***************************************************************** 01/27/05 **** RADIATION BULLETIN(RADBULL) **** VOL 13.20 ***************************************************************** 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 Whitehaven News: INDUSTRY SECRETARY TO MEET IN COPELAND 2 Israel refuses to rule out attack on Iran 3 Guardian Unlimited: Israel Warns of Iran's Nuclear Program 4 Guardian Unlimited: Iran nears nuclear 'point of no return' 5 [NukeNet] N.Korea Has Bought Complete Nuclear Bomb - Report 6 Guardian UnlimitedL U.N. Agency Appeals for Food for N. Korea 7 US: [EMMAS] President's Claim That Nuclear Energy Is " A Renewable 8 US: Platts: Politicians revive energy debate in California 9 Las Vegas SUN: Anti-Nuclear Program Revamp Gains Momentum 10 US: Las Vegas SUN: Gibbons named chairman of House energy subcommitt NUCLEAR REACTORS 11 US: [NukeNet] MI plant shut down after coolant leak 12 US: SLO Tribune: Diablo ocean remedy: Reef, no-fishing zones 13 US: [NukeNet] nuke power, a dangerous gamble 14 US: [NukeNet] 7 AGs File Security Petition w/NRC 15 US: philly burbs: Nuke group: Three Mile Island training program nee 16 Bellona: UK nuclear industry is allegedly “cheating the market” 17 US: toledo blade: Gasket deemed source of leak at Fermi plant 18 US: Arizona Daily Wildcat: Nuclear Engineering department to be blas 19 US: Newsday.com - Opinion: At Shoreham, clean, renewable energy 20 US: PRN: TVA Board Appoints Tom Kilgore President and Chief Operatin 21 US: Forbes.com: The Silence of the Nuke Protesters 22 US: NRC: Ohio Petition Denial NUCLEAR SAFETY 23 US: ARTICLE SUBMISSION: Heads Roll At The VA - Depleted Uranium Sca 24 US: Bradenton Herald: Beryllium help could grow 25 US: Local10.com: Officials: Radioactive Scare Much Ado About Nothing 26 US: EC: Perchlorate and Children's Health:The Case for a Strong Clea 27 US: SFBV: Heads roll at Veterans Administration 28 US: CNN: Navy publishes first photos of damaged sub 29 US: TomPaine.com: Let Them Eat Rocket Fuel 30 US: Hawk Eye: Harkin promotes IAAP meeting 31 US: Fontana Herald: Perchlorate levels in drinking water discussed a 32 US: NRC: Company Agrees to Additional Corrective Actions at Puerto R NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE 33 Nevada Appeal: Energy secretary nominee sees end of '05 date for Yuc 34 US: Bradenton Herald: Potential landfill study raises radiation conc 35 US: Daily Sentinel: Moab to DOE: move tailings 36 Las Vegas RJ: YUCCA MOUNTAIN: DOE to reduce budget 37 Las Vegas SUN: Editorial: Yucca rush is now clear 38 Las Vegas SUN: DOE to seek less money for Yucca 39 US: Salt Lake Tribune: Utahns cautious on relocation study 40 US: Monticello Times: Xcel files application for waste storage 41 US: Gallup Independent: As protesters march, uranium opponent addres 42 Wall Street Journal: Regulators Brush Aside Nevada Citizens' Safety 43 US: NIRS: Background Information on the Proposed Private Fuel Storag 44 US: AU ABC: Uranium trains likely to continue 45 Whitehaven News: N-DUMP TALKS MOVE NEARER 46 Whitehaven News: A LOOK INSIDE SELLAFIELD NUCLEAR WEAPONS US DEPT. OF ENERGY 47 Las Vegas RJ: Panel quickly approves Bodman 48 Las Vegas SUN: Bodman plans to keep Cabot holdings 49 Tri-City Herald: I-297 bill splits Tri-City lawmakers 50 Tri-City Herald: FFTF backers keep up the fight 51 Tri-City Herald: BPA sees $12.25 million savings 52 Waste News: Senate committee OKs nomination of Bodman as energy secr 53 Colorado Daily: Flats forum faces facts and future 54 lamonitor.com: Bill wants to harness the 'brain trust' 55 Metro Pulse/Ear to the Ground: Nuke Advice for Cities OTHER NUCLEAR 56 Las Vegas SUN: Court Skeptical of Cheney Records Lawsuit ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** FULL NEWS STORIES ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** 1 Whitehaven News: INDUSTRY SECRETARY TO MEET IN COPELAND INDUSTRY secretary Patricia Hewitt will be outlining the future for West Cumbria next week. The minister, who also chairs the Strategic Task Forum, will speak at the West Cumbria Partnership forum in Whitehaven Civic Hall on Tuesday. The annual partnership forum will be celebrating successes across Copeland and Allerdale, such as the South Whitehaven employment support project. Delegates will also comment on a number of subjects including children and young people and sustainable communities, which focuses on the changes the area is expected to face with nuclear decommissioning. The Secretary of State will also open the new Copeland Council offices. ***************************************************************** 2 Israel refuses to rule out attack on Iran Date: Thu, 27 Jan 2005 09:34:45 -0600 (CST) http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/story.jsp?story=604945 UK/Independent Israel refuses to rule out attack on Iran By Anne Penketh, Diplomatic Editor 27 January 2005 Israel's Defence Minister refused to rule out a pre-empt-ive strike on Iran yesterday, claiming that Tehran was "close to a point of no return" on its suspected development of a nuclear weapon. At a meeting with journalists in London, Shaul Mofaz did little to dispel the sense of unease caused by comments last week by the US Vice-President, Dick Cheney, who suggested Israel might "decide to act first" to end Iran's nuclear threat. Mr Mofaz said: "I believe that none of the Western countries can live with Iran having a nuclear capability - not the US, not the European countries and nor other countries." But he stressed that the "first step" should be through diplomatic channels to resolve the standoff with Iran, suspected by the US and Israel of using its civilian programme as a cover for weapons development. "The way to stop Iran is by the leadership of the US, supported by European countries and taking this issue to the UN, and using the diplomatic channel with sanctions as a tool and a very deep inspection regime and full transparency." Asked what Israel would do if diplomatic channels failed, Mr Mofaz went on: "The US is a strong power that can stop any kind of nuclear programme, especially in the hands of an extreme regime." The Israeli minister left no doubt, however, he was sceptical about the outcome of negotiations with the Iranian government, which he said had been "buying time" through talks with Britain, France and Germany. He warned that Tehran was "less than a year" from enriching uranium, which he described as the "point of no return" towards making a nuclear weapon. He echoed comments by the Mossad intelligence agency, which said that Iran could have developed a nuclear bomb in three years, a statement dismissed by Iran as baseless. Mr Mofaz rejected Iranian assertions that it was working on a peaceful civilian programme, saying that there was "no goal by the Iranian side for a civilian programme. Their goal is to achieve a military programme". Pressure on Iran has been increasing recently in the form of aggressive statements from the Bush administration, branding the Tehran regime an "outpost of tyranny". Mr Cheney said Iran's nuclear programme put it at the "top of the list" of global issues. The Iranian President, Mohamed Khatami, retorted: "We say that America is at the top of the list of countries that are endangering world peace and security and we hope that one day they come to their senses. "[Negotiations with the EU] haven't reached a dead end," Mr Khatami went on. "Of course, we have our own stances and we are talking to the Europeans and we hope to reach a conclusion." Iran has agreed to suspend activities which could be used to make nuclear bomb material, such as uranium enrichment, and to try to reach a negotiated solution. But Mr Mofaz said: "Although there are some achievements by the suspension of the military programme, there is not a full stop." ***************************************************************** 3 Guardian Unlimited: Israel Warns of Iran's Nuclear Program From the Associated Press [UP] Thursday January 27, 2005 12:31 PM By ED JOHNSON Associated Press Writer LONDON (AP) - The Israeli defense minister warned that Iran's nuclear program is ``very close to the point of no return'' and urged the United States and Europe to refer the issue to the United Nations. During a visit to London, Shaul Mofaz called for sanctions to be imposed against Tehran and detailed inspections of its nuclear facilities. ``We know that Iran has a very high desire to achieve the goal of possessing nuclear power. The fact that in Iran there is an extreme regime and that they already have long-range surface-to-surface missiles, means that having a nuclear power will create a threat to the free world,'' Mofaz said, in comments released by the Israeli embassy in London. ``Iran is very close to the point of no return, which means the enrichment of uranium, and we believe that the leadership of the U.S. together with the European countries should stop as soon as possible this military nuclear program in Iran,'' he added. Mofaz, who held a private meeting Wednesday with Britain's Defense Secretary Geoff Hoon and is scheduled to attend the Holocaust memorial service at Westminster Hall Thursday, praised the efforts by Britain, France and Germany to resolve the nuclear issue through diplomacy. ``I believe that the dialogue and negotiations that took place between the European countries, the troika and the Iranians had some achievements by the suspension of the Iranian military nuclear program,'' he said. ``But the goal should be a full stop to the nuclear program and the way to stop this is with the leadership of the U.S. and the Europeans countries taking this issue to the U.N. and using first the diplomatic channel,'' he said. ``The tools should be sanctions and a very deep inspection in all the nuclear locations in Iran with a full transparency.'' The United States and several other countries fear Iran is seeking to enrich uranium not to the low level needed to generate power, but to weapons grade, which forms the core of nuclear warheads. Iran publicly insists it only seeks to make low-grade enriched uranium to make nuclear fuel. Talks between European powers and Iran are deadlocked on the key issue of uranium enrichment, with Iran refusing to consider scrapping such programs. Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2005 ***************************************************************** 4 Guardian Unlimited: Iran nears nuclear 'point of no return' Ewen MacAskill, diplomatic editor Thursday January 27, 2005 The Guardian The Israeli defence minister, Shaul Mofaz, warned yesterday that Iran will reach "the point of no return" within the next 12 months in its covert attempt to secure a nuclear weapons capability. Tehran denies pursuing a nuclear weapons programme. Speaking in London before a meeting today with Tony Blair, Lieutenant General Mofaz said Iran was the main long-term threat to the world and stressed that it will not be permitted to build a nuclear bomb. "None of the western countries can live with Iran having a nuclear capability," he told reporters. Gen Mofaz, a hawk in the Israeli cabinet, who has said in the past that Israel has operational plans in place for a strike against Iranian nuclear facilities, refused to rule out military action. Mr Blair, speaking in the Commons yesterday, said the Iranian issue was serious. Asked by a former Labour minister, Michael Meacher, to give an "unequivocal and categorical assurance" that Britain would not take part in any attack on Iran, Mr Blair said: "I know of no such contemplation by the United States of America." In an interview with the Financial Times yesterday, Mr Blair refused to rule out the option of using military force. With the US bogged down in the Iraq conflict, opening another front in Iran would be risky. Iran's Shebab-3 rockets are theoretically capable of hitting Israel. The Israeli and US rhetoric has grown more strident in the last week and could be aimed at pushing Britain, France and Germany into taking a tougher diplomatic approach towards Iran. The US vice-president, Dick Cheney, said last week that Israel might launch a pre-emptive strike on Iran's nuclear facilities, as it did against Iraq's nuclear reactor at Osirak in 1981. Gen Mofaz indicated yesterday that he thought the US rather than Israel should do it: "It is the strongest power that can stop any nuclear power, especially in the hands of an extreme regime." US officials have confirmed privately a report by the US reporter Seymour Hersh, in the New Yorker, that US special forces have already been in Iran scouting out its nuclear facilities. Gen Mofaz, who was born in Iran but left for Israel while a child, said: "Iran is very close to the point of no return, which means the enrichment of uranium, and we believe that the leadership of the US, together with the European countries, should stop as soon as possible this military nuclear programme in Iran." He added that this point of no return would be reached "in less than a year" and that it would only be "a matter of years" after that that it would assemble the bomb . The Israeli intelligence assessment, shared by the US and Britain, is that Iran could have a bomb by 2007. The foreign secretary, Jack Straw, flew with his German and French counterparts to Tehran late in 2003 to broker a deal with Iran to suspend its enrichment programme. The deal broke down last year when the troika accused Iran of reneging on the deal. A new round of negotiations is under way and expected to drag on for at least a few months. Like the US, which is equally sceptical, Israel is pushing for the issue to be referred to the United Nations for the imposition of sanctions and deep inspections by UN staff of Iran's nuclear facilities. Gen Mofaz's comment about "point of no return" echoed a private briefing by Meir Dagan, the head of the Israeli overseas intelligence service, Mossad, to members of the Knesset on Monday. Mr Dagan said Mr Cheney's remark that Israel might make a pre-emptive strike was aimed at pressing Europe to adopt the tougher US approach towards Iran. Britain, France and Germany have switched to a harder approach towards Iran. A confidential EU document leaked to Reuters and confirmed independently said the troika had told Iran it would be "unacceptable" for Tehran to keep its uranium enrichment programme, even if, as it claims, it is solely for civil purposes. The commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard ground forces, Brigadier General Mohammad Ali Jafari, said yesterday: "Iran will retaliate against any stupid moves by Israel." [UP] Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2005 ***************************************************************** 5 [NukeNet] N.Korea Has Bought Complete Nuclear Bomb - Report Date: Thu, 27 Jan 2005 15:04:52 -0800 NukeNet Anti-Nuclear Network (nukenet@energyjustice.net) http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/international/international-korea-north-nuclear.html?oref=login N.Korea Has Bought Complete Nuclear Bomb - Report By REUTERS Published: January 27, 2005 Filed at 8:51 a.m. ET SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea appears to have bought a complete nuclear weapon from either Pakistan or a former Soviet Union state, a South Korean newspaper said on Thursday quoting a source in Washington. Seoul Shinmun quoted the source as saying the United States was checking the intelligence. The purchase was apparently intended to avoid nuclear weapons testing that could be detected from the outside, the source was quoted as saying. Advertisement North Korea is believed to have one or two nuclear weapons and possibly more than eight. U.S. Congressman Curt Weldon said after a visit to the North this month that its second-ranked leader had told his delegation that it possessed nuclear weapons. Pyongyang has declared that a nuclear reactor at Yongbyon, sealed under a 1994 agreement with the United States, had been restarted. Spent nuclear fuel from that reactor could be converted to weapons-grade material. North Korea has never officially declared that it possessed atomic weapons, speaking instead of its ``nuclear deterrent.'' U.S. experts who visited the Yongbyon facility said spent plutonium previously stored there had been removed. North Korea is suspected of running a separate program based on uranium enrichment technology, assisted by a former top Pakistani nuclear scientist. _______________________________________________________________________ Subscribe/Unsubscribe Here: http://www.energyjustice.net/nukenet/ Change your settings or access the archives at: http://energyjustice.net/mailman/listinfo/nukenet_energyjustice.net ***************************************************************** 6 Guardian UnlimitedL U.N. Agency Appeals for Food for N. Korea From the Associated Press [UP] Thursday January 27, 2005 12:01 PM By JOE McDONALD Associated Press Writer BEIJING (AP) - The World Food Program on Thursday appealed for 500,000 tons of aid to feed 6.5 million North Koreans this year, warning that the North still faces severe shortages as world attention focuses on helping tsunami survivors. North Koreans' ability to feed themselves has been hurt by soaring prices as the communist government opens private markets in an effort to diversify its economy, the U.N. agency said. ``Millions of children, women and elderly people are barely subsisting because they lack both the quantity and quality of nourishment they deserve,'' the WFP's director in North Korea, Richard Ragan, said in a statement by the agency. North Korea has relied on foreign aid to feed many of its 23.7 million people since its state-run farm system collapsed in the mid-1990s. The latest WFP appeal comes as tsunami relief efforts receive hundreds of millions of dollars in aid. ``The aid pie is limited, and donors have been very generous in their response to the tsunami appeal,'' said Gerald Burke, a WFP spokesman in Beijing. ``But they also always have been very generous to WFP appeals for North Korea, and we sincerely hope this appeal will be fully met.'' Efforts to attract donations for North Korea have been complicated in the past by tensions over its nuclear program and competing needs for aid in Afghanistan and elsewhere. Despite the nuclear tensions, North Korea's main donors have been the United States, Japan and rival South Korea - all participants in the six-nation talks aimed at persuading Pyongyang to abandon nuclear development. North Korea's grain crop is expected to rise by 2.4 percent this year to 4.24 million tons - its biggest in a decade but still far below the 5.13 million tons needed, WFP said. Two-thirds of North Koreans depend on government rations that supply just nine ounces of food a day, ``enough to meet only half their calorie needs,'' the WFP statement said. WFP stockpiles of food in the North should last through June, the statement said. ``But without additional pledges soon, the kind of distribution cuts that have plagued our operation over the past three years, depriving millions of vital assistance for long periods, will be inevitable,'' Ragan was quoted as saying. The agency said the secretive North Korean government still bars WFP employees from visiting 49 of the North's 203 counties and districts, home to about 17 percent of its population. The agency doesn't distribute food in areas that its staff can't visit. Those targeted for aid this year include 900,000 elderly people, as well as children, pregnant women and some 360,000 people who no longer can afford food as a result of economic reforms, the agency said. Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2005 ***************************************************************** 7 [EMMAS] President's Claim That Nuclear Energy Is " A Renewable Date: Thu, 27 Jan 2005 00:53:58 -0600 (CST) http://www.commondreams.org/news2005/0126-20.htm FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE JANUARY 26, 2005 12:22 PM CONTACT: Sustainable Energy Coalition Ken Bossong 202-293-2898, x.201; 301-588-4741 48 Groups Refute President's Claim That Nuclear Energy Is " A Renewable Source of Energy" WASHINGTON -- January 26 -- In a short letter sent today to the White House, nearly 50 environmental, business, anti-nuclear, sustainable energy, and energy policy organizations disputed a recent statement by President Bush that nuclear power is a "renewable source of energy." The groups said simply that nuclear power, and "for that matter, oil, coal, and natural gas," are not renewable sources of energy but instead are "environmentally polluting and non-renewable." They added that the primary forms of renewable energy are "biofuels, biomass, geothermal, hydropower, solar, and wind." The full text of the letter and list of signing organizations follows. ------- January 26, 2005 President George W. Bush The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20500 Dear Mr. President: In a recent interview with the Wall Street Journal, you were quoted as saying that nuclear power "is a renewable source of energy." Please be advised that nuclear power is not a renewable source of energy. For that matter, oil, coal, and natural gas are also not renewable sources of energy. Nuclear power and fossil fuels are environmentally polluting and non-renewable sources of energy. The primary renewable sources of energy are biofuels, biomass, geothermal, hydropower, solar, and wind. Sincerely, 3EStrategies (Cylvia Hayes, Executive Director) info@3estrategies.org Alliance for Affordable Energy (Micah Walker Parkin) mwalker@all4energy.org Arizona Solar Center, Inc. (Daniel Peter Aiello, Chair) J2EnvArch@aol.com Arizona Solar Energy Association (Chuck Skidmore) cskidmore@scottsdaleaz.gov Bob Lawrence & Associations (Bob Lawrence, President) boblaw424@aol.com Burlington Electric Department (Mary Sullivan, Communications Coordinator) MSullivan@burlingtonelectric.com Chesapeake Climate Action Network (Mike Tidwell, Director) Mwtidwell@aol.com Citizen Power (David Hughes, Executive Director) hughes@citizenpower.com Citizens Utility Board of Wisconsin (Charlie Higley, Executive Director) higley@wiscub.org Clean Air Council (Thurman Brendlinger) brendlinger@cleanair.org Colorado Energy Group (George Burmeister) COEnergyGroup@aol.com Colorado Renewable Energy Society (Kimberly Peterson, Secretary) kimberly_peterson@yahoo.com Donald Aitken Associates (Donald W. Aitken, Ph.D.) donaldaitken@earthlink.net EORenew (Eastern Oregon Renewable Energies Non-profit) (Jennifer Barker) info@solwest.org Eco Living Fellowship, Inc. (Dr. Michael Skelly, Sr., President) ecoliving@yahoo.com Energy Innovation (Steve Chadima) steve@energyinnovations.com Environmental Resources Trust (Alden Hathaway - Director, EcoPower Programs) ahathaway@verizon.net Friends of the Earth (Erich Pica) EPica@foe.org Global Green U.S.A. (Matt Petersen) mpetersen@globalgreen.org Global Possibilities (Casey Coates Danson, President/Founder; Carolyn Ward, Managing Director) casey@globalpossibilities.org Greenpeace (John Coequyt, Jim Riccio, Nuclear Policy Analyst) jim.riccio@wdc.greenpeace.org, john.coequyt@wdc.greenpeace.org Hawaii Solar Energy Association (HSEA) (Rick Reed, President) sunearth@lava.net Local Government Commission (Judy Corbett) jcorbett@lgc.org Local 103 I.B.E.W. (Martin E. Aikens, Business Agent) Maikens@ibew103.com Maine Solar Energy Association (Richard Komp PhD. President) sunwatt@juno.com Mainstay Energy (Hoyt Hudson, CEO) hoyt.hudson@mainstayenergy.com MD-DC-VA Solar Energy Industries Association (Peter Lowenthal) Plowenthal@seia.org Minnesotans for an Energy-Efficient Economy (J. Drake Hamilton, Science Policy Director) hamilton@me3.org North Carolina Sustainable Energy Association (Richard/Lonna Harkrader) harkrader@mindspring.com Northeast Energy Efficiency Partnerships (Susan E. Coakley, Executive Director) scoakley@NEEP.org Northwest Energy Coalition (Nancy Hirsh) nancy@nwenergy.org Nuclear Information & Resource Service (Michael Mariotte) nirsnet@nirs.org Quality Solar (Claudia Wentworth) claudia@qualitysolar.net Redwood Alliance (Michael Welch) mwelch@redwoodalliance.org Renewable Energy Long Island (RELI) (Gordian Raacke) Gordian@RenewableEnergyLongIsland.org RENEW Wisconsin (Michael Vickerman, Executive Director) mvickerman@renewwisconsin.org San Luis Sustainability Group Architects (Ken Haggard) slosg@slonet.org Solar Energy International (SEI) (Johnny Weiss, Executive Director) johnny@solarenergy.org The Stella Group, Ltd. (Scott Sklar, President) solarsklar@aol.com SustainableBusiness.com, (Rona Fried) rona@sustainablebusiness.com Sustainable Energy and Economic Development (SEED) Coalition (Karen Hadden, Executive Director) karen@seedcoalition.org Vermont Energy Investment Corporation (Beth Sachs) BSachs@veic.org Voices Opposed To Environmental Racism (Donald Keesing) donaldk@nirs.org The Vote Solar Initiative (David Hochschild) david@votesolar.org Windustry (Lisa Daniels, Executive Director) lisadaniels@windustry.org Wisconsin Energy Conservation Corporation (Janet Brandt, Executive Director) jbrandt@weccusa.org Wisconsin Green Building Alliance (Constance A. Lindholm, Executive Director) connielindholm@wgba.org Women in Sustainable Energy (WISE) (Kimberly Peterson) kimberly_peterson@yahoo.com ============== ***NOTICE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.