including a
spell at a bakers. But his working life was marred by "the
stigma that goes with the illness".

He returned with his family to Edinburgh in 1999 to be
nearer his wife�s parents. But Beaton�s condition continued
to deteriorate and eventually he separated from his wife.

Because of the effects of GWS, which include chronic
fatigue, he finds it hard to recall exactly when he was
diagnosed or where. He was also diagnosed with ME and
depression.

Now he volunteers as area co-ordinator for Scotland at the
National Gulf Veterans and Families Association, as well as
doing voluntary work helping re-home dogs with behavioural
problems.

Of the 6000 veterans like Beaton thought to have GWS in
Britain, around 2000 are believed to live in Scotland, some
1400 of whom are estimated to live in the Lothians.

Their problems have included cancers, motor neurone disease,
chronic fatigue, skin rashes, post-traumatic stress and
aching joints.

WHILE last week�s ruling is welcome news, the MoD is still
refusing to concede that the syndrome is real. Veterans
believe its reluctance is linked to the likely
multi-million-pound compensation claims which would follow
such an admission.

A spokesman for the National Gulf Veterans and Families
Association says: "Compensation? An official admission by
the MoD that GWS exists? An apology? We need all those
things... [but] the MoD don�t want to pay out what they know
is going to cost them a lot of money."

Asked whether the ministry would finally recognise GWS, an
MoD spokesman stands firm, saying: "At the moment we are
still going over Lord Lloyd�s report. So in that respect, we
cannot pass an answer - a balanced answer - until we get
through this extensive report.

"After all, it has only been three working days [November
17] since the inquiry came out. We will, though, reply in
due course."

Which leaves veterans like Beaton little choice but to fight on.

Legacy of illness for war veterans

GULF War Syndrome is the collective name given to a range of
health problems blamed by veterans on their exposure to
toxins during the first Gulf War.

The problems include cancers, motor neurone disease, chronic
fatigue, skin rashes, traumatic stress, depression and
aching joints.

They have been put down to a combination of causes,
ironically including multiple injections of vaccines given
to servicemen and women to protect them from harm.

The syndrome has also been linked to the use of
organophosphate pesticides to spray tents, low-level
exposure to nerve gas and the inhalation of depleted uranium
dust.

The Ministry of Defence has consistently refused to
recognise that the syndrome even exists.

But last week an independent inquiry into Gulf War illnesses
ruled that the syndrome was real.

The inquiry, headed by Lord Lloyd of Berwick, called on the
MoD to accept that thousands of veterans had suffered ill
health as a result of the 1991 conflict. In a report he said
there was "every reason" to accept the existence of a "Gulf
War syndrome", and said the MoD should now set up a special
fund to pay compensation.

Gulf war veterans believe that the findings of the Lloyd
Inquiry were better than they had hoped for and have called
on the MoD to accept its findings. The inquiry was set up at
the request of Labour peer Lord Morris of Manchester,
parliamentary adviser to the Royal British Legion, after the
MoD refused an official inquiry. About 6000 veterans,
including around 1400 from the Lothians, are believed to be
suffering from the syndrome.




		
---------------------------------
Moving house? Beach bar in Thailand? New Wardrobe? Win �10k with Yahoo! 
Mail to make your dream a reality.

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]



------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~-->
Make a clean sweep of pop-up ads. Yahoo! Companion Toolbar.
Now with Pop-Up Blocker. Get it for free!
http://us.click.yahoo.com/L5YrjA/eSIIAA/yQLSAA/FGYolB/TM
--------------------------------------------------------------------~->

To unsubscribe from this groups send a message to 
du-list-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com.  In the body of the message type 
unsubscribe and send.
Yahoo! Groups Links

<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
     http://groups.yahoo.com/group/du-list/

<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
     du-list-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com

<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
     http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
  

</x-flowed>
*****************************************************************
 26 [du-list] 600 New homes for Llanishen (site of d.u. cleanup)
 
Date: Fri, 26 Nov 2004 14:31:25 -0800

 
<x-flowed>
600 New homes for Llanishen

South Wales Echo
Phillip Nifield,
Nov 23 2004

http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/1500ichomes/0100newsandfeatures/tm_objectid=14904349&method=full&siteid=50082&headline=600-new-homes-for-llanishen-name_page.html

TWO huge housing developments are on their way to north Cardiff.

Cardiff council has approved two separate schemes drawn up
by national house-builders Bellway and Persimmon and the
Defence Estates which could see more than 600 properties
built in the busy Ty Glas Road area of Llanishen.

At the former Atomic Weapons Establishment site in
Caerphilly Road between 330 and 350 homes are proposed.

The scheme also sees the widening of Caerphilly Road to
create a second south-bound lane.

During 2002 and last year work was carried out to remove
contaminants on the site, including depleted uranium,
beryllium and heavy metals.

Chief traffic officer Chris Pike said that the proposed
improvements to a section of Caerphilly Road involved
widening works to provide two lanes in either direction.
Traffic signals are also proposed on Caerphilly Road
opposite Waun-y-Groes Road.

Another 300 apartments, town houses and two industrial
buildings are planned on the former Selco builder's
merchants next to the AWE complex.

Both schemes have been backed by Cardiff's planning committee.

Andrew Williams, one of the leaders of the campaign against
bus lanes along the A469 Caerphilly Road, said: "The
developments will lead to more traffic being squeezed on to
what is already over-stretched road at peak times.

"I don't think the limited widening will have any impact on
traffic flows and will really only allow access in and out
of the AWE."

Llanishen councillor Jon Burns said: "The use of a
brownfield field for housing development is certainly much
more preferable than building on the Llanishen reservoir site.

"But I do have concerns about the impact of extar traffic on
what is an already a busy area."

-- 

Posted for educational and research purposes only,
~ in accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107 ~

NucNews Links and Expanded Archives - http://nucnews.net

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Need a home for your web domain?
We recommend our provider, Hosting Direct
https://support.hostingdirect.net/cgi-bin/affiliates/clickthru.cgi?id=nucnews



------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~-->
Make a clean sweep of pop-up ads. Yahoo! Companion Toolbar.
Now with Pop-Up Blocker. Get it for free!
http://us.click.yahoo.com/L5YrjA/eSIIAA/yQLSAA/FGYolB/TM
--------------------------------------------------------------------~->

To unsubscribe from this groups send a message to 
du-list-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com.  In the body of the message type 
unsubscribe and send.
Yahoo! Groups Links

<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
     http://groups.yahoo.com/group/du-list/

<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
     du-list-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com

<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
     http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
  

</x-flowed>
*****************************************************************
 27 BBC: Radiation levels 'negligible'
 
Last Updated: Thursday, 25 November, 2004
 
[West Gerinish missile testing range on South Uist] 
Radiation levels are said to be negligible at the West
Gerinish site                                                           

A report into possible radioactive contamination of a missile 
testing range in the Western Isles has found levels of radiation 
to be negligible. 

Radioactive material was buried at West Gerinish on South Uist 25 
years ago. 

Locals claim that there could be a link between a high incidence 
of cancer and the radioactive material. 

The 10-day survey was carried out by the Ministry of Defence amid 
fears poisonous substances, such as Cobalt 60, could have 
contaminated the site. 

