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NUCLEAR POLICY
1 [southnews] US spies accused of failing in Iran
2 Guardian Unlimited: Pakistan Admits Rogue Scientist Aided Iran
3 Guardian Unlimited: US in dark on Iran's WMD, says inquiry
4 AFP: Iran and EU wrapping up latest round of nuclear talks but still
5 AFP: Pakistan's nuclear hero Khan provided centrifuges to Iran - min
6 YWS: North Korea Has No Nuclear Weapons: Russian Official
7 US: McNamara Says USA, Russian, Chinese N-Policies Illegal, Immoral
8 US: NASA Plans Launch Of Nuclear Power Into Space [Interview]
9 US: [NukeNet] McNamara Says USA, Russian, Chinese N-Policies
10 US: Guardian Unlimited: McNamara Derides 'Illegal' Nukes Policies
11 US: Guardian Unlimited: U.S. Plans New Counterintelligence Policy
12 US: Las Vegas RJ: NO LIMIT ON WEAPONS: Lawmaker backs nuclear testin
13 US: Salt Lake Tribune: Cannon's support for resumed testing makes no
14 Fwd: [Press-releases] Greenpeace activist threatened with death
15 Vanunu Update: Knesset Committee Asked to Debate Restrictions
16 Secrecy News -- 03/10/05
17 [du-list] Poodler Bliar faces problems over illegality of
18 CNW Telbec: AECL wins French contract
NUCLEAR REACTORS
19 US: ALERT: Bush seeking to restore $$$ for new nukes.
20 US: A nuke in your future?
21 US: [epa-impact] Exelon Generating Company, LLC; Notice of Availabil
22 US: NRC: NRC to Discuss 2004 Performance Assessment for Seabrook Nuc
23 US: NRC: NRC to Discuss 2004 Performance Assessment for Vermont Yank
24 US: Fredericksburg.com: North Anna nuclear debate is good--as long a
25 CNW Telbec: Greenpeace Protests Nuclear Industry Conference - $38
26 CNW Telbec: MEDIA ADVISORY - "The Nuclear Renaissance - Powering Up"
27 US: NRC: Agency Information Collection Activities: Submission for th
28 US: VermontGuardian: Vermont Yankee's dry-cask plan expected by week
29 US: NRC: Exelon Generating Company, LLC; Notice of Availability of t
30 US: NRC: In the Matter of Jack J. Spurling; Order Prohibiting Involv
31 US: NRC: Sunshine Act; Meeting
32 US: NRC: Sunshine Act, Meeting
NUCLEAR SAFETY
33 US: [toeslist] X-Director of US Army DU Project Talks
34 US: [toeslist] How radioactive is DU?
35 [VandenbergWatch]TURNING OUR BACKS ON THE MARSHALL ISLANDS
36 [southnews] After the War Comes Cancer
37 [DU Information List] Australian troops may be exposed to
38 Bellona: Shooting at Russian nuclear site – one dead
39 US: Advocate: Lawmakers want state to track health effects of deplet
40 CBC: Workers want decision on Lepreau
NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE
41 US: deseretnews: Utah N-waste plea wins sympathy . . .
42 US: Brattleboro Reformer: Entergy prepares dry cask proposal
43 US: AP Wire: Environmental group wants regulators to reconsider MOX
44 US: Las Vegas RJ: Utah Republicans fight nuclear dump on reservation
45 BBC: Fresh rumpus over Dounreay waste
46 Las Vegas SUN: Despite delays, Yucca director says project is alive
47 Las Vegas SUN: Ex-Reid aide is mum on Yucca in NRC post
48 US: NRC: Advisory Committee on Nuclear Waste; Notice of Meeting
49 US: Spectrum: Senators lobby against storing waste in Skull Valley
50 US: Salt Lake Tribune: Goshutes file lawsuit to stop feds from deali
51 US: Salt Lake Tribune: Bush asked to fight Goshute plan
52 US: Biz Journal: Cotter Corp. denied permission to take radioactive
53 US: Times-News Online: Locals question DOE waste retrievalBy Michell
54 Scotsman.com: Nuclear Waste Transported Across Border
55 US: PE.com: Activist honored for cleanup efforts
56 US: Austin Chronicle: News: Naked City
57 US: PRN: Catapult Technology Wins $45.6 Million Contract From the
58 US: News First: Radioactive sludge troubles local treatment plants
59 Business Gazette: US FIRMS FIGHT FOR SELLAFIELD CONTRACTS
60 US: EPA: WIPP Trannie and Mixed Waste Characterization
NUCLEAR WEAPONS
US DEPT. OF ENERGY
61 deseretnews: Matheson moves to block Nevada nuclear tests
62 Rocky Mountain News: Measure could aid Flats workers
63 DenverPost.com: Salazar seeks aid for ill Flats workers
64 chillicothe gazette: Trees help clean Piketon naturally -
65 Tri-City Herald: Plutonium cleanup takes next step
66 Tri-City Herald: Legislature works on fix for IsoRay
67 lamonitor.com: LANL and UNM sign isotope agreement
68 lamonitor.com: Federal initiative hurts many state businesses
69 Progress Update: Fernald Uranium Park
OTHER NUCLEAR
70 New Interactive Animations Show Nuclear Reactors
71 [du-list] DU in the news - 11th March 05
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1 [southnews] US spies accused of failing in Iran
Date: Thu, 10 Mar 2005 19:54:30 -0600 (CST)
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A commission will report to President George Bush this month that US
intelligence on Iran is too poor to allow firm judgements about the
country's weapons programs.
But according to Richard Butler thwarting Iran's Nuclear Ambitions Would
be Easier if the US and Israel Kept their Side of the Bargain
US spies accused of failing in Iran
Date: March 10 2005
A commission will report to President George Bush this month that US
intelligence on Iran is too poor to allow firm judgements about the
country's weapons programs.
The report comes as intelligence agencies prepare a new assessment on
Iran, and follows a 14-month review by the nine-member bipartisan
presidential panel that Mr Bush ordered last year to assess the quality
of overall intelligence about the proliferation of nuclear, chemical and
biological weapons.
The Bush Administration has issued increasingly sharp warnings about
what it says are Iran's efforts to build nuclear weapons. The warnings
have been met with firm denials in Tehran, which says its nuclear
program is intended purely for civilian purposes.
The panel, led by Laurence Silberman, a retired federal judge, and
Charles Robb, a former governor and senator from Virginia, had
unrestricted access to the most senior people and sensitive documents of
the intelligence agencies.
The panel is also expected to criticise US intelligence on North Korea.
But people who have been briefed about its conclusions said the record
on Iran was particularly worrisome. One person said the panel
characterised US intelligence on Iran as "scandalous", given the
importance and relative openness of the country, compared with such an
extreme case as North Korea.
The revelations come as Iran threatens to break off negotiations with
France, Britain and Germany if the three European Union heavyweights
continue to insist Tehran abandon all sensitive atomic activities.
Tehran says its nuclear program is intended solely to generate
electricity and has rejected an EU demand that it terminate its uranium
enrichment program, which could be used to produce fuel for nuclear
power plants or atomic weapons.
In a further sign of defiance, Iran's parliament on Tuesday added a
clause to next year's budget bill obliging the Government to conduct
studies of the feasibility of building nuclear power plants. The US
demanded that possible action be considered against Iran after the
latest developments.
The New York Times, Reuters, Agence France-Presse
http://www.smh.com.au/text/articles/2005/03/09/1110316095934.html?oneclick=true
_________________________________
Thwarting Iran's Nuclear Ambitions Would be Easier if the US and Israel
Kept their Side of the Bargain
Heavily Armed Duo in No Position to Lay Down Law On Proliferation
by Richard Butler
Sydney Morning Herald March 7, 2005
In recent months the US President, George Bush, and senior members of
his Administration have asserted that Iran is involved in the
clandestine development of nuclear weapons.
Last week Bush turned up the temperature during his visit to Europe,
when he declared, on one public occasion punching the air with his fist,
Iran "must not be allowed to acquire a nuclear weapon".
A month earlier The New Yorker published a disturbing report by Seymour
Hersch that US forces had already entered Iran from Iraq to scope out
prospective targets related to Iran's nuclear activities.
The Pentagon expressed anger at Hersch's report and attacked him
personally, but did not directly deny its substance. Last week Bush
chose to comment publicly on this matter saying that reports the US was
planning to attack Iran were wrong, but all options were on the table.
There is good reason for concern about the directions of Iran's nuclear
program. In a manner similar to Bush's remarks on his future intentions,
Iran has also given contradictory signals, claiming that it was not
making a nuclear weapon but had a right to do so if it chose to.
As a member of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty Iran is obliged to
accept inspection by the International Atomic Energy Agency to verify
that it is pursuing no activities leading to the acquisition of nuclear
explosive capability. Last week, the agency's director-general, Mohamed
ElBaradei, appealed to Iran to improve its work with the inspectors.
But Bush's strident insistence on Iran's treaty obligation glaringly
omits the other side of the bargain made in the treaty, that the nuclear
weapons states must progressively eliminate their armaments. Bush
repeatedly and blatantly misrepresents the treaty, which is a two-way -
not one-way - street. It provides that states which do not have nuclear
weapons must never acquire them and that those which do have them must
progressively get rid of them.