*** ################################################################# " Social and economic well-being will become a reality only through the zeal, courage, the non-compromising determination of intelligent minorities, and not through the mass." Emma Goldman To SUBSCRIBE/UNSUBSCRIBE to the emmasdance list send email to with the message subscribe/unsubscribe emmasdance. [No subject is needed.] "If I can not dance, I want no part in your revolution." Emma Goldman ################################################################# ***************************************************************** 8 Platts: Politicians revive energy debate in California POWER - 1/20/2005 The legislative debate over California's energy future has yet to begin this year, but Democrats already are gearing up to battle Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger despite failing to get a bill by him yet, according to legislative aides and industry lobbyists. Yet sources interviewed by Platts fear a repeat of last year with bills wallowing in committee as politicians work on more pressing issues. Fabian Nunez, speaker of the Democrat-led Assembly, plans to introduce a comprehensive energy bill but has yet to "lock down the finer points," his spokesman said Monday. He would not elaborate on when the bill would be introduced or what it would contain, although he said that it will be not identical to Nunez's AB 2006, which was designed to spur generation investment in the state. Schwarzenegger vetoed AB 2006 in September for fear that it would complicate ongoing efforts at the state Public Utilities Commission, which approved major orders laying out standards for ensuring adequate power supplies by 2006 and allowing utilities to develop diverse power portfolios. In his State of the State address the Republican governor warned that conservation will not save the state from future power problems and lauded the PUC's work thus far. "California has long been the national leader in energy conservation. We must continue that leadership, but we cannot conserve our way out of our long-term energy crunch," he said. "Yes, we need conservation. Yes, we need renewable energy. But California also needs power plants and transmission lines. We need more of them and we need them as soon as possible," he added. "I am pleased to report that we're beginning to see investments that will put steel in the ground and power on the lines. This is a modern society and a modern society must have abundant and affordable power." State Controller Steve Westly, a Democrat who acts as a fiscal watchdog for the state government, may also produce a bill from informal talks he has been having since September with utilities, power producers and the administration, his spokeswoman said. The bill, which must be sponsored by a legislator, could resolve issues from the PUC's orders, such as clarifying the agency's ability to order all energy service providers to have adequate power resources, she said. The spokeswoman said Westly was not appointed by Schwarzenegger to hold the talks, but became interested because of his history in the energy industry, including stints with the U.S. Dept. of Energy and the California PUC in the 1980s. Sources expected that a bill would be introduced after Senate confirmation hearings for Dian Grueneich and Steve Poizner, who were named to the PUC last month by Schwarzenegger. The hearings will likely get into what lingering energy issues need to be legislated for the PUC to act effectively, they said. "Any holes will be identified in those hearings," one source said Tuesday. The hearings have yet to be scheduled. Stakeholders also expected that legislators will once again push for so-called "direct access," or allowing large customers to leave utility service for another energy supplier. Nunex attempted to include direct access language in his bill, but ultimately he could not get agreement on a design that would ensure utility customers would not pay more for the state Dept. of Water Resources' long-term power contracts when large customers depart the system. So far, Republican Assemblyman Keith Richman will re-introduce his failed bill from last year (AB 428), which outlined a direct access design by which large "non-core" customers would be able to choose their energy suppliers and small "core" customers would remain with their utility, his spokesman said Tuesday. Norm Plotkin, lobbyist of the Alliance for Retail Energy Markets, said that Democrats and Republicans will appear to work together at the start of the year, but the debate will likely end up like last year with talks degenerating into politicized arguments that accomplish nothing. Real action may come if this summer's power supply situation turns out to be a bigger problem than expected or the Legislature gets through other major issues such as government reform and redistricting, he said. More likely, the Legislature will debate, while the PUC does the grunt work, such as the reviewing of utility solicitations for power and completing outstanding resource adequacy issues, said Jan Smutny-Jones, executive director of the Independent Energy Producers, Monday. "They have a full plate," he said. Legislators so far have only introduced one energy bill, which picks up Schwarzenegger's solar energy initiative announced in August to equip one million California homes with solar panels by 2017. Sponsored by Sens. Kevin Murray, D, and John Campbell, R, the bill (SB 1) establishes the Solar Homes Peak Energy Procurement Program to give rebates and incentives for the installation of solar energy systems on existing and new residential construction. Builders of large housing developments are required to offer solar power as an option for buyers and homeowners can sell excess power back to the utilities. "Building solar homes not only saves the homeowner money from reduced energy bills but it will bring down the overall price of solar energy by exponentially expanding California's solar energy markets," Murray said in a statement for the bill's Dec. 6 introduction. "SB 1 will reduce the overall burden on the power grid and help ensure energy reliability for all Californians." The bill picks up on a failed measure (SB 199) from last session, which could not get enough votes to pass out of committee because of concerns over the high costs of the program's funding for ratepayers. Also possibly changing the energy bill debate this year is the Legislature's change in committee chairs, particularly with the departure of Sen. Debra Bowen from her chair of the Senate Energy, Utilities and Communications Committee. Bowen, who is arguably the most knowledgeable senator on energy issues having held her post through the 2000-2001 crisis, will be replaced by Sen. Martha Escutia, who is from Los Angeles County. "One of the first steps is to craft balanced policies that simultaneously attract investment and development, protect consumers, promote cutting-edge technologies, preserve clean and safe environments, and maintain affordable rates. It will not always be easy, but the Legislature must ensure that the proper balance is achieved," Escutia said when appointed in November. The Assembly Utilities and Commerce Committee will also have a new chair with Assemblyman Lloyd Levine, replacing Assemblywoman Sarah Reyes, whose term ended last year. Privacy Notice Terms & Conditions Copyright © 2005 - Platts, All Rights Reserved [The McGraw-Hill Companies] ***************************************************************** 9 Las Vegas SUN: Anti-Nuclear Program Revamp Gains Momentum Today: January 27, 2005 at 8:42:44 PST By KEN GUGGENHEIM ASSOCIATED PRESS WASHINGTON (AP) - Momentum is building in Congress to revamp and expand a program credited with destroying thousands of nuclear weapons from Soviet stockpiles and keeping them out of terrorists' hands. For 14 years, the Nunn-Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction program has paid for the dismantling of Cold War-era nuclear warheads and other weapons of mass destruction. But bureaucratic logjams have resulted from rules set by Congress to ensure the billions of dollars spent on the program are used properly. Sen. Richard Lugar, R-Ind. - who co-sponsored the original bill with then-Sen. Sam Nunn, D-Ga. - said he will introduce legislation to loosen those restrictions and make it easier to use the program outside the former Soviet Union. Lugar is also proposing a separate program to destroy stockpiles of conventional weapons. While prospects for passage are uncertain given the vagaries of the legislative process, Lugar has some powerful allies. President Bush has backed the Nunn-Lugar program and, in last fall's presidential debates, said the prospect of nuclear weapons falling into the hands of terrorists represented the single most serious threat to the United States. The independent commission that investigated the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks recommended the United States do all that it can to support Nunn-Lugar. At her confirmation hearing last week to become secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice said she supports Lugar's proposals and would push for their approval. "I really can think of nothing more important than being able to proceed with the dismantlement - safe dismantlement of the Soviet arsenal," she said under questioning from Lugar, who chairs the Foreign Relations Committee that was considering her nomination. Some House Republicans have had reservations about the program, saying millions of dollars have been spent on facilities that couldn't be used or projects that had little to do with weapons of mass destruction. But a leading House Republican on national security issues, Rep. Heather Wilson of New Mexico, said the question is: "Is it worth the risk of possible wasting of some dollars to achieve an end which is the greater control of nuclear materials in other countries?" "There are people who think we shouldn't do any of these programs unless we have a great audit trail," she said. "Well, there are some places where we are never going to have a great audit trail, where it might still be worth pursuing the program." Rep. Christopher Cox, R-Calif., chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, said U.S. disputes with Russian President Vladimir Putin shouldn't interfere with cooperation on dismantling arms. "I have a lot of concern with Putin's attack on the media, Putin's attack on democracy and his attack on human rights. None of those concerns is a reason for us not to cooperate on proliferation initiatives," Cox said. Cox and Wilson spoke at a news conference in which House Republicans released a broad nuclear nonproliferation strategy that included support for expanding Nunn-Lugar "while seeking to improve business practices where needed." Separately, three House Democrats offered their own bill to step up nonproliferation efforts. That bill calls for an expansion of cooperative threat reduction programs. Lugar's proposal would eliminate requirements that the president certify that Russia and other participants meet certain criteria, such as investing their own money in destroying weapons, allowing U.S. verification of weapons destruction, and meeting human rights standards. Presidents have often waived those requirements. The proposal by Lugar would also eliminate additional conditions affecting the construction of a chemical weapons destruction facility in Shchuchye, Russia. The construction has been hampered by disputes between the United States and Russia. It also would lift the $50 million cap on funds that can be used on Nunn-Lugar projects outside the former Soviet Union. Last year, Nunn-Lugar money was used to destroy chemical weapons in Albania, the first time it was used outside the Soviet Union. The Nunn-Lugar program is credited with deactivating or destroying 6,564 nuclear warheads, 568 intercontinental ballistic missiles, 761 nuclear air-to-surface missiles, 543 submarine-launched missiles, 28 nuclear submarines and other parts of the Soviet Union's nuclear program. --- On the Net: Nunn-Lugar program: http://www.nunn-lugar.com -- ***************************************************************** 10 Las Vegas SUN: Gibbons named chairman of House energy subcommittee LAS VEGAS SUN Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., will serve as chairman of the House Energy and Mineral Resources Subcommittee, House Resources Committee Chairman Richard Pombo, R-Calif, announced Wednesday. The subcommittee oversees the U.S. Geological Survey, geothermal energy, the U.S. uranium supply, mining policy and U.S. mineral resources on public lands, among other items, according to its Web site. Gibbons served as vice chairman of the House Resources Committee last year. Pombo said he "is a proven leader on the issues" the subcommittee will need to address. "I believe Jim Gibbons' knowledge and experience as a geologist and his work in related fields will be critical to the subcommittee's success in the 109th Congress," Pombo said in a statement. Gibbons said he looks forward to leading the committee, particularly because it will work on parts of the comprehensive national energy policy expected to be reintroduced later this year. He has worked in the past on geothermal incentives in the energy bill, but the bill has never been completed. "I also plan to focus on mining law reform in this Congress to ensure that our nation can continue to depend upon a viable mining industry that provides the building blocks for our national defense and so many consumer products... from cell phones to toothpaste," Gibbons said in a statement. As vice chairman, Gibbons helped implement Pombo's agenda and served as his substitute when the chairman was occupied with other things. Now as the subcommittee chairman, he will have more control over specific items on the agenda and prioritize them as he wishes, Gibbons said in an interview. "I'm very excited," he said. "It's a great opportunity for Nevada. The subcommitee addresses so much of Nevada's industries around the state." He said he will conduct field hearings in the Western States, including Nevada. ***************************************************************** 11 [NukeNet] MI plant shut down after coolant leak Date: Thu, 27 Jan 2005 15:04:46 -0800 NukeNet Anti-Nuclear Network (nukenet@energyjustice.net) http://www.planetark.com/dailynewsstory.cfm/newsid/29229/story.htm Michigan Fermi 2 Nuclear Unit Shut Due to Coolant Leak USA: January 27, 2005 LOS ANGELES - Detroit-based DTE Energy Co.'s 1,130-megawatt Fermi 2 nuclear unit in Michigan shut down Monday afternoon due to a reactor coolant leak, a plant spokesman said. Plant spokesman John Austerberry said the coolant was leaking into the containment structure at an initial rate of about 50 to 75 gallons a minute. That rate has since slowed, he noted. The containment structure can hold hundreds of thousands of gallons, Austerberry said. There are no indications of a radioactive release and no evacuations have been ordered, he added. No estimate was available for when the unit might return to service. The Fermi station is located in Newport, Michigan, about 25 miles northeast of Toledo, Ohio. The unit supplies enough power for around one million homes. -- Subscribe to our free weekly list serve by visiting:http://www.prwatch.org/cmd/subscribe_sotd.html Support independent, public interest reporting: https://secure.groundspring.org/dn/index.php?id=1118 Diane Farsetta Senior Researcher, Center for Media & Democracy 520 University Avenue, Suite 227 Madison, WI 53703 phone: 608-260-9713 fax: 608-260-9714 email: diane@prwatch.org http://www.prwatch.org/ _______________________________________________________________________ Subscribe/Unsubscribe Here: http://www.energyjustice.net/nukenet/ Change your settings or access the archives at: http://energyjustice.net/mailman/listinfo/nukenet_energyjustice.net ***************************************************************** 12 SLO Tribune: Diablo ocean remedy: Reef, no-fishing zones Posted on Thu, Jan. 27, 2005 Marine biologists say the move would be the best way to offset damage to the ocean caused by the power plant's cooling system David Sneed The Tribune A team of three marine biologists says a large artificial reef and no-fishing zones are two of the best ways to offset the damage to the ocean caused by Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant's cooling system. The biologists also recommend that nearly six miles of coastline north of the power plant be placed off-limits to development, and tide pools in state parks in the county be better protected from trampling by people. The recommendations are contained in a 30-page draft report released earlier this month by the biologists. They were asked by state water officials to find the best way to replace billions of micro-organisms killed each year as ocean water is passed through Diablo Canyon's cooling system. "These are the most viable options," said Pete Raimondi, the report's lead author. "Both would confer benefits, but an artificial reef would provide a more direct offset to the damage." Each option would cost several million dollars. Ocean water is pumped into the plant to cool steam generators. In doing so, the water gets heated before it is discharged into the cove where the plant is located. In addition to killing small plant and animal life, the cooling system heats the ocean water by 20 degrees, altering the ecology of the discharge cove. The state Regional Water Quality Control Board has been negotiating with plant owner Pacific Gas and Electric Co. for years to find a way to resolve these issues. The utility needs to reach an agreement in order to renew the plant's water discharge permit. PG&E maintains that the impacts of the cooling system are not as dire as most biologists believe. "This report should be considered in the overall process, but we don't believe it is tied to any real-world impacts from the plant either scientifically or financially," said plant spokesman Jeff Lewis. The report was written by Raimondi, a biologist with UC Santa Cruz, and by Greg Caillet and Michael Foster, both biologists with Moss Landing Marine Laboratories, a California State University facility. Roger Briggs, executive director of the water board, will use the report in future negotiations with PG&E. Under a settlement deal, PG&E would agree to pay for any improvements to ease impacts. Any deal that is reached will have to be approved by the regional water board, said Michael Thomas, a board staff member. The board is also looking at other ways to minimize the plant's damage to the ocean, such as habitat restoration projects and alternative cooling methods that use less ocean water. "We have to consider many factors that the scientists do not consider, such as legal requirements and limitations," Thomas said. "Staff's recommendation to the regional board could be significantly different than the scientific mitigation paper." Possible benefits The bulk of the report analyzes the benefits of an artificial reef and marine protected areas. Such a reef would cover between 300 and 600 acres and would consist of large rocks placed on a stretch of sandy ocean floor in about 60 feet of water. The rocks would supply habitat for various species of kelp to grow. "These reefs produce immense amounts of biomass, including kelp and fish," Raimondi said. Kelp forests are vital nursery areas for many near-shore fish, and biologists estimate that a new reef of that size would produce enough larvae to offset the 30 billion killed in the cooling system each year. The reef would be located away from the power plant because Diablo Canyon already has plenty of rocky reefs. Possible locations are Estero Bay and the Point San Luis area, both of which have large areas lacking kelp forests. The estimated cost is between $15 million and $30 million. Creating reserves Reserves, also called marine protected areas or no-fishing zones, are undersea wildlife refuges where marine animals live without fishing pressure. Biologists say reserves benefit fish stocks by producing large numbers of fish which then spread into other parts of the ocean. Larger fish found in the reserves are much more fertile and create large numbers of larvae. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger plans to establish a network of reserves along the length of the state's coastline. The biologists calculate that $6 million, coupled with matching funds of $2.5 million from an environmental group, the Resources Legacy Foundation, would be enough to finance the establishment of a marine reserve system on the Central Coast. The report also recommends conserving 5.7 miles of coastline between the nuclear plant and Monta¤a de Oro State Park. Preserving that amount of relatively unspoiled coastline will offset the damage of the plant's heated water discharge, which particularly hurts tide pools. Biologists also want the state parks department to bolster its tide pool etiquette training. Trampling and collecting by park visitors has damaged popular tide pools in some parks. The offer to conserve the Diablo Canyon lands was part of a deal that had previously been reached with PG&E. That deal also called for the utility to pay $6 million in habitat restoration projects and research. However in July 2003, the water board rejected that deal and directed staff to find new mitigation measures that more directly offset the ocean impacts of the cooling system. The board said it was interested in marine reserves and artificial reefs as possible alternatives. Raimondi's team was assembled to study whether those two options are scientifically feasible. Date: Fri, 28 Jan 2005 03:44:08 GMT href="http://www.sanluisobispo.com/mld/sanluisobispo/10747630.htm">http://www.sanluisobispo.com/mld/sanluisobispo/10747630.htm (c) 2005 San Luis Obispo Tribune and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved. ***************************************************************** 13 [NukeNet] nuke power, a dangerous gamble Date: Thu, 27 Jan 2005 18:09:47 -0800 NukeNet Anti-Nuclear Network (nukenet@energyjustice.net) ------- Forwarded message ------- From: "Janette Sherman" T http://www.sfbayview.com/012605/dangerousgamble012605.shtml thank you, Janette D. Sherman, MD A dangerous gamble: Nuclear power, earthquakes and tsunamis -- Coalition for Peace and Justice UNPLUG Salem Campaign; 321 Barr Ave, Linwood NJ 08221; 609-601-8583; cell 609-742-0982 ncohen12@comcast.net; http://www.unplugsalem.org http://www.coalitionforpeaceandjustice.org "A time comes when silence is betrayal. Even when pressed by the demands of inner truth, men do not easily assume the task of opposing their government's policy, especially in time of war. Nor does the human spirit move without great difficulty against all the apathy of conformist thought, within one's own bosom and in the surrounding world." - Martin Luther King Jr. No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Anti-Virus. Version: 7.0.300 / Virus Database: 265.7.4 - Release Date: 1/25/05 _______________________________________________________________________ Subscribe/Unsubscribe Here: http://www.energyjustice.net/nukenet/ Change your settings or access the archives at: http://energyjustice.net/mailman/listinfo/nukenet_energyjustice.net Attachment Converted: "c:\program files\eudora\attach\attachment1773.dat" ***************************************************************** 14 [NukeNet] 7 AGs File Security Petition w/NRC Date: Thu, 27 Jan 2005 15:04:44 -0800 NukeNet Anti-Nuclear Network (nukenet@energyjustice.net) > SF Chronicle: CALIFORNIA / Greater security for nuclear plants urged > > SFGate.com > > Keay Davidson, Chronicle Science Writer > Wednesday, January 26, 2005 > > California Attorney General Bill Lockyer and the attorneys > general from six other states, warning of possibly unimaginable > nuclear catastrophes, have called on the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory > Commission to order action to protect nuclear power plants > against terrorist attack by air and water. > > Their seven-page petition, filed with the commission late > Monday, says the federal agency should upgrade the plants' > safety "to reflect the realities of 2005, beginning with an > immediate recognition of what we all learned on September 11, > 2001 ('9/11') and earlier -- terrorists may attack by air or > water and in numbers greater than four." > > "The United States has over 100 active and retired nuclear power > plants containing thousands of tons of highly radioactive and > toxic fuel, waste and equipment," their petition continues. > "Some of these facilities are close to major population centers > where tens of millions of people live. Any significant release > of radiation from such nuclear power plants could cause > unimaginable human injury and economic loss." > > In past public discussions, critics of the nuclear industry have > suggested protecting nuclear plants in ways that range from the > installation of anti-aircraft guns to the erection of steel > beams and barriers to shield the plants against crashing > aircraft. > > The attorneys general from California, Arizona, New York, > Illinois, Connecticut, Wisconsin and Arkansas don't recommend > specific changes in plant safety procedures. But they urge the > agency to "require nuclear power plant owners to prepare to > repel air, water or land assaults by a group at least as large > as the 19 terrorists who acted on 9/11, attacking at more than > one point at the same time and using any appropriate weapons, > means of sabotage and vehicles." > > For now, they complain, "the (NRC) standard defining the threat > against which owners must protect nuclear power plants remains > essentially what it was in the 1970s -- a land attack by no more > than four men." > > Lockyer spokesman Tom Dresslar said the presence of the two > major nuclear power plants -- Diablo Canyon near San Luis Obispo > and San Onofre in San Diego County -- "on California soil brings > into sharp relief our state's interest in strengthening the > protections for nuclear power plants against terrorist attack." > > The petition -- which carries no legal force but could bring > public pressure to bear on the agency or serve as a pretext for > joint legal action by the state attorneys general -- drew a > skeptical reaction from the U.S. nuclear industry. > > "Nuclear power plants were very secure before the Sept. 11 > attacks and now, with many additional security measures in > place, they are even more secure," Douglas J. Walters, director > of emergency planning and security for an industry organization, > the Nuclear Energy Institute in Washington, D.C., said in a > statement Tuesday. "It is correct that nuclear power plants were > not originally designed to withstand the impact from jet > airliners being deliberately crashed into the structures. > However, the nuclear industry and the NRC have conducted > independent studies of such an attack on a nuclear power plant > and concluded that it is unlikely that significant harm to the > public would result from such an attack." > > Jeff Lewis, a spokesman for Pacific Gas and Electric Co., which > runs the Diablo Canyon plant, said that "dozens of improvements > in security have been ordered since 9/11 by the NRC, and they've > all been implemented. We've invested more than $20 million in > security improvements, and that does not include raising the > number of armed officers by 30 percent." > > He added, "I think people often don't understand how well > nuclear power plants like Diablo Canyon are made. Analysis has > shown that the (nuclear) containment structures would withstand > the impact of a larger commercial aircraft." > > Ray Golden of Southern California Edison, which operates the San > Onofre nuclear plant, declined to comment. The attorneys general > filed their comments in support of a petition originally filed > with the NRC on July 23 by the Committee to Bridge the Gap, a > "nuclear watchdog" group based in Los Angeles. Its president, > Daniel Hirsch, and his colleagues advocate protecting the > nation's nuclear plants with a low-cost array of steel girders, > mesh netting and cable barriers. Ideally, these barriers -- > "Beamhenge shields," an allusion to England's Stonehenge -- > could destroy an incoming plane before it rammed the plant. > > "It's really cheap -- it's a few steel beams," Hirsch said > Tuesday. He added that he was thrilled by the attorneys > general's action: "They have weighed in to say that the federal > government is inadequately protecting the nation's nuclear > reactors." > > The attorneys general behind the petition are Lockyer, Terry > Goddard of Arizona, Eliot Spitzer of New York, Lisa Madigan of > Illinois, Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, Peg Lautenschlager > of Wisconsin and Mike Beebe of Arkansas. > > Their petition notes that "Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the admitted > mastermind of the 9/11 attacks, described his original plan as: > 'A total of 10 aircraft to be hijacked, nine of which would > crash into targets on both coasts -- they included those > eventually hit on Sept. 11 plus CIA and FBI headquarters, > nuclear power plants, and the tallest buildings in California > and the state of Washington.' " > > E-mail Keay Davidson at kdavidson@sfchronicle.com. > Page B - 1 > > 2005 San Francisco Chronicle | Feedback | FAQ | Contact > _______________________________________________________________________ Subscribe/Unsubscribe Here: http://www.energyjustice.net/nukenet/ Change your settings or access the archives at: http://energyjustice.net/mailman/listinfo/nukenet_energyjustice.net ***************************************************************** 15 philly burbs: Nuke group: Three Mile Island training program needs work (phillyBurbs.com) The Associated Press HARRISBURG, Pa. - A policing agency of the nuclear industry has concluded that the training program for control room workers at Three Mile Island needs improvement. The Exelon Nuclear training program was placed on probation last month by the National Nuclear Accrediting Board, which reviews training programs every four years at commercial nuclear plants. The action could prevent the board from reaccrediting Three Mile Island's program. The exact result is unclear, however, because no nuclear station has lost its accreditation since the program started 20 years ago. The National Nuclear Accrediting Board reports its findings to the Institute of Nuclear Power Operations, an industry policing organization established after the 1979 accident at the plant's other reactor. Institute spokesman Terry Young would not discuss the case. A union official said staffing cuts were to blame, as did a watchdog group. "This is not the workers' fault. This is management's fault," said Eric Epstein, chairman of the nuclear watchdog group Three Mile Island Alert. "The plant is not adequately staffed." The number of employees has been cut more than 30 percent since 1999, when Chicago-based Exelon bought Three Mile Island's Unit 1 from GPU Nuclear. Unit 2 hasn't been used since the nation's worst commercial nuclear accident, when a portion of the reactor's core melted. Exelon spokesman Ralph DeSantis said staffing was not an issue. He said the plant was faulted for "not using a systematic approach to training as vigorously as we should be." The accrediting organization will re-evaluate the training program next summer, DeSantis said. --- Information from: The Patriot-News, http://www.pennlive.com/patriotnewsJanuary 27, 2005 8:44 AM ©2005 Copyright Calkins Media, Inc. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 16 Bellona: UK nuclear industry is allegedly “cheating the market” The European Commission has launched an investigation into the British government’s allegedly illegal aid to the British nuclear industry, which has been beset in recent years by downwardly spiralling losses. Vladislav Nikiforov, 2005-01-18 13:07 The European Union’s executive body is concerned that plans to move decommissioning liabilities from BNFL to a Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) will violate EU state aid rules, Nuclear Engineering magazine reported. The British government plans that on April 1st 2005 the NDA will assume responsibility for managing public sector decommissioning liabilities across the country. Some of these are currently the responsibility of British Nuclear Fuels (BNFL), some of United Kingdom Atomic Energy authority (UKAEA). At the same time, BNFL will be restructured into a group of independent businesses called the British Nuclear Group, Nuclear Sciences and Technology Services, Spent Fuel Services, and Westinghouse. An EC statement said that the asset transfer to the NDA will be done at no cost to BNFL but will relieve it from nuclear liabilities that it should normally have met under the ”polluter pays” principle. The EC considers at this stage of its analyses that this advantage provided by the British government is likely to be considered state aid under the EC Treaty. State aid, under this treaty, is acceptable only if its negative effect on trading conditions is outweighed by a positive contribution to other objectives under the Euratom Treaty. The EC asserted that an in-depth inquiry would be necessary to analyse both the positive and negative effects of the move. Mark Johnson of Friends of the Earth Europe commented on the EC announcement saying, ”This type of ad-hoc investigation by the commission is not enough. It allows the European nuclear industry to continue cheating the market, selling power below cost and then blackmailing the taxpayer when old reactors are shut down. It points to a systemic failure to govern energy markets in line with Europe’s overall political goals.” Huge losses British Energy (BE) has recorded a half-year loss of £234 million, almost four times the £60 million lost in the same period last year. The company said in a statement that its outlook is ”challenging”. BE has suffered from continued delays in repairs at its Heysham 1 and Hartlepool plants – two 620Mwe AGR units at each remain offline. The outages have contributed to a 14 percent (4.6TWh) drop in nuclear generation compared to last year. The company’s problems have been worsened by the fact that it presold its power at low prices last year. It is now unable to meet its generation commitments and is being forced to buy replacement power on the wholesale market at higher prices. The BE statement said in full that the Heysham and Hartlepool units were not expected to return to service until very late in 2004 while ”the outlook for the company’s financial and trading prospects for the remainder of the financial year will be challenging.” Hiding vulnerable information Beside economical losses, the British nuclear industry would like to keep a lid on its nuclear waste issues. The European Court of Justice (ECJ ) is expected to rule that EU governments must divulge information to the EC about decommissioning military reactors, where such data does not compromise ”the essential interests of national security”. This follows a case against the British government, which refused to release information about its shut down of the Jason training reactor at the Royal Naval College in Greenwich. Having alerted the Commission about the decision, the UK received demands for information about the decommissioning process, which it rebuffed, alleging that military reactors fall outside the Euratom treaty regarding such data transfers. Brussels challenged this and ECJ Advocate General Leendert Geelhoed has now advised judges to find against Britain, saying non-essential military reactors (such as that in Greenwich) are covered by these Euratom rules, and that the UK ”is in breach of its obligations” by both restricting information and refusing to negotiate with the commission. ECJ decisions typically take effect three to six months after the opinion is given, and usually adhere to the advocate general’s advice. In October, the UK was threatened with a case at the ECJ over its failure to consult the EC before issuing a radioactive waste disposal licences for the country’s atomic weapons facilities in Aldermaston and Burghfield. Publisher: Bellona Foundation, President: Frederic Hauge Information: info@bellona.no, Technical contact: webmaster@bellona.no Telephone: +47 23 23 46 00 Telefax: +47 22 38 38 62 * P.O.Box 2141 Grunerlokka, 0505 Oslo, Norway ***************************************************************** 17 toledo blade: Gasket deemed source of leak at Fermi plant Article published Thursday, January 27, 2005 NEWPORT, Mich. - The source of Fermi II's leak has been traced to a gasket on one of 14 air cooling units inside the nuclear plant's containment structure. "If not inoperable, it compromised its effectiveness," John Austerberry, a Detroit Edison Co. spokesman, said of the affected chiller. The gasket and the cooling unit will be repaired before the plant is allowed to resume operation, Jan Strasma, a Nuclear Regulatory Commission spokesman, said. The utility expects the fix to be made within days, Mr. Austerberry said. Cooling units inside nuclear containment vessels act like air conditioners. They help moderate air temperature and pressure inside those vessels. When nuclear plants are operating, the temperature of their reactors is usually 400 to 600 degrees depending upon whether their reactors are based on a boiling-water or pressurized-water design. At many plants with boiling-water reactors, the air temperature inside containment is 120 degrees or more even with the chillers working, David Lochbaum, a Union of Concerned Scientists nuclear safety engineer, said. That's why the sudden disabling of one chiller can have an affect on temperature, pressure, and other conditions within containment vessels, Mr. Lochbaum said. He said that initially he had been taken aback by the first notice that Detroit Edison gave the NRC when the leak began late Monday afternoon. Unknown leakage at a rate of about 30 gallons a minute was reported to be in progress inside the radioactive containment vessel as well as a slight increase in air pressure. The leak rate eventually exceeded 50 gallons a minute, requiring the utility to notify emergency personnel throughout Michigan that the plant had crossed over to an alert status. Increasing air pressure could signal leakage of hot reactor coolant, Mr. Lochbaum said. That coolant is both hot and radioactive because it's circulated through the nuclear reactor. Not knowing what kind of leak was in progress, Detroit Edison operators took the conservative approach - one lauded by the NRC - by manually shutting down the plant immediately, rather than waiting to diagnose the problem. Eventually the utility was able to rule out reactor coolant by chemically matching a sample of water drawn from the containment sump with nonradioactive water from a secondary cooling system. That system passes through containment without going through the reactor and is used to cool equipment other than the reactor. Mr. Lochbaum agreed the actions taken by Detroit Edison were appropriate. Reactor coolant could be ruled out because it doesn't have the corrosion inhibitor found in the secondary cooling loop, he said. He said the pressure increase likely would not have occurred under those circumstances unless leakage from the secondary cooling system caused a problem with one of the coolers, which is just what happened. The secondary cooling system feeds water into the coolers. The leak involved about 20,000 gallons of water. The water has been collected and will be redistributed into the secondary cooling loop, Mr. Austerberry has said. - Tom Henry © 2005 The Blade. The Toledo Blade Company, 541 N. Superior St., Toledo, OH 43660 , (419) 724-6000 ***************************************************************** 18 Arizona Daily Wildcat: Nuclear Engineering department to be blasted - Thursday, January 27, 2005 CHRIS CODUTO/Arizona Daily Wildcat Shown here is the inside of UA's nuclear reactor vessel in the engineering building. The reactor will be decommissioned in the year 2010. The last remnants of the nuclear engineering program died Monday, when the UA Faculty Senate voted to end the graduate program and decommission the nuclear reactor in the basement of the Engineering building. Few will notice the passing of the research nuclear reactor, which has been safely operating in the basement of the five-story Engineering building since 1958. In fact, Robert Offerle, a doctoral student in nuclear engineering, has been the only person to consistently use the reactor during the last few years. A part-time student, Offerle has been working with the Training Research Isotopes General Atomics-style reactor to design an automated reactor control system for the past 11 years. The design would allow nuclear engineers to control a nuclear reactor from a computer at a remote location, he said. "It is an automated remote control," Offerle said. Offerle said that the Faculty Senate vote to end the program came as no surprise, as actions by UA administrators have slowly chipped away at the nuclear engineering program since the early '90s. In 1994, the Strategic Planning and Budget Advisory Committee first recommended the department's elimination to then-Provost Paul Sypherd. The undergraduate nuclear engineering program was eliminated in 1998. Mike Gavelek, the supervisor of the UA reactor, said decommissioning the nuclear reactor was expected because the UA's license with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission expires in 2010 and was not going to be renewed. Gavelek said the reactor employs three personnel, but their jobs are expected to be secure for the next decade. After the reactor is decommissioned, reactor personnel will stay on as the site is cleaned. Gavelek said he expects it will take four or five years to remove all radioactive contamination from the site. To remove all traces of radioactive material from the site will cost the Department of Energy millions of dollars, he estimated. While nuclear reactors across the country have been considered terrorist targets, the UA reactor would make an unlikely target. The research reactor at the UA uses a form of uranium-235, which is not highly enriched, and therefore it is not suitable for use in a nuclear weapon. Uranium that contains uranium-235 in a concentration of 20 percent or more is considered highly enriched. This form of uranium, used in other research reactors, is considered a possible target by terrorists. Gavelek would not comment on whether the UA received any funding from the government following Sept. 11, 2001, to improve security for the reactor. John William, director of the Nuclear Reactor Laboratory, was unavailable for comment as of press time. © Copyright 2005 - The Arizona Daily Wildcat - Arizona ***************************************************************** 19 Newsday.com - Opinion: At Shoreham, clean, renewable energy January 27, 2005 How many rooms did Thomas Alva Edison's first lightbulbs light? How many telephones rang in Alexander Graham Bell's first few tries? The answer is very few. But quantity was never the issue. Innovation, the drive to attempt new ways to meet old needs, was. That's the frame through which the Long Island Power Authority's dedication of two new windmills should be viewed. The windmills harness the power of wind to create electricity. Richard Kessel, LIPA's chairman (pictured), was on hand Tuesday, along with a variety of elected and environmental officials to hail the day. And no wonder: It's no small irony that the duo of wind-powered turbines stand near the site of the old Shoreham nuclear power plant. The windmills offer hope that natural, renewable energy may meet some sizeable portion of Long Island's electricity needs in the future. The decommissioned plant represents a local, failed attempt to do the same thing in the past with nuclear power. The windmills together can generate enough energy to power up to 20 average-sized local homes. That's not a lot. But add more windmills, nurture development of solar power, fuel cells and other alternatives, and a nascent revolution could grow into something really power-ful. Copyright © 2005, | Article licensing and reprint options ***************************************************************** 20 PRN: TVA Board Appoints Tom Kilgore President and Chief Operating Officer KNOXVILLE, TN USA 01/25/2005 Ike Zeringue Announces Retirement KNOXVILLE, Tenn., Jan. 25 /PRNewswire/ -- TVA today announced the appointment of Tom Kilgore as president and chief operating officer, succeeding Ike Zeringue, who has announced that he will retire from TVA following a record-setting performance by the TVA power system in fiscal year 2004. (Photo: ) Kilgore joins TVA from Progress Energy, a Fortune 250 diversified energy company in Raleigh, N.C., with more than 24,000 megawatts of generating capacity and $9 billion in annual revenues. Effective March 3, Kilgore will report directly to the TVA Board and serve on TVA's Management Committee. He will be based in Knoxville, Tennessee. With responsibility for overall management of TVA's power production, transmission, power trading and resource management programs, Kilgore will be crucial to ensuring that TVA delivers on its mission to provide affordable, reliable power to customers across the Tennessee Valley. "Tom brings more than 25 years of industry experience to TVA and a proven track record achieving a wide breadth of success in the energy sector, and we are excited about having him join our senior management team," said TVA Chairman Glenn McCullough Jr. "As we welcome Tom, we also bid farewell to Ike Zeringue, whose leadership helped TVA consistently reach new levels of performance. We appreciate all that Ike has done, and we are confident in Tom's ability to further strengthen TVA's power system for the benefit of those we serve." Kilgore currently serves as president and chief executive officer of Progress Energy Ventures, which is one of the three major subsidiaries of Progress Energy. Progress Ventures was created in 2000 to manage Progress Energy's operations in fuel extraction (gas and coal), merchant generation, energy marketing, and coal terminal operations. Kilgore joined Progress Energy (formerly CP) in August 1998 as senior vice president of power operations, leading both regulated and competitive businesses. Before joining Progress Energy, Kilgore worked for Oglethorpe Power Corp. in Atlanta from 1984 to 1998. He served as president and chief executive officer from 1991 to 1998. Oglethorpe is a taxable generation and transmission cooperative for 39 of the 42 Georgia electric cooperatives, with the other three being served by TVA. Kilgore held a number of management positions at Oglethorpe including senior vice president of power supply and served on the Project Management Review Board for the construction and startup of both units at the Vogtle Nuclear Power Plant in Georgia. Before joining Oglethorpe Power, Kilgore was director of Fossil and Hydro Operations for Arkansas Power and Light. He also held other management positions there and participated in the startup of Arkansas Nuclear One. "Tom's combined private and public power experience, operational expertise and affinity for the Tennessee Valley region uniquely positions him for success in the President and COO role," said Director Skila Harris. "We congratulate Ike on his retirement and thank him for leaving us with a legacy of strong operational performance." "Tom's leadership will be critical to our success, as we work to deliver on our commitments to restart the first nuclear reactor of the 21st century in America, continue cleaning the air and improve TVA's overall financial health," said TVA Director Bill Baxter. "We are very fortunate to have such a strong, experienced leader join our team. We extend special thanks to Ike for his commitment to TVA's success and commend him for a distinguished career that spans more than three decades." Kilgore, 56, earned a Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering from The University of Alabama. He received a master's degree in industrial engineering from Texas A. In 2001, he was elected to the Alabama Engineering Hall of Fame and has been honored as a Distinguished Engineering Fellow at The University of Alabama. He has served on the national ASME Industry Advisory Board. A native of DeKalb County, Ala., Kilgore and his wife, Myra, have three children. Kilgore and his wife currently reside in Raleigh, N.C. Zeringue first joined TVA in 1975 as a nuclear engineer and supported the startup of Browns Ferry and Sequoyah nuclear plants. He left TVA in 1983 to join the Arizona Public Service Company's Palo Verde Nuclear Station. He returned to TVA in 1989 as site director of Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant and was later named chief nuclear officer and executive vice president. In 1998, Zeringue was named president and chief operating officer. TVA's nuclear plants rank among the nation's most efficient, and the TVA transmission system achieved 99.999 percent reliability in fiscal year 2004 for the fifth year in a row. Zeringue championed the use of TVA employee teams to identify process improvements and the development of a skilled and diverse workforce. Under his leadership, TVA began using a Winning Performance Scorecard to measure its progress toward corporate goals. As a result, TVA is now listed in the global Balanced Scorecard Hall of Fame. TVA is the nation's largest public power producer and is completely self- financed. TVA provides power to large industries and 158 power distributors that serve 8.5 million consumers in seven southeastern states. Statement by Ike Zeringue I am proud of the people of TVA and I'm proud of the opportunity I've had to be part of the TVA team over the years. I have great confidence in the talents and abilities of TVA employees to continue to provide excellent operational service to the people and businesses in the Valley. I look forward to working with Tom during the transition period and am confident that his deep operational experience in both private and public companies will greatly benefit TVA. Statement by Tom D. Kilgore As a native of the Tennessee Valley, I am excited about joining TVA during one of the most challenging, yet exciting times in the company's history. I certainly recognize that TVA plays a vital role as a public power provider, dedicated to protecting the public's interest in a rapidly changing industry. I'm committed to helping TVA achieve its mission and I am focused on operational excellence in a safe work environment, especially in our nuclear operations. SOURCE TVA Copyright © 1996- PR Newswire Association LLC. All Rights Reserved. ***************************************************************** 21 Forbes.com: The Silence of the Nuke Protesters Christopher Helman, Chana R. Schoenberger and Rob Wherry, 02.07.05 Atomic power is making a comeback in the U.S., with only muffled squawks from the usual opponents. Could that have something to do with the price of oil? Or maybe global warming? Sandra Lindberg and her husband, Samuel Galewsky, intended to start a ruckus. She, a theater professor at Illinois Wesleyan University, and he, a biology prof at Millikin University, entered the Vespasian Warner Public Library one night in April 2003 to discuss a proposal by Exelon Corp. to add a brand-new nuclear reactor to its existing plant in Clinton, Illinois. Lindberg and her group, No New Nukes, drew inspiration from three decades of protests. Like other towns where an outraged public defeated plans for new plants, Clinton, she hoped, would reject this one. No new reactors had been proposed in the U.S. since the Three Mile Island disaster. Outcry over the proposed repository for radioactive waste at Nevada's Yucca Mountain showed that America wanted nothing to do with nuclear power. Or so she thought. By the time of the second meeting, in December, the town-once split 50-50 on the new reactor-now overwhelmingly supported the project. Economics, not environmentalism, seemed to be swaying this rural community. With unemployment at 8%, Exelon, Dewitt County's largest employer, said that if the plant were built there would be 3,200 construction jobs, 600 new full-time positions to operate the plant and a big jump in the county's tax take. With backing from the industry's powerful lobby, the Nuclear Energy Institute, Exelon had spent weeks meeting with leaders and heading off the very concerns about health, safety and the environment that Lindberg hoped would galvanize the crowd against the plan. Yes, nuclear power is back, after a quarter-century of suspended animation in the U.S. The industry has avoided confrontations that might arouse the wrath of an American public that still doubts the safety of reactors and is spooked about terrorism. Over the last five years fans of atomic power have quietly lined up the support of federal and municipal governments and have cozied up to General Electric and Westinghouse Electric (now part of the British BNFL Group) in service to an ambitious agenda: building perhaps 5 new reactors by 2015, a dozen by 2020 and 50 by midcentury. The U.S. nuclear construction industry was presumed dead. It is anything but. If oil prices stay high, if people worry about carbon dioxide causing global warming, if the Middle East stays violent, nuclear power may make a huge comeback in the U.S. Six weeks before the last Clinton library meeting, Marilyn Kray, an Exelon vice president, had gathered 11 executives from the largest nuclear operators and reactor vendors at a private room in Olives, a tony Washington, D.C. restaurant three blocks from the White House. As the dominant player, with 17 of the U.S.' 103 commercial reactors, Exelon of Chicago took the lead in discussing the future of the industry. Sitting next to Kray was Dan R. Keuter, her counterpart at Entergy, the number two operator. As diners nibbled their salads, the two led them through a 23-page report. Kray asked, Why not band together to help each other build new plants-and usher in a new dawn of nuclear power? Two meetings followed in conference rooms at the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. The result was a consortium called NuStart Energy-comprising utilities with 30.5 million residential customers and $97 billion in annual revenues, as well as GE and Westinghouse. Its goal is to choose two of five sites by September, then go after the permits. By 2007 NuStart expects to see certification of GE's reactor design and to have its financing, at $1.5 billion per plant, in place-so a utility could put a plant out for bid the following year. On that schedule groundbreaking should be in 2010. Assuming construction goes well, the first new reactor could be hooked up to the grid five years later. Fifteen years agon no one even considered building new reactors. There was still a bad hangover from the Three Mile Island meltdown in 1979 and the Chernobyl explosion in 1986. The economics of the business stank. Far from being "too cheap to meter," as promoters predicted at the dawn of atomic power a half-century ago, nuclear energy was a lot more expensive than energy from coal and natural gas. Many small nuclear-power operators couldn't even turn a profit on their old reactors. A big problem was the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, known for being unpredictable and fatally slow. In 1997 it had 14 plants on its "watch list" and fined others for such trivial non-safety violations as recording maintenance records on the wrong form. Howard Bruschi, former chief technology officer at Westinghouse, recalls that a regulator asked him to provide additional specs on an exhaust fan for a men's locker room. It's usually a mistake to attack the bureaucrats that run your life, but at a certain point the nuclear power industry decided it didn't have much to lose. The utilities complained to Senator Pete V. Domenici (Republican-New Mexico) and the industry's patron saint on Capitol Hill. In 1998 he faced down NRC chief Shirley Ann Jackson and gave her an ultimatum: Fix the agency or see its funding cut by $50 million a year. Jackson (now president of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute) concedes that shutting down so many plants was a mistake, but insists that reforms Domenici takes credit for spurring were already in the works for two years. She says the new set of risk-based regulations-which focus on safety, not men's room fans-"was my baby." Sidebar The Ancient Archrivals © 2005 Forbes.com Inc.