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NUCLEAR POLICY
1 UN Atomic Watchdog Seeks 'full Transparency' From Iran On All Nuclea
2 [NYTr] Russia to Supply Nuclear Fuel to Iran
3 [NYTr] Iraq Power Plays: It's Iran vs the US
4 Guardian Unlimited: U.N. Atomic Agency Head Chides Iran
5 Deseret Morning: Iranians think U.S. has its hands full elsewhere,
6 Guardian Unlimited: Iran, North Korea Focus of Nuclear Meeting
7 AFP: Iran cautiously welcomes possible US role in EU nuclear diploma
8 AFP: EU backs Russia over Iran, despite US protests -
9 Las Vegas SUN: Russian Nuke Chief: Moscow Advised Iran
10 Guardian Unlimited: Iran, North Korea Focus of IAEA Meeting
11 Korea: Digital Chosunilbo: Nuke Negotiators 'Won't Wait Forever' for
12 Korea Herald: Seoul says unaware N.K. will rejoin talks in June
13 YWS: Chinese Envoy to Visit Seoul to Try to Jump-start Nuke Talks
14 AFP: NKorea ready to suspend nuclear drive for aid, US assurances -
15 Japan Times: China promises 'urgent' effort over North Korea
16 Korea Times: Bilateral Meeting Possible Within 6-Way Talks - Allies
17 Korea Times: KEDO Willing to Resume Aid to NK
18 US: [NukeNet] Helen Caldicott On C-Span [3 Hours] Sunday, March 6
19 US: BBC ON THIS DAY | 1 | 1954: US tests hydrogen bomb in Bikini
20 US: Oregon State Daily Barometer: Grant helps students debunk nuclea
21 US: Mojo: The DIDDLY award
22 US: [http://www.mainetoday.com]: Deep fear - loss of 'revered' yard
23 DAWN: 'N-powers should adhere to NPT' -
NUCLEAR REACTORS
24 US: TMI control room door open
25 US: [NukeNet] Nuclear Power Outlook
26 US: NRC: Notice of Availability of Environmental Assessment and Find
27 US: NRC: Availability of the Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research D
28 Xinhua: Foreign firms enter China's bidding for nuke power tech, equ
29 Bizchina: Nuke giants submit bids
30 Daily Times: Govt aiming for 8,500 MW of nuclear power by 2030
31 US: Palladium Times: NRC HEARING ON AGING NINE MILE NUCLEAR REACTORS
32 US: NRC: Advisory Committee on the Medical Uses of Isotopes - Meetin
NUCLEAR SAFETY
33 11,000 US soldiers dead from DU poisoning
34 [du-list] DU and counterinsurgency
35 US: [du-list] Nuclear Terror at Home
36 [DU Information List] The poisons of war
37 [du-list] Physical and Biological Half-Life of DU: a
38 US: [du-list] Conservative Life Science Testimony on Hormesis
39 US: UPI: Report: Radiation behind more cancer cases -
40 Bellona: France to finance decontamination stations in Gremikha
41 Legalbrief: New Bill will regulate use of radiation
42 US: Salt Lake Tribune: Dickson: Atomic museum ignores human toll of
43 Japan Times: Japan, U.S. withheld findings on Bikini test health pro
44 US: Las Vegas SUN: Scientists close in on tungsten as cause of Fallo
45 US: PE.com: Uranium poses threat to river
46 AU ABC: Britain faces compensation claim over Pacific nuclear tests
47 US: http://www.mainetoday.com: Rocket fuel chemical poses health ris
NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE
48 US: NRC: spent fuel casks - Nuhoms
49 US: NRC: spent fuel casks - Hi-Storm
50 US: Deseret news: No-nuke options dwindling
51 Inyo Register: Recent floods raise flags for Yucca rail
52 Inyo Register: High-stakes game over Yucca cash
53 US: ENN: Aboriginal People Win Right to Limit Australian Uranium Min
54 US: deseretnews.com: Huntsman, Bush meeting today
55 US: Sioux City Journal: Group calls for action on abandoned uranium
56 US: Las Vegas SUN: Editorial: Troubling development
57 reviewjournal.com LETTERS: Attorney downplayed success of Yucca chal
58 US: Green Left: New uranium mine for NT?
59 US: Salt Lake Tribune: Huntsman to D.C.: Utah is no nuclear waste du
60 US: Salt Lake Tribune: Huntsman signs waste-ban measure
61 US: Salt Lake Tribune: Guv insists N-dump battle not over
62 US: KXAN.com: Toxic Waste Dumps In Texas
NUCLEAR WEAPONS
US DEPT. OF ENERGY
63 ABQjournal: More Lab Security Gaps Found; LANL Audit Cites
64 9news.com: Labor Department alleges Rocky Flats radiation caused can
65 Rocky Mountain News: Reassessment at Rocky Flats
66 WBIR-TV: ORNL reactor may not restart for a couple of weeks
67 lamonitor.com: New DOE boss hears employees' concerns
68 WVLT VOLUNTEER TV: ORNL reactor shutdown due to inconsistencies
OTHER NUCLEAR
69 [du-list] DU in the news - The poisons of war
70 [du-list] du in the news - 28th Feb.05
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1 UN Atomic Watchdog Seeks 'full Transparency' From Iran On All Nuclear Activities
Date: Mon, 28 Feb 2005 10:00:46 -0500
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UN ATOMIC WATCHDOG SEEKS ‘FULL TRANSPARENCY’ FROM IRAN ON ALL NUCLEAR
ACTIVITIES
New York, Feb 28 2005 10:00AM
The United Nations agency entrusted with preventing the spread of
nuclear weapons called on Iran today to provide “full transparency”
on all its nuclear activities, noting that information on some
outstanding issues was still pending, while progress has been made
on others in other areas.
“In view of the past undeclared nature of significant aspects of
Iran’s nuclear programme, a confidence deficit has been created,
and it is therefore essential that Iran works closely with the Agency
in a proactive manner in order for us to build the necessary
confidence and achieve the required degree of assurance,” the International
Atomic Energy Agency’s (<"http://www.iaea.org">IAEA)
Director-General, Mohamed ElBaradei, <"http://www.iaea.org/NewsCenter/Statements/2005/ebsp2005n002.html">stressed.
Mr. ElBaradei’s statement to the IAEA Board of Governors in Vienna
was the latest act in the saga that began two years ago when it
became clear that Iran had for many years concealed its nuclear
activities in breach of its legal obligations under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation
Treaty (<"http://www.un.org/Depts/dda/WMD/treaty/">NPT).
Iran has consistently denied it is seeking nuclear weapons, insisting
its programme is purely for energy generation but the IAEA chief
has previously said his agency is not in a position to conclude
that there are no undeclared nuclear materials or activities
in the country.
Today he noted that since his last report in November, Iran has facilitated
Agency access under its safeguards agreements to nuclear
material, facilities and other locations, including a transparency
visit to a military site.
The IAEA has also continued verification of Iran’s voluntary suspension
of enrichment and reprocessing related activities that can
produce the fuel needed for a nuclear weapon and has made progress
in two important issues – the origin of contamination on equipment
and information on Iran’s centrifuge programmes, which can yield
enriched uranium.
“As the Agency continues to work towards completing its assessment
of all outstanding issues related to Iran’s nuclear programme,
I would encourage Iran to provide full transparency with respect
to all of its nuclear activities, by providing in full detail and
in a prompt manner all information that could shed light on some
of the outstanding issues,” Mr. ElBaradei said. “In some cases,
the receipt of information is still pending, which in turn delays
our work.”
Turning to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), he said
the country remained “a serious challenge to the nuclear non-proliferation
regime” since it withdrew from the NPT two years ago,
thus ending Agency verification.
“The recent declaration by the DPRK that it possesses nuclear weapons
is a matter of the utmost concern and has serious security implications,
and highlights yet again the importance and the urgency
of finding a diplomatic solution through dialogue,” he added.
“The Agency stands ready to work with the DPRK and with all others
towards a solution that addresses both the security needs of the
DPRK and the needs of the international community to ensure that
all nuclear activities in the DPRK are exclusively for peaceful
purposes.”
Mr. ElBaradei also noted that Egypt had failed to report certain
nuclear material and facilities, but only small amounts were involved,
Egyptian scientists had discussed the matters openly in published
scientific literature, and the country had taken corrective
action to provide the required reports.
Nevertheless, these failures “are a matter of concern,” he added,
calling on all governments “to pay close attention to their reporting
obligations, and treat them with the seriousness they deserve.”
2005-02-28 00:00:00.000
________________
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2 [NYTr] Russia to Supply Nuclear Fuel to Iran
Date: Mon, 28 Feb 2005 11:51:57 -0600 (CST)
Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit
sent by Simon McGuinness
The Independent - 28 February 2005
http://news.independent.co.uk/europe/story.jsp?story=615421
Russia agrees to supply nuclear fuel to Iran
By Anne Penketh, Diplomatic Editor
Russia agreed a deal with Iran yesterday to provide nuclear fuel for the
country's only nuclear reactor, enabling the plant to come on stream
next year amid US fears that Tehran may be developing a nuclear weapon.
The agreement, signed by the two countries' nuclear chiefs at the site
of the Russian-built plant at Bushehr, in southern Iran, provides for
the first consignment of enriched uranium to be dispatched to Iran from
Siberia in the middle of next year.
To allay US concerns, Russia has agreed to reprocess on its territory
the spent fuel, which can be reprocessed to make bomb-grade plutonium.
Speaking at Thursday's summit with the Russian President Vladimir Putin
in Slovakia, President George Bush said both sides agreed "Iran should
not have a nuclear weapon".
However, a leading Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee,
Senator John McCain, strongly objected yesterday to the signing of the
nuclear fuel deal, which had been expected for some time. He said Russia
should not be invited to the G8 summit in Gleneagles in July. "This
latest step of the Russians vis-a-vis the Iranians calls for sterner
measures to be taken between ourselves and Russia. It has got to, at
some point, begin to harm our relations," Mr McCain said on Fox News
Sunday.
But a nuclear expert said the move "should be welcomed. Russia is taking
the spent fuel back home. It's going to prevent proliferation".
Iran insists it is not bent on developing a nuclear weapon, and the
Kremlin says it has seen no evidence of such a move. Neither has the
International Atomic Energy Agency, the UN watchdog which has been
monitoring Iran's nuclear programme intensively for the past two years.
A senior Iranian official recognised earlier this month that Iran would
risk devastating retaliation if it were to develop a nuclear bomb. That
view has been echoed by the American diplomat who directed the State
Department's Iran desk during the 1979 Iranian revolution. "I don't
think they are really looking for nuclear weapons," said Henry Precht.
"They realise they would be smashed by Israel or by us."
Yesterday's development came on the eve of a governors' board meeting of
the IAEA which will review progress on the Iran dossier. Although
Mohamed ElBaradei, the agency's director general, will give an overview
of the Iran case today, his deputy, Pierre Goldschmidt, is expected to
confirm in his presentation tomorrow a report that Pakistan offered Iran
the makings of a nuclear weapons programme in 1987.
According to The Washington Post, the offer from the father of
Pakistan's nuclear bomb, AQ Khan, resulted from a secret meeting between
Pakistani and Iranian officials in Dubai. Tehran has now informed the
IAEA that it turned down the offer, but according to the American paper
it did acquire some more expensive items by shopping around elsewhere.
A Western diplomat said the Pakistani offer was "the strongest
indication to date that Iran had a nuclear weapons programme, but it
doesn't prove it completely".
The US has been threatening to report Iran to the UN Security Council
for sanctions, and it remains to be seen how the US delegation will
react to the latest revelation about Iran's earlier contacts with
Pakistan.
Mr Bush appeared to rule out referral to the Council when he said in
Brussels last week that "we're in the early stages of diplomacy" on the
issue.
Three European countries, Britain, France and Germany, are taking the
lead in negotiations with Iran, which has agreed to freeze its uranium
enrichment programme in return for technological and trade concessions.
*
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3 [NYTr] Iraq Power Plays: It's Iran vs the US
Date: Mon, 28 Feb 2005 11:53:02 -0600 (CST)
Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit
sent by John Clancy
Sydney Morning Herald 26 Feb 2005
IT'S IRAN V US IN IRAQI POWER PLAYS
By Paul McGeough
Few took it seriously this week when Iyad Allawi, Iraq's interim
Prime Minister, cried on the shoulder of a US columnist that his poor
performance in the January 30 election might force him to leave Iraq.
Even as he was interviewed, Allawi was trying to stitch up secular
and ethnic support among members of the country's new national
assembly for a leadership contest that will be a battle of wills
between Washington and its "axis of evil" enemy - Iran.
On Tuesday, the Shiite religious parties that swept the polls named
the conservative physician and former exile Ibrahim al-Jaafari as its
nominee. But Allawi, who has branded Jaafari and his supporters as
friends of Tehran, burst into the arena on Wednesday implying he has
enough new support to block Jaafari.
There is speculation Allawi doesn't have the numbers. But by going
through the pretence of a challenge he can emulate Ahmad Chalabi,
another high-profile exile who stood against Jaafari and dropped out
only after apparently being promised a significant post in the new
government.
Guessing the numbers is a devilish business. Jaafari's United Iraqi
Alliance, a coalition of a dozen Shiite religious parties, has 140
seats in the assembly. He needs another 40 votes for the two-thirds
assembly majority that would confirm him in office.
Allawi seems bent on denying him the numbers with an announcement he
is trying to bring together an even wider secular coalition than that
which he led in the election campaign. While he might manage to
enlist the support of the Kurdish parties, whose 77 seats would help
him block a Jaafari appointment, he'd still be short of a two-thirds
vote even if he garnered the support of the next nine biggest vote
winners - who between them have separate control of only 18 seats.
Allawi seems unlikely to become a popularly elected prime minister
without busting away some of the votes tied up in Jaafari's name in
the religious parties coalition. The result would be more a
government of national consensus. The minority Sunnis would still be
out in the cold, but it would include the secular Kurds and a mix of
secular and religious Shiites.
Such an outcome has its own risks. Frustration over their failure to
exercise power commensurate with their vote might cause some Shiites
to walk away from the US-drafted interim constitution and the process
of drafting a new permanent national charter.
Allawi revealed some of his strategy when he appeared in public on
Tuesday with Barham Saleh, a prominent Kurdish politician and one of
Iraq's interim deputy prime ministers. But it was Allawi who did the
talking, warning that without guarantees renouncing sectarianism and
embracing Western democratic ideals, they would attempt to block the
Jaafari leadership nomination.
Jaafari makes all the right noises about the need for Iraqi national
reconciliation. But his years as an exile in Iran and Tehran's
support for his Dawa Party trouble Washington and some of the
political players in Baghdad who, like the outgoing defence minister
Hazem Shaalan, dismissed the Shiite religious coalition as "the
Iranian list".
Jaafari's love of gourmet cuisine is said to have cemented his bond
with Paul Bremer, the former head of the US occupation authority. But
friends say Jaafari is a humble and studious man who doesn't smoke,
drink, play cards, go to films or listen to popular music.
When the Los Angeles Times asked one of Jaafari's friends for an
example of his reputed liberal thinking as a Shiite scholar, he said
the would-be prime minister had allowed each of his five children to
choose which ayatollah to follow.
Jaafari denies that hardline Iranian thinking on the rights of women
would inform his view of how they should be treated in Iraq. But in
the early days of the US-appointed Iraqi Governing Council, Jaafari
was part of a group that demanded the implementation of sharia law to
cover issues such as family law, marriage and inheritance.
And in all the post-Saddam hair-splitting about the relationship
between the law and Islam, he expressed his position thus to
reporters: "[The constitution and government] should, in essence, not
contradict the majority religion, which in this case is Islam."
But he does seem to take a hard line on a long-term US presence in
Iraq, telling a reporter: "When the Iraqi security forces are
self-sufficient, then the presence of foreign forces would not be
justified - either troops or bases." It was the "or bases" reference
that would have caused anxiety in Washington.
*
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4 Guardian Unlimited: U.N. Atomic Agency Head Chides Iran
From the Associated Press
[UP]
Monday February 28, 2005 9:01 PM
AP Photo VIE108
By GEORGE JAHN
Associated Press Writer
VIENNA, Austria (AP) - The chief U.N. atomic watchdog chided
Iran on Monday for delays in divulging key information about its
nuclear program, saying the onus is on Tehran to overcome a
``confidence deficit'' caused by past cover-ups.
As Mohammed ElBaradei criticized Iran at a meeting of the
International Atomic Energy Agency, the Bush administration
suggested it was considering a major strategy shift - joining
Europe in offering Tehran economic incentives to abandon its
uranium enrichment program.
Russia, meanwhile, sought to dismiss concerns that an Iranian
nuclear reactor it built and will supply with fuel could be used
to develop weapons. The accord signed Sunday is key to bringing
Tehran's first reactor on line.
The deal was struck despite American objections, although U.S.
officials said they could live with the pact because it was
designed to eliminate the possibility of the Iranians misusing
the fuel for weapons.
More worrisome for the United States and European nations are
Iran's plans to enrich its own uranium.
While Iran says it wants the technology only to generate
electricity, the process can also produce weapons-grade material
for warheads, and Washington contends that is the main reason
Tehran is interested in enrichment.
Iran has suspended work on enrichment pending negotiations with
France, Germany and Britain but has repeatedly said the freeze
is of short duration, despite European hopes that Tehran will
commit to fully scrapping its program.
A two-year investigation by the U.N. nuclear agency established
that Iran ran a clandestine nuclear program, including uranium
enrichment, for nearly two decades.
In a new revelation of Iran's past covert activities, diplomats
told The Associated Press over the weekend that as early as 1987
Iran had received a written offer from a nuclear black market
network to set up the basics of an enrichment program. They said
the Iranians turned over the list to the agency only recently.
Alluding to such delays in revealing illicit activities,
ElBaradei spoke of Tehran's ``confidence deficit'' and said only
better cooperation from the Iranians would ``build the necessary
confidence'' to dispel concerns about their nuclear aspirations.
Iran and North Korea are considered the greatest nuclear threats
and the board's meeting this week will focus on them. The agency
has little leverage with North Korea, which quit the agency two
years ago and claims to have atomic weapons, but diplomats said
the board likely would urge the communist state to return to
six-nation talks meant to defuse the threat.
The question of how to deal with Iran's nuclear program has
brought two years of stormy sessions for the Vienna-based
agency's board, but that tension was absent Monday.
During President Bush's trip to Europe last week, leaders there
urged him to join them in offering economic incentives such as
eventual membership for Iran in the World Trade Organization.
They argued a united front would be more effective than a
continuing U.S.-Europe split over how to deal with Iran.
Signaling a possible U.S. shift, White House spokesman Scott
McClellan said Monday that Bush ``is thinking through some of
the ideas that were discussed.''
The European approach - offering a carrot to Tehran now along
with the stick of harsher actions if necessary - had been flatly
rejected by the administration ahead of the European trip.
Bush said Iran should not be rewarded, alleging past covert
nuclear activities violated the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.
He also protested Iran's support for militant Arab groups in
conflict with Israel, such as Hezbollah in Lebanon.
However, as the trip progressed, the president seemed to exhibit
more flexibility. McClellan told reporters in Washington that
Bush met with members of his national security team Friday to
discuss the European proposals to offer incentives.
``The president spent a good portion of his time in Europe
talking to our European friends about Iran and listening to
their ideas. We all share the same goal of making sure Iran does
not acquire a nuclear weapon. The president was very much in a
listening mode last week,'' McClellan said.
But while offering support for the diplomatic effort of Britain,
France and Germany, the administration gave no indication Bush
would go along with European urgings for the United States to
join in their talks with Iran.
``The question of us sitting with Iran is not necessarily
something that's going to contribute to moving this process
forward,'' State Department deputy spokesman Adam Ereli said.
---
On the Net:
International Atomic Energy Agency: www.iaea.org
Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2005
*****************************************************************
5 Deseret Morning: Iranians think U.S. has its hands full elsewhere,
professor says
[deseretnews.com]
Saturday, February 26, 2005
By Lindsey Iorg
Possessing nuclear arms could put Iran in a bitter argument with
the rest of the world.
But that's just it. It's just an argument.
Ewa Wasilewska, an anthropology professor at the
University of Utah, became familiar with Iranian life during the
summer of 2004. In a lecture Friday at the U., Wasilewska
presented photographs and interviews to show that Iranian
officials believe the Western world has its hands full with Iraq
and North Korea. Invading Iran just won't make it onto the
agenda, she said.
"Iranians know the United States will not attack Iran,"
Wasilewska said.
Wasilewska expressed the opinion that Iran is surrounded
by countries that possess nuclear weapons.
"From their point of view, they aren't surrounded by
friends," Wasilewska said. "I don't blame them if they don't
feel secure."
From 1980 to 1988, Iran and Iraq were involved in a bitter
war. It was a war in which the United States supported Saddam
Hussein, an act that Iran has never forgotten, she said.
Many Iranians she came in contact with believe most
Americans don't know their country once supported Saddam.
"The only day Iranians liked the United States is when
they captured Saddam Hussein," Wasilewska said. "They're happy,
but they don't believe he will be punished."
Wasilewska said that while visiting Iran, she learned
government officials are often misrepresented to be religious
fanatics, when they are actually "extremely clever politicians,"
some of whom use their political power as a means to achieve
their own ends.
She mentioned the House of Chastity, a "holy" way of
saving prostitutes by gathering them under one roof and then
having Iranian men temporarily marry them.
"It means they can have as many wives as they want based
on a contract," Wasilewska said.
She said the contract can last for as short a time as one
hour and helps put money into the pockets of the officials who
run the houses.
But as in all governments, among some corrupt officials
there remain some good ones, she said.
E-mail: Liorg@desnews.com
© 2005 Deseret News Publishing Company
*****************************************************************
6 Guardian Unlimited: Iran, North Korea Focus of Nuclear Meeting
From the Associated Press
[UP]
Monday February 28, 2005 5:01 PM
AP Photo VIE105
By GEORGE JAHN
Associated Press Writer
VIENNA, Austria (AP) - Iran received an ``extensive'' written
offer from the nuclear black market in the 1980s, the head of
the U.N. atomic watchdog agency said Monday, reacting to reports
that the list contained all the know-how required for
weapons-related enrichment technology.
Mohamed ElBaradei, head of the International Atomic Energy
Agency, was reacting to revelations by diplomats that Tehran had
been approached by members of the nuclear black market network
in the late 1980s with a written offer to set up the basics of
the enrichment program now causing concerns about the Islamic
Republic's nuclear aims.
Tehran has said it wants to use uranium enrichment for the
peaceful purpose of power generation, but the practice also can
be used to make weapons.
A two-year agency investigation already had established that
Iran ran a clandestine nuclear program, including uranium
enrichment, for nearly two decades.
Revealing details to The Associated Press on the weekend, the
diplomats, requesting anonymity, said the new revelations
indicated Iran had been offered full enrichment know-how earlier
than previously believed. The diplomats said that, in
cooperating with an IAEA investigation, Iran had turned over to
the agency the initial written information from the network and
had claimed to have refused offers of technology that
specifically geared toward making nuclear weapons.
``They indicated that they did not take these people up on the
entirety of the offer,'' ElBaradei said, alluding to the Iranian
claim, adding, however, that the agency still had to ``make sure
that ... they only got what they told us they got out of this
offer.''
In giving the agency the written offer from the network of
Pakistani scientist A. Q. Khan, Iran ``showed us for the first
time the offer they had, and that is good,'' ElBaradei told
reporters.
However, he suggested in his opening remarks to the board
meeting that Iran is providing information too late, saying that
``in view of the past undeclared nature of significant aspects
of Iran's nuclear program, a confidence deficit has been
created.''
Despite its focus on Iran and North Korea, the IAEA board
meeting is unlikely to take concrete action concerning either
country. The main attempt to deal with Iran has moved to another
forum, with France, Germany and Britain working to have Tehran
commit to scrapping uranium enrichment, while the agency has no
leverage at all in the case of North Korea, which quit the IAEA
two years ago.
Still, with the two nations considered the greatest nuclear
threats, much of the meeting will deal with ways of defusing
concerns. North Korea, which last month announced that it had
nuclear weapons, will be urged to return to six-nation talks
meant to defuse the threat, said diplomats accredited to the
agency on the eve of Monday's opening session.
The diplomats also told The Associated Press on condition of
anonymity that Iran would be the target of oblique criticism in
the board's closed-door meetings, with senior agency officials
citing some lack of cooperation with IAEA officials.
Among the problems to be discussed are delays by Tehran in
informing the agency that it was building tunnels in the central
city of Isfahan to house parts of its now-suspended uranium
enrichment program, the diplomats said.
Mention also would be made of maintenance work on centrifuge
parts and pipes by Iran that possibly violated the spirit of an
agreement with the three European powers to totally freeze its
enrichment program while negotiations were still ongoing. The
Europeans hope to persuade Iran to scrap enrichment permanently.
In a potential strategy shift, the Bush administration is
considering joining Europe in offering Iran economic incentives
in exchange for abandoning its nuclear fuel program, the White
House said Monday.
In the past, the administration had opposed any rewards for
Tehran's cooperation. But President Bush is rethinking the issue
after his trip last week to Europe, suggested White House
spokesman Scott McClellan.
Still, there was evidence that the Americans would attempt to
increase pressure on Tehran by the next board meeting in June,
should the French, German and British talks fail.
A confidential U.S. position paper for the meeting called for a
new written report on Iran by the June meeting. Furthermore, it
urged board members meeting in June to ``take further action if
needed'' against Iran - in effect a demand that Tehran be hauled
before the U.N. Security Council if there is any indication it
was defying the agency on nuclear matters.
A separate U.S. document outlined the need for a ``Special
Committee'' to deal with nations violating the Nonproliferation
Treaty - which Washington says Iran has done. Such a committee
could ``make recommendations to the board'' to report suspect
nations to the Security Council, said that document, also leaked
to the AP.
On Sunday, Iran and Russia ignored U.S. objections and signed a
nuclear fuel agreement that is key to bringing Tehran's first
reactor online by mid-2006. Under the deal, Russia will provide
nuclear fuel to Iran, then take back the spent fuel, a step
meant as a safeguard to ensure it cannot be diverted into a
weapons program.