Underground drums 

The Department of Health and the Committee on Medical Aspects of 
Radiation in the Environment requested that the survey be carried 
out. 

The site was cleared in 1980 with the Cobalt 60 stored in drums 
underground. 

Subsequent testing of the site has found no evidence of leakage. 

The survey covered a large area, including much of the foreshore. 

However, local people had wanted the study carried out by an 
independent firm, rather than the MoD. 

	 



*****************************************************************
 28 Deseret news: Idaho downwinders want to sue
 	 
[deseretnews.com] 
 	
Friday, November 26, 2004
 	   	 
They ask the state's attorney general to file-class action suit

Associated Press

BOISE � A group of residents suffering health
problems likely caused by radioactive fallout is asking the
Idaho attorney general to sue the federal government.

       House Minority Leader Wendy Jaquet and 15 others wrote a
letter to Attorney General Lawrence Wasden requesting that he
file a class action lawsuit against the federal government and
private corporations. They want compensation for detrimental
health effects caused by nuclear testing during the 1950s and
1960s. The iodine-131 component of nuclear fallout has been
linked to cancer.

       "I'd like to have the attorney general get involved,"
Jaquet said. "I think it's just another alternative for
compensation."

       But there is one problem, said Bob Cooper, Wasden's
spokesman.

       "As a general rule, the attorney general does not file
class action suits," Cooper said. Instead, private attorneys
typically handle lawsuits like this, he said.

       "There may be a misunderstanding of the legal system,"
Cooper said.

       He would not comment specifically on the letter but said
Wasden would respond to the senders directly.

       During a hearing earlier this month, the downwinders
testified in front of representatives of the National Academy of
Sciences about including Idaho under the Radiation Exposure
Compensation Act, which pays $50,000 to residents in some parts
of Nevada, Utah and Arizona for health problems related to
nuclear testing.

       But local downwinders say the federal government tested
at times when they knew weather patterns would carry the fallout
into Idaho, and state residents should be compensated
appropriately.

       The National Academy of Sciences intends to make its
recommendation to Congress in March.

       The letter writers said they were concerned with three
main things: time, the amount of compensation and the types of
illnesses considered for compensation.

       Ailing downwinders need money now to pay medical bills,
Jaquet said. Under current procedures Idaho downwinders have to
wait for Congress to decide whether they should be included in
the compensation program.

       Even if Congress does decide to include Idaho, the law
only recognizes 20 types of cancer for compensation and offers
$50,000.

       "People have bills in excess of $50,000," Jaquet said.

       Some local researchers have found high concentration of
autoimmune diseases such as Multiple Sclerosis in the region
around Shoshone, which was affected by fallout, Jaquet said.

       The letter suggests the government should compensate
downwinders not only for medical bills but also for pain and
suffering. The same act that compensates downwinders $50,000
pays miners � who knowingly assume some risk with the job �
$150,000.

       The letter suggests a higher level of compensation for
downwinders: "We were innocent bystanders hundreds of miles
away. So $250,000 appears appropriate."

 � 2004 Deseret News Publishing Company 
*****************************************************************
 29 Deseret news: Army tests ravaged family's land
 	 
[deseretnews.com] 
 	
Friday, November 26, 2004
                 
Military blasted mines owned by Utahns with tons of chemical 
agents

Copyright 2004 Deseret Morning News

 By Lee Davidson Deseret Morning News
                                                                  
Siblings Louise, Douglas and Allan Cannon inherited a gold mine. 
But they say the Army is giving them the shaft, figuratively, as 
some of its old, dark secrets have turned their dream of rich 
income into a nightmare.

Douglas Cannon shows a picture of his father, Floyd Cannon,
looking for minerals north of the Bertha Mine near Dugway
Proving Ground in western Tooele County.

Paul Barker, Deseret Morning News  

       They found belatedly that the Army's nearby Dugway
Proving Ground attacked the old family mines with 3,000 rounds
of chemical arms at the end of World War II. The purpose was to
simulate what the Army would face against Japanese bunkers and
caves.

       The Army also bombed the surface of 1,425 acres of Cannon
family-owned land above the mines with more than 23 tons of
chemical arms, including deadly mustard agent, hydrogen cyanide
and the choking agent Phosgene, plus high explosives and
incendiary arms that included napalm, butane and gasoline (from
flame throwers).

       "They bombed the heck out of it and contaminated our
lands � and the surrounding (public) lands. And they won't clean
it up," Louise says.

       She worries that a new Army proposal to expand Proving
Ground boundaries is an attempt "to try to surround us and
landlock us," making it impossible to access and work the mines,
eliminating the need to clean up the Cannons' land or lowering
the value if the government were to take it under eminent domain
provisions.

       Also, it turns out that the Cannons had been quietly
discussing the possibility of a repository for nuclear waste on
their contaminated lands if a similar plan for the Skull Valley
Goshute Reservation fails. The Dugway expansion also could block
their proposal for a waste site.

       It all prolongs years of frustration, lawsuits, threats
and counterthreats among the Cannons, the Army and the state of
Utah and related but unheeded pleas to Congress for help.

 Family inheritance

       The siblings' grandfather, Jesse Cannon, "patented," or
bought, the land from the government in the 1920s (and his
father had started working the land years earlier). Miners have
sought gold, silver, lead and copper on those claims in the
Dugway mountains. The inheritors say that when Jesse died in
1954, he did not pass along any knowledge of Army contamination
there to their father, Floyd.

      Floyd made his children partial owners of the mine areas
in 1957. They became full owners when he died in 1980. Douglas,
one of the siblings, said neither his father nor grandfather
ever mentioned to him any knowledge about heavy bombardment of
the area.

       Louise said her father "did find some (chemical arms)
canisters in a tunnel. He didn't know what they were. He called
the Proving Ground to see if they had been doing anything in the
area, and they said they had not been over there."

       Court documents later said Army records showed that the
father called Dugway several times to ask for cleanup of
unexploded ordnance and weapon fragments he found. Louise says,
"He was told they were strays from testing on the base."

 Secrets begin to leak

       In 1988, the Deseret News obtained and reported on Army
documents that suspected public U.S. Bureau of Land Management
areas in the "Southern Triangle" near the Cannons' land were
likely heavily contaminated by weapons testing. Also subjected
to the tests, according to the report, was the so-called "Yellow
Jacket" area (the name of one of the Cannons' 86.5 patented
mining claims in the region).

       The Deseret News also wrote stories about how the Army
then wanted to expand its boundaries to absorb such dangerous
BLM areas, which the BLM opposed, preferring that the Army clean
up the land instead.

       The expansion never occurred. But Army officials said
last month in response to Deseret Morning News inquiries that
expansion has again been proposed internally. Officials have
offered no further details, nor specifics on what boundaries are
sought.


A close-up view of the photo. The family is unable now to clean
up or use the 1,425 acres of land that it owns. The land was
bombed with over 23 tons of chemical agents.

Courtesy Cannon family  

       Despite early Deseret News stories, the Cannons said they
did not truly suspect heavy contamination of their lands until
the Army Corps of Engineers requested official permission in
1994 to enter their property "to determine whether . . . these
lands have been impacted by unexploded ordnance."