The treaty is reviewed every five years. At the last review conference,
in 2000, the five acknowledged nuclear weapons states responded to the
grave concern that they were not fulfilling their part of the bargain.
They made a new promise that they would increase the tempo of their
action to eliminate their nuclear weapons.
The Bush Administration has not only refused to adhere to its
obligations under the treaty and the additional promise of 2000, but has
now embarked on what is anathema under the treaty - the production of a
new generation of nuclear weapons. These are the new, more compact,
nukes the Administration says it needs for the so-called war on terrorism.
It beggars belief that the Administration appears to believe it can
succeed in restraining Iran while it proceeds to violate its
obligations. The New York Times recently editorialised to this effect,
saying that in the contemporary world, nuclear weapons had become
virtually useless. The main danger they now posed was of them falling
into the hands of terrorist groups.
The US is not alone in seeking to maintain a world of nuclear "haves"
and "have nots". Three weeks ago Israel's Defence Minister said it would
be unconscionable for Iran to acquire nuclear weapons. This was more
than a modicum of chutzpah from a country which, for more than 25 years,
has had a clandestine nuclear weapons program producing about 200 devices.
The existence of the Israeli nuclear weapons capability has been a major
stimulus to attempts first by Saddam Hussein (whose reactor the Israelis
bombed in 1983) and then others in the region, including Iran, to
acquire the same capacity.
There is, in fact, an axiom of proliferation. It states that as long as
any state holds nuclear weapons, others will seek to acquire them. Those
others now include terrorist groups and nation states. In making this
latter point I would not want to give any assent to the sleight of hand
used so successfully to justify the invasion of Iraq, namely that it was
made necessary by September 11, 2001. Nonsense: the Republicans had
planned the invasion of Iraq as early as 1998 and it has now been
thoroughly demonstrated that Saddam had nothing to do with September 11
and that the largest intelligence "error" was the assertion about his
nuclear weapons program.
The axiom of proliferation contains far more truth than the "axis of
evil". It rests on a gut human instinct - fairness. Simply, states are
unprepared to believe that their security is less important than that of
others. This was put to me repeatedly in more than 25 years of
involvement in the treaty.
It is not acceptable to others for the US, for example, to claim that
its security is so important that it is justified in holding nuclear
weapons but this is not the case for other states, such as India and now
Iran.
The axiom also means that the basic compact of the treaty is sound and
that the only way ahead, whether in the context of Iran or any other
potential proliferator, is for the treaty to be implemented. Those who
hold nuclear weapons, including countries outside the treaty - India,
Pakistan and Israel - should urgently devise safe means for their
elimination and for collective action to prevent any future
proliferation of new nuclear weapons states.
Richard Butler was Australia's ambassador for disarmament 1983-88,
ambassador to the UN 1992-97 and head of the UN Special Commission to
Disarm Iraq 1997-99.
Copyright ) 2005. The Sydney Morning Herald
________________________________________
U.S. team to critique intelligence on regimes
Commission taking close look at Iraq, Iran, North Korea
KATHERINE SHRADER
Associated Press
WASHINGTON - The upcoming report on weapons of mass destruction is
expected to take a critical look at U.S. intelligence on weapons
proliferation in some of the most troublesome regimes for the U.S.
intelligence community, including Iran and North Korea, individuals
familiar with the process say.
The commission, formed by President Bush in February 2004, is expected
to wrap up its report near the end of this month. The nine-member body
has been operating under extraordinary secrecy, meeting with officials
as senior as Bush and his national security team behind closed doors.
The activities come in contrast to the Sept. 11 commission's
high-profile, public sessions.
Commission spokesman Larry McQuillan said the commissioners have yet to
approve a final report. He said the panel was meeting Wednesday and today.
Because of the secrecy and classified nature of the discussions,
individuals involved in the weapons inquiry declined to comment on the
record.
Yet the commission is known to be critiquing issues relating to
intelligence on weapons proliferation in Iraq before the 2003 invasion,
as well as current knowledge on Iran and North Korea, which are accused
of developing covert nuclear programs.
When asked Wednesday whether U.S. intelligence is solid enough to make
judgments on Iran's nuclear program, an issue for the commission, Bush
said the United States must work with its allies, "which believe that
the Iranians want a nuclear weapon and which know that Iran possessing a
nuclear weapon would be very destabilizing."
Also Wednesday, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said the
administration is "always concerned about the quality of intelligence."
"But I believe that there is enough evidence that there are problems
with Iran's civilian nuclear power ambitions, and that's why you have so
many countries trying to make sure that there is no proliferation risk,"
she said in an interview with Univision.
The commission is also expected to reach conclusions on the threat from
transnational terrorist organizations who are seeking weapons of mass
destruction, such as al-Qaida, and the motivations of regimes that
pursue - or pretend to pursue, as was the case in Iraq - weapons of mass
destruction.
The panel led by Republican Laurence Silberman and Democrat Charles Robb
is also looking at issues of improved congressional oversight and the
management of intelligence agencies. Bush has asked the commission to
look at the merits of the new national intelligence director's post and
a center focused on tracking the proliferation of weapons of mass
destruction, created in an extensive intelligence reform bill he signed
in December.
________________________
Notice of Motion
Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference
I give notice that on the next day of sitting, I shall move that the Senate:
a) Notes the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference
commencing in NY on May 1 2005 and the vital importance of the NPT as an
instrument of both nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation,
b)Expresses its deep concern over
i)the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and.
iithe danger to humanity posed by the possible use of nuclear weapons.
c) Acknowledges the significant steps taken towards nuclear disarmament
since the previous NPT Review Conference including the signing of the
Strategic Offensive Reductions Treaty between Russia and the United
States in 2002 and calls for the full implementation of all relevant
articles of the Treaty including Articles I and II on non-proliferation
and Article VI on the achievement of general and complete disarmament.
d) Affirms the vital importance of the unequivocal undertaking made
at the 2000 NPT Review conference by the nuclear weapons states, to
accomplish the elimination of nuclear weapons arsenals, and of the 13
steps agreed to at that meeting.
e)Urges the Government to
i)pursue a balanced and integrated approach on both disarmament and
non-proliferation at the NTP Review Conference.
ii)call on the nuclear weapons states and nuclear capable states not to
develop new types of nuclear weapons, in accordance with their
commitment to diminish the role of nuclear weapons in security policies;
iii)call for concrete agreed steps by nuclear weapons states and nuclear
-capable states to lower the operating status of nuclear weapons systems
in their possession, as called for by Australia's L23 Path to a Nuclear
Free World.
f)Welcomes the appeal, signed by 25 Nobel prize-winners, calling on the
governments of the United States, Russia, China, France, and the UK,
India, Pakistan, Israel, and North Korea, to support and implement steps
to lower the operational status of their nuclear weapon systems in order
to reduce the risk of nuclear catastrophe;
g)Notes and strongly affirms continued efforts by the Government to
secure universal adherence to, and ratification of, the CTBT and urges
the Government to press for the early entry into force of the CTBT.
h) Requests that this resolution is conveyed to the foreign ministries
and UN missions of all participants in the NPT Review conference, the UN
secretary-general, the Director- General of the IAEA, and the Chair of
the 2005 NPT Review conference, as well as India, Pakistan and Israel.
Senator Lyn Allison
9 March 2005
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2 Guardian Unlimited: Pakistan Admits Rogue Scientist Aided Iran
From the Associated Press
[UP]
Thursday March 10, 2005 11:46 PM
AP Photo ISL101
By PAUL HAVEN
Associated Press Writer
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) - After years of denials, Pakistan
admitted Thursday that its top nuclear scientist sold crucial
equipment to Iran, but said it knew nothing of his activities
when they occurred and insisted he will not be turned over to
another country for prosecution.
The admission by the Pakistani information minister was the
first public acknowledgment that Abdul Qadeer Khan provided
Iran's secret nuclear program with centrifuges, a crucial
component needed to enrich uranium and produce nuclear material
for warheads.
``Dr. Abdul Qadeer gave some centrifuges to Iran,'' the
minister, Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, told The Associated Press in a
telephone interview. ``He helped Iran in his personal capacity,
and the Pakistan government had nothing to do with it.''
Ahmed initially made the admission at a seminar in Islamabad
organized by a local newspaper group, in which he stuck by
Pakistan's insistence that Khan would never be handed over to a
third country for prosecution. The scientist is considered a
hero by his countrymen for nearly single-handedly producing
atomic bombs for Pakistan to counter rival India's nuclear
arsenal.
``I support the idea that the government should tell the people
about these sensitive matters,'' Ahmed said at the seminar,
according to an audiotape obtained by the AP. ``I am not a
spokesman for a cowardly nation. Yes, we supplied Iran the
centrifuge system. Yes, Dr. Qadeer gave Iran this technology.
But we are not going to hand over Dr. Qadeer to anyone. We will
not.''
Ahmed later told the AP that Pakistan's government is fully
cooperating with the International Atomic Energy Agency, the
U.N. body that is investigating the extent of Khan's illicit
sales of nuclear technology to Iran, Libya, North Korea and
other countries.
