***************************************************************** 02/02/05 **** RADIATION BULLETIN(RADBULL) **** VOL 13.25 ***************************************************************** 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 Guardian Unlimited: Lawmaker: Ukraine Sold Iran, China Nukes 2 INSIDE JoongAng Daily: Kim warns Bush policies not conducive for Nor 3 INSIDE JoongAng Daily: Report on uranium sales by North to drive tal 4 BBC: US 'ties N Korea to nuclear deal' 5 US: Rumsfeld Seeks to Revive Burrowing Nuclear Bomb 6 US: [CMEP] Action Alert! Help Stop Unsafe Nuclear Waste Storage 7 US: [southnews] Pentagon wants bunker-buster funds back 8 US: MSNBC - Climate-modeling study produces hot results 9 UN Nuclear Watchdog Agency Lays Out Seven Speedy Steps To Curb Weapo 10 [DU-WATCH] Charlatans - WHO is lap dog for Nuclear Interests 11 Toshiba Mini Nuke Trial Balloon 12 The Herald: First appeal under data freedom act NUCLEAR REACTORS 13 US: [NukeNet] Op-Ed: Oyster Creek Application must be denied 14 US: [NukeNet] IMPORTANT: Oyster Creek Hearing date change 15 US: [NukeNet] Editorial: Explanations are due (from Exelon) 16 US: Explanations are due 17 US: Two of eight crews failed TMI exams (NRC May 11, 2004) 18 Aftenposten Norway: Reactor radiation no danger 19 Heber Springs Sun-Times: Jerry Jackson: Learning from European neigh 20 US: TheDay.com: Activists, Millstone Owner Prepare For Court Battle 21 US: Vermont Guardian: Will nuclear plant guards shoot to kill? 22 US: NRC: NRC Finalizes 'White' Finding for Vermont Yankee Nuclear Pl 23 US: NRC: NRC Seeks Public Comment on Revised Guidelines for Nuclear 24 US: NRC: Draft Regulatory Guide: Issuance, Availability Public Works NUCLEAR SAFETY 25 US: www.peaceinspace.com The Real Agenda 26 US: [DU-WATCH] Heads Roll At The VA over DU 27 US: [DU-WATCH] 1955 Cold Cream Commercial Irradiated Woman 28 The Australian: Teens in toxic dust link 29 US: Greenwire: OSHA defends its beryllium standard NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE 30 US: Deseret news: Utah to ban B and C nuclear waste 31 US: Bradenton Herald: County OKs Tallevast overlay 32 US: Bradenton Herald: Tallevast's toxic plume gets bigger 33 US: Craig Daily Press: County will set standards for dump 34 Las Vegas RJ: Berkley revives bill to divert Yucca money 35 US: Salt Lake Tribune - Opinion: Don't bring it on 36 US: Salt Lake Tribune: Hot waste not welcome 37 US: Salt Lake Tribune: County hopes for same Envirocare 38 US: heraldtribune.com: More bad news for Tallevast 39 US: WSJ: Washington, in a First, to Limit Hazardous-Material Shipmen 40 US: ENN: Environmental groups petition California to set perchlorate 41 Las Vegas SUN: Bush budget would divert money from southern Nevada l NUCLEAR WEAPONS US DEPT. OF ENERGY 42 The Radioactive Cover-Up at Rocky Flats 43 ABQjournal: LANL Ditching Its Disks; Lab Gets Funds To Go 44 DAILY BRUIN: UC still unsure on lab 45 Daily Grist: Senate confirms Bodman to head Energy Department OTHER NUCLEAR ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** FULL NEWS STORIES ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** 1 Guardian Unlimited: Lawmaker: Ukraine Sold Iran, China Nukes From the Associated Press [UP] Wednesday February 2, 2005 9:16 AM By ALEKSANDAR VASOVIC Associated Press Writer KIEV, Ukraine (AP)- A senior lawmaker alleges that Ukraine sold nuclear-capable cruise missiles to Iran and China in violation of international nonproliferation treaties and is demanding the new government launch a full investigation. The allegations were made in a letter - made available to The Associated Press on Tuesday - by lawmaker Hrihory Omelchenko and addressed to President Viktor Yushchenko, a reformist who took office last week. Yushchenko, who takes over from Leonid Kuchma, has promised a thorough investigation of corruption and misdeeds that allegedly flourished during his predecessor's 10 years as president. Kuchma allegedly sanctioned the sale of sophisticated radar systems to Iraq in 2002, contravening U.N. sanctions. In the letter, Omelchenko said an investigation launched last summer ``proved that some 20 air-launched Kh-55 and Kh-55M cruise missiles with nuclear capability were exported to third countries'' in contravention of international treaties. ``Six missiles destined for Russia ended up in Iran ... six missiles destined for Russia ended up in China'' the letter said. It said the exports occurred during 1999 to 2001. Omelchenko is an ally of Yulia Tymoshenko, who has been nominated as Ukraine's next prime minister. Vyacheslav Astapov, a spokesman for Ukraine's Prosecutor-General, said the office began an investigation into the alleged sales last summer and ``this year we received new information.'' Astapov also said a top-ranking Iranian diplomat in Ukraine met with Prosecutor-General Svyatoslav Piskun, but he did not elaborate. Iranian diplomats in Kiev were not available for comment. Omelchenko also claimed that businessmen from several enterprises - including state-run weapons exporter Ukrspetseksport and its daughter companies - companies in the United States, Cyprus and Iran and individuals from the Ukrainian security service shared hefty profits from several illicit defense deals that included sales of radar equipment to Eritrea. Officials from the Ukrspetseksport and the Ukrainian Security Service were unavailable for comment. American diplomats in Kiev were ``aware of the reports'' on illicit missile sales and took them ``very seriously,'' a U.S. embassy spokesman said. ``Nonproliferation remains a key pillar in the global war on terror in which Ukraine is a close partner,'' the spokesman said on condition of anonymity. The Kh-55, known in the West as the AS-15, has a range of 3,000 kilometers (1,860 miles) and is designed to carry a 200-kiloton nuclear warhead. It is designed for use on Russian-made Tupolev long-range bombers. Iran's air force does not operate such planes, but some military analysts have suggested that its Soviet-built Su-24 strike aircraft could be adapted to use the Kh-55. China operates about 120 H-6 medium-range bombers. In the early 1990s, Ukraine renounced the nuclear armaments it inherited in the breakup of the Soviet Union and said it shipped all of its nuclear warheads to Russia for decommissioning under U.S. control. The country remains a sizable producer of weapons, including missiles, aircraft and tanks. Exports are largely to other former Soviet republics, Asia and Africa. Last year Ukrainian police arrested four men from Greece, Pakistan and Iraq on suspicion of attempted illegal weapons trade worth more than $800 million for an unspecified force fighting in Iraq. Last March, former Defense Minister Yevhen Marchuk warned that several hundred Soviet-built SA-2 surface-to-air missiles are unaccounted for. Defense officials later claimed that these missiles from arsenals in former Warsaw Pact member countries had been brought to Ukraine for decommissioning and were lost due to ``accounting problems'' and ``the absence of records.'' --- AP reporter Natasha Lisova in Kiev contributed to this story. Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2005 ***************************************************************** 2 INSIDE JoongAng Daily: Kim warns Bush policies not conducive for North http://joongangdaily.joins.com February 3, 2005 KST 12:09 (GMT+9) February 03, 2005 ¤Ń Former President Kim Dae-jung said yesterday that North Korea and the United States should broker a deal in which the North would give up its nuclear weapons program while the United States grants a multilateral security assurance. Speaking at a lecture at Yonsei University, the former president stressed the urgency of the matter as he predicted that this year would be crucial in resolving the North Korean nuclear standoff. Mr. Kim said that if North Korea has tangible proof that its relationship with the United States is improving, the country would eventually give up its nuclear weapons program. To underscore his statements, Mr. Kim said that a better relationship with the United States is essential for North Korea. The country is trying to introduce some free market reforms while maintaining its current political system. Regarding stalled six-party talks, Mr. Kim said that since the United States is not talking about concrete benefits North Korea could get from scrapping its nuclear program, North Korea continues to mistrust the United States. "You cannot just pressure North Korea to give up its nuclear program," the former president said. He further criticized the Bush administration by comparing it with the previous Clinton administration. Due to a different policy toward the North, the relationship between the United States and North Korea didn't improve and the nuclear problem arose. Mr. Kim suggested that communist countries only grow more isolated when pressed but with dialogue and guidance, such countries will change by themselves. by Brian Lee africanu@joongang.co.kr> [http://joongangdaily.joins.com/faq.html] ***************************************************************** 3 INSIDE JoongAng Daily: Report on uranium sales by North to drive talks http://joongangdaily.joins.com February 3, 2005 KST 12:09 (GMT+9) February 03, 2005 ¤Ń Reacting to a report in The New York Times that the U.S. government believes it is likely North Korea sold uranium to Libya, local experts said yesterday the suggestion would put pressure on Pyeongyang to abandon its stance that it has no nuclear development program that uses uranium. Relying on unnamed intelligence sources, The Times reported that scientific tests had led the United States to conclude with near certainty that Pyeongyang had made the transfer. "We have seen a push to resume the six-nation talks in February, and Washington is pressuring Pyeongyang to admit and discuss its uranium program at the talks," said Tae-hyo Thomas Kim, professor at the Institute of Foreign Affairs and National Security, a South Korean Foreign Ministry think thank. "Fortunately, Libya is a closed case," Mr. Kim said, "but if North Korea transfers uranium to Iran, it will be a serious problem for the North. It is serious enough that North Korea had transferred, even once, nuclear material to a third party." The Foreign Ministry declined to comment on the U.S. report. Lee Jung-hoon, professor at Yonsei University, said, "If the assessment in the report is true, then the Bush administration's policy toward the North won't become any softer." In Washington, President George W. Bush will give his State of the Union address on Wednesday. In the speech three years ago, he had called North Korea a part of an "Axis of Evil." by Ser Myo-ja myoja@joongang.co.kr> [http://joongangdaily.joins.com/faq.html] Copyright by Joins.com, Inc. Terms of Use | ***************************************************************** 4 BBC: US 'ties N Korea to nuclear deal' Last Updated: Wednesday, 2 February, 2005 [Core of Libya's Tajura nuclear reactor, east of Tripoli] Libya surrendered its nuclear material a year ago More evidence has emerged suggesting North Korea exported nuclear material to Libya, according to US newspapers. Scientists testing enriched uranium surrendered by Libya to the US last year concluded it came from North Korea, the New York Times reported. The IAEA, the UN's nuclear watchdog, has said Libya received nuclear material from Pakistan, but has not confirmed a link with North Korea. The reports coincide with new hopes of talks on the North's nuclear ambitions. The first suggestion that North Korea exported enriched uranium to Libya came in a New York Times report in May. This said the International Atomic Energy Association (IAEA) had found strong evidence of nuclear links between the two countries as a result of interviews with members of a secret nuclear network set up by Abdul Qadeer Khan, the former head of Pakistan's main nuclear laboratory. Process of elimination Now, US intelligence officials have told the same paper that American scientists have concluded that the enriched uranium is likely to have come from North Korea. Although they have no sample of North Korean enriched uranium to compare the Libyan material with, they have eliminated other possible sources, the paper said. Scientists also found indications of plutonium produced at North Korea's Yongbyon nuclear reactor in the container carrying the uranium, the Washington Post reported. IAEA spokesman Mark Gwozdecky told the BBC: "We are certain AQ Khan material went to Libya and Iran, but we've not been able to confirm 100% there were any other countries involved." The enriched uranium that Libya handed over was not weapons-grade, but if enriched further, it could have constituted the core ingredient of a nuclear weapon. Pressure for talks The US, South Korea, Japan, China and Russia have all been engaged in trying to persuade the North to abandon its nuclear programme. Talks with Pyongyang have been stalled since before the US election, but the North has indicated that it is ready to begin negotiations again soon. Michael Green, a senior director for Asia on the US National Security Council, who is currently touring the region, said in Tokyo that Washington was ready to make a "serious proposal" at the next round of talks. Before they agree to take part in more talks with the US administration, the North Korean leadership will be closely following President Bush's state of the union address on Wednesday night. At the same occasion in 2002, Mr Bush branded North Korea part of an "axis of evil" - a move which signalled the start of a more hawkish US policy on the North, and which Pyongyang interpreted as an extremely hostile gesture. ***************************************************************** 5 Rumsfeld Seeks to Revive Burrowing Nuclear Bomb Date: Wed, 2 Feb 2005 01:25:50 -0600 (CST) William Rivers Pitt is on assignment. The TO Audio Overview will return on Wednesday, February 02, 2005. _/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/ t r u t h o u t | 02.01 Rumsfeld Seeks to Revive Burrowing Nuclear Bomb http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/020105A.shtml Attacked by U.S., Nuclear Cop Tries to Solve Iran Puzzle http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/020105B.shtml Robert Fisk | 'Freed' Iraqis Still Waiting for the Wind of Change http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/020105C.shtml Democrats Call for Clear Exit Strategy http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/020105D.shtml Paul Krugman | Many Unhappy Returns http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/020105E.shtml Juan Cole | The Shiite Earthquake http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/020105F.shtml The Short Path to Oil Independence http://www.truthout.org/environment.shtml Poverty: A Plan to Plan For a Plan http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/020105H.shtml Eliot Weinberger | What I Heard about Iraq http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/020105I.shtml Jack Shafer | Together Again, Judith Miller and Ahmad Chalabi http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/020105J.shtml Kevin Drum | Filibuster Rule Could Haunt GOP http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/020105K.shtml Death in the Wilderness: What Really Happened? http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/020105L.shtml Arctic Ozone Layer Is Thinning, Scientists Report http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/020105V.shtml Democrats Considering Filibuster of Gonzales http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/020105W.shtml Robert Scheer | Now, U.S. Must Get Out of Iraq's Way http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/020105X.shtml State Democrats Back Dean for DNC Post http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/020105Z.shtml Click to SUBSCRIBE -> http://truthout.org/subscribe.htm Or go directly to our home page: http://www.truthout.org _/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/ t r u t h o u t | 01.31 Steve Weissman | Calling the President's Bluff http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/013105A.shtml Polls Stand Empty in Sunni Stronghold http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/013105B.shtml Homeland Security Pick Faces New Doubts about Post-9/11 Role http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/013105C.shtml Soros Says Kerry's Failings Undermined Campaign against Bush http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/013105D.shtml Bob Herbert | Acts of Bravery http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/013105E.shtml Bill Moyers | The Delusional Is No Longer Marginal http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/013105F.shtml Guantanamo Bay Tribunals Ruled Illegal http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/013105H.shtml Audit: $9 Billion Unaccounted For in Iraq http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/013105I.shtml Robert Fisk | Triumph and Tragedy for Iraq http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/013105J.shtml Nick Turse | The Emergence of the Homeland Security State http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/013105K.shtml Healthcare Overhaul Is Quietly Underway http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/013105L.shtml Hugo Chavez Gets Hero's Welcome at World Social Forum http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/013105M.shtml Mining Companies Dumping Mountain Tops into Valleys http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/013105N.shtml Alain-Gerard Slama | Jihad Has the Last Word http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/013105O.shtml William Rivers Pitt | The Story of the Ghost http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/013105W.shtml Will Blair Lead War on Environmental Chaos? http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/013105X.shtml Dahr Jamail | Some Just Voted for Food http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/013105Y.shtml Iraqis Vote, Shiites Likely to Dominate http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/013105Z.shtml Click to SUBSCRIBE -> http://truthout.org/subscribe.htm Or go directly to our home page: http://www.truthout.org _/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/ t r u t h o u t | 01.30 My Nightmare of Torture and Assault, by Briton Held in Guantanamo http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/013005A.shtml C.I.A. Said to Rebuff Congress on Nazi Files http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/013005B.shtml Bush Aims to Forge a GOP Legacy http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/013005C.shtml One More 'Moral Value': Fighting Poverty http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/013005D.shtml Boxer Not Willing to Pull Punches http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/013005E.shtml Fareed Zakaria | Elections Are Not Democracy http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/013005F.shtml Loggers Going Into Old Growth Reserve http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/013005X.shtml 44 Killed As Iraqis Vote http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/013005Y.shtml Bombers Strike As Iraqis Vote http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/013005Z.shtml Click to SUBSCRIBE -> http://truthout.org/subscribe.htm Or go directly to our home page: http://www.truthout.org _/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/ t r u t h o u t | 01.29 Robert Fisk | Iraqi Election Will Change the World. But ... http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/01292005A.shtml United States and Europe Differ Over Strategy on Iran http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/01292005B.shtml Security Nominee Gave Advice to the C.I.A. on Torture Laws http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/01292005C.shtml Democrats Bash Bush Social Security Plan http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/01292005D.shtml J. Sri Raman | When Nuclear Neighbors Fail to Hold Small Fire http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/01292005E.shtml Senator Russ Feingold | Abolish the Federal Death Penalty http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/01292005F.shtml It's Not All Blue Skies for Drilling Project http://www.truthout.org/environment.shtml U.S. Embassy in Baghdad Hit by Rocket, 2 Dead http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/01292005X.shtml Who's Dying in Our War? http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/01292005Y.shtml Sunni Arabs Concerned Over a 'Shiite Crescent' of Power http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/01292005Z.shtml _/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/ t r u t h o u t | 01.28 CIA's 'Ghost Prisoners' Spark Rights Concerns http://www.truthout.org/docs_05/012905A.shtml Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX) | What If (It Was All a Big Mistake)? http://www.truthout.org/docs_05/012905B.shtml Dahr Jamail | High Anxiety http://www.truthout.org/docs_05/012905C.shtml The Independent | Is the World Safer Now? http://www.truthout.org/docs_05/012905D.shtml Paul Krugman | Little Black Lies http://www.truthout.org/docs_05/012905E.shtml Maureen Dowd | Love for Sale http://www.truthout.org/docs_05/012905F.shtml The Washington Post | A Warming Climate http://www.truthout.org/environment.shtml Jean-Michel Thenard | Impossible Silence http://www.truthout.org/docs_05/012905H.shtml Coalition Pull-Out from Iraq Gathers Pace http://www.truthout.org/docs_05/012905I.shtml FBI in Talks to Extend Reach http://www.truthout.org/docs_05/012905J.shtml News Media Ignored Study of Iraqi Civilian Deaths http://www.truthout.org/docs_05/012905K.shtml David Bacon | The Death of Hadi Saleh http://www.truthout.org/docs_05/012905L.shtml Derrick Z. Jackson | Neglecting Mother Earth http://www.truthout.org/docs_05/012905X.shtml GOP Sabotaged Security Efforts at Chemical Plants http://www.truthout.org/docs_05/012905Y.shtml Third Columnist Caught with Hand in Bush Till http://www.truthout.org/docs_05/012905Z.shtml Click to SUBSCRIBE -> http://truthout.org/subscribe.htm Or go directly to