       Louise said she later happened to be at the Tooele County
Courthouse on Aug. 30, 1994, filing paperwork on a mining claim
when a worker told her the Army was holding an information
session downstairs about possible contamination on desert lands.

       "I signed in, picked up the fact sheets and left," she
says. "The fact sheets said they were checking for contamination
in the Southern Triangle and on private property, but did not
name the Cannon property."

       However, by signing in there, courts would later rule
that Louise had enough knowledge about potential contamination
on the Cannon lands that she unwittingly started a clock ticking
toward a two-year deadline to file any lawsuits against the
government. She would not learn about that deadline until it was
too late.

 Contamination aplenty

       In 1996, a government contractor finished a draft study
that said the Cannon property was heavily contaminated. Visits
by the contractor had found intact, high-explosive mortar shells
and burster tubes from chemical-filled rockets and bombs.

       According to court documents, the study said a full-scale
removal of munitions and debris in the Yellow Jacket claim area
alone � only a small part of the Cannons' property � would cost
$12.3 million.

       It also said record searches showed at least 3,004 rounds
of chemical weapons had been fired into some of the Cannon
mines, and it listed the other weapon types tested on the
property. It found chemical munitions residue and chemical agent
contamination throughout the area and said it was likely the
entire 1,425 acres of Cannon property was contaminated.


Deseret Morning News graphic  

       It recommended buying the land, fencing it, posting
warning signs, doing some limited munitions removal and sealing
the mines.

       Douglas Cannon says a gold company that had a lease on
the Cannon mines abandoned it for fear of the contamination. He
said other companies that had shown interest in leasing it also
backed away quickly once they learned about the Army's testing
and contamination.

       Louise says she had been anxiously awaiting the study
that confirmed the contamination, and often called the Army
Corps of Engineers seeking it. "They kept saying it would come
in 30 days. Then in another 30 days," she said.

       She says one employee there finally warned her that she
only had two years from the time she learned of potential
contamination to file a suit. She called an attorney, who
confirmed that.

       After the Cannons saw the draft study confirming
contamination, they filed a claim with the Army, and then a
lawsuit in federal court, seeking $8.8 million in damages, the
value they put on the land.

 Family secrets

       As the lawsuit advanced, the Army said it found an old
contract it had signed with the siblings' grandfather, Jesse
Cannon, that had allowed the military to use the Yellow Jacket
area for testing for six months. "We had never known about it,"
Louise says.

       That contract, which gave Jesse just $1, allowed the Army
to use a portion of his property in exchange for the Army's
promise to "leave the property of the owner in as good condition
as it was on the date of the government's entry."

       Louise says, "The Justice Department says he did that
because he was patriotic" and wanted to help the war effort
against the Japanese. "We'll never know," she says. "It (the
contract) never mentions any military maneuvers or testing. He
wasn't allowed on the property for the six months it was used. I
don't think he knew what they planned."

Rocket launchers fire near Dugway Proving Ground.

Archive photo  

       After the Army's "Project Sphinx" testing ended on that
land, documents that emerged during court proceedings show that
Jesse Cannon was not happy with what he found.

       He walked the area with an Army claims officer who found
the "entire area is liberally covered with shell, rocket and
bomb fragments," and that "just outside a cabin are 10
butane-filled dud bombs."

       Jesse filed a first claim for damages, and was paid
$755.48. Later, he filed another claim for damages to mine shaft
timbers from the testing and was paid $2,064.

       He filed a third claim five years later in 1950. He said
while he accepted the earlier payment in full for all claims for
damages at his Yellow Jacket mine, "I did not believe at that
time that the chemical agents used by the Army would remain in
the workings and make it impossible for me to ever operate the
mine again without some sort of decontamination."

       The claim added he found there was "still a concentration
of poison gas present in the mine," and said miners who
considered leasing it "shied away when they learned of the
Army's use of the mine." He never collected money on that claim,
and his grandchildren never learned about it from him.

       Regardless, Louise says, "The Army was under contractual
obligation to clean up the land, and they never have."

 Court win, court loss

       The younger Cannons initially won $160,937 in damages
against the Army in 2002, but the Army appealed to the 10th
Circuit Court of Appeals, which reversed the decision.

       Despite the reversal, the appeals court's written opinion
blasted "the government's abysmal failure over the past
half-century to clean up the test site."

       It lamented that the law gave the Cannon siblings only
two years from when they learned about the possibility of heavy
contamination of their property to file suit. The Cannons had
contended the clock should have started ticking when the Army's
draft study of contamination was released in 1996 (which is also
when they filed suit).

       But the court agreed with the Army's assertion that it
began when Louise attended the information meeting in 1994, and
when the Army asked permission to search for unexploded
ordnance. That meant the statute of limitations allowed by law
had expired, and the Cannons lost.

       Still, the court wrote, "The United States government has
yet fully to recognize and appreciate Jesse F. Cannon's
contribution to national security during World War II. The
government should have lived up to its obligations long ago. . .
. The Cannons' remedy at this stage is political, however, not
legal."

 Congress no help

       Taking the judges' hint that only political and not legal
help was available, the Cannons started asking Congress for
compensation for their contaminated land.

       "I have written to some members of the Utah congressional
delegation and to 200 different members of appropriations or
other committees who are over defense or public lands," Louise
said. "I have not received one reply."

       She said she also wrote to Utah governors, the
Environmental Protection Agency and other government agencies
she thought would have an interest in cleaning up the area,
especially neighboring state-owned school trust land sections
that likely had been contaminated as well. She said none showed
interest.

       Louise said that during the trial, she said to a
government lawyer that maybe the Cannon family should clean up
the land itself, and keep the munitions they find. She said the
government informed her that was not allowed because it owned
the unexploded ordnance, and only the federal government could
remove it. The lawyers also said they considered her suggestion
"to be a threat against the United States."


The 105mm artillery projectile is like those loaded with nerve
agent or mustard gas that apparently contaminated a Utah
family's property.

Archive photo  

       Because she was frustrated, she said she would return any
munitions found "in a yellow rental truck parked next to the
federal building" (sounding like the Oklahoma City bombing). She
said the lawyers also took that as a threat but didn't see
leaving the old ordnance on Cannon land as a threat.

 Weak actions

       Douglas Cannon said Army representatives said in court
that there are plans eventually to clean up the area. But the
Army cannot do it until it receives funding from Congress, which
likely is years away.

       He said when the judge asked the Army if it would be
interested in buying the land, "They said no because it is
contaminated. That is ironic, because they contaminated it. They
said they didn't have the budget to handle it," Douglas said.

       Amid frustration, Louise said she once called the state
to ask what would happen if she did not pay taxes on the
contaminated land and let it revert to the government or if she
simply deeded it over to the state.

       "They said, 'We would sue you.' "

       "I said, 'What?' They said, 'If you let property that you
knew to be contaminated come back to the state, we would sue you
to clean it up.' I said, 'You've got to be kidding. I didn't do
this.' And they said, 'It doesn't matter,' " Louise said.

       The Cannons said the only effort the Army made on their
land was to post some signs warning that it is a Formerly Used
Defensive Site, and that no one should pick up munitions they
see.