™ ***************************************************************** 22 NRC: Ohio Petition Denial [Docket No. PRM-20-22] FR Doc 05-1485 [Federal Register: January 27, 2005 (Volume 70, Number 17)] [Proposed Rules] [Page 3898-3902] From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr27ja05-15] Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District; Denial of Petition for Rulemaking AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission. ACTION: Denial of petition for rulemaking. SUMMARY: The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is denying a petition for rulemaking (dated August 2, 1993, Docket No. PRM-20-22) submitted by the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District (the District or the petitioner). The petitioner requested that NRC amend its regulations to require all licensees to provide no less than 24 hours advance notice to the appropriate sewage treatment plant before releasing radioactive material into a sanitary sewer system, and to exempt radioactive materials that enter the sanitary waste stream from the requirements regarding NRC approval for incineration. NRC is denying the petition because it has been determined that current NRC regulations for discharge of licensed material into sanitary sewer systems are adequate and that current regulations for NRC approval for treatment or disposal of licensed material by incineration are necessary to ensure the protection of public health and safety and the environment. ADDRESSES: Copies of the petition for rulemaking, the public comments received, and the NRC's letter to the petitioner may be examined at the NRC Public Document Room, O1F21, One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland. The NRC maintains an Agencywide Document Access and Management System (ADAMS), which provides text and image files of NRC's public documents. These documents may be accessed through the NRC's Public Electronic Reading Room on the Internet at . If you do not have access to ADAMS or if there are problems in accessing the documents located in ADAMS, contact the NRC Public Document Room Reference staff at 1-800-397-4209, (301) 415-4737, or by e-mail to . FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Lydia Chang, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, telephone (301) 415-6319, e-mail . SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Petition By letter dated August 2, 1993, the District submitted a petition for rulemaking to amend 10 CFR 20.303 (superceded by 20.2003) and 20.305 (superceded by 20.2004). The petitioner requested that NRC modify its regulations to require that all licensees provide no less than 24 hours advance notice to the appropriate sewage treatment plant before releasing radioactive material into a sanitary sewer system, and to exempt radioactive materials that enter the sanitary waste stream from the requirements regarding NRC approval for incineration. The petitioner stated that their Southerly Wastewater Treatment Center had been contaminated from releases of radioactive material containing cobalt-60 into its sanitary sewer system, resulting in costly characterization and remediation. The petitioner stated that the District was not the first sewage treatment authority to experience radioactive contamination and noted that NRC had documented radioactive contamination problems at other sewage treatment sites. The petitioner also stated that contamination may exist undetected at other sewage treatment plants and requested that the regulations be amended. Public Comments on the Petition A notice of receipt of the District's petition was published in the Federal Register (58 FR 54071; October 20, 1993). The public comment period closed on January 3, 1994. NRC received twelve comment letters in response to the petition prior to the closing date. Ten of the twelve comment letters addressed the District's request for NRC to amend its regulations to require that all licensees provide at least 24 hours advance notice to the appropriate sewage treatment plant before releasing radioactive material into a sanitary sewer system. Three commenters supported the District's request for providing a notification to the sewage treatment plant, but one commenter said that licensees and sewage treatment plant staff could agree on the provision of a report without making it a requirement in the Federal regulations. Six commenters did not support the District's request for such an amendment. Several comments said that such a requirement would be an unnecessary burden that would neither increase radiation safety nor reduce radiation exposures. Another commenter noted that it would be difficult to schedule ``batch'' releases because radioactive materials are used in continuous drug research and development processes, and, as such, discharges into the sanitary sewer are continuous as well. One commenter believed that no radioactive waste should be deposited in any sewer system by any licensee for any reason. Eight of the twelve letters commented on the District's request to exempt radioactive materials that entered the sanitary waste stream from the requirements regarding NRC approval for incineration. Two commenters were supportive of this part of the petition. Four commenters were opposed to this request because they believed that it was another attempt to declare radioactive materials entering sanitary sewer systems as being ``Below Regulatory Concern,'' as the exemption would only increase contamination as in the already documented cases, and it would pose a serious threat to the health and safety of populations surrounding facilities that incinerate radioactive materials. Two commenters cited the need for additional NRC review/ guidance on this issue in order to clarify at what point radioactive material is no longer under regulatory control. NRC published an advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPR) in the Federal Register (59 FR 9146; February 25, 1994) to determine whether an amendment to its regulations governing the release of radioactive material from licensed facilities into sanitary sewer systems was needed, based on current sewage treatment technologies. The ANPR noted receipt of the petition for [[Page 3899]] rulemaking submitted by the District (PRM-20-22) and specifically requested comments on the two issues raised in the petition. Twenty-one letters received in response to the ANPR included comments on the District's request for the NRC to amend its regulations to require that all licensees provide at least 24 hours advance notice to the appropriate sewage treatment plant before releasing radioactive material into a sanitary sewer system. Six of the twenty-one commenters supported a requirement for licensees to provide the sewage treatment plant with some type of reporting on the radioactive materials released into the sanitary sewer system. These commenters supported a wide range of reporting requirements--from the petitioner's request for a 24-hour advance notification before licensees release radioactive material, to monthly or annual discharge reports, to reports of releases that could be a threat to the publicly-owned treatment works (POTW) workers or the environment, to notification of large accidental releases. Fifteen of the twenty-one commenters did not support such a requirement for licensees to provide at least 24-hour advance notice to the appropriate sewage treatment plant before releasing radioactive material into a sanitary sewer system. Several commenters said that a 24-hour advance notification would result in an unnecessary regulatory burden, with no additional radiation safety protection nor dose reduction. These commenters indicated that the existing regulations for discharges of licensed material maintain doses at or below the existing dose limits for members of the public and if licensees meet the ``as low as reasonably achievable'' (ALARA) goals, the 24-hour advance notification would be unnecessary. Several commenters noted that such notification would be impractical because most releases are continuous and involve very small quantities of radioactive material. For example, discharges from hospitals and medical facilities would change daily depending on the number of patients treated and types of treatment used. Several commenters also noted that potentially there would be large cost implications and regulatory burdens associated with such notification. In addition, commenters were concerned about having these reports received and interpreted by sewage treatment plant personnel, rather than radiation safety specialists, resulting in potential misinterpretation of the data. Several commenters offered that such an NRC requirement for licensees to provide a 24-hour advance notification was unnecessary because local municipalities have authority over their local sewer district, already have requirements to follow the Clean Water Act, and may establish a pretreatment program for wastewater acceptance. One commenter noted that the usefulness of a 24-hour advance notification should be assessed after the new limits for sewer discharges are in place. Six comment letters received in response to the ANPR included comments on the District's request that the NRC exempt materials that enter the sanitary waste stream from requirements for NRC approval prior to treatment or disposal of licensed material by incineration. Four commenters supported such an amendment because, given the radioisotopes and activities involved, the pathways for human exposure from radioactive wastes seem no more or less significant if the wastes are dispersed into water or air. If release into a sanitary sewer system is to be considered disposal, these commenters indicated, the limits should be set so that no further regulation of the radioactive material is needed after release into a sanitary sewer. One commenter did not support such an amendment because it would only serve to provide an open-ended system for radioactive material to pass into the environment and to the public without limitations or characterization. Another commenter supported sole use of concentration limits for measuring a licensee's limits for disposal of radioactive material into sanitary sewer systems. Discussion Regulatory Framework Relevant to the Petition NRC regulations governing the discharge of licensed material by release into sanitary sewer systems and the treatment or disposal of licensed material by incineration can be found in 10 CFR 20.2003 and 20.2004, respectively. These regulations were published in the Federal Register (56 FR 23360; May 21, 1991) as part of an overall revision of NRC's standards for protection against radiation. The licensees were required to implement these regulations by January 1, 1993. Although the District filed its petition after the implementation date of the 1991 revision of 10 CFR part 20 regulations, the sewage sludge and ash from the District's Southerly Wastewater Treatment Center were contaminated prior to the implementation date. As part of the 1991 revision of 10 CFR part 20 regulations, NRC examined several instances where radioactive material was detected in sewage treatment systems. The results of this examination led to modifications of the requirements for disposal of licensed material by release into sanitary sewer systems in 10 CFR 20.2003. Specifically, NRC removed the broad provision that allowed the disposal of dispersible materials into sanitary sewer system. The disposal of non- biological insoluble materials is no longer permitted because of potential reconcentration of these materials in the sanitary sewer system, sewage treatment plants, and sewage sludge. The current NRC regulations require that any licensed material discharged into a sanitary sewer system must be readily soluble (or is readily dispersible biological material) in water. In addition, the concentration limits for radionuclides released into a sanitary sewer system were reduced by a factor of 10 as part of an overall reduction in effluent release limits. The concentration limits were reduced because of past contamination incidents involving cobalt-60 and americium-241. The revised concentration limits, listed in Table 3 of the Appendix B to part 20, were an effort to reduce the public's exposure to radionuclides released into the sanitary sewer system. In addition, NRC recommends that licensees should set ALARA goals for effluents at a modest fraction (10 to 20 percent) of their allowable limits as stated in NRC Regulatory Guide 8.37, ``ALARA Levels for Effluents from Materials Facilities,'' dated July 1993. NRC also conducts periodic inspections to ensure that licensees are in compliance with NRC regulations. A number of comments, received during the 1991 revision of 10 CFR Part 20, questioned the need for the requirements that incineration of radioactive material requires specific prior NRC approval. After these comments were analyzed and considered in developing the final rule, NRC did not revise the provision regarding Commission approval for treatment or disposal by incineration except for waste oil. In the ``Statements of Consideration'' for the final rule, NRC stated: Relaxation of the prior approval requirement for incineration was considered in connection with the amendments to part 20 of this final rule. The requirements for prior NRC approval of incineration remains in the amendments to part 20 in this final rule because the acceptability of incineration as a disposal option, except for exempted quantities of radioactive materials, must be determined on a site-specific basis considering: (1) Incinerator design, (2) the variable isotopic composition and activity of the material to be burned, and (3) potential human exposure to effluents, which may [[Page 3900]] require special calculational methods because of complex meteorologic conditions and other factors. As part of the 1991 revision of 10 CFR part 20, it was authorized that a licensee may treat or dispose of licensed material contained in certain waste oil by incineration without prior NRC approval. In making this regulatory change, the NRC staff analyzed the type of radionuclides and their potential concentrations in waste oil, performed atmospheric dispersion modeling to characterize potential hazards from incineration, and evaluated the potential environmental impact. The regulatory basis for requirements in obtaining NRC approval prior to incineration is to ensure that NRC may evaluate the potential impact to the public health and safety and the environment on a case- by-case and site-specific basis. Hazards associated with incineration of sewage sludge will highly depend on the specific characteristic of the sludge such as the presence of radioactive materials, which could potentially have a broad spectrum of radionuclides and a wide range of concentration levels. The petitioner's request to incinerate sewage sludge without prior NRC approval is not supported by any detailed data, and has the potential to be inconsistent with the petitioner's basis for requesting an amendment to 10 CFR 20.2003. If petitioner is concerned with potential contamination of radioactive material in the sewage sludge, incineration of such sewage sludge without prior NRC approval would potentially not be protective to the public health and safety and the environment. Surveys, Studies, and Reports Relevant to the Petition In May 1992, the NRC issued the results of a scoping study in NUREG/CR-5814, ``Evaluation of Exposure Pathways to Man from Disposal of Radioactive Materials into Sanitary Sewer Systems,'' which evaluated the potential radiological doses to POTW workers and members of the public from exposure to radionuclides in sewage sludge. The first part of the analysis estimated the potential doses to workers for five known cases in which radioactive materials were detected at POTWs (Tonawanda, NY; Grand Island, NY; Royersford, PA; Oak Ridge, TN; and Washington, DC). Doses from the case studies were estimated to range from less than 10 microsieverts per year ([mu]Sv/yr) (1 millirem per year (mrem/yr)) to 930 [mu]Sv/yr (93 mrem/yr) for members of the public, using a deterministic scenario analysis and the reported radionuclide concentrations and/or discharges. The second part of the study estimated the maximum radiation exposures to POTW workers and others who could be affected by low levels of man-made radioactivity in wastewater. The quantities of radionuclides released into the sewer systems were assumed to be the maximum allowed under NRC regulations at the time. Estimates of the hypothetical, maximum exposures to workers ranged from zero to a dose roughly equal to natural background. In May 1994, the U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO, now U.S. Government Accountability Office) issued a report, GAO/RCED-94-133, ``Nuclear Regulation: Action Needed to Control Radioactive Contamination at Sewage Treatment Plants,'' that described nine cases, including the District, where contamination was found in sewage sludge or ash or in wastewater collection systems. On the basis of the limited information available on radiation levels in sewage sludge and ash across the country, GAO concluded that the full extent of contamination nationwide is unknown. The GAO also concluded that the ``problem of radioactive contamination of sludge and ash in the reported cases was the result, in large part, of NRC's regulation, which was incorrectly based on the assumption that radioactive materials would flow through treatment systems and not concentrate.'' The GAO report did note that to address the problem of radioactive materials' concentrating in sludge and ash, the NRC has revised its regulation to reduce the concentration levels of the radioactive materials that licensees can discharge into sanitary sewer systems although the GAO report also pointed out that ``NRC does not know how effective this action will be.'' The GAO report stated that health implications of the exposure of treatment plant workers and the public to contaminated sludge, ash, and related by-products are unknown because neither the NRC nor the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) knows (1) how much radioactive material may be in these products and (2) how these products might affect people. In June 1994, a joint U.S. House of Representatives and Senate hearing (June 21, 1994; S. Hrg. 103-1034) was held to officially release and address questions raised in the GAO report. These hearings were prompted by concerns associated with elevated levels of radioactivity in incinerator ash at the Cleveland treatment plant referenced in the District's petition. The testimony presented by both NRC and EPA during the hearing noted that there was no indication of a widespread problem, and that the District's incident appeared to be an isolated event. However, at the hearing, NRC and EPA committed to jointly develop guidance for POTWs and to collect more data on the concentration of radioactive materials in samples of sewage sludge and ash from POTWs nationwide. Between 1994 and 1997, Federal, State, and industry studies were conducted to assess reconcentration of radioactive materials that are released into sanitary sewer systems. In December 1994, the NRC published NUREG/CR-6289, ``Reconcentration of Radioactive Material Released to Sanitary Sewers in Accordance with 10 CFR Part 20.'' The objectives of this study were to: (1) Assess whether radioactive materials that are released into sanitary sewer systems undergo significant reconcentration within the wastewater treatment plant, and (2) determine the physical and/or chemical processes that may result in their reconcentration within the wastewater treatment plant. A review of the literature clearly demonstrated that some radioactive materials discharged into sanitary sewer systems are reconcentrated in sludge produced as a result of wastewater treatment. However, the report concluded that the available data were not sufficient to assess the adequacy of the requirements in 10 CFR 20.2003 in preventing occurrences of radionuclide concentrations in sewage sludge at levels which present undue risk to the public; nor is the available data sufficient to suggest strategies for changing that requirements. In 1996, the Association of Metropolitan Sewerage Agencies (AMSA) conducted a limited survey of concentrations of radioactivity in sewage sludge and ash samples from some of its member POTWs. Samples were obtained from 55 wastewater treatment plants in 17 States. The most significant sources of radioactivity were potassium and radium isotopes, which are naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORM). In December 1997, the Washington State Department of Health issued a report WDOH/320-013, ``The Presence of Radionuclides in Sewage Sludge and Their Effect on Human Health,'' that was based on sludge samples taken at six POTWs in the State. The report concluded that doses from radionuclides in sewage sludge are extremely low compared to background or to generally accepted regulatory dose limits, and that there is no indication that radioactive material in biosolids in the State of Washington poses a health risk. [[Page 3901]] The Interagency Steering Committee on Radiation Standards (ISCORS) was formed in 1995 to address inconsistencies, gaps, and overlaps in current radiation protection standards. In 1996, the Sewage Sludge Subcommittee of ISCORS was formed to coordinate efforts to address the recommendations in the 1994 GAO Report. Between 1998 and 2000, the EPA and NRC (through the ISCORS) jointly conducted a voluntary survey of POTW sewage sludge and ash to help assess the potential need for NRC and/or EPA regulatory decisions. Sludge and ash samples were analyzed from 313 POTWs, some of which had greater potential to receive releases of radionuclides from NRC and Agreement State licensees, and some of which were located in areas of the country with higher concentrations of NORM. Although the survey and sampling were biased towards facilities with greater potential for the presence of licensed material and NORM, ISCORS did not make a conclusion about the bias of the results. In November 2003, the results of the survey were published in a final report, NUREG-1775 ``ISCORS Assessment of Radioactivity in Sewage Sludge: Radiological Survey Results and Analysis.'' No widespread or nationwide public health concern was identified by the survey and no excessive concentrations of radioactivity were observed in sludge or ash. The results indicated that the majority of samples with elevated radioactivity were attributable to NORM, such as radium, rather than man-made sources. With the exception of NORM, most of the other samples were at or near the limit of detection. The results of this survey are consistent with the AMSA survey noted above. The Sewage Sludge Subcommittee is in the process of finalizing a draft report, NUREG-1783, ``ISCORS Assessment of Radioactivity in Sewage Sludge: Modeling to Assess Radiation Doses.'' This report contains computer modeling information, seven different sewage sludge management scenarios, and doses calculated by using modeling process that converts known activity concentrations in sludge to potential doses to individuals. Using survey results with the dose modeling, the calculated doses showed that no widespread concern to public health and safety from potential radiation exposures associated with the handling, beneficial use, and disposal of sewage sludge containing radioactive materials, including NORM. The Sewage Sludge Subcommittee is also in the process of finalizing a draft final report, EPA 832-R-03-002B, ``ISCORS Assessment of Radioactivity in Sewage Sludge: Recommendations on Management of Radioactive Materials in Sewage Sludge and Ash at Publicly Owned Treatment Works,'' November 2003. This report provides guidance to: (1) Alert POTW operators, and State and Federal regulators to the possibility of radioactive materials concentrating in sewage sludge and incinerator ash; (2) inform them how to determine whether there are elevated levels of radioactive materials in their sludge or ash; and (3) assist them in identifying actions for reducing potential radiation exposure from sewage and ash. Reasons for Denial NRC is denying the petition because it has been determined that current NRC regulations in 10 CFR 20.2003 and 20.2004 adequately ensure the protection of public health and safety and the environment. With regard to the petitioner's request to amend 10 CFR 20.2003, NRC has reviewed the petitioner's rationale, the public comments on the petition and on the ANPR, and a number of relevant activities, surveys, and reports to determine whether there was a health and safety issue due to the reconcentration of radioactive materials in sewage sludge and ash, and if so, was the requested amendment for 24 hours advance notifications necessary to help prevent excessive exposures to workers and the public. The current requirements in 10 CFR 20.2003 were not fully implemented at the time of contamination at the District's Southerly Wastewater Treatment Center. The NRC significantly decreased the concentration limits for radionuclides discharged into sanitary sewer systems as part of the 1991 revision of 10 CFR Part 20, and licensees were required to comply with the regulatory changes as of 1993. In addition to lowering the concentration limits, the disposal of non- biological insoluble materials was prohibited because of potential reconcentration of these materials in sanitary sewer systems, treatment plants, and sludge. NRC also has issued guidance to further reduce the effluent limits through use of ALARA goals. In addition, NRC conducts periodic inspections to ensure that licensees are in compliance with NRC regulations. Under this current regulatory framework, NRC expects that doses from release of licensed material into a sanitary sewer system are within regulatory limits. The available data do not support the District's assertion that health and safety protection would be enhanced by advance notification from all licensees to the appropriate sewage treatment plant. The ISCORS final survey report shows that NORM constitutes the most significant levels of radioactive materials in POTWs, and therefore any notification requirement imposed on licensees will not effectively reduce the level of radioactive materials in POTW facilities. Effluent levels from NRC-licensed activities are established in order to maintain doses to the public at or below a pre-determined protective level. The ISCORS draft dose modeling report shows that calculated doses to POTW workers and the public are sufficiently low from discharge of the licensed material into sanitary sewer systems, based on radionuclide concentrations in the sewage sludge and the associated sewage sludge management practices. NRC has determined that a requirement for an advance notification would impose an unnecessary regulatory burden on licensees, without a commensurate health and safety protection of the public. Such a requirement for advance notification would also be considered as an information request burden under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.). This burden is broadly defined, and any method of notification imposed by an Agreement State or the NRC, including telephonic or electronic, is applicable. The regulatory burden proposed by the District is large, due to the large number of licensees that discharge to sanitary sewer systems. In addition, there is no justification on how the notification would be used at the wastewater treatment plant to affect treatment operations in response to a discharge of licensed material to ensure protection of health and safety. Finally, several commenters stated that it would be impractical, if not impossible, for all licensees to provide advance notices to the appropriate sewage treatment plant because of the nature of the process involved. Very small quantities of radioactive materials are continuously used at certain licensed facilities, such as drug research and development companies, and these radioactive materials are continuously discharged into sanitary sewer systems. Discharges from clinics and hospitals would have many fluctuations depending on the number of patients treated and the types of treatment used. It would be unreasonable to expect licensees to notify the sewage treatment facility prior to each discharge. It would also be equally unreasonable, in some cases, to expect licensees to collect [[Page 3902]] discharges in order to schedule for a batched discharge. In summary, NRC has concluded that the public comments, data, analyses, reports, and petitioner's rationale do not justify the petitioner's request for a rulemaking to amend the regulations in 10 CFR 20.2003 to require that all licensees provide no less than 24 hours advance notification to the appropriate sewage treatment plant before releasing radioactive material into a sanitary sewer system. Such a rulemaking would impose unnecessary regulatory burden on licensees and does not appear to be warranted for the adequate protection of public health and safety and the common defense and security. Therefore, NRC is denying the petitioner's request to amend 10 CFR 20.2003. With respect to the petitioner's request to amend 10 CFR 20.2004, NRC has reviewed the petitioner's rationale, the public comments on the petition, and the regulatory history on the requirements for NRC approval for incineration. NRC regulations in 10 CFR 20.2004 apply to either an NRC or an Agreement State licensee and generally do not apply to a POTW or its operations. POTWs are not required to obtain NRC approval for incineration of their sewage sludge, unless they possess an NRC or Agreement State license for possession of licensed radioactive material in the sewage sludge. Studies, surveys, and modeling efforts conducted to date indicate that releases of radioactive material from licensed facilities in accordance with 10 CFR 20.2003 generally do not reconstitute in sewage sludge in sufficient concentrations to pose a risk to public health and safety and thus it is unlikely that a POTW will be required to possess an NRC license for its sludge. Therefore, a change to 10 CFR 20.2004 regulations is not needed. If a licensee incinerates licensed material, the staff continues to believe that the NRC approval requirements are necessary to have reasonable assurance that the public health and safety are adequately protected. Hazards associated with incinerating licensed material will highly depend on the specific characteristic of the matrix containing the licensed material. If a licensee incinerates the licensed material contained in the sewage sludge, many factors would have to be considered because the sewage sludge could potentially have a broad spectrum of radionuclides from various sources and a wide range of concentration levels. The potential hazards also highly depend on the case-specific incinerator design and site-specific exposure to the public and the environment. Even though the discharge requirements for 10 CFR 20.2003 were set to adequately protect public health and safety and the environment, different human exposure scenarios apply to the disposal of licensed material by incineration, even if those materials are discharged in compliance with another section of the regulations. NRC found that the acceptability of incineration as a disposal option, except for exempted quantities of radioactive materials, must be determined on a facility- and site-specific basis. NRC continues to believe that prior NRC approval for incineration is necessary to have reasonable assurance that the public health and safety are adequately protected. Therefore, NRC is also denying the petitioner's request to amend 10 CFR 20.2004 to explicitly exempt radioactive materials that enter the sanitary waste stream under 10 CFR 20.2003 from the requirements regarding NRC approval for incineration. For the reasons cited in this document, NRC denies this petition. Dated in Rockville, Maryland, this 21st day of January, 2005. For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Annette Vietti-Cook, Secretary of the Commission. [FR Doc. 05-1485 Filed 1-26-05; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590-01-U ***************************************************************** 23 ARTICLE SUBMISSION: Heads Roll At The VA - Depleted Uranium Scandal Blamed Date: Thu, 27 Jan 2005 10:05:10 -0600 (Central Standard Time)
 