In Mexico City, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said she was
not surprised by the news, saying Khan ``was a very busy and
nefarious figure who was transferring technology in almost a
turnkey way.''
President Bush has urged world leaders to stand united in
stopping Iran from obtaining nuclear technology that could be
used to produce atomic arms.
Rice, in Mexico to meet with President Vicente Fox and Foreign
Secretary Luis Ernesto Derbez, said the United States is moving
closer to a decision on incentives for Iran.
The Iranian regime has said it wants to use uranium enrichment
for the peaceful purpose of fueling reactors to generate
electricity, but the process also can produce material for
weapons.
Pakistan is a key ally in the war on international terrorist
groups, but American officials acknowledge privately that
Washington has been frustrated by Islamabad's refusal to allow
Khan to be questioned by American agents.
President Gen. Pervez Musharraf pardoned the scientist last year
and allowed him to keep the riches he allegedly earned from his
illicit nuclear deals. However, Khan remains restricted to his
home in an upscale neighborhood of the Pakistani capital.
Musharraf's government has steadfastly denied any official
involvement in the sales, despite reports Khan flew to North
Korea on a government plane. Musharraf, a general who seized
power in a 1999 coup, held senior positions in the Pakistani
military for much of the time that Khan's alleged nuclear
dealings took place.
A more than two-year IAEA investigation already has established
that Iran ran a clandestine nuclear program, including uranium
enrichment, for nearly two decades.
As the main supplier of black market centrifuges, parts and
related technology, the Khan network has figured prominently in
the IAEA's investigation. Diplomats close to the agency say that
in confidential discussions with IAEA experts, the governments
of both Pakistan and Iran had acknowledged Khan sold centrifuges
to Iran, but neither had said anything publicly until Thursday.
The CIA released a report in November saying it believed Khan
provided more help to Iran's nuclear weapons program than
previously disclosed, but the unclassified version of the report
made no mention of actual centrifuges being delivered to the
Iranians.
``The A.Q. Khan network provided Iran with designs for
Pakistan's older centrifuges as well as designs for more
advanced and efficient models and components,'' the report said.
Pakistan disputed that account. But in the past it has denied
details of Khan's role, only to acknowledge them once evidence
came to light.
The IAEA announced Feb. 28 that Iran had revealed it received an
``extensive'' written offer from the Khan network in 1987 to set
up the basics of a uranium enrichment program for Iran.
Diplomats have told the AP that Iran claimed to have refused
offers of technology specifically geared toward making weapons.
``They indicated that they did not take these people up on the
entirety of the offer,'' IAEA head Mohamed ElBaradei said. He
added, however, that the agency still had to confirm that the
Iranians ``only got what they told us they got out of this
offer.''
---
Associated Press correspondent George Jahn in Vienna, Austria,
contributed to this report.
Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2005
*****************************************************************
3 Guardian Unlimited: US in dark on Iran's WMD, says inquiry
Julian Borger in Washington
Thursday March 10, 2005
The Guardian
A presidential commission has found that US intelligence on Iran
is so patchy that it is impossible to reach definite conclusions
about the country's suspected weapons programmes, it was reported
yesterday.
The Commission on the Intelligence Capabilities of the US
Regarding Weapons of Mass Destruction is due to report to the
president by the end of this month, primarily on the intelligence
fiasco over Iraq's non-existent WMD.
Its findings could also knock a significant dent in the Bush
administration's Iran policy, which is built on the presumption
that Tehran is bent on building nuclear weapons and is not
prepared to trade that for economic and diplomatic incentives, as
European states hope.
Late last year, Porter Goss, the CIA director, reported to
Congress that Iran continued "to vigorously pursue indigenous
programmes to produce nuclear, chemical and biological weapons".
In response to yesterday's report, Mr Bush insisted that
Washington was not alone in its sceptical view of Iran's
intentions. "I think it's very important for the United States to
continue to work with our friends and allies which believe that
the Iranians want a nuclear weapon and which know that Iran
possessing a nuclear weapon would be very destabilising.
"In my trip to Europe, I discovered common ground with a lot of
European nations which believe and are worried about Iranian
intentions."
Washington has refused to get involved in talks with Tehran
conducted by Britain, France and Germany. The Bush administration
has also been lobbying to replace Mohamed ElBaradei as head of
the International Atomic Energy Agency, which has discovered
evidence that Iran has attempted to conceal its nuclear research
but stopped short of declaring that the regime is trying to build
weapons.
Iran insists its nuclear programme is aimed exclusively at power
generation for civilian purposes.
The New York Times quoted a source who had been briefed on the
WMD commission's finding as describing US intelligence on Iran as
"scandalous". The panel will reportedly also be critical of US
intelligence on North Korea, but that shortcoming is generally
seen as being more understandable in view of the isolated nature
of North Korean society.
David Albright, a nuclear expert at the independent Institute for
Science and International Security, said that whatever the
problems faced by US intelligence, inspections by the IAEA had
brought much of Iran's programme to light.
"There are two parts to this question. What we do know about the
nuclear programme involving nuclear material, uranium enrichment
and heavy water is hugely increased compared to two years ago,
due to the IAEA's work," Mr Albright said.
"But when it comes to the decision-making and weaponisation, then
we don't have direct knowledge ... But my question is: what else
is it for?"
The problems dogging intelligence collection on Iran seem to be
the same as those undermining the effort to spy on pre-war Iraq:
a shortage of human agents and an over-reliance on electronic
surveillance. An American spy network was penetrated and
destroyed by Iranian intelligence in the late 80s and the CIA
does not appear to have recovered.
According to recent reports, the Pentagon has been attempting to
take the issue into its own hands, infiltrating teams of agents
into Iran to search for nuclear weapons sites which could be
targeted by air strikes. Those reports have been denied by the
defence department.
The last US multi-agency assessment, known as the national
intelligence estimate on Iran, was in 2001 and is now under
review. According to the New York Times, a classified update will
be circulated this spring.
[UP]
Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2005
*****************************************************************
4 AFP: Iran and EU wrapping up latest round of nuclear talks but still
Thursday March 10, 05:29 PM
GENEVA (AFP) - Iran and the EU were set to wrap up their latest
round of talks on Tehran's nuclear program with the two sides
deadlocked over Europe's demand that Tehran give up uranium
enrichment, a fuel process which can also make atom bombs,
diplomats said.
Iran's top national security official Hassan Rowhani described
the talks as "successful" despite the reported deadlock, the
official Iranian news agency IRNA said.
Rowhani did not elaborate, but his comment comes on the back of
warnings from other senior Iranian officials that the
negotiations were in danger of grinding to a halt. "Iran does not
see nuclear technology as means for providing security. It is
only regarded as substitute to oil and gas resources," Rowhani
was quoted as saying. "We have to be self-sufficient in nuclear
fuel."
"There is some very hard haggling going on," a senior European
diplomat close to the talks in Geneva told AFP.
EU negotiators Britain, France and Germany want Iran to abandon
enrichment as an "objective guarantee" that it is not developing
nuclear weapons and are offering in return trade, security and
technology rewards.
But Iran insists that its nuclear program is a peaceful effort to
generate electricity, that it has a right to enrich uranium under
the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and that it will
eventually resume fuel cycle work.
The talks began in December after Iran had agreed the previous
month to temporarily suspend uranium enrichment as a
confidence-building measure. The current round, the fourth since
December, opened Tuesday in Geneva. But the United States says
Iran is trying to covertly develop nuclear weapons and wants to
bring Tehran before the United Nations Security Council for
possible sanctions.
Washington is however preparing to back the European
initiative. Diplomats say US cooperation is needed if Europe is
to deliver on the trade and security benefits Iran seeks, which
range from joining the World Trade Organization (WTO) to having
American economic sanctions against the Islamic Republic lifted.
A second European diplomat said Britain, France and Germany have
told the Iranians that if they insist on enriching uranium they
should "put in place objective guarantees as good as their
abandoning the fuel cycle and they haven't come back (to the
Europeans) on that."
The diplomat said that while Iran had threatened to pull out of
the talks and resume enrichment if rapid progress were not made
on their receiving incentive benefits, the Europeans were content
to have the negotiating process drag on. "As long as we're
talking, the Iranians are suspending their fuel cycle activities
and that is good," the diplomat said.
A third European diplomat said the whole process may be in a
state of limbo until after Iranian presidential elections in June
decide whether pragmatists like former president Akbar Hashemi
Rafsanjani or Revolutionary Guard hardliners take power. "One
side may be prepared to make a deal. Another side may want a bomb
at all costs," the diplomat said.
Another European diplomat said the negotiations "certainly are
tough but the Iranians will never make a concession even at the
11th hour. They will wait for the very last minute or seconds."
The United States meanwhile was defending its concern over Iran's
nuclear program, with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice
downplaying press reports that US intelligence on Iran was
inadequate. "I believe that there is enough evidence that there
are problems with Iran's civilian nuclear power ambitions," Rice
said Wednesday in a television interview.