On the Net:
International Atomic Energy Agency: http://www.iaea.org
Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2005
*****************************************************************
7 AFP: Iran cautiously welcomes possible US role in EU nuclear diplomacy
Monday February 28, 01:22 PM
TEHRAN (AFP) - Iran's government gave a cautious welcome to
reports the United States is considering joining European
diplomat efforts aimed at easing fears the Islamic republic is
seeking nuclear weapons. "The Iranian government believes any
step that can help the negotiations and bring results is a
positive step," the spokesman for Iran's reformist government,
Abdollah Ramezanzadeh, told reporters on Monday.
"We have already said the US is not part of the talks. But, if US
pressure on the European countries obliges the Europeans to
coordinate with the US, we certainly welcome it," he added.
Ramezanzadeh nevertheless asserted that Iran was not looking for
"more or fewer incentives".
The Washington Post reported Monday that US President George
W.Bush was close to a decision on approving incentives for Iran
if it limits its controversial nuclear activities. Incentives
under consideration by the United States include dropping a veto
on Iran joining the World Trade Organization and facilitation of
Iran's efforts to obtain spare parts for its ageing passenger
aircraft fleet, the Post said.
Britain, France and Germany have been trying to persuade Tehran
to permanently abandon its capacity to produce enriched uranium
-- which can be directed to both civil and military uses -- in
return for a package of incentives. Following talks in Paris last
year, Iran pledged to suspend its fuel cycle work while
negotiations were in progress, but has also consistently warned
that the freeze on enrichment is only temporary.
The United States in particular accuses Iran of using the atomic
energy drive as a cover for weapons development. So far the US
has kept its distance from the Europeans' diplomatic effort,
instead pushing unsuccessfully for Iran to be referred to the UN
Security Council for possible sanctions. However European
diplomats have warned that unless the US commits itself to back
an incentive agreement with Iran, the talks are doomed to
failure.
Copyright © 2005 AFP AFP. All rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
8 AFP: EU backs Russia over Iran, despite US protests -
Monday February 28, 06:10 PM
LUXEMBOURG (AFP) - The European Union and Russia joined forces
over Iran, denying that a Moscow deal to help Tehran power up
its first nuclear reactor will undermine EU-led diplomatic
pressure on the Islamic state. The EU, ignoring US protests,
said it had no problems with the weekend deal for the
Russian-built power plant at Bushehr in southern Iran, a project
the United States alleges is part of a cover for weapons
development.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, speaking after talks with
EU leaders, meanwhile urged Americans to take a "more active"
role in Europe-led diplomatic efforts with Iran.
"I'm sure the US share the same objectives and we would welcome
more active US involvement in bringing these things," he said.
The Russia-Iran nuclear deal led to immediate US criticism, with
two top senators calling for a tougher stance against Russia --
including a demand by influential Republican John McCain for
Russia to be thrown out of the G8. Washington and its European
allies should tell Russia's President Vladimir Putin, "'Vladimir,
you're not welcome at the next G8 conference' -- at least to
start with," McCain told Fox News.
Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn, whose country
currently holds the EU's rotating presidency, said both he and
Lavrov agreed that Iran must stick to its commitments under UN
nuclear accords. "IAEA safeguards and NPT have to be respected,"
he said, referring to the International Atomic Energy Agency
(IAEA) -- the UN's nuclear watchdog -- and the Nuclear
non-Proliferation Treaty.
EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana underlined that all sides
shared a common objective over Iran. "We don't want to see more
weapons of mass destruction in the Middle East," he told a joint
press conference with Lavrov. But asked about the accord signed
Sunday between Russia and Iran for the Bushehr plant, Asselborn
said it had "no negative influence."
The comments echoed remarks by the European Commission, the EU's
executive arm. "Our understanding is that the ... deal between
Russia and Iran is compatible with our own approach," said
spokeswoman Emma Udwin.
Three European Union (EU) countries -- Britain, France and
Germany -- are leading negotiations designed to persuade Iran to
permanently stop uranium enrichment activities. Under Sunday's
deal, which would cap an 800-million-dollar contract to bring
the Bushehr plant on line, Russia will fuel the reactor on
condition that Iran sends back spent fuel, which could
potentially be upgraded to weapons use.
The EU spokeswoman denied there was any link between the
Russia-Iran deal and the EU negotiations with Tehran. "We are
continuing these discussions. I don't see any direct link. The
European negotiators are pursuing these discussions and we still
hope that we will reach a positive agreement," she said.
Udwin, while saying the EU had not been informed in advance about
the deal, stressed that both Iran and Russia "have made it clear
that they will fully respect international rules and regulations
on non proliferation. "And most importantly (they have made it
clear) that Bushehr will operated under the close supervision of
the IAEA, added Udwin, spokeswoman for EU external relations
commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner. The EU spokeswoman
reiterated that Europe believes very firmly that Iran should not
develop a military nuclear capability. But she said: "We as the
EU have never contested Iran's right to develop civilian nuclear
power."
Copyright © 2005 AFP AFP. All rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
9 Las Vegas SUN: Russian Nuke Chief: Moscow Advised Iran
By MARIA DANILOVA ASSOCIATED PRESS
MOSCOW (AP) - Russia's nuclear chief said Monday that Moscow is
advising Iran against making its own nuclear fuel and has
offered to build more nuclear reactors in that country after
launching the first one at the Bushehr plant.
Alexander Rumyantsev, head of Russia's Federal Atomic Energy
Agency, spoke a day after signing a deal that obliges Iran to
return spent nuclear fuel from Bushehr. The requirement is aimed
at lessening the possibility of Iran extracting plutonium for
use in atomic weapons.
The Bush administration has accused Iran of running a covert
nuclear weapons program and cautioned Moscow against supporting
Iran's nuclear ambitions. Iran insists its program is solely for
peaceful energy purposes.
The fuel agreement cleared the way for Iran to start the Bushehr
reactor within the next year and a half.
"The cooperation we have with Iran is in accordance with the
current international legislation - we are not breaking any
regulations set by the international community and recorded by
the International Atomic Energy Agency," Rumyantsev said at a
news conference. He estimated the Bushehr project would cost
more than $1 billion.
Rumyantsev said Russia was urging Iran not to develop facilities
to produce its own nuclear fuel, arguing it wouldn't be
economically feasible.
"In a country that has fewer than eight or 10 nuclear reactors
... developing an independent nuclear cycle is not only
unfeasible, but wasteful," Rumyantsev said. "This is what we are
telling the Iranians and they are studying these materials with
interest."
He added, however, that Iran has the right to develop its own
nuclear fuel system. Such a cycle would require the extraction
of uranium, its enrichment, turning it into nuclear fuel, using
the fuel at nuclear power plants and then disposing of it.
"As for the decisions they make ... because they are members of
the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, nothing forbids them from
developing their own cycle," Rumyantsev said.
He said Russia would participate in bidding to build six more
nuclear reactors planned by Iran as well as reactors in
Bulgaria, Slovakia and China.
Iran's efforts to enrich uranium so it can produce fuel on its
own are a bigger concern in the international community than its
buying fuel from abroad because the enrichment process can be
taken further to be used for warheads.
"No doubt, having a whole cycle allows one to make an atomic
bomb," said Alexei Yablokov, head of the Environmental Policies
Center.
France, Britain and Germany are trying to secure an Iranian
commitment to scrap the enrichment program in exchange for
economic aid, technical support and backing for Tehran's efforts
to join mainstream international organizations. Iran has
suspended enrichment-related activities during the talks with
the Europeans.
Rumyantsev said Monday that Russia would ship fuel for the
Bushehr reactor "when it will be needed there," refusing to say
when or how the fuel would be shipped.
He said the Iranian side would cover the costs of shipping the
spent fuel back to Russia. The fuel will be sent back about 10
years after being shipped, he said, adding that all shipments of
nuclear fuel are usually controlled by the U.N. nuclear
watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency.
--
*****************************************************************
10 Guardian Unlimited: Iran, North Korea Focus of IAEA Meeting
From the Associated Press
[UP]
Monday February 28, 2005 10:46 AM
AP Photo VAH110
By GEORGE JAHN
Associated Press Writer
VIENNA, Austria (AP) - Iran received an ``extensive'' written
offer from the nuclear black market in the 1980s, the head of
the U.N. atomic watchdog agency said Monday, reacting to reports
that the list contained all the know-how required for
weapons-related enrichment technology.
Mohamed ElBaradei, head of the International Atomic Energy
Agency, was reacting to revelations by diplomats that Tehran had
been approached by members of the nuclear black market network
in the late 1980s with a written offer to set up the basics of
the enrichment program now causing concerns about the Islamic
Republic's nuclear aims.
Tehran has said it wants to use uranium enrichment for the
peaceful purpose of power generation, but the practice can also
be used to make weapons.
A two-year agency investigation already had established that
Iran ran a clandestine nuclear program, including uranium
enrichment, for nearly two decades.
Revealing details to The Associated Press on the weekend, the
diplomats, requesting anonymity, said the new revelations
indicated Iran had been offered full enrichment know-how earlier
than previously believed. The diplomats said that, in
cooperating with an IAEA investigation, Iran had turned over to
the agency the initial written information from the network and
had claimed to have refused offers of technology that
specifically geared toward making nuclear weapons.
``They indicated that they did not take these people up on the
entirety of the offer,'' ElBaradei said, alluding to the Iranian
claim, adding, however, that the agency still had to ``make sure
that ... they only got what they told us they got out of this
offer.''
In giving the agency the written offer from the network of
Pakistani scientist A. Q. Khan, Iran ``showed us for the first
time the offer they had, and that is good,'' ElBaradei told
reporters.
Despite its focus on the two countries, the board meeting of the
International Atomic Energy Agency is unlikely to take concrete
action either on Iran or North Korea. The main attempt to deal
with Iran has moved to another forum, with France, Germany and
Britain working to have Tehran commit to scrapping uranium
enrichment, while the agency has no leverage at all in the case
of North Korea, which quit the IAEA two years ago.
Still, with the two nations considered the greatest nuclear
threats, much of the meeting will deal with ways of defusing
concerns. North Korea, which last month announced that it had
nuclear weapons, will be urged to return to six-nation talks
meant to defuse the threat, said diplomats accredited to the
agency on the eve of Monday's opening session.
The diplomats also told The Associated Press on condition of
anonymity that Iran would be the target of oblique criticism in
the board's closed-door meetings, with senior agency officials
citing some lack of cooperation with IAEA officials.
Among the problems to be discussed are delays by Tehran in
informing the agency that it was building tunnels in the central
city of Isfahan to house parts of its now suspended uranium
enrichment program, the diplomats said.
Mention also would be made of maintenance work on centrifuge
parts and pipes by Iran that possibly violated the spirit of an
agreement with the three European powers to totally freeze its
enrichment program while negotiations were still ongoing. The
Europeans hope to persuade Iran to scrap enrichment permanently.
President Bush has expressed support for the European efforts to
negotiate with Iran. U.S. State Department nonproliferation
officials grudgingly accepted a decision by IAEA head Mohamed
ElBaradei not to publish a report on the investigation of Iran's
nuclear activities for the first time in two years of board
meetings because of lack of major new findings.
Still, there was evidence that the Americans would attempt to
increase pressure on Tehran by the next board meeting in June,
should the French, German and British talks fail.
A confidential U.S. position paper for the meeting called for a
new written report on Iran by the June meeting. Furthermore, it
urged board members meeting in June to ``take further action if
needed'' against Iran - in effect a demand that Tehran be hauled
before the U.N. Security Council if there is any indication it
was defying the agency on nuclear matters.
A separate U.S. document outlined the need for a ``Special
Committee'' to deal with nations violating the Nonproliferation
Treaty - which Washington says Iran has done. Such a committee
could ``make recommendations to the board'' to report suspect
nations to the Security Council, said that document, also leaked
to the AP.
^---
On the Net:
The International Atomic Energy Agency: www.iaea.org
Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2005
*****************************************************************
11 Korea: Digital Chosunilbo: Nuke Negotiators 'Won't Wait Forever' for N.Korea
Updated Feb.28,2005 19:20 KST
Korean nuclear disarmament said Monday the parties could not
"wait forever" for Pyongyang to return to the negotiating table.
Deputy Foreign Minister Song Min-soon, who heads Seoul's
delegation, said that while he could not give a specific date,
the heads of relevant nations would draw the line at some point.
Song's statement, in an interview with KBS, CBS radio following
a meeting with the delegation heads of the U.S. and Japan,
suggested that the three nations have a specific deadline in
mind, and that deadline might be approaching.
Japan's Sankei Shimbun reported there was talk in Washington of
a deadline one year from the conclusion of the last round of
six-party talks. Talks have stalled since third round in June
2004.
Song said the nations involved in the talks - the other two are
China and Russia - would make a concerted effort among
themselves in March, hinting that if North Korea does not come
back to the table by April, it could face more serious pressure.
The Chinese delegation head, Vice Foreign Minister Wu Dawei,
will visit Seoul on Wednesday to discuss progress. Foreign
Minister Ban Ki-moon spoke with his Chinese counterpart Li
Zhaoxing by phone on Monday and said the two agreed that North
Korea must urgently return to talks. They also agreed to make
joint efforts to get Pyongyang back to the negotiating table.
(Kwon Dae-yeol, dykwon@chosun.com )
*****************************************************************
12 Korea Herald: Seoul says unaware N.K. will rejoin talks in June
2005.03.01
By Choi Soung-ah and Reuters
North Korea has told officials in South Korea it is willing to
take part in six-party talks on its nuclear arms program in
June, according to a Japanese newspaper, but South Korean
officials yesterday denied the report.
The conservative Sankei Shimbun reported that Pyongyang's
message was conveyed to South Korea by unofficial routes and
then to Japan by Seoul.
Pyongyang also reportedly said it was willing to sign a treaty
with the United States by October.
A senior Foreign Ministry official in Seoul said the government
had not received any message from Pyongyang, adding that there
could have been unofficial channels of communication without
their knowledge.
Another government official said, "We received no such
information even through our New York-based contact line.
Unfortunately, no efficient discussion channel between South and
North Korea are currently operating to communicate such
positions."
North Korea declared on Feb. 10 that it had nuclear weapons and
it was pulling out of the talks, which include Japan, Russia,
China and the United States as well as the two Koreas.
Subsequently, North Korean leader Kim Jong-il told a Chinese
envoy who visited him in Pyongyang that his country was willing
to return to the talks under certain conditions.
The Sankei Shimbun report cited a government source, but a
Japanese Foreign Ministry official told Reuters he was unaware
of the report.
South Korean, Japanese and U.S. negotiators met in Seoul on
Saturday and urged the North to return to talks without delay.
They said they were ready to discuss all issues of concern to
Pyongyang but stopped short of offering concessions.
Three rounds of the six-party talks have been held in Beijing
but made no breakthrough toward ending the nuclear standoff.
A fourth round of talks scheduled last September was canceled
after North Korea said it would not attend, citing U.S.
hostility and apparently awaiting the result of the November
U.S. presidential election.
(bluelle@heraldm.com)
By Choi Soung-ah and Reuters
2005.03.01
*****************************************************************
13 YWS: Chinese Envoy to Visit Seoul to Try to Jump-start Nuke Talks
YONHAPNEWS WORLD SERVICE::ENGLISH NEWS
[http://www.yonhapnews.co.kr/] ..
2005/02/28 17:58 KST
(2nd LD)
By Kim Kwang-tae
SEOUL, Feb. 28 (Yonhap) -- A Chinese envoy will visit Seoul
this week to discuss ways of reviving stalled six-way talks on
North Korea's nuclear weapons program, South Korean officials
said Monday.
Wu Dawei, who serves as Beijing's chief nuclear negotiator,
will arrive in Seoul on Wednesday for three days of talks with
his South Korean counterpart, Song Min-soon, and Vice Foreign
Minister Lee Tae-shik, the Foreign Ministry officials said.
*****************************************************************
14 AFP: NKorea ready to suspend nuclear drive for aid, US assurances -
Monday February 28, 06:32 AM
TOKYO (AFP) - North Korea has told South Korea it would return
to talks on its nuclear drive in June and offer to suspend the
program in hopes of aid and a US pledge not to invade, a
Japanese newspaper reports. The communist state told Seoul
through unofficial channels about its intention in late February
after it announced it was indefinitely pulling out of nuclear
talks, the Sankei Shimbun said, citing Japanese government
sources.
The conservative newspaper said North Korea had set June to
return to talks because the United States has insisted that
Pyongyang come back to the table within a year. The last
six-nation negotiations on North Korea's nuclear program were in
June 2004 in Beijing, with Pyongyang boycotting a fourth round of
talks scheduled for September citing Washington's "hostile
policy."
The Sankei said North Korea would offer at the next six-nation
talks to suspend its nuclear program in exchange for economic
aid. With the progress in hand, Pyongyang would hope to reach an
agreement in October with the United States in which Washington
would pledge not to invade, the report said.
South Korean and Japanese officials denied the report. "The
report is not true. If it had been true, we would have
aggressively made it public," a South Korean foreign ministry
official said on condition of anonymity. The Japanese
government's top spokesman Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroyuki
Hosoda said: "I have not heard anything about it." "But June is
so far away and I cannot even imagine" what will happen, Hosoda
said, adding that Japan hoped the next round of six-way talks
would be held soon.
The Sankei said North Korea had been seeking concessions and
decided to return to talks after realizing that re-elected US
President George W. Bush would not change his firm stance on
Pyongyang. North Korea said on February 10 that it had developed
nuclear weapons for self-defense due to hostility from Washington
and would indefinitely boycott the talks involving the two
Koreas, China, the United States, Japan and Russia. However,
North Korea leader Kim Jong-Il later told a Chinese envoy that
Pyongyang would return to talks if unspecified conditions were
met.
Copyright © 2005 AFP AFP. All rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
15 Japan Times: China promises 'urgent' effort over North Korea
Monday, February 28, 2005
BEIJING (Kyodo) China promised Sunday to work diplomatically
"with a sense of urgency" to bring North Korea back to the
six-way talks on its nuclear ambitions, a Japanese government
source said.
The move was in response to a call from Japan, South Korea and
the United States for Beijing to step up its efforts.
But Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Wu Dawei, in a meeting with
Kenichiro Sasae, head of the Foreign Ministry's Asian and
Oceanian Affairs Bureau, did not elaborate on the specific steps
China plans to take, according to the source.
The meeting took place after Sasae flew to Beijing from Seoul,
where he met Saturday with senior South Korean and U.S.
diplomats to coordinate policy on the six-nation talks.
"China is concerned that if the six-way talks are not held and
are allowed to drift, it could bring about a serious situation,"
the source quoted Wu as saying.
"We will make diplomatic efforts with a sense of urgency," he
was quoted as saying.
Wu also said China hopes Japan, South Korea and the U.S. will
make efforts as well, according to the source.
In the meeting, Sasae briefed Wu and Chinese Ambassador on
Korean Peninsula Affairs Ning Fukui about the results of the
Seoul talks, in which the three countries called on North Korea
to return to the six-way talks unconditionally and without delay.
The gathering in Seoul was intended to coordinate policy after
Kim Jong Il told a Chinese envoy last week that Pyongyang might
return to the six-country talks if certain conditions are met.
Wang Jiarui, head of the Chinese Communist Party's
International Department, met with Kim following North Korea's
Feb. 10 declaration that it possesses nuclear weapons and that
it was boycotting the six-nation talks indefinitely.
"If the six-way talks are not held its effectiveness and
trustworthiness could be undermined," Sasae was quoted as
telling Wu in Sunday's meeting. "We must resume the meeting as
soon as possible."
The Japan Times: Feb. 28, 2005
(C) All rights reserved
*****************************************************************
16 Korea Times: Bilateral Meeting Possible Within 6-Way Talks - Allies
Hankooki.com > The Korea Times > Nation
By Ryu Jin Staff Reporter
North Korea can expect more bilateral negotiations with the
United States on issues of concern once it returns to the
multilateral dialogue table, diplomatic sources said Monday.
Seoul, Washington and Tokyo reached a consensus in a strategy
session last Saturday that bilateral contacts, which North Korea
and the U.S. had held in the previous rounds of talks, could be
upgraded into substantial discussions, according to the sources.
``We briefed China on the outcome of the three-way meeting in
Seoul last weekend,ˇŻˇŻ a senior government official said. ``We
expect it will be delivered to the North soon.ˇŻˇŻ
Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Wu Dawei, who leads his countryˇŻs
delegation to the six-party talks, is scheduled to visit South
Korea on March 2-4 to learn more about what Seoul wants Beijing
to tell the North Korean leaders, officials in Seoul told
reporters.
Deputy Foreign Minister Song Min-soon, SeoulˇŻs chief nuclear
negotiator, held talks with his U.S. and Japanese counterparts to
seek ways to revive the stalled six-party process, aimed at
resolving the standoff over PyongyangˇŻs nuclear weapons program.
Although it took part in the three rounds of the multilateral
negotiations, North Korea still prefers direct bargaining with
the U.S. But the U.S., once bitten in the first nuclear crisis in
the early 1990s, favors a multilateral dialogue format involving
China.
While appearing on a radio program yesterday, Song reiterated
that Pyongyang should believe assurances from Seoul, Washington
and Tokyo that it can discuss whatever issues it is concerned
about or interested in, once it returns to the table.
``The (next round of six-party) talks will be a place where we
can discuss the issues and concerns North Korea has,ˇŻˇŻ he said.
``That means the formats the North wants could also be discussed.
North Korea should take this positively.ˇŻˇŻ
Since Feb. 10, when the North declared an indefinite boycott of
further negotiations until the U.S. drops its ``hostileˇŻˇŻ
policy, the other parties involved in the talks have been staging
a flurry of diplomacy to bring it back to the discussion table.
About two weeks later, North Korean leader Kim Jong-il told a
Chinese envoy that his country would immediately return to the
table if certain ``conditionsˇŻˇŻ were met, calling for a more
flexible and sincere attitude from the U.S.
China will likely deliver the position of the U.S. and its Asian
allies, coordinated in SaturdayˇŻs meeting, to North Korea soon,
according to officials, though itˇŻs uncertain whether the
intransigent country will be satisfied with the suggestions.
South Korean officials denied a news report by JapanˇŻs Sankei
Shimbun Monday that Pyongyang had told Seoul it would return to
the six-party talks in June and wants to strike a package deal
with the U.S. by October. The conservative daily said the message
was delivered through ``unofficial channels.ˇŻˇŻ
``Unfortunately, no direct channel is now in operation between
the two Koreas that could relay such a message,ˇŻˇŻ Song said
during a radio program, revealing displeasure with the news
report. ``Then, should the six-party talks be an annual
event?ˇŻˇŻ
Officials believe North Korea will come back to the negotiation
table in the near future, if the other parties exert concerted
diplomatic efforts in February and March.
The ongoing nuclear dispute, the second of its kind, emerged in
October 2002 when the U.S. accused North Korea of having a
secretive uranium-enrichment program in violation of
international accords, a claim denied by the North.
North Korea had frozen its plutonium-based nuclear weapons
program under a bilateral agreement with the U.S. in 1994, which
patched up the first nuclear crisis on the Korean Peninsula. The
North, however, reactivated the once-mothballed nuclear
facilities as the U.S. punished it by halting fuel shipments for
the suspected uranium program. It now claims to have nuclear
weapons, though the claim is yet unproven.
Despite three rounds of six-party talks since the autumn of
2003, involving the two Koreas, the U.S., Japan, Russia and
China, no clear breakthrough has yet been achieved.
jinryu@koreatimes.co.kr 02-28-2005 20:33
*****************************************************************
17 Korea Times: KEDO Willing to Resume Aid to NK
Hankooki.com > The Korea Times > Nation
NEW YORK (Yonhap) _ A U.S.-led international consortium has told
North Korea that it is willing to resume energy aid to the
communist country if Pyongyang eases concerns over its nuclear
weapons program, a South Korean official said Sunday.
Kim Young-mok, a South Korean deputy executive director of the
Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization (KEDO), said
measures will be taken ``in a rapid and comprehensive mannerˇŻˇŻ
to address the North's energy needs if progress is made in
stalled six-way talks on the North's nuclear program.
Shipments of fuel oil were a key part of a 1994 accord under
which the energy-starved North promised to freeze and eventually
dismantle its plutonium-based nuclear program. But the deal
collapsed in 2002 when U.S. officials said North Korea had
admitted to having a new arms program based on enriched uranium,
a claim denied by the North.
The United States retaliated by halting annual shipments of
500,000 tons of fuel oil. The North then expelled U.N. nuclear
monitors and quit the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty,
triggering the current nuclear crisis.
02-28-2005 20:24
*****************************************************************
18 [NukeNet] Helen Caldicott On C-Span [3 Hours] Sunday, March 6
Date: Mon, 28 Feb 2005 18:28:12 -0800
NukeNet Anti-Nuclear Network (nukenet@energyjustice.net)
http://www.c-span.org Check this site for the
phone#[s] to call in on and please do call and
forward this around to interested parties.
February 28, 2005
Dear Friends of NPRI,
We are excited to announce that Dr. Helen
Caldicott will be featured on C-SPAN2's Book TV on
Sunday, March 6. She will be the featured guest
on In Depth at 12:00 noon EST and again at 9:00 pm
PST. The segment will also air on Monday, March 7
at 12:00 am EST.
In Depth is a three-hour program that
features a single author reflecting on their
books, their life, and their work in an
interactive television forum. During the program
the host of In Depth will discuss with Dr.
Caldicott her most recent book, The New Nuclear
Danger: George W. Bush's Military Industrial
Complex, as well as her earlier books, which
include Missile Envy, If You Love This Planet,
Nuclear Madness, and A Desperate Passion. Dr.
Caldicott will talk about the current nuclear
dangers and discuss her work over the last thirty
years in the international campaign to educate the
public about the medical hazards of the nuclear
age.
Date: Sunday, March 6, 2005
Time: 12:00 noon EST and 9:00 pm PST
Listeners can write or call in to BookTV to
talk with Dr. Caldicott during the show by calling
in or emailing questions in advance to
booktv@c-span.org.
The segment will also air on Monday, March 7
at 12:00 am EST.
For more information about the show, visit
http://www.booktv.org/feature/index.asp?segID=5478&schedID=335.
Don't miss this exciting opportunity to see
Dr. Caldicott on national television!