 
 
 
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Bob Nichols
 
 
 
Heads Roll At The Veterans Administration
 
 
Mushrooming Depleted Uranium (DU)
Scandal Blamed
 
 
by Bob Nichols
Project Censored Award Winner
 
 
(January 24, 2005) The Preventive Psychiatry E-Newsletter today charged that the reason Veterans Affairs Secretary Anthony Principi stepped down earlier this month was the growing scandal surrounding the use of uranium munitions (DU) in the Iraq War.
 
Witing in the Preventive Psychiatry E-Newsletter # 169, Arthur N. Bernklau,
Executive Director of the Veterans For Constitutional Law center in New York, stated "The real reason for Mr. Principi’s departure was really never given, however a special report published by eminent scientist Leuren Moret’s naming depleted uranium as the definitive cause of the “Gulf War Syndrome" has fed a growing scandal about the continued use of uranium munitions by the US Military.
 
Bernklau continued "This malady [from uranium munitions], that thousands of our military have suffered and died from, has finally been identified as the cause of this sickness, eliminating the guessing. The terrible truth is now being revealed."
 
He added "Out of the 580,400 soldiers who served in GW1, of them, 11,000 are now dead! By the year 2000, there were 325,000 on Permanent Medical Disability. This astounding number of “Disabled Vets” means that a decade later, 56% of those soldiers who served, have some form of
permanent medical problems! (Editor's note: The "Disabled" rate for the wars of the last century was 5% and 10% in Viet Nam.)
 
Bernklau added "The VA Secretary (Principi) was aware of this fact as far back as 2000. He, and the Bush administration have been hiding these facts, but now, thanks to Moret’s report, [it] ...  is far too big to hide or to cover up!"
 
"Terry Jamison, Public Affairs Specialist, Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs, Department of Veterans Affairs, at the VA Central Office, recently reported that “Gulf Era Veterans” now on medical
disability, since 1991, numbers 518,739 Veterans," said Berklau.
 
"The long-term effects have revealed that DU [uranium oxide] is a virtual death sentence," stated Berklau. "Marion Fulk, a nuclear physical chemist, who retired from the Lawrence Livermore Nuclear Weapons Lab, and was also involved with the Manhattan Project, interprets the new and rapid
malignancies in the soldiers (from the 2003 Iraq War) as 'spectacular  … and a matter of concern!'”
 
When asked if the main purpose of using it was for “destroying things and killing people,” Fulk was more specific: “I would say it is the perfect weapon for killing lots of people!”
 
Mr. Principi could not be reached for comment prior to deadline. A follow up article will strive to obtain a response from Mr. Principi or the VA.
[End]
 
1.  Depleted uranium: "Dirty bombs, dirty missiles, dirty bullets. A death sentence here and abroad." by Leuren Moret.
 
2. Veterans For Constitutional Law, Ltd, 112 Jefferson Avenue, Port Jeff.  L.I.  NY 11777. Arthur N. Bernklau, Executive Director. Tel: 516-474-4261, Fax 516-474-1968.
 