       Louise said the Army also accused her of stealing such   
   signs that disappeared. But when the Army told her the signs
had been made of wood, she said, "Anything made of wood out
there disappears quickly. They have all theses campers, hikers
and motorcyclists out there. They make little campfires. If you
leave any wood out there unattended for 24 hours, it
disappears," she said.

       Louise said that on another occasion, the Army accused
her of stealing an old chemical rocket booster that erosion had
laid bare on Cannon property. It had been spotted by Army crews
in the area.

       "They flagged it, and when they returned to Dugway they
left orders for others to go get it," she said. "Eleven days
later when they went looking for it, they couldn't find it, but
saw a lot of tire tracks around the site. So they called me and
asked if I had taken it."

       She says she replied, "Are you people out of your minds?
No I don't have it. There are so many people who go out there
(for hiking and four-wheeling) that it's probably sitting on
some guy's mantle, and he doesn't know what he has. That's why
you need to clean up that area."

       She said she then received a lecture on how it would be
illegal for her to take such munitions if she finds them.

 The waste option

       Faced with not being able to clean up the property or
mine it safely, Louise said, the siblings considered another
option.

       "I also had several conversations with the nuclear waste
people that were trying to put that storage of nuclear waste in
Skull Valley," she says. The state has fought for years to block
an above-ground storage area proposal by Private Fuels Storage
on the Goshute Reservation. The company is a consortium of
Midwest nuclear power utilities.

       "Because they've kind of been hitting one roadblock after
another to put it in Skull Valley, the Dugway property that is
owned by the Cannons is looking better and better to them," she
says.

       Louise says her family's property is more stable
geologically than the Skull Valley site, and the land sits
beneath a "no fly zone." The state has fought the Skull Valley
site in part by contending it is too near faults and that a
plane crash into it could be catastrophic.

       If Dugway Proving Ground expansion took the Cannon
property � or surrounded it � that would almost surely prevent a
private repository there, too.

 In a Catch-22

       Louise says, "We're in a Catch-22. We can't get the
property cleaned up. We can't lease it. We can't even get rid of
it. I even worry we might be liable if someone is hurt out there
by some of the contamination."

       Douglas says, "The property is now useless to us. No
development or potential sale can take place because of the
danger and because necessary insurance cannot be obtained
inexpensively to protect personnel from injury or death."

       They worry that the latest disclosure by the Army that it
is considering expanding Dugway boundaries is aimed, at least in
part, at them and their property. (The Deseret Morning News has
filed a Freedom of Information Act request for specifics about
the proposal, but the Army has not yet responded.)

       "My fear is that what they are trying to do is surround
us and landlock us," preventing access to the mines and any hope
of developing them, Louise says. "It's privately owned, and they
don't want to clean it up."

       She adds, "What I want them to do is clean it up. The
price of precious minerals is going up, especially gold. It's
not only a large mine, but it has shown promise in the past" and
managed to produce $246,000 in lease fees despite the
contamination worries between 1969 and 1993. Some promising
veins have been identified.

       But the Cannons say the jury is still out on whether they
will really get the gold mine � or just the shaft.

 
E-mail: lee@desnews.com [lee@desnews.com] 
	 
 � 2004 Deseret News Publishing Company 
*****************************************************************
 30 Nunatsiaq News: Nunavummiut to be consulted on nuclear waste 
 
[http://www.nunatsiaq.com

   November 26, 2004 

"We do not want to see the dumping of nuclear waste in Nunavut:" 
Akesuk 

 [saram@nunatsiaq.com] 

The Arctic already has enough contaminants, environment minister 
Olayuk Akesuk said last Friday. (FILE PHOTO)
 
Nuclear power has been produced in Canada since 1964, and so has
nuclear waste. A nuclear industry association is now visiting
Canadians in 30 communities to find out what ordinary citizens
want to do with it. 

The Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami is coordinating four community
sessions in Nunavut, the Northwest Territories, Nunavik and
Labrador. 

On December 7 and 8, the Nuclear Waste Management Organization
will stop in Iqaluit to hold two information sessions and one
public discussion on the topic. 

The meetings are not meant to suggest that nuclear waste should
be stored in the Arctic, but several people are taking the
opportunity to present their opposition to that idea. 

"We do not want to see the dumping of nuclear waste in Nunavut
or the Arctic," Olayuk Akesuk, Nunavut's minister of
environment, told the legislative assembly last Friday, in
response to a question by Kugluktuk MLA Joe Allen Evyagotailak. 

Heather Ochalski of Baker Lake launched an online petition in
"opposition to the dumping of nuclear waste in Canada's Arctic"
as soon as she heard about ITK's research last Wednesday
evening, and is surprised at the response. 

Less than two days later, the petition had 64 signatures. One
week later, that number had climbed to [252]. 

"We're surprised at the response we're getting," Ochalski said,
speaking on behalf of herself and her sister, who together run
the Igloo Talk online discussion forum found at
www.iglootalk.com. 

"This is clearly demonstrating that many Inuit are opposed to
storing nuclear waste in the Arctic." 

Ochalski, who now lives in Ottawa, started the petition to
involve people who may not be able to participate in the public
forum in Iqaluit. She plans to submit the petition to ITK one
week before the forum takes place. 

The public consultations are the result of the Nuclear Fuel
Waste Act passed by the federal government in 2002. 

The act requires producers of nuclear waste to study options for
storing nuclear waste, and to make recommendations for long-term
management of that waste to the federal Minister of Natural
Resources by Nov. 15, 2005. 

The NWMO is asking the public to consider three options for
dealing with nuclear waste. 

The first is to continue to store the waste at nuclear reactors.
This eliminates the dangers of transporting nuclear waste, and
means not having to go through the trouble of finding a new
storage site. However, nuclear reactors were built on sites that
are good for nuclear reactors, and are not necessarily suitable
for storing waste. 

The second option is centralized storage, above or below ground.
This would allow technicians to choose a suitable location,
although the site could be contentious. 

The third option is "deep geological disposal," where waste is
stored deep underground, with the goal being that the waste will
be safely hidden for thousands of years. This final option is
the cheapest - because there are no long-term monitoring costs -
but it is also unproven. 

There are 22 nuclear reactors in Canada: 20 are in Ontario, one
in Quebec and one in New Brunswick.
 
These materials are Copyright � 1995- 2003 Nortext Publishing
Corporation (Iqaluit). These materials may not be reprinted for
			 
Nunatsiaq News PO Box 8 Iqaluit, NU X0A 0H0 Ph. (867) 979-5357 
Fax (867) 979-4763 Editorial e-mail editor@nunatsiaq.com 
Advertising e-mail ads@nortext.com 
*****************************************************************
 31 Des Moines Register: Nuclear waste crossing Iowa rises

[http://www.desmoinesregister.com]     
   			   			   		 		
'We hope we have enough safety processes in place,' says a state
health department spokesman.

By REGISTER STAFF WRITER November 26, 2004                      

Nuclear waste shipments by truck and train across Iowa have 
increased sharply, new figures show.

The Iowa Department of Public Health reported 490 shipments of 
radioactive material through the state in the budget year that 
ended June 30.