-Your NPRI team
(Helen, Julie, Regina, Rupali, and Jessica)
--------------------------------------------------
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19 BBC ON THIS DAY | 1 | 1954: US tests hydrogen bomb in Bikini
[http://www.bbc.co.uk]
1954: US tests hydrogen bomb in Bikini The US has produced the
biggest ever man-made explosion so far in the Pacific archipelago
of Bikini, part of the Marshall Islands.
It is believed the hydrogen bomb was up to 1,000 times more
powerful than the atomic bomb that destroyed Hiroshima.
It was so violent that it overwhelmed the measuring instruments,
indicating that the bomb was much more powerful than scientists
had anticipated.
The bomb was the equivalent of 20m tons of TNT.
One of the atolls has been totally vaporised, disappearing into a
gigantic mushroom cloud that spread at least 100 miles wide and
dropping back to the sea in the form of radioactive fall-out.
The Atomic Energy Commission announced this was the first in a
series of tests to be carried out in the area.
Natives resettled
Tests first began in Bikini in 1946 after the natives were moved
to the island of Rongerik, then to Ujelan a year later and to
Kili on 1949.
This is the second H-bomb test in the area.
A 10.4 megaton bomb was exploded on 1 November 1952 at Enewatak,
west of Bikini.
It destroyed one island and left a crater 175 feet deep.
It was hundreds of times more powerful than that used over
Hiroshima.
Unlike that device which tapped energy by splitting atomic
nuclei, the Enewetak weapon forced together nuclei of hydrogen to
unleash an even greater destructive force.
Watch/Listen
[The first h-bomb explodes at Enewatek Atoll on 1 November 1952]
The first hydrogen bomb was detonated in the Pacific in 1952
The 23 crew of the Japanese fishing boat "Fukuryu Maru" are
treated for nuclear burns and contamination (no sound)
In Context
Three weeks later it emerged that a Japanese
fishing boat, called Lucky Dragon, was within 80 miles (129 km)
of the test zone at the time. Its 23 crew were severely affected
by radiation sickness.
They were among 264 people accidentally exposed to radiation
because the explosion and fall-out had been far greater than
expected.
The original natives were granted $325,000 in compensation and
returned to Bikini in 1974. But they were evacuated four years
later when new tests showed high levels of residual
radioactivity in the region.
Twenty-three nuclear tests were carried out at Bikini between
1946 and 1958.
Web Links Nuclear Age Timeline [http://www.em.doe.gov/timeline/]
Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Organisation
[http://www.ctbto.org/] Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament
[http://www.cnduk.org/]
*****************************************************************
20 Oregon State Daily Barometer: Grant helps students debunk nuclear myths
Monday February 28, 2005
Grant helps students debunk nuclear myths Nuclear science student
group awarded $1,000 outreach grant
By Jennifer Moser
From "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" to "Spiderman," movies
portray radiation as a lethal, unpredictable and uncontrollable
force of nature.
Two Oregon State University nuclear engineering seniors hope to
change this perception in the minds of local middle schoolers --
and they now have the cash to do so.
Kati Gray and Sarah Kleeb are the current and former presidents,
respectively, of the OSU chapter of the American Nuclear
Society. The two wrote a proposal that won the chapter a $1,000
grant for "Nuclear Engineering Education for the Disadvantaged."
Their education programs are designed as broad outreach to
students who might someday apply for nuclear science programs.
Gray and Kleeb run a Saturday Academy class called "The
Footprints of Radiation" for local middle school students that
earned them an ANS award.
They hope to expand their outreach programs into high school
chemistry and physics classes, Kleeb said.
They will use the grant to buy a cloud chamber, an educational
device that shows visible tracks of radiation emissions within
clouds of cold super-condensed vapor, as well as radiation
detectors and other equipment to benefit their class.
Gray and Kleeb also hope to create a Girl Scout badge about
atomic science to parallel the merit badge available to Boy
Scouts.
Gray has not yet heard back from the Eugene and Salem-based Girl
Scout councils she contacted, but hopes to use Girl Scout
contacts with the Society of Women Engineers.
Gray said other ANS student chapters, such as the one at Penn
State, are putting together proposals to create a Girl Scout
badge that would be available nationwide.
Until then, Gray and Kleeb will set their sights on a locally
available badge.
"They don't really work with anything that's highly
radioactive," Gray said of the Scout badge activities. Rather,
the programs include the history and theory of nuclear science.
The leftover grant money will stay with the OSU ANS chapter
after Gray and Kleeb graduate.
"We thought it fit our little gig that we do," Kleeb said of
their decision to apply, "so we might as well give it a shot!"
Their "gig" involves student tours of the OSU reactor and their
Saturday class.
Kleeb said that many of the students are very excited at the
prospect of a Radiation Center tour.
"They're like, 'Wow, do we get to see that?'" she said.
Gray and Kleeb hope to provide the students they meet with
"correct information (and) positive exposure" to nuclear
science.
What is the essential message they hope to convey?
"Nuclear is safe," Gray said. "And understood."
Jennifer Moser, staff writer
campus@dailybarometer.com [campus@dailybarometer.com] , 737-2232
© 2005 The Daily Barometer, Oregon State University
*****************************************************************
21 Mojo: The DIDDLY award
[MotherJones.com]
The Congressional Medal of Terror is awarded for uncommon
vigilance and surreal valor in defense of the homeland. And the
nominees are…
By Jack Hitt
Illustration: Peter Hoey
March/April 2005 Issue
Rep. Curt Weldon (R-Pa.), who announced that he'd
single-handedly exposed a plot by Iranian terrorists to fly
hijacked Canadian airliners into a New Hampshire nuclear
reactor. He was blown off by the CIA after his main source—whom
Weldon himself gave the super-secret spy name "Ali"—refused to
reveal his sources. "I took this straight to the top," Weldon
whined, "but I did not get anywhere." After Republican
colleagues joined in on ignoring him, Weldon announced he’ll
reveal the plot in a book-length exposé that will "shake
Washington."
Rep. Katherine Harris (the very same), who exposed a nonexistent
plot by a man of Middle Eastern heritage to blow up the power
grid in Carmel, Indiana—a suburb of Indianapolis. She said "a
mayor" had told her about it, although Carmel's mayor said he
didn't know what she was talking about. Neither did the county
sheriff; neither did the FBI.
Sen. Jim Bunning (R-Ky.), who insisted on having two local
police officers guard him every time he traveled in the
Bluegrass State. Although Bunning was always cagey about why,
one local paper reported that the "Paducah police were with him
to guard against al-Qaida or other terrorist attacks." Bunning
reacted with paranoia when queried about the preposterous
assumption that terrorists might hunt him down in Paducah.
"There may be strangers among us," he explained.
Sen. Mark Dayton (D-Minn.), who evacuated his Washington office
just before the November election, citing a "top-secret
intelligence report" that the nation's capital was in peril. The
Department of Homeland Security issued a statement saying Dayton
didn't know what he was talking about, as did the U.S. Capitol
Police. No matter; Dayton closed up shop, explaining: "I do so
out of extreme, but necessary, precaution to protect the lives
and safety of my Senate staff and my Minnesota constituents, who
might otherwise visit my office in the next few weeks."
AND THE WINNER IS...Katherine Harris, who later apologized,
sorta, saying, "I regret that I had no knowledge of the
sensitive nature of this situation," adding that "the story" she
had shared "illustrated the need for each of us to remain alert
and vigilant in fighting terrorism." [.] What do you think?
[backtalk@motherjones.com?subject=Backtalk: The DIDDLY award]
© 2005 The Foundation for National Progress
*****************************************************************
22 [http://www.mainetoday.com]: Deep fear - loss of 'revered' yard
For thousands of workers, the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard has
meaning beyond a paycheck. -->
Monday, February 28, 2005
By RYAN LENZ, Associated Press
KITTERY — Generations of yard workers have watched as ships set
sail from the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard in the middle of the
Piscataqua River. Established in 1800 and regarded as the
nation's first federal shipyard, Portsmouth has evolved from
building wooden ships with masts chopped from New England's
forests to a high-tech maintenance depot for nuclear submarines.
It has withstood war, lasted through peace, and thrived through
previous rounds of base closings.
But those who have seen the shipyard change, and remember
submarines plunging into the surf when they were still built
there, fear that this year's base closings could bring an end to
what has fondly come to be known as "The Yard."
"To me, closing Portsmouth would be like having my house burn
down," said Paul O'Connor, an electrician and union leader.
"Your home is so much more than a place to stay when it's
raining. The shipyard is so much more than a place to work."
Like military facilities across the country, Portsmouth could be
at risk to close as the Pentagon prepares to shutter or scale
back a quarter of about 425 military facilities nationwide this
year. It will be the first such effort to save money in 10 years
and part of a long-term transformation of a Cold War military.
Congress authorized the fifth round of Base Realignment and
Closure - commonly known as BRAC - last year. The release of the
list of candidates for closure is weeks away, but communities
that look to the shipyard as an economic anchor already are
scrambling to keep the base alive.
A shipyard worker for nearly 30 years, more than half of
O'Connor's life has some tie to Portsmouth. And he's not alone
in his sentiments for the yard's resilience in surviving four
previous base closing rounds.
The base has a storied past. It was the site of negotiations
that ended the Russo-Japanese War in 1905 and was home to a
naval prison that closed in 1974. Tragedy struck in 1963 when
the USS Thresher, a submarine built at the shipyard, failed to
surface during sea trials and all 129 aboard were lost.
But for many, Portsmouth is more than living history - it's a
paycheck.
Workers at Portsmouth built their first submarine in 1917 and
their last about 50 years later. During those years it set
records in submarine production and pioneered submarine
technology, including construction of the first nuclear-powered
submarine. Its primary mission in recent years has been the
overhaul, repair, refueling and modernization of the Navy's Los
Angeles-class submarines.
"It's a revered place, and people around here want it," said
William D. McDonough, a former shipyard commander who still
lives about a mile outside the base's gates. "Everywhere you go,
there's a tie to this yard."
Long after his Navy years, McDonough works with Save Our
Shipyard, an organization lobbying congressional leaders and
military brass, including Navy Secretary Gordon England during a
visit last summer, to recognize the base's role in the nation's
defense and to keep it open.
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has argued that closing or
consolidating stateside facilities could save $7 billion
annually that would be better spent improving fighting
capabilities amid threats from terrorists.
Advocates say closing the shipyard would translate into a loss
of about $185 million in Maine and $123 million in New Hampshire
that 4,900 civilian employees return to their communities.
Copyright [http://www.mainetoday.com/copyright.shtml] © Blethen
Maine Newspapers Inc.
*****************************************************************
23 DAWN: 'N-powers should adhere to NPT' -
February, 2005
By Our Correspondent
UNITED NATIONS, Feb 27: Pakistan's High Commissioner to the
United Kingdom Maleeha Lodhi has asked the United Nations to
urge the five recognized nuclear states to adhere to their
disarmament obligations under provisions of the Nuclear Non
Proliferation Treaty.
Ms Lodhi, who was in New York over the weekend to attend
meetings of the UN's Advisory Board on Disarmament Matters,
called for eventual recognition of three 'de facto nuclear
states' - Pakistan, Israel and India - saying that the
cooperation of all these states was essential to achieve the
objectives of non-proliferation.
In a meeting with UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, she
reportedly expressed the opinion that action was also required
to avoid the "nightmare scenario" of weapons of mass destruction
falling into the hands of terrorists.
© The DAWN Group of Newspapers, 2005
*****************************************************************
24 TMI control room door open
Date: Mon, 28 Feb 2005 18:27:28 -0800
Power Reactor Event Number: 41444
Facility: THREE MILE ISLAND
Region: 1 State: PA
Unit: [1] [ ] [ ]
RX Type: [1] B&W-L-LP,[2] B&W-L-LP
NRC Notified By: RANDY CAMPBELL
HQ OPS Officer: CHAUNCEY GOULD Notification Date: 02/26/2005
Notification Time: 00:59 [ET]
Event Date: 02/15/2005
Event Time: 20:55 [EST]
Last Update Date: 02/26/2005
Emergency Class: NON EMERGENCY
10 CFR Section:
50.72(b)(3)(ii)(B) - UNANALYZED CONDITION
50.72(b)(3)(v)(D) - ACCIDENT MITIGATION Person (Organization):
PAMELA HENDERSON (R1)
Unit SCRAM Code RX CRIT Initial PWR Initial RX Mode Current
PWR Current RX Mode
1 N Y 100 Power Operation 100 Power Operation
Event Text
POSSIBLE FAILURE TO MEET DESIGN BASIS REQUIREMENTS OF POSITIVE PRESSURE IN
THE CONTROL TOWER ENVELOPE FOLLOWING A DESIGN BASIS ACCIDENT.
The licensee provided the following information:
"During operator rounds it was discovered that a double door for the control
tower habitability envelope was propped open [from painting earlier in the
day]. This condition would have resulted in not meeting the design basis
requirements of maintaining a positive pressure inside the control tower
envelope following a design basis accident. The doors were immediately
closed."
"An issue report was generated and a prompt investigation was commenced in
accordance with station policies."
The NRC resident Inspector was notified.
*****************************************************************
25 [NukeNet] Nuclear Power Outlook
Date: Mon, 28 Feb 2005 18:26:18 -0800
NukeNet Anti-Nuclear Network (nukenet@energyjustice.net)
No new U.S. nuclear plants expected before 2025,
EIA says
Though existing U.S. nuclear plants will continue
to operate, new units łare
not expected to be economical˛ and none will be
constructed before 2025,
DOEąs Energy Information Administration (EIA) said
in its 2005 annual energy
outlook, released Feb. 11.
U.S. nuclear generating capacity will increase
from 99.2 gigawatts in 2003
to 102.7 GW in 2025 due to power uprates and
slight improvements in average
capacity factors, according to projections by EIA,
which is DOEąs
independent energy analysis office.
The nuclear industry has challenged EIAąs
assumptions regarding the
economics of new nuclear plants (NW, 15 May O03,
1) and continues to do so.
In the 2005 energy outlook, łEIA analysts have
assigned an unrealistically
high, and inflated, capital cost to new nuclear
generating capacity,˛ Marvin
Fertel, senior vice president at the Nuclear
Energy Institute, testified
Feb. 3 at a Senate Energy & Natural Resources
Committee hearing on the
report.
łThe industry believes there is ample evidence to
demonstrate that EIAąs
approach is flawed,˛ Fertel said. He said EIA had
łignored˛ the findings of
a workshop on nuclear power costs that EIA had
hosted in 2003, łand assumed
that new nuclear plants would experience the same
delays, lengthy
construction periods and high costs experienced by
some of the plants built
in the 1980s and 1990s.˛
In his Senate testimony, Fertel quoted EIAąs
workshop summary, published in
the 2004 energy outlook, which said that łthere is
reason to believe that
new reactors will be less costly to build than
those currently in operation˛
in the U.S. Among other factors, łsimplified,
standardized, and pre-approved
designs clearly result in cost savings,˛ EIA said.
Fertel cited overnight capital cost estimates of
łless than $1,400/KW˛ for
Westinghouseąs AP1000 design, falling to
łapproximately $1,000/KW˛ after the
first few reactors, and $1,445/KW for GE Nuclear
Energyąs advanced boiling
water reactor (ABWR). Two ABWRs constructed on the
same site would average
$1,300/KW, Fertel said.
------------------------------------------------
------------------------
Differing opinions
łI donąt think [EIA] ignored anything˛ presented
at the workshop, EIA
analyst Laura Martin said this week. Industry
representatives were invited
because EIA wanted their input, Martin said, but
łwe didnąt believe vendorsą
numbers completely and ignore everyone else˛ when
updating the modeląs
nuclear cost assumptions. EIAąs reference case in
both 2004 and 2005 assumes
nuclear power plant overnight capital costs of
$1,928 per kilowatt, falling
to $1,752/KW in 2019. łGiven the other assumptions
of the model,˛ new
nuclear capacity is łstill not economic˛ in the
reference case by 2025,
Martin said.
łAlthough it is reasonable to expect lower
construction costs for the new
reactors, EIA and other organizations have
questioned the size of the cost
reductions,˛ EIA said in the workshop summary. EIA
noted that łthere is some
evidence that cost overruns for earlier U.S.
reactors resulted from
misestimation of the savings from building large
or multi-plant units.˛ In
assessing vendor cost estimates, łEIAąs reviewers
were forced to use their
subjective judgment, and there were differing
opinions about the estimates,˛
EIA said.
In its 2005 outlook, EIA also analyzed two
sensitivity cases to łlook at
possible reductions in nuclear power costs.˛
Capital costs in 2025 are
assumed to be $1,410/KW in the advanced nuclear
cost case and $1,097/KW in
the vendor estimate case, Martin said. łIn the
advanced nuclear case 7
gigawatts of new nuclear capacity is added by
2025, and in the vendor
estimate case 25 gigawatts is added by 2025,˛ EIA
concluded.
łAfter the first new nuclear power plant is built
(in the U.S.), EIA will
probably admit a nuclear power plant could be
built,˛ William Magwood,
director of DOEąs Office of Nuclear Energy,
Science & Technology, quipped at
the American Nuclear Societyąs annual meeting last
November in response to a
question about EIAąs pessimistic nuclear cost
assumptions.
The 2005 outlook is on the EIA Web site:
http://www.
eia.doe.gov/oiaf/aeo/index.html. ---------------
--------------------------------------------------
-------
Fairs | Congress | Invest | Int. Markets
Issue 32 | 2005/02/24
Itąs Not Enough!
Even the Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) of the
Organisation for Economic
Cooperation and Development (OECD) believes the
resource base for a
long-term establishment of worldwide nuclear power
plants to be inadequate,
according to the current annual report.
The U.S. Department of Energy calculates that in
2030, the conventional
uranium reserves will be depleted.
At this point, the supply of nuclear power
stations can only be guaranteed
via fast breeder reactors not only an
environmental safety hazard, but
generated plutonium can also be used for the
manufacture of nuclear weapons
after reprocessing.
Astonishing that there are still voices who claim
that nuclear power holds
our future energy supplyS
_______________________________________________________________________
Subscribe/Unsubscribe Here: http://www.energyjustice.net/nukenet/
Change your settings or access the archives at:
http://energyjustice.net/mailman/listinfo/nukenet_energyjustice.net
*****************************************************************
26 NRC: Notice of Availability of Environmental Assessment and Finding
FR Doc 05-3735
[Federal Register: February 28, 2005 (Volume 70, Number 38)]
[Notices] [Page 9680-9681] From the Federal Register Online via
GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr28fe05-120]
of No Significant Impact for License Amendment for Maxim
Technologies, Inc., St. Louis, MO AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory
Commission.
ACTION: Notice of availability.
[[Page 9681]]
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Peter J. Lee, Division of
Nuclear Materials Safety, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
Region III, 2443 Warrenville Road, Lisle, Illinois 60532-4352;
telephone (630) 829-9870; or by e-mail at pjl2@nrc.gov
[pjl2@nrc.gov] .
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: I. Introduction The U.S. Nuclear
Regulatory Commission (NRC) is considering the issuance of a
license amendment to terminate Material License No. 24- 17152-02
issued to Maxim Technologies, Inc. (the licensee). The license
amendment will approve the licensee's St. Louis, Missouri
facility for unrestricted use.
The NRC staff prepared an Environmental Assessment in support of
this license action in accordance with the requirements of Title
10, Code of Federal Regulations Part 51, ``Environmental
Protection Regulations for Domestic Licensing and Related
Regulatory Functions.'' Based on the Environmental Assessment,
the NRC concluded that a Finding of No Significant Impact is
appropriate. The amendment will be issued following the
publication of this Notice.
II. EA Summary The purpose of the proposed amendment is to
terminate the licensee's byproduct material license and release
its St. Louis, Missouri facility for unrestricted use. On October
14, 1983, the NRC authorized the licensee to conduct
radiochemical analysis of environmental samples at the facility
located at 12161 Lackland Road, St. Louis, Missouri. On April 17,
1989, the NRC authorized the unrestricted release of the 12161
Lackland Road, St. Louis, Missouri facility for unrestricted use
and approved the licensee's current facility located at 1908
Innerbelt Business Center Drive, St.
Louis, Missouri. On November 17, 2004, Maxim Technologies, Inc.
submitted a license amendment requesting termination of its
license and requesting release of its facility for unrestricted
use. The licensee conducted surveys of the facility and provided
information to the NRC to demonstrate that the site meets the
license termination criteria in 10 CFR part 20, subpart E,
``Radiological Criteria for License Termination,'' for
unrestricted release. The NRC staff examined the licensee's
request and the information provided in support of its request,
including the surveys performed to demonstrate compliance with 10
CFR 20.1402, ``Radiological Criteria for Unrestricted Use,'' to
ensure that the NRC's decision is protective of the public health
and safety and the environment.
III. Finding of No Significant Impact On the basis of the
Environmental Assessment, NRC concluded that there are no
significant environmental impacts from the proposed amendment and
determined not to prepare an environmental impact statement.
IV. Further Information Documents related to this action,
including the application for amendment and supporting
documentation, are available electronically at the NRC's
Electronic Reading Room 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]
.
From this site, you can access the NRC's Agencywide Document
Access and Management System (ADAMS), which provides text and
image files of NRC's public documents. The ADAMS accession
numbers for the documents related to this notice are: ML043240226
for the November 17, 2004, amendment request, and ML050460378 for
the Environmental Assessment summarized above. If you do not have
access to ADAMS or if there are problems in accessing the
documents located in ADAMS, contact the NRC's Public Document
Room (PDR) Reference staff at 1-800-397-4209, 301-415-4737, or by
e-mail to pdr@nrc.gov [pdr@nrc.gov] . These documents may also be
viewed electronically on the public computers located at the
NRC's PDR, O 1 F21, One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike,
Rockville, MD 20852. The PDR reproduction contractor will copy
documents for a fee.
Dated at Lisle, Illinois, this 15th day of February 2005.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Jamnes L. Cameron, Chief, Decommissioning Branch, Division of
Nuclear Materials Safety, Region III.
[FR Doc. 05-3735 Filed 2-25-05; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590-01-P
*****************************************************************
27 NRC: Availability of the Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research Draft
FR Doc 05-3736
[Federal Register: February 28, 2005 (Volume 70, Number 38)]
[Notices] [Page 9682] From the Federal Register Online via GPO
Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr28fe05-122]
Report Entitled, ``Station Blackout Risk Evaluation for Nuclear
Power Plants,'' for Comment AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory
Commission.
ACTION: Notice of availability of the Office of Nuclear
Regulatory Research draft report entitled, ``Station Blackout
Risk Evaluation for Nuclear Power Plants,'' and request for
public comment.
SUMMARY: The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is announcing
the availability of the Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research
draft report entitled, ``Station Blackout Risk Evaluation for
Nuclear Power Plants.''
DATES: Comments on this document should be submitted by April 15,
2005. Comments received after that date will be considered to the
extent practicable. To ensure efficient and complete comment
resolution, comments should include references to the section,
page, and line numbers of the document to which the comment
applies, if possible.
ADDRESSES: Members of the public are invited and encouraged to
submit written comments to Michael Lesar, Chief Rules and
Directives Branch, Office of Administration, Mail Stop T-6D59,
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001.
Hand-deliver comments attention to Michael Lesar, 11545 Rockville
Pike, Rockville, MD, between 7:30 a.m. and 4:15 p.m. on Federal
workdays. Comments may also be sent electronically to:
NRCREP@nrc.gov [NRCREP@nrc.gov] . This document is available at
the Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS)
Public Electronic Reading Room on the Internet at the NRC Web
site 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. ML050140399, and at the NRC Public Document
Room, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD. The PDR's mailing
address is USNRC PDR, Washington, DC 20555; telephone (301)
415-4737 or (800) 397-4205; fax (301) 415-3548; e-mail
PDR@NRC.GOV [PDR@NRC.GOV] . FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dale
M. Rasmuson, Division of Risk Analysis and Applications, Office
of Nuclear Regulatory Research, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001.
Telephone: 301-415-7571, e-mail: dmr@nrc.gov [dmr@nrc.gov] .
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Draft Report Entitled, ``Station
Blackout Risk Evaluation for Nuclear Power Plants'' This report
is an update of several previous reports analyzing the risk from
loss of offsite power and subsequent station blackout events at
U.S. commercial nuclear power plants. The risk measure used is
core damage frequency. Standardized plant analysis risk (SPAR)
models developed by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
covering the 103 operating commercial nuclear power plants, were
used to evaluate the risk. Core damage frequency results
indicating contributions from station blackout scenarios and
other loss of offsite power scenarios are presented for each of
the 103 plants, along with plant class and industry averages. In
addition, a comprehensive review of emergency diesel generator
performance was performed to obtain current estimates for input
to the SPAR models. Overall results indicate that core damage
frequencies for loss of offsite power and station blackout are
lower than previous estimates. Contributing to this risk
reduction is an improvement in emergency diesel generator
performance.
The NRC is seeking public comment in order to receive feedback
from the widest range of parties and to ensure that all
information relevant to developing this document is available to
the NRC staff. This document is issued for comment only and is
not intended for interim use. The NRC will review public comments
received on the document, incorporate suggested changes as
necessary, and issue the final report for use. The NRC will
review public comments received on the document, incorporate
suggested changes as necessary, and issue the final report for
use.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 16th day of February, 2005.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Charles E. Ader, Director, Division of Risk Analysis and
Applications, Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research.
[FR Doc. 05-3736 Filed 2-25-05; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590-01-P
*****************************************************************
28 Xinhua: Foreign firms enter China's bidding for nuke power tech, equipment
www.xinhuanet.com
www.chinaview.cn 2005-02-28 18:20:17
HANGZHOU, Feb. 28 (Xinhuanet) -- Foreign companies have
formed into three united bodies in order to garner contracts in
construction of two new nuke power plants along the country's
southern and eastern coast.
China National Nuclear Corporation disclosed on Monday the
three united bodies were Westinghouse Consortium of the United
States, AtomStroyExport of Russia and Framatome of France as the
country's open bidding came to a close for importing
third-generation nuclear power technologies and related
equipment in building both Sanmen Nuclear Power Plant in east
China's ZhejiangProvince and Yangjiang Nuclear Power Plant in
south China's Guangdong Province.
The bidding was offered last September by three Chinese
companies including China National Nuclear Corporation and China
National Technical Import and Export Corporation. But for the
timebeing, it is still unknown which united body gets what
contracts.