3. Preventive Psychiatry E-Newsletter. Email Dr. Gary Kohls at in Deluth, MN gkohls@cpinternet.com with "Depleted Uranium Scandal Blamed" in the "Subject:" line. 
 ***************************************************************** 24 Bradenton Herald: Beryllium help could grow | 01/27/2005 | Data could lead to expansion of those eligible for benefits DONNA WRIGHT Herald Staff Writer An old report could be the key to unlocking federal benefits for more former employees of Loral American Beryllium Co. A 1997 environmental assessment of the Tallevast plant found high levels of beryllium dust residue on wipe samples taken at various locations throughout the plant. The amounts recorded range from 4.1 micrograms to 120,000 micrograms per square foot, according to the report filed by Tetra Tech, a Tampa environmental firm. Dr. Laurence Fourtes, a beryllium expert at the University of Iowa, studied the report at The Herald's request. Fourtes said the data provides evidence that beryllium dust was a significant problem for American Beryllium workers. By Fourtes' calculations, the highest level of dust found above the milling and lathe area is nearly 66,700 times higher than the standard set by the Department of Energy for residual contamination. "Those levels indicate the ventilation system was leaking and that certainly corroborates that there was beryllium dust in the air," Fourtes said. "The work force was certainly more exposed than workers at similar facilities." Beryllium was recognized as causing a potentially fatal lung disease in the 1950s, Fourtes added. "Either somebody was not aware of this or they did not respond," he said after studying the Tetra Tech report. A 2003 report prepared by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, a division of the CDC, says more information is needed to determine if residual contamination was an issue at the Tallevast plant. The report states that Occupational Safety and Health Administration, a division of the U.S. Department of Labor, did measure beryllium at the Tallevast location sometime between May 1979 and December 1999 but no other records pertaining to beryllium could be specifically identified. The report also states that purchase orders and shipping/receipt records indicate that American Beryllium manufactured parts for nuclear facilities in 1968 and in the 1980s. "While none of the purchase orders mention beryllium, the name of the vendor suggests that it was involved in beryllium work," the report says. Former workers have told The Herald that up to 95 percent of the work done at the Tallevast plant was federal government contract work. Stories in The Herald's archives over the past three decades also state that the government was American Beryllium's biggest customer. The 2003 report summary states, "It is not clear that just because the company name mentions beryllium that it was involved in beryllium work for the Atomic Energy Commission/Dept. of Energy." "That is really bizarre," Fourtes said. Fourtes is not the only critic of the 2003 NIOSH report. Congress also found it inadequate and has mandated that it be updated by the end of 2006. Larry Elliot director of NIOSH's Office of Compensation Analysis and Support in Cincinnati is in charge of the update. Elliot said he is not familiar with the American Beryllium plant, but that the 2003 report recommendation for further investigation means NIOSH will take another look at the records. "This is exactly the kind of information we need," Elliot said in a phone interview Wednesday. Fourtes believes the Tetra Tech report could provide the data to recommend that the extension of medical benefits to workers beyond the years during which American Beryllium had contracts with the Department of Energy. Currently, only those workers employed anytime during the year 1968 or between Jan. 1, 1981, to Dec. 31, 1989, are eligible for the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program. That program pays medical benefits and a possible lump-sum compensation up to $150,000 for workers who have developed an allergic reaction to beryllium dust. That reaction can lead to a serious lung disease that can be fatal if not treated. Exposure to beryllium dust carries a lifetime risk of developing the disease, according to experts at the National Jewish Medical and Research Center. The build-up of dust could have extended the exposure risk to others employed after the Department of Energy contracts were completed. Richard Miller, an advocate for beryllium workers and senior policy analyst of the Government Accountability Project, said it is important for NIOSH to act quickly if it finds proof of residual contamination to help aging workers. Miller said he hopes the agency will take action immediately to recommend extending benefits to American Beryllium workers rather than waiting for the update to be sent to Congress late in 2006. Donna Wright, health and social services reporter, can be reached at 745-7049 or at dwright@bradentonherald.com. Herald watchdog In a continuing series, the Herald reports on developments of beryllium exposure to workers at the American Beryllium plant and the Tallevast residents who live near the Manatee facility. HeraldToday.com Visit online for a comprehensive Tallevast overview ***************************************************************** 25 Local10.com: Officials: Radioactive Scare Much Ado About Nothing UPDATED: 8:15 am EST January 27, 2005 PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. -- Business will be back to normal this morning in downtown West Palm Beach after a radioactive scare Wednesday afternoon. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission said an employee at Corodino Environmental Management Group, a construction firm, noticed a smoke or haze in a room where two radioactive gauges are stored and called authorities. Businesses and residents in a 10-block radius were told to shut their doors and turn off air conditioners for about two hours. First responders arrived with pagers that detect radioactivity, which went off. They called emergency management officials and the Florida Bureau of Radiation Control. Authorities returned with more sensitive gauges and found no elevated radioactive levels. Officials said the scare proved to be a false alarm and no one was injured. An electrical short in the room is being blamed for causing the smoke. Previous Story: + January 26, 2005: Radioactive Leak Reported In West Palm Beach Copyright 2005 by . The Associated Press contributed to this ***************************************************************** 26 EC: Perchlorate and Children's Health:The Case for a Strong Cleanup Standard for Rocket Fuel in Drinking Water Safe Drinking Water Now Environment California January 2005 Environment California Research &Policy Center Executive Summary | News Release Download the full report. (PDF, 3 MB) Executive Summary In order to protect expecting mothers, their developing fetuses and their infant children, the California Department of Health Services (DHS) should set a final health standard for perchlorate in drinking water at one part per billion or less. Perchlorate, the primary ingredient in solid rocket fuel, is emerging as a major contaminant of California’s food and water supplies. The U.S. Food and Drug administration recently documented widespread contamination in milk and lettuce from grocery stores in California and across the country. Many water suppliers in California have detected perchlorate in their wells at levels suggested by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as unsafe. Perchlorate contaminates the drinking water supply of 16 million Californians. - State agencies have discovered perchlorate pollution in more than 350 water sources, including the Colorado River and hundreds of municipal wells. - The bulk of the contamination was caused by the military, aerospace contractors and other users and manufacturers of explosive chemicals. - Communities with contaminated water supplies include Riverside, Loma Linda, San Bernardino, San Fernando, Pasadena, Rancho Cordova, West Orange County, and Otay. Perchlorate exposure threatens expecting mothers, developing fetuses and infant children. - Perchlorate affects the thyroid hormone system at very low levels of exposure. It acts by preventing uptake of iodine into the thyroid gland, reducing the gland’s ability to produce enough hormone. - Thyroid hormone and iodine are critical for normal brain development in fetuses and young infants. Children born to mothers with thyroid problems or iodine deficiency can have lower IQ, impaired learning, hyperactive behavior, delayed growth, or can suffer a range of serious neurodevelopmental problems, including mental retardation. - Exposure to perchlorate during specific and important windows of time during the growth and development of a child increases the risk of neurodevelopmental disability. Neurodevelopmental disabilities, like attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), are a serious and growing problem in California. - Learning-disabled students increased 65 percent faster than the general school population from 1985 to 1999. - Perchlorate exposure could be contributing to this trend in combination with exposure to a variety of other chemicals polluting the environment, such as toxic flame retardants, lead, mercury, and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). The evidence of perchlorate’s toxicity warrants a strong drinking water standard of one part per billion or less. - Exposure to low levels of perchlorate in utero leads to changes in brain structure and behavior in infant rats. - Humans are as sensitive as rats to iodine uptake inhibition by perchlorate. After evaluating the full spectrum of available science on perchlorate, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the states of Massachusetts, Maryland and New Mexico have recommended preliminary drinking water health guidelines of one part per billion or less to provide a margin of safety for developing fetuses and infants. Accounting for widespread exposure to perchlorate in the food supply and for the combined effects of other thyroid toxicants in addition to perchlorate would justify an even lower standard. However, the state of California is unofficially moving forward with a final drinking water standard equivalent to the public health goal of six parts per billion issued in March 2004. The process used to arrive at the public health goal did not live up to the criteria established by California law, and a standard set at this level would be inadequate for several reasons: • California EPA chose a single scientific study as the main basis for calculating a safe level. The study examined the effect of perchlorate on healthy adults exposed for a short period of time, as opposed to including other research involving fetal and newborn rats with long-term perchlorate exposure. • California EPA applied an atypically small margin of safety to ensure protection of especially vulnerable people. Almost all established public health goals in California use a larger margin of safety. • California EPA failed to consider how perchlorate may be interacting with other thyroid toxicants (like toxic flame retardants, nitrates, PCBs and other common environmental contaminants) to contribute to neurodevelopmental problems in children. • A final standard of six parts per billion could leave the contamination of the Colorado River and nearly one-third of the polluted wells in California unaddressed. In setting a final perchlorate standard, the state should use the weight of scientific evidence, including experiments showing neurobehavioral damage to infant rats exposed to small amounts of perchlorate in the womb, as well as considering the possible interaction of perchlorate with other toxicants. In addition, the state should set larger margins of safety to account for uncertainties in the vulnerability of fetuses and infants to long-term exposure to low levels of perchlorate. After taking these steps, the state should arrive at a drinking water standard for perchlorate of one part per billion or less, ensuring a comprehensive cleanup and providing a margin of safety for pregnant women, their developing babies and their infant children. POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS • The California Department of Health Services should set the drinking water standard for perchlorate at one part per billion or less. • In addition, the State of California, local governments, and water suppliers should hold responsible parties fully liable for cleanup and for supplying replacement drinking water to affected communities. Congress should not exempt the Department of Defense. • Congress should reinstate Superfund fees for polluting industries to ensure that contamination caused by now-bankrupt companies will be cleaned up. • Federal and state agencies should require American Pacific, Kerr-McGee Chemical and other responsible parties to accelerate clean up of perchlorate contamination currently leaking into the Colorado River and local aquifers. 3435 Wilshire Blvd. #385 • Los Angeles, CA 90010 Phone (213) 251-3688 • Fax (213) 251-3699 ***************************************************************** 27 SFBV: Heads roll at Veterans Administration Mushrooming depleted uranium (DU) scandal blamed San Francisco Bay View - National Black Newspaper of the Year 1/26/05 by Bob Nichols Project Censored Award Winner Considering the tons of depleted uranium used by the U.S., the Iraq war can truly be called a nuclear war. Preventive Psychiatry E-Newsletter charged Monday that the reason Veterans Affairs Secretary Anthony Principi stepped down earlier this month was the growing scandal surrounding the use of uranium munitions in the Iraq War. Writing in Preventive Psychiatry E-Newsletter No. 169, Arthur N. Bernklau, executive director of Veterans for Constitutional Law in New York, stated, “The real reason for Mr. Principi’s departure was really never given, however a special report published by eminent scientist Leuren Moret naming depleted uranium as the definitive cause of the ‘Gulf War Syndrome’ has fed a growing scandal about the continued use of uranium munitions by the US Military.” Bernklau continued, “This malady (from uranium munitions), that thousands of our military have suffered and died from, has finally been identified as the cause of this sickness, eliminating the guessing. The terrible truth is now being revealed.” He added, “Out of the 580,400 soldiers who served in GW1 (the first Gulf War), of them, 11,000 are now dead! By the year 2000, there were 325,000 on Permanent Medical Disability. This astounding number of ‘Disabled Vets’ means that a decade later, 56% of those soldiers who served have some form of permanent medical problems!” The disability rate for the wars of the last century was 5 percent; it was higher, 10 percent, in Viet Nam. “The VA Secretary (Principi) was aware of this fact as far back as 2000,” wrote Bernklau. “He, and the Bush administration have been hiding these facts, but now, thanks to Moret’s report, (it) ... is far too big to hide or to cover up!” “Terry Jamison, Public Affairs Specialist, Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs, Department of Veterans Affairs, at the VA Central Office, recently reported that ‘Gulf Era Veterans’ now on medical disability, since 1991, number 518,739 Veterans,” said Berklau. “The long-term effects have revealed that DU (uranium oxide) is a virtual death sentence,” stated Berklau. “Marion Fulk, a nuclear physical chemist, who retired from the Lawrence Livermore Nuclear Weapons Lab, and was also involved with the Manhattan Project, interprets the new and rapid malignancies in the soldiers (from the 2003 Iraq War) as ‘spectacular … and a matter of concern!’” When asked if the main purpose of using DU was for “destroying things and killing people,” Fulk was more specific: “I would say it is the perfect weapon for killing lots of people!” Principi could not be reached for comment prior to deadline. References 1. Depleted uranium: “Dirty bombs, dirty missiles, dirty bullets: A death sentence here and abroad” by Leuren Moret, http://www.sfbayview.com/081804/Depleteduranium081804.shtml. 2. Veterans for Constitutional Law, 112 Jefferson Ave., Port Jefferson NY 11777, Arthur N. Bernklau, executive director, (516) 474-4261, fax 516-474-1968. 3. Preventive Psychiatry E-Newsletter. Email Gary Kohls, gkohls@cpinternet.com, with “Subscribe” in the subject line. Email Bob Nichols at bobnichols@cox.net. San Francisco Bay View National Black Newspaper 4917 Third Street San Francisco California 94124 Phone: (415) 671-0789 Fax: (415) 671-0316 Email: editor@sfbayview.com ***************************************************************** 28 CNN: Navy publishes first photos of damaged sub Commander reassigned pending investigation of crash From Barbara Starr CNN WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The Navy has published the first photographs of the damaged nuclear attack submarine USS San Francisco now in dry dock in Guam. The submarine's front end was severely damaged when the submarine struck an undersea mountain 350 miles south of Guam on January 8. Machinist Mate 2nd Class Joseph Allen Ashley, 24, of Akron, Ohio, died of injuries suffered in the accident, which occurred when the submarine was en route to Brisbane, Australia. A Navy official said the submarine went into dry dock on January 26. Divers cut off the sonar dome from the front end beforehand because it was "hanging," the official said, but otherwise the damage visible on the submarine occurred in the accident. The pictures show extensive damage to the outer hull of the vessel, whose front end was virtually destroyed. The inner hull was not penetrated. The pictures also show a blue tarp covering classified equipment at the sub's front end. The Navy official said it now appears the undersea mountain was not on the navigation charts the crew was using. The incident remains under investigation, and the commander has been reassigned pending the outcome of that inquiry. The Associated Press reported last week that Cmdr. Kevin Mooney was reassigned to a unit in Guam pending the completion of the investigation, citing a statement from the U.S. 7th Fleet. The USS San Francisco carried a crew of 137, 60 of whom were injured in the accident. Copyright 2005 CNN. All rights reserved.This material may not be ***************************************************************** 29 TomPaine.com: Let Them Eat Rocket Fuel Erik D. Olson January 27, 2005 The fact that there's a rocket fuel additive called perchlorate in your water is bad enough. What's worse is the fact that the Bush administration likely manipulated the National Academy of Sciences to designate a lax perchlorate standard. The National Resources Defense Council sued the White House, Defense Department and EPA to release documents relating to perchlorate contamination and the NAS. What they found was evidence of an elaborate campaign designed to downplay the hazards of a dangerous chemical. Erik D. Olsen is a senior attorney at the National Resources Defense Council specializing in safe drinking water issues. He is the national coordinator of the Campaign for Safe and Affordable Drinking Water, a coalition of more than 300 public interest groups dedicated to improved drinking water protection. More than 20 million Americans have rocket fuel in their drinking water. Thats right. Rocket fuel. Its also likely in your milk. And in your lettuce, too, because farmers out West inadvertently use rocket-fuel-contaminated water to irrigate their crops. You might not think thats a good thing. Scientists at the Environmental Protection Agency didnt, either. Especially since a toxic salt in rocket fuel, called perchlorate, can harm the thyroid and may disrupt fetal and newborn brain development. In 2002, EPA proposed a safe level in drinking water of only 1 part per billion. Thats equivalent to half a teaspoon of perchlorate in an Olympic-size swimming pool. The Pentagon and its contractorswho have polluted food and drinking water across the countryargued that 200 parts per billion is safe. Earlier this month, a National Academy of Sciences panel issued a report finding that on a per body-weight basis, more perchlorate can be tolerated than the EPA had concludedbut still far less than what the Pentagon and its corporate pals had claimed. Why was NAS conclusion higher than EPAs? Perhaps NAS was responding to enormous pressure from the White House, the Defense Department, and defense contractors. According to government documents recently obtained by the Natural Resources Defense Council, they collaborated in a backroom campaign to try to strong-arm the academy and manipulate the report. Despite this campaign, the panel did conclude that low levels of perchlorate exposure may cause health problems, and that fetuses are at particular risk. For decades, the Defense Department and its contractors have carelessly used millions of pounds of perchlorate, contaminating water and food supplies. At the same time, the Pentagon has been blocking EPA efforts to address perchlorate pollution, and in the last few years it intensified its campaign in the face of new revelations about perchlorate's harmful effects. In January 2002, when EPA recommended that 1 ppb was the safe level in drinking water, the Pentagon and its contractors lobbied to stop the assessment process andwith the help of the White Housewrested the assessment from EPA and handed it to NAS in 2003. Then the White House, the Pentagon and its contractors went to work to influence the NAS process. NRDC sued the White House, Defense Department and EPA in March 2004 after they ignored more than a dozen Freedom of Information Act requests, refusing to disclose any records documenting their campaign to steamroll NAS or details of the perchlorate problem. In response to the suit, the White House and the two agencies recently provided about 30 boxes of documents to NRDC, but are still withholding thousands of other recordsincluding virtually all the key papers documenting White House and Pentagon efforts to influence NAS. However, they were required by court order to issue a Vaughn Index describing each of the withheld documents. This index reveals an extraordinary level of White House and Pentagon effort to limit the scope of NAS inquiry and select the panelists, as well as collaboration with DOD contractors to pressure the panel. Scientists at the EPA, in state agencies, and in academia have concluded that very low levels of perchlorate threaten fetusus' and infants' health. The NAS panels recommendation for a safe level is based on industry studies that fed perchlorate to a small number of healthy adults for a short time. Those studies tell us little about how perchlorate can harm fetuses or infants, or harm adults over a longer period of time (particularly millions of Americans with thyroid problems or who are iodine deficient). Studies of animals, also funded by the industry, showed that perchlorate may cause abnormal brain development in young rodents, but accepting the arguments of the Pentagon and industry, the academy said more studies are needed to prove that these same effects would occur in infants and children. Still, in an implicit nod to the possible effects of perchlorate on babies, the NAS panel advised pregnant women exposed to perchlorate to take iodine pills, because the chemical impairs the thyroids ability to absorb iodine. That recommendation is akin to putting a pregnant woman in a room full of smokers and giving her a gas mask. To suggest that part of the solution for pregnant women is to take vitamins to protect their babies from perchlorate exposure is troubling; it puts the burden on moms to address a threat they had nothing to do with creating. The burden should instead be on the pollutersthe Defense Department and its contractorsto clean up their mess. Fortunately, even with the NAS panels report issued under duress, it is still possible that EPA and states could set a drinking water standard for perchlorate at about 1 part per billion, the original EPA-recommended level. How? After considering new data showing people are exposed to perchlorate from many sourcesincluding water, food and milkand after adjusting for body weight of fetuses and newborns, drinking water standards for perchlorate should wind up close to 1 ppb. Massachusetts and Maryland currently have 1 ppb cleanup levels for perchlorate, while California has proposed a 6 ppb standard. NRDC has never seen such a brazen campaign to pressure the National Academy of Sciences to downplay the hazards of a chemical, but it fits into the Bush administration's pattern of trying to manipulate science at the expense of public health. Over the last year, more than 6,000 U.S. scientists, including 48 Nobel laureates, 62 National Medal of Science recipients, and several science advisers to past Republican presidents, signed a letter accusing the Bush administration of distorting and censoring science for political purposes. The shameful White House-Defense Department effort to manipulate the NAS perchlorate panel is just the most recentand one of the most disturbingexamples. It's time for the EPA and the states to make lemonade from the lemons the Pentagon and White House have given them. Despite the higher acceptable dose level the NAS has proposed, the EPA and states must set strict perchlorate standards that protect pregnant women and infants. [ TomPaine.com.] [ /] ***************************************************************** 30 Hawk Eye: Harkin promotes IAAP meeting Thursday, January 27, 2005, Site updated daily at 11 a.m. CST Senator says strong turnout in St. Louis could help ease payment restrictions. By KILEY MILLER kmiller@thehawkeye.com Sen. Tom Harkin wants you, former Iowa Army Ammunition Plant workers, at a meeting next month in St. Louis. The Iowa Democratic senator dispatched a mass letter Tuesday to past atomic energy workers at the plant urging them to attend a confab of the Radiation Health Advisory Board on Feb. 9 at the Adam's Mark Hotel next to the Gateway Arch. The advisory board will review a recommendation from the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health that all men and women who developed one of 22 types of cancer after working in the nuclear weapons program at IAAP be given special consideration for government compensation. The Atomic Energy Commission and the Department of Energy designed, built and tested nuclear weapons components at the plant from the 1940s to the 1970s. Harkin