The material was destined for government repositories in Western 
states. The shipments represented a 21 percent jump from the 406 
shipments during the previous 12-month period.

Officials say the radioactive material moved safely across Iowa, 
which is a major east-west corridor for the traffic, with escorts 
from the Iowa Department of Public Transportation. There was 
minimal risk, they said, and there were no accidents.

"We hope we have enough safety processes in place," said Kevin 
Teale, health department spokesman. "The rail and truck companies 
are well aware of what they're doing, and they go that extra mile 
for safety."

Critics say the continuous movement of radioactive material is 
dangerous, with no sign of a slowdown.

"I didn't realize we were already into these kinds of numbers for 
high-level shipments," said Jane Magers of Earth Care Inc., a Des 
Moines environmental group.

"We're not talking about sandboxes here. We're talking about 
toxic materials. For someone to say all these shipments are safe 
is ludicrous."

Of the 490 shipments in the latest year, eight contained 
high-level radioactive waste transported by truck from nuclear 
power plants. No high-level wastes crossed Iowa the previous 
year.

The numbers are the latest and most complete, according to the 
health department. Shipments were halted and began a slow 
recovery after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Kevin Kamps, spokesman for the Nuclear Information and Resource 
Service, a watchdog group in Washington, D.C., predicted 
shipments are likely to increase as storage space at nuclear 
plant sites runs out.

"High-level waste is almost entirely stored at where it has been 
generated, the reactor sites. And 75 percent of those sites are 
east of the Mississippi River," he said. "The big holdup is the 
lack of a national repository."

That repository is the proposed storage area at Yucca Mountain, 
90 miles northwest of Las Vegas. It has been stalled by public 
opposition and lawsuits.

Kamps said that the Department of Energy "has targeted Iowa as 
one of the main east-west corridors" to the Yucca Mountain 
repository.

"There have been 2,500 to 3,000 shipments of high-level wastes in 
the whole history of the United States," he said. "In one year of 
the Yucca Mountain program, there would be that many shipments. A 
lot of them would be through Iowa," he said.

David Miller, administrator of the Iowa Homeland Security and 
Emergency Management Division, said the increased traffic of 
nuclear waste in Iowa has been significant.

Teale said the low-level waste included items such as clothing 
exposed to radiation at medical facilities and materials used to 
clean up contaminated areas. All the wastes in the shipments have 
been in solid form. There have been no liquids, he said.

Tom Sever, the state transportation department's hazardous 
materials coordinator, said there has been only one incident. A 
truck carrying nuclear waste slipped off an icy stretch of 
highway near the Quad Cities last year. He said the truck was 
slightly damaged, but continued to its destination with its cargo 
untouched.

      Copyright � 2004, The Des Moines Register.
*****************************************************************
 32 herald tribune: Manatee County may test Tallevast plant workers 

Southwest Florida's Information Leader
 	 	 	 	 	
 November 26, 2004        

By SCOTT CARROLL

[scott.carroll@heraldtribune.com] 

MANATEE COUNTY -- Ervin Smith just wants to know if he's sick.

Smith is worried that the decade he spent breathing in black dust 
at the American Beryllium Co. plant in Tallevast damaged his 
lungs, but he can't afford the $250 test to find out.

"I'm OK as far as I know, but I'd like to know for sure," Smith, 
41, said.

It looks as if Smith and other former employees and neighbors of 
the plant will get some help paying for the tests.

The County Commission on Tuesday will consider spending $50,000 
to test people for berylliosis, an incurable, often fatal lung 
disease. The disease is caused by breathing in the fine, black 
dust that is a byproduct of beryllium production.

The Tallevast plant used beryllium for nearly 40 years to make 
missile parts and other military hardware. The plant just east of 
the Sarasota-Bradenton airport closed in 1996.

Smith and other former employees say the dust permeated the air 
and got on their clothes. The workers unknowingly brought the 
dust home to their families, making the entire community 
vulnerable to berylliosis.

"This stuff blew all over the community," said resident Laura 
Ward. "We just didn't breathe it for a day or two, we've been 
breathing it for years."

The federal government has a program to compensate former 
beryllium workers who have berylliosis, but the initial blood 
test is needed to even apply for the money.

That's been a stumbling block for folks in this predominantly 
low-income community.

"I just couldn't afford it right now," Smith said.

The tests will be administered by the Manatee branch of the state 
Department of Health. Department spokesman Charles Henry said the 
agency wanted to do the tests earlier, but didn't have the money. 
He's thankful the county is picking up the tab.

"It's the right public health thing to do," Henry said.

Concern over beryllium dust in the community is so intense that 
the commissioners will consider halting construction in the area 
for six months while awaiting tests to see if the dust is still 
on the ground.

County Commissioner Joe McClash said the blood tests and the 
construction moratorium are needed because state and federal 
officials haven't helped.

"Sometimes local government has to step in and do what needs to 
be done," McClash said. "We're trying to serve the needs of 
people who are in a health crisis. Time is critical, not only to 
provide peace of mind for people, but            Continued 1 | 2 


Last modified: November 25. 2004 12:00AM                        
*****************************************************************
 33 Salt Lake Tribune: Military expansion continually besieges Indian
lands 

[http://www.sltrib.com] 

Article Last Updated: 11/25/2004 01:27:25 AM 

Question of proximity: A study contends the high number of 
hazardous sites near reservations is akin to discrimination 

By Nicholas K. Geranios The Associated Press 

A B1-B bomber drops live bombs at the Nevada Test and 
Training Range in July 2002 near Indian Springs. A recent study 
contends the expansion of U.S. military bases in the past century
was largely concentrated in the same remote places where Indian 
reservations were. The Nevada Test and Training Range is within 
50 miles of the Las Vegas Paiute and Moapa Indian reservations. 
(Associated Press file photo) 

SPOKANE, Wash. - The last major campaigns by the U.S. Army 
against Indian tribes took place in the late 1800s. But the 
military is still dangerous to Indians in the West today, a new 
report found. 

The study contends the dramatic expansion of U.S. military 
bases during the 20th century was largely concentrated in the 
same remote, arid places where Indian reservations were located. 

That means Indians could be disproportionately exposed to 
toxic chemicals and unexploded bombs, compared to non-Indians, 
according to the report by Gregory Hooks of Washington State 
University and a former graduate student, Chad Smith, now of 
Texas State University-San Marcos. 

Two world wars and the Cold War ''pushed the United States to 
produce, test and deploy weapons of unprecedented toxicity,'' 
the study said. ''Native Americans have been left exposed to the 
dangers of this toxic legacy.'' 

The study, just published in American Sociological Review, is 
based on geography, not on actual data showing whether Indians 
are more often injured by unexploded bombs, Hooks said. Such 
studies remain to be conducted, he said. 

Using Defense Department data on closed military bases in the 
Lower 48 states - including bombing ranges, weapons testing and 
storage sites - researchers discovered the locations deemed most 
hazardous ''lay within close proximity to Indian reservations,'' 
the report said. 

Numerous past studies have shown that minority groups often 
face so-called ''environmental racism'' from dangerous factories 
and other commercial facilities because poverty limits the 
places where they can afford to live. 