With the approval of China's State Council, the country's
highest governing body, the two projected nuke power plants will
be installed with two pressurized water reactors of 1 million
kilowatts each in first phase construction, but will eventually
beexpanded to six generating units each.
The four pressurized water reactors of the two nuke plants
are planned to be completed and begin power generation by 2011.
Completion of the two new nuclear power plants will
enormously alleviate power shortage in the country's southern
and eastern regions where industries and processing trade are
highly developed.Enditem
Copyright ©2003 Xinhua News Agency. All rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
29 Bizchina: Nuke giants submit bids
By Fu Jing (China Daily) Updated: 2005-03-01 09:26
Three global nuclear power competitors, one of which will become
a long-time player in China's ambitious nuclear energy strategy,
submitted their bids to build four nuclear reactors in the
country.
US-based Westinghouse, France's AREVA and Russia's
AtomStroyExport (ASE) exhibited their technological muscle,
while eyeing plans to construct not only four nuclear reactors
in Zhejiang and Guangdong provinces, but also a further two or
three reactors every year to 2020.
The Preparatory Office of the State Nuclear Power Technology
Corporation accepted finished bids from the three competitors
and an announcement will be made within the year to reveal the
successful bidder for the four 1,000-megawatt, pressurized-water
nuclear power facilities.
Chen Zhaobo, head of the preparatory office, said his office
will organize for leading experts to examine the bids prepared
by the three companies within five months.
He said the design, construction and operation of the four
reactors will set the example for China's nuclear power
blueprint, which aims for nuclear power to account for 4 per
cent of power consumption by 2020. The current figure is 1.6 per
cent.
To achieve this end, Chen's office, which started work last
September under the direct authority of the State Nuclear Power
Self-reliance Leading Committee, is to set up a nuclear power
corporation, organize tenders, carry out technology transfers
and negotiate contracts for nuclear power projects.
"We are trying to bring in cutting-edge technologies for
pressured water reactors (PWR) and gradually implement them in
future projects," said Chen.
Two of the four units will be located in Yangjiang, South
China's Guangdong Province and the other two in Sanmen, East
China's Zhejiang Province.
Chen said the reactors will play a role in solving the energy
shortages in China's developed regions.
The three companies all told China Daily that their technologies
will win over the bidding committee and spoke of the strong
political backing from their respective governments.
Avera is famous for its European Pressurized Reactor (EPR),
which was jointly developed by France and Germany and has
already been put into operation in Finland.
If successful, the US company will export its AP-1000 reactor to
China. The Russian competitor only said their technology will be
based on their achievements already made in China.
Technology insiders said Westinghouse has the edge in reactor
design.
"Their technology is advanced but maybe they are not experienced
in construction and operation," said the expert who declined to
be named. To overcome this, Westinghouse formed a partnership
with Mitsubishi and Bechtel and put together the AP 1000 China
project consortium.
But the US Government is yet to make a decision on whether to
deregulate nuclear technology exports to China. However, Timothy
Collier, a senior Westinghouse official, said his government
strongly supports the firm's bid.
Senior AREVA Vice-President Benard Esteve said his company is
confident to stand out in the bidding process because "the
company has been continuously constructing nuclear reactors in
recent years."
"We can export technologies and also engineering experience from
our projects worldwide," Benard said.
*****************************************************************
30 Daily Times: Govt aiming for 8,500 MW of nuclear power by 2030
Tuesday, March 01, 2005
* Pakistan will import technology and expertise from Europe and
Japan
* Short-term plan aims for 800 MW from alternative energy sources
By Khalid Mustafa
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has decided to explore new markets for the
import of equipment and expertise in order to be able to
generate 8,500 megawatts (MW) of nuclear power by 2030.
A senior official said the decision to diversify nuclear
technology imports was made after President Pervez Musharraf was
given a presentation on Pakistan’s ‘Action Plan’ for meeting
future energy requirements. Dr Akram Sheikh, deputy chairman of
the Planning Commission, made the presentation on February 15.
Pakistan currently generates 462 MW of nuclear power a year, 300
MW from Chashma Nuclear Power Plant and 162 MW from Karachi
Nuclear Power Plant.
Pakistan imports Chinese technology for its nuclear plants, but
the official described this technology as “crude” compared to
newer European technology. “With Chinese technology, Pakistan
can get a maximum of 600 MW from one unit,” or plant, he said.
The Planning Commission wants Pakistan to be able to generate
8,500 MW of nuclear power by 2030, and to achieve this target
needs equipment and expertise from European countries such as
France or Germany, the official said. “France has developed a
capability to generate 2,000 MW of nuclear power from one unit.
That is the kind of technology we need.”
The official said Pakistan wants to standardise nuclear power
generation at each plant to 1,000 MW per unit.
Under the long-term ‘Action Plan’, Pakistan would generate 32 to
35 gigawatts (GW) of hydroelectricity by 2030, though this could
be potentially as much as 45 GW. The official said Pakistan
could achieve this target by building large dams at Kalabagh,
Basha and Akhori.
The official said the government was also considering developing
pumped storage to double hydropower. Under the pumped storage
technology, water is pumped back into the reservoir after
passing through a turbine, in effect doubling the volume of
water passing through the turbine and hence doubling the power
generated. The official said this technology was being used with
much success in Japan.
He said under short-term measures in the energy plan, the
government aims to generate 800 MW through alternative energy
sources in the next five years. It would set up a wind power
project at Garo, Thatta, in December that would initially
generate 100 MW.
Keeping in mind the shortage of power by 2006, 7,100 MW of
electricity is to be generated through proposed gas-fuelled
thermal powerhouses (4,000 MW), alternate energy resources (800
MW) and hydroelectricity (2,300 MW).
Home | National
Daily Times - All Rights Reserved
Solutions [http://www.wcis.com.pk]
*****************************************************************
31 Palladium Times: NRC HEARING ON AGING NINE MILE NUCLEAR REACTORS IS THURSDAY
Home [http://www.pall-times.com]
Monday, February 28, 2005
OSWEGO - The results of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC)
inspection of the aging management program for Units 1 and 2 of
the Nine Mile Point Nuclear Power Plant will be discussed at a
meeting between NRC officials and the facility's management
Thursday.
The inspection is part of an NRC review of a license renewal
application for the plant, which is located in Scriba, and
operated by Constellation Energy Group. The application is still
under review.
The meeting is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. at the Town of
Scriba Assembly Hall, at 42 Creamery Road. Members of the public
are invited to observe and will have an opportunity to pose
questions to NRC officials before the session is adjourned.
In May 2004, Constellation Energy applied to the NRC for a
20-year extension of the operating licenses for the Nine Mile
Point units.
One important aspect of the NRC license renewal process is to
ensure that a plant manages the effects of aging equipment
through an effective monitoring and maintenance program. The NRC
has found that a successful program will permit safe operation
for an additional 20 years beyond its initial license period of
40 years.
The current operating license for Nine Mile Point Unit 1 is due
to expire Aug. 22, 2009. The current operating license for Nine
Mile Point Unit 2 is scheduled to terminate on Oct. 31, 2026.
[http://www.pall-times.com] |
*****************************************************************
32 NRC: Advisory Committee on the Medical Uses of Isotopes - Meeting
FR Doc 05-3734
[Federal Register: February 28, 2005 (Volume 70, Number 38)]
[Notices] [Page 9681-9682] From the Federal Register Online via
GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr28fe05-121]
Notice AGENCY: U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. ACTION: Notice
of meeting.
SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission will convene a
meeting of the Advisory Committee on the Medical Uses of Isotopes
(ACMUI) on April 20 and 21, 2005. A sample of agenda items to be
discussed during the public sessions includes: (1) Status of
Rulemaking: Pt. 35 Training and Experience; (2) Status and
Update: Redefining Medical Events; (3) Case Experience in Using
I-125 Seeds as Markers; (4) FDA Radiation Dose Limits for Human
Research Subjects Using Certain Radiolabeled Drugs, and (5)
Establishing Guidance on Exceeding Dose Limits for Members of the
Public who would serve as Caregivers to Persons undergoing
Radiopharmaceutical Therapy. To review the agenda, see
http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/acmui/agenda/
[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/acmui/agenda/] .
or contact arm@nrc.gov [arm@nrc.gov] . Furthermore, the ACMUI
will brief the Commission regarding its activities, on April 20,
2005.
Purpose: Discuss issues related to 10 CFR 35, Medical Use of
Byproduct Material.
Dates and Times for Public Meetings: April 20, 2005, from 8 a.m.
to 5 p.m.; and April 21, 2005, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Address for
Public Meetings: Bethesda North Marriott Hotel & Conference
Center, 5701 Marinelli Road, North Bethesda, MD 20852. The
precise room number where the meeting will be held will be
announced in reader boards located throughout the hotel.
Date and Time for Closed Session Meeting: April 21, 2005, from 8
a.m. to 10 a.m. This session will be closed so that NRC staff can
brief the ACMUI on sensitive information regarding protective
security measures, and so that the ACMUI can discuss internal
personnel matters.
Address for Closed Session Meeting: Bethesda North Marriott Hotel
& Conference Center, 5701 Marinelli Road, North Bethesda, MD
20852. The precise room number where the meeting will be held
will be announced in reader boards located throughout the hotel.
Date and Time for Commission Briefing: April 20, 2005, from 9:30
a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Address for Commission Briefing: U.S. Nuclear
Regulatory Commission, One White Flint North Building,
Commissioners' Hearing Room 1G16, 11555 Rockville Pike,
Rockville, MD, 20852-2738.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Angela R. McIntosh, telephone
(301) 415-5030; e-mail arm@nrc.gov [arm@nrc.gov] of the Office
of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear
Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001.
Conduct of the Meeting Leon S. Malmud, M.D., will chair the
meeting. Dr. Malmud will conduct the
[[Page 9682]] meeting in a manner that will facilitate the
orderly conduct of business. The following procedures apply to
public participation in the meeting: 1. Persons who wish to
provide a written statement should submit a reproducible copy to
Angela R. McIntosh, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Two White
Flint North, Mail Stop T8F5, 11545 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD
20852-2738. Submittals must be postmarked by April 1, 2005, and
must pertain to the topics on the agenda for the meeting.
2. Questions from members of the public will be permitted during
the meeting, at the discretion of the Chairman.
3. The transcript and written comments will be available for
inspection on NRC's Web site (http://www.nrc.gov
[http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/leaving.cgi?from=leaving
FR.html&log=linklog&to=http://www.nrc.gov] ) and at the NRC
Public Document Room, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD
20852-2738, telephone (800) 397-4209, on or about July 20, 2005.
This meeting will be held in accordance with the Atomic Energy
Act of 1954, as amended (primarily Section 161a); the Federal
Advisory Committee Act (5 U.S.C. App); and the Commission's
regulations in Title 10, U.S. Code of Federal Regulations, part
7.
4. Attendees are requested to notify Angela R. McIntosh at (301)
415-5030 of their planned attendance if special services, such as
for the hearing impaired, are necessary.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 22nd day of February, 2005.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Andrew L. Bates, Advisory Committee Management Officer.
[FR Doc. 05-3734 Filed 2-25-05; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590-01-P
*****************************************************************
33 11,000 US soldiers dead from DU poisoning
Date: Mon, 28 Feb 2005 19:10:43 -0600 (CST)
February 2005
www.globalresearch.ca
The URL of this article is:
http://globalresearch.ca/articles/502A.html
------------
11,000 US soldiers dead from DU poisoning
Heads roll at Veterans Administration Mushrooming depleted uranium (DU)
scandal blamed
by
Bob Nichols Project Censored Award Winner 2/2/05 S.F. Bay View
http://www.sfbayview.com/012605/headsroll012605.shtml
Considering the tons of depleted uranium used by the U.S., the Iraq war can
truly be called a nuclear war.
Preventive Psychiatry E-Newsletter charged Monday that the reason Veterans
Affairs Secretary Anthony Principi stepped down earlier this month was the
growing scandal surrounding the use of uranium munitions in the Iraq War.
Writing in Preventive Psychiatry E-Newsletter No. 169, Arthur N. Bernklau,
executive director of Veterans for Constitutional Law in New York, stated,
"The real reason for Mr. Principi's departure was really never given,
however a special report published by eminent scientist Leuren Moret naming
depleted uranium as the definitive cause of the 'Gulf War Syndrome' has fed
a growing scandal about the continued use of uranium munitions by the US
Military."
Bernklau continued, "This malady (from uranium munitions), that thousands of
our military have suffered and died from, has finally been identified as the
cause of this sickness, eliminating the guessing. The terrible truth is now
being revealed."
He added, "Out of the 580,400 soldiers who served in GW1 (the first Gulf
War), of them, 11,000 are now dead! By the year 2000, there were 325,000 on
Permanent Medical Disability. This astounding number of 'Disabled Vets'
means that a decade later, 56% of those soldiers who served have some form
of permanent medical problems!" The disability rate for the wars of the last
century was 5 percent; it was higher, 10 percent, in Viet Nam.
"The VA Secretary (Principi) was aware of this fact as far back as 2000,"
wrote Bernklau. "He, and the Bush administra11,ooo US soldiers dead from
DU.ems tion have been hiding these facts, but now, thanks to Moret's report,
(it) ... is far too big to hide or to cover up!"
"Terry Jamison, Public Affairs Specialist, Office of the Deputy Assistant
Secretary for Public Affairs, Department of Veterans Affairs, at the VA
Central Office, recently reported that 'Gulf Era Veterans' now on medical
disability, since 1991, number 518,739 Veterans," said Berklau.
"The long-term effects have revealed that DU (uranium oxide) is a virtual
death sentence," stated Berklau. "Marion Fulk, a nuclear physical chemist,
who retired from the Lawrence Livermore Nuclear Weapons Lab, and was also
involved with the Manhattan Project, interprets the new and rapid
malignancies in the soldiers (from the 2003 Iraq War) as 'spectacular -- and
a matter of concern!'"
When asked if the main purpose of using DU was for "destroying things and
killing people," Fulk was more specific: "I would say it is the perfect
weapon for killing lots of people!"
Principi could not be reached for comment prior to deadline.
---------
References
1. Depleted uranium: Dirty bombs, dirty missiles, dirty bullets: A death
sentence here and abroad" by Leuren Moret,
http://www.sfbayview.com/081804/Depleteduranium081804.shtml.
2. Veterans for Constitutional Law, 112 Jefferson Ave., Port Jefferson NY
11777, Arthur N. Bernklau, executive director, (516) 474-4261, fax
516-474-1968.
3. Preventive Psychiatry E-Newsletter. Email Gary Kohls,
gkohls@cpinternet.com, with Subscribe" in the subject line.
Email Bob Nichols at bobnichols@cox.net. --
----------
*****************************************************************
34 [du-list] DU and counterinsurgency
Date: Mon, 28 Feb 2005 18:27:05 -0800
DU and counterinsurgency
The FMI 3-07.22 [Counterinsurgency Operations - 1 October 2004] has
been published on the FAS.org website:
http://www.fas.org/irp/doddir/army/fmi3-07-22.pdf
If you feel that the DU issue may be addressed with counterinsurgency
operations, please forward your comments and suggestions to
US Army Combined Arms Center and Fort Leavenworth, ATTN: ATZL-CD (FMI
3-07.22), 1 Reynolds Avenue (Building Preface 111), Fort Leavenworth,
KS 66027-1352.
Send comments and recommendations by e-mail to
web-cadd@leavenworth.army.mil.
Follow the DA Form 2028 format or submit an electronic DA Form 2028:
http://edm.monmouth.army.mil/pubs/2028.html
Thank you,
Marco Saba
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35 [du-list] Nuclear Terror at Home
Date: Mon, 28 Feb 2005 18:27:10 -0800
Nuclear Terror at Home
http://www.alternet.org/story/21358/
By Noam Chomsky, Foreign Policy in Focus. Posted February 26, 2005.
If you can imagine some rational observers from Mars looking at this
curious species down here, I don't think they'd put very high odds on
survival - another generation or two. In fact, it's kind of miraculous that
we've come along this far.
The world has come extremely close to total destruction just in recent
years from nuclear war. New Mexico plays an important role in this. There's
case after case where a nuclear war was prevented almost by a miracle. And
the threat is increasing as a consequence of policies that the
administration is very consciously pursuing.
U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld understands perfectly well that
these policies are increasing the threat of destruction. As you know, it's
not a high-probability event, but if a low-probability event keeps
happening over and over, there's a high probability that sooner or later it
will take place.
If you want to rank issues in terms of significance, there are some issues
that are literally issues of survival of the species, and they're imminent.
Nuclear war is an issue of species survival, and the threats have been
severe for a long time.
It's come to the point where you can read in the most sober respectable
journals warnings by the leading strategic analysts that the current
American posture - transformation of the military - is raising the prospect
of what they call "ultimate doom" and not very far away. That's because it
leads to an action-reaction cycle in which others respond. That leads us to
be closer and more reliant on hair-trigger mechanisms, which are massively
destructive.
Militarization of space could very well doom the species. It's being pushed
very hard. That's one issue that really requires major work and that's a
huge one in New Mexico. New Mexico is one of the centers where this
potential destruction of the species is taking place.
There's a document called "The Essentials of Post Cold War Deterrence" that
was released during the Clinton years by the Strategic Command, which is in
charge of nuclear weapons. It's one of the most horrifying documents I've
ever read. People haven't paid attention to it.
The Strategic Command report asks how we should reconstruct our nuclear and
other forces for the post-Cold War period. And the conclusions are that we
have to rely primarily on nuclear weapons because unlike other weapons of
mass destruction, such as chemical and biological, the effects of nuclear
weapons are immediate, devastating, overwhelming - not only destructive but
terrifying. So they have to be the core of what's called deterrence.
Everything means the opposite of what it says. Deterrence means our
offensive stance should primarily be based on nuclear weapons because
they're so destructive and terrifying. And furthermore just the possession
of massive nuclear forces casts a shadow over any international conflict,
like people are frightened of us because we have this overwhelming force.
We have to have a national persona of irrationality with forces out of
control, so we really terrify everybody, and then we can get what we want.
And furthermore they're right to be terrified because we're going to have
these nuclear weapons right in front of us, which will blow them all up -
in fact, blow us all up if they get out of control.
If you read the vision for 2020 published by the Space Administration, it
talks about how the new frontier is space - and that we have to take
control of space for military purposes and make sure that we have no
competitors. That means the space-based instruments of sudden mass destruction.
There was an outer space treaty in 1967, which doesn't have any teeth in it
but it does call for preserving space for peaceful purposes. And there have
been efforts at the U.N. General Assembly Disarmament Committee to
strengthen it. But they've been blocked unilaterally by the United States.
The United States alone refuses to vote for the General Assembly
resolution, and it's been tied up since the year 2000. The Chinese are the
ones who are pushing to expand it. That's not reported in the United
States. In the year 2000 it was only reported in one newspaper, a small
newspaper in Utah.
The whole world is supposed to be covered with - probably is - with
sophisticated surveillance devices and the whole range of complex, lethal,
destructive weaponry designed to be able to attack anything from space.
This means nuclear weapons in space - nuclear energy sources in space -
which can get out of control and blow up and who knows what will happen.
When the Bush administration took over they just made it more extreme. They
moved from the Clinton doctrine of control of space to what they call
ownership of space, meaning - their words - "instant engagement anywhere"
or unannounced destruction of any place on earth.
These are remarks Noam Chomsky made on Jan. 25 at events in Santa Fe, N.M.,
celebrating the 25th anniversary of the International Relations Center
(IRC), online at www.irc-online.org. Chomsky is a member of the IRC's board
of directors and the author of Hegemony or Survival.
----------
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36 [DU Information List] The poisons of war
Date: Mon, 28 Feb 2005 18:26:56 -0800
http://www.democratherald.com/articles/2005/02/27/news/opinion/edit03.txt
The poisons of war
Today my brother passed away. He was one of the latest and I hope one of
the last casualties of the insult to civilization we call war. Not the
current idiocy in Iraq, Or even the First adventure into that country. My
brother was a lingering casualty of the war in Vietnam.
He did not perish as a result of enemy fire, but in a way he was downed by
"friendly fire." He died of cancers related to a lovely little tool of
jungle warfare called Agent Orange. While the Vietnam conflict may be old
news, the stonewalling, lying, and lack of support that sealed his fate are
as fresh as today's headlines.
Today our brave men and women at arms returning from Iraq are in a similar
jeopardy. No, not Agent Orange, but a substance so much more insidious and
deadly: depleted uranium, a metal that is commonplace in the tools of
modern warfare.
This poisonous metal is being used in ammunition, artillery shells, tank
rounds, and the armor plating on our tanks, APCs and even some Humvees.
Like the Agent Orange of the Vietnam war, our military and civilian leaders
tell us that this depleted uranium is safe. They say that the radiation
levels are so low as to be benign. They tell us that today. Years down the
line when these fine soldiers begin to develop tumors, leukemias,
neurological disorders, and even worse, birth defects in their children,
the denials and stonewalling will begin anew.
To my way of thinking, this is a shameful way to treat those who took up
arms and answered their country's call. It will be on you, the husbands,
wives, sisters, brothers, children, and those who feel gratitude for these
people's sacrifices, to hold our leaders accountable.
It is my sincere wish that those of you welcoming your family members back
home can stop this turning away of those responsible so that you need not
lose and bury your own as I have had to.
J.M. Collins, Lebanon
respond & create DU in the news with letter to ed. at
http://www.mvonline.com/support/contact/DHedletters.php
Send instant messages to your online friends http://uk.messenger.yahoo.com
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37 [du-list] Physical and Biological Half-Life of DU: a
Date: Mon, 28 Feb 2005 18:27:53 -0800
When people brandish the 4.5 billion years of half-life for DU, I wonder if
they are aware of the biological half-life, which according to Chris
Busby's talk at the Uranium Weapons Conference in Hamburg is only, as I
recall it from a posted tape, in the order of 2 dozen years, for uranium in
the (average?) human body. The pure physics "quarter-life" would be 9
billion years. Some physicists talk in terms of tenth-life, which must be
somewhere between eighth-life or 13.5 billion years, and 16th-life, or 18
billion years. That still would not nearly satisfy the biologists.
This is a treacherous game, although I think one cannot deny a meritorious
working scientist the pragmatic convenience of talking biological half-life
for the purposes of a detailed localized argument. What I haven't seen
studied yet is what the effect on the wider society and environment is when
(some of) the DU gets out of the body of the original victim. As there is
(almost) no limit to the minuteness of quantities that can be toxic,
dissipating the DU does not necessarily solve a problem but may create
almost innumerable new ones!
Before going overboard with the 4.5 billionn year argument, one has to be
aware that it can be countered, if everybody is equally superficial, with a
19-year argument.
Roger Belling
(Mitzi: could you kindly forward a courtesy copy to Chris Busby, whose
address I think you used before, but I can't find it, something with
"Christo" I think?)
mitzi wrote:
Not that it makes a difference to the species, but it's 4.5 or so BILLION,
not million.
And we in the US are subject to the genetic heritage OUR leader-spawned. DU
and about 200 varieties of reactor-made isotopes that are loose in our world
and more coming to assault us and our children.
Our duty is to educate and organize, not to whine. Stop mining and
processing uranium. Stop the nuclear revival. Fight to shut down every
nuclear power and military reactor. Stop the DOD, DOE, NRC-approved
recycling of radioactive waste. End the production and sale of nuclear and
radioactive weaponry. Build the demand for energy conservation and
efficiency, solar, small hydro and wind power under public control. End US
wars for world domination. That's the beginning.
Mitzi Bowman
----- Original Message -----
From: "rrands"
To: ; ;
Sent: Saturday, February 26, 2005 4:02 PM
Subject: Re: [du-list] Digest Number 1469
>
> Sent: Friday, February 25, 2005 3:30 PM
> Subject: Lecture on DU and Iraqi children
>
>
> A MUST to know what the Coalition Forces have done in Iraq based in lies
>
>
>
> Last night I went to a presentation by an Iraqi pediatrician at the Iraqi
> community center on Delridge Way.
>
>
>
> She presented statistics for only ONE hospital in Basra which is where she
> practices.
>
>
>
> She showed some charts with incidences of cancer among infants and
children
> in that hospital before the first invasion by Bush The Father and since,
> including now after the invasion by Bush the Son. The best of the stats
> i.e., the ones with the LOWEST increases show an upswing of over 300%.
>
>
>
> She showed statistics and pictures of infants born deformed or with cancer
> in charts and some in pictures.
>
>
>
> She said the chart figures did not include the many times more incidences
of
> miscarriages or those children whose parents did not bring them to the
> hospital because they thought the kids were done for and there was no
> medicine anyway so why bother? In answer to a question, she also clarified
> that her hospital is an ordinary one that does not specialize in cancer or
> in children's disease so her figures are not skewed because of a
specialty;
> that there are a few other hospitals in Basra that also offer pediatric
> care.
>
>
>
> She did say that hers is not a scientific study and that detailed
scientific
> study needs to be done in order to establish direct causal relationship
with
> DU and at this time, there is no agency willing to conduct such research.
In
> her mind however, there is no doubt that the cause of the increase in
birth
> defects and children's cancer is DU.
>
>
>
> It was a most sobering evening.
>
>
>
> She is making another presentation TONIGHT (Wed. 23rd) at Wykoff Hall in
> Seattle University. I urge those who can make it, to attend and I
especially
> urge those who do not believe DU is as big a threat as "the liberals" make
> it out to be, to attend and ask questions.
>
>
>
> Then be prepared to make life hell for the cowards who represent us in
> Congress (except McDermott) by asking them WHY they are not raising the
> issue in Congress.
>
>
>
> DU is a threat to Humanity that is FAR, FAR, FAR greater than any issue
that
> has ever faced us. Even landmines becomes a children's playground as
> compared to DU which has half-life of 4.5 MILLION years. This means that
in
> 4.5 million years DU is still present but with only half its strength.
After
> impact DU particles become vaporized and then are capable of being
> wind-borne for hundreds of miles.
>
>
>
> Folks, this is not about Iraq or Afghanistan although it is being used
there
> in the hundreds of tons scale; this is about the entire Earth. To be sure
> Island USA is relatively safe from DU but do we not own some
responsibility
> for what goes on overseas in our name?