called the positive recommendation from NIOSH "wonderful news and a huge step forward." "Yet I believe that a strong showing of former IAAP workers and survivors at the meeting in St. Louis would still be advantageous," the senator wrote. Compensation for the sick workers and their families would come through the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program, mammoth legislation passed by Congress in 2000. All of the cancer claims filed by IAAP workers or family members under the program have thus far been denied because of insufficient records of radiation exposure at the plant. The advisory board will consider a petition to waive the requirement of verified radiation exposure. Instead, IAAP workers with cancer or the family members of those who died would be packaged into a Special Exposure Cohort and be automatically eligible for a $150,000 in government payout. The recommendations of both NIOSH and the advisory board will be forwarded to the Secretary of Health and Human Services and ultimately could wind up in the halls of Congress. Harkin encouraged anyone interested in attending the advisory board meeting to call Alison Hart in his Davenport office at 563–322–1338. Hart also can provide information on filing compensation claims. The board meeting begins the morning of Feb. 7, but the IAAP discussion is limited to the afternoon of Feb. 9. The Adam's Mark is located at Fourth and Chestnut streets in downtown St. Louis. For reservations, call (314) 241–7400, or on the World Wide Web at www.adamsmark.com. Laurence Fuortes, the University of Iowa physician who is overseeing health screenings of the former workers, also hopes people will meet him in St. Louis. "Our government is supposed to be transparent and responsive to the people," Fuortes said. "In that regard, it makes perfects sense that the people affected by this board's decision, the workers and their families, be at the meeting." The Hawk Eye 800 S. Main St., Burlington, Iowa 52601 319-754-8461 · 1-800-397-1708 · FAX 319-754-6824 · webmaster@thehawkeye.com ***************************************************************** 31 Fontana Herald: Perchlorate levels in drinking water discussed at forum Fontana, California By ALEJANDRO CANO Water contaminated with high levels of perchlorate, an oxidizer for rocket fuel, can cause mental retardation, loss of hearing and speech in infants and developing inborn babies, and fatigue, depression and thyroid cancer in adults. Therefore, California should establish a tougher drinking water standard for perchlorate, clean-water activists said last Saturday during a public forum at the Fontana City Council chambers. Activists from Environmental California and the Center for Community Action and Environmental Justice argued that California should adopt the one parts per billion level that the U.S. Environmental and Protection Agency suggests. The event was attended by State Senator Nell Soto (D-Ontario), Assemblymember Gloria Negrete-McLeod (D-Chino), and about 80 other persons, including legislators such as Josie Gonzales, a San Bernardino County supervisor, and water officials such as Alan Dyer, director of the West Valley Water District. "The state has set a public health goal of six parts per billion, while the federal government suggests one parts per billion," said Penny Newman, executive director for CCAEJ. "The state should adopt EPA recommendations for the sake of our kids' health." Currently, more than 16 million Californians drink water contaminated with perchlorate, the main ingredient of missile and rocket fuel. According to reports, more than 82 municipal drinking water wells in the state are contaminated, including Fontana/Rialto/Colton/Bloomington wells. The risk of drinking contaminated water is high, according to Sujatha Jahagirdar, Environmental California drinking water advocate, because perchlorate causes defects in the thyroid glands. According to Jahagirdar, developing babies and infants are at higher risk of having lower IQ measures, suffer mental retardation, have problems with motor skills and coordination and can even develop thyroid cancer, if high levels of contaminated water are consumed. Adults too, can suffer the consequences of drinking contaminated water, the advocate said. According to Jahagirdar, they can develop anxiety, unexplained weight gain, hair loss, low sex drive and a weakened immune system. IN ADDITION to explaining what perchlorate is capable of doing to the health, activists also criticized a report written by the National Academy of Sciences, which stated that perchlorate is safe at levels about 20 times higher than recommended by the EPA. The report also stated there is insufficient evidence to suggest perchlorate causes brain development effects. "They want you to believe that perchlorate is safe when in fact studies have demonstrated that it is dangerous at even low levels," said Jahagirdar. "Some people try to settle for six parts per billion levels but I think that even one part per billion is dangerous. Bottom line, contaminated wells in California should be cleaned." In order to clean contaminated wells, a special type of technology, which is available now, is needed. However, the high price tag for cleaning services has started a controversy at the federal level. If California approves tougher standards for perchlorate, more money for cleanup will be needed because more drinking water sources will need cleanup and a new, more advanced technology could be needed to find and extract perchlorate. According to activists, polluters should be fined and California should use the money to pay for cleaning services. However, Supervisor Gonzales disagreed, stating that more urgent action is needed. "We are drinking contaminated water today, we are eating contaminated vegetables today; if we go after polluters, our fight will take longer," said Gonzales. "We need immediate cleanup now, then we can legislate and go after polluters." To reach their goal, activists urged people to call and write their representatives in Sacramento to let them know perchlorate is dangerous and also urged present participants to sign petitions for stricter standards for perchlorate. Copyright © 2005 Fontana Herald News Top of Page Tel: (909)822-2231 ***************************************************************** 32 NRC: Company Agrees to Additional Corrective Actions at Puerto Rico Irradiation Facility Under Alternate Dispute Resolution Settlement News Release - Region I - 2005-00 U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Office of Public Affairs, Region I No. I-05-005 January 26, 2005 CONTACT: Diane Screnci (610) 337-5330 Neil A. Sheehan (610) 337-5331 E-mail: opa1@nrc.gov As part of an agreement reached with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Baxter Healthcare Corp. has agreed to take additional corrective actions at a commercial irradiation facility it operates in Puerto Rico. The agreement was achieved through the NRCs Alternate Dispute Resolution (ADR) Process, during which the agency and the company discussed the terms of a $44,000 civil penalty levied against the company last year. That action stemmed from an event last April in which two workers failed to follow procedures at the facility, creating the possibility of a lethal exposure to radiation for the employees. Under the agreement, Baxter has agreed to implement additional corrective actions, specifically reviews of irradiator operations, maintenance, radiation safety and the Radiation Safety Officer (RSO) and Assistant RSO functions by a qualified consultant. Those reviews will last at least until sometime in 2007. The settlement also calls for the NRC to change the amount of the proposed civil penalty for violations of agency requirements to $31,200. The new terms of the enforcement action have been confirmed via a Confirmatory Order issued by the NRC to the company. This demonstrates once again that the Alternate Dispute Resolution Process can work and achieve a result that protects the public health and safety while at the same time improving the efficiency and effectiveness of the enforcement process, said Frank J. Congel, Director of the NRCs Office of Enforcement. Baxter requested the use of the ADR Process after the NRC issued the proposed civil penalty to the company on Oct. 25, 2004. ADR is a process in which a neutral mediator with no decision-making authority assists the NRC and licensees in reaching an agreement resolving any differences regarding an enforcement action. An ADR mediation session between the NRC staff and Baxter representatives led by a professional mediator arranged through Cornell Universitys Institute of Conflict Management was held on Dec. 13, 2004, in Philadelphia. That session led to the settlement agreement. The event that prompted the enforcement action occurred on April 21, 2004, when an irradiator operator and an assistant were performing work at Baxters Puerto Rico irradiator, which is used to sterilize medical equipment. To ensure that workers are not exposed to unacceptable levels of radiation, such irradiators are equipped with safety interlocks designed to prevent entry when the radioactive sources are in the unshielded position. During this event, however, the interlocks were bypassed, or temporarily disabled. Consequently, the workers entered the irradiator at a time when a radioactive source rack was stuck in the unshielded position. They quickly left the area after a radiation monitor carried by the irradiator operator indicated elevated radiation levels. The problem for which the fine is being issued involves a failure by Baxter employees to follow emergency and abnormal event procedures after the source rack fault indicator on the console was illuminated and the source travel alarm sounded for an extended period; the operators failure to adequately check the irradiator cell radiation monitor and radiation levels outside prior to entering the irradiator, and to perform other surveys; and a failure to supply an individual radiation monitoring device to a worker (the assistant operator) entering the irradiator and to require its use. The NRC staff and Baxter have agreed to disagree on whether the last violation was willful. Last revised Thursday, January 27, 2005 ***************************************************************** 33 Nevada Appeal: Energy secretary nominee sees end of '05 date for Yucca license application January 27, 2005 Associated Press LAS VEGAS - The Energy Department intends to submit a license application by the end of 2005 to open a national nuclear waste dump in Nevada, according to President Bush's nominee for energy secretary. Samuel Bodman's comments on a Yucca Mountain timetable came in response to questions from members of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee during confirmation proceedings in Washington, D.C. The committee recommended approval for Bodman's nomination to replace Spencer Abraham as energy secretary. The full Senate is expected to quickly confirm Bodman. He currently serves as deputy secretary of the Treasury Department. The Energy Department missed a self-imposed December 2004 date to submit a Yucca license application to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The department has yet to complete a requirement that millions of pages of supporting documents be accessible at an NRC online database, the Licensing Support Network. The Energy Department wants to open the Yucca Mountain repository by 2010. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., chairman of the energy committee, noted the department also needs time to respond to a July federal court ruling that threw out a crucial Environmental Protection Agency radiation health safety standard. For the Yucca project to go forward, the EPA must set a new standard or Congress could consider a law creating a less strict radiation standard than one recommended by the National Academy of Sciences. Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid of Nevada would block such a law, Domenici said. Energy Department officials have said they plan to announce a new Yucca Mountain project timeline next month. "It is the department's responsibility to make sure that the repository will comply with whatever standard emerges from the EPA's ongoing process," Bodman said in written response to questions from the committee. "My first priority will be the protection of the health and safety of the citizens of Nevada and the rest of the country." All contents © Copyright 2005 nevadaappeal.com Nevada Appeal - 580 Mallory Way - Carson City, NV 89701 ***************************************************************** 34 Bradenton Herald: Potential landfill study raises radiation concerns | 01/27/2005 | SCOTT RADWAY Herald Staff Writer MANATEE - A local environmental group is calling for a public hearing on a proposed study that would use phosphogypsum - a low-level radioactive byproduct from fertilizer processing - to potentially extend the life of Florida landfills. ManaSota-88 is also calling for people statewide to do the same. "We have really been concerned this will set a future precedent," said ManaSota-88 chairman Glenn Compton, who sent a formal request for a hearing to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Compton said the project would allow the Florida Institute of Phosphate Research to use twice the permitted radioactive levels for phosphogypsum, which is produced when phosphate is turned into fertilizer. Compton believes other uses for phosphogypsum, such as road building or for farming, would be close behind. "This could open up a regulatory doorway that has long been closed," Compton said. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is not required to call a public hearing; so without a demonstration of public interest in one, there will not likely be one called, Compton added. The public comment period on the project ends Feb. 19. Pending public comment, EPA gave preliminary approval Dec. 22 to the research project. The study calls for 25 tons of phosphogypsum from a mine in Fort Meade to be layered with 75 tons of solid waste at a Brevard landfill. The garbage and phosphogypsum will be contained inside a lined, self-contained cell so it can be studied, said Michael Lloyd, director of research for the institute. A second cell without phosphogypsum will be built to compare decomposition rates over five years. Lloyd said the theory is the sulfur found in phosphogypsum will make decomposition occur twice as fast. Sulfur is like oxygen to a fire for bacteria. "In essence, if we are right, you would build one half of the landfills you now build," Lloyd said. The Florida phosphate industry, which funds the institute, has long sought an acceptable use for phosphogypsum. Unlike other areas where phosphate is mined, central Florida phosphate is slightly higher in radioactivity. As a result, there are more than one billion tons of phosphogypsum stored mostly in stacks or mines in Florida today, Lloyd said. The EPA letter dated Dec. 22 said Florida phosphogypsum is no more a health risk layered in a landfill than it is where it is found today, stacked outside phosphate plants or in mines. The letter also said the research institute has demonstrated it will monitor the project to ensure the project will not adversely damage the environment. EPA spokesman John Hewitt said the agency was not required to call for public comment but did so because projects that permit using any level of radioactive materials are unique. "These (type of projects) have a very high bar to clear, so that makes it very rare that they are approved," Hewitt said. "So the EPA thought it is was important for community comment and awareness to have a comment period." Hewitt added that if the project is approved, it will not necessarily mean that down the line phosphogypsum will be approved for use in landfills. The project is part of a lengthy process to determine whether it can be done safely. "We need to make sure we are doing our homework and are making the right call for the public," Hewitt said. Scott Radway, environmental reporter, can be reached at 708-7919 or at sradway@HeraldToday.com. Public comment To offer comments on a proposal to use a low-level radioactive byproduct from fertilizer processing to extend the life of a landfill, write the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. On the Web, e-mail phosphogypsum@epa.gov. Or by regular mail: U.S. EPA Office of Radiation and Indoor Air, 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW (6608J), Washington, DC 20460 . ***************************************************************** 35 Daily Sentinel: Moab to DOE: move tailings GJSentinel.com By By GARY HARMON The Daily Sentinel Thursday, January 27, 2005 MOAB, Utah A nearly 12-million-ton pile of uranium mill tailings north of town along the Colorado River must be moved, residents urged the U.S. Department of Energy on Wednesday. More than two dozen residents, many of whom have been fighting for more than a decade to have to pile moved, said they were frustrated and wanted action, not more study. The residents and representatives of the city of Moab and Grand County said the local economy would benefit, as would millions of people living downstream if the pile is moved. The towering tonnage of toxic tailings, as they were described by Moab resident Jeannine Wait, are one of the last vestiges of the United States Cold War drive to develop nuclear weapons from the uranium found in the red rock of Colorado and Utah. The Energy Department is seeking public comments through Feb. 18 on how the pile should be handled. The meeting Wednesday in Moab, as well as one Tuesday in Green River and two today, were recorded by a court reporter for consideration by Energy Department officials charged with deciding the fate of the pile. Officials have not tagged any of the possible ways of handling the pile as the preferred alternative, but there was little question among the residents about what should be done. Just spend the money, do it right and do it now, Denise Oblak of Moab, representing the Utah Guides and Outfitters Association, said in urging removal of the tailings pile. Most speakers favored moving the pile by rail to a site north of Moab called Klondike Bluffs on the Mancos shale, well away from the river. Sara Fields of the Glen Canyon Group of the Sierra Club urged a more isolated site near the Bookcliffs north of Interstate 70 instead. Residents criticized another possible disposal site to the south, near Blanding, where another pile of tailings is awaiting action by the agency. That site is too far away and would require transporting the tailings through town, an option the city of Moab would stoutly resist, mayor David Sakrison said. The final and least expensive option would involve no transportation of tailings. Instead, the Energy Department would cap the tailings pile, which covers 430 acres, with an impervious layer to prevent water from percolating through the pile and into the river. The last option was the least popular. Opponents said they feared the Energy Department had underestimated the power of the Colorado, citing evidence of massive floods of the Spanish Valley in 1884 and 1917. Such flooding could well wash away mans best efforts to contain the pile over the 200- to 1,000-year design requirement for the cap. Moving the pile would cost about $500 million. That would be a pittance compared to the cost of a disaster, said 14-year Moab resident Janet Lowe. How expensive would it be to clean up the Colorado from here to the coast? Lowe said. The Colorado, which flows into Lake Powell above Glen Canyon Dam, already has one mill tailings pile on its banks. A 26,000-ton pile was inundated by the lake in 1965. None of the speakers, however, addressed the White Canyon Mill and tailings site. They did stress, however, that downstream residents in Arizona, California, New Mexico and Mexico all stand to suffer in the event of a catastrophe in Moab. The river, said resident Steve Russell, is the beating heart of the Southwest. Moving the pile is a necessity, said Bill Hedden of Moab, executive director of the Grand Canyon Trust, because of the rivers importance and its danger. Government documents dont convey how important and how violent and unpredictable it is, Hedden said. The Energy Department is to make a decision by fall. © 2005 Cox Newspapers, Inc. - The Daily Sentinel ***************************************************************** 36 Las Vegas RJ: YUCCA MOUNTAIN: DOE to reduce budget Thursday, January 27, 2005 Delays cause agency to seek less money than planned for nuclear waste project By STEVE TETREAULT STEPHENS WASHINGTON BUREAU WASHINGTON -- The Energy Department is preparing to reduce its budget for Yucca Mountain, reflecting delays that continue to hinder the nuclear waste program, government and nuclear industry officials said. The department plans to ask Congress to allocate $650 million for the Nevada project in the 2006 federal budget, which will be released Feb. 7, sources said. The amount is roughly half of a $1.2 billion spending plan for 2006 that DOE officials projected a year ago. They envisioned filing a license application for the repository in December and increasing preparations for construction. But the license application has been put on hold amid legal and financial setbacks, and the new budget request suggests the project is in a holding pattern, lobbyists and others said. "It is not surprising given my understanding of the uncertainty over the license application," said Brian O'Connell, nuclear waste director for the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners. The White House budget office offered $750 million for Yucca Mountain, but an industry official said $650 million "was the amount DOE said they wanted and could spend." DOE spokesman Allen Benson declined to comment on the numbers, which were reported by trade newsletters. An Energy Department official and three lobbyists confirmed the amount. "It's a very good sign the program is not on track," said Tessa Hafen, a spokeswoman for Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., a Yucca opponent. A spokeswoman for Bechtel SAIC Co., the main Yucca Mountain contractor, said the company will be laying off 150-200 people over the next few months. The company employs 1,100 workers on the Nevada project. Bea Reilly said the layoffs were "expected and part of the process" and were unrelated to project delays. Job losses will affect "mainly the science end" as the company shifts its focus to repository licensing and engineering segments, Reilly said. On Wednesday, the staff director of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hinted at possible turnover among managers in the Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management, which runs the Yucca project. Speaking before 150 industry representatives at a conference sponsored by the Institute for Nuclear Materials Management, Alex Flint said incoming Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman and the White House personnel office will review DOE management posts. Asked afterwards whether he knew when turnover might occur in the Yucca project, Flint said, "Not specifically." He declined to comment further. Chris Kouts, a Yucca Mountain manager who spoke at the conference, said DOE officials are waiting for Bodman to take office before forming new schedules for the repository. Bodman told Congress this week he thinks the department could complete a Yucca application by the end of 2005. Flint, who is the chief energy adviser to Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., a nuclear power proponent, said the Senate will be unable to pass bills this year to help Yucca Mountain overcome financial and legal obstacles because of opposition led by Reid, the Senate minority leader. "Reid is actively opposed to Yucca Mountain, and he happens to be one of the most effective senators," Flint said. "And on Yucca Mountain, that is to our detriment." Copyright Las Vegas Review-Journal ***************************************************************** 37 Las Vegas SUN: Editorial: Yucca rush is now clear Today: January 27, 2005 at 8:50:44 PST LAS VEGAS SUN Last July, in ruling on a lawsuit filed by Nevada, three judges of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia dealt Yucca Mountain what should have been a fatal blow. Yucca Mountain, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas, is where the federal government plans to permanently bury the deadly waste produced by the nation's nuclear power plants. The judges determined that the Energy Department had been wrong to accept a 10,000-year radiation protection standard that had been developed by the Environmental Protection Agency. They ruled the Energy Department should have instead followed a National Academy of Sciences recommendation that the mountain be constructed to safely contain the radioactive material for hundreds of thousands of years. The Bush administration backs Yucca Mountain 100 percent. It is, however, hamstrung by the president's election-year promise to allow science and the courts to determine the future of Yucca Mountain. The administration's decision not to appeal the judges' ruling left two options for the Energy Department. It could lobby Congress to drop the requirement to abide by the National Academy's recommendation. But that's a difficult prospect, especially with Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., a longtime foe of Yucca Mountain, serving as the Senate Minority Leader. Or it could try to meet the new standard by reworking the mountain's design and reconfiguring all of the construction that has already taken place over the past 15 years. If that's even possible, it would take years, possibly decades. Yet the Energy Department, under the direction of Spencer Abraham, vowed it would still meet its 2004 deadline to apply for a federal license to open the mountain by 2010. In our view, this response to the judges' decision was proof that the Energy Department, all during Abraham's watch, had been favoring expediency over science and safety. After President Bush's re-election, Abraham announced his retirement. Bush's choice to replace him, Deputy Treasury Secretary Samuel Bodman, is now undergoing confirmation hearings. On Wednesday Bodman conceded the truth to a Senate committee, that the Energy Department is not yet ready to apply for a license. He said the department would apply "by the end of the calendar year." He also conceded that more than half of the documents that will be submitted to the licensing agency, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, "are yet to be reviewed." This amounts to about 2.1 million documents. That the Energy Department has been recklessly rushing to prematurely open Yucca Mountain should now be clear to everyone, including its supporters. ***************************************************************** 38 Las Vegas SUN: DOE to seek less money for Yucca Today: January 27, 2005 at 11:10:32 PST Nuclear project hampered by delays By Suzanne Struglinski SUN WASHINGTON BUREAU WASHINGTON -- The Energy Department is seeking $650 million in funding for the Yucca Mountain nuclear dump, a lower amount than it requested this year, apparently because of significant delays in the project's schedule, according to energy trade magazines, nuclear industry sources and a congressional source. The final number will be announced with the president's budget, set to be released Feb. 7, but energy trade publications have reported and nuclear industry sources have heard the $650 million figure. A congressional source, who asked not to be identified, confirmed the number today. Chad Kolton of the Office of Management and Budget could not confirm the number Wednesday and the Energy Department, like all federal agencies, refuses to give out budget numbers until the president releases his plan. However, it is usual in Washington this time of year for some budget numbers to slowly leak out of some offices, although sources will rarely agree to be identified. Brian O'Connell, nuclear waste director for the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners, said Wednesday that the lower amount would not surprise him because there is a lot of uncertainty on the project's license application. The department did not submit the license application for the proposed nuclear waste repository at Yucca, 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas, at the end of last year as it intended. A U.S. Court of Appeals ruling in July that threw out a key safety standard, problems with getting its documents in order and uncertainty on its budget threw the program off track. A 2004 year-end project budget report estimated a $1.2 billion request would be necessary for the coming year, so $650 million would be a little more than half of what had been expected. However, if Congress agrees to change budget rules to allow the $749 million that nuclear ratepayers are expected to pay into the Nuclear Waste Fund to be directly provided to Yucca's coffers, the estimated request would still be met. The administration supports changing the budget rules and nuclear utilities, public utility commissioners and other Yucca supporters have lobbied for it to pass. A House committee approved the proposal last year but it did not advance through the legislative process. The measure would likely pass the House, but Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., are expected to fight against it in the Senate and could stop it. In addition to his new leadership spot, Reid also is the top Democrat who creates the energy spending bill each year and Ensign sits on the Budget Committee, where he has successfully blocked the change from getting into the budget guideline. During the last round of budget negotiations, the department requested $880 million for the project, but tied $749 million of it to a proposal to remove the Nuclear Waste Fund from the spending bill caps. The proposal did not go through, forcing the House to only approve $131 million for the project. The Senate never passed a stand-alone energy bill, but a deal made at the end of the year gave $577 million to the program, the same amount it received in 2004. Lawmakers have warned the Office of Management and Budget against trying that proposal a second time. Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., the top Democrat on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, asked Energy Secretary nominee Samuel Bodman to not make the "same mistake" when creating the budget. Rep. John Dingell, the top Democrat on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, wants to know if the change could be done without Congress but through an administrative action, because it is not likely to pass the Senate. "I would observe that such a strategy is unlikely to be any more successful this year than last," Dingell wrote to OMB earlier this month. ***************************************************************** 39 Salt Lake Tribune: Utahns cautious on relocation study Article Last Updated: 01/27/2005 03:23:02 PM Congress: The lawmakers, with the exception of Matheson, are waiting to decide on a bill that would By Christopher Smith The Salt Lake Tribune WASHINGTON - Although Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. has expressed concern over a military proposal to bring old chemical weapons stored in other states to Utah for disposal, the state's federal lawmakers have not yet united behind efforts to thwart it. Senators representing states that are home to bunkers of decaying World War II-era chemical weapons and states with disposal facilities that could receive the munitions introduced a bill Wednesday to strip funding from a $150,000 Defense Department study on relocation. Second District Rep. Jim Matheson, D-Utah, applauded the Senate measure and said he probably would support a House version, should one be introduced. He met with his legislative staff Wednesday to begin drafting a letter to the Army expressing his opposition to the potential that thousands of mustard gas shells at the Pueblo Chemical Depot in southeastern Colorado could be to moved to the incinerator at the Tooele Chemical Agent Disposal Facility in Utah for destruction. "I'm tired of Utah being a dumping ground and I can't believe the military is trying to study this again," said Matheson. "We don't want it." Sen. Bob Bennett, R-Utah, sponsored a provision in a 1996 defense appropriations bill that prohibited funding a similar relocation study and he planned to review the measure that Sen. Wayne Allard, R-Colo., dropped at the Senate clerk's desk Wednesday afternoon. "Senator Bennett has a history of opposing any transportation of additional chemical weapons to Utah, but he hasn't seen the specifics of the Allard bill and will wait to review it before deciding whether to sign on as a co-sponsor," said his press secretary, MaryJane Collipriest. Other Utah members of Congress want more details on the Defense Department's plans. "The delegation hasn't discussed it yet, but I did have some conversations with DOD and it is very clear they are only in an exploration phase," said Republican Rep. Rob Bishop, whose 1st Congressional District includes the incinerator near Tooele. "If anything like this were to happen, you are talking three, four or five years down the line before our stockpile would be destroyed and anything would come to Utah for disposal." Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch said it may be problematic to move the aging weapons from Colorado to Utah, but added: "I'm going to listen to all sides and I hope I make the right decision." Meghan Riding, spokesperson for 3rd District Republican Rep. Chris Cannon, said he was "taking a wait and see attitude" until more information is available. Co-sponsors of Allard's measure include Sens. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.; Jim Bunning, R-Ky.; Richard Shelby, R-Ala., and Ken Salazar, D-Colo. Allard said Wednesday he was angry that a day after Pentagon officials told him and Salazar they had no plans to relocate Pueblo's stockpile and would proceed with building a disposal facility on site, the Army announced it would evaluate relocation options. He said moving the weapons across state lines is illegal, so a study will waste taxpayer dollars. "I've already been told by Pentagon officials that the study is going to conclude that the transportation of the materials across state lines is not practical," Allard said. Huntsman has repeatedly emphasized his opposition to the state becoming a "dumping ground" for radioactive and toxic waste and has said he is concerned about the potential transfer of additional chemical weapons to Utah for disposal. The Army's Chemical Materi- als Agency (CMA) announced Jan. 19 it would look at options for moving some of the stockpiles in Colorado and Kentucky to existing facilities in other states in order to meet an April 2012 treaty deadline for weapons destruction. Disposal facilities are now operating in Utah, Oregon, Alabama and Maryland. © Copyright 2005, The Salt Lake Tribune. ***************************************************************** 40 Monticello Times: Xcel files application for waste storage monticellotimes.com Friday, January 28, 2005 Xcel Energy’s application to the Public Utilities Commission is available for viewing and download on its Web site in PDF format at www.xcelenergy.com. by Eric O'Link Xcel Energy moved ahead last week with steps toward keeping Monticello Nuclear Generating Plant operating until 2030. Xcel filed an application with the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission Tuesday, Jan. 18, seeking the commission’s approval for outdoor waste storage at the power plant site. The Monticello plant’s nuclear reactor relies on the fuel rods for heat. Once all the rods within the reactor have been used–a process that takes about three years–they are removed from the reactor and stored underwater in the plant’s fuel pool for a minimum of five years. That underwater storage area is now just about full, necessitating a new storage area for some of the older spent fuel rods, particularly if the plant is to continue operating, said Jim Alders, Xcel’s manager of regulatory projects. “We would only remove enough containers or enough spent fuel from the pool so that there’s adequate space in the pool to receive the next discharge of spent fuel,” Alders said. Fuel rods remain in the pool for a minimum of five years to cool off. When they come out of the reactor, they are “hot and highly radioactive,” Alders said. Xcel has proposed an onsite concrete storage bunker southwest of the reactor building that would house the radioactive waste in dry storage. The storage facility would be a lighted, fenced area about 200 feet by 460 feet in dimension, or about 21/2 acres. Within the facility, a concrete storage bunker would contain slots for 30 waste-filled containers. Alders said to transfer the waste to dry storage, spent fuel rods would be placed in 20-ton canisters while underwater in the fuel rod pool. The containers would subsequently be vacuum-dried and welded shut, then placed in a 20-ton transfer overpack and moved to the storage facility. Each canister would be stored inside its own vault within the concrete bunker. The storage is temporary, Alders said. “The containers–once an offsite location is available–would be shipped directly offsite, taken from the storage vaults, placed in a transportation overpack, put on a railroad car and shipped to the final destination,” he said. That final location is yet to be determined, with the future of the Yucca Mountain waste storage facility in Nevada in doubt. Alders said Xcel planned the size of the storage bunker to keep the plant operating through 2030. Xcel is seeking an operating license extension from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to keep MNGP operating through 2030. The plant’s current license expires in 2010. “We’ve asked for 30 containers to keep the plant running,” Alders said. “We’ve sized the facility so that it can accommodate those 30 containers. We’ve laid out the facility so that in 2030, if the plant shuts down, additional containers could be placed at the site to accommodate decommissioning.” The storage facility would be built on Xcel-owned land about 500 feet southwest of the MNGP reactor building, an area formerly used during construction of the plant that has since become overgrown. Alders said he did not know the storage facility’s distance from the Mississippi River. “It’s well above the floodplain of the river,” he added. Some environmental groups have expressed concern about storing nuclear waste in close proximity to the river. In order to build the storage bunker, Xcel needs a certificate of need from the Public Utilities Commission. Now that the company has filed its application, Alders said an environmental quality board would prepare a full environmental impact statement on the project. Once the draft of the EIS is prepared, Alders said it would be available for public comment before a final EIS is made. The Public Utilities Commission also is inviting public comment on the completeness of Xcel’s application throughout February. Xcel has made its application available for download on its Web site (www.xcelenergy.com). Once the environmental impact statement process is far enough along, Alders said the Public Utilities Commission would order hearings about the project. Once the hearings are complete, the commission will decide whether to grant a certificate of need. “We expect all of that to take on the order of a year to a year-and-a-half to get through,” Alders said, “so, sometime in 2006 is when we expect a decision.” He also said that both the environmental impact statement for waste storage and the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission certificate of need processes would be independent of the federal NRC license renewal process. “We look forward to working through the process and doing whatever we can to keep our nuclear power plant running,” Alders said. Copyright 2005, Monticello Times ***************************************************************** 41 Gallup Independent: As protesters march, uranium opponent addresses council Tuesday, January 25, 2005 By Kathy Helms Diné Bureau WINDOW ROCK- As Navajo Nation Council's Winter Session got under way, members of the Eastern Navajo Allottee Association marched outside the chambers in protest. They were protesting legislation which would enact the Din Natural Resources Protection Act of 2005 and ban further uranium mining from Navajoland. Members of the allottee group signed lease agreements with Hydro Resources Inc. of Texas, which hopes to begin in-situ leach mining of uranium in Church Rock within two years. The Navajo allottees feel they should have control over their land and be able to develop it to their economic advantage. They believe their concerns are being ignored by council. Phil Harrison of the Navajo Uranium Radiation Victims Committee addressed Navajo Nation Council members Monday regarding the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA). Harrison's group is seeking changes in the federal law which was designed to compensate victims of uranium-related illnesses and persons living downwind of the government's above-ground nuclear tests who were "involuntarily subjected to increased risk of injury and disease to serve the national security interests of the United States." Harrison, whose group supports the ban on uranium mining, wrapped up the first day of the session with a report to delegates on the inadequacy of RECA and the need for further reform. He spoke while the protestors were outside the council chambers. The Navajo Uranium Radiation Victims Committee, a grass-roots organization formed by Harrison, has worked on behalf of thousands of Navajo uranium workers since 1970 to seek reparation and restitution for injuries resulting from uranium mining. The committee assisted and provided personal testimonies which were used to pave the way for enactment of the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA) of 1990, and Harrison was among those providing testimony at a congressional field hearing on the first round of RECA amendments conducted in Shiprock in 1993. Since that time, many uranium workers have encountered the stringent criteria required by Department of Justice to obtain benefits under RECA, he said. "Although several hundred Navajo people have received compensation through RECA, there are many denials and encountered difficulties pursuing claims." In 1994, Harrison's committee initiated an effort to change the law and on Aug. 5, 1999, Sen. Orin Hatch of Utah introduced RECA Amendment 2000, which was signed into law in July 2000. Since its enactment, a comprehensive report has not been made to the Navajo Nation Council, Harrison said. The RECA amendment was intended to streamline the application-for-compensation process by establishing regulations and procedures to resolve claims "in a reliable, objective and non-adversarial manner." But, Harrison commented, "We feel that this has not been accomplished in regard to the Navajo population." Many of the denied claims are sent to U.S. District Court for appeals, where they stagnate for years, he said. "Many Navajo uranium workers who do not qualify due to low work levels or missing Social Security records and yet have lung disease will never be compensated," he said. "Despite the amendments, Navajo claimants are being compensated disproportionately." Harrison spoke of a "window of opportunity" to return to Washington to lobby for issues not amended previously, and said the Navajo people are asking the Nation to pursue a second round of RECA reform which will afford "fair and just compensation for all Navajo uranium workers." At his office in Shiprock, Harrison said, "every day we have people coming in with illness. We have cancer, we have birth defects, we have clusters of cancer at Coalmine Mesa. We need to do something for our people. I think this is long overdue." ***************************************************************** 42 Wall Street Journal: Regulators Brush Aside Nevada Citizens' Safety - Robert Loux Thursday, January 27, 2005 Letters to the Editor Regulators Brush Aside Nevada Citizens' Safety Your Jan. 12 article "Bush Will Push Nuclear Power as Clean, `Renewable Energy' " paraphrases Exelon Corp. Chairman John Rowe as urging Congress and the White House "to help remove the legal and regulatory obstacles to using Yucca Mountain, the federal repository for nuclear wastes in Nevada." Your readers should be aware that the remaining "legal and regulatory obstacles" to licensing the facility are the bare-bones public safety requirements. The truth is that the regulators—the Environmental Protection Agency and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission— could hardly be more accommodating. They have trimmed the law and "streamlined" the public process to ease approval of the proposed repository, to the dismay of the state of Nevada. Mr. Rowe, whose company operates the nation's largest fleet of nuclear reactors in the Northeast and Midwest, and who therefore has important safety responsibilities for citizens in those areas, is in effect calling for Congress and the White House to water down the remaining safety protection for Nevada's citizens. Robert Loux Executive Director Agency for Nuclear Projects Office of the Governor Carson City, Nevada ***************************************************************** 43 NIRS: Background Information on the Proposed Private Fuel Storage Nuclear Waste Dump Radioactive waste has been called the smallpox blanket of the Nuclear Age, for atomic waste dumps are often targeted at Native American communities. 60 Native American reservations have been targeted for high-level radioactive waste dumps by the federal government and nuclear power industry in the past 20 years. 59 tribes have fended off the dumps. This PFS dump -- targeted at the Skull Valley Goshute community, with only about 125 members (only 25 of whom actually live on the reservation) -- has come the closest ever to actually opening. NRC's Atomic Safety Licensing Board could rule by mid-February or even earlier on the last two remaining contentions against PFS filed by the State of Utah, which adamantly opposes the proposed dump. Utah's first remaining contention argues that one of the many thousands of military aircraft that would fly over PFS from Hill Air Force Base to the Utah Test and Training Range every year could accidentally crash into the high-level atomic waste facility, causing a catastrophic radiation release (Salt Lake City is just 45 miles downwind). Utah's last remaining contention cites the U.S. Dept. of Energy's recent admission that, by the terms of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act, it will only accept irradiated nuclear fuel for permanent disposal at the proposed Yucca Mountain, Nevada dump if it has been freshly packaged by nuclear utilities. PFS would lack any such repackaging capability. Thus, "interim storage" could easily become de facto permanent disposal at Skull Valley, in contradiction to assurances by PFS and NRC staff that storage would last at most 40 years. Whichever side -- PFS or Utah -- loses, the licensing board decision will almost certainly appeal to the NRC Commissioners for this ultimate licensing decision. This is why phone calls and letters to the five NRC Commissioners are so important! + PFS would be perhaps the single largest away-from-reactor, dry cask storage facility on Earth. PFS proposes to "park" 44,000 tons of commercial irradiated fuel rods -- nearly 80% of the current U.S. total -- inside 20 foot tall concrete and steel silos, out in the open air, for at least 40 years, and perhaps even permanently. + PFS would launch an unprecedented 4,000 rail shipments of irradiated fuel over the next 20 years -- only 3,000 or less such shipments (by truck and train combined) have been done since the 1940's in the U.S. -- through dozens of states. See how close such routes pass by your home, workplace, school, hospital or place of worship by entering the address at Although those maps show transport routes to Yucca, given the proximity of Nevada and Utah, and the fact that most waste would come from east of the Mississippi, routes to Yucca (DOE's proposed national burial site) and Skull Valley would often be very similar or even identical. + High-level radioactive waste is very deadly material. A few minutes of exposure, without radiation shielding, is enough to kill a person standing nearby. This waste will remain hazardous for hundreds of thousands of years into the future, requiring continual monitoring to prevent human exposure or leakage into the environment. Each rail container bound for Skull Valley would hold over 200 times the long-lasting radioactivity released by the Hiroshima atomic bomb. These containers are vulnerable to severe transport accidents and terrorist attacks. Release of even a fraction of the cargo could result in a radioactive catastrophe, injuring or killing large numbers, and costing hundreds of millions or even tens of billions to "clean up" (if that would even be possible). + The Skull Valley Goshutes Indian Reservation was first targeted by DOE's Nuclear Waste Negotiator in the early 1990's for a "Monitored Retrievable Storage Site" for high-level radioactive waste. Then, in late 1996, a consortium of 8 nuclear power utilities picked up where the DOE left off. Under the name of PFS, they targeted Skull Valley for "interim storage" of 44,000 tons of irradiated nuclear fuel (nearly 80% of the total amount currently in storage across the U.S., almost entirely at the reactors where they were generated). + Leon Bear, whose chairmanship of the Skull Valley Goshutes had already been challenged as illegitimate for several years previously, signed a lease agreement with PFS in early 1997 without the approval of the adult membership of the tribe (referred to as the "General Council," the sole decision-making body on the reservation). To this day, the full terms of the lease agreement, most importantly the amount of money to be paid by PFS to the tribe, has remained secret -- even from tribal members themselves! Despite the deadliness of high-level radioactive waste, as well as its own duty to ensure the long term well being of the tribe and its individual members, the Utah office of the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs quickly approved the lease agreement after just a few days review. + Even if DOE were willing to take PFS wastes at Yucca, there very likely would not be enough room. Yucca's legal limit is for 63,000 metric tons of commercial waste, an amount that will exist in the U.S. as early as 2011. In fact, DOE projects that U.S. reactors will generate enough irradiated fuel to fill both Yucca and PFS to capacity. Most significantly of all, Yucca may never even open. In July, 2004 the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled that Yucca's radiation release regulations were inadequate for public health protection, and ordered the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to strengthen them. Yucca's earthquake-fractured geology almost certainly cannot meet such protective standards, so the project should be terminated. (It's important to also note that the Western Shoshone Indian National Council claims ownership of Yucca Mountain by the Treaty of Ruby Valley of 1863, and opposes radioactive waste disposal there, another possible roadblock to the dump's opening.) Thus, PFS could very well lead to de facto permanent "disposal" of 44,000 tons of high-level radioactive waste on the Skull Valley Goshute Indian Reservation, out in the open, exposed to the elements, vulnerable to deterioration over time, as well as to accidental crashes of military aircraft from the adjacent bombing range, or even to intentional terrorist attacks. + Native American environmental leader Winona LaDuke has said "The greatest minds in nuclear science have been searching for a solution to the radioactive waste problem for 60 years, and they've finally found it: haul it down a dirt road and dump it on an Indian reservation." Her organization, Honor the Earth, working with Goshute tribal members opposed to PFS, has taken important first steps towards alternative economic development. Skull Valley is blessed with abundant sunshine, creating tremendous potential for solar energy systems, which Honor the Earth hopes to help the Goshutes install. Please see for related info. + Visit for more info. on environmental justice and links to groups such as Indigenous Environmental Network. See for NIRS "No Nukes on Native Lands" info. Check out for NIRS fact sheet "ENVIRONMENTAL RACISM, TRIBAL SOVEREIGNTY and NUCLEAR WASTE: High-Level Atomic Waste Dump Targeted at Skull Valley Goshute Indian Reservation in Utah." ***************************************************************** 44 AU ABC: Uranium trains likely to continue "Australian Broadcasting Corporation Online"> Friday, 28 January 2005 *****************************************************************