our home page: http://www.truthout.org _/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/ t r u t h o u t | 01.27 White House Backs Off Media Takeover Rules http://www.truthout.org/docs_05/012805A.shtml Iraqi Polling Place Blown Up, Violence Intensifies http://www.truthout.org/docs_05/012805B.shtml Kennedy Calls for Troop Withdrawal in Iraq http://www.truthout.org/docs_05/012805C.shtml World Leaders Mark Auschwitz Liberation http://www.truthout.org/docs_05/012805D.shtml Dahr Jamail | Here Comes "The Freedom" http://www.truthout.org/docs_05/012805E.shtml RNC Seeks Donations to Push Bush Agenda http://www.truthout.org/docs_05/012805F.shtml Norman Solomon | Of Death Be Not Proud http://www.truthout.org/docs_05/012805G.shtml Bill McKibben | Bad Boys, Bad Boys, Whatcha Gonna Do? http://www.truthout.org/docs_05/012805H.shtml Jacques Amalric | George W. Bush and the Obscuring of the Iraq Quagmire http://www.truthout.org/docs_05/012805I.shtml Sidney Blumenthal | "A Military in Extremis" http://www.truthout.org/docs_05/012805J.shtml Some See Risks As Republicans Revel in Power http://www.truthout.org/docs_05/012805K.shtml British Ministers Plan "Control Orders" to Bypass Court of Law http://www.truthout.org/docs_05/012805L.shtml NOW | America's Immigration Explosion http://www.truthout.org/docs_05/012805M.shtml William Rivers Pitt | Interview with an Ordinary Hero http://www.truthout.org/docs_05/012805U.shtml Global Warming Is 'Twice As Bad As Previously Thought' http://www.truthout.org/docs_05/012805V.shtml Alberto Gonzales' Unanswered Questions http://www.truthout.org/docs_05/012805W.shtml Kennedy Lays Out Plan for Withdrawal from Iraq http://www.truthout.org/docs_05/012805X.shtml Neo-Con Douglas Feith to Leave Pentagon http://www.truthout.org/docs_05/012805Y.shtml Top U.S. Commander: Iraq Forces Not Ready http://www.truthout.org/docs_05/012805Z.shtml Click to SUBSCRIBE -> http://truthout.org/subscribe.htm Or go directly to our home page: http://www.truthout.org _/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/ t r u t h o u t | 01.26 Steve Weissman | What If Iran Has the Bomb? http://www.truthout.org/docs_05/012705A.shtml Boxer's Rebellion and Democrats' New Tone http://www.truthout.org/docs_05/012705B.shtml Seymour Hersh: "We've Been Taken Over by a Cult" http://www.truthout.org/docs_05/012705C.shtml White House: Deficit Will Hit Record $427B http://www.truthout.org/docs_05/012705D.shtml Dahr Jamail | Vote Where, How and for Whom? http://www.truthout.org/docs_05/012705E.shtml Ray McGovern | Reining-In Cheney http://www.truthout.org/docs_05/012705F.shtml Bankruptcy Threat with an Edge http://www.truthout.org/docs_05/012705G.shtml Patrick Sabatier | Opposites http://www.truthout.org/docs_05/012705H.shtml U.S. Senator Robert C. Byrd | Standing for the Founding Principles of the Republic http://www.truthout.org/docs_05/012705I.shtml Darfur: Never Again? http://www.truthout.org/docs_05/012705J.shtml Vioxx Linked to 140,000 Heart Attacks and Over 50,000 Deaths http://www.truthout.org/docs_05/012705K.shtml Israel Resumes Diplomatic Contacts with Palestinians http://www.truthout.org/docs_05/012705L.shtml In San Francisco, 17-Cent Fee on Grocery Bags OK'd http://www.truthout.org/docs_05/012705V.shtml U.N. Calls for Aid to U.S. to Ease Budget and Trade Deficits http://www.truthout.org/docs_05/012705W.shtml Senator Feingold: 'Alberto Gonzales Lacks Respect for the Rule of Law' http://www.truthout.org/docs_05/012705X.shtml The New York Times | The Wrong Attorney General http://www.truthout.org/docs_05/012705Y.shtml 36 U.S. Forces Killed in Iraq http://www.truthout.org/docs_05/012705Z.shtml Click to SUBSCRIBE -> http://truthout.org/subscribe.htm Or go directly to our home page: http://www.truthout.org _/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/ ***************************************************************** 6 [CMEP] Action Alert! Help Stop Unsafe Nuclear Waste Storage Date: Wed, 2 Feb 2005 09:02:49 -0600 (CST) ***please forward widely*** February 2, 2005 This email contains 3 items: two action alerts and a reminder to check out the Critical Mass Watchdog Blog! ============================================ !!! A C T I O N A L E R T !!! Contact NRC Right Away: Stop PFS! No Unnecessary, Unsafe Transport and Storage of Nuclear Waste! A Nuclear Regulatory Commission Licensing Board is expected to issue a decision on Private Fuel Storage (PFS) by the end of the month. PFS, a limited liability company (LLC) formed from eight commercial nuclear utilities, is seeking to establish an "interim" storage site for high-level radioactive waste on the tiny Skull Valley Goshute Indian Reservation in Utah. No matter how the Board decides, the issue likely will be appealed to the NRC Commissioners. Contact them today and urge them to reject this unnecessary dump that would endanger public health and safety! Call them at the following numbers and urge them to reject PFS's license application, or write them directly, simply by signing and sending in the sample letter that follows, or else composing your own based on the background information available at: http://www.citizen.org/cmep/energy_enviro_nuclear/nuclear_waste/pfs/ and http://www.nirs.org/ejustice/nativelands/pfsbg.htm and on your own knowledge and concerns. Thanks for your help! SAMPLE LETTER: NRC Chairman Nils J. Diaz, 301.415.1759 NRC Commissioner Edward McGaffigan, Jr., 301.415.1800 NRC Commissioner Jeffrey S. Merrified, 301.415.1855 NRC Commissioner Gregory B. Jaczko, 301.415.1820 NRC Commissioner Peter B. Lyons, 301.415.8421 SAMPLE LETTER TO NRC COMMISSIONERS Either fax your letter to 301.415.1101, email it to SECY@nrc.gov, or mail it to the address of the sample letter below: Nils Diaz, Chairman Edward McGaffigan, Jeffrey Merrifield, Gregory Jaczko, Peter Lyons, Commissioners c/o Annette L. Vietti-Cook, Secretary of the Commission U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Washington, D.C. 20555-0001 Dear Commissioners Diaz, McGaffigan, Merrifield, Jaczko, and Lyons, I urge you not to approve the license application by Private Fuel Storage, LLC (PFS) to open an "interim storage site" for irradiated nuclear fuel at the Skull Valley Goshutes Indian Reservation in Utah. The proposal is neither safe nor necessary. First off, the PFS facility is not an appropriate site for storing high-level nuclear waste. The storage casks will be aboveground, exposed to the elements, and in an area adjacent to Hill Airforce Base and the Utah Test and Training Range, which has an increased risk of plane crashes. There will also not be a waste repacking facility on-site. If storage casks fail for any reason human error during shipping or handling, natural disaster, accident, act of sabotage, or gradual corrosion it will be difficult to address the problem and keep radioactive waste from leaking into the soil, water, and air. There are also the allegations raised by ComEd/Exelon whistleblower Oscar Shirani. Citing numerous major quality assurance violations in the manufacture of the storage/transport containers proposed for use at PFS, he questions their structural integrity. Such problems would not only raise the risk of irradiated fuel degradation and increased container vulnerability during storage at Skull Valley, but also of potentially catastrophic radioactivity release during transport due to a severe accident or terroris t attack. As it is, PFS would mean the increased transportation and handling of high-level waste. As the frequency and distance of nuclear waste transport increases, so does the risk of accidents. For this reason, the transportation of nuclear waste should be absolutely minimized, and extensive cask testing and planning should be done before the transport of waste begins. PFS, however, will increase transportation, not minimize it, and will rush the process, using casks with only minimal testing and planning. The "interim" nature of the project is also questionable. Assurances have been given by PFS (and NRC staff in the proposal's Environmental Impact Statement) that irradiated fuel would remain at Skull Valley for no more than 40 years before transfer to Nevada for permanent burial. Last October, however, U.S. Energy Dept. Yucca Mountain Project transport director Gary Lanthrum was quoted in the Salt Lake press as saying that the Yucca Mountain Project would simply not accept irradiated nuclear fuel from PFS, as that would violate the terms of the Nuclear Waste Policy Act which requires DOE to accept only freshly packaged fuel directly from nuclear utilities at reactor sites. As PFS would lack the capability to perform such repackaging, if the site opens, it could very well lead to de facto permanent "disposal" of 4,000 casks of high-level radioactive waste in Skull Valley. Adding to this concern, while Yucca Mountain plays a key role in the acceptability of PFS, the approval a! nd opening of Yucca is not certain. The proposed geologic repository in Nevada has many issues, and there are serious unresolved questions about its ability to contain waste. Moreover, in addition to all these concerns, PFS is simply not necessary. While supporters of PFS have argued that irradiated fuel must be moved away from reactors as soon as possible and consolidated in one place, these assertions are misleading. The fuel does not have to be moved immediately, and as long as we continue to produce it, the waste will continue to be kept at every operating reactor around the country. Irradiated fuel just removed from a reactor, for instance, is required to cool and decay on- site for five to ten years before it can be transported. Concern about on-site storage at reactors is justified, but moving some waste to a private "temporary" storage facility like PFS will not make us safer. In fact, it will just increase the risk the waste poses to the public. Finally, on its face, the storage or disposal of highly radioactive waste on a tiny, poverty-stricken Native American community that did not even benefit from the nuclear generated electricity also raises significant environmental justice concerns. The crisis at Skull Valley only exacerbates such concerns. There is a long-running dispute over the legitimacy of the tribal leadership that supports PFS. In fact, disputed Tribal Chairman Leon Bear, the primary proponent for PFS, has been indicted on federal cha rges of embezzlement of tribal funds as well as tax evasion. Tribal members who oppose PFS claim they have been severely intimidated and harassed, and allege irregularities such as bribery and extortion have been used to secure support within the tribe for PFS. These are very shaky foundations upon which to build dry cask storage for 44,000 tons of commercial irradiated nuclear fuel, nearly 80% of what currently exists in the U.S. Please deny PFS's license request. The Skull Valley Goshute Reservation is neither a safe nor just solution! Sincerely, Your Name, Address, City, State, and Zip Code ============================================ !!! A C T I O N A L E R T !!! Special Action for Virginia Residents! No New Nukes in Virginia! Dominion Resources, the massive energy company headquartered in Richmond, is in hot pursuit of the necessary permits to build two new reactors at its North Anna site in Mineral, VA - right on the shore of beautiful Lake Anna in Louisa County. The NRC has recently completed its review of the environmental impact those reactors would have, and its not so pretty. Nonetheless, the NRC staff has recommended that Dominion's application for an Early Site Permit be granted. On February 17, there will be a public meeting to discuss that environmental impact assessment. Members of the public will have the opportunity to give transcribed, on-the-record comments. This is a great forum in which to highlight the shortcomings of Dominion's plan, NRC's environmental review, and the licensing process as a whole. This is the first time new nuclear plant construction permits are being sought in 25 years! The effort is viewed by the industry and federal government as a litmus test for public opposition to nuclear power. The results will likely determine whether more companies step forward to add nuclear plants or the industry finally sinks into the grave. So please come! The meeting will be held February 17 from 7-10pm at the Louisa County Middle School, 1009 Davis Highway, Mineral, VA (30 minutes from Charlottesville, 1 hour from Richmond). The local coalition fighting Dominion's plans, the People's Alliance for Clean Energy (PACE), will host a rally beforehand at 6pm at the school to demonstrate support for clean energy alternatives as well as inform people of the plan's shortcomings. All are invited, so mark your calendar and tell your friends! For more information, visit http://www.citizen.org/cmep/northanna or www.northanna.org. Questions, or just want to let us know you'll be there? Email cmep@citizen.org. If you can't make it on the 17th, you can still submit written comments by March 1 to NorthAnna_ESP@nrc.gov. Public Citizen and PACE will also host a workshop on February 12 to give a rundown of where the quest for nuclear relapse stands as well as answer any questions and help folks prepare useful, informed testimony. That meeting is at 2pm at the Louisa County Library, 881 Davis Highway, Mineral, VA. ============================================ *** R E M I N D E R *** Critical Mass Watchdog Blog Hey! Wondering what Critical Mass thinks of the latest SNAFU by the nuclear industry or USDA? Check out the Watchdog Blog at www.citizen.org/cmep/blog to find out! With regular updates, we'll break it down, connect the dots to the larger picture, and hopefully entertain you all at the same time. ********** If you would like to be removed from the CMEP ListServ, send an email to listserv@listserver.citizen.org with the words "unsubscribe CMEP" in the message. Questions about the CMEP ListServ can be directed to CMEP-request@LISTSERVER.CITIZEN.ORG. To learn more about this and other Public Citizen Critical Mass Energy and Environment Program campaigns, visit our website at http://www.citizen.org/cmep/ -Public Citizen's Critical Mass Energy and Environment Program ***************************************************************** 7 [southnews] Pentagon wants bunker-buster funds back Date: Wed, 2 Feb 2005 15:50:27 -0600 (CST) The Pentagon wants the US Congress to restore funding for research into a "bunker-buster" nuclear bomb, which law-makers dropped from the budget last year. Pentagon Wants Nuclear Bomb Research Funds Back Tuesday, February 01, 2005 4:09 p.m. ET/ By Will Dunham WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Pentagon wants the U.S. Congress to restore funding for research into a "bunker buster" nuclear bomb, which lawmakers dropped from the budget last year, officials said on Tuesday. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld wrote a memo last month to his counterpart at the Energy Department suggesting the administration ask for funds over the next two years to finish a study into the possible development of the Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrator. The weapon under study would burrow into the earth to demolish hardened and deeply buried targets. In November, Congress omitted about $27 million for the research sought by the Bush administration for the current fiscal year. Congressional opponents of the research argued that even studying the possibility of making such a weapon takes nuclear warfare out of the realm of the unthinkable and encourages adversaries of America to develop nuclear weapons. "Our staffs have spoken about funding the Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrator (RNEP) study to support its completion by April 2007," Rumsfeld said in the memo to then-Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham, dated Jan. 10 and obtained on Tuesday. "I think we should request funds in FY06 (fiscal year 2006) and FY07 to complete the study. Securing funds from Congress in FY 2006 demonstrates that both Departments are in clear support. You can count on my support for your efforts to revitalize the nuclear weapons infrastructure and to complete the RNEP study." Energy Department and Pentagon officials did not specify how much money the White House may ask Congress to provide in the 2006 fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1. The money would go to the Energy Department, whose National Nuclear Security Administration is responsible for the safety, reliability and performance of the U.S. nuclear weapons arsenal. MORAL AUTHORITY Rep. David Hobson, an Ohio Republican who chairs a House of Representatives subcommittee overseeing nuclear arms spending, played a central role in ending the research. Hobson argued that pursuing the earth-penetrating nuclear weapon would undermine American moral authority to argue that other nations should forego nuclear weapons. The Bush administration has stated that no existing weapon in the Pentagon's arsenal is capable of destroying deeply buried targets such as underground bunkers containing chemical, biological and perhaps nuclear weapons or military command and control facilities. Pentagon officials argue that potential enemies of the United States increasingly are seeking to protect key military assets from aerial bombardment by hiding them deep underground in fortified bunkers. "We owe it to the American people to conduct comprehensive studies on potential technologies that will give us the capability to succeed in the war on terrorism and defend the United States," said Maj. Paul Swiergosz, a Pentagon spokesman. Swiergosz emphasized that any money provided by Congress would fund research, not the actual building of a weapon. Daryl Kimball, executive director of the Arms Control Association, said proceeding with the research would harm U.S. efforts to curb the global spread of nuclear weapons. "The United States can't preach nuclear temperance to Iran and North Korea and Brazil from its bar stool," Kimball said. "We need to lead by example. Other states are not necessarily going to follow our example, but our leverage and our credibility to stop proliferation is undermined by this research on unnecessary new nuclear weapons." A spokeswoman for Hobson said it was premature to comment on the matter because the administration had not yet formally stated its budget intentions for the program. 2) Washington Post 1 Feb 2005 Rumsfeld Seeks to Revive Burrowing Nuclear Bomb *washingtonpost.com* *Rumsfeld Seeks to Revive Burrowing Nuclear Bomb* Bush Budget May Fund Program That Congress Cut By Walter Pincus Washington Post Staff Writer Tuesday, February 1, 2005; Page A02 Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld sent a memo last month to then-Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham saying next year's budget should include funds to resume study of building an earth-penetrating nuclear weapon designed to destroy hardened underground targets. An Energy Department official said yesterday that $10.3 million to restart that study is expected to be included in the Bush administration's budget, which is to be released next week. The study, which had been undertaken at the Los Alamos, Sandia and Livermore national laboratories, was halted late last year after Congress deleted $27.5 million for it from the fiscal 2005 Omnibus Appropriations Bill. The research project was started in 2002 as a three-year effort to see if an existing nuclear warhead could be fitted with a hardened casing allowing it to dig deep into the earth before exploding. The program has been restricted each year by Senate and House members who have argued that even studying the potential for such a new nuclear weapon undermines Washington's attempts to limit other countries from developing their own nuclear arsenals. Last year, at the insistence of Rep. David L. Hobson (R-Ohio), chairman of the House Appropriations subcommittee on energy and water, Congress cut all money for the program. That came as a reaction to a five-year budget projection by the National Nuclear Security Administration, which runs the nuclear program within the Energy Department, that estimated spending almost $500 million to produce the weapon in the budgets for fiscal 2005 to 2009. Up to that point, the Bush administration had emphasized that the "bunker buster" program was only a research study, and Congress would have to vote on going ahead with production before that step was to be taken. Rumsfeld weighed in on the issue in a Jan. 10 memo to Abraham, which was made available to The Washington Post. "I think we should request funds in FY06 and FY07 to complete the study," Rumsfeld wrote. "Our staffs have spoken about funding the Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrator (RNEP) study to support its completion by April 2007." He added, "You can count on my support for your efforts to revitalize the nuclear weapons infrastructure and to complete the RNEP study." A Pentagon spokesman yesterday confirmed the contents of the Rumsfeld memo and said the Defense Department "supports completion of the study." A spokesman for Hobson said, "Until we see the budget request, it is premature to comment on what might or might not be in it." Hobson is expected to address the subject when he speaks Thursday before the Arms Control Association, which has led the nongovernmental opposition to the RNEP study. "The administration is missing a key opportunity to make good on the congressional decision last year if it were to renew funding of the study," the association' executive director, Daryl Kimball, said yesterday. "It sends the wrong signal to the international community on the U.S. approach on nonproliferation, and Congress may again reject the request." The Bush administration's 2002 Nuclear Posture Review found that no weapon in the current stockpile could threaten the growing number of targets being buried in tunnels and beneath mountains. Congress that year required the nuclear security agency to study whether there was a requirement for such a weapon, and in response the Air Force specified requirements for such a weapon. The Nuclear Weapons Council, made up of representatives of the Defense and Energy departments, then proposed a three-year $45 million feasibility study. Two existing warheads, one used in the B-61 tactical bomb and one used in the B-63 strategic bomb, were to be part of the study, which also was to identify a casing that could burrow deep enough into the ground before exploding. Opponents of the proposed new weapon have argued that sealing off underground facilities could be done as well with smart, precision-guided conventional weapons, a position supported in 2003 by Adm. James O. Ellis Jr., then head of the U.S. Strategic Command. They also have said that no casing could dig deep enough to prevent the nuclear warhead's explosion from sending tons of radioactive debris into the atmosphere. At the Jan. 19 confirmation hearing for Samuel W. Bodman, the new energy secretary, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), a leader of the opposition to the study, said, "Dr. Sidney Drell at Stanford University has said there is no casing known to man that can sustain driving a missile a thousand feet underground; therefore, you would have a spewing of radiation." She asked Bodman if she could discuss the bunker buster privately with him before he signed off on the program because "there are many of us that believe very passionately that we should not, should not, reopen the nuclear door." At that time Bodman, a former deputy Treasury secretary, said he had not had time to study the issue. ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Help save the life of a child. Support St. Jude Children's Research Hospital's 'Thanks & Giving.' http://us.click.yahoo.com/mGEjbB/5WnJAA/E2hLAA/7gSolB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> The archives of South News can be found at http://southmovement.alphalink.com.au/southnews/ Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/southnews/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: southnews-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ ***************************************************************** 8 MSNBC - Climate-modeling study produces hot results Experiment hints at potential 20-degree temperature rise [Image: Climate scenario] David Stainforth / ClimatePrediction.net This global map shows the most extreme scenario produced during ClimatePrediction.net's experiment. The red and yellow areas indicate average temperature increases as high as 20 degrees Fahrenheit (11 degrees Celsius). • The greenhouse effect [http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6662932] How the Earth maintains a temperature conducive to life MSNBC staff and news service reportsUpdated: 6:24 p.m. ET Jan. 26, 2005 LONDON - Computer models for climate change allow for a global temperature rise of as much as 20 degrees Fahrenheit (11 degrees Celsius), according to the first results from the world’s largest climate-modeling experiment. The amount of global warming generated by the models ranged from 4 to 20 degrees F (2 to 11 degrees C). The top end of that temperature range is twice as much as the maximum increases predicted in the past. “Our experiment shows that increased levels of greenhouse gases could have a much greater impact on climate than previously thought,” said Oxford University's David Stainforth, chief scientist for the ClimatePrediction.net project. It's not clear how likely such extreme cases might be. ClimatePrediction.net's experiment was aimed more at determining the uncertainty factor for current climate models than at charting the true course of future climate change. Nevertheless, the findings highlighted the debate over how industrial carbon-dioxide emissions could change the environment in the decades ahead. Some scientists fear that higher CO2 levels will have dramatic effects, including higher global average temperatures, rising sea levels and increased flooding. Doubling the carbon dioxide For the purposes of the experiment, ClimatePrediction.net assumed that carbon-dioxide levels were double those found before the Industrial Revolution. Scientists estimate these levels will be reached by the middle of this century if greenhouse-gas emissions are not reduced. The differences in the predicted temperature rise resulted from different assumptions about climate sensitivity to CO2 levels. “This is really just the beginning of the process to try and understand the uncertainty and predictions of climate change,” Stainforth said at a news conference. He told reporters “it is entirely possible that even current levels of greenhouse gases, if stable and maintained for a long period of time, could lead to dangerous climate change.” More than 95,000 people from 150 countries are taking part in the ClimatePrediction.net experiment to explore the possible impact of global warming. The project was conceived more than five years ago and launched in 2003. It is funded by Britain’s Natural Environment Research Council. Free software By downloading free software [http://www.climateprediction.net/] to their personal computers, participants run a version of Britain’s Met Office climate model. Different users are given different combinations of parameters to reflect a wide spectrum of future climate scenarios. While their computers are idle, the program runs a climate simulation over days or weeks and automatically reports the results to Oxford University and other collaborating institutions around the world. Together, the volunteers have simulated more than 4 million model years, donated 8,000 years of computer time and exceeded the processing power of the world’s largest supercomputers. The first results of the continuing experiment were reported in Thursday's issue of the journal Nature [http://www.nature.com/] . The results came as politicians and scientists continued to debate what should be done about the prospect of future climate change. The Kyoto Protocol, which is the main U.N. scheme to reduce greenhouse gases, aims to cut emissions of carbon dioxide by 5.2 percent below 1990 levels by 2008-2012. The protocol takes effect Feb. 16, but the Bush administration has withdrawn from the accord. This report includes information from Reuters and MSNBC.com. © 2004 MSNBC.com ***************************************************************** 9 UN Nuclear Watchdog Agency Lays Out Seven Speedy Steps To Curb Weapons Spread Date: Wed, 2 Feb 2005 10:00:31 -0500 X-Spamprobe: ham-extreme * 0.0000039 X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.0.1 (2004-10-22) on pascal.ctyme.com X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-16.3 required=5.0 tests=BAYES_00,FROM_ORG, SPF_HELO_PASS,SP_HAM_EXTREME,SUBJ_ALL_CAPS,WHITE_PHRASE autolearn=ham version=3.0.1 X-Character-set: iso-8859-1 UN NUCLEAR WATCHDOG AGENCY LAYS OUT SEVEN SPEEDY STEPS TO CURB WEAPONS SPREAD New York, Feb 2 2005 10:00AM As parties to the Nuclear Weapons Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) prepare to meet this spring to curb the spread of illicit arms, the United Nations atomic watchdog today spotlighted a series of steps for speedy action including a moratorium on new facilities that could produce weapons-grade fuel and a clampdown on smuggling. “It is clear that recent events have placed the NPT and the regime supporting it under unprecedented stress, exposing some of its inherent limitations and pointing to areas that need to be adjusted,” International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Mohamed ElBaradei said. Over the past two years the IAEA has been particularly busy with undeclared nuclear activities which Iran carried on for nearly two decades, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s (DPRK) withdrawal from NPT, which Mr. ElBaradei has called a dangerous precedent, and the possibility that nuclear weapons could fall into terrorist hands. The 2005 Review Conference of the 188 States Parties, meeting from 2 to 27 May at UN Headquarters in New York, is seen to as a turning point in efforts to hammer out priorities to confront the new threats. Mr. ElBaradei has proposed seven steps to strengthen NPT regime and, with it, world security. “Some of the needed fixes can be made in May, but only if governments are ready to act,” he said. The steps, which would not require amending the Treaty, include a five-year moratorium on building new facilities for uranium enrichment and plutonium separation, materials that can be used for weapons production. “There is no compelling reason for building more of these proliferation-sensitive facilities, the nuclear industry already has more than enough capacity to fuel its power plants and research facilities,” Mr. ElBaradei said. Other “fixes” are a speed up of efforts to convert research reactors operating with highly enriched uranium (HEU) to low enriched uranium and to make HEU unnecessary for all peaceful nuclear applications; increased access for IAEA inspectors nuclear sites; swift Security Council action in the case of any country that withdraws from the NPT; speedy action by all countries to prosecute any illicit trading in nuclear materials and technology; accelerated implementation by all five nuclear weapon States of their “unequivocal commitment” to nuclear disarmament; and, in light of the volatility of longstanding tensions that give rise to proliferation in regions like the Middle East and the Korean Peninsula, action to resolve existing security deficits and provide security assurances. 2005-02-02 00:00:00.000 ________________ For more details go to UN News Centre at http://www.un.org/news To change your profile or unsubscribe go to: http://www.un.org/news/dh/latest/subscribe.shtml ***************************************************************** 10 [DU-WATCH] Charlatans - WHO is lap dog for Nuclear Interests Date: Wed, 2 Feb 2005 01:19:35 -0600 (CST) WHO knows who butters its bread. It doesn't even have decency to camouflage its association with the purveyors of medical fraud. Notice the WHO uses Snake Oil Saleman's materials (see illustration). Charlatan doctor: Eric J Hall, Professor of Radiology, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, in his book "Radiation and Life". http://www.uic.com.au/ral.htm Charlatan UN agency: http://www.who.int/ionizing_radiation/about/what_is_ir/en/ ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Give the gift of life to a sick child. Support St. Jude Children's Research Hospital's 'Thanks & Giving.' http://us.click.yahoo.com/3iazvD/6WnJAA/xGEGAA/Sj.0lB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> [Brought to you by HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK] Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/du-watch/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: du-watch-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ ***************************************************************** 11 Toshiba Mini Nuke Trial Balloon Date: Thu, 3 Feb 2005 00:57:31 -0500 Mothersalert: http://www.mothersalert.org But then along came Toshiba, which performs maintenance and repair work on conventional nuclear reactors around the world. The company is trying to develop a new reactor that would run almost unattended and put out 10 megawatts of power, about 1 percent as much as a typical United States plant. It sees Galena as a test market for a product that could appeal to other isolated small towns, factories and mines. http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/03/business/03power.html Alaska Town Seeks Reactor to Cut Costs of Electricity By MATTHEW L. WALD Published: February 3, 2005 ASHINGTON, Feb. 2 - The tiny town of Galena, Alaska, which pays three times as much for electricity as the national average, is considering a novel way to cut that cost by two-thirds: a tiny nuclear reactor. On Wednesday the town manager and a deputy mayor sat down here with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to learn how a plant is licensed. They talked about their current logistics to obtain power - shipping diesel fuel in by barge during the brief window when the Yukon River is not frozen over - and their efforts to find an alternative. Advertisement There is a coal seam about 10 miles away. But no one builds coal plants that are small and clean enough, said the manager, Marvin Yoder, and the cost of permits to open a new mine might make the whole project impractical. The town even looked at solar power, Mr. Yoder said. But demand in Galena is highest in winter, when it is dark 20 hours a day, and residents need electricity to keep cars and even diesel fuel from freezing. But then along came Toshiba, which performs maintenance and repair work on conventional nuclear reactors around the world. The company is trying to develop a new reactor that would run almost unattended and put out 10 megawatts of power, about 1 percent as much as a typical United States plant. It sees Galena as a test market for a product that could appeal to other isolated small towns, factories and mines. Toshiba offered Galena a free reactor if the town would pay the operating costs, estimated at 10 cents a kilowatt-hour, about the national average for power. In December the City Council voted unanimously to take it. Comparing oil, coal and nuclear, Mr. Yoder said, "As long as it operates as projected, it is the cleanest of the three." He called the reactor "the least expensive of the options." Tom Johnson, the deputy mayor, said the town, 550 miles northwest of Anchorage, may have unpaved streets and only 700 people, but it is not unsophisticated. The manager of the municipal water plant once served on a nuclear submarine, he said, and he and others are attracted to the idea of a reactor. "Anybody who's been on a sub or an aircraft carrier, they love them," he said. In good Alaskan fashion, he was dressed in short-sleeved shirt and said he was enjoying Washington's 40-degree afternoon weather. It was minus 40 back home, he said. An Air Force base uses most of the town's electricity. While giant corporations in the lower 48 states pursue new designs and preliminary applications for permission to build new reactors, and hope to break ground by about 2010, Galena hopes it could have a micro-reactor up and running by then. Toshiba calls its design the 4S reactor, for "super safe, small and simple." It would be installed underground, and in case of cooling system failure, heat would be dissipated through the earth. There are no complicated control rods to move through the core to control the flow of neutrons that sustain the chain reaction; instead, the reactor uses reflector panels around the edge of the core. If the panels are removed, the density of neutrons becomes too low to sustain the chain reaction. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission says it knows nearly nothing about the 4S. Paul Lohaus, director of the office of state and tribal affairs, who presided at the three-hour meeting, said it cost "tens of millions of dollars" for the commission to evaluate a reactor design. Mr. Yoder's face froze. "But that bill goes to the manufacturer," Mr. Lohaus added. Mr. Yoder said the town was interested in seeking early site approval, but that would cost millions of dollars. He said he hoped for a grant. The reactor would run on uranium enriched to 20 percent. That would allow it to run for 30 years without refueling, the designers say. In larger reactors operated by utilities, one-third of the fuel is replaced every 18 months or so. The design is described as inherently safe, but it does have one riskier feature: it uses liquid sodium, not water, to draw heat away from the core, so the heat can be used to make steam and then electricity. Designers chose sodium so they could run the reactor about 200 degrees hotter than most power reactors, but still keep the coolant depressurized. (Water at that temperature would make steam at thousands of pounds of pressure a square inch.) The problem is that if sodium leaks, it burns. While the town of Galena has listed a reactor as its preferred option, some of its neighbors sound a little wary. A representative of the Yukon River Intertribal Watershed Council, an organization of 58 tribal governments, was patched in to the meeting by telephone. One tribe is trying to enact a ban on transportation of radioactive material on the river. This would doom the plan. ***************************************************************** 12 The Herald: First appeal under data freedom act Web Issue 2194 February 02 2005 VICKY COLLINS, Environment Correspondent February 02 2005 A MSP has lodged the first appeal in Scotland under freedom of information laws which came into effect at the beginning of the year. Chris Ballance, Green list MSP for south Scotland, made the complaint to Kevin Dunion, the information commissioner, after the Common Services Agency (CSA) refused to release figures on child leukaemia cases along the Solway coast in Dumfries and Galloway. Campaigners claim there are an unusually high number of cases in the area, which they believe are linked to test firing of depleted uranium shells into the Solway Firth by the MoD. The CSA refused because it said there was a risk of revealing the identity of living individuals, which would breach the Data Protection Act 1998. This would make it exempt from the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002. Copyright © Newsquest (Herald & Times) Limited. All Rights [http://www.pressnow.co.uk/] :: About Us :: Terms of Use ***************************************************************** 13 [NukeNet] Op-Ed: Oyster Creek Application must be denied Date: Wed, 02 Feb 2005 14:43:21 -0800 NukeNet Anti-Nuclear Network (nukenet@energyjustice.net) TOPIC OF THE DAY: Oyster Creek relicensing Published in the Asbury Park Press 02/2/05 Application must be denied The Environmental Ministry at St. Francis of Assisi Parish has been actively involved in public awareness of environmental issues confronting us. We would like to see the relicensure of Oyster Creek denied. This is the oldest nuclear plant in the country. It would never meet standards required for new plants by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The repairs and updates done by Exelon can never be enough to bring this plant up to standards. This plant has been cited with numerous safety violations over the years directly affecting the surrounding environment. Our desire to see Oyster Creek decommissioned is in agreement with the views of prominent environmental groups such as Clean Ocean Action and New Jersey PIRG. Both have done extensive scientific studies on the negative impact Oyster Creek has on the environment. We are also deeply concerned about the safety of residents living in nearby communities. If a nuclear accident were to occur, the evacuation plan would be impossible to carry out in a timely manner. Many government officials share this concern. And many municipalities in Ocean County have already passed ordinances opposing relicensure. Recently, Exelon launched a public relations campaign aimed at reassuring the public that Oyster Creek is safe. We hope the public will not be swayed by these tactics and will instead call for the closure of the plant. If Exelon officials truly care about the citizens, it is certainly within their power and their ability to decommission the plant and invest in a plant producing clean energy, such as wind. It would then be possible to retrain the employees to work producing renewable energy, thereby preventing the loss of jobs. With so many forms of renewable energy available and ready to be pursued, it makes no sense to continue to allow this dangerous plant to operate. Larrell Brown MEMBER ENVIRONMENTAL MINISTRY ST. FRANCIS OF ASSISI PARISH LONG BEACH TOWNSHIP Suzanne Leta Energy Associate NJPIRG 11 N. Willow St Trenton, NJ 08608 609 394 8155 x310 sleta@njpirg.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 ***************************************************************** 14 [NukeNet] IMPORTANT: Oyster Creek Hearing date change Date: Wed, 02 Feb 2005 14:43:20 -0800 NukeNet Anti-Nuclear Network (nukenet@energyjustice.net) Dear NJPIRG Supporter, I received notice today that the Assembly Environment Committee's second hearing on the future of Oyster Creek in Lacey township, originally scheduled for tomorrow evening, has been postponed. The new tentative date is next Thursday, February 10th, at 7pm. I will send another email tomorrow to confirm the new date and include location and directions. I apologize for the short notice, but please pencil the 10th into your schedules! Sincerely, Suzanne Suzanne Leta Energy Associate NJPIRG 11 N. Willow St Trenton, NJ 08608 609 394 8155 x310 sleta@njpirg.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 ***************************************************************** 15 [NukeNet] Editorial: Explanations are due (from Exelon) Date: Wed, 02 Feb 2005 14:43:29 -0800 NukeNet Anti-Nuclear Network (nukenet@energyjustice.net) Patriot News Explanations are due Wednesday, February 02, 2005 Exelon Nuclear, owner of the Unit 1 nuclear plant at Three Mile Island, has some explaining to do to local officials and citizens as to why its operator training program has been placed on probation. That action, taken by the industry-sponsored National Nuclear Accrediting Board, could lead to TMI's training program not being re-accredited. Shop Central PA No nuclear station has lost its accreditation since 1985. This the first time that the TMI operator training program has been placed on probation. Operator failure was at the heart of the 1979 accident that caused a partial reactor meltdown at TMI Unit 2, resulting in the worst accident in the history of the commercial nuclear power industry in the United States. In the aftermath of the accident, training was the key component in the plan devised by GPU Nuclear, which then owned TMI, to convince the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and local citizenry that it was serious about operating a nuclear reactor responsibly. The Institute of Nuclear Power Operations, the policing body to which the accrediting board reports, refused to discuss the probation. Exelon spokesman Ralph DeSantis, while denying that staffing was an issue, said only that TMI was faulted for "not using a systematic approach to training as vigorously as we should be." He said the company did not dispute the institute's findings. Mike Gabner, business agent of International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 777, which represents some TMI workers, and Eric Epstein, chairman of the watchdog group Three Mile Island Alert, say the problem is a lack of people, that since 1999 staffing has been cut by 30 percent. Gabner said Exelon has "cut back on the training department." DeSantis provided figures to The Patriot-News. showing staffing at 714 in 1999, when Exelon bought the plant, down to 640 employees today, a 10 percent decline. But this significant industry rebuke to Exelon's operator training isn't something that should be in the realm of speculation. The reasons for it need to be out in the open. Local, county and state officials should insist > on it from TMI's operating company. Suzanne Leta Energy Associate NJPIRG 11 N. Willow St Trenton, NJ 08608 609 394 8155 x310 sleta@njpirg.