>
>
>
> Jeff Siddiqui, Associate Broker
> Western Associates Real Estate
> Seattle, WA 98103
> pager: (206) 994-7398
>
>
>
>
>
>
> To unsubscribe from this groups send a message to
du-list-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com. In the body of the message type
unsubscribe and send.
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
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38 [du-list] Conservative Life Science Testimony on Hormesis
Date: Mon, 28 Feb 2005 18:28:04 -0800
In reading Waltar: Radiation and Modern Life and reviewing it for Amazon, I
tried to get a fix on how much credence hormesis now has, although I knew
no established life scientist who believes in it. It involves the theory,
probably offensive to industrial and military victims of DU, that a little
bit of radiation is really good for you. The explanation the theory
suggests is that your very existence is an example of survival of the
fittest to tolerate natural radiation, and less radiation might spell less
survival.
(This does not prevent proponents from counting as "background" about 20
times as much radiation, as we relatively inevitably get from cosmic
sources which were part of our evolution, without accounting how much
"internal" body radiation is just from accumulated strontium-90 off
pastures under nuclear test fallout, or from voluntary exposure to
radioactive minerals like in some traditional building materials, and radon
associated with them. And then medical radiation can be marketed as "only"
25% of what we get anyway.)
Fearing that John Gofman's wisecracking may not give enough protection
against hormesis, and not willing to do the scientists's job of
scrutinizing research that claims to prove hormesis (if one can find any
with real data of statistical significance, rather than just philosophical
declarations), I simply looked at what opponents of hormesis are now
saying, and an example of steadfast life scientists at Harvard is reflected
in the following link:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=15497239
My bet is that hormesis, as a courtesy and against political considerations
suggesting more caution,
May have to be accorded the status of a scientific curiosity, but
Is not and will not be for a long time suitable as the basis of
democratic public health policy and FDA-approved therapy or preventive
treatment.
(I wouldn't suggest to press the FDA about hormesis as approved treatment,
as we know of too many drugs they had to recall, after all their claims
that they are protecting us and not the drug industry and its free market
phobias. And we know of radiation standards that had to be revised, so far
always towards less exposure.)
It took me quite some time to pick the sample link above, from a flood of
more opportunistic ones!
Roger Belling
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39 UPI: Report: Radiation behind more cancer cases -
(United Press International)
February 28, 2005
Denver, CO, Feb. 28 (UPI) -- Federal officials say radiation
exposure is behind more of the cancer among ex-workers at a
closed Colorado nuclear weapons plant than first thought.
Radiation is the cause of 29 percent of the cancers among former
Rock Flats workers, the Rocky Mountain News reported Monday.
Roberta Mosier, deputy director a program that compensates sick
workers, said they expected to find workplace radiation as the
cause in only 1 percent to 10 percent of the cancer cases.
Nationwide, 20 to 25 percent of the cancers among atom bomb
workers are being tied to radiation exposure on the job, she
said. The new figures mean more workers are being paid under the
program, which was set up by Congress in 2000.
Former Rocky Flats workers believe the figures are still too low
and they say many more would qualify if records on radiation
exposure were accurate.
*****************************************************************
40 Bellona: France to finance decontamination stations in Gremikha
France will finance construction and delivery of the mobile
decontamination stations for the former navy spent nuclear fuel
storage facility in Gremikha base on the Kola Peninsula.
2005-02-28 18:57
Decontamination stations will be constructed at the Severny Raid
company in Severodvinsk. This company delivered such stations
before to the former spent nuclear fuel facility in Andreyeva
bay on the Kola Peninsula.
The mobile decontamination station is a 40-feet 10-tonns
shipping container. It can accommodate 10 people at a time and
is used for radiation control and decontamination of the
personnel engaged in operations with the radioactive waste. The
equipment for the stations will be delivered from France. At the
next stage of the Gremikha rehabilitation project the
specialists of the Kurchatov Institute will conduct a detailed
radiation examination of the site.
The France takes part in the project in the frames of the
agreement signed by France, European Bank of Reconstruction and
Development, or EBRD, and TACIS program. The strategic master
plan on the submarine dismantling presented by the EBRD
stipulates funding of the nine first-priority projects in 2005,
five of them are in Gremikha, and the France is the main
ideological partner, Interfax reported.
Gremikha is the second land storage facility of the Northern
fleet and is the biggest site for the laid-up nuclear
submarines, mostly first generation. The base is situated
approximately 350km from the Murmansk harbour and cannot be
reached by land transport. The connection is only by sea or air.
The base is accommodating 800 rods with spent nuclear fuel and
six active zones from the reactors with liquid coolant of Alfa
class submarines, project 705. Besides, 19 submarines and 38
reactors with unloaded spent nuclear fuel are also stored at the
site. In 2001, the navy on-shore facilities in Gremikha and
Andreyeva bay were handed over to the ”Northern Federal Company
on handling with radioactive waste”, or SevRAO, which was
established by Russia to create infrastructure on nuclear
submarines dismantling, handling of the nuclear spent fuel and
radioactive waste, rehabilitation of the nuclear sites in the
North of Russia, reported Interfax.
Publisher: Bellona Foundation [bellona@bellona.no] ,
President: Frederic Hauge [frederic@bellona.no]
Information: info@bellona.no [info@bellona.no] , Technical
contact: webmaster@bellona.no [webmaster@bellona.no]
Telephone: +47 23 23 46 00 Telefax: +47 22 38 38 62 * P.O.Box
2141 Grunerlokka, 0505 Oslo, Norway
*****************************************************************
41 Legalbrief: New Bill will regulate use of radiation
www.legalbrief.co.za
Published in: Legalbrief Africa
Date: Mon 28 February 2005
Category: Namibia Issue No: 119
Despite being a major producer and exporter of radioactive
uranium, Namibia has no laws guaranteeing safety from radioactive
material.
But this is set to change with the introduction by the Ministry
of Health and Social Services of the Atomic Energy and Radiation
Protection Bill, which will bring Namibia in line with
international obligations concerning radioactive material,
reports The Namibian. The Bill will regulate the protection of
radiation workers as well as the production, storage, export and
transportation of radioactive material. The Bill provides for the
establishment of an Atomic Energy Board and a National Radiation
Protection Authority. Full report in The Namibian
[http://www.namibian.com.na/2005/February/national/059791D259.htm
l]
*****************************************************************
42 Salt Lake Tribune: Dickson: Atomic museum ignores human toll of
nuclear testing
Opinion
Article Last Updated: 02/27/2005 11:59:13 PM
By Mary Dickson
At first, I thought it was a joke. An Atomic Testing Museum in
Las Vegas celebrating weapons of mass destruction. But if we've
learned anything these days, it is that truth is far more
bizarre than anything the best comedians could invent.
On Feb. 20, amid fanfare and scattered protests, the Nevada
Test Site Historical Foundation held the grand opening of the
Atomic Testing Museum, with a decidedly pro-nuclear bent. The
$4.5 million museum is a partnership between the Test Site
Historical Foundation, the Department of Energy and the Desert
Research Institute in association with the Smithsonian
Institution.
Half of the funding came from a congressional appropriation
secured by Nevada Sen. Harry Reid. The rest came from private
donations including major gifts from Bechtel and Lockheed
Martin. The speaker at the dedication was Linton F. Brooks, the
administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration.
But, here are the implications of those facts. The Department
of Energy is the former Atomic Energy Commission, which tested
nuclear weapons at the Nevada Test Site from 1951 to 1992. The
same Atomic Energy Commission that repeatedly lied to the
American public and engaged in a systematic cover-up of the real
effects of nuclear testing.
The same Atomic Energy Commission that in the early 1950s
printed a pamphlet called "Atomic Testing in Nevada," assuring
citizens that "there is no danger" and urging them to
"participate in a moment of history" by watching the tests.
Congressional appropriations mean that taxpayers - ordinary
citizens like those living downwind who were harmed - are
helping to fund the museum. Bechtel and Lockheed Martin are
companies with intimate ties to the Nevada Test Site and the
military.
Linton Brooks is the man who has been pushing for the
development of new nuclear weapons and for test site
preparedness in case the president decides that nuclear testing
should resume. He's also the man who assured Utah Sen. Bob
Bennett in a Senate hearing that the underground test Baneberry,
which spewed radioactive debris 10,000 feet into the atmosphere,
did not release radiation beyond the Nevada Test Site borders -
an assertion which is disputed by government documents that
clearly show radiation from Baneberry was tracked as far as
Canada.
The museum opens at a time when the Bush administration is
discussing renewed testing as a possibility and when it is
twisting arms to develop new nuclear weapons. It also comes at a
time that the juggernaut of the military-industrial complex
remains a very powerful player in setting American nuclear
policy. A Feb. 23 New York Times review of the museum concluded
that "the history of testing, as told here, is largely the
history of its justification."
None of this inspires confidence in the museum's ability to
"consolidate and preserve" the full, complex and vexing history
of atomic testing.
As it is, the Atomic Testing Museum celebrates the nation's
nuclear testing program while ignoring its far-reaching and
devastating consequences. Exhibits feature simulations of atomic
blasts with shaking benches, loud explosions and blasts of air
that are little more than the Disneyfication of atomic testing.
There are "exciting" accounts of eyewitnesses to the
explosions and kitschy atomic memorabilia from pop culture like
atomic hairstyles or 3-D Viewmasters, some for sale in the
museum store.
Missing are exhibits about the human toll of nuclear testing,
about downwinders, about how far the winds carried radioactive
fallout and about the death and disease it caused. This omission
comes as a crushing blow to the tens of thousands of Americans
who have suffered the health effects of fallout and who continue
to lose loved ones to fallout-related illnesses.
By excluding our story, the museum is essentially saying we
don't deserve a place in history, even though we were
involuntary participants in what a New York Times writer once
called "The most prodigiously reckless program of scientific
experimentation in American history."
The museum cannot be considered complete until it provides a
full accounting of the very heavy price Americans paid for our
nation's four-decade nuclear testing program. Otherwise, it is
nothing more than a propaganda vehicle.
In his dedication speech, Linton Brooks told visitors that
the museum "helps us celebrate victory in America's longest
war." The museum must also acknowledge the many Cold War
veterans - civilian downwinders, test site workers and enlisted
servicemen alike - who unwittingly gave their health and lives
to that war.
We would happily provide input. We deserve and demand no less.
---
Mary Dickson is a survivor of thyroid cancer and the author
of Living and Dying with Fallout, which appeared in the summer
issue of the journal Dialogue.
© Copyright 2005, The Salt Lake Tribune.
*****************************************************************
43 Japan Times: Japan, U.S. withheld findings on Bikini test health problems
Tuesday, March 1, 2005
WASHINGTON (Kyodo) The Japanese and U.S. governments withheld
medical findings that the reproductive functions of some
Japanese fishermen had shown abnormalities after their exposure
to a hydrogen bomb test March 1, 1954, at Bikini Atoll,
according to declassified U.S. documents.
The two governments did not inform the fishermen of the
abnormalities, which included a temporary decline in sperm
count, the documents show.
Researchers who examined the documents said the information was
apparently kept secret to avoid fueling antinuclear sentiment in
Japan. The information was made public several months later at
an academic conference.
The documents included a memorandum dated Dec. 27, 1954, sent
from the U.S. Embassy in Japan to John Bugher, director of the
now-defunct U.S. Atomic Energy Commission's biology and medicine
division, as well as a separate AEC document dated Aug. 31 that
year.
According to the AEC document, abnormalities, including a
temporary fall in sperm count, were detected in 18 of the 23
crew members of the Fukuryu Maru No. 5.
The crew members received medical checks on 24 occasions
between March and August 1954 after they were showered with
radioactive ash while fishing for tuna 160 km east of the bomb
test site at Bikini Atoll in the Pacific.
The U.S. Embassy's memorandum said three doctors from a Tokyo
hospital had approached the embassy in September 1954 requesting
that the important medical findings be kept secret, and the
United States agreed. The doctors were not identified in the
memorandum.
The memorandum also indicated that Japan and the United States
were expecting that a closed bilateral meeting on radiation in
Tokyo in November that year would serve as an opportunity to
heal the rift between the two countries over the Bikini fallout.
Matashichi Oishi, 71, a surviving crew member of the wooden
trawler, said, "I was also tested for my sperm but the doctors
never told me the results.
"At that time, the issue was more than simply a normal
relationship between patient and doctor," Oishi said. "We fell
under this big frame called politics. . . . I am angry that this
was all influenced by politics."
The medical findings were eventually made public at a Japanese
academic conference in April 1955 -- about three months after
compensation negotiations between Japan and the United States
were settled.
The Fukuryu Maru, as well as hundreds of other fishing boats
and people living near the atoll, were irradiated by the
hydrogen bomb, code-named "Bravo," which was 1,000 times more
powerful than the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima in 1945.
The bomb was tested as the Cold War between the United States
and the Soviet Union was intensifying and at a time when many
Japanese were strongly opposed to nuclear arms after the U.S.
atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
"Rallies against nuclear bombs were in high gear across Japan
in September 1954 due to the deterioration of crew member
Aikichi Kuboyama's condition," said Tetsuo Maeda, a professor of
disarmament and security affairs at Tokyo International
University.
Kuboyama died that month at age 40, six months after the blast,
and became the first fatality among the crew members of the
140-ton fishing boat.
Susan Lindee, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania who
is familiar with AEC activities, said the documents clearly show
the U.S. authorities had deceived the Japanese and the U.S.
publics. She described the U.S. actions as irresponsible and
cruel to the crew members.
Including Kuboyama, at least 12 members of the crew of the
fishing boat have died, most after years of treatment for
illnesses believed to be linked to their radiation exposure.
Most of the surviving members have also suffered serious health
problems.
The Japan Times: March 1, 2005
(C) All rights reserved
*****************************************************************
44 Las Vegas SUN: Scientists close in on tungsten as cause of Fallon cluster
February 27, 2005
ASSOCIATED PRESS
FALLON, Nev. (AP) - The metal tungsten is emerging as the prime
suspect in a childhood leukemia cluster in this small
agricultural and military town 60 miles east of Reno, two
researchers said.
University of Arizona scientists Paul Sheppard and Mark Witten
said their recent tests show that Fallon has up to 13 times more
tungsten in its dust than other Nevada cities.
Tests also have found elevated levels of tungsten in tree rings
in Fallon and three other towns with leukemia clusters,
including Elk Grove, Calif., they said.
While the findings are not conclusive, the scientists said, they
justify more research on tungsten's possible role in childhood
leukemia.
Since 1997, 17 children with ties to Fallon have been diagnosed
with leukemia and three have died.
"It's all beginning to fall into place," Witten told the Reno
Gazette-Journal. "There are still many questions to be answered
and we're pursuing those, but we're closing in on the culprit. I
think we are halfway there."
Last year, the federal Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention announced that its 18-month study failed to find a
cause for the Fallon outbreak.
But the CDC found that Fallon residents have higher
concentrations of tungsten in their urine and drinking water.
Fallon residents remain under a CDC warning to avoid drinking
local water until the health effects of tungsten are known.
The CDC and other health agencies said they had done all they
could to find the cause of the outbreak and no more
environmental studies were necessary.
But some scientists and families of Fallon leukemia patients
disagreed and called for further research.
The families formed a group called Families in Search of Truth
(FIST), and said determining the source of the town's high
tungsten levels was a top priority.
"FIST, with the help of U.S. Sen. Harry Reid, has secured a
substantial amount of fincancial grants to continue looking into
unanswered questions, such as what form the Fallon tungsten
takes ... and the specific sites where the element is found,"
said group spokesman Jeff Braccini, whose 6-year-old son,
Jeremy, is recovering from leukemia.
Scientists said they don't know why Fallon has higher tungsten
levels than other communities. The metal was mined across
northern Nevada, but Yerington and other towns with lower
tungsten levels are closer to known tungsten deposits.
Witten and Sheppard plan to visit Fallon again next month to
collect samples in an effort to determine the source of the high
tungsten levels in the air. They also plan more tree-core
sampling for heavy metals.
Witten and Sheppard hail a recent peer-reviewed study published
by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences that
concluded tungsten-cobalt alloy implants rapidly caused cancer
in all lab rats tested.
The study conducted for the Army noted Fallon's high tungsten
levels and the presence of both cobalt and uranium in the area's
environment.
"Although no definitive link between high tungsten levels and
cancer has been established," the study concluded, "further
study of the health effect of tungsten and tungsten alloys are
clearly indicated."
Witten and Sheppard said they are excited other scientists are
confirming their suspicions about tungsten.
---
Information from: Reno Gazette-Journal, http://www.rgj.com
[http://www.rgj.com]
*****************************************************************
45 PE.com: Uranium poses threat to river
Inland Southern California | Inland News
Home [http://www.pe.com] Local
COLORADO: Officials urge the federal government to move waste
away from the Inland water source.
07:24 AM PST on Monday, February 28, 2005
By JENNIFER BOWLES / The Press-Enterprise
The federal government should move about 12 million tons of
uranium mining waste in Utah away from the banks of the Colorado
River, a major drinking water source for 18 million Southern
Californians, regional water officials said.
In a letter to the U.S. Department of Energy, officials with
Metropolitan Water District of Southern California said
relocating the waste "offsite is the only reliable and
permanent" answer to protecting the river downstream from
further contamination of radioactivity.
"Naturally, it's a lot more expensive but we think that's the
best alternative," said Jeff Kightlinger, the general counsel
for Metropolitan.
The federal agency will announce in the spring how it will clean
up the 130-acre tailings pile on the west bank of the river near
Moab, Utah, said Donald Metzler, the government's project
director.
The agency is considering an option that would leave the pile in
place and cap it, a move that has drawn the ire of environmental
groups as well as water suppliers.
Metropolitan, in its Feb. 17 letter, said that if the pile
remains in place, it potentially could leak into the river and
be subject to flooding that could wash uranium into the river.
Groundwater concentration of uranium found at the site is more
than 750 times above the federal drinking water standard, the
letter notes.
The Colorado River is a major drinking source for the Inland
region, particularly in parts of western Riverside County. It
also irrigates crops in the Coachella Valley.
Inland water agencies said they supported the letter written by
Metropolitan.
"It's always easier to keep sources of supply from getting
contaminated rather than after the fact, trying to remove them,"
said Peter Odencrans, a spokesman for Perris-based Eastern
Municipal Water District.
Melodie Johnson, a spokeswoman for Riverside-based Western
Municipal Water District, said she was particularly concerned by
the high amount of salts the uranium waste could potentially
dump in the river. Salts can reduce the usability of water for
recycling projects that stretch water supplies.
"For any recycling project you want to get the salts as low as
you reasonably can," she said. "The numbers here are something
else."
The former uranium ore-processing facility was licensed by the
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission until it ceased operation in
1984. The mill tailings are residue left over from the
processing of uranium ore, which recovers about 95 percent of
the uranium, according to the Energy Department. However, the
residue contains uranium, thorium, radium, polonium and radon.
While the Utah sites pose a large threat to the Colorado, a more
immediate threat is the high levels of chromium six that are
inching toward the river near Needles in the San Bernardino
County desert, officials said.
Last Tuesday, the state ordered Pacific Gas and Electric to step
up its cleanup of an underground plume of contamination coming
from its natural gas compressor after well detected high levels
of the contaminant 60 feet from the river's edge.
The test showed the chromium had moved much closer to the river
and at higher levels than earlier detected.
The level this time was 354 parts per billion, seven times the
state drinking water for total chromium, which includes chromium
six.
Chromium six, the contaminant made famous in the movie "Erin
Brockovich," is considered a cancer-causing agent when inhaled
but debate remains over its effect when ingested.
"It's something we just as soon keep out of drinking water and
not be concerned with," said Kightlinger, of Metropolitan.
"These sites are tricky, so we're not shocked they found a
pocket of it but we do expect them to be aggressive in treating
it."
Jon Tremayne, a PG&E spokesman, said the company has increased
its pumping to 90 gallons a minute and is building a larger
facility to treat more of the tainted water.
He said no chromium has been detected in the river.
Reach Jennifer Bowles at 951-368-9548 or
jbowles@pe.com
[jbowles@pe.com] More headlines...
Belo Interactive Inc.
[http://www.belointeractive.com]
*****************************************************************
46 AU ABC: Britain faces compensation claim over Pacific nuclear tests
"Australian Broadcasting Corporation Online">
[http://www.abc.net.au/]
In Depth Map
Updated 28/02/2005, 21:06:36
Britain's Ministry of Defence has confirmed that veterans of
nuclear testing in the Pacific have filed a group-action claim
against it, seeking compensation.
Dozens of New Zealand, Fiji and British military personnel
witnessed nuclear test explosions at Kiritimati and Malden
islands in Kiribati from 1957 to 1958.
British Ministry of Defence spokesman, Miguel Head , says it is
in the process of responding to the claim.
Mr Head says there is no evidence of excess illness or mortality
amongst the veterans as a group that could be linked to their
participation in the tests, or to exposure to radiation as a
result of that participation.
Home [http://www.abc.net.au/ra/] Contact Us
*****************************************************************
47 http://www.mainetoday.com: Rocket fuel chemical poses health risk to kids
The nation's children are the most in danger from exposure to
this chemical pollutant. -->
Monday, February 28, 2005
EDITORIAL:
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has set new health
goals for a chemical that's found in the groundwater, but some
groups are worried the goals aren't strong enough to protect
infants and fetuses.
They're right to be concerned. For one thing, "goals" aren't the
same as federal laws that protect the water supply. For another,
the goals are based on adult exposure, but children are more
harshly impacted.
The chemical perchlorate, a component of rocket fuel and
explosives such as fireworks and missiles, is found in water and
products that contain a lot of water, such as milk and lettuce.
It can harm fetuses and infants by supressing the uptake of
iodide into the thyroid gland, leading to problems such as
mental retardation, hearing and speech loss, as well as problems
with motor skills.
A study published this month in the journal Environmental
Science and Technology discovered 36 nursing mothers around the
nation - including Maine - had levels of perchlorate in their
breast milk that averaged five times higher than levels found in
cow's milk. Most of the babies drinking milk that contained this
much perchlorate would exceed the safe levels set by the EPA,
the Environmental Working Group said.
Several things should happen. The federal and state governments
should set enforceable drinking water standards for perchlorate
that take into account the chemical's effect on infants.
Women should supplement their diets with iodide to help counter
the effects of perchlorate they may be ingesting.
Lastly, the Department of Defense should be held to the same
cleanup standards as private industry and made to eliminate the
chemical from its contaminated sites.
The chemical is posing a danger to the nation's youngsters, and
it's a problem that deserves immediate action.
Copyright [http://www.mainetoday.com/copyright.shtml] © Blethen
Maine Newspapers Inc.
*****************************************************************
48 NRC: spent fuel casks - Nuhoms
RIN 3150-AH63
FR Doc 05-3737
[Federal Register: February 28, 2005 (Volume 70, Number 38)]
[Proposed Rules] [Page 9548-9550] From the Federal Register
Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr28fe05-16]
List of Approved Spent Fuel Storage Casks: NUHOMS[reg]-24PT4
Revision AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Proposed rule.
SUMMARY: The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is proposing to
amend its regulations revising the Transnuclear, Inc.,
Standardized Advanced NUHOMS[reg] System listing within the
``List of Approved Spent Fuel Storage Casks'' to include
Amendment No. 1 to Certificate of Compliance Number (CoC No.)
1029. Amendment No. 1 would add another Dry Shielded Canister,
designated NUHOMS[reg]-24PT4, to the authorized contents of the
Standardized Advanced NUHOMS[reg] System. Also, the NRC staff is
proposing that changes be made to the rule to correct a
typographical error that incorrectly states the expiration date
of the CoC.
DATES: Comments on the proposed rule must be received on or
before March 30, 2005.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any one of the following
methods. Please include the following number (RIN 3150-AH63) in
the subject line of your comments. Comments on rulemakings
submitted in writing or in
[[Page 9549]] electronic form will be made available for public
inspection.
Because your comments will not be edited to remove any
identifying or contact information, the NRC cautions you against
including personal information such as social security numbers
and birth dates in your submission.
Mail comments to: Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
Washington, DC 20555-0001, ATTN: Rulemakings and Adjudications
Staff.
E-mail comments to: [SECY@nrc.gov] . If you do not receive a
reply e- mail confirming that we have received your comments,
contact us directly at (301) 415-1966. You may also submit
comments via the NRC's rulemaking Web site at
[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 Gallagher (301)
415-5905; e-mail [ cag@nrc.gov] . Comments can also be submitted
via the Federal eRulemaking Portal
[http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/leaving.cgi?from=leaving
FR.html&log=linklog&to=http://www.regulations.gov] . Hand deliver
comments to: 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852,
between 7:30 am and 4:15 pm Federal workdays (telephone (301)
415-1966).
Fax comments to: Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission at
(301) 415-1101.
Publicly available documents related to this rulemaking may be
viewed electronically on the public computers at the NRC's Public
Document Room (PDR), O-1F21, One White Flint North, 11555
Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland. Selected documents,
including comments, can be viewed and downloaded electronically
via the NRC rulemaking Web site at
[http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/leaving.cgi?from=leaving
FR.html&log=linklog&to=http://ruleforum.llnl.gov] . Publicly
available documents created or received at the NRC after November
1, 1999, are available electronically at the NRC's Electronic
Reading Room at
[http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/leaving.cgi?from=leaving
FR.html&log=linklog&to=http://www.nrc.gov/NRC/ADAMS/index.html] .
From this site, the public can gain entry into the NRC's
Agencywide Document Access and Management System (ADAMS), which
provides text and image files of NRC's public documents. If you
do not have access to ADAMS or if there are problems in accessing
the documents located in ADAMS, contact the NRC PDR Reference
staff at 1-800-397-4209, 301-415-4737, or by e-mail to
[pdr@nrc.gov] . An electronic copy of the proposed CoC and
preliminary safety evaluation report can be found under ADAMS
Accession No. ML043650049. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jayne
M. McCausland, telephone (301) 415-6219, e-mail, [jmm2@nrc.gov]
of the Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: For additional information see the
direct final rule published in the final rules section of this
Federal Register.