US intelligence on Iran's suspected nuclear weapons program is
insufficient for making firm judgments, a nine-member panel is
expected to report confidentially to President George W. Bush by
the end of this month, The New York Times reported Wednesday. The
United States invaded Iraq claiming Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein
was hiding weapons of mass destruction but no such weapons were
ever found.
Copyright © 2005 AFP AFP. All rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
5 AFP: Pakistan's nuclear hero Khan provided centrifuges to Iran - minister -
Thursday March 10, 05:42 PM
ISLAMABAD (AFP) - Pakistan's disgraced nuclear hero Dr. Abdul
Qadeer Khan provided Iran with centrifuges but the government was
in no way involved in the deal, a cabinet minister said. "Dr
Qadeer has provided Iran with centrifuges but the government of
Pakistan had nothing to do with it. He gave them from the black
market. Pakistan government was not involved," Information
Minister Sheikh Rashid told AFP.
The first public disclosure that Khan gave Iran centrifuges
needed to enrich uranium comes as Washington is mounting pressure
on the Muslim country to give up its alleged nuclear weapons
programme which Tehran insists is for peaceful purposes.
Washington believes the technology has enabled Iran to enrich
uranium to a level required for making nuclear weapons. The
Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency has discovered
traces of highly enriched uranium in Iran.
Iran has said this contamination is from equipment it bought from
abroad, with this widely believed to be from Pakistan although
Pakistan is not named in IAEA reports on the matter. The IAEA is
still investigating and has not ruled out that the contamination
may be from other, even domestic Iranian, sources, although the
agency said in a report in November that its "overall assessment"
was that "environmental sampling data available to date tends, on
balance, to support Iran's statement about the origin of much of
the contamination."
IAEA inspectors had in January visited locations outside Iran
where centrifuge components had been stored before their shipment
to Iran, IAEA deputy director Pierre Goldschmidt said earlier
this month, in what was apparently a reference to visits to
Pakistan.
Khan confessed to leaking nuclear secrets to Iran, North Korea
and Libya in February 2004 after a government probe into nuclear
proliferation. The investigation was launched in November 2003
after the International Atomic Energy Agency, the UN's nuclear
watch-dog, informed Pakistan about the leak. Khan was later
pardoned by President Pervez Musharraf, but he has been living
under virtual house arrest in Islamabad.
Pakistani leaders have repeatedly vowed they would not allow any
foreign country or agency to interrogate the nuclear scientist,
who is credited with making Pakistan a nuclear power. "We have
refused direct interrogations by anyone. The reason is national
sensitivity," Foreign Minister Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri said last
month at the end of a three-day visit to Tokyo.
Rashid said again Thursday Pakistan would not hand Khan over to
any other country. The United States has said Khan was leader of
network of black marketeer spreading nuclear technology to
different states.
"This is not a new information. We have said earlier that the
illicit transfer of information and technology to Iran came
through international black market," a foreign ministry official
told AFP.
"A network of these black marketeers was identified and
dismantled after thorough investigations," said the official, who
could not be named.
The official said they came across the information that Khan had
provided "outdated" centrifuges to Iran during his interrogation.
As suspected weapons programs around the world come under
scrutiny, Pakistan has said its nuclear proliferation probe has
not been closed and it would investigate any new information.
Iran is currently engaged in talks with Britain, France and
Germany over demands that Tehran give up uranium enrichment. EU
negotiators want Iran to abandon enrichment as an "objective
guarantee" that it is not developing nuclear weapons and are
offering in return trade, security and technology rewards -- an
offer Iran has so far refused.
Copyright © 2005 AFP AFP. All rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
6 YWS: North Korea Has No Nuclear Weapons: Russian Official
YONHAPNEWS WORLD SERVICE::ENGLISH NEWS
2005/03/10 21:42 KST
TOKYO, March 10 (Yonhap) -- North Korea has no nuclear weapons,
despite its repeated claims to the contrary, Itar-Tass quoted a
high-ranking Russian official as saying on Thursday.
Russia's Deputy Atomic Energy Minister Sergei Antipov made the
comment during an interview with Russian news agency Itar-Tass
in Tokyo. He is currently visiting Japan to discuss cooperation
between the two countries on several nuclear projects.
*****************************************************************
7 McNamara Says USA, Russian, Chinese N-Policies Illegal, Immoral , Pakistan Admits Rogue Scientist Aided Iran
Date: Thu, 10 Mar 2005 12:15:41 -0500
the Vietnam-era defense secretary said the
United States and other nuclear powers like Russia
and China have pursued policies that are ``illegal
and immoral.''
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/national/AP-McNamara-Nuclear-Threat.html
McNamara Derides 'Illegal' Nukes Policies
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: March 10, 2005
Filed at 12:59 a.m. ET
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Former defense secretary
Robert McNamara said Wednesday the United States
and global nuclear powers haven't adhered to
nonproliferation treaties and have done little to
reduce nuclear arsenals following the end of the
Cold War.
Speaking about U.S. and NATO nuclear policies at
the World Affairs Council, the Vietnam-era defense
secretary said the United States and other nuclear
powers like Russia and China have pursued policies
that are ``illegal and immoral.''
``A decade after the Cold War, the basic U.S.
nuclear policy has not been changed,'' said
McNamara, 88, adding that he believed ``every
leader of a nuclear power should be present at a
detonation.''
The remarks come as the Bush administration
grapples with the nuclear ambitions of Iran and
North Korea. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice
is expected to discuss North Korea during an
upcoming trip to South Korea followed by visits to
India, Pakistan and Afghanistan.
China is heading stalled six-way talks to deter
North Korea from building a nuclear weapon. North
Korea has refused to return to the talks for now.
McNamara said the United States has continued to
pursue an aggressive nuclear policy, including
plans to update or enhance existing nuclear
weapons and construct devices like ``bunker
busters'' and ``mini-nukes.'' He added that Russia
still has scores of nuclear weapons pointed at the
United States, many with antiquated operating
systems.
``We have absolutely got to get rid of these
weapons or reduce them to the degree that there is
no chance of destroying nations,'' he said.
McNamara added that the threat of terrorists using
a nuclear device could be reduced if the United
States in particular tried to understand
terrorists' anger and motivations.
McNamara served as defense secretary in both the
Kennedy and Johnson administrations -- he resigned
as Johnson's defense secretary as public
opposition rose to the Vietnam War -- and was also
president of the Ford Motor Co. and the World
Bank.
Recently featured in the film ``The Fog of War,''
McNamara was a prominent figure in the foundation
of early U.S. nuclear weapons strategy. He was
later criticized for his role in Vietnam by both
veterans and the anti-war movement.
*****************************************************************
8 NASA Plans Launch Of Nuclear Power Into Space [Interview]
Date: Thu, 10 Mar 2005 14:22:51 -0500
Sent: Thursday, March 10, 2005 1:00 PM
Subject: BBC RADIO SPACE NUKES STORY INTERVIEWS
GAGNON/PUBLIC COMMENTS NEEDED ON NEW NASA MISSION
BBC SPACE NUKES STORY INTERVIEWS GAGNON
PUBLIC COMMENTS NEEDED ON NASA'S NEXT NUCLEAR
SPACE MISSION
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/science/projectprometheus.shtml
BBC radio ran a half hour story (click on link
above to hear it) on NASA's plan to launch nuclear
power into space. Called Project Prometheus, BBC
investigated (mostly from NASA's point of view)
the prospects for nuclear propulsion in space.
Project Prometheus is the name that the Bush
administration has given to the planned nuclear
rocket now under development by NASA and the
Department of Energy (DoE). The BBC story
interviewed Global Network Coordinator Bruce
Gagnon about the organizations opposition to space
nuclear power.
In order to meet the growing demand for plutonium
for future space nuclear missions, NASA is now
planning to expand plutonium production facilities
at the Idaho National Laboratory. In addition to
the nuclear rocket, NASA also plans a growing list
of nuclear missions to outer planets in the coming
years. The next plutonium mission set for launch
is the New Horizons mission to Pluto. New
Horizons will carry a radioisotope thermoelectric
generator (RTG) that transforms heat from decaying
plutonium-238 into electricity to power the
spacecraft's instruments. The New Horizons
mission is set to launch from the space center in
Florida in January or February, 2006. The Global
Network will be organizing opposition to this
launch and your help will be needed.
a.. NASA has just released its Draft
Environmental Impact Statement for the New
Horizons Mission. Public comments are due before
April 11, 2005. We urge concerned citizens to
write NASA and state your opposition to nuclear
power in space. Send your comments to:
osspluto@hq.nasa.gov
The nuclear industry views space as a new market
and are feverishly working to convince the global
public that launching nuclear power into space
will be safe. What we know is that rocket
technology can and does fail. Launches from the
Kennedy Space Center in Florida have a 10-20%
failure rate. In 1996 a Russian Mars mission,
carrying plutonium on-board, failed to achieve
proper orbit and burned up as it reentered Earth
orbit spreading deadly plutonium over the
mountains of Chile and Bolivia. The plutonium
production process is also dangerous. Between
1994-1996, while fabricating the plutonium RTG's
for the 1997 Cassini mission at Los Alamos Labs in
New Mexico, the DoE reported 244 cases of worker
contamination.