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 ***************************************************************** 16 Explanations are due Date: Wed, 02 Feb 2005 14:43:26 -0800 Patriot News Explanations are due Wednesday, February 02, 2005 Exelon Nuclear, owner of the Unit 1 nuclear plant at Three Mile Island, has some explaining to do to local officials and citizens as to why its operator training program has been placed on probation. That action, taken by the industry-sponsored National Nuclear Accrediting Board, could lead to TMI's training program not being re-accredited. Shop Central PA No nuclear station has lost its accreditation since 1985. This the first time that the TMI operator training program has been placed on probation. Operator failure was at the heart of the 1979 accident that caused a partial reactor meltdown at TMI Unit 2, resulting in the worst accident in the history of the commercial nuclear power industry in the United States. In the aftermath of the accident, training was the key component in the plan devised by GPU Nuclear, which then owned TMI, to convince the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and local citizenry that it was serious about operating a nuclear reactor responsibly. The Institute of Nuclear Power Operations, the policing body to which the accrediting board reports, refused to discuss the probation. Exelon spokesman Ralph DeSantis, while denying that staffing was an issue, said only that TMI was faulted for "not using a systematic approach to training as vigorously as we should be." He said the company did not dispute the institute's findings. Mike Gabner, business agent of International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 777, which represents some TMI workers, and Eric Epstein, chairman of the watchdog group Three Mile Island Alert, say the problem is a lack of people, that since 1999 staffing has been cut by 30 percent. Gabner said Exelon has "cut back on the training department." DeSantis provided figures to The Patriot-News. showing staffing at 714 in 1999, when Exelon bought the plant, down to 640 employees today, a 10 percent decline. But this significant industry rebuke to Exelon's operator training isn't something that should be in the realm of speculation. The reasons for it need to be out in the open. Local, county and state officials should insist on it from TMI's operating company. ***************************************************************** 17 Two of eight crews failed TMI exams (NRC May 11, 2004) Date: Wed, 02 Feb 2005 15:03:17 -0800 INPO has placed the operator training program at TMI on probation. On May 11, 2004, the NRC issued an inspection report (attached) about operator training problems at TMI. Among the litany of problems, two of the eight crews of operators failed their simulator examinations. The similator examinations place the crews in a mock control room where they are tested on their ability to respond to simulated accidents, like steam generator tube ruptures, pipe breaks, and power outages. Two of the eight crews failed. The NRC issued a Green finding. The NRC stated: "The finding is of very low safety significance because the failures occurred during annual testing of the operatos on the simulator, because there were no actual consequences to the failures, and because the crews were removed from watch-standing duties...". The annual simulator testing is done to gauge whether the operators could perform as needed during actual event. To downgrade their inability to do so because the failure happened on a test rather than a real event is troubling. I suspect that had a crew failed during an actual emergency, the NRC may have issued a dark Green finding. To downgrade the significance of their failure because they were removed from watch-standing until they eventually pass a test is troubling. I suppose if they had failed during an actual emergency, they also would have not been able to operate another, non-melted reactor until they past a test. 25 percent of the operating crews demonstrated their inability to protect the public in event of an actual emergency. In other words, if another TMI had happened, there was a 1 in 4 chance that the operators would once again be unable to prevent core damage. That prompted the NRC to issue a Green finding? The NRC is reducing its reactor oversight process to two colors: Green if it happens during a test, Red if it happens during a real event. That's lunacy. David Lochbaum, UCS Attachment Converted: "c:\program files\eudora\attach\tmi_2004002.pdf" ***************************************************************** 18 Aftenposten Norway: Reactor radiation no danger First published: 02 Feb 2005, 13:03 AFTENPOSTEN [http://www.aftenposten.no/english/] English frontpage [http://www.aftenposten.no/english] A new report clears the atomic research reactor at Kjeller of harmful emissions during the 1950s and 60s. The opening ceremony for the Halden reactor, in 1959, with King Olav attending. The reactor was built from 1955-59 by the Institute for Atomic Energy, now the IFE. PHOTO: Nordby NTB / Scanpix The study, carried out by Norwegian Radiation Protection Authority (NRPA) in cooperation with the Norwegian Pollution Control Authority (SFT), the Norwegian Institute of Public Health (NIPH) and the Cancer Registry of Norway, concluded that residents in the vicinity of the Kjeller reactor were only exposed to small doses of radiation during this time. The report, which comes in the wake of newspaper Romerikes Blad and others questioning a possible link between emissions and local cancer cases, found it unlikely that radiation dosages could have caused cancer. Experts have investigated all available information on the emissions of radioactive material and other toxins, in air and water, during the 50s and 60s. "The exposure appears to have been too low to allow for a connection between the emission of radioactive substances or other environmental toxins and incidences of cancer in the Kjeller area. We are satisfied that we now have an overview of earlier emissions and hope that the study can help reassure local residents that have been concerned," said Per Strand at the NRPA. The NRPA concluded that the contamination by environmental toxins in the Kjeller area does not deviate from the national norm. The Kjeller reactor is part of the Institute for Energy Technology (IFE). The IFE is an independent institution founded in 1948. (Aftenposten English Web Desk/NTB) Publisher: Aftenposten Multimedia A/S, Oslo, Norway. Telephone: +47 - 22 86 30 00. ***************************************************************** 19 Heber Springs Sun-Times: Jerry Jackson: Learning from European neighbors Our capitalistic model in the United States has for the most part been developed from our European heritage, specifically much of it from Great Britain. During the past 50 years many of those same countries have adopted policies and legislation that have pushed many of them close to a socialistic position. One of the saddest examples is Germany where the historic heritage of a great industrial nation has now turned to a non-growth economy with 10% or more unemployment. The unions in Germany have been so powerful that corporations can hardly afford to hire new employees with standard benefits of 6 to 8 weeks vacation, cradle to grave health benefits and other costs that U.S. corporations have yet to consider. If you are unemployed, compensation benefits are extremely generous along with continued health care coverage. The question many jobless Germans ask themselves - "hey man, why should I get a job?" And yet there are certain developments within the European Union that are giving competition to the United States and providing strength for the Euro which is the modern currency of the European Union. An example of this is the launching of the new Airbus which seats 800 plus and is giving considerable competition to Boeing. The Boeing Company has lost ground in recent years partially because of the time and money spent on their internal scandals. Another area where we may indeed learn something from Europe is in the field of nuclear power. According to the January 31 issue of Forbes Magazine, many European countries use nuclear power as their major source. Examples are France 78%, Belgium 55%, and Lithuania 80%. That compares to only 20% in the United States. In our country the nuclear movement is starting again after a quarter century of stagnation. If oil prices stay high, global warming remains an issue, and if the perpetual violence in the Middle East remains, nuclear power has an excellent chance of making a comeback. It is my understanding that many utilities including our own Entergy Company are actually planning new nuclear operations. For the past 20 years or so we have been infatuated with power from the sun and from the wind. The theory sounds wonderful, but so far the practical application of either of these power sources is not promising. Somewhat amusing is the predicament of the environmentalists who have been promoting the giant wind machines whose blades and frames stand many stories high. In California and other areas where they have been installed, these whirling blades have killed numerous eagles, hawks, raptors and even some rare species of birds. It seems now that a great idea is not so great for many of these same over-zealous anti-coal burning activists. For this reason and others the protestors for nuclear power, according to Forbes, are getting quieter and quieter. One of the biggest problems is that fission transforms a small quantity of uranium into extremely dangerous radioactive isotopes. The Energy Department, which is responsible for disposal, has no place to put it. Their plan was to build a repository in Yucca Mountain, Nevada. But after $7 billion and 26 years, the plan is mired in lawsuits. Don't you think we could learn something from our European neighbors about nuclear waste disposal when they manage this problem without having the vast amounts of potential nuclear burying ground that is available to us in the western United States? There is another prospective problem where we may be able to gain valuable knowledge from our European and South American neighbors. This is the issue of private investment accounts and Social Security. President Bush's idea is not revolutionary and certainly not original. According to the January 24th issue of Business Week, at least Britain, Chile, Hungary, Mexico, Poland and Sweden have initiated such programs. So far the Bush administration has chosen not to publicize the details of these programs. Perhaps they will do so in the near future. Interestingly, all these countries except Britain have mandatory policies on investing in private accounts. Our proposed program, like Britain, would have an optional feature. Politically, it may be more difficult to sell a mandatory program, but using the experience of Britain, it may be the way to go. Starting in 1988 Brits have that option, and in general, those retirees with higher incomes and some investing knowledge have successfully tended toward private accounts while those at the lesser end of the economic scale have not participated. The latter group is really the one that needs the benefit of higher returns the most. Britain's legal system has one aspect with so much common sense one wonders what keeps the United States from adopting it. The provision is on frivolous lawsuits where the loser pays all legal fees for both the plaintiff and defendant. This element of tort reform would be refreshing indeed. To summarize: Although we pride ourselves as being the leader of freedom and the capitalistic system, there are signs that this leadership is diminishing. A report by the Heritage Foundation and the Wall Street Journal found that for the first time ever the United States has dropped out of the top 10 freest economies of the world. (Jerry Jackson has lived in Cleburne County for 17 years after spending 30 years in the public accounting industry) [http://www.thesuntimes.com/news/] ][ ***************************************************************** 20 TheDay.com: Activists, Millstone Owner Prepare For Court Battle New London, CT By PATRICIA DADDONA Day Staff Writer, Waterford Published on 2/2/2005 The Connecticut Coalition Against Millstone argues in legal briefs submitted to New Britain Superior Court that the state Siting Council should re-evaluate its decision to allow more spent fuel storage at Millstone Power Station. If Judge George Levine agrees and finds the storage facility poses irreparable harm to the public, Millstone owner Dominion Nuclear Connecticut would not be allowed to load or continue building the garage-sized concrete bunkers slated to be filled with steel casks containing spent fuel. He could then direct the siting council to re-consider the basis for its permit for 49 bunkers and casks. Coalition attorney Paulann Sheets and Dominion attorney Bradford S. Babbitt have filed legal briefs that will serve as the basis for oral arguments before Levine in the court's Division of Tax and Administrative Appeals. A date has not been set for the court appearance. In her brief, Sheets maintains that long-term dry storage of radioactive spent fuel, coupled with the fuel in the pools, constitutes a continuing and urgent danger that the siting council wrongly and unwisely shut its eyes to and failed to fully evaluate. In its decision last May, the state agency refused to examine real or potential radiological and safety risks or potential harm from terrorist attacks on the storage facility, saying those issues are the sole responsibility of the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Spent fuel is currently stored in pools for cooling purposes, a practice that would continue under the permit. A key witness, nuclear expert Gordon Thompson, testified that the siting council should be directed to explore safer, alternate methods of building dry storage than those Dominion is using, like dispersing the bunkers over a wider area and hardening them to make them more impenetrable. In his brief, Babbitt argues that Sheets fails to provide any credible evidence or cogent arguments to support her claims, noting her own witness testified that irreparable harm is unlikely even if construction of the storage facility is stopped. The siting council correctly applied state and federal law when leaving radiological and safety matters to the NRC, the attorney added. 1998-2005 The Day Publishing Co. ***************************************************************** 21 Vermont Guardian: Will nuclear plant guards shoot to kill? February 2, 2005 PHOENIX Armed nuclear plant security guards could be authorized to shoot and kill intruders whom they believe to be threatening the nations largest nuclear power plant under a bill filed in the state legislature, The Arizona Republic reports. The bill would give permission to private security guards to use lethal force to protect the Palo Verde nuclear plant 50 miles west of downtown Phoenix, according to a Jan. 22 report. Were safeguarding against an extremely rare situation, Sen. John Huppenthal, R-Chandler, the main sponsor of the legislation, told the paper. But since the 9/11 terrorist attacks, we have to prepare for the unthinkable. In 2003, Gov. Janet Napolitano sent National Guard troops to the plant after intelligence suggested a possible terrorist plot to attack the facility. Plant officials said that there have been no credible threats against Palo Verde. But they said they need the legislation because the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission expects guards to use lethal force if necessary. New York, New Jersey, and Texas have taken stricter steps to protect nuclear plants, a spokesman for the NRC told the paper. Security guards at nuclear plants across the nation are required to carry weapons but dont have specific legal authority to resort to deadly force, Michael W. Priebe, department leader of security operations at Palo Verde, told the paper. Under current Arizona law, Palo Verde guards have the same rights as other civilians: They can defend themselves when facing imminent danger, but would risk criminal or civil prosecution if they used deadly force and couldnt prove their own lives were in imminent danger. Critics of the legislation say lawmakers would give guards permission to kill trespassers without providing guidelines. The private guards, who are hired by the plant operator, get 12 to 14 weeks of initial training. I understand the motivation, but I want to make sure protesters [who are] merely expressing their views dont get shot, Eleanor Eisenberg, executive director of the Arizona Civil Liberties Union, told the paper. Trespassing isnt a crime punishable by death. She said environmentalists who protest at Palo Verde know they could go to jail, but arent afraid of getting killed. That could change if the legislation becomes law, she added. Chemical levels in water surprise researchers DENVER Detergents, drugs, disinfectants, and other household chemicals are tainting Colorados water, especially in urban areas, according to a U.S. Geological Survey study. The most comprehensive analysis of water quality ever conducted in Colorado, the research involved testing for hundreds of chemicals. None of the concentrations exceed the regulatory limit, but we dont know what the human health impacts are, Lori Sprague, chief author of the study, told the Rocky Mountain News. The findings were unsettling because researchers didnt expect to find so many chemicals in a headwaters state, where the water originates in mountain snow pack and is relatively pristine compared to water in downstream states. Far higher levels of the chemicals were found in water in California, Florida, Ohio, and Louisiana, where rivers have flowed through heavily industrialized areas. The largest number and concentration of chemicals were found in urban areas, including in the South Platte River as it flows through Denver. Contaminants up to 57 of the 62 detected were found in the three sample sites in Denver and four sites near Pueblo on the Arkansas River. Only 10 to 15 percent of the chemicals studied are regulated through federal or state water quality standards, Sprague noted. Posted February 2, 2005 ©2004-2005 Vermont Guardian | info@vermontguardian.com [info@vermontguardian.com] ***************************************************************** 22 NRC: NRC Finalizes 'White' Finding for Vermont Yankee Nuclear Plant over Tone Alert Radios News Release - Region I - 2005-00 U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Office of Public Affairs, Region I No. I-05-006 February 2, 2005 CONTACT: Diane Screnci (610) 337-5330 Neil A. Sheehan (610) 337-5331 E-mail: opa1@nrc.gov [opa1@nrc.gov] The Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff has finalized a white inspection finding for the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant because a portion of the facilitys emergency notification system namely tone alert radios was degraded. Under the NRCs Reactor Oversight Process, such a finding represents an issue of low to moderate safety significance and will most likely result in additional inspections by the agency. The NRC uses a color-coded system to categorize inspection findings. It ranges from green, for a very low safety issue, to red, for a high safety issue. During a review at the Entergy-operated plant in Vernon, Vt., that began on July 26, an NRC inspector determined that Vermont Yankee did not have the means to ensure early notification of an emergency to a portion of the population within the plants 10-mile-radius Emergency Planning Zone (EPZ), as required by the facilitys emergency plan. Specifically, it was determined that Entergy could not ensure that there was proper distribution and maintenance of tone alert radios that would be used to alert individuals in portions of the EPZ who would not hear sirens due to the terrain. On Nov. 12, Entergy was notified that the finding had been preliminarily classified as white and was offered an opportunity to request a regulatory conference to discuss the matter or to explain its position in writing. Entergy opted to provide a written reply, which was submitted on Dec. 15. In the response, Entergy acknowledged that sirens and tone alert radios are the two primary means it uses to notify those living within the EPZ of an emergency. It also concurred with the NRCs assessment that Vermont Yankee did not provide adequate and active measures to ensure proper distribution of the tone alert radios. However, the company also stated its belief that the safety significance of the condition was substantially mitigated by the fact that there are other means of notification available, including radio and TV broadcasts, the use of automatic telephone dialing/notification systems, pagers and cell phones. The NRC recognizes that some of the individuals who were not issued tone alert radios may be notified via other various informal and unplanned methods, NRC Region I Administrator Samuel J. Collins wrote in a letter to Entergy regarding the finalized enforcement action. However, as described in your response dated December 15, 2004, you do not take credit for these other methods of notification in your Alert and Notification System