Procedural Background This rule is limited to the changes
contained in Amendment 1 to CoC No. 1029 and does not include
other aspects of the Standardized Advanced NUHOMS[reg] System
design. The NRC is using the ``direct final rule procedure'' to
issue this amendment because it represents a limited and routine
change to an existing CoC that is expected to be
noncontroversial. Adequate protection of public health and safety
continues to be ensured. The direct final rule will become
effective on May 16, 2005. However, if the NRC receives
significant adverse comments by March 30, 2005, then the NRC will
publish a document that withdraws the direct final rule and will
subsequently address the comments received, in a final rule. The
NRC will not initiate a second comment period on this action.
A significant adverse comment is a comment where the commenter
explains why the rule would be inappropriate, including
challenges to the rule's underlying premise or approach, or would
be ineffective or unacceptable without a change. A comment is
adverse and significant if: (1) The comment opposes the rule and
provides a reason sufficient to require a substantive response in
a notice-and-comment process. For example, in a substantive
response: (a) The comment causes the NRC staff to reevaluate (or
reconsider) its position or conduct additional analysis; (b) The
comment raises an issue serious enough to warrant a substantive
response to clarify or complete the record; or (c) The comment
raises a relevant issue that was not previously addressed or
considered by the NRC staff.
(2) The comment proposes a change or an addition to the rule, and
it is apparent that the rule would be ineffective or unacceptable
without incorporation of the change or addition.
(3) The comment causes the NRC staff to make a change (other than
editorial) to the CoC or Technical Specifications.
List of Subjects in 10 CFR Part 72 Administrative practice and
procedure, Criminal penalties, Manpower training programs,
Nuclear materials, Occupational safety and health, Penalties,
Radiation protection, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements,
Security measures, Spent fuel, Whistleblowing.
For the reasons set out in the preamble and under the authority
of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended; the Energy
Reorganization Act of 1974, as amended; and 5 U.S.C. 553; the NRC
is proposing to adopt the following amendments to 10 CFR part 72.
PART 72--LICENSING REQUIREMENTS FOR THE INDEPENDENT STORAGE OF
SPENT NUCLEAR FUEL, HIGH-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTE, AND REACTOR-
RELATED GREATER THAN CLASS C WASTE 1. The authority citation for
part 72 continues to read as follows: Authority: Secs. 51, 53,
57, 62, 63, 65, 69, 81, 161, 182, 183, 184, 186, 187, 189, 68
Stat. 929, 930, 932, 933, 934, 935, 948, 953, 954, 955, as
amended, sec. 234, 83 Stat. 444, as amended (42 U.S.C. 2071,
2073, 2077, 2092, 2093, 2095, 2099, 2111, 2201, 2232, 2233, 2234,
2236, 2237, 2238, 2282); sec. 274, Pub. L. 86-373, 73 Stat. 688,
as amended (42 U.S.C. 2021); sec. 201, as amended, 202, 206, 88
Stat. 1242, as amended, 1244, 1246 (42 U.S.C. 5841, 5842, 5846);
Pub. L. 95-601, sec. 10, 92 Stat. 2951 as amended by Pub. L. 102-
486, sec. 7902, 106 Stat. 3123 (42 U.S.C. 5851); sec. 102, Pub.
L. 91-190, 83 Stat. 853 (42 U.S.C. 4332); secs. 131, 132, 133,
135, 137, 141, Pub. L. 97-425, 96 Stat. 2229, 2230, 2232, 2241,
sec. 148, Pub. L. 100-203, 101 Stat. 1330-235 (42 U.S.C. 10151,
10152, 10153, 10155, 10157, 10161, 10168); sec. 1704, 112 Stat.
2750 (44 U.S.C. 3504 note).
Section 72.44(g) also issued under secs. 142(b) and 148(c), (d),
Pub. L. 100-203, 101 Stat. 1330-232, 1330-236 (42 U.S.C.
10162(b), 10168(c),(d)). Section 72.46 also issued under sec.
189, 68 Stat. 955 (42 U.S.C. 2239); sec. 134, Pub. L. 97-425, 96
Stat. 2230 (42 U.S.C. 10154). Section 72.96(d) also issued under
sec. 145(g), Pub. L. 100-203, 101 Stat. 1330-235 (42 U.S.C.
10165(g)). Subpart J also issued under secs. 2(2), 2(15), 2(19),
117(a), 141(h), Pub. L. 97- 425, 96 Stat. 2202, 2203, 2204, 2222,
2244 (42 U.S.C. 10101, 10137(a), 10161(h)). Subparts K and L are
also issued under sec. 133, 98 Stat. 2230 (42 U.S.C. 10153) and
sec. 218(a), 96 Stat. 2252 (42 U.S.C. 10198). 2. In Sec. 72.214,
Certificate of Compliance 1029 is revised to read as follows:
Sec. 72.214 List of approved spent fuel storage casks. * * * *
* Certificate Number: 1029.
Initial Certificate Effective Date: February 5, 2003.
Amendment Number 1 Effective Date: May 16, 2005.
SAR Submitted by: Transnuclear, Inc.
SAR Title: Final Safety Analysis Report for the Standardized
Advanced
[[Page 9550]] NUHOMS[reg] Horizontal Modular Storage System for
Irradiated Nuclear Fuel.
Docket Number: 72-1029.
Certificate Expiration Date: February 5, 2023.
Model Number: Standardized Advanced NUHOMS[supreg]-24PT1,
NUHOMS[supreg]-24PT4.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 14th day of February, 2005.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Luis A. Reyes, Executive Director for Operations.
[FR Doc. 05-3737 Filed 2-25-05; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590-01-P
*****************************************************************
49 NRC: spent fuel casks - Hi-Storm
RIN 3150-AH64
FR Doc 05-3739
[Federal Register: February 28, 2005 (Volume 70, Number 38)]
[Rules and Regulations] [Page 9504-9507] From the Federal
Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr28fe05-2]
List of Approved Spent Fuel Storage Casks: HI-STORM 100 Revision
AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Direct final rule.
SUMMARY: The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is amending its
regulations revising the Holtec International HI-STORM 100 cask
system listing within the ``List of approved spent fuel storage
casks'' to include Amendment No. 2 to Certificate of Compliance
Number (CoC No.) 1014. Amendment No. 2 will modify the cask
design to include changes to materials used in construction,
changes to the types of fuel that can be loaded, changes to
shielding and confinement methodologies and assumptions,
revisions to various temperature limits, changes in allowable
fuel enrichments, and other changes to reflect current NRC staff
guidance and use of industry codes, under a general license.
DATES: The final rule is effective May 16, 2005, unless
significant adverse comments are received by March 30, 2005. A
significant adverse comment is a comment where the commenter
explains why the rule would be inappropriate, including
challenges to the rule's underlying premise or approach, or would
be ineffective or unacceptable without a change. If the rule is
withdrawn, timely notice will be published in the Federal
Register.
ADDRESSES: You may submit comments by any one of the following
methods. Please include the following number (RIN 3150-AH64) in
the subject line of your comments. Comments on rulemakings
submitted in writing or in electronic form will be made available
for public inspection.
Because your comments will not be edited to remove any
identifying or contact information, the NRC cautions you against
including personal information such as social security numbers
and birth dates in your submission.
Mail comments to: Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
Washington, DC 20555-0001, ATTN: Rulemakings and Adjudications
Staff.
E-mail comments to: SECY@nrc.gov [SECY@nrc.gov] . If you do not
receive a reply e- mail confirming that we have received your
comments, contact us directly at (301) 415-1966. 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 Gallagher (301)
415-5905; e-mail cag@nrc.gov [ cag@nrc.gov] . Comments can also
be submitted via the Federal eRulemaking Portal
http://www.regulations.gov
[http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/leaving.cgi?from=leaving
FR.html&log=linklog&to=http://www.regulations.gov] . Hand deliver
comments to: 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852,
between 7:30 a.m. and 4:15 p.m. Federal workdays (telephone (301)
415-1966).
Fax comments to: Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission at
(301) 415-1101.
Publicly available documents related to this rulemaking may be
viewed electronically on the public computers located at the
NRC's Public Document Room (PDR), O-1F21, One White Flint North,
11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland. Selected documents,
including comments, can be viewed and downloaded electronically
via the NRC 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] . Publicly
available documents created or received at the NRC after November
1, 1999, are available electronically at the NRC's Electronic
Reading Room at http://www.nrc.gov/NRC/ADAMS/index.html
[http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/leaving.cgi?from=leaving
FR.html&log=linklog&to=http://www.nrc.gov/NRC/ADAMS/index.html] .
From this site, the public can gain entry into the NRC's
Agencywide Document Access and Management System (ADAMS), which
provides text and image files of NRC's public documents. If you
do not have access to ADAMS or if there are problems in accessing
the documents located in ADAMS, contact the NRC PDR Reference
staff at 1-800-397-4209, (301) 415-4737, or by e-mail to
pdr@nrc.gov [pdr@nrc.gov] . An electronic copy of the proposed
CoC and preliminary safety evaluation report (SER) can be found
under ADAMS Accession No. ML043640359. CoC No. 1014, the revised
Technical Specifications (TS), the underlying SER for Amendment
No. 2, and the Environmental Assessment (EA), are available for
inspection at the NRC PDR, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD.
Single copies of these documents may be obtained from Jayne M.
McCausland, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards,
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555- 0001,
telephone (301) 415-6219, e-mail jmm2@nrc.gov [jmm2@nrc.gov] .
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Jayne M. McCausland, telephone
(301) 415-6219, e-mail jmm2@nrc.gov [jmm2@nrc.gov] , of the
Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear
Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Background Section 218(a) of the
Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982, as amended (NWPA), requires
that ``[t]he Secretary [of the Department of Energy (DOE)] shall
establish a demonstration program, in cooperation with the
private sector, for the dry storage of spent nuclear fuel at
civilian nuclear power reactor sites, with the objective of
establishing one or more technologies that the [Nuclear
Regulatory] Commission may, by rule, approve for use at the sites
of civilian nuclear power reactors without, to the maximum extent
practicable, the need for additional site-specific approvals by
the Commission.'' Section 133 of the NWPA states, in part, that
``[t]he Commission shall, by rule, establish procedures for the
licensing of any technology approved by the Commission under
Section 218(a) for use at the site of any civilian nuclear power
reactor.'' To implement this mandate, the NRC approved dry
storage of spent nuclear fuel in NRC-approved casks under a
[[Page 9505]] general license by publishing a final rule in 10
CFR Part 72 entitled, ``General License for Storage of Spent Fuel
at Power Reactor Sites'' (55 FR 29181; July 18, 1990). This rule
also established a new Subpart L within 10 CFR Part 72, entitled
``Approval of Spent Fuel Storage Casks'' containing procedures
and criteria for obtaining NRC approval of spent fuel storage
cask designs. The NRC subsequently issued a final rule on May 1,
2000 (65 FR 25241), that approved the Holtec International
HI-STORM 100 cask design and added it to the list of NRC-
approved cask designs in Sec. 72.214 as CoC No. 1014. Discussion
On March 4, 2002, and as supplemented on October 31, 2002; August
6 and November 14, 2003; February 20, April 23, July 22, August
13, October 14, and December 3, 2004, the certificate holder,
Holtec International, submitted an application to the NRC to
amend CoC No. 1014 to permit a Part 72 licensee to modify the
cask design to include changes to materials used in construction,
changes to the types of fuel that can be loaded, changes to
shielding and confinement methodologies and assumptions,
revisions to various temperature limits, changes in allowable
fuel enrichments, and other changes to reflect current staff
guidance and use of industry codes, under a general license. The
specific changes requested in Amendment No. 2 to CoC No. 1014 are
listed in the SER. No other changes to the HI-STORM 100 cask
system design were requested in this application. The NRC staff
performed a detailed safety evaluation of the proposed CoC
amendment request and found that an acceptable safety margin is
maintained. In addition, the NRC staff has determined that there
is still reasonable assurance that public health and safety and
the environment will be adequately protected.
This direct final rule revises the HI-STORM 100 cask design
listing in Sec. 72.214 by adding Amendment No. 2 to CoC No.
1014. The amendment consists of changes to the TS as described
above. The particular TS which are changed are identified in the
NRC staff's SER for Amendment No. 2. The amended HI-STORM 100
cask system, when used in accordance with the conditions
specified in the CoC, the TS, and NRC regulations, will meet the
requirements of Part 72; thus, adequate protection of public
health and safety will continue to be ensured.
Discussion of Amendments by Section Section 72.214 List of
Approved Spent Fuel Storage Casks Certificate No. 1014 is revised
by adding the effective date of Amendment Number 2.
Procedural Background This rule is limited to the changes
contained in Amendment 2 to CoC No. 1014 and does not include
other aspects of the HI-STORM 100 cask system design. The NRC is
using the ``direct final rule procedure'' to issue this amendment
because it represents a limited and routine change to an existing
CoC that is expected to be noncontroversial.
Adequate protection of public health and safety continues to be
ensured.
The amendment to the rule will become effective on May 16, 2005.
However, if the NRC receives significant adverse comments by
March 30, 2005, then the NRC will publish a document that
withdraws this action and will address the comments received in
response to the proposed amendments published elsewhere in this
issue of the Federal Register. A significant adverse comment is a
comment where the commenter explains why the rule would be
inappropriate, including challenges to the rule's underlying
premise or approach, or would be ineffective or unacceptable
without a change. A comment is adverse and significant if: (1)
The comment opposes the rule and provides a reason sufficient to
require a substantive response in a notice-and-comment process.
For example, in a substantive response: (a) The comment causes
the NRC staff to reevaluate (or reconsider) its position or
conduct additional analysis; (b) The comment raises an issue
serious enough to warrant a substantive response to clarify or
complete the record; or (c) The comment raises a relevant issue
that was not previously addressed or considered by the NRC staff.
(2) The comment proposes a change or an addition to the rule, and
it is apparent that the rule would be ineffective or unacceptable
without incorporation of the change or addition.
(3) The comment causes the NRC staff to make a change (other than
editorial) to the CoC or TS.
These comments will be addressed in a subsequent final rule.
The NRC will not initiate a second comment period on this action.
Voluntary Consensus Standards The National Technology Transfer
Act of 1995 (Pub. L. 104-113) requires that Federal agencies use
technical standards that are developed or adopted by voluntary
consensus standards bodies unless the use of such a standard is
inconsistent with applicable law or otherwise impractical. In
this direct final rule, the NRC would revise the HI- STORM 100
cask system design listed in Sec. 72.214 (List of NRC- approved
spent fuel storage cask designs). This action does not constitute
the establishment of a standard that establishes generally
applicable requirements.
Agreement State Compatibility Under the ``Policy Statement on
Adequacy and Compatibility of Agreement State Programs'' approved
by the Commission on June 30, 1997, and published in the Federal
Register on September 3, 1997 (62 FR 46517), this rule is
classified as Compatibility Category ``NRC.'' Compatibility is
not required for Category ``NRC'' regulations.
The NRC program elements in this category are those that relate
directly to areas of regulation reserved to the NRC by the Atomic
Energy Act of 1954, as amended (AEA), or the provisions of Title
10 of the Code of Federal Regulations. Although an Agreement
State may not adopt program elements reserved to NRC, it may wish
to inform its licensees of certain requirements via a mechanism
that is consistent with the particular State's administrative
procedure laws but does not confer regulatory authority on the
State.
Plain Language The Presidential Memorandum dated June 1, 1998,
entitled ``Plain Language in Government Writing,'' directed that
the Government's writing be in plain language. The NRC requests
comments on this direct final rule specifically with respect to
the clarity and effectiveness of the language used. Comments
should be sent to the address listed under the heading ADDRESSES
above.
Finding of No Significant Environmental Impact: Availability
Under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, as amended,
and the NRC regulations in Subpart A of 10 CFR Part 51, the NRC
has determined that this rule, if adopted, would not be a major
Federal action significantly affecting the quality of the human
environment and, therefore, an environmental impact statement is
not required. The rule would amend the CoC for the HI-STORM 100
cask system within the list of approved spent fuel storage casks
that power reactor licensees can use to store spent fuel at
reactor sites under a general license. The amendment will modify
the present
[[Page 9506]] cask system design to include changes to materials
used in construction, changes to the types of fuel that can be
loaded, changes to shielding and confinement methodologies and
assumptions, revisions to various temperature limits, changes in
allowable fuel enrichments, and other changes to reflect current
NRC staff guidance and use of industry codes, under a general
license. The EA and finding of no significant impact on which
this determination is based are available for inspection at the
NRC Public Document Room, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD.
Single copies of the EA and finding of no significant impact are
available from Jayne M. McCausland, Office of Nuclear Material
Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
Washington, DC 20555-0001, telephone (301) 415-6219, email
jmm2@nrc.gov [ jmm2@nrc.gov] . Paperwork Reduction Act Statement
This direct final rule does not contain a new or amended
information collection requirement subject to the Paperwork
Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.). Existing
requirements were approved by the Office of Management and
Budget, Approval Number 3150- 0132.
Public Protection Notification The NRC may not conduct or
sponsor, and a person is not required to respond to, a request
for information or an information collection requirement unless
the requesting document displays a currently valid OMB control
number.
Regulatory Analysis On July 18, 1990 (55 FR 29181), the NRC
issued an amendment to 10 CFR Part 72 to provide for the storage
of spent nuclear fuel under a general license in cask designs
approved by the NRC. Any nuclear power reactor licensee can use
NRC-approved cask designs to store spent nuclear fuel if it
notifies the NRC in advance, spent fuel is stored under the
conditions specified in the cask's CoC, and the conditions of the
general license are met. A list of NRC-approved cask designs is
contained in Sec. 72.214. On May 1, 2000 (65 FR 25241), the NRC
issued an amendment to Part 72 that approved the HI-STORM 100
cask design by adding it to the list of NRC-approved cask designs
in Sec. 72.214. On March 4, 2002, and as supplemented on October
31, 2002; August 6 and November 14, 2003; February 20, April 23,
July 22, August 13, October 14, and December 3, 2004, the
certificate holder (Holtec International) submitted an
application to the NRC to amend CoC No. 1014 to modify the
present cask system design to include changes to materials used
in construction, changes to the types of fuel that can be loaded,
changes to shielding and confinement methodologies and
assumptions, revisions to various temperature limits, changes in
allowable fuel enrichments, and other changes to reflect current
staff guidance and use of industry codes under a general license.
The alternative to this action is to withhold approval of this
amended cask system design and issue an exemption to each general
license. This alternative would cost both the NRC and the
utilities more time and money because each utility would have to
pursue an exemption.
Approval of the direct final rule will eliminate this problem and
is consistent with previous NRC actions. Further, the direct
final rule will have no adverse effect on public health and
safety. This direct final rule has no significant identifiable
impact or benefit on other Government agencies. Based on this
discussion of the benefits and impacts of the alternatives, the
NRC concludes that the requirements of the direct final rule are
commensurate with the NRC's responsibilities for public health
and safety and the common defense and security. No other
available alternative is believed to be as satisfactory, and
thus, this action is recommended.
Regulatory Flexibility Certification In accordance with the
Regulatory Flexibility Act of 1980 (5 U.S.C. 605(b)), the NRC
certifies that this rule will not, if issued, have a significant
economic impact on a substantial number of small entities. This
direct final rule affects only the licensing and operation of
nuclear power plants, independent spent fuel storage facilities,
and Holtec International. The companies that own these plants do
not fall within the scope of the definition of ``small entities''
set forth in the Regulatory Flexibility Act or the Small Business
Size Standards set out in regulations issued by the Small
Business Administration at 13 CFR Part 121.
Backfit Analysis The NRC has determined that the backfit rule (10
CFR 50.109 or 10 CFR 72.62) does not apply to this direct final
rule because this amendment does not involve any provisions that
would impose backfits as defined. Therefore, a backfit analysis
is not required. Small Business Regulatory Enforcement Fairness
Act In accordance with the Small Business Regulatory Enforcement
Fairness Act of 1996, the NRC has determined that this action is
not a major rule and has verified this determination with the
Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of
Management and Budget.
List of Subjects in 10 CFR Part 72 Administrative practice and
procedure, Criminal penalties, Manpower training programs,
Nuclear materials, Occupational safety and health, Penalties,
Radiation protection, Reporting and recordkeeping requirements,
Security measures, Spent fuel, Whistleblowing.
0 For the reasons set out in the preamble and under the authority
of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended; the Energy
Reorganization Act of 1974, as amended; and 5 U.S.C. 552 and 553;
the NRC is adopting the following amendments to 10 CFR part 72.
PART 72--LICENSING REQUIREMENTS FOR THE INDEPENDENT STORAGE OF
SPENT NUCLEAR FUEL, HIGH-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTE, AND REACTOR-
RELATED GREATER THAN CLASS C WASTE 0 1. The authority citation
for Part 72 continues to read as follows: Authority: Secs. 51,
53, 57, 62, 63, 65, 69, 81, 161, 182, 183, 184, 186, 187, 189, 68
Stat. 929, 930, 932, 933, 934, 935, 948, 953, 954, 955, as
amended, sec. 234, 83 Stat. 444, as amended (42 U.S.C. 2071,
2073, 2077, 2092, 2093, 2095, 2099, 2111, 2201, 2232, 2233, 2234,
2236, 2237, 2238, 2282); sec. 274, Pub. L. 86-373, 73 Stat. 688,
as amended (42 U.S.C. 2021); sec. 201, as amended, 202, 206, 88
Stat. 1242, as amended, 1244, 1246 (42 U.S.C. 5841, 5842, 5846);
Pub. L. 95-601, sec. 10, 92 Stat. 2951 as amended by Pub. L. 102-
486, sec. 7902, 106 Stat. 3123 (42 U.S.C. 5851); sec. 102, Pub.
L. 91-190, 83 Stat. 853 (42 U.S.C. 4332); secs. 131, 132, 133,
135, 137, 141, Pub. L. 97-425, 96 Stat. 2229, 2230, 2232, 2241,
sec. 148, Pub. L. 100-203, 101 Stat. 1330-235 (42 U.S.C. 10151,
10152, 10153, 10155, 10157, 10161, 10168); sec. 1704, 112 Stat.
2750 (44 U.S.C. 3504 note).
Section 72.44(g) also issued under secs. 142(b) and 148(c), (d),
Pub. L. 100-203, 101 Stat. 1330-232, 1330-236 (42 U.S.C.
10162(b), 10168(c), (d)). Section 72.46 also issued under sec.
189, 68 Stat. 955 (42 U.S.C. 2239); sec. 134, Pub. L. 97-425, 96
Stat. 2230 (42 U.S.C. 10154). Section 72.96(d) also issued under
sec. 145(g), Pub. L. 100-203, 101 Stat. 1330-235 (42 U.S.C.
10165(g)). Subpart J also issued under secs. 2(2), 2(15), 2(19),
117(a), 141(h), Pub. L. 97- 425, 96 Stat. 2202, 2203, 2204, 2222,
2244 (42 U.S.C. 10101, 10137(a), 10161(h)). Subparts K and L are
also issued under sec. 133, 98 Stat. 2230 (42 U.S.C. 10153) and
sec. 218(a), 96 Stat. 2252 (42 U.S.C. 10198).
[[Page 9507]] 0 2. In Sec. 72.214, Certificate of Compliance
1014 is revised to read as follows: Sec. 72.214 List of
approved spent fuel storage casks. * * * * * Certificate Number:
1014.
Initial Certificate Effective Date: June 1, 2000.
Amendment Number 1 Effective Date: July 15, 2002.
Amendment Number 2 Effective Date: May 16, 2005.
SAR Submitted by: Holtec International.
SAR Title: Final Safety Analysis Report for the HI-STORM 100 Cask
System.
Docket Number: 72-1014.
Certificate Expiration Date: June 1, 2020.
Model Number: HI-STORM 100.
* * * * * Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 14th day of
February, 2005.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Luis A. Reyes, Executive Director for Operations.
[FR Doc. 05-3739 Filed 2-25-05; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590-01-P
*****************************************************************
50 Deseret news: No-nuke options dwindling
[deseretnews.com]
Monday, February 28, 2005
Deseret Morning News editorial
Utah's elected officials attempted to put the
best face they could on it. But the Atomic Safety and Licensing
Board's recommendation last week that Private Fuel Storage be
granted an operating license to store spent nuclear fuel rods in
a facility on the Goshute reservation in Tooele County was a
major setback.
The recommendation now goes before the nuclear Regulatory
Commission, which could give final approval to the license
application. Utah officials have gamely suggested that the 2-1
decision could provide a basis for an appeal. Still unresolved
is whether the Bureau of Land Management will authorize shipment
of the spent nuclear rods — waste created in electrical power
generation in the Midwest and elsewhere. Other options include a
federal court challenge and a challenge to the Bureau of Indian
Affairs, which has some authority over tribal lands.
Still, the decision of the Atomic Safety and Licensing
Board establishes a greater urgency to find some means to halt
the placement of the storage facility. None of the nuclear waste
that would be stored at the facility was generated in Utah. Utah
shouldn't have to shoulder the burden of the largely political
delays that have hamstrung the use of a permanent, underground
storage facility at Yucca Mountain, Nev. Although PFS officials
describe the Goshute site as "temporary" storage site for spent
nuclear rod storage, recall that the federal government's
definition of "temporary" in these affairs is 40 years. After 40
years, seeking a licensure renewal would seem a more likely
scenario for PFS than to file for an application at a different
location.
As it stands, PFS has eight years invested in the
licensing of a facility on land owned by the Skull Valley band
of the Goshute Indian Tribe. In a meeting with the Deseret
Morning News editorial board earlier this year, PFS Board
Chairman and CEO John Parkyn said the application meets the
technical requirements set down by the NRC. Parkyn said he
expected other challenges but noted that PFS had followed the
application processes very carefully, which should serve it well
in the event of a procedural challenge.
Although federal and state officials have embarked on
many challenges to the license application to this point, the
recommendation of the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board means
Utah has entered a new stage of the fight. Utah must exhaust
every legal means to keep this spent nuclear waste out or face
the reality of becoming the surrogate to Yucca Mountain — and
the nation's repository for nuclear waste.
© 2005 Deseret News Publishing Company
*****************************************************************
51 Inyo Register: Recent floods raise flags for Yucca rail
Monday, February 28, 2005
Planners to delve into deeper review of how elements could impact
DOE nuke shipments
By Stephen Curran
Las Vegas Sun Monday, February 28, 2005 10:56 AM PST
CALIENTE, Nev. - The set of floods that drenched much of Lincoln
County last month has raised a new set of questions for Energy
Department engineers working to build a rail line to carry
77,000 tons of high-level nuclear waste through this rural
Nevada town to a proposed repository at Yucca Mountain,
department officials said recently.