The U.S. military has long stated that they need
nuclear reactors in space to power weapons
technologies in the future. NASA's current
director, Sean O'Keefe (former Secretary of the
nuclear Navy) has stated that every mission at
NASA from now on will be "dual use," meaning that
each mission will be testing civilian and military
technologies at the same time. So then what is
the military application of the nuclear rocket?
Space News, an industry publication, ran a story
on March 7, 2005 called NASA Asks Public To
Comment on RTG-Powered Pluto Probe. In the
article Bruce Gagnon was quoted as saying, "NASA
is controlled by two entities today, the Pentagon
and the nuclear industry. NASA just doesn't give
a damn about the public's input."
With that said, the danger of the planned dramatic
increase in launches of nuclear devices in coming
years should concern all of us. It will only take
one accident, and a release of plutonium into the
Earth atmosphere, to unleash severe health
consequences globally. This is not some
theoretical possibility, since the beginning of
the space age, there have already been eight
accidents with space nuclear power, some quite
severe. (See the Global Network web site for a
list of those accidents.)
a.. Please help us by sending your comments to
NASA by April 11 opposing the launch of nuclear
power on the New Horizons mission. Even though
NASA does not want to listen to the public, let's
make sure they hear from us anyway. (People from
outside the U.S. are also encourage to write.
This is a global issue!) Send your comments to:
osspluto@hq.nasa.gov
Thanks for your support.
Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in
Space
PO Box 652
Brunswick, ME 04011
(207) 729-0517
(207) 319-2017 (Cell Phone)
http://www.space4peace.org
globalnet@mindspring.com
http://space4peace.blogspot.com (Our blog)
*****************************************************************
9 [NukeNet] McNamara Says USA, Russian, Chinese N-Policies
Date: Thu, 10 Mar 2005 15:13:56 -0800
NukeNet Anti-Nuclear Network (nukenet@energyjustice.net)
the Vietnam-era defense secretary said the
United States and other nuclear powers like Russia
and China have pursued policies that are ``illegal
and immoral.''
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/national/AP-McNamara-Nuclear-Threat.html
McNamara Derides 'Illegal' Nukes Policies
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: March 10, 2005
Filed at 12:59 a.m. ET
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Former defense secretary
Robert McNamara said Wednesday the United States
and global nuclear powers haven't adhered to
nonproliferation treaties and have done little to
reduce nuclear arsenals following the end of the
Cold War.
Speaking about U.S. and NATO nuclear policies at
the World Affairs Council, the Vietnam-era defense
secretary said the United States and other nuclear
powers like Russia and China have pursued policies
that are ``illegal and immoral.''
``A decade after the Cold War, the basic U.S.
nuclear policy has not been changed,'' said
McNamara, 88, adding that he believed ``every
leader of a nuclear power should be present at a
detonation.''
The remarks come as the Bush administration
grapples with the nuclear ambitions of Iran and
North Korea. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice
is expected to discuss North Korea during an
upcoming trip to South Korea followed by visits to
India, Pakistan and Afghanistan.
China is heading stalled six-way talks to deter
North Korea from building a nuclear weapon. North
Korea has refused to return to the talks for now.
McNamara said the United States has continued to
pursue an aggressive nuclear policy, including
plans to update or enhance existing nuclear
weapons and construct devices like ``bunker
busters'' and ``mini-nukes.'' He added that Russia
still has scores of nuclear weapons pointed at the
United States, many with antiquated operating
systems.
``We have absolutely got to get rid of these
weapons or reduce them to the degree that there is
no chance of destroying nations,'' he said.
McNamara added that the threat of terrorists using
a nuclear device could be reduced if the United
States in particular tried to understand
terrorists' anger and motivations.
McNamara served as defense secretary in both the
Kennedy and Johnson administrations -- he resigned
as Johnson's defense secretary as public
opposition rose to the Vietnam War -- and was also
president of the Ford Motor Co. and the World
Bank.
Recently featured in the film ``The Fog of War,''
McNamara was a prominent figure in the foundation
of early U.S. nuclear weapons strategy. He was
later criticized for his role in Vietnam by both
veterans and the anti-war movement.
_______________________________________________________________________
Subscribe/Unsubscribe Here: http://www.energyjustice.net/nukenet/
Change your settings or access the archives at:
http://energyjustice.net/mailman/listinfo/nukenet_energyjustice.net
*****************************************************************
10 Guardian Unlimited: McNamara Derides 'Illegal' Nukes Policies
From the Associated Press
[UP]
Thursday March 10, 2005 5:01 AM
By JUSTIN M. NORTON
Associated Press Writer
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Former defense secretary Robert McNamara
said Wednesday the United States and global nuclear powers
haven't adhered to nonproliferation treaties and have done
little to reduce nuclear arsenals following the end of the Cold
War.
Speaking about U.S. and NATO nuclear policies at the World
Affairs Council, the Vietnam-era defense secretary said the
United States and other nuclear powers like Russia and China
have pursued policies that are ``illegal and immoral.''
``A decade after the Cold War, the basic U.S. nuclear policy has
not been changed,'' said McNamara, 88, adding that he believed
``every leader of a nuclear power should be present at a
detonation.''
The remarks come as the Bush administration grapples with the
nuclear ambitions of Iran and North Korea. Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice is expected to discuss North Korea during an
upcoming trip to South Korea followed by visits to India,
Pakistan and Afghanistan.
China is heading stalled six-way talks to deter North Korea from
building a nuclear weapon. North Korea has refused to return to
the talks for now.
McNamara said the United States has continued to pursue an
aggressive nuclear policy, including plans to update or enhance
existing nuclear weapons and construct devices like ``bunker
busters'' and ``mini-nukes.'' He added that Russia still has
scores of nuclear weapons pointed at the United States, many
with antiquated operating systems.
``We have absolutely got to get rid of these weapons or reduce
them to the degree that there is no chance of destroying
nations,'' he said.
McNamara added that the threat of terrorists using a nuclear
device could be reduced if the United States in particular tried
to understand terrorists' anger and motivations.
McNamara served as defense secretary in both the Kennedy and
Johnson administrations - he resigned as Johnson's defense
secretary as public opposition rose to the Vietnam War - and was
also president of the Ford Motor Co. and the World Bank.
Recently featured in the film ``The Fog of War,'' McNamara was a
prominent figure in the foundation of early U.S. nuclear weapons
strategy. He was later criticized for his role in Vietnam by
both veterans and the anti-war movement.
Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2005
*****************************************************************
11 Guardian Unlimited: U.S. Plans New Counterintelligence Policy
From the Associated Press
[UP]
Thursday March 10, 2005 7:46 AM
By KATHERINE SHRADER
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) - The federal government suspects more than
2,000 Chinese companies of operating in the United States to
steal secrets and wonders whether more than 300,000 Chinese
visitors are really here for study and research.
These concerns about who might be swiping U.S. information
extend to several departments - from Defense to Energy to State
- and officials say it underscores the need for pre-emptive
action embodied in President Bush's plan for a new, national
counterintelligence strategy.
As soon as this month, Bush is expected to direct U.S.
intelligence agencies to go on the offensive to prevent the loss
of secrets and technology, a policy consistent with the
pre-emptive military strategy the administration developed in
2002.
National Counterintelligence Executive Michelle Van Cleave
provided a broad outline of the unclassified strategy - the
Seven Pillars of U.S. Counterintelligence - at a conference last
weekend in Texas. A leading goal is to shift from reactive
counterintelligence operations - finding spies and other sources
of leaks after they've done significant damage - to offensive
operations.
``No longer will we wait until we have been harmed to act,'' Van
Cleave said.
Intelligence experts say the task will be difficult, given the
espionage threats from China, Russia and other countries, as
well as terrorist groups and other interests determined to
penetrate the United States.
Government officials say there are counterintelligence successes
every day that are never made public. Some cases involve
suspected spies who are given ``full transactional immunity''
for details of their activities - a rare government promise to
avoid prosecution in exchange for full disclosure. The
individual's career may end, but he or she will avoid jail time.
But some experts say the unfortunate reality is that only one
truly major espionage case has ever been unraveled through
classic detective work: the case of CIA turncoat Aldrich Ames.
He helped devastate U.S. intelligence operations against the
Soviets by selling them secrets between 1985 and 1994.
``It is very rare for counterintelligence, using analysis and
conventional detective work, to unearth spies,'' said Keith
Melton, a historical consultant to the U.S. intelligence
community for more than 20 years. ``Most spies are detected as a
result of defectors or betrayal'' by others.
Counterintelligence is the government-wide effort to protect
against foreign espionage and intelligence collection. It
defends against nations and groups, as well as companies,
seeking everything from national security secrets to U.S. policy
plans to sensitive industrial technology.
With the nation's largely open borders, the trend toward
globalism and advancements in technology, preventing threats
from abroad is an increasingly difficult task.
Consider the penetration from Chinese nationals alone, which
repeatedly came up during a two-day U.S. counterintelligence
conference, open to professionals, students and the media:
-Lisa Bronson, a Defense Department deputy undersecretary for
technology, security and counterproliferation, said China has
2,000 to 3,000 front companies in the United States to steal and
exploit U.S. technology. ``It's very, very difficult to go ahead
and assess where China has gotten what they have right now,''
she said.