But in Indian country, Indians typically did not choose the 
sites of their reservations, and the toxic wastes were created 
not by private industry but by the military. 

This study is the first to show that Indian tribes in remote 
areas have faced the same sort of environmental discrimination 
as people in urban areas, Hooks said. 

The study only considered closed military bases because 
security concerns make it impossible to learn of environmental 
hazards at functioning military bases, Hooks said. 

As a result, military facilities like the Yakima Training 
Center, Whidbey Island Naval Air Station and Fort Lewis, Wash., 
all of which are located near Indian reservations, were not 
considered in the study, Hooks said. 

That raises the possibility that dangers to Indians are even 
greater than what was found in the report, he said. 

The study noted the U.S. military expanded dramatically into 
Indian country for much of the 20th century. That's because they 
were looking for areas that were remote, unpopulated and already 
owned by the federal government. 

Many Indian reservations are also located on some of the most 
undesirable land in the West, the study found. 

The Department of Defense has acknowledged the problems, the 
report said, quoting a 2001 department report that said Indian 
lands have ''hazardous materials, unexploded ordnance (UXO), 
abandoned equipment, unsafe buildings, and debris.'' 

The government estimates that unexploded ordnance, which can 
include mines, nerve gases and explosive shells, probably 
contaminates 20 million to 50 million acres of land in the 
United States and would take centuries to clean up at current 
rates. 

Jerry Vincent, who oversees cleanup of formerly used military 
sites in California for the Army Corps in Sacramento, said most 
of the bombing ranges in his region are littered with dummy 
bombs that do not contain high explosives. 

But he agreed that remote military sites that might be near 
Indian reservations get a low priority for limited cleanup funds 
because of the low population. 

The counties of Imperial, Los Angeles, San Bernardino and San 
Diego in California and Chaves and Luna in New Mexico were 
singled out in the new report for having large amounts of 
unexploded ordnance. 

The report found that those six counties averaged 10.5 
dangerous sites each, compared with 0.12 dangerous sites for 
each of the other 3,130 counties in the lower 48 states. 

Jonathan Maas of the Army Corps in Seattle said they have 
been searching for a cache of chemical weapons that might have 
been stored at a facility on the Tulalip Reservation near 
Marysville in the 1940s, but have not found the weapons. 

The report by Hooks and Smith found that in 1916, the U.S. 
Army owned about 1.5 million acres of land, and expanded 
dramatically during World War I. By 1940, the Army owned about 2 
million acres of land. 

The huge buildup to World War II saw the Army acquire another 
8 million acres. Most of those lands were in the vicinity or 
contiguous to Indian reservations, the report said. 

Conventional weapons in World War II were far more lethal 
than weapons from previous wars, and the United States has led 
the world in the production of weapons of mass destruction, 
including nuclear, biological and chemical weapons, the report 
said. 

For instance, the huge Nellis Range near Las Vegas was 
absorbed into the nuclear weapons complex. The Dugway Proving 
Grounds in Utah saw tests of chemical warfare weapons, the 
report said. 

The military also seized about 342,000 acres of land on the 
Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota for a bombing range to 
train pilots. That left many unexploded bombs on the landscape, 
the report said. 

� Copyright 2004, The Salt Lake Tribune. 
*****************************************************************
 34 Salt Lake Tribune: Desert is Hill's ace in the hole 

Article Last Updated: 11/26/2004 01:48:33 AM 

Base closure process: The training range strengthens the Utah 
facility's hand, yet it won't guarantee survival 

By Christopher Smith The Salt Lake Tribune 

ARLINGTON, Va. - The Pentagon owns more than 1,100 pieces of 
real estate in Utah, from a rusting viewing platform for Cold 
War-era missile launches near Green River to gargantuan repair 
hangars at Hill Air Force Base, where some of the military's 
most sophisticated weapons systems are fine-tuned. 

But in the eyes of the Department of Defense official 
directing the analysis for the 2005 round of base closures, the 
most valuable piece of military property in the state may be a 
blank, withered void bigger than Delaware: The Utah Test and 
Training Range (UTTR) west of Salt Lake City. 

"Training areas are huge expanses of land with no buildings," 
said Ray DuBois, deputy undersecretary of Defense for 
installations and environment. "I like that." 

Inside a windowless room at the Pentagon sealed and locked 
behind anyone allowed to enter, DuBois oversees a team 
evaluating the 600,000 structures and properties owned by the 
Department of Defense. This spring, after weighing 25 million 
factors in the inventory, he will forward to Defense Secretary 
Donald Rumsfeld findings on what may exceed the military's 
future needs. By May 16, Rumsfeld will give Congress his list of 
recommended U.S. base closings and changes in military 
installation missions. 

Known as the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) process, 
"there are few issues as politically charged," DuBois said. So, 
he refuses to take phone calls from lobbyists, avoids discussing 
specifics with lawmakers and declines reporters' requests to see 
the list of 789 initial questions his staff sent to every base 
commander in the country. 

DuBois declares that everything in the military's 
real-estate portfolio is being scrutinized for cost-cutting 
closure - with one exception. 

Wide-open bombing ranges are sacrosanct. 

"The most precious categories we cannot close are those we 
cannot reconstitute nationally," DuBois said. "We are very 
sensitive to the training asset. We cannot go out and buy new 
properties." 

The U.S. military has 353 training range complexes covering 
26 million acres worldwide, according to the research arm of 
Congress. But the combination of the Air Force's 2,600-square 
mile UTTR and the Army's neighboring Dugway Proving Ground - 
itself bigger than Rhode Island - give Utah claim to the largest 
overland range in the lower 48 states. 

Bisected only by Interstate 80 across the Great Salt Lake 
Desert, the range also offers the largest swath of authorized 
Mach-speed military airspace in the continental United States. 
It is arrayed with hundreds of simulated targets, all monitored 
electronically from UTTR Mission Control at nearby Hill Air 
Force Base between Ogden and Layton. 

Hill's role administering UTTR operations helped the state's 
largest employer - with 23,000 civilian workers and 
approximately the same number of contract employees - escape 
closure during the 1993 and 1995 BRAC rounds. 

But the proximity of the UTTR to Hill is no guarantee of 
survival in BRAC 2005. For example, DuBois points to Naval Air 
Station Cecil Field, the South's largest master jet base and the 
largest military installation in the Jacksonville, Fla. area. 
The 30,000-acre base was closed in September 1999 after it was 
placed on the 1995 BRAC list. But the Pentagon kept open the 
restricted airspace above the padlocked installation. 

"That was the most valuable part of Cecil Field," said 
DuBois, "not the concrete on the ground." 

Utah lawmakers have worked to maintain UTTR's billing as the 
largest special-use airspace in the country. In the latest 
Defense authorization bill, Sens. Orrin Hatch and Bob Bennett 
ordered the Air Force to report to Congress next year if any 
"current and anticipated encroachments" could threaten the 
range's airspace. 

The expected target of that study is the proposed high-level 
nuclear waste storage site on the Skull Valley Indian 
Reservation of the Goshute Tribe adjacent to the range. State 
and federal lawmakers fear the Air Force may be forced to reduce 
UTTR airspace to avoid the catastrophic risk of a jet fighter 
crashing into the casks of spent fuel stored above ground. 