Gary Lanthrum, the Energy Department engineer who oversees the
department's transportation plans, told the Nuclear Waste
Technical Review Board at a public meeting two weeks ago that
the flooding has prompted planners to further review how future
floods could impact normal operations of the railroad.
Among the options designers are weighing are changes to the
design of the heavy-duty casks that would hold the waste during
shipment and possible "safe havens" along the route that would
allow operators to seek higher ground in the event of a flood,
Lanthrum said.
"My view is not that we design a railroad that will be immune to
weather forever, but that we be aware (of the risk inclement
weather poses)," Lanthrum said. "It's important to do a good
design but not to expect the designers to predict any weather."
The meeting, held at the Caliente Youth Center, where comments
were frequently drowned out by the nearby train tracks, was the
board's second public gathering in Southern Nevada that week.
The board was created by Congress to perform technical oversight
of the Yucca Mountain project.
The meeting came days after Margaret Chu, the Energy
Department's assistant secretary who oversees the Yucca project,
said delays, including when the U.S. Court of Appeals threw out
a key Environmental Protection Agency standard in July, forced
the department to distance itself from its earlier predictions
that the proposed repository could open by 2010.
The weather-related uncertainties sparked a flurry of questions
from sharply divided Caliente residents, many of whom are torn
between the promised economic benefits the 319-mile railroad
would bring and the thought of high-level nuclear material
rolling through their town on its way to the dump, 90 miles
northwest of Las Vegas and about 15 miles east of Death Valley
in Inyo County.
Among the project's biggest proponents has been Caliente Mayor
Kevin Phillips, a local small business owner and one of Lincoln
County's most visible residents for a dozen years, who has
repeatedly said he trusts the federal department to adequately
address these concerns.
Phillips, a Caliente native, said the flood, which covered parts
of county roads, was the worst since a large-scale drenching in
1938.
"I've given it some thought," he said. "But that's beyond my pay
grade. They (the engineers) can worry about that."
Lincoln County Commissioner Hal Keaton, a two-year veteran of
the board and its most vocal opponent to the project, questioned
the 11-member board and an audience packed with Energy
Department officials, including Chu.
Keaton has routinely found himself at odds with Phillips and
other commissioners and is routinely the lone vote of dissent on
Yucca-related matters.
"They (Energy Department) decided to nail Nevada and bury it
here," he said. "The nuclear waste transportation project is a
bad idea and it will never be a good idea. This proposed rail
line will literally cut our county in two."
Keaton's words were not hyperbole for Joe Fellini, a
fourth-generation rancher whose 130-square-mile property
straddles the Lincoln and Nye county lines. If the line were
built, he would stand to lose the land that has been in his
family for 130 years, Fellini told the board.
It's a fight Fellini, who in the 1980s lost part of his land to
the nearby Nevada Test Site through eminent domain, said he
would not back down from.
"We haven't been a ranch for 130 years by letting people roll
over the top of us," he said.
Fellini, who was joined by his daughter Anna, also a rancher,
accused the federal department of intentionally keeping him and
17 other property owners in the dark about public scoping
meetings, gatherings he said he later read about in the local
newspaper.
"They're sitting here completely ignoring the Constitution of
the United States," he said of the Energy Department. "This
completely annihilates the Constitution and the state's rights."
Board chairman John Garrick said the flood concerns had been
raised at previous meetings but that Lanthrum's comments would
likely prompt further, more in-depth discussion among the board
about more direct alternative routes to the proposed repository.
"One of the things that has intrigued the board was creating a
more direct route to Yucca Mountain," he said. "I found that a
very interesting discussion … There has to be a better way to do
it."
(Distributed by Scripps-McClatchy Western Service)
©2005 The Inyo Register [pub@inyoregister.com]
*****************************************************************
52 Inyo Register: High-stakes game over Yucca cash
Monday, February 28, 2005
Inyo protests Nevada counties' attempt to cut its federal
payments
By Jon Klusmire
The Inyo Register Staff Monday, February 28, 2005 10:56 AM
PST
Nine Nevada counties made a back-room bet they could cut the
amount of federal money Inyo County will get next year to keep
an eye on the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste project.
Inyo County promptly called their bluff and, if all 10 counties
don't come back to the table and cut a deal, the Nevada gang and
Inyo County could end up losing their share of the federal kitty
come October.
That won't be too big of a deal for Inyo County, since it has
kept its Yucca Mountain cash stash close to its vest and has
substantial funds in reserve to continue its oversight work. But
the Nevada counties appear to have a bit more riding on the roll
of the federal budget dice because their overall fiscal position
is a bit more dicey.
Although Inyo County sent notice that it couldn't attend, a
meeting of the nine Nevada counties was convened on Feb. 4,
without anyone from Inyo County present, to discuss the formula
for dispensing Department of Energy Yucca Mountain oversight
funds to the counties. At that meeting, the group of nine Nevada
counties decided to cut Inyo County's allotment in the upcoming
2005 federal fiscal year from $600,000 to $285,000.
All ten counties are officially "affected units of government"
with an interest in the planned Yucca Mountain high-level
nuclear waste dump, located on the Nevada Test Site, just 15
miles west of Death Valley and Inyo County.
Inyo County said it couldn't send a representative to that
meeting, and asked for it to be rescheduled, said Andrew Remus,
project coordinator of the Inyo County Yucca Mountain Assessment
Office. Remus added that he told the group at least a week
before the meeting that Inyo County would not agree to any
change in the oversight fund formula.
"They were aware of our stance, and that might be the reason
they didn't want us there," Remus surmised.
When he learned the meeting had taken place and the result was a
proposal to the DOE to cut Inyo County's Yucca Mountain money,
Remus nuked the idea based on the rules set down in the Nuclear
Waste Policy Act. He said that policy mandates that any changes
to the formula suggested by the counties have to be "unanimous."
Since Inyo County didn't agree to the new formula, Remus said if
the Nevada counties press the issue with the DOE, there is a
chance that all oversight money to the counties would be
withheld in the pending federal 2005 federal budget year, which
begins in October of 2005.
That would not have an impact on the numerous monitoring and
scientific programs being conducted by Inyo County to assess any
impacts from Yucca Mountain on the county, said Remus. The
county still has enough oversight funds to keep those programs
on track for 12-18 months, said Remus.
However, the Nevada counties seem to be "highly motivated" to
make sure they get their funding without interruption, he noted.
That sense of urgency came spilling out of the Feb. 4 meeting in
the form of several phone calls to Inyo County officials seeking
a quick OK of the new formula.
Planning Director Leslie Klusmire said she was contacted by a
consultant for Nye County, Nev., who wanted Inyo County to agree
to the formula change. Klusmire said she made it clear that Inyo
County in no way wanted to relinquish its role in the formula
formulation. Inyo is the only California county to receive Yucca
Mountain oversight funds, and Klusmire said she told the Nye
County consultant Inyo had worked hard to become an "affected
unit of government" and was not going to concede any
decision-making power, or anything else, to the Nevada counties
which are also AUGs.
Those Nevada counties "were fully aware Inyo County didn't
support their proposal" to adjust the oversight funds among the
10 counties and cut Inyo County's share, Klusmire said.
Having no luck with staff members, the Nevada bunch turned to
Ted Williams, the second district supervisor and chairman of the
Board of Supervisors.
A Nye County representative called Williams and asked him to
quickly, and without conferring with the rest of the board,
confirm the new funding formula. Not only did Williams reject
even the suggestion that he could respond for the board, he
added that, "I didn't appreciate the phone call" and being put
on the spot on the issue.
"They need to know the power of one," remarked First District
Supervisor Linda Arcularius.
And that power is being expressed by Remus through a flurry of
letters and e-mails to the nine counties, the DOE, the Yucca
Mountain staff and anyone else he has on his extensive mailing
list who has anything to do with the Yucca Mountain project.
The issue will be an agenda item during the Feb. 22 supervisors'
meeting, where county's position will take official form and
then be circulated once again to all affected officials,
counties and federal agencies.
©2005 The Inyo Register [pub@inyoregister.com]
*****************************************************************
53 ENN: Aboriginal People Win Right to Limit Australian Uranium Mine
Environment News Service (ENS)
www.ens-newswire.com
[http://www.OrganicConsumers.org]
DARWIN, Australia, February 28, 2005 (ENS) - The Aboriginal
owners of Kakadu National Park have won their long battle for
the right to halt further development of a uranium mine on their
traditional lands within the park.
On Friday, the Mirarr Gundjeihmi Aboriginal people, the
leaseholders Energy Resources of Australia (ERA), and the
Northern Land Council signed a landmark agreement on the long
term management of the Jabiluka uranium mining lease area in the
Northern Territory.
[mine] ERA Jabiluka mine in Kakadu National Park with Magela
Creek wetland in the background. (Photo by P. Waggit courtesy
DEH Australia
[http://www.deh.gov.au/ssd/uranium-mining/research/rehabilitation
/] ) While the Jabiluka Mineral Lease and the 1982 Jabiluka
Mining Agreement remain in force, the newly signed Jabiluka
Long-Term Care and Maintenance Agreement obliges Energy
Resources of Australia to secure Mirarr consent prior to any
future mining development of uranium deposits at Jabiluka.
Mirarr Senior Traditional Owner Yvonne Margarula, ERA Chief
Executive Harry Kenyon-Slaney and Northern Land Council Chief
Executive Norman Fry signed the agreement following nearly three
years of negotiation over the future management of the lease
which is surrounded by Kakadu National Park, but is separate
from it.
All parties welcomed the agreement as a major step forward in
relations between Traditional Owners and Energy Resources of
Australia, who in the past have been in conflict over Jabiluka.
“I am pleased that the mining company has listened to the Mirarr
people, showing us the respect we deserve as Traditional
Owners," said Margarula, who, with Jacqui Katona was awarded the
prestigious Goldman Prize for Australia in 1999 to honor her
work to conserve Kakadu.
"This agreement lifts the shadow of Jabiluka off the Mirarr and
other Aboriginal people in Kakadu," Margarula said. "We now have
a chance to solve some of the social problems like alcohol,
unemployment and health. Jabiluka will never be mined unless the
Mirarr give approval - in future the decision is ours alone for
the first time.”
Kenyon-Slaney said the agreement heralds a new era of
cooperation. “The company would like to develop Jabiluka, one of
the world’s most significant uranium deposits. Under this
agreement development would only go ahead with the support of
the Traditional Owners, and we can now work together to try to
find a way forward that meets the expectations of all parties.”
[Margarula] Mirrar campaigners take their message to London, UK,
August 1998. From left: Christine Christophersen, Yvonne
Margarula, Jacqui Katona (Photo courtesy ENIAR
[http://www.eniar.org/] ) Norman Fry, chief executive of the
Northern Land Council said, "The agreement will promote a
cooperative and constructive relationship between the Mirrar and
ERA regarding future developments."
The agreement also waives some of ERA's financial obligations
flowing from construction of the mine decline in 1998. The
backfilling of the 1.2 kilometer decline at Jabiluka was
completed in late 2003, in the lead-up to this agreement, with
mineralized and non-mineralized rock returned to the underground
workings.
Yet it is unlikely that Margarula and the Mirrar people will
allow more uranium mining at Jabiluka. In a 2002 statement,
Margarula said, "All the Mirrar are together; we are united
against any more uranium mining on Mirrar country. No amount of
money, no amount of political pressure, no backroom deals, no
bribery or blackmail will make us change our mind. We cannot
change the law and the law is that we protect our sacred sites.
Since 1996, the Mirrar have fought against Jabiluka across
Australia and overseas. We have won many friends and our
supporters are strong and stand with us."
The Mirrar are concerned about radioactive contamination of land
and water from the mining as well as disturbance of the natural
land surface and life of the land.
Kakadu National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage site, covers
19,804 square kilometres (7,646 square miles) in the wet-dry
tropics of northern Australia. The park is managed by the
director of national parks and the Kakadu Board of Management.
Over half of Kakadu is legally recognized as Aboriginal land and
the remainder is subject to land claims.
Greens Senator Kerry Nettle today hailed the deal which gives
the Traditional Owners of the Jabiluka uranium mine site a veto
over any future development as a great victory for the Mirrar
people.
[Kakadu] A rock outcrop in Kakadu National Park is festooned
with a Jabiluka protest sign. (Photo © Sandy Scheltema courtesy
FOEI [http://www.foei.org] ) "The Traditional Owners, the Mirrar
people, now have control over the future of the mine site and
have ruled out any future mining in this unique and precious
area," Nettle said.
"As one of the many thousands of Australian who joined blockades
in defence of Jabiluka I understand the natural beauty and
cultural significance of this place."
The struggle over uranium mining in Kakadu National Park began
in 1976 when the Aboriginal Land Rights Act was legislated with
a provision to extinguish the right of the Mirrar to withhold
their consent to uranium mining at Ranger, a site near Jabiluka,
also in the park.
In 1980, the Mirrar and other clans in the Kakadu area launched
their land claim.
Nevertheless, ERA packaged the first product of uranium oxide at
the Ranger operation in August 1981.
In 1983, with the election of Bob Hawke's Labor government,
development at Jabiluka was suspended indefinitely.
In 1992, Margarula, now the Senior Traditional Owner, instructs
the Northern Land Council and the federal government that the
Mirrar do not want mining at Jabiluka to proceed.
In 1996, John Howard's Liberal Coalition government came to
power, and approval of uranium mining at Jabiluka began to move
forward.
In 1997, the Alliance against Uranium formed as a result of a
meeting in Alice Springs between Aboriginal people affected by
uranium deposits and environmental groups. Traditional Owners
rejected the offer of royalties from the Jabiluka mine.
In 1998, the Mirrar and others established a blockade against
the uranium development. In May, on the first International Day
of Action to Stop Jabiluka, Margarula arrested with three other
elders for trespass on land to which she holds title.
[protesters] Two Mirrar traditional owners showing their support
for the Gundjehmi Aboriginal Corporation against mining. (Photo
courtesy GAC [http://www.mirrar.net] ) The blockades, protest
marches and legal actions continued for years, along with
appeals to the UNESCO World Heritage Committee to halt the mine
development.
In 2000, Rio Tinto Ltd became the majority shareholder in ERA,
leaseholders of the Jabiluka mine.
In December 2000, the World Heritage Committee concluded that
the approved proposal for the mine and mill at Jabiluka does not
threaten the health of people or the biological and ecological
systems of Kakadu National Park that the World Heritage Bureau's
1998 Mission believed to be at risk.
As work proceeded at Jabiluka, reports of radioactive leaks at
Ranger and another Australian uranium mine became public. In
2002, the Mirrar called for ERA to enter into legally binding
agreement to never develop Jabiluka without the informed consent
of Traditional Owners. Negotiations around that proposal were
finalized Friday in the Jabiluka Long-Term Care and Maintenance
Agreement.
"The Greens welcome both the conservation of the Jabiluka site
and the fact that the growth of the Australian uranium industry
has been thwarted at Jabiluka," said Nettle. "The Greens will
continue to campaign for an end to uranium mining in Australia
as part of our broader opposition to the dangerous and
destructive nuclear industry."
The Mirrar want Rio Tinto to rehabilitate the Jabiluka mine site
and incorporate the lease into Kakadu National Park.
On Thursday the Australian and Northern Territory governments
released a consultancy report on the future of tourism in Kakadu
National Park that turned attention once more towards the
natural values of the unique region.
The report, "Kakadu - Walking to the future... together, A
Shared Vision for Tourism in Kakadu National Park," outlines 71
recommendations and builds on the launch of the Kakadu Board of
Management's vision of greater indigenous involvement in tourism
and new experiences for visitors.
"Kakadu is a place of extraordinary landscapes and wildlife and
a rich and deeply spiritual Aboriginal culture," said
spokespeople for two federal ministries and the Northern
Territory.
"This report provides an important opportunity for the tourism
industry and the public to have their say on the ways in which
tourism could develop in Kakadu National Park for the benefit of
future generations," said Greg Hunt, parliamentary secretary to
the minister for the environment and heritage; Warren Entsch,
parliamentary secretary to the minister for industry, tourism
and resources; and Clare Martin, chief minister for the Northern
Territory.
[art] Aboriginal rock art in Kakadu National Park (Photo credit
unknown) "This vision is about respecting our culture, helping
visitors understand and appreciate the beauty of our traditional
lands and proudly sharing our country with park visitors," said
Jonathon Nadji, who chairs the Kakadu Board of Management.
"We look forward to working more closely with the tourism
industry to create new job opportunities for our people,
especially young people looking for satisfying work on their own
country," Nadji said.
Among the ideas the Board will consider are an enhanced tourism
focus within the park management; the potential for new
experiences such as night wildlife tours, bush tucker tours, eco
camps and walking tracks; new low impact accommodation, both at
the luxury and budget ends of the market; exploration of
Kakadu's unique six seasons; and the potential for Aboriginal
storytelling to give visitors a new perspective of country.
"We will be looking to governments to help traditional owners
gain business skills and access venture capital so that those of
us who want to be part of a new tourism industry are able to
participate effectively. We will now be considering how the new
Kakadu Plan of Management will advance these initiatives," he
said.
"This is the beginning of a new partnership between the
traditional owners, the Australian and Northern Territory
Governments and the tourism industry," the government officials
said.
"We will now look at how governments can support traditional
owners and the tourism industry in delivering a new,
re-invigorated, tourism future for Kakadu."
The Australian government, still led by Prime Minister John
Howard, said it will provide a formal response to the report by
July 1, 2005.
A number of recommendations from the report are already under
way at Kakadu, including the establishment of a tourism manager
position and the upgrade of the welcome and exits to the park to
reflect the indigenous heritage.
An electronic copy of the report is available at:
www.deh.gov.au/parks/publications/kakadu/tourism-vision
[http://www.deh.gov.au/parks/publications/kakadu/tourism-vision]
. Public comment closes on March 25, 2005 and can be made by
email to: kakadu.comments@deh.gov.au
[kakadu.comments@deh.gov.au]
See the environmentalist point of view at: Environment Centre of
the Northern Territory [http://www.ecnt.org/uranium/index.html]
Copyright Environment News Service (ENS) 2005. All Rights
*****************************************************************
54 deseretnews.com: Huntsman, Bush meeting today
Sunday, February 27, 2005
Associated Press
Gov. Jon Huntsman says he will take his
concerns to President Bush over a federal regulatory board's
approval of a nuclear waste dump in Utah.
Huntsman will be in Washington for the National Governors
Association meeting and is scheduled to meet with Bush today.
After the state lost a key battle Thursday to keep the
Goshute Indian Reservation from obtaining a license to store
44,000 tons of waste on its land 45 miles west of Salt Lake
City, Huntsman says he will exhaust every chance Utah has to
keep the waste out.
He said if he can't convince Bush, "We will be back in
the next two to three weeks to meet with the secretary of the
Interior and others and fight this battle with every ounce of
energy we can muster."
Huntsman noted the state could still appeal Thursday's
decision from the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board to the
five-member nuclear Regulatory Commission. Officials could also
petition the Bureau of Land Management against approving the
deal and possibly seek intervention from the U.S. Supreme Court.
The latter option, he said, is "becoming increasingly
viable."
Thursday's decision cleared the way for a utility
consortium called Private Fuel Storage to get a license from the
NRC to build and operate a storage site on Goshutes land. State
officials have long opposed the plan, but the latest ruling is a
significant setback.
The governor also says he will talk to Bush about his No
Child Left Behind initiative, which Utah lawmakers call an
intrusive and underfunded mandate.
The Utah House last week passed a bill and resolution
hammering the law for reaching into state affairs.
© 2005 Deseret News Publishing Company
*****************************************************************
55 Sioux City Journal: Group calls for action on abandoned uranium mines
www.siouxcityjournal.com
Monday, February 28, 2005 Sioux City, Iowa WEB EDITION
RAPID CITY, S.D. (AP) -- Uranium mines in northwestern South
Dakota that were abandoned decades ago without being cleaned up
pose health threats and other problems, residents and others say.
Defenders of the Black Hills, a group of volunteers that works to
ensure that the United States government upholds the Fort Laramie
Treaties of 1851 and 1868, sponsored a meeting Saturday to learn
more about the mines.
The mines are located in an area considered sacred by many
American Indians. They have been polluting the air, land and
water for the past 50 to 60 years, members of the group said.
"It's not just an issue for Indians. This is an issue for the
entire state," said Charmaine White Face, a biologist and treaty
activist. Contaminants cling to crops, are ingested by livestock
and fall into water systems, White Face said.
Halcyon LaPoint, a forest archaeologist at Custer National
Forest, said that in 1962, the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission
pushed for major uranium mining operations throughout the nation
and in South Dakota.
To get to uranium-rich fields in the Slim Buttes and Cave Hills
areas near Buffalo in Harding County, miners sheared the tops
off of buttes, pushing the excess dirt over the sides of the
hill, said LaPoint. The uranium-laced dirt was left exposed to
the elements for 40 years, LaPoint said.
"Were still trying to figure out how to stop the spoils from
getting into the water," she said.
Harold One Feather, 40, of Rock Creek, said both his parents
died of cancer. He said his family washed their clothes, swam,
fished and drank from the Grand River.
"Our tribe is totally unprepared for this," he said.
White Face urged the audience to write letters, call the state's
congressional delegation and tribal representatives.
One solution may be to have the Cave Hills and Slim Buttes areas
declared sacred sites, she said.
"Radiation sickness is slow. We have to stop it," White Face
said.
Copyright © 2005 Sioux City Journal
Tel: (712) 293-4250 Go to top of page Terms of Use
Agreement [http://www.siouxcityjournal.com/terms.html]
*****************************************************************
56 Las Vegas SUN: Editorial: Troubling development
LAS VEGAS SUN
Last week an advisory board to the Nuclear Regulatory
Commission recommended approval of a temporary, above-ground
nuclear waste storage facility at an Indian reservation in Utah.
Eight utilities that use nuclear power want to send 44,000 tons
of high-level nuclear waste to a temporary facility in Utah
until the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, they hope, gives its
approval to a permanent dump proposed for Nevada's Yucca
Mountain.
So what would it mean for Nevada -- specifically, the federal
government's plans to bury 77,000 tons of high-level nuclear
waste at Yucca Mountain, just 90 miles away from Las Vegas -- if
the Utah facility were to open? It's possible that some members
of Congress and the nuclear power industry, which is becoming
increasingly frustrated by the lack of progress at Yucca
Mountain, could find it enticing to just leave nuclear waste in
Utah and give up on Yucca Mountain. But a spokesman for the
Nuclear Energy Institute, a lobbying arm for the nuclear power
industry, says the industry is committed to opening Yucca
Mountain as a permanent site. It's hard for us to think of a
time when we've trusted nuclear power industry executives on
just about anything, but on this point we would tend to take
them at their word.
Indeed, while the nuclear power industry has lately
acknowledged that temporary, above-ground storage of nuclear
waste is a necessity given the delays in work at Yucca Mountain,
the reality is that this is a battle that the industry has spent
billions of dollars on -- and we don't see it meekly going away.
We expect that the industry, and its yes-men in Congress, will
remain just as ruthless as ever in trying to send man's
deadliest waste to Nevada -- no matter how dangerous it would be
to transport it by truck and train -- and, ultimately, bury it
here, in a seismically active earthquake zone. We can only hope
that the Utah plan will awaken the public, and those who live in
the cities and towns in the Midwest, East and South along the
routes where the waste would travel, to the dangers involved.
That is about the only silver lining that we can see from la st
week's development.
*****************************************************************
57 reviewjournal.com LETTERS: Attorney downplayed success of Yucca challenges
Feb. 28, 2005
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal
To the editor:
As reported by the Review-Journal on Tuesday ("Sandoval says
project doomed"), Nuclear Energy Institute attorney Michael
Bauser testified to the state Senate Judiciary Committee that
out of 13 legal cases against the Yucca Mountain Project, nine
of which were initiated by the state, all but one of the
challenges were rejected.
He is wrong. Since 2001, Nevada has indeed brought nine lawsuits
against the federal government. But of those, Nevada won two,
lost three, the court tabled one and the remaining three have
yet to be ruled on.
--Nevada v EPA, on the primary radiation standard for Yucca:
Nevada won (the standard was vacated and will take years to
remake).
--Nevada v. United States, on constitutional issues: Nevada lost
--Nevada v. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, on the Yucca
licensing rule: Nevada won (the rule was vacated).
--Nevada v. Department of Energy on the Yucca siting guidelines:
dismissed as moot.
--Nevada v. President Bush and Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham
on their site recommendations: dismissed as moot.
--Nevada v. Department of Energy on Yucca's environmental impact
statement: tabled for later decision-making.
--Nevada v. Department of Energy on funding for the state: no
ruling yet.
--Nevada v. Department of Energy on Yucca water rights: no
ruling yet.
In the Energy Department's first appearance before the Nuclear
Regulatory Commission regarding the Yucca Mountain Project,
Nevada succeeded last summer in having the agency's entire array
of Yucca licensing documents decertified. Recertification, if it
ever occurs, will take at least a year. And the most serious of
Nevada's challenges -- to the Yucca license application -- has
yet to begin.
The results of Nevada's efforts is a project that looks
increasingly likely to meet the fate of the Energy Department's
other major projects: a dead albatross.
JOSEPH R. EGAN
VIENNA, VA.
The writer is a partner in the law firm Egan, Fitzpatrick,
Malsch & Cynkar and is the lead attorney for Nevada in the
state's lawsuits seeking to halt the Yucca Mountain Project.
Exceeding expectations
To the editor:
Each of our three main sources of tax revenue -- property,
sales, and gaming taxes -- has increased far above expectations.
Legislators should cap the revenue from each of these sources at
a level not exceeding that justified by the increase in the
Consumer Price Index and the respective growth of new
construction or increased population and tourism.
Then, when new government services or an expansion of existing
services are proposed, they will be required to pass the acid
test of the associated increase in taxes, rather than hide under
these tax windfalls.