-Catherine Sheppard, chief of the Energy Department's Office of
Defense Nuclear Counterintelligence, said between October 2003
and October 2004, her department hosted more than 18,000 visits
by foreigners to its sites - the largest number from China,
followed by Russia.
-Counterintelligence officials wonder just what to do about more
than 300,000 Chinese students in the United States to study,
and, in some cases, gain access to sensitive information.
When asked about Chinese espionage Tuesday at a congressional
hearing, FBI Director Robert Mueller said, ``It is ongoing, and
it is substantial. It's a priority for us to disrupt that
effort.''
He wouldn't go into detail in public.
Wen Ho Lee, who was never charged with espionage, is one of the
more high-profile cases involving China. The nuclear scientist
was indicted in December 1999 on 59 felony counts alleging he
mishandled nuclear weapons information at Los Alamos National
Laboratory in New Mexico. He was held in solitary confinement
for nine months, then was released in September 2000 after
pleading guilty to a single felony count.
Then-President Clinton apologized for Lee's treatment.
Senior officials can't say exactly how much is spent on
counterintelligence each year. The number is classified and,
even if it weren't, money that goes toward protecting classified
information is spread over numerous government programs.
And so are the secrets and the people who maintain them.
Richard Haver, a former assistant defense secretary for
intelligence, notes that the number of Americans with access to
sensitive information is massive.
At Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld's request during early
2001, Haver tabulated that 11 million people historically had
been granted security clearances, either in government or
private sector jobs.
In 2001, there were 900,000 active clearances.
---
On the Net:
National Counterintelligence Executive: http://www.nacic.gov
Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2005
*****************************************************************
12 Las Vegas RJ: NO LIMIT ON WEAPONS: Lawmaker backs nuclear testing
Thursday, March 10, 2005
Colleague introduces legislation to force environmental reviews
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
SALT LAKE CITY -- Though Rep. Chris Cannon believes the cancer
that took his father's life in part was because of radioactive
fallout from atomic-bomb testing in Nevada, he is supporting
resumption of nuclear tests.
"To the degree that we have people blow up our skyscrapers and
hiding underground, we have to have the ability to respond to
them," Cannon, R-Utah, said Tuesday in a Salt Lake Tribune
interview. "I don't ever expect we'll end up using a bunker
buster, but the other side needs to know that we have them."
He said the tests should not be limited to a bunker busting
nuclear weapon, but include the existing nuclear stockpile to
ensure the weapons have not deteriorated.
"What we really want here is deterrence. We want people to get
out of their holes and into the democratic process, and we want
to scare them out," he said. "We need to give them the fear of
destruction and hopefully, over time, people will recognize that
the democratic system works."
On Wednesday, Rep. Jim Matheson, D-Utah, reintroduced
legislation that would force environmental reviews before
nuclear weapons testing can restart at the Nevada Test Site.
Matheson's "Safety for Americans from Nuclear Weapons Testing
Act" would require an environmental review for health, safety
and environmental impacts before considering nuclear testing and
require Congress to authorize resumed tests.
The legislation also would increase private and governmental
radiation level monitoring nationwide and commission a group of
universities to study the health effects of radiation exposure.
Residents downwind of the aboveground testing in the 1950s and
early 1960s believe the fallout was responsible for increased
cancer cases in southeastern Nevada, southwestern Utah and
northwestern Arizona.
Matheson also blames radiation from nuclear weapons testing for
the death of his father, former Utah Gov. Scott Matheson.
Matheson said he had long planned to reintroduce the measure
this session, but recent comments by Energy Secretary Samuel
Bodman suggesting he supported shortening the time frame for new
nuclear testing concerned him, Matheson said.
"I think it's just incumbent on us to get this legislation
moving if we can," Matheson said.
Matheson and Sen. Bob Bennett, R-Utah, proposed similar bills
last year requiring congressional authorization of any new
detonations in Nevada, but both measures died.
Bennett also has said he plans on reintroducing his measure,
which would require the installation of radiation monitoring
stations in any Utah county that requests one and establish a
citizen review board to meet with the Department of Energy to
discuss testing concerns.
In its recently concluded session, the Utah Legislature passed
and Gov. Jon Huntsman signed a resolution opposing resuming
nuclear tests.
"A resumption of nuclear testing at the federal government's
Nevada Test Site would mean a return to the mistakes and
miscalculations of the past, which have marred many Utahns," the
resolution said.
Copyright Las Vegas Review-Journal
*****************************************************************
13 Salt Lake Tribune: Cannon's support for resumed testing makes no
sense
Opinion
Article Last Updated: 03/10/2005 02:37:40 AM
At least Chris Cannon doesn't try to pretend that he is
against nuclear testing, even as he helps move the United States
to relive that particular nightmare. The Utah congressman could
thus be said to have taken a more honest position on the matter
than have, say, Utah's two senators.
More honest, but still wrong.
Sens. Bob Bennett and Orrin Hatch back funding for research,
design and non-nuclear testing of the proposed "bunker-buster"
nuclear weapons, even though most of the enemies of civilization
live not in bunkers but out in the open, setting off car bombs.
Both also claim that mere research will not necessarily mean
more of the same Nevada nuclear testing that spread cancerous
clouds of fallout over Utah decades ago.
Maybe. But it seems foolish to even start down that road,
whether we end up testing or not, spending a lot of money and
depleting our credibility as we urge other nations to forswear
their nuclear aspirations.
The position of our senators on this issue is an
unsustainable straddle between two camps. One is Utah public
opinion, voiced by Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. and a unanimous
Legislature, which opposes nuclear testing in Nevada. The other
is the neocons at the Pentagon, who can't wait to take a
gratuitous victory lap in the nuclear arms race.
Cannon, though, straddles nothing. He not only won't pretend
that the nuclear genie can be kept in the bottle, he is inviting
it to come out and make itself at home. Testing the new
generation of bunker-busting nuclear weapons isn't enough for
him. He wants to retrieve our old nuclear weapons from what
should have been the ash heap of history and test them, too, just
to make sure they haven't deteriorated.
Of course, if we do test the old nukes, and they don't work,
that will leak out and destroy whatever deterrent value their
uncertain status might have had.
While Cannon's position is more consistent than some others,
it does carry a fatal flaw. It assumes that we can bully the
rest of the world into becoming enlightened democracies, like us.
"We need to give them the fear of destruction," Cannon
incredibly told The Tribune the other day, "and hopefully over
time people will recognize that the democratic system works."
But if forcing a new generation of nuclear weapons upon the
world, and a new course of nuclear testing on Utah and the rest
of the nation, constitutes democracy, the rest of the world is
not likely to see its charms.
© Copyright 2005, The Salt Lake Tribune.
*****************************************************************
14 Fwd: [Press-releases] Greenpeace activist threatened with death
Date: Thu, 10 Mar 2005 00:48:22 -0600 (CST)
Date: Tue, 08 Mar 2005 08:36:11 +0100 From: Cecilia Goin
Subject: [Press-releases] Greenpeace
activist threatened with death List-Id: Press Releases from Greenpeace
List-Archive:
List-Subscribe:
,
Greenpeace activist threatened with death
Vienna, 8 March 2005 - Greenpeace activist and leading nuclear
opponent in Bulgaria, Albena Simeonova, has received threats on her
life due to her public opposition to the construction of a nuclear
power plant in Belene, north of the country. The environmental
organisation, supported by other groups (1), calls on the Bulgarian
Government to secure her safety and prevent these threats to happen
again.
Simeonova,40,who is portrayed as an obstacle by the nuclear industry's
interests, started to receive anonymous calls at the end of 2004.
On February 23rd, two men showed up at her house door issuing death
threats if she refused to stop her resistance against plans to build
the nuclear power plant in Belene. The men also warned her to leave
the region of Nikopol, her homeland.
"This is not only a serious threat against my life, it represents
a threat to all who campaign against nuclear plants trying to protect
their lives and the local environment," said Simeonova, who won the
Goldman Award, dubbed as the Nobel Prize for the Environment, in
1996.
Simeonova is one of the leaders of a strong movement in Bulgaria
that stopped plans for the construction of a nuclear power station
near Belene in the early 1990s. The building plans were revived in
2003, and she was one of the first people to ask attention for the
problems the project would create. She alerted national and
international organisations on the upcoming plans and since has
been one of the motors behind resistance against Belene.
"We are shocked to hear that her life is threatened due to her
opposition to this nuclear project. She is a pioneer for a clean
environment in Bulgaria. Belene is the real threat, not Albena
Simeonova. This plant is completely unnecessary for Bulgaria and
for the region," says Jan Haverkamp from Greenpeace International
Bulgaria has one of the largest renewable energy resources in the
European Union, with massive potentials for wind energy, as well
as geothermal and hydropower. With its large agricultural sector,
Bulgaria could cover a significant part of its energy needs with
renewable energy. These clean energy sources are economic, abundant,
create thousands of jobs and pose no threat to human life and the
environment.