Private Fuel Storage, the consortium that has sought since 
1997 to get the Skull Valley waste site licensed, has calculated 
the chances of an F-16 fighter accidentally hitting radioactive 
canisters as less than 4 in 10 million per year. The Atomic 
Safety Licensing Board disagreed with that analysis, siding with 
a state argument that the likelihood was higher. 

First District Rep. Rob Bishop's bipartisan bill to prevent 
range encroachment by creating a wilderness area on Bureau of 
Land Management property next to the test range - allowing 
overflights but blocking rail shipments of waste to the Goshute 
dump - cleared the House this year. 

But it was killed in the Senate by Nevada lawmakers who are 
still angry over members of the Utah congressional delegation 
voting in 2002 in favor of building a nuclear waste dump at 
Yucca Mountain near Las Vegas. Democratic Rep. Jim Matheson was 
the only Utahn voting against the plan. 

"This was Harry Reid's revenge," said Bishop, referring to 
the senior Nevada senator who will take the reins of Senate 
Democrats in the new Congress. "Reid's staff made a deal with 
us that if we did not attach our bill to one of his, he wouldn't 
object to it. And it's true he didn't object to it - he had 
[Nevada Sen. John] Ensign go over and object to it." 

Bishop said he will reintroduce the UTTR legislation in the 
next Congress in the hope that "the dynamics may change" between 
the Utah and Nevada delegations. 

"The irony is, I'm with them on Yucca Mountain," said 
Bishop, who just won election to a second term. "Had I been 
here, I would have voted against Yucca Mountain." 

� Copyright 2004, The Salt Lake Tribune. 
*****************************************************************
 35 Tewksbury Advocate: Billerica seen as high perchlorate source

TownOnline.com - 

By Bethan L. Jones/ Staff Writer

Thursday, November 25, 2004Perchlorate is brewing at the 
Billerica Waste Water Treatment Plant, but what it means for 
Tewksbury is still uncertain.

     Huge fluctuations in perchlorate levels were recorded 
earlier this month entering and exiting the Billerica plant, 
according to tests conducted by the state Department of 
Environmental Protection.

      "We're still looking these numbers over," said Ed Coletta, 
spokesman for the state DEP.

     Testing of both Lowell and Billerica treatment plants began
on Nov. 3. The Lowell plant was studied for 24 hours to ensure
it was not emitting high levels of perchlorate. State DEP
testing in late October showed Lowell to be emitting very little
perchlorate, but officials wanted to be sure.

     The Nov. 3 tests again eliminated Lowell as the source of
the perchlorate which has been contaminating Tewksbury's
drinking water since August.

     The DEP took samples from Billerica from Nov. 3 through Nov. 
9. The results (see chart) revealed large increases in 
perchlorate levels as water travels through the plant before 
being discharged into the Concord River, but Coletta said the 
same batch of water was not tested for each reading.

     To understand the changes, which on Nov. 6 rocketed from 
.049 parts per billion on entering the plant to 880 ppb leaving, 
Coletta said the state DEP is working with Billerica waste water 
plant employees to better understand the movement of water within 
the plant. He also said the DEP and the town are working to 
create a testing plan which will sample water while it is still 
within the sewer system to try and link the large increases in 
perchlorate to any business discharges.

     "We're still trying to decipher what this means," said 
Coletta. "We're still trying to find out why it's that way."

     Perchlorate is a salt compound that is naturally occurring 
and a man-made product. Perchlorate and other perchlorate salts 
are used in a wide range of industrial applications including 
fireworks, solid rocket fuel, matches, lubricating oils, nuclear 
reactors, air bags and fertilizers. Its most common use is in 
explosives and rocket propellant.

     Perchlorate affects the thyroid gland, which is responsible 
for controlling growth, development and metabolism. Effects of 
decreased thyroid activity can lead to fatigue, depression, 
anxiety and a diminished sex drive in adults and abnormal brain 
development in children. One study showed chronic lowering of 
thyroid hormones due to high perchlorate exposure could result in 
thyroid gland tumors.

     Pregnant and nursing women and children under the age of 12 
are at most effected by perchlorate exposure. Since thyroid 
hormones are required for prenatal and postnatal growth and 
development, it has long been recognized that thyroid deficiency 
in children could lead to mental retardation and other 
developmental disorders.

     Despite nearly a decade of an ever increasing contamination, 
neither the federal or any state environmental agency can come up 
with a standard of what is a safe level of the chemical.. 
Massachusetts has set a level of 1 part per billion for certain 
sensitive subgroups and 18 ppb for the rest of the population. 
Currently, the US EPA has set a public health goal at 1 parts per 
billion. California, which has the largest number of contaminated 
sites in the US, has adopted a temporary level of 6 ppb. The EPA 
is expected to finalize its draft health risk assessment and 
establish the final reference dose range next month..

     Coletta said the state DEP is not planning any additional 
testing in the Billerica waste water plant at this time, choosing 
rather to fully analyze the most recent results. The only testing 
currently in the pipeline is the creation of a test plan for the 
Billerica sewer system. That could take a few weeks, said 
Colleta, due to the complexity of the system.

     "We've been taking it step by step," said Coletta.

� Copyright of CNC and Herald Interactive Advertising Systems,
*****************************************************************
 36 UC Regents Lose Management Contract of Nuclear Weapons Lab
 
Date: Thu, 25 Nov 2004 19:51:51 -0800 (PST)

 
Please post, distribute, print, and pass around.
Leuren 

UC Regents Lose Management Contract

Part 1
http://www.sfbayview.com/091504/ucregents091504.shtml

Part 2
http://www.sfbayview.com/092204/nuclearweapons092204.shtml

Part 3
http://www.sfbayview.com/092904/nuclearweapons2092904.shtml

Part 4
http://www.sfbayview.com/100604/nuclearweapons100604.shtml

Part 5
http://www.sfbayview.com/101304/nuclearweapons101304.shtml

Part 6
http://www.sfbayview.com/110304/ucregents110304.shtml

Part 7
http://www.sfbayview.com/112404/ucregents112404.shtml

Part 8 to appear in 12/01/04 edition of the San
Francisco Bay View newspaper
[http://www.sfbayview.com]




		
__________________________________ 
Do you Yahoo!? 
Take Yahoo! Mail with you! Get it on your mobile phone. 
http://mobile.yahoo.com/maildemo 
*****************************************************************
 37 Charleston.Net: More funds promised for SRS lab 

11/25/04
 
Graham calls site economic incubator 

Associated Press 

AIKEN--U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham says he will make sure the newly 
designated Savannah River National Laboratory will be funded as 
well as "staffed, manned and ready to work." 

Restrictive language in a $388 billion congressional spending 
bill awaiting President Bush's signature was removed to allow 
more research money for the national lab, Graham, R-S.C., said 
Tuesday.

 Some $10 million to $15 million more could be spent next year on 
the lab for new research projects, Graham said.

 Department of Energy spokes-man Jim Giusti said it was still too 
early for the site to know exactly what its budget would be.

 But Graham said he would encourage energy officials to upgrade 
the lab, which received its national designation in May.