design. Therefore, the NRC cannot assume that these methods would be successful. Entergy has implemented appropriate compensatory measures and therefore the finding does not present an immediate safety concern. In addition, it is continuing with long-term corrective measures. The company has 30 days to respond to the finalized inspection finding. Last revised Wednesday, February 02, 2005 ***************************************************************** 23 NRC: NRC Seeks Public Comment on Revised Guidelines for Nuclear Power Plant License Renewal Applications News Release - 2005-01 U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Office of Public Affairs Telephone: 301/415-8200 Washington, DC 20555-0001 E-mail: opa@nrc.gov No. 05-018 February 1, 2005 The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is seeking public comment on three draft documents containing guidance for nuclear power plant licensees in submitting applications to the agency for renewal of plant operating licenses. The draft documents are intended to apply lessons learned from earlier license renewal reviews and analyses of the effects of aging on plant systems, and to clarify the agencys expectations regarding information to be submitted in renewal applications. The NRC staff will hold a public workshop March 2 at NRC headquarters in Rockville, Md., to discuss the draft documents and receive additional public comment. The draft documents are 1) Draft Regulatory Guide 1140, Standard Format and Content for Applications to Renew Nuclear Power Plant Operating Licenses; 2) a revision of NUREG-1800, Standard Review Plan for the Review of License Renewal Applications for Nuclear Power Plants; and 3) a revision of NUREG-1801, Generic Aging Lessons Learned (GALL) Report. The documents are available on the NRCs Web site at this address: http://www.nrc.gov/reactors/operating/licensing/renewal/guidance/ updated-guidance.html. The public workshop will be held March 2, from 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., in the Commissioners Conference Room (O-1F16) at NRC Headquarters, One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Md. Members of the public are invited to attend and participate throughout the workshop. Public comments will be accepted through March 30 and should be addressed to Chief, Rules and Directives Branch, Division of Administrative Services, Office of Administration, Mailstop T-6D59, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, D.C. 20555-0001. Comments may also be submitted by e-mail to NRCREP@nrc.gov [NRCREP@nrc.gov] . Last revised Wednesday, February 02, 2005 ***************************************************************** 24 NRC: Draft Regulatory Guide: Issuance, Availability Public Workshop FR Doc 05-2025 [Federal Register: February 2, 2005 (Volume 70, Number 21)] [Notices] [Page 5494-5496] From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr02fe05-121] The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has issued for public comment a draft revision to an existing guide in the agency's Regulatory Guide Series. This series has been developed to describe and make available to the public such information as methods that are acceptable to the NRC staff for implementing specific parts of the NRC's regulations, techniques that the staff uses in evaluating specific problems or postulated accidents, and data that the staff needs in its review of applications for permits and licenses. [[Page 5495]] The draft Revision 1 of Regulatory Guide 1.188, entitled ``Standard Format and Content for Applications To Renew Nuclear Power Plant Operating Licenses,'' is temporarily identified by its task number, DG- 1140, which should be mentioned in all related correspondence. Like its predecessor, the proposed revision describes a method that the NRC staff finds acceptable for complying with the NRC's regulatory requirements in title 10, part 54, of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR part 54), ``Requirements for Renewal of Operating Licenses for Nuclear Power Plants'' (commonly known as the license renewal rule). Specifically, 10 CFR part 54 specifies the information that a nuclear power plant licensee must include in its application to renew an operating license issued by the NRC. The NRC initially issued this guide as Regulatory Guide 1.188, dated July 2001, after soliciting and resolving public comments on three draft regulatory guides (DG-1104 in August 2000, DG-1047 in August 1996, and DG-1009 in December 1990). As such, Regulatory Guide 1.188 incorporated lessons learned from the review of license renewal applications and Owners Group topical report reviews. The guide also incorporated relevant information gleaned from developing the ``Standard Review Plan for the Review of License Renewal Applications for Nuclear Power Plants'' (NUREG-1800),\1\ and the ``Generic Aging Lessons Learned (GALL) Report'' (NUREG-1801), as well as public comments received on those documents. (The staff summarized those comments in NUREG-1739, ``Analysis of Public Comments on the Improved License Renewal Guidance Documents.'' ) ----------------------------------------------------------------- ---------- \1\ Copies are available at current rates from the U.S. Government Printing Office, P.O. Box 37082, Washington, DC 20402- 9328 (telephone (202) 512-1800); or from the National Technical Information Service (NTIS) by writing NTIS at 5285 Port Royal Road, Springfield, VA 22161; http://www.ntis.gov [http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/leaving.cgi?from=leaving FR.html&log=linklog&to=http://www.ntis.gov] ; telephone (703) 487- 4650. Copies are available for inspection or copying for a fee from the NRC's Public Document Room at 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD; the PDR's mailing address is USNRC PDR, Washington, DC 20555; telephone (301) 415-4737 or (800) 397-4209; fax (301) 415-3548; e- mail is PDR@nrc.gov [PDR@nrc.gov] . These documents are also available electronically through the NRC's public Web site at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/nuregs/staff/ [http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/leaving.cgi?from=leaving FR.html&log=linklog&to=http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collecti ons/nuregs/staff/] . ----------------------------------------------------------------- ---------- Since the NRC initially published Regulatory Guide 1.188, the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) has developed Revision 5 of NEI 95-10, ``Industry Guideline for Implementing the Requirements of 10 CFR part 54--The License Renewal Rule,'' dated January 2005.\2\ The NRC staff has reviewed that document and found that, with the exceptions discussed in Section C, ``Regulatory Position,'' of Draft Regulatory Guide DG-1140, Revision 5 of NEI 95-10 provides guidance that the staff considers acceptable for use in implementing the license renewal rule. ----------------------------------------------------------------- ---------- \2\ Copies are available for inspection or copying for a fee from the NRC's Public Document Room at 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD; the PDR's mailing address is USNRC PDR, Washington, DC 20555; telephone (301) 415-4737 or (800) 397-4209; fax (301) 415- 3548; e-mail PDR@nrc.gov [PDR@nrc.gov] . This document is also available through the NRC's license renewal Web page at http://www.nrc.gov/reactors/operating/licensing/renewal/guidance. html#nuclear [http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/leaving.cgi?from=leaving FR.html&log=linklog&to=http://www.nrc.gov/reactors/operating/lice nsing/renewal/guidance.html#nuclear] , and through the NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS) at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html [http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/leaving.cgi?from=leaving FR.html&log=linklog&to=http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html] , under Accession No. ML050280113. Note, however, that the NRC has temporarily suspended public access to ADAMS so that the agency can complete security reviews of publicly available documents and remove potentially sensitive information. Please check the NRC's Web site for updates concerning the resumption of public access to ADAMS. ----------------------------------------------------------------- ---------- The NRC staff is soliciting stakeholder comments on Draft Regulatory Guide DG-1140 and/or Revision 5 of NEI 95-10, and specifically on any inconsistency or incompatibility between the guidance in these documents and the NRC guidance set forth in NUREG- 1800 and NUREG-1801. Toward that end, the NRC is also announcing a public workshop to gather public comments on the revised documents. The workshop is scheduled for March 2, 2005, and will be held in the Commissions' Hearing Room, Room O-1G16, at the NRC's headquarters in Rockville, Maryland. For further details and the workshop agenda, see the related meeting notice, which will be available on the NRC's public Web site at http://www.nrc.gov/public-involve/public-meetings/meeting-schedul e.html [http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/leaving.cgi?from=leaving FR.html&log=linklog&to=http://www.nrc.gov/public-involve/public-m eetings/meeting-schedule.html] . The NRC staff anticipates that the workshop will give participants an opportunity to ask questions, obtain further information, offer comments and opinions, and otherwise facilitate the formulation and preparation of written comments for NRC staff consideration of the revised license renewal guidance documents. To ensure that the staff records all stakeholder input, the proceedings of the workshop will be transcribed and the NRC staff will prepare a summary report to categorize the comments. Comments on Draft Regulatory Guide DG-1140 and/or Revision 5 of NEI 95-10 may be submitted in writing or in electronic form. Please mention DG-1140 in the subject line of your comments. All comments should include supporting justification in enough detail for the NRC staff to evaluate the need for changes in the guidance, as well as references to the operating experience, industry standards, or other relevant reference materials that provide a sound technical basis for such changes. Editorial and style comments are not necessary because the NRC staff anticipates the need to edit and reformat the guidance documents before issuing them in final form. Comments Draft Regulatory Guide DG-1140 and/or Revision 5 of NEI 95-10 will be made available to the public in their entirety in the NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS). Personal information will not be removed from your comments. You may submit comments by any of the following methods. Mail comments to: Rules and Directives Branch, Office of Administration, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001. E-mail comments to: NRCREP@nrc.gov [NRCREP@nrc.gov] . You may also submit comments via the NRC's rulemaking Web site at http://ruleforum.llnl.gov [http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/leaving.cgi?from=leaving FR.html&log=linklog&to=http://ruleforum.llnl.gov] . Address questions about our rulemaking Web site to Carol A. Gallagher (301) 415-5905; e-mail CAG@nrc.gov [CAG@nrc.gov] . Hand-deliver comments to: Rules and Directives Branch, Office of Administration, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852, between 7:30 a.m. and 4:15 p.m. on Federal workdays. Fax comments to: Rules and Directives Branch, Office of Administration, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission at (301) 415-5144. Requests for technical information about Draft Regulatory Guide DG- 1140 may be directed to Mr. M.P. Lintz, at (301) 415-4051 or via e-mail to MPL2@nrc.gov [MPL2@nrc.gov] . Comments would be most helpful if received by March 31, 2005. Comments received after this date will be considered if it is practical to do so, but the NRC is able to ensure consideration only for comments received on or before this date. Although a time limit is given, comments and suggestions in connection with items for inclusion in guides currently being developed or improvements in all published guides are encouraged at any time. Electronic copies of the draft regulatory guide are available through the NRC's public Web site under Draft Regulatory Guides in the Regulatory Guides document collection of the NRC's Electronic Reading Room at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/ [http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/leaving.cgi?from=leaving FR.html&log=linklog&to=http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collecti ons/] . Electronic copies are also available in the NRC's Agencywide [[Page 5496]] Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS) at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html [http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/leaving.cgi?from=leaving FR.html&log=linklog&to=http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html] , under Accession ML050230010. Note, however, that the NRC has temporarily suspended public access to ADAMS so that the agency can complete security reviews of publicly available documents and remove potentially sensitive information. Please check the NRC's Web site for updates concerning the resumption of public access to ADAMS. In addition, regulatory guides are available for inspection at the NRC's Public Document Room (PDR), which is located at 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland; the PDR's mailing address is USNRC PDR, Washington, DC 20555-0001. The PDR can also be reached by telephone at (301) 415-4737 or (800) 397-4205, by fax at (301) 415-3548; and by e- mail to PDR@nrc.gov [PDR@nrc.gov] . Requests for single copies of draft or final guides (which may be reproduced) or for placement on an automatic distribution list for single copies of future draft guides in specific divisions should be made in writing to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, Attention: Reproduction and Distribution Services Section; by e-mail to DISTRIBUTION@nrc.gov [DISTRIBUTION@nrc.gov] ; or by fax to (301) 415-2289. Telephone requests cannot be accommodated. Regulatory guides are not copyrighted, and Commission approval is not required to reproduce them. (5 U.S.C. 552(a)) Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 28th day of January, 2005. For the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Gina F. Thompson, Acting Director, Program Management, Policy Development and Analysis Staff, Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research. [FR Doc. 05-2025 Filed 2-1-05; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590-01-P ***************************************************************** 25 www.peaceinspace.com The Real Agenda Date: Wed, 02 Feb 2005 14:47:33 -0800 The real agenda of peaceinspace.com, aka, Institute for Cooperation in Space. Carol Rosin's letter to the late Susan Lee Solar advocating a "peaceful" presence in space. Notice the letter is carried on Russell Hoffman's page. http://www.animatedsoftware.com/cassini/cr9902we.htm ALL WE HAVE TO TO IS TO RECOGNIZE THE GOOD IN THE MILTARY, THE GOOD IN THE INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX...AND FOCUS OUR ATTENTION AND THEIRS ON HOW WE CAN CONTINUE TO MOVE INTO A DIRECTION THAT BRINGS THE WORLD'S R&D PROGRAMS FORWARD WITH THE INTENTION OF LIVING IN A NEW WAY...ON EARTH AND IN SPACE...BROUGH TO US BY THE NATURE OF OUR WORKING INCLUSIVELY TOGETHER ON EARTH MIDST OUR R&D TO TRAVEL, TO LIVE AND TO WORK IN THE SPACE FRONTIER. Whether we like it or not, and some still think we should not go into space or even have technolgy at all, we are there and are going to be there. Whether we like it or not, the military controls about 3/4 of what is in space. (Mostly we hear about the civilian and commercial space ventures...but these are all inexoribly linked to the military uses of space...though you probably haven't heard about that.) ***************************************************************** 26 [DU-WATCH] Heads Roll At The VA over DU Date: Wed, 2 Feb 2005 00:08:11 -0600 (CST) http://www.axisoflogic.com/artman/publish/article_15334.shtml From AxisofLogic.com U.S. Military Heads Roll At The Veterans Administration: Mushrooming Depleted Uranium (DU) Scandal Blamed By Bob Nichols, Project Censored Award Winner Jan 28, 2005, 10:42 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. Writing in the Preventive Psychiatry E-Newsletter # 169, Arthur N. Bernklau, Executive Director of the Veterans For Constitutional Law Center in New York, stated that "The real reason for Mr. Principis departure was really never given, however a special report published by eminent scientist Leuren Morets 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 that "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. (Authors 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 Morets 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 for 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 from the VA. Notes: 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, 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 Gary Kohls at in Deluth gkohls@cpinternet.com with "Subscribe" in the "Subject:" line. ***************************************************************** 27 [DU-WATCH] 1955 Cold Cream Commercial Irradiated Woman Date: Wed, 2 Feb 2005 00:51:40 -0600 (CST) Gad! Look at this time capsule. Only thing is: it is the same thinking at DOE. Regards, Bob ________________________________________________ Dorothy Gray Cold Cream Commercial - 1955: Introduction as found at: http://www.jengajam.com/r/odd-old-commercials: http://www.tvparty.com/commercials/dorothygray.ram "Maybe the most outrageous commercial ever filmed. It's bad enough to find out the government was doing Atomic tests on people, now we find out Madison Avenue was doing them too! As the commercial begins, our model is prancing around downtown in a fur coat, completely self-involved and checking her make-up because there are so many shops to go to. Later, in order to prove the cleansing power of Dorothy Gray Salon Cold Cream, her face is actually covered in radioactive dirt - verified with a Geiger counter. Now that the woman's skin is fully radioactive, simply clean with Dorothy Gray, and Voila! - the Geiger counter proves it, Dorothy Gray cleans better! I'd love to know what happened to the poor woman's face!" ------------------------------------- Sandy Perle Senior Vice President, Technical Operations Global Dosimetry Solutions, Inc. 2652 McGaw Avenue Irvine, CA 92614 Tel: (949) 296-2306 / (888) 437-1714 Extension 2306 Fax:(949) 296-1902 E-Mail: sperle@dosimetry.com E-Mail: sandyfl@earthlink.net Global Dosimetry Website: http://www.dosimetry.com/ Personal Website: http://sandy-travels.com/ [Brought to you by HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK] ***************************************************************** 28 The Australian: Teens in toxic dust link [February 03, 2005] THE number of military personnel exposed to toxic beryllium dust continues to grow, with the revelation yesterday that navy cadets aged 14 and 15 may have been poisoned while training at Sydney's Garden Island base. Navy cadets from around NSW attending a training camp on HMAS Supply in the early 1970s used jason pistols to remove rusting paint from the ship, The Daily Telegraph has learned. Tim Donovan from Newcastle, on the NSW central coast, was only a boy when he mucked in on the ship. "We were all about 14 or 15-years-old," he said. "They had cadets from all over the state come to Garden Island. We stayed for two weeks on HMAS Supply." Mr Donovan said he was surprised to learn that the jason pistols used a toxic metal. "Everyone had goes using jason pistols. We called them needle guns and we were in there chipping away," he said. "We used them for chipping the paint. We were just doing training, we weren't in the navy or anything," he said. Mr Donovan said the cadets spent "quite a bit of time on them". "There were a couple of days within the two weeks using jason guns," he said. "We didn't have any protective equipment. I can't remember what the conditions were like. We were just doing what we were told. But I remember it was a big exercise," he said. Mr Donovan, 46, said he was feeling fairly fit and didn't have any immediate health problems but wondered why no one was ever told about beryllium exposure. "We were just kids at the time. We were just doing training," he said. "It wasn't as if it was our job or anything. We had no idea about what we were using." The Department of Defence has admitted beryllium use was not confined to jason pistols and navy personnel. It has conceded beryllium use pervaded the entire defence force. "It's all areas: navy, RAAF and army. It's a Defence-wide issue," a spokesman said yesterday. privacy terms © The Australian ***************************************************************** 29 Greenwire: OSHA defends its beryllium standard Tuesday, February 01, 2005 TOXICS Occupational Safety and Health Administration head Jonathan Snare said last week that it is impossible to tell whether any of the agency's employees have tested positive for beryllium exposure because all 301 OSHA inspectors have not yet been evaluated. He added that the agency is asking the small-business community for its opinion on changing beryllium standards. Snare's comment came in response to news reports that indicated three OSHA employees have tested positive for blood abnormalities linked to chronic beryllium disease since OSHA began testing employees for beryllium exposure last year. According to former OSHA employee Adam Finkel, the agency has downplayed the risk of the exposure to the metal, which critics have said could be potentially lethal. Finkel filed a whistleblower complaint that alleged he was transferred because he advocated a beryllium safety plan that other OSHA officials did not want to implement. The affected employees are thought to have been exposed to the beryllium -- a lightweight metal that can cause lung disease through exposure to its dust -- while conducting safety inspections at facilities that use the metal. According to OSHA records, nearly 1,000 employees have conducted inspections at sites with high levels of beryllium dust. OSHA studies indicate that between 2 and 15 percent of workers exposed to beryllium during the manufacturing process are likely to get the disease. The 1971 OSHA standard, which remains today, is for a maximum exposure level of 2 micrograms per cubic meter of air over an eight-hour period. In 1999, the Energy Department raised its beryllium standard to 0.2 micrograms per cubic meter of air. It was then that Finkel recommended a new OSHA standard to protect the agency's inspectors. "It's analogous to sending a kid with peanut allergy into the Jiffy factory," he said. Industry officials said that while they support beryllium exposure research, there is not a link between the chemical and cancer. "Brush Wellman has had employees diagnosed with sub-clinical chronic beryllium disease who run marathons and climb mountains," said the head of Brush Wellman Inc. OSHA "is in some kind of grand denial of the problem that extends to its own workers," said Peter Lurie of Public Citizen's Health Research Group. "Because they have not protected workers, they have put their own employees at risk (Cindy Skrzycki, Washington Post, Feb. 1 ***************************************************************** 30 Deseret news: Utah to ban B and C nuclear waste [deseretnews.com] Wednesday, February 2, 2005 New Envirocare chief leads charge to keep material out of state By Joe Bauman Deseret Morning News The state of Utah posted a huge sign on its border Tuesday: No B and C wastes. Envirocare's Steve Creamer speaks at news conference Tuesday with Fraser Bullock, left, and Lance Hirt. Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret Morning News Legislation spelling out the ban hasn't actually been approved by state lawmakers — yet. But it appears the radioactive material will not be allowed to reach disposal sites in the state. Leading the charge was Steve Creamer, one of the new owners of Envirocare of Utah, the state's only licensed disposal facility for such wastes. The purchase by Creamer and others was finalized Monday night. The company will continue to accept the lower-level Class A waste at its site near Clive, Tooele County. "It's a very personal commitment to me on B and C wastes," said Creamer. "So you understand, I grew up in southern Utah. And there's not too many people who remember the green clouds of the 1950s, but I do." The clouds were radioactive dust lofted into the atmosphere by atomic bombs detonated above ground at the nearby Nevada Test Site. The clouds drifted into Utah and exposed thousands of residents to radiation. Decades later, a federal judge ruled the exposure caused cancer among downwinders. "My father actually died at my same age, of cancer," Creamer said Tuesday. "We were downwinders growing up in southern Utah." Immediately after the announcements of bipartisan support for a law imposing the ban, substitute language was placed in SB24 to enact the prohibition. A final vote in the Senate on the bill, sponsored by Sen. Curtis Bramble, R-Provo, is expected today. When the logjam broke on the state's biggest, recent environmental debate, it went with a crash. The governor, top officials of both houses of the Legislature from both political parties and Envirocare's new owners, all announced the material should be banned. Among other developments: • Envirocare launched a charitable trust to improve Utah's environment, donating $1 million. Fraser Bullock, who helped run the 2002 Winter Games and presently is the managing director of Sorenson Capital of Lehi, will head the trust. • The new owners announced they had purchased an adjacent site from Cedar Mountain Environmental. The previous owner of that 315-acre site, Charles Judd, had said it might be used for B and C wastes. Envirocare bought the site to block that possibility, said speakers. • Judd faxed a press release to the Deseret Morning News confirming the sale (price not mentioned) and saying Envirocare's purchase "supports the idea that there is a need for additional radioactive waste cell space." He said his company is "currently in the process of securing other sites . . . both inside and outside the state of Utah." Creamer dramatized Envirocare's current position during a news conference Tuesday in the Marriott City Center. He handed Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. a letter officially ending the company's earlier pursuit of B and C wastes. Because Envirocare had a license pending to import B and C waste, lawmakers expressed concerns about a lawsuit should they enact a ban. Now that possibility is gone. Envirocare was purchased by a private investor group led by Lindsay Goldberg &Peterson Partners, New York City. Besides Creamer Investment, another local investor is Peterson Partners, 299 S. Main. The price of buying the company from founder Khosrow B. Semnani was not released. Huntsman and the buyers made it clear the new owners had taken a stance against B and C wastes since long before the sale was completed. "Since November, as Fraser mentioned, I've been briefed a couple of times on the potential sale of Envirocare," the governor said. While he wasn't involved with details of the transaction, "I was always assured that the new ownership intended to withdraw the B and C license. Deseret Morning News graphic "This is an important date for Utah, and I hope we all realize this. We are one step closer to banning the licensing and importation of B and C wastes." Lance L. Hirt, partner in the Lindsay Goldberg firm, insisted Envirocare will do well without resorting to the B and C market. "We would not be investing if we did not think this is a solid business with a nice future in terms of returns on our investment," he said. Not pursuing B and C "really is the right thing to do for the state of Utah," he said. That sentiment was repeated by Sen. John Valentine, R-Orem, president of the Senate, who said 22 of the 29 senators had already signed on as co-sponsors of the new language in SB24; and by Speaker of the House Greg Curtis, R-Sandy; Sen. Mike Dmitrich, D-Price, the Senate minority leader; and Rep. Ralph Becker, D-Salt Lake, the House minority leader. Grilled about what Envirocare will ask in exchange for abandoning the push for B and C wastes, Creamer replied, "Not a thing. . . . We're not going to be back asking for anything else. We're happy." Asked what he would say to skeptics, he replied, "Watch. We will work every day to gain the trust of the people. We feel it's very important." Jason Groenewold, an anti-nuclear activist who kept up a drumbeat of demands for banning B and C wastes, said he was cautiously optimistic with the developments. "The proof is in the pudding," said Groenewold, director of the Healthy Environment Alliance of Utah. "We have four weeks of an intense legislative session to make sure that a statutory ban is formalized by the Legislature and governor." Contributing: Lisa Riley Roche E-mail: bau@desnews.com [bau@desnews.com] © 2005 Deseret News Publishing Company ***************************************************************** 31 Bradenton Herald: County OKs Tallevast overlay 02/02/2005 | DONNA WRIGHT Herald Staff Writer A plan to help prevent future construction from spreading toxic pollution in the Tallevast area was approved by Manatee County Commissioners on Tuesday. But the board refused to move forward on Tallevast leaders' demands for immediate relocation, upon the advice of county attorneys. Commissioners agreed Tuesday to create an overlay district for Tallevast that will mandate additional requirements on new building permits. The goal is to make sure new construction does not open new pathways of exposure from an underground plume of contamination that has been traced back to the now-defunct Loral American Beryllium Co. The overlay district will prohibit any new drilling of potable or irrigation wells. Applications for swimming pools, deep foundation footers and other types of building permits will undergo a special review by county staff. The boundaries of the overlay will be determined by the latest data on the size of the plume plus a buffer zone of 500 feet to create a margin of safety, said Karen Collins-Fleming, director of the county's Environmental Management Department, said. All parcels of land touched by the boundary will be added to the overlay, Collins-Fleming said. She hopes to deliver a draft ordinance to the commission in March when hearings will be held for citizen comment. The vote in favor of the overlay was unanimous. Drilling a risk? Family Community United Strong or FOCUS, a group representing Tallevast residents demanded immediate relocation in a Jan. 6th letter to county administrator Ernie Padgett. Ongoing drilling to determine the extent of a plume has created an imminent health risk, the letter said. But assistant county attorney William Clague said the county has no legal or regulatory authority to deal with the relocation issue. Nor does the county bear legal responsibility for the pollution that has occurred. Lockheed responsible That responsibility, Clague said, falls to Lockheed Martin Corp., which owned the old beryllium plant when the contamination was found, and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, which has regulatory authority over the assessment and clean-up of the toxic waste site. "If the county were to take on the responsibility of relocation, it would assume the duty to do it right," Clague said. "If a mistake were to happen, the county could be liable." Data collected so far does not support Tallevast residents' claim of an imminent risk to health, according to representatives from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, the Florida Department of Health and Manatee County Health Department, who made presentations to the board. But all of those representatives cautioned that their assessments were made prior to analyzing the latest data from Lockheed Martin. Lockheed delivered that foot-thick report to county and state officials Tuesday. Gail Rymer, spokeswoman for Lockheed, told the commission that none of the data gathered in recent drilling, soil samples and air samples indicate an imminent health risk. While the county does not have a legal obligation or authority to help Tallevast residents, it does have a moral responsibility to protect residents by making sure all entities do their part, said Chairman Ron Getman. "We want to help all we can," said Padgett late Tuesday afternoon. "But we can only go on what the experts tell us. To do anything else is to have no basis for doing it." FOCUS leaders passed up the invitation to speak at Tuesday's meeting, but afterward said the county is falling short of fulfilling that moral obligation. "What we are saying," said Dr. Billy Ward, "is why not treat this as a worse case scenario. You don't have the data to prove that it isn't." Padgett was disappointed by residents' silence during the meeting. "The whole reason for this was to get information out and to answer questions," Padgett said. Illnesses unaddressed Ward was concerned that none of the data presented Tuesday addressed the fact that people were made ill during the recent drilling. All the data used to assess health risk came before the last cycles of drilling occurred, he said. Dr. Gladys Branic, director of Manatee County Health Department, admitted after the meeting that she did not have all of the data needed to fully answer the question of an imminent health risk. "We only know that the data we have do not indicate that health risk exists," she said. Branic told Ward that FOCUS missed its opportunity to gather that data by not alerting her to their concerns at the time the drilling was occurring. "If only you had called us, we could have investigated the complaint," Branic told Ward. Ward and Lewis Pryor, also a member of FOCUS member questioned whether health officials are collecting the right data. They want Branic and state health officials to research the cumulative effect toxic exposure has had on residents as well as the health risk posed by the combination of several known carcinogens found in Tallevast water and soil. The commission's lack of action on the relocation request angered Lillian Grandson, who grew up in Tallevast but moved away several years ago. Grandson is not a member of FOCUS, but she still owns property in the small historical village. "Why would the county trust the company responsible for the damage to do the testing?" said Grandson. "That's like asking the fox to measure the damage to the hen house after the attack." Donna Wright, health and social services reporter, can be reached at 745-7049 or at dwright@HeraldToday.com [dwright@HeraldToday.com] . \ ***************************************************************** 32 Bradenton Herald: Tallevast's toxic plume gets bigger | 02/02/2005 | SCOTT RADWAY Herald Staff Writer TALLEVAST - Groundwater contamination from the old American Beryllium plant has spread across 50 acres in this small community. That area is double the size of the most recent estimate of the plume, according to a report released Tuesday. "We were originally told the plume was contained to the (plant) site and had seeped off-site just a bit," said Laura Ward, president of the Tallevast community group FOCUS. "And look at where they report put it today," she said. It was in late 2003 that residents here were told not to worry, the cancer-causing solvents from the old plant had remained mostly on site. The old plant sits like a hub of a wheel with spokes of homes running out in nearly every direction. But experts said only a few properties adjacent to the plant might be impacted, if any. Then in 2004, state tests showed the plume was three times larger and some resident wells were contaminated. The report released Tuesday aims to finally map the plume, except for three remaining edges. Lockheed Martin, which is responsible for cleaning up the contamination, prepared the report as part of a state consent order. The deadline for the report was Tuesday. "I think we were all surprised the plume got as far as it did," said Gail Rymer, spokeswoman for Lockheed. "But now we know what we are dealing with and we can move very quickly to the (clean-up) phase." Lockheed did not include a map of the plume with its report. Once the final three areas of contamination are plotted a map will be prepared, officials said. Rymer explained that this round of tests was aimed primarily at determining the exact area of the contamination so it could be remediated. If the Florida Department of Environmental Protection reviews and approves the report, Lockheed can begin hammering out the clean-up plan. Lockheed would have 45 days to offer a plan and then another 15 days to finalize it, said DEP Tallevast project manager William Kutash. Rymer said some drilling continues in three areas of Tallevast where the last three edges of the plume need to be defined. Those areas - one northeast in a wooded area, one southwest on a golf course, and one southeast on farmland - still show small traces of contaminants and Lockheed will stop drilling only when no traces are found, she said. The report on that work is expected to be sent to the DEP in early March. But a clean-up plan can be developed when DEP approves Tuesday's report, she said. Kutash said a review usually takes 30 days, but this one will be expedited. Rymer said even though the plume is larger, Lockheed believes no one in the community is still at risk to exposure. In May of 2004, the remaining residents using wells for drinking water were put on county water. The plume runs out about 500 feet north of the plant on Tallevast Road, about 2,000 feet east, 1,000 feet west and 1,500 feet south of the site, Rymer said. A half mile is 2,640 feet. County health officials said they could not comment on the report - which runs to more than 2,000 pages - until they had time to review it. County health officials have said on several occasions that drinking water wells in a half-mile radius around the plant were tested in 2004 to ensure no one was being exposed to contamination in the area. Tim Varney, a health and environmental consultant for Tallevast residents, said once the report is reviewed, it can help the state ensure a cleanup is done properly and it can help county officials study what the health impact on the community has been. "But there is an awful lot of work that has been done and it will take a while to review it," Varney said. Manatee County was also awaiting the report to help it design an overlay district for Tallevast that could potentially require builders to take special care because of the contamination. The county also needs the data to evaluate a planned road widening project for Tallevast. County planners and commissioners received copies Tuesday as well. The main contaminant being tracked is trichloroethylene, or TCE. Drinking or breathing high levels of TCE may cause damage to the nervous system, damage to the liver and lungs, abnormal heart beat, coma and possible death, according to the federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, a division of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. Lockheed has spent $3 million so far testing for it, Rymer said. TCE was found in highest concentration near the plant site and then its levels tapper off. TCE is heavier than water and generally sinks until it hits an impermeable layer then moves horizontally, unless it finds a passageway to go deeper. Rymer said the TCE is generally contained to the upper aquifer which runs down to about 30 to 40 feet where often clay layers prevent it from sinking further. The TCE in the upper aquifer was generally found at 20 feet or deeper because of its weight. In some areas closer to the source, TCE was found deeper in the water table, going as deep as 278 feet in one site. In what is called the intermediate aquifer, Rymer said the majority of the contamination went down to 150 feet. The deepest aquifer, called the Floridan aquifer, starts at about 300 feet and the contamination is not believed to have penetrated that layer. As part of the report, Lockheed also did extensive soil testing. The report summary noted that sampling found low-levels of such things as arsenic in some samples. But Rymer said those levels did not present a health risk to residents. "The levels are typical of what you would find in any developed area," Rymer said. Scott Radway, environmental reporter, can be reached at 708-7919 or at [sradway@HeraldToday.com] . ***************************************************************** 33 Craig Daily Press: County will set standards for dump www.craigdailypress.com By Rob Gebhart Wednesday, February 2, 2005 Some Moffat County residents are worried that a uranium tailings dump could harm the county's air and water. The Moffat County commissioners met with the county's chief medical officer, Dr. Thomas Told, to begin developing criteria for the conditional-use permit, for which the dump's developer eventually will need to apply. The commissioners' chambers were packed for the discussion. "My knee jerk reaction is I don't want to accept the lowest federal standard," Told said. Jim Ross, owner of Intermountain Realty, has proposed creating a uranium tailings dump near Maybell. Although the site must conform to federal and state regulations, commissioners will need to approve a conditional use permit for the dump. The commissioners made no decisions about requirements for the dump at Tuesday's meeting. Rather, they instructed Told to begin researching hazardous waste disposal regulations. Some audience members voiced concerns that prevailing westerly winds would blow contaminated air from the dump site to the eastern parts of Moffat County. Audience members also asked how the dump would affect water. "We're going to crap up this whole area if we don't have stringent standards," George Barrie said. Barrie became sick from inhaling uranium-contaminated air while working at the Rocky Flats nuclear weapons facility. Rocky Flats was a highly regulated federal facility, and workers still became sick, Barrie said. Just because the dump would be regulated doesn't ensure public safety, he said. Barrie and many of the other audience members oppose the dump. "I would just like to be sure the inventory and data gathering includes the entire environment. I believe wildlife can be affected by these dumps, and that should be looked at very closely," Moffat County resident Rick Hammel said. Moffat County Planning Director Sue Graler said the public would have multiple opportunities to provide comments about the dump before commissioners vote on the conditional use permit. The commissioners discussed developing a policy that would set standards for hazardous waste disposal. Public hearings would be held before standards are adopted, Commissioner Darryl Steele said. Graler plans to investigate "1041 Powers," which the county could assert to legally strengthen federal or state standards for the dump. Ross has estimated it could be two to three years before he's ready to file the documents necessary to receive approval for the dump. More in Front page stories More in Area news Copyright © 2005 The Craig Daily Press. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 34 Las Vegas RJ: Berkley revives bill to divert Yucca money Wednesday, February 02, 2005 STEPHENS WASHINGTON BUREAU WASHINGTON -- A bill that would block further spending on Yucca Mountain while encouraging nuclear utilities to store radioactive spent fuel at their power plants was reintroduced Tuesday in Congress. Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., revived a bill that would divert money being collected from utility ratepayers to build a nuclear waste repository in Nevada. Instead, funds would be directed toward researching advanced nuclear waste technology and storage of spent fuel in hardened casks at nuclear reactors. About two dozen nuclear power plants have built "dry cask" nuclear waste storage, and the Nuclear Energy Institute has estimated that 83 of 103 active plants will have dry cask storage by 2050. Berkley introduced her bill twice before, but it received little attention. She said Tuesday she was encouraged by a news report this week that industry officials may be considering more on-site storage as delays mount for the Yucca Mountain Project, 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas. "There is an indication (the industry) is starting to look at other alternatives," Berkley said. "So I want to give them an alternative." Copyright Las Vegas Review-Journal ***************************************************************** 35 Salt Lake Tribune - Opinion: Don't bring it on Article Last Updated: 02/01/2005 11:53:38 PM Kudos to Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr., U.S. Sen. Bob Bennett and U.S. Rep. Jim Matheson (Tribune, Jan. 28) for not waiting to stand up for Utah not becoming the nation's toxic waste dump. Utah appears to be on the never-ending short list of places to dump chemical and nuclear wastes. Utah has been burning 43 percent of the stored U.S. chemical weapons at the Tooele incinerator site for the past nine years. Now, we are No. 1 on the list for transporting WMD from other states to be burned at the Tooele incinerator. Because Utah citizens voted 70 percent to support the war president, are we now asked to “walk the talk,” or rather, “tote the vote?” Is it downwind again for Utah? No, don't bring it on. Rosemary A. Holt Salt Lake City © Copyright 2005, The Salt Lake Tribune. ***************************************************************** 36 Salt Lake Tribune: Hot waste not welcome Last Updated: 02/02/2005 10:04:41 AM Envirocare: New owners give up a permit for more radioactive material at Tooele landfill By Patty Henetz The Salt Lake Tribune Barrels of hazardous waste wait to be disposed of in the Envirocare nuclear waste facility in Tooele County. (Steve Griffin/Tribune file photo ) Envirocare of Utah's new owners Tuesday asked the state to rescind the Tooele County landfill's permit to accept waste up to thousands of times more radioactive than what is allowed now, and they promised to support a proposed ban on such material. Steve Creamer, Envirocare's new chief executive, during an afternoon news conference handed a letter to Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. that he said contained the request to extinguish the permit for so-called Class B and C waste. The action came as the new owners announced their purchase of Envirocare had closed Monday night and ended months of speculation about whether they would seek radioactive waste hotter than the Class A they are now allowed to accept. The question was crucial to lawmakers considering whether to advance bills to ban the hotter waste - and to Huntsman, whose campaign vow to keep the waste out of the state led him to return contributions Creamer made to his campaign and inaugural committees. Creamer is backed by the New York investment firm Lindsay Goldberg &Bessemer, the majority owner, and Salt Lake City-based Peterson Partners, headed by Joel Peterson. Former owner Khosrow Semnani, who started the successful business 17 years ago, announced the sale in mid-December for an undisclosed sum. Industry observers have guessed Envirocare sold for at least $500 million. "This is really a nervous day for me. It's an exciting day," Semnani said during the news conference. He thanked his employees, family and "all levels of government who have been supportive of Envirocare," then left quickly before the briefing ended. Envirocare's co-owner and venture capitalist Fraser Bullock. (Francisco Kjolseth/The Salt Lake Tribune ) The company's new owners also purchased from Charles Judd 315 acres of land next to its facility. Judd served as Envirocare's president during the time Semnani was forbidden to head the company as part of a plea deal in a bribery case involving the former director of the state Department of Environmental Quality. Judd in December announced he would pursue B and C waste and highly radioactive material from a Fernald, Ohio, Superfund site at his proposed Cedar Mountain waste site. On Tuesday, Judd said he wasn't abandoning his pursuit of B and C waste. Judd said he was looking at other properties outside of Utah as well as in Tooele County. "We have spent a significant amount of money in Tooele County. In the millions," he said. "Tooele County is still an option and so is the kinds of waste we want to take." Two bipartisan bills before the state Senate with identical language seek to ban any waste hotter than what Envirocare already can accept. One is sponsored by Sen. Patrice Arent, D-Murray, the other by Sen. Curtis Bramble, R-Provo, co-chairman of a legislative task force that met for two years to consider issues surrounding hazardous and radioactive waste. Bramble Envirocare's CEO, Salt Lake City businessman Steve Creamer. (Francisco Kjolseth/The Salt Lake Tribune ) kept his bill's final language under wraps until Tuesday. He said he didn't want to bring out the ban proposal until the Envirocare sale closed for fear of potential litigation. Bramble's bill has 21 co-sponsors, Arent's, 10. Some senators signed on to both bills. Bramble predicted it would sail through the House, too, and be enacted immediately. Tuesday morning, during a meeting with The Salt Lake Tribune, Creamer said he committed to forgoing the hotter waste last summer when he met with venture capitalist Fraser Bullock about pursuing the purchase of Envirocare. Lance Hirt, a Lindsay Goldberg &Bessemer partner, said that his company's clients are large families with old wealth who aren't interested in quick returns on their investments. The firm, which has $2 billion in investments, concentrates on stable businesses with long-term growth potential. Hirt said that Creamer's track record with his partner Chip Everest, as well as their confidence in Peterson's company, contributed to their interest in Envirocare. Also crucial to the alliance was Bullock, who helped Creamer make the connections he needed to complete the sale. Bullock will head a new Envirocare charity, seeded with $1 million, dedicated to protecting and improving Utah's environment. Peterson was an early investor in the discount airline JetBlue, founded by former Utah resident David Neeleman. His three partners include Richard Durham, a former executive with the Huntsman Corp. and brother-in-law of the governor. Bullock said he acted as the go-between for the Envirocare purchasers and the governor, telling Huntsman at the end of November the sale was imminent. Around that time, Creamer said, a Huntsman associate organizing the governor's inaugural approached him. "They asked for a contribution," Creamer said. Huntsman later returned the $25,000 contribution as well as $15,000 Creamer had given to his campaign. Jason Chaffetz, the governor's chief of staff, in early January told The Tribune they had no idea Creamer was involved in the Envirocare purchase. Creamer said Tuesday that the incident hurt his feelings. The new owners pledged to run Envirocare with more transparency than Semnani did. "We intend to run this with an open policy so the people of Utah do know what we're doing," Creamer said. That promise rang a little hollow with Envirocare critic and Healthy Environment Alliance Utah spokesman Jason Groenewold, who was barred from the Envirocare news briefing. Still, he said, the ownership change and decision to give up the B and C permit were good news. "We're cautiously optimistic," Groenewold said. "We have four intense weeks to make sure the Legislature and the governor formally act to ban hotter nuclear waste." The ABCs of N-waste * State and federal regulators use an "ABC" scale to label low-level radioactive waste. It can include items such as gloves, glass and plastic lab supplies that have come in contact with radioactive materials * Class A waste is the least radioactive but most abundant and the only one currently allowed for disposal in Utah. The A waste at Envirocare is mostly dirt * Class B and C waste can be thousands of times more radioactive than class A waste Steve Creamer * Education: Utah State University, 1973 * Worked for state transportation and environmental protection agencies * Companies: Creamer &Noble, with Reed Noble; East Carbon Development Co., with Doug Foxley; ISG Resources * Sold ISG in 2002 Under new management Fraser Bullock * Managing director of Sorenson Capital * Chief operating officer of Salt Lake Organizing Committee * Founder of Alpine Consolidated * President, COO of Visa Interactive * Founding partner of Boston-based Bain Capital, along with Mitt Romney Joel Peterson * Peterson, of SLC's Peterson Partners, prefers to invest in high-growth companies with strong margins on products or services and that have a history of profitable operation * Ex-managing partner of Trammel Crow Co. * Serves on the board of JetBlue Airways Lance Hirt * Partner, Lindsay Goldberg &Bessemer, the New York investment partnership * Hirt says the firm's customers prefer to hang on to solid businesses and wouldn't be interested in Envirocare if it weren't a well-run enterprise * Invests primarily in privately held businesses and focuses on long-term growth rather than quick returns. © Copyright 2005, The Salt Lake Tribune. ***************************************************************** 37 Salt Lake Tribune: County hopes for same Envirocare Article Last Updated: 02/02/2005 01:13:07 AM By Christopher Smart The Salt Lake Tribune TOOELE - The word "Envirocare" may bring stern reactions along the Wasatch Front, but in Tooele County the hazardous-waste facility is seen as a good neighbor, big employer and godsend to county coffers. News that Khosrow Semnani sold the low-level radioactive waste dump to Utah and New York investors was met here with guarded optimism and the hope that Envirocare would continue to operate as it has for the past 17 years. "We hope that nothing will change," said County Commissioner Matthew Laurence. "With the current levels of radioactive waste out there, we don't see it as a problem." Envirocare has been generous in gifts and grants to local organizations, provides about 400 high-paying jobs and its mitigation fees account for more than 20 percent of Tooele County's general fund. Lawrence said Tooele County can only hope the new management is as generous as Semnani. "A lot of what he did didn't make the news," Laurence. "But Semnani has been very kind. Generosity is something you can't force a company to do." Longtime Tooele resident Lyla Finch said the waste facility has been a shot in the arm for the community, despite what Wasatch Front residents may say. "I have been out there and they have the knowledge and controls to handle it. I feel safe," she said. "If they continue the generosity, that's a bonus." Issues surrounding Envirocare and its efforts to bring hotter radioactive waste to the west-desert landfill hurt Tooele's reputation more than its environment, said Tooele Mayor Charlie Roberts. Statements from Steve Creamer - the Salt Lake City businessman partnering with the New York investors - that the company will no longer seek higher-level radioactive waste is welcome news. "I think it's smart, given the political environment at the state level," the mayor said. "It's the image issue I hear about [from Tooele residents], and that's my concern, as well." But Grantsville resident and noted environmentalist Chip Ward said he would rather not wait and see if Envirocare's new management keeps its pledge to not seek hotter waste in the future. "The issue isn't over just because they're giving up their permit. The state needs to lay this to rest once and for all," Ward said of proposed legislation that would ban disposal of higher-level radioactive waste. Sheila Snow, who moved to Grantsville four years ago, also wants some guarantees. "I am concerned that they could someday bring in a higher level of radioactive waste," she said. "Not just because I live out here. But because they have to transport it across the state." csmart@sltrib.com © Copyright 2005, The Salt Lake Tribune. ***************************************************************** 38 heraldtribune.com: More bad news for Tallevast Southwest Florida's Information Leader Wednesday, February 2, 2005 NEWS COMMUNITY BUSINESS SPORTS Area even more polluted; county won't help residents move By MITRA MALEK mitra.malek@heraldtribune.com [mitra.malek@heraldtribune.com] MANATEE COUNTY -- Residents of Tallevast got two pieces of bad news Tuesday: Their neighborhood is more contaminated than they thought, and the county says it won't help them move. A report released by Lockheed Martin showed the ground-water contamination from a former weapons plant in Tallevast has polluted about 50 acres of ground water instead of five as reported last year. Those tests also show that a host of potentially dangerous chemicals -- including arsenic, lead and beryllium -- are in the soil at levels above what the state considers safe. Residents have complained that pollution from the former American Beryllium Co. plant, now owned by Lockheed Martin, is responsible for illnesses suffered by residents of the community of about 85 homes in southern Manatee County. Some residents believe the pollution is linked to cancer, lung diseases and other illnesses. Recently, community leaders asked the County Commission to help them move permanently -- or at least until they're sure it's safe to return. But the commissioners said Tuesday that the county isn't legally responsible for moving the residents. The commissioners based their decision in part on a statement by a Lockheed Martin official who said the water, soil and air contamination poses no imminent threat to the health of residents. The company spokeswoman, Gail Rymer, said residents are not now directly exposed to any dangerous pollutants. A Florida Department of Health official supported that claim. David Johnson, executive medical director of the division of environmental health, said tests of the soil, air and locally grown fruits and vegetables did not indicate an imminent health threat. But residents don't believe those preliminary tests were extensive enough to prove that the neighborhood is safe. And community activists who attended Tuesday's commission meeting were dismayed that officials don't see their situation as grave. "That was a slap in the face," said Wanda Washington, vice president of FOCUS, a Tallevast community group. "They need to protect us until they have more data. Instead we're just left to live in it." At least three people in the neighborhood have tested positive for beryllium sensitivity, a result that indicates a greater likelihood they could get fatal beryllium disease. Beryllium is a toxic element used to make Cold War weapons for nearly 40 years at the plant on Tallevast Road and 15th Street East. Lockheed Martin purchased the plant in 1996. Residents said that when workers recently drilled the area to test for pollutants, a foul odor permeated the air, and several people had nosebleeds and flu-like symptoms. "We are frightened, we are torn, we are feeling misplaced," residents said in a letter to the commission. "We know that we cannot continue to live healthfully in this environment." Tests conducted last year showed that the plant had polluted some well water, and the county connected 17 homes to its water lines. If no one is at risk now, the commissioners said, there's no reason to move the residents. "We are not going to put a cloud on what you have left, which is some real estate value," County Commissioner Amy Stein told residents. Washington said Stein's argument is absurd: Tallevast's stigma is impossible to shake. "They know I can't sell my property," Washington said. "No one wants that under their house." The commission agreed to pursue an overlay district in Tallevast, which would ban new wells that could tap into the tainted water. A public hearing is tentatively scheduled for March. ***************************************************************** 39 WSJ: Washington, in a First, to Limit Hazardous-Material Shipments - Robert Block Wall Street Journal Wednesday, February 02, 2005 Washington will soon become the nation's first city to curtail the shipment of highly toxic chemicals inside its borders to prevent the chemicals from becoming a target for terrorists. A majority of the nation's capital's 13-member City Council approved yesterday a bill that requires transporters of ultrahazardous chemicals, flammable gases and explosives to skirt a 2.2-mile radius around the U.S. Capitol building. No shipments by road or rail will be permitted through the zone unless there is no viable alternative route, or there is an emergency. The bill sets up a confrontation with federal rail regulators and CSX Corp., which owns the local rail lines. Both have said that a local ban will violate constitutional provisions that give the federal government alone the power to regulate interstate commerce, and could open the floodgates for similar laws passed by other cities, bringing rail transport to a crawl. Officials in a handful of cities in California and the Midwest are already looking at similar measures, and watching Washington's actions as a possible precedent. More than 50 members of the U.S. Conference of Mayors last month sent a letter to the Department of Homeland Security expressing concerns about hazardous rail shipments through their cities and demanding, at the least, more disclosure about them. "Our citizens should have a reasonable expectation that hazardous materials are being shipped in the safest manner possible and that local first responders are aware of such shipments in advance." The District of Columbia's bill was written as "emergency" legislation that will stay in effect for 90 days after being signed by Mayor Anthony Williams, who has said he supports the measure. Washington officials say the short-term bill doesn't require Congressional approval. A more-permanent law, which would have to be vetted by Congress, is already planned. While the measure carries symbolic and legal significance, the short-term effect may be slight. In November, representatives of CSX told Washington council members that the company had already been rerouting—at least temporarily—the most serious hazardous materials away from the city since train bombings in Madrid in March. Mark Hatfield Jr., spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security's Transport Security Administration, called the proposal unnecessary, saying "the spirit of that legislation is already being met by CSX, TSA and the Department of Homeland Security, who have already been working together for quite some time to address the threat." The Department of Homeland Security conducted risk-assessment and security studies of 42 miles of track in the area last year and said that it has implemented safeguards but hasn't released results of the studies or details of its security plan. CSX called the emergency ban "unfortunate" and said it was reviewing the move and would take "all appropriate steps" when it is finished. One possibility would be to sue for an injunction. As many as 8,500 rail cars carrying hazardous chemicals traverse Washington but only a fraction of those—fewer than 1,000 cars—carry toxic inhalants such as chlorine and ammonia that cause the most concern. Chlorine is used in water-treatment plants and ammonia is a common ingredient in refrigeration systems. The rail line has attracted national attention because it passes within a few hundred yards of the Mall and Capitol. A Naval Research Laboratory scientist estimated last year that in a worst-case event, a catastrophic chlorine release could kill 100,000 people living within 14 miles, depending on wind direction and weather. Former White House Deputy Homeland Security Adviser Richard Falkenrath told a Senate hearing last week that the danger posed by an attack on a shipment of a so-called toxic-by-inhalation chemical—such as chlorine gas—was "uniquely severe and particularly acute." He said the deaths and injuries that could be inflicted by a successful strike "present a mass-casualty terrorist potential rivaled only by improvised nuclear devices, certain acts of bioterrorism, and the collapse of large, occupied buildings." ***************************************************************** 40 ENN: Environmental groups petition California to set perchlorate standard at 1 part per billion [Environmental News Link] SACRAMENTO, CA (01/31/05) -- A coalition of environmental interest groups have petition the state of California to lower its perchlorate safety recommendation to 1 part per billion (ppb) and to set an emergency standard to accelerate cleanup. "California has waited too long to protect people from exposure to a chemical that is especially risky for fetuses, newborns and pregnant women," said Renee Sharp, senior analyst with Environmental Working Group, one of eight organizations that petitioned the California Environmental Protection Agency to enact emergency an safety standard. "Perchlorate contaminates not only water but milk and food, and the state is required by law to consider a pollutant's effect on fetuses, infants and their mothers." The state's currently proposed standard, which has not yet been adopted, is 6 ppb. However, the petition cited new data on perchlorate's toxicity and widespread contamination of water, milk and food, plus a new state law requiring drinking water standards to take into consideration the health of pregnant women and infants, as reasons a lower level is needed. After issuing an emergency standard, state officials would be required to review the data and issue a final standard within 240 days. The groups urged state officials to immediately consider the study released earlier this month by the National Academy of Sciences (NAS), and recent Food and Drug Administration tests that found perchlorate contamination of food and milk is more widespread than previously thought. Under a law signed last year by Gov. Schwarzenegger (AB 2342-Jackson) the state must review the effects of perchlorate on pregnant women and infants in developing a perchlorate standard. "Once California accounts for widespread contamination of food and the need to protect pregnant women and newborns, the conclusion is clear," said