Henry Schmid
LAS VEGAS GIVE IT BACK
*****************************************************************
58 Green Left: New uranium mine for NT?
[http://www.greenleft.org.au/index.htm]
Jon Lamb, Darwin
As the spot price for uranium continues to climb, more mining
companies are expressing interest in developing new uranium
mines in the Northern Territory. On February 15, French mining
company Cogema made public its interest in developing a uranium
mine at Koongarra.
Koongarra is a large uranium ore body located near Nourlangie
Rock in Kakadu National Park. It is situated upstream from the
Woolwonga wetlands, an important part of the wetlands associated
with the South Alligator catchment. The 1977 Fox Inquiry report
on uranium mining in Australia strongly recommended against the
development of Koongarra.
In April 2000, following consultations with the traditional
owners, the full council of the Northern Lands Council passed a
resolution rejecting a request by Cogema for mining and
exploration of Koongarra. The resolution also stated that the
issue of mining would not be addressed for another five years.
The end of this five-year moratorium is fast approaching, hence
Cogema’s recently expressed interest in beginning discussions
with traditional owners and the NLC. Cogema is a wholly owned
subsidiary of the world’s largest nuclear engineering group,
Areva. The company is spending in excess of $3 million annually
looking for profitable uranium deposits across the NT.
According to a February 24 AFP report, Areva has also initiated
a US$1.3 billion bid for a stake in Western Mining’s Olympic
Dam.
The NT Labor government’s position is unclear. ABC Radio on
February 16 quoted mines minister Kon Vatskalis saying that
while he was “optimistic”, there where variables to be
considered, such as permission from the traditional owners and
the impact on tourism in Kakadu.
The NT Minerals Council fully supports a new uranium mine, as
does the Country Liberal Party opposition. CLP leader Denis
Burke asked: “Why should South Australia export uranium to the
world, using our railway?” adding that with “regulatory
controls, with the agreement of Aboriginal owners, we're all for
uranium mining”.
On February 25, it was announced that a new agreement had been
reached between Energy Resources Australia (ERA) and the Mirrar
people, the traditional owners of the area that covers the
controversial Jabiluka mine lease, also in Kakadu.
According to a statement issued by ERA, “While the Jabiluka
mineral lease and the 1982 Jabiluka mining agreement remain in
force, the Jabiluka long-term care and maintenance agreement
obliges ERA (and its successors) to secure Mirarr consent prior
to any future mining development of uranium deposits at
Jabiluka.”
ERA chief executive Harry Kenyon-Slaney stated that the company
is still keen to develop Jabiluka, and is confident that
“traditional owners and [ERA] can now work together to try and
find a way forward that meets the expectations of all parties”.
Mirarr Senior Traditional Owner Yvonne Margarula said: “Jabiluka
will never be mined unless the Mirarr give approval — in future
the decision is ours alone for the first time.”
From Green Left Weekly, March 2, 2005.
Visit the Green Left Weekly home page.
[http://www.greenleft.org.au/]
*****************************************************************
59 Salt Lake Tribune: Huntsman to D.C.: Utah is no nuclear waste dump
Last Updated: 02/28/2005 01:12:21 AM
Bending the ears of the feds: The governor is getting the word
out, banking on some assistance from the Bush administration
By Chris Smith The Salt Lake Tribune
Jon Huntsman Jr.
WASHINGTON - In meetings with federal agency officials and
during social gatherings at the White House over the weekend,
Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. delivered a simple message to the
Bush administration: Utah does not want to be a nuclear waste
dump.
"I want to make sure the White House is able to follow this
issue as we proceed," Huntsman said of the state's fight to
block a proposed high-level nuclear waste dump on the Skull
Valley Reservation of the Goshute Indian tribe.
Meeting with White House officials during a Republican
Governors Association dinner Saturday night and in sessions at
the National Governors Association winter meeting in the
nation's capital, Huntsman said he emphasized the state's
opposition to Private Fuel Storage's plan to transport casks of
waste from the nation's nuclear energy reactors to Utah's
western desert.
But Huntsman has yet to get a firm indication of how far the
Bush administration will go in siding with Utah in the nuke dump
fight.
"The feedback is they want to follow the issue with us and
there's only so much detail you can cover at this point,"
Huntsman said before attending a private Sunday evening dinner
with President Bush and first lady Laura Bush at the White
House. "We will have meetings to follow."
At the same time, Huntsman plans on using every option
available to get the administration's backing.
"I've heard rumors [Utah first lady] Mary Kaye will be
sitting next to the president during dinner," he said. "If so, I
might whisper to her to whisper something to the president."
In 2002, the Bush administration signed a written pledge to
block use of federal funds to help build, maintain or transport
nuclear waste to the Goshute dump in exchange for votes from
Utah's two Republican senators, Orrin Hatch and Bob Bennett, in
favor of siting the nation's nuclear waste repository at Nevada's
Yucca Mountain.
Without access to money from the Nuclear Waste Policy Act,
many industry observers believe the PFS project will not be
economically feasible to the consortium of utility companies
underwriting the effort.
But the Utah project continues to gain momentum as the Bush
administration's preferred nuclear waste repository at Yucca
Mountain faces an uncertain future due to congressional
divisions and court rulings.
Last week, a federal safety advisory board forwarded the PFS
application to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for final
approval. The Atomic Safety and Licensing Board rejected Utah's
claim that chances of an F-16 jet from nearby Hill Air Force
Base crashing into the waste dump posed too great a risk for the
project to proceed.
PFS has proposed storing waste in Utah from eastern state
reactors for up to 40 years, after which time the casks would be
transported to Yucca Mountain for permanent storage.
© Copyright 2005, The Salt Lake Tribune.
*****************************************************************
60 Salt Lake Tribune: Huntsman signs waste-ban measure
Article Last Updated: 02/26/2005 01:26:07 AM
Class B and C: The material can be thousands of times hotter than
what Envirocare of Utah deals in
By Patty Henetz The Salt Lake Tribune
With a flourish and the bestowal of the ceremonial pen, Gov.
Jon Huntsman Jr. signed a bill Friday that outlaws so-called
Class B and C radioactive waste from Utah.
The ban on the waste, which can be thousands of times hotter
than what Envirocare of Utah now accepts, comes after years of
contention about its safety and how its acceptance here might
harm Utah's image.
"This was a good bipartisan issue," Huntsman said, squaring
the stack of paper the bill was printed on. "Here I am, ready to
sign it."
Flanked by lawmakers, environmental activists and Envirocare
owners and managers, Huntsman passed the bill to Lt. Gov. Gary
Herbert, on whose signature the law went into effect.
Huntsman, who made banning the waste one of his key campaign
issues, passed the pen to bill sponsor, Sen. Curtis Bramble.
"It's plastic," the governor said.
Bramble, who for years fought passage of a statutory ban on
the B and C waste, originally helped craft Senate Bill 24 to
adjust hazardous and radioactive waste tax rates and to impose
more regulatory oversight on radioactive waste companies.
He substituted that bill with one including a ban after
learning the new owners of Envirocare - Salt Lake City
businessman Steve Creamer and a New York venture capital firm -
planned to relinquish a regulatory permit to accept the waste
once the sale closed at the end of January.
© Copyright 2005, The Salt Lake Tribune.
*****************************************************************
61 Salt Lake Tribune: Guv insists N-dump battle not over
Article Last Updated: 02/26/2005 01:49:56 AM
He will bring up issue with Bush this weekend
By Thomas Burr The Salt Lake Tribune
Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. says the battle is not over against
storing highly radioactive nuclear rods in Utah's west desert,
and he plans to bring up the issue with President Bush on Sunday.
A day after the state lost a key battle to keep the Goshute
Indian Reservation from obtaining a license to store 44,000 tons
of waste on its land 45 miles west of Salt Lake City, Huntsman
says he will exhaust every chance Utah has to keep the waste out.
And if he can't bend the president's ear?
"If not, we will be back in the next two to three weeks to
meet with the secretary of the Interior and others and fight
this battle with every ounce of energy we can muster," Huntsman
told The Salt Lake Tribune on Friday.
He cited the last options the state has, including appealing
Thursday's decision of the licensing board to the five-member
Nuclear Regulatory Commission, fighting to keep the Bureau of
Land Management from approving the deal and possibly seeking
intervention from the U.S. Supreme Court. The latter option, he
said, is "becoming increasingly viable."
Thursday's decision cleared the way for a utility consortium
called Private Fuel Storage to get a license from the Nuclear
Regulatory Commission to build and operate a storage site on
Goshutes land. State officials have balked at the plan, but the
latest ruling is a significant setback.
The governor also says he will talk to Bush about his No
Child Left Behind initiative, which has faced strong opposition
on Utah's Capitol Hill, where lawmakers call it an underfunded
mandate and an overreaching of federal authority. The House of
Representatives last week passed a bill and resolution hammering
the law's intrusion into state affairs.
Huntsman leaves today for the National Governors Association
meeting in Washington, and is scheduled to meet Sunday with the
president. He returns Tuesday in time for the end of the state
legislative session the following day.
Huntsman says he is content with actions of the Legislature
so far.
"Having not seen the entire product, I am pleased with the
overall direction," he said. "It's premature to render judgment
right now."
And, he says, right now he has no plans to veto any
legislation. But, he added, "Check [back] in a few days."
Huntsman has gotten some of what he wanted in the session,
but lost others.
A proposal to phase out the corporate income tax was gutted
in the House, but then came back in the Senate and could still
pass. But Huntsman lost a battle to grant unmarried adults some
marriage-like rights.
And the governor had to compromise with lawmakers on his
budget priorities.
Legislators put much more money into transportation than
Huntsman had recommended.
"I think what we're seeing is a reasonably good balance
between the enormous needs for transportation and that of
investing in our future brain power, which is education. We're
finding a reasonably good balance as we sit here today," he
said.
"We'll have to wait for the final numbers before I render
judgment."
tburr@sltrib.com
© Copyright 2005, The Salt Lake Tribune.
*****************************************************************
62 KXAN.com: Toxic Waste Dumps In Texas
February 28, 2005
Some Texas lawmakers and environmentalists say Texas is in
danger of becoming a radioactive waste dump.
They want an amendment passed that would prevent other states
from sending their radioactive waste to Texas for disposal.
They say storing the waste would pose a health risk to
neighboring communities and make Texas a target for terrorists.
"We are more concerned with the other 90 or so nuclear power
plants around the nation that could send us their low level
waste and the implications that has for a state highway system
and for the possibility of a terrorist strike or hijacking a
vehicle with this dangerous waste," Sierra Club Lobbyist Cyrus
Reed said.
Texas and Vermont currently have an agreement to store Vermont's
radioactive waste here in the Lone Star State.
[http://www.worldnow.com] All content © Copyright 2000 -
2005 WorldNow and KXAN. All Rights Reserved.
*****************************************************************
63 ABQjournal: More Lab Security Gaps Found; LANL Audit Cites
Weaknesses in Handling Exiting Workers
the Albuquerque Journal newspaper.
Saturday, February 26, 2005
Albuquerque Journal--> By Adam Rankin
Journal Staff Writer
An audit released Friday criticized Los Alamos National
Laboratory for its handling of workers and scientists leaving
the employment of the weapons lab.
The report, issued by the Department of Energy's Office of
the Inspector General, "found no assurance that, prior to
departure, LANL terminating employees turned in security
badges," completed security out-processing or had their
clearances and access authorizations to classified materials
terminated in a timely manner.
For example, the audit notes that, of 96 employees with
security clearances leaving LANL over a two-year period, 44 had
not turned in their badges at the time of the audit review, 61
had not completed security out-processing paper work and 21
retained their clearances from 11 to 567 days after their
departure.
LANL spokesman James Rickman contested the tone of the
audit, arguing that the laboratory discovered the failings on
its own in 2003 and had already implemented corrections before
the audit was started.
"In fact, the laboratory already was developing new
out-processing procedures at the time of the IG investigation,
and these new procedures were implemented in September 2004 and
have had a 99 percent success rate so far," he said.
He said the rate is expected to reach 100 percent when
paperwork and reviews are included from previous quarters.
"It is important to point out that the IG investigators and
laboratory inventories did not find a single instance in which
property or classified material at Los Alamos was handled
inappropriately as a result of out-processing weaknesses,"
Rickman said.
He said LANL was diligent and conscientious in its efforts
to fix weaknesses lab officials had uncovered themselves prior
to the audit.
Copyright Albuquerque Journal
Steve@abqjournal.com
*****************************************************************
64 9news.com: Labor Department alleges Rocky Flats radiation caused cancer
DENVER (AP) - The Department of Labor says radiation exposure at
Rocky Flats caused 29 percent of the cancer cases among workers
at the now-closed nuclear weapons plant near Golden.
Roberta Mosier is the deputy director of a federal program to
compensate atom bomb builders sickened on the job. She says the
government expected to find workplace radiation as the cause in
only one- to ten-percent of the cases.
Mosier says 20- to 25-percent of the cancers among workers at
nuclear weapons plants nationwide are being tied to radiation
exposure on the job.
Still, workers believe the figures are too low. They say many
more would qualify if Rocky Flats' records of its radiation
exposure were accurate.
So far, 424 Rocky Flats workers who have sought compensation
have been approved. More than one-thousand have been denied, and
715 are being processed.
As part of the compensation program, the government collected
epidemiological studies and then wrote a computer program to
calculate the odds that a particular worker's cancer was caused
by the amount of radiation he or she received.
If the odds are greater than 50 percent, the worker qualifies
for $150,000 in compensation for lost wages and medical care.
more headlines >
(Copyright by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
Mornings at 9NEWS 9NEWS Weekends
*****************************************************************
65 Rocky Mountain News: Reassessment at Rocky Flats
Cancer rates found to be far higher than originally estimated
By Ann Imse, Rocky Mountain News
February 28, 2005
The Department of Labor is finding that radiation exposure at
Rocky Flats is the cause of 29 percent of the cancers among
workers at the now-closed nuclear weapons plant - a dramatic
increase from original estimates.
Roberta Mosier, deputy director of a federal program to
compensate atom bomb builders sickened on the job, said the
government expected to find workplace radiation as the cause in
only 1 percent to 10 percent of the cancer cases.
At nuclear weapons plants nationwide, 20 to 25 percent of the
cancers among workers are being tied to radiation exposure on
the job, Mosier said. The new figures mean significantly more
workers are being paid under the federal compensation program,
which was set up by Congress in 2000.
Still, workers believe the figures are too low. They say many
more would qualify if Rocky Flats' records of their radiation
exposure were accurate.
Cancer is an extremely common illness in America, occurring at
some point in 50 percent of the population, so it's very
difficult to sort out the cause.
As part of the compensation program, the government collected
epidemiological studies and then wrote a computer program to
calculate the odds that a particular worker's cancer was caused
by the amount of radiation he or she received.
If the odds are greater than 50 percent that the cancer was
caused by radiation on the job, the worker qualifies for
$150,000 in compensation for lost wages and medical care.
Officials didn't say if approval rates are higher than expected
because workers were exposed to far more radiation than
originally believed or because newer medical studies have shown
a stronger connection between radiation and cancer.
So far, 424 Rocky Flats workers who have sought compensation
have been approved, 1,005 have been denied and 715 are being
processed.
Julie Torres was turned down because the computer decided the
chance of her breast cancer being caused by 14 years at Rocky
Flats was 39.4 percent. She said she has records showing she
ingested plutonium, but believes her exposure was undercounted.
"I used to have to call and say, 'It's time to get my
(radiation) badge monitored. It's been years,' " said Torres. "I
feel in my heart, I know that's where I got my breast cancer
from."
That's why she supports a petition filed by the steelworkers
union, which claims that records at Rocky Flats are so shoddy
that exposures were undercounted. Torres wants the plant added
to a short list of weapons plants where the government pays
compensation to all workers with cancer.
The Department of Labor has been running the cancer side of the
compensation program since 2000. Last year, Congress put it in
charge of the rest of the program, which covers other illnesses,
toxic chemical exposures and lost work time.
The Department of Energy, which ran the weapons plants, had been
running that side of the program, but it managed to get only 31
workers paid while spending $95 million on paperwork over four
years.
Labor has paid 111 people since it took over in October, Mosier
said. It is doing the most obvious cases first, she said.
That includes paying survivors of deceased workers whose
applications for compensation were approved by the Energy
Department. That approval, however, only meant that they could
apply for workers compensation, which often was unavailable.
Last year's reforms provided federal funding for that.
Labor is holding town hall meetings in Arvada Tuesday and
Wednesday to answer questions about the program.
The meetings will include representatives from the National
Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, which is
collecting the radiation exposure records and calculating the
chance that radiation caused a worker's cancer.
Rocky Flats, 16 miles northwest of Denver, is being demolished,
decontaminated and restored to prairie grass in a project that
began in 1995.
By the numbers
$150,000: The amount in lost wages and medical care that Rocky
Flats workers qualify for if the odds are greater than 50
percent that their cancers were caused by radiation exposure on
the job.
1,005: The number of Rocky Flats workers who have sought
compensation but have been denied. So far, 424 have been
approved and 715 are still awaiting a decision.
Federal meetings
• Federal officials are holding town hall meetings to answer
questions about the compensation program for atom-bomb builders
sickened on the job. They will be held at the Arvada Center for
the Arts and Humanities at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday and 2 p.m. and 6:30
p.m. Wednesday.
imsea@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-892-5438
SITE MAP PHOTO REPRINTS CORRECTIONS 2005 © The E.W. Scripps
*****************************************************************
66 WBIR-TV: ORNL reactor may not restart for a couple of weeks
Knoxville, TN
It may be a couple of weeks before the research reactor at Oak
Ridge National Laboratory is restarted.
It was shut down earlier this month as a precaution because of
questions about how it would perform during an earthquake.
The lab was conducting an evaluation of the reactor to prepare
for new seismic standards being implemented by the U.S.
Department of Energy.
The High Flux Isotope Reactor is the world's most powerful
research reactor, operating at 75 megawatts. It has been shut
down several times during the past year because of issues
pertaining to the safety documents.
Copyright 2005 Associated Press Cackie Roberts
[caroberts@wbir.gannett.com] , Producer Last updated:
2/28/2005 6:37:45 AM
[http://www.wbir.com/TermsofService.asp] | WBIR.com RSS feeds
Copyright ©2005 WBIR-TV Knoxville
*****************************************************************
67 lamonitor.com: New DOE boss hears employees' concerns
The Online News Source for Los Alamos
[http://www.lanl.gov/worldview]
[http://www.lac-nm.us]
ROGER SNODGRASS, [roger@lamonitor.com] , Monitor Assistant
Editor
"I really think it's time that you forget about what kind of
feelings you might have had for the last year, about this, that
or the other," Sen. Pete Domenici advised laboratory employees
Friday.
The advice capped a week of surprises and reassurance by federal
officials who have indicated that the uncertainty over
laboratory management may drag on for at least six months longer
than they expected.
Domenici, R-N.M., accompanied Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman
during the new secretary's first visit to Los Alamos National
Laboratory. The two men spoke and answered questions at a closed
meeting with employees.
At a press conference afterwards, Bodman said his visit was a
reflection of his interest in the history of Los Alamos and
Sandia laboratories and New Mexico's historic role in national
defense.
Educated as a chemical engineer, Bodman said he was excited to
be in one of the great scientific centers in the nation.
"It's hard to tear yourself apart from one thing and move on to
the next," he said.
Employees have become increasingly vocal in their concerns,
since the National Nuclear Security Administration released its
draft Request for Proposal at the end of December.
Bodman deferred specific questions related to the contract to
the contracting board and contracting officer.
He pointed out that LANL had been under the same management for
60 years.
"How many places have been run by the same managers for 60
years?" he asked.
While the stability has been an important factor, he said, the
fact of a changing situation was understandably causing
"concerns, anxieties, and angst on the part of employees."
He said he was not prepared to discuss the details of the
pension plan. The disposition of the pension and health benefits
under the new contract, whether it is managed by the University
of California or another contractor, has disturbed some
employees.
Their concerns led to a two-week delay in the procurement
schedule and a public meeting with Tyler Przybylek, the DOE
official in charge of the competition.
A first round of revisions in the NNSA draft RFP was released
Monday. Preliminary responses were mixed, as employees once
again tried to interpret what the outlined changes might mean
for them.
On Tuesday, Domenici said he was studying the changes, but
already saw a questionable provision in NNSA plan to require the
new contract to establish a separate, stand-alone pension plan,
apart from the institutional plan.
The financial strength and general superiority of the UC plan,
which has been self-funded by its own investment income for a
number of years, has raised apparent contradictions.
NNSA has called for a substantially equivalent plan under the
next contract, but in the same document proposes leveling
mechanisms with undefined outcomes.
Bodman recalled that when he was confirmed by the Senate Energy
and Natural Resources Committee, chaired by Domenici, he had
committed himself to maintaining scientific excellence at the
laboratory. At the same time, he had promised to put forward a
process that would make sure people at the laboratory were
treated fairly.
He said the point was to keep people and to continue to attract
quality employees, even if the recompetition was "an expensive,
time-consuming and emotionally draining process."
Some LANL employees have blamed Director G. Peter Nanos for
mismanaging a host of problems at the laboratory during his
two-year tenure.
Bodman said he had met Nanos for the first time, and was
impressed by his forthrightness, earnestness and willingness to
criticize himself.
He said several reviews were under way to analyze what went on
at the lab, including an internal analysis of lessons learned
and a Government Accountability Office report on the cost of the
seven-month suspension of activities at the lab.
"There were serious problems," Bodman said about LANL
management. "They probably did the right thing."
Domenici's message to employees, echoing remarks he made during
a visit earlier in the week, is that they can't be sheltered
from the storms in the real world, that they must accept change
and personal inconvenience for the greater good.
"I'm trying very hard to tell you that we've got to get over
this stuff and get on with the new contract," he said.
© 2003 Los Alamos Monitor All Rights Reserved.
*****************************************************************
68 WVLT VOLUNTEER TV: ORNL reactor shutdown due to inconsistencies
Knoxville, TN:
February 28, 2005
OAK RIDGE, Tenn. Officials say Oak Ridge National Laboratory's
research reactor has been shut down because of "some
inconsistencies."Jim Roberto is the lab's deputy director for
science and technology.
He said the High Flux Isotope Reactor was taken out of operation
earlier this month as a precaution and that it may be a couple of
weeks before it's restarted.At issue are safety calculations
associated with how the reactor would perform during a
significant earthquake.
ORNL was conducting an evaluation of the reactor to prepare for
new seismic standards being implemented by the U-S Department of
Energy.The High Flux Isotope Reactor is the world's most powerful
research reactor, operating at 75 megawatts.
It has been shut down on several occasions during the past year
because of issues pertaining to the safety documents.
Copyright 2005 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This
material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or
redistributed.
[http://www.worldnow.com] All content © Copyright 2001 -
2005 WorldNow and WVLT VOLUNTEER TV,
*****************************************************************
69 [du-list] DU in the news - The poisons of war
Date: Mon, 28 Feb 2005 18:26:52 -0800
http://www.democratherald.com/articles/2005/02/27/news/opinion/edit03.txt
The poisons of war
Today my brother passed away. He was one of the latest and I hope one of
the last casualties of the insult to civilization we call war. Not the
current idiocy in Iraq, Or even the First adventure into that country. My
brother was a lingering casualty of the war in Vietnam.
He did not perish as a result of enemy fire, but in a way he was downed by
"friendly fire." He died of cancers related to a lovely little tool of
jungle warfare called Agent Orange. While the Vietnam conflict may be old
news, the stonewalling, lying, and lack of support that sealed his fate are
as fresh as today's headlines.
Today our brave men and women at arms returning from Iraq are in a similar
jeopardy. No, not Agent Orange, but a substance so much more insidious and
deadly: depleted uranium, a metal that is commonplace in the tools of
modern warfare.
This poisonous metal is being used in ammunition, artillery shells, tank
rounds, and the armor plating on our tanks, APCs and even some Humvees.
Like the Agent Orange of the Vietnam war, our military and civilian leaders
tell us that this depleted uranium is safe. They say that the radiation
levels are so low as to be benign. They tell us that today. Years down the
line when these fine soldiers begin to develop tumors, leukemias,
neurological disorders, and even worse, birth defects in their children,
the denials and stonewalling will begin anew.
To my way of thinking, this is a shameful way to treat those who took up
arms and answered their country's call. It will be on you, the husbands,
wives, sisters, brothers, children, and those who feel gratitude for these
people's sacrifices, to hold our leaders accountable.
It is my sincere wish that those of you welcoming your family members back
home can stop this turning away of those responsible so that you need not
lose and bury your own as I have had to.
J.M. Collins, Lebanon
respond & create DU in the news with letter to ed. at
http://www.mvonline.com/support/contact/DHedletters.php
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70 [du-list] du in the news - 28th Feb.05
Date: Mon, 28 Feb 2005 18:27:00 -0800
Reno Gazette-Journal, Sun, 27 Feb 2005 0:59 AM PST
Scientists zero in on tungsten as Fallon cancer cause
http://www.rgj.com/news/stories/html/2005/02/27/93272.php?sps=rgj.com&sch=Umbrella&sp1=rgj&sp2=umbrella&sp3=umbrella&sp5=RGJ.com&sp6=news&sp7=umbrella
WORTH A CLICK! Mark Witten, toxicologist and professor of pediatrics at the
University of Arizona in Tucson, Ariz., watches in March 2004 as Paul
Sheppard, a dendrochronologist and tree ring expert, also from the
University of Arizona, sets up an air monitor in the yard of a home in Fallon.
Corvallis Gazette Times, Sat, 26 Feb 2005 10:09 PM PST
Letters to the editor
http://www.gazettetimes.com/articles/2005/02/27/news/opinion/edit03.txt
Argue? The recent pre-election verbal attacks against presidential
candidates produced such vitriol and contradiction that I did some reading
before Nov. 2 to try to separate truth from fiction. What I found led me to
conduct several group discussions leading up to the election.
Arabic Media Internet Network, Sun, 27 Feb 2005 3:06 AM PST
A Step towards â?oGreater Middle Eastâ?ť
http://www.amin.org/eng/uncat/2005/feb/feb27.html
Rafik Hariri, the previous Lebanese President, was assassinated by a
tremendous explosion, whose power was estimated to equal 350 kgm of TNT.
Hariri was returning from a meeting in the Lebanese Parliament when the
explosion lead to his death and the death of other 14 people among them
seven of Haririâ?Ts bodyguards.
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