 "I will make sure DOE invests in the lab to get it going," he 
said. "There will be money dedicated to make sure it will be 
staffed, manned and ready to work." 

Graham said the lab was important for future economic activity 
and could be the hub for public and private investment in fuel 
cell research for use in everything from cars to power plants.

 The lab has a hydrogen research team with 90 scientists and 
could mesh projects with the automotive park at Clemson 
University and fuel cell research at the University of South 
Carolina.

 "It's the incubator for what's to come," Graham said. "It's the 
intellectual engine for an economy that will be based on private 
investment, not just federal dollars." 

The senator said he hopes the lab becomes the centerpiece as the 
Savannah River Site changes. The site produced nuclear weapons 
during the Cold War.

 Although the amount of extra money for the lab may be small in 
comparison to other projects, it was an encouraging development 
for site supporters, who have seen millions cut out of potential 
future projects at the facility.

Copyright � 2004, The Post and Courier, All Rights Reserved. 
Comments about our site, write: webmaster@postandcourier.com 
[webmaster@postandcourier.com]                     
*****************************************************************
 38 Deseret news.com: Sandia labs working on solar power farm
 	 
[deseretnews.com] 
 	
Thursday, November 25, 2004
 	   	 
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) � A remote Sandia
National Laboratories office is working with a private firm to
develop huge farms of solar dishes, working out technical and
manufacturing problems.

       Solar farms with up to 20,000 dishes each could produce
enough electricity to compete with so-called peaking power
stations, saving customers money during times of heavy
electrical use, said Sandia engineer Chuck Andraka. Peaking
stations use natural gas to meet power demands when coal and
nuclear plants don't provide enough energy.

       "Peaking power with natural gas can cost from 10 cents to
30 cents or more per kilowatt-hour," Andraka said. "We can't
compete with coal or nuclear, which are in the 3 cents to 5
cents range, but we think we can make solar farms that produce
energy at about 6 cents per kilowatt-hour."

       Sandia and Stirling Energy Systems Inc. are working out
details of a revenue-sharing agreement, which should be finished
by the end of the year, Andraka said.

       "We're kind of like a technology incubator for them," he
said. "We're teaching them how to attack the technology like
Sandia. It's more of a scientific approach. A lot of the time in
industry, they put Band-Aids on products to get them out the
door because there's a rush for profits. We look at the system
first and analyze it and maybe go a little bit more slowly."

       Sandia is helping solve the problem of synchronizing
thousands of solar dishes economically. Engineers have set up a
test field of six three-story-tall dishes on a remote area of
Sandia to work out bugs on a small scale.

       "We have one older solar tower we have to shut down
sometimes because an owl nests there," Andraka said. "That's OK,
though, those things could actually be real-world problems for
remote dish fields."

       Stirling Energy Systems believes it can be ready to start
building its first solar farms in two to three years, said Bob
Liden, company executive vice president and general manager.
Andraka expects it to be about three years before a 20,000-dish
solar field can be built.

       "This is the perfect type of electricity generation for
the Southwest," Liden said. "It's a renewable resource, it's
pollution free, and the maintenance of a solar farm is minimal."

       Sandia engineers are working on how to make a field of
solar dishes work together � not as easy as it sounds, Andraka
said.

       "In the very early morning the dishes shade each other,
and that will certainly affect a large field," he said. "Also,
these things start up using an electric generator. If 20,000 of
those went on at the same time, you'd damage the power grid."

       Staggering start times a minute apart for 20,000 dishes
won't work because it would be dark before the last ones cranked
up, Andraka said.

       "What we need to do is find a way to start these things
up a millisecond apart, so they don't hurt the power grid but
they come up in a timely fashion," he said.

       Sandia also is starting to figure out how the dishes will
talk to a central computer system, Andraka said.

       Once the bugs are worked out in the six-dish field,
Sandia and SES probably will expand to a field of 100 or more
dishes to continue testing, Andraka said. That probably will
occur next year. 

 � 2004 Deseret News Publishing Company 
*****************************************************************
 39 [du-list] DU in the News - 25th Nov 04
 
Date: Fri, 26 Nov 2004 14:31:21 -0800

 
<x-flowed>
Thursday, November 25, 2004 11:27 AM PST
Your Keyword News Alert for [depleted uranium]
matched the following stories:

Friends of the Earth, Thu, 25 Nov 2004 11:20 AM PST
BAe FACES AGM PROTEST OVER DEPLETED URANIUM WEAPONS 
http://www.foe.co.uk/resource/press_releases/bae_faces_agm_protest_over.html
Campaigners from Friends of the Earth will quiz Directors of weapons 
manufacturer, BAe plc, tomorrow, over its potential liabilities arising 
from the use of depleted uranium in Iraq.

The Philadelphia Inquirer, Thu, 25 Nov 2004 0:09 AM PST
A possible use for tumbleweeds: Uranium cleanup 
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/nation/10269208.htm
Troublesome weed and symbol of the West's vast open desert, the tumbling 
tumbleweed captures more than imaginations - it traps uranium.

New York Times, Wed, 24 Nov 2004 10:13 PM PST
Australian Mine Shares Rise in Investors' Rush for Metals 
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/25/business/worldbusiness/25mining.html?ex=1102050000&en=70a44d37c7eea144&ei=5006&partner=ALTAVISTA1
Amid heated global demand for metals, investors are sure the Australian 
mining company WMC Resources will become the prize in a global bidding war.

Friends of the Earth, Thu, 25 Nov 2004 10:53 AM PST
Exposed Awards - The Winners Are... 
http://www.foe.co.uk/resource/press_releases/exposed_awards_the_winners.html
Exposed Awards - The Winners Are...

Friends of the Earth, Thu, 25 Nov 2004 10:54 AM PST
BIG BUSINESS IN BOURNEMOUTH 
http://www.foe.co.uk/resource/press_releases/big_business_in_bournemout.html
Contenders for Friends of the Earth's annual Exposed Awards , held at the 
Labour Party Conference, are announced today, with the publication of a 
report [1] highlighting the most environmentally and socially destructive 
companies and lobby groups attending the Conference.

Media Monitors Network, Thu, 25 Nov 2004 0:43 AM PST
Fan Rage in an Age of Political Apathy (by William Hughes) - Media Monitors 
Network (MMN) http://usa.mediamonitors.net/content/view/full/11633/
¨ Join the struggle to keep Media Monitors Network (MMN) on the web! ¨ 
Make a commitment to subscribe, donate and/or place all of your book and 
other product orders from Amazon.com and others through MMN Shopping 
web-site by clicking here.

[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]



------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~-->
Make a clean sweep of pop-up ads. Yahoo! Companion Toolbar.
Now with Pop-Up Blocker. Get it for free!
http://us.click.yahoo.com/L5YrjA/eSIIAA/yQLSAA/FGYolB/TM
--------------------------------------------------------------------~->

To unsubscribe from this groups send a message to 
du-list-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com.  In the body of the message type 
unsubscribe and send.
Yahoo! Groups Links

<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
     http://groups.yahoo.com/group/du-list/

<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
     du-list-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com

<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
     http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
  

</x-flowed>
    
*****************************************************************

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> 
    
*****************************************************************