Dr. Gina Solomon, a physician with the Natural Resources Defense Council. "The scientific evidence points toward a perchlorate standard of 1 ppb." The petition [http://www.ewg.org/issues/perchlorate/20050119/petition_DHS-OEHH A.pdf] is available online. Groups signing the petition included: Environment California, Natural Resources Defense Council, Environmental Working Group, Sierra Club California, Clean Water Action, Center for Community Action & Environmental Justice, INSIST and Citizens for Chuckwalla Valley. Us [capitol@caprep.com] Cameron Park, California 95682 Telephone: (530) 676-9334 FAX: (530) 676-9387 Email: capitol@caprep.com [capitol@caprep.com] Copyright © 2005 Capitol Reports. All Rights Reserved. ***************************************************************** 41 Las Vegas SUN: Bush budget would divert money from southern Nevada land sales Today: February 02, 2005 at 16:08:24 PST ASSOCIATED PRESS LAS VEGAS (AP) - President Bush wants to divert millions of dollars from lucrative federal land sales in Clark County to offset mounting deficits, according to budget documents and congressional officials. The 2006 budget the president is due to unveil Monday asks Congress to change federal law to direct into the treasury 70 percent of profits from the land sales, which are currently set aside for schools, water infrastructure and to acquire environmentally sensitive lands in Nevada. While Nevada's federal lawmakers united against the idea Wednesday, the federal Bureau of Land Management auctioned 2,284 acres in Las Vegas. The sale reaped more than $602 million. "I have every expectation that Sen. Ensign and I will be able to stop this proposal," Senate Democratic Minority Leader Harry Reid said of himself and Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev. "Just because it's in the budget doesn't mean it will become law," said Ensign, who said he spoke with White House budget director Joshua Bolten and Interior Secretary Gale Norton about the proposal. "Sometimes as senators we can't get things passed, but we can block things from happening." The Bush budget argues the federal land sales in booming Las Vegas are raising more money than Congress imagined when the Southern Nevada Public Land Management Act was adopted in 1998. "The receipts generated by these land sales have been nearly eight times higher than anyone anticipated, with future revenue projections exceeding $1 billion per year," the budget document said. Based on White House projections, at least $700 million a year could be deposited in the treasury rather than spent in Nevada. The White House has estimated the federal deficit will be $527 billion this year. Nevada's Republican congressmen, Jim Gibbons and Jon Porter, and Democratic Rep. Shelley Berkley derided the proposal. "While I applaud efforts to lower our deficit, I will fight this proposal to keep these dollars in Nevada to address the needs of our growing communities and citizens," Gibbons said. Federal land auctions, sales, leases and exchanges in southern Nevada have generated $1.6 billion since the first auction in November 1999, according to BLM figures. The White House last year tried to divert some Clark County land sales profits into programs to deal with wild horse herds in the West, but withdrew the proposal after Ensign protested. Reid also compared the budget proposal with federal plans to entomb the nation's radioactive waste at Yucca Mountain in Nevada. "The Bush administration on one hand is working with zeal to dump nuclear waste in our state, and now wants to steal $1 billion away from us," he said. Norton has praised the land sale program as a model that could be used to dispose of federal land and protect sensitive areas elsewhere. The federal government controls 80 percent of the land in Clark County and about 87 percent of the land in the state. The act sets aside 5 percent of auction receipts for schools, 10 percent for water infrastructure and most of the remaining 85 percent for environmentally sensitive lands in Clark County and elsewhere in the state. On the Net: Nevada Bureau of Land Management: http://www.nv.blm.gov [http://www.nv.blm.gov] ***************************************************************** 42 The Radioactive Cover-Up at Rocky Flats Date: Wed, 2 Feb 2005 00:03:56 -0600 (CST) The Radioactive Cover-Up at Rocky Flats By Amanda Griscom Little Salon.com via Truthout http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2005/01/22/muckraker/index.html Saturday 22 January 2005 An FBI agent alleges that the government hasn't come clean about the dumping of radioactive waste at a closed Colorado weapons plant - and now the site is being turned into a park. The plotline sounds as absurd as a made-for-TV movie: An FBI agent exposes deadly contamination at an old nuclear-weapons plant, but the federal government conceals the findings. Years later, Congress votes to convert the tract into a wildlife refuge and open it to school field trips and public recreation. The site becomes a poster child for eco-friendly nuclear-waste disposal - with a dangerous radioactive secret lurking below the surface. Fact, of course, can be stranger than fiction - even bad Sunday-night-on-CBS fiction - and former FBI agent Jon Lipsky is one of several insiders who say the above scenario is unfolding right beneath Uncle Sam's nose. In 1989, Lipsky led an FBI raid on the Rocky Flats nuclear-weapons plant in Colorado after receiving reports that the plant posed a huge public-health threat. His raid, which took place over 18 days and involved more than 100 FBI and EPA officials, gave way to a nearly three-year criminal investigation into widespread radioactive contamination of the air, water, and soil at the 6,240-acre site and the surrounding suburbs of nearby Denver. The raid prompted the Department of Justice to assemble a special grand jury to investigate the evidence against U.S government officials and Rockwell International, the private defense contractor that managed Rocky Flats from 1975 to 1989 on behalf of the Department of Energy. Rockwell pleaded guilty to certain counts of negligence and paid a fine, but never fessed up to the full extent of the crimes Lipsky says he witnessed. The case was settled with a plea bargain agreement, and the Department of Justice sealed the contamination evidence from the public. Next month, Lipsky will be party to a lawsuit against DOJ in conjunction with Wes McKinley, the former leader of the Rocky Flats grand jury, and Jacque Brever, a former chemical operator at the plant who suffers from radiation exposure, in an effort to unseal the documents. The plaintiffs are concerned, in particular, about a 2001 congressional decision to turn Rocky Flats into a wildlife refuge, which may have as many as 16 miles of trails for hiking and horseback riding. On Dec. 31, Lipsky retired early from the FBI to protest the agency's orders that he keep mum about the Rocky Flats controversy. "I left so I could help expose the truth," he told Muckraker. "Without the truth there can be no real understanding of the extent of this environmental crime, and there can be no thorough cleanup." Lipsky describes the DOE's ongoing cleanup effort at the nuke site, scheduled to be completed by 2006, as "woefully inadequate - a farce." As for the decision to make Rocky Flats a tourist destination, he said, "There is nothing safe or sane about it." Before the vote on the Rocky Flats designation, Lipsky wrote an open letter to Congress putting his objections in no uncertain terms: "I am an FBI agent. My superiors have ordered me to lie about a criminal investigation I headed in 1989. The Justice Department covered up the truth ... I have refused to follow the orders ... Some dangerous decisions are now being made based on that government cover-up." He exhorted members of Congress to read the book The Ambushed Grand Jury, a chronicle of the cover-up by Colorado lawyer Caron Balkany, who is representing Lipsky et al. in their lawsuit, and McKinley, the former grand-jury member, who was just elected to the Colorado state legislature. The DOE dismisses Lipsky's charges as bunk. Department spokesperson Karen Lutz flatly denies that there's anything to be concerned about. "Our Rocky Flats cleanup effort has been going on for 15 years, and the whole time it has been meticulous, thorough, and transparent, with full community participation. We've had this under a microscope - the oversight has been incredibly vigilant. There is nothing legitimate about these allegations." The Department of Justice did not respond to Muckraker's request for comment. The critics counter that DOE wanted to keep the public in the dark to cut corners on cost, not to mention protect itself from criticism for environmental negligence. The department allocated $7 billion to the cleanup, a sum initially criticized as far too low to enable a thorough job. And less than 8 percent of the allocated sum is even being used to decontaminate the site, the plaintiffs say; the rest is going to administrative costs and decommissioning the plant. Former Rocky Flats employee Jacque Brever, who claims to have read more than 16,000 documents on the cleanup, told Muckraker that the effort is "so bad you wouldn't even believe it." She said several fields and hillsides that had been dumping grounds for toxic and radioactive wastes have been excluded from the cleanup. Additionally, she said, the sampling techniques for determining contamination levels are misleading, and the standards for soil and water purification are weak. "There is no question in my mind that the grounds are still hot [radioactive] at that site, and will be for a long time," she said. "That plant was spewing radioactive ash and effluent for nearly 40 years. We dumped radioactive stuff in areas they're not even looking at. We buried drums that corroded underground, and they're looking only at the surface of the soil." Brever worked at the plant for 10 years and her fianci for 19 years. Both spent most of their careers in "hot" areas of the facility where they were directly exposed to plutonium. Brever now has thyroid cancer and her fianci has a rare form of eye cancer, both illnesses associated with long-term exposure to radioactivity. They haven't been able to get financial compensation for their medical treatment, she said, because some key records pertaining to their exposure have been suppressed. "We're having difficulty proving our case. That's why we're taking it to the courts - to get the rest of our records released." Allard (left) and Udall introduce the Rocky Flats National Wildlife Refuge Act.The effort to transform Rocky Flats into a wildlife refuge was lead by Colorado Rep. Mark Udall (D) and Colorado Sen. Wayne Allard (R). But at the time, says Lipsky, Udall and Allard, like everyone else, didn't have access to all the facts. "Congress didn't know that there was midnight plutonium burning. Congress didn't know that there was extensive offsite contamination. Congress didn't know the site had an irrigation system that dispersed radioactive liquid from the holding ponds throughout the surrounding fields to skirt discharge constraints." McKinley has announced that he will introduce a bill in the Colorado legislature that would require officials at the Rocky Flats National Wildlife Refuge to warn visitors of the site's past. "People shouldn't visit a so-called park that for half a century has been a radioactive waste dump without knowing about the malfeasance that happened there," he said. "You get warning labels on hot coffee, why shouldn't you be warned that you could be walking on 'hot' ground?" What concerns attorney Balkany the most is that the Rocky Flats cleanup could be used to fuel the myth that nuclear waste can be safely handled. "I believe the main goal of the DOJ and the nuke industry at Rocky Flats is greenwashing. It helps both nuclear power and the nuclear-weapons industries to convince people that industries and government can deal with their waste in a safe way," she said. This could be of particular interest to the Bush administration, given that just last week, in President Bush's first newspaper interview since his reelection, he told The Wall Street Journal of his hopes to spark a nuclear-power renaissance, glorifying nuclear power in ways that many would deem delusional: "I believe nuclear power answers a lot of our issues," he said. "It certainly answers the environmental issue." He later added: "It's a renewable source of energy." Who's ever heard of renewable energy that creates cancer-causing waste? "Just watch," said Brever. "They're going to hold up Rocky Flats as the nuclear-waste success story, the flagship. It's going to happen all over the country: Washington is going to make nuclear-waste dumps into plutonium playgrounds." Amanda Griscom Little is a columnist for Grist Magazine. Her articles on energy, technology and the environment have appeared in publications ranging from Rolling Stone to the New York Times Magazine. The dream was always running ahead of me. To catch up, to live for a moment in unison with it, that was the miracle. Anais Nin http://tahomagirl.com [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Help save the life of a child. Support St. Jude Children's Research Hospital's 'Thanks & Giving.' http://us.click.yahoo.com/0iazvD/5WnJAA/xGEGAA/6xSolB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> ---------- http://www.thebreastcancersite.com Please click today. Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/radiation-survivors/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: radiation-survivors-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ ***************************************************************** 43 ABQjournal: LANL Ditching Its Disks; Lab Gets Funds To Go 'Medialess' Albuquerque Journal newspaper. Wednesday, February 2, 2005 Albuquerque Journal--> By Adam Rankin Journal Staff Writer In response to recent classified security concerns at Los Alamos National Laboratory, the Energy Department is allocating about $20 million to expand the lab's "medialess" computer network, reducing reliance on less-secure computer disks and CDs. At the same time, LANL officials are restricting access to so-called "Classified Removable Electronic Media," or CREM, such as Zip and floppy disks, by moving them into secure libraries and destroying tens of thousands of unneeded disks. In fact, LANL has destroyed or erased about 66,000 pieces of CREM in a little over a year, reducing its inventory from about 90,000 pieces to a little more than 23,000 pieces. LANL spokesman Kevin Roark said the laboratory has so far reduced the number of rooms where CREM can be stored by 95 percent, from 733 rooms down to 37, including 19 CREM libraries, which house the majority. He said LANL officials have also restricted employee and scientist access to CREM by a whopping 99 percent, so now only 50 people have access, down from 4,500. The $20 million allocated for fiscal year 2005 is expected to further reduce the CREM inventory, Roark said. All these actions come on the heels of 24 months highlighted by a series of clerical errors impacting classified information that Congress and federal officials deem unacceptable. Since January 2003, four separate clerical errors have resulted in confusion over 14 pieces of CREM at LANL, 12 of which lab officials say were probably erased or destroyed, although they lack documentation to prove it. Two classified disks, discovered missing in July 2004, never existed. According to a Jan. 26 DOE report on the matter, a CREM custodian entered 10 bar codes into the CREM tracking database in late 2003, when only eight Zip disks had been created. The other two bar codes were never taken off the database. The mistake should have been caught during an April inventory, but wasn't, apparently because proper procedures weren't followed during the "hands on" inventory; the person doing the inventory recorded that they were accounted for, when they actually weren't, according to the report. Only after careful forensic review, analyzing the computer that allegedly created the missing disks, were federal investigators able to determine that the disks were probably never created. The inherent risks of a classified computer system that allows disks to be removed and tracked with a system susceptible to human fallibility have long been known to government officials. After the Wen Ho Lee case, in which the Los Alamos scientist pled guilty to mishandling classified data, LANL officials said they were aiming to establish a "medialess" computer network so classified information could not be copied to tapes, CDs or disks by September 2000. The need for reducing the number of classified computer disks was highlighted shortly after Lee's case, when a pair of computer hard drives were misplaced for 11 days and were eventually found behind a copy machine in LANL's Dynamic Experimentation Division. Glenn S. Podonsky, director of DOE's Office of Independent Oversight and Performance Assurance, told Congress in June 2003 that many of DOE's computer security lapses in the late 1990s "were partially attributable to the fact that DOE policies and practices... did not always keep pace with changing technology." But it has only been in the last year, after a series of clerical errors highlighting those liabilities, that efforts to reduce those risks have been implemented with any kind of imperative. In May 2004, former DOE Secretary Spencer Abraham proposed an initiative to move to a "medialess" classified network across the DOE's 59 sites over the next five years "to permanently eliminate the threat of such problems." Across the entire Energy Department network, there are nearly 190,000 pieces of accountable CREM that can be plugged into computers or disk drives, then carried away. Copyright Albuquerque Journal ***************************************************************** 44 DAILY BRUIN: UC still unsure on lab www.dailybruin.ucla.edu/] Wednesday, February 02, 2005 Meanwhile, new report finds allegedly missing classified disks never existed the associated press The University of California’s contract for the Los Alamos National Laboratory, shown here in a 2003 file photo, expires in September. By Jennifer Mishory DAILY BRUIN CONTRIBUTOR jmishory@media.ucla.edu New information regarding security lapses at the Los Alamos National Laboratory has not led the UC Board of Regents to release a decision on whether to submit a bid to continue the lab's management. The two disks containing classified information reported missing in July never existed, according to the Los Angeles Times, which cited a report by the Department of Energy. "The (information regarding) the missing disks confirms what we suspected all along after doing our own investigation," said Chris Harrington, a UC spokesman. Harrington said the UC wanted to make sure they were on the same page as the Department of Energy and the FBI's investigation, and so refrained from making their suspicions public. Meanwhile, UC officials have been preparing in case the regents decide to bid. "The final decision regarding competition will be made by the University of California Board of Regents," said UC Vice President Robert Foley in a December statement. The UC has been in charge of the lab since 1943. This decision will be announced when the final request for proposals comes from the Department of Energy, Harrington said. The regents decision will take into account the "full breadth" of the issues, Harrington added. The University of Texas recently announced it would drop out of the competition for lab management, and last August defense contractor Lockheed Martin, which was considered a possible management partner for the UC, also decided not to bid. "The UC is continuing to hold discussions with potential partners," Harrington said, but added that it was "premature to discuss" specific companies. The only organization that has currently announced their bid for management of the lab is Nuclear Watch of New Mexico, an organization that works to inform the public on nuclear issues in the Southwest, encourage greater safety and environmental protection, and support checks on nuclear weapons proliferation. The organization is working in conjunction with two other organizations, Tri-Valley CARES and the Coalition to Demilitarize the University of California, to finalize their proposal, said Scott Kovac, research director of Nuclear Watch. "We're mainly concerned with getting the place cleaned up," Kovak said. "The only way we're going to do it is by running the place ourselves." Kovak, who said that they are still looking for a "compatible corporate partner," is hoping for a decision by the end of April. The contract for UC management of Los Alamos will be up on Sept. 30 of this year. Nuclear Watch currently monitors the safety and security of the lab, reviewing all of the paperwork released regarding its operation, Kovak said. Nuclear Watch's ultimate goal would be to "phase out or slow down" weapons production. But Kovak said that "we realize the Department of Energy will want us to make weapons." ***************************************************************** 45 Daily Grist: Senate confirms Bodman to head Energy Department | 01 Feb 2005 Sam Bodman's nomination to serve as energy secretary sailed through the Senate yesterday, despite his having little to no experience working on energy issues. Now he can get to work pushing Bush's big energy bill through Congress, fighting for the opening of the proposed nuclear-waste repository at Yucca Mountain, Nev., and pressing for oil and gas drilling within the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. A public fight over the refuge may flare up (again) as soon as next week, as the House Resources Committee is scheduled to vote on Feb. 9 on whether to open the area to resource extraction. Still no word on Bush's pick to fill another key environment-related role in his administration, head of the U.S. EPA. Grist Magazine: Environmental News and Commentary [a beacon in the smog (sm)] ©2005. Grist Magazine, Inc. All rights reserved. Gloom and doom with a sense of humor®. 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