Greenpeace opposes the construction of the Belene reactors and
demands the Bulgarian Government to stop the production of nuclear
power. They will generate highly radioactive waste and put the
Bulgarian and European population at risk.
Notes to Editor:
1). Bankwatch and Friends of the Earth Europe
Greenpeace is an independent campaigning organisation that uses
non-violent, creative confrontation to expose global environmental
problems and to force solutions that are essential to a green and
peaceful future.
-- Cecilia Goin Media Officer Greenpeace International Ottho
Heldringstraat 5 1066 AZ Amsterdam The Netherlands
Tel: +31 (0) 20 718 2159 Mobile: +31 6 212 96 908 Fax: +31 (0) 20
5148151
_______________________________________________ Press-releases
mailing list Press-releases@mailman.greenpeace.org
http://mailman.greenpeace.org/mailman/listinfo/press-releases
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Search /RENEGADE/ for articles that mention nukes -
http://fornits.com/renegade/peaars.cgi?keywords=NUKES&increment=weeks&many=52
[only articles for the last one year will be indexed]
/RENEGADE/ Search - GO TO: http://fornits.com/renegade/peaars.cgi?
and just type in your topic. For differing results you may uncheck
"article" and search on just "subject," etc. /RENEGADE/ also has
"time-frame" in the search, so you can tailor your results that
way, too.
-------------------------------------------------------
Greenpeace on the Internet
Website: http://www.greenpeace.org
GREENPEACE MAILING LISTS
I recommend these two for a start, (but please explore the others
according to your specific interest):
"news-headlines," and "press-releases"
send this message to Majordomo@xs2.greenpeace.org to subscribe to
them:
subscribe news-headlines subscribe press-releases end
for more information please see:
"GREENPEACE Majordomo results lists and help"
http://fornits.com/renegade/peaars.cgi?fetch=1978 [note: that article
was posted a long time ago but info should be useful...
e-mail Greenpeace for current info]
-------------------------------------------------------
Search /RENEGADE/ for articles that mention environment -
http://fornits.com/renegade/peaars.cgi?keywords=ENVIRONMENT&increment=weeks&many=26
[only articles for the last six months will be indexed]
/RENEGADE/ Search - GO TO: http://fornits.com/renegade/peaars.cgi?
and just type in your topic. For differing results you may uncheck
"article" and search on just "subject," use "any word" or "phrase,"
etc. /RENEGADE/ also has "time-frame" in the search, so you can
tailor your results that way, too.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Search /RENEGADE/ for articles that mention nukes -
http://fornits.com/renegade/peaars.cgi?keywords=NUKES&increment=weeks&many=52
[only articles for the last one year will be indexed]
/RENEGADE/ Search - GO TO: http://fornits.com/renegade/peaars.cgi?
and just type in your topic. For differing results you may uncheck
"article" and search on just "subject," etc. /RENEGADE/ also has
"time-frame" in the search, so you can tailor your results that
way, too.
----- --
Peace!
*STRIDER* Sector Air Raid Warden at /RENEGADE/
Home: http://fornits.com/renegade/ DEDICATED TO SPIRIT, TRUTH,
PEACE, JUSTICE, AND FREEDOM
Articles posted in the last 10 days:
http://fornits.com/renegade/peaars.cgi?search=Search&increment=days&many=10
Blog: http://striders-renegade.blogspot.com/
Bay_Area_Activist list ---- Membership by invitation only - moderated
/ archives for members only Contact bay_area_activist-owner@yahoogroups.com
to request membership.
EF! list --------------- earthfirstalert -
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/earthfirstalert List-Subscribe:
usenet: news:misc.activism.progressive e-mail: mailto:strider@fornits.com
strider@fornits.com
No War! No Nukes! Impeach! SOS!
WHEN SPIDERS UNITE, THEY CAN TIE DOWN A LION -- Ethiopian Proverb
*****************************************************************
15 Vanunu Update: Knesset Committee Asked to Debate Restrictions
Date: Thu, 10 Mar 2005 15:14:01 -0800
Free Mordechai Vanunu - Info & Action Alert #49 - March 10, 2005
From the U.S. Campaign to Free Mordechai Vanunu
http://www.vanunu.com and http://www.nonviolence.org/vanunu/
** PLEASE FORWARD TO SYMPATHETIC LISTS **
=============
The International Campaign to Free Mordechai Vanunu
Press Release
March 10, 2005
KNESSET CONSTITUTION, LAW AND JUDICIARY COMMITTEE ASKED TO DEBATE VANUNU'S
RESTRICTIONS
International figures will come to Israel to address Knesset Committee,
call for whistleblower's freedom
Knesset Member Issam Makhoul (Hadash) has requested a special convention of
the Knesset Constitution, Law and Judiciary Committee to discuss the
restrictions that were imposed on nuclear whistleblower Mordechai Vanunu
upon his release from prison almost one year ago and that keep him a
hostage in Israel. A panel of local and international human rights experts
are preparing to address the parliamentary committee and call for lifting
all restrictions against Vanunu. The panel includes Attorney Dan Yakir,
chief legal counsel of the Association for Civil Rights in Israel; Dan
Ellsberg (U.S.A.), the former Pentagon employee who in 1971 leaked the
Pentagon Papers; Attorney Jennifer Harbury (U.S.A.), author and Director of
the U.U.S.C. STOP Torture Campaign; and Attorney Fredrik S. Heffermehl
(Norway), an expert on international law, author and Vice President of
Lawyers Against Nuclear Arms. The date of the Knesset Committee meeting
will be announced separately.
On April 21, 2004, Mordechai Vanunu was released from Ashkelon Prison after
serving his full sentence of 18 years, of which he spent more than eleven
years in solitary confinement. However, Vanunu was not released to freedom,
but into a system of restrictions that prevent him from rebuilding his life
and severely curtail his civil and human rights. The restrictions prohibit
Vanunu from traveling abroad, or even changing his city of residence
without permission from security authorities; he is prohibited from
contacting foreign citizens and media and his ability to communicate with
friends and supporters is strictly limited. In November 2004, Vanunu was
arrested in a massive police raid on St. George's Guest House in East
Jerusalem, where he has been receiving sanctuary, his computers and phones
were confiscated and personal documents were seized. Vanunu was released
after being questioned on the suspicion of violating the restrictions by
giving interviews to foreign media. On Christmas Eve, 2004, Vanunu was
arrested on his way to Bethlehem to celebrate Mass.
The restrictions that were imposed on Vanunu are based on the 1945 State of
Emergency Regulations, first introduced in Mandatory Palestine by the
British Mandate and since then they have been continually renewed by the
Israeli parliament (Knesset). The State of Emergency Regulations enable the
State to penalize people without trial, and can be renewed indefinitely. In
July 2004 Israel's Supreme Court rejected Vanunu's appeal against the
restrictions and the use of the Emergency Regulations.
The International Campaign to Free Mordechai Vanunu urges the Knesset
Constitution, Law and Judiciary Committee to review the restrictions that
keep Mordechai Vanunu a hostage in a country where he is constantly
threatened and unable to rebuild his life, and which continue to punish him
indefinitely, although he has completed the full sentence that was imposed
by the Court in 1987. The Campaign calls on Israel to end Vanunu's
continued maltreatment and to uphold the values of human rights.
In April 2005, one year after Vanunu's release from prison, an
international delegation organized by the International Campaign to Free
Mordechai Vanunu will come to Israel to call for lifting the restrictions
and allowing Mordechai Vanunu to leave Israel, as he wishes.
Contact information:
In Israel: Rayna Moss: Tel. 972-50 -7368236, email:
legalese@netvision.net.il
In the USA: Felice Cohen-Joppa, Tel/Fax 520-323-8697, email:
freevanunu@mindspring.com
In Britain: Ernest Rodker, Tel. +44-20-8672-9698, e-mail:
campaign@vanunu.freeserve.co.uk
In Norway: Fredrik Heffermehl, Tel. +47-2244 8003 Fax: +47-2244 7616 email:
fredpax@online.no
www.vanunu.com www.vanunu.co.uk www.vanunu.org
Felice Cohen-Joppa
Coordinator
U.S. Campaign to Free Mordechai Vanunu
POB 43384
Tucson, AZ 85733
Phone/Fax 520-323-8697
freevanunu@mindspring.com
www.nonviolence.org/vanunu
*****************************************************************
16 Secrecy News -- 03/10/05
Date: Thu, 10 Mar 2005 05:06:01 -0500
SECRECY NEWS
from the FAS Project on Government Secrecy
Volume 2005, Issue No. 22
March 10, 2005
** SUDAN DEMANDS CLARIFICATION OF 1962 U.S. NUCLEAR TEST
** FBIS PHOTOS OF IRAN NUCLEAR FACILITIES
** HHS INFOSEC POLICY: FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY, OR WHATEVER
** SAYING NEY TO THE CONGRESSIONAL RESEARCH SERVICE
SUDAN DEMANDS CLARIFICATION OF 1962 U.S. NUCLEAR TEST
The government of Sudan is seeking clarification of reports that the
United States carried out a nuclear explosive test in Sudan in 1962.
Sudanese Foreign Minister Mustafa Uthman Isma'il told Al Jazirah
television yesterday that his country was responding to the disclosure
of the Sudan nuclear test at a congressional hearing held by the House
Armed Services Committee last week.
But there was no such test.
A review of the transcript of the March 2 House Armed Services
Strategic Services Subcommittee hearing does indeed include a
startling reference by Rep. Ellen Tauscher (D-CA) to a 1962 "Sudan"
nuclear test.
"The Sudan test displaced 12 million tons of earth and dug a crater 320
feet deep in over 1000 feet in diameter," she noted.
It is clear from the context that she was referring to a well-known
July 6, 1962 explosion at the Nevada Test Site codenamed "Sedan." The
remarkable crater it left behind can be visited today by tourists.
The term "Sedan" was mistakenly transcribed as "Sudan" both by Federal
News Service and by FDCH Political Transcripts and has been so
recorded in the Nexis news data base, where it continues to cause
mischief.
Sudanese Agriculture Minister Majzoub el-Khalifa suggested Wednesday
that the purported U.S. nuclear test may have caused cancers in Sudan,
according to a Xinhua news story today.
See "US Envoy Summoned Over House Remarks on US Nuclear Tests in
Sudan," Al Jazirah, March 9 (translated by CIA's Foreign Broadcast
Information Service), and an excerpt from Rep. Tauscher's remarks,
March 2, here:
http://www.fas.org/irp/news/2005/03/sudan.html
FBIS PHOTOS OF IRAN NUCLEAR FACILITIES
If open sources can easily mislead, as in the Sedan/Sudan case, at
least they can be easily corrected. In any case, they remain a
uniquely productive resource.
So, for example, much of what is known about Iran's nuclear program,
where clandestine human sources are said to be sparse at best, derives
from the focused collection of open source material.
Two recent photo collections compiled by the CIA's Foreign Broadcast
Information Service illustrate the point (thanks to J).
The Qatran Heavy Water Facility in Khondab near Arak is featured in
this October 2004 report (2.3 MB PowerPoint file):
http://www.fas.org/nuke/guide/iran/nuke/iran_hwf.ppt
The Uranium Conversion Facility near Isfahan is profiled in this
November 2004 document (8.7 MB PowerPoint file):
http://www.fas.org/nuke/guide/iran/nuke/iran_ucf.ppt
HHS INFOSEC POLICY: FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY, OR WHATEVER
The Department of Health and Human Services updated its information
security policies in a December 2004 policy issuance.
The 64 page document is prominently marked "for official use only."
On the other hand, it states candidly on the title page, "Disclosure is
not expected to cause serious harm to HHS."
See "Information Security Program Policy," Department of Health and
Human Services, December 15, 2004 (thanks to RT):
http://www.fas.org/sgp/othergov/hhs-infosec.pdf
SAYING NEY TO THE CONGRESSIONAL RESEARCH SERVICE
The Congressional Research Service policy of refusing to provide direct
public access to CRS publications is mandated by Congress and is
defended most vigorously by Rep. Bob Ney (R-OH), chairman of the House
Committee on House Administration.
Rep. Ney recently reiterated for Newhouse News his view that the CRS
mission "is to provide information to Congress and not the public" and
that "making all reports public could inhibit lawmakers who want to
learn more about sensitive topics."
See the interesting report "Demand for Public Information is Surging"
by Chuck McCutcheon, Newhouse News Service, March 8:
http://www.newhousenews.com/archive/mccutcheon030805.html
While there is a place for confidential reports prepared for individual
lawmakers, the blanket CRS policy precluding direct public access
makes no sense and invites defiance.
Some recent CRS products that might inhibit Rep. Ney include the
following.
"FY2006 Appropriations for State and Local Homeland Security," February
14, 2005:
http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/homesec/RS22050.pdf
"The Cost of Operations in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Enhanced Security,"
updated February 9, 2005:
http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/natsec/RS21644.pdf
"The Broader Middle East and North Africa Initiative: An Overview,"
February 15, 2005:
http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/mideast/RS22053.pdf
"Iraq: U.S. Regime Change Efforts and Post-War Governance," updated
January 28, 2005:
http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/mideast/RL31339.pdf
"Implications of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations upon the
Regulation of Consular Identification Cards," updated January 26,
2005:
http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/RS21627.pdf
"Honduras: Political and Economic Situation and U.S. Relations,"
updated January 19, 2005:
http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/row/RS21103.pdf
"Iran's Nuclear Program: Recent Developments," updated January 14,
2005:
http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/nuke/RS21592.pdf
_______________________________________________
Secrecy News is written by Steven Aftergood and published by the
Federation of American Scientists.
To SUBSCRIBE to Secrecy News, send email to
secrecy_news-request@lists.fas.org
with "subscribe" in the body of the message.
To UNSUBSCRIBE, send a blank email message to
secrecy_news-remove@lists.fas.org
OR email your request to saftergood@fas.org
Secrecy News is archived at:
http://www.fas.org/sgp/news/secrecy/index.html
Secrecy News has an RSS feed at:
http://www.fas.org/sgp/news/secrecy/index.rss
_______________________
Steven Aftergood
Project on Government Secrecy
Federation of American Scientists
web: www.fas.org/sgp/index.html
email: saftergood@fas.org
voice: (202) 454-4691
*****************************************************************
17 [du-list] Poodler Bliar faces problems over illegality of
Date: Thu, 10 Mar 2005 15:13:09 -0800
PM condemned over legal advice on Iraq
By Marie Woolf and Andrew Grice
10 March 2005
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/story.jsp?story=618473
Tony Blair was thrown on to the defensive yesterday by a growing row
over his failure to show his Cabinet the full legal advice about the Iraq war.
MPs from all parties accused Mr Blair of trying to "wheedle his way
out" of the serious charge of breaking the ministerial code of conduct
after he came under pressure at Prime Minister's Questions.
Last night Michael Howard, the Tory leader, pledged that he would
publish the legal opinion of the Attorney General Lord Goldsmith if his
party won the general election. He told The Independent: "We have
consistently called for the Attorney General's full legal advice on the war
to be published. If we were in government, it would be our intention,
subject only to going through the required procedures, to publish this advice."
Aides said this was a firm pledge. Although he would consult Lord
Goldsmith, in line with tradition, the Attorney General would not have a veto.
The longest-serving MP, Tam Dalyell, said the revelation in
yesterday's Independent about the Prime Minister's breach of the
ministerial code had "opened a can of worms" about the legal basis for war.
The code says cabinet ministers should see full legal advice if they are
given a summary of it. But on the eve of the war two years ago, ministers
were given only a copy of the written answer the Attorney General was to
give in Parliament.
Mr Blair insisted that he had not breached the ministerial code
because the Attorney General gave an oral rather than written presentation
to the Cabinet. He told MPs: "The Attorney General came to the Cabinet and
gave his opinion in detail and was there able to answer any queries people
raised. If it is being said that somehow the legal opinion of the Attorney
General is different from the Attorney General's statement to this House
that is patently absurd."
Clare Short, the former cabinet minister, accused Mr Blair of
misleading the Commons. She said: "There was no discussion. That is a lie.
I tried to initiate a discussion but many voices were calling for me to be
quiet and not ask such questions. They didn't permit any discussion and the
Attorney General did not say anything other than to start reading out a
parliamentary answer. What the Prime Minister said did not happen. Even if
it had, it would not have been an excuse about not adhering to the
ministerial code."
The Prime Minister now faces questions on whether a full text of the
advice existed when the Cabinet was briefed about the legality of invasion.
Mr Dalyell said: "This begs the question that there was a written legal
opinion at the time. Until now, we had all assumed there was."
Elfyn Llwyd, the parliamentary leader of Plaid Cymru, said the Prime
Minister's reply in the Commons was "utter nonsense", adding: "The
ministerial code is quite clear; if a summary of the legal advice is given
to the Cabinet, the full text must also be attached. There are no get-out
clauses for Tony Blair on this occasion and no amount of legal training or
spin doctoring will change things."
Sir Menzies Campbell, the Liberal Democrat foreign affairs
spokesman, said: "The code is explicit and, by the Prime Minister's
admission, appears to [have been] breached."
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18 CNW Telbec: AECL wins French contract
11 mars 2005
RECHERCHE
Attention Business Editors:
MISSISSAUGA, ON, March 9 /CNW/ - Atomic Energy of Canada Limited
(AECL) through its partners Comex Nucléaire of France and
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries of Japan has won a multi-million
dollar contract to design, test, manufacture and install
Emergency Core Cooling (ECC) Strainers for the French nuclear
utility Electricité de France (EDF).
AECL is responsible for the development, testing and design of
the ECC strainers for the specific conditions in the first plants
being retrofitted by EDF.
AECL originally developed these finned strainers for use in the
AECL designed CANDUs. They are designed for use in emergency
situations to filter debris from the cooling water used to
maintain the cooling of the reactor core. The particular
expertise lies in providing a large enough surface area to
capture the expected debris, while maintaining water flow, all
within as small an area as possible.
Electricité de France owns and operates 58 nuclear power plants
and is the largest nuclear utility in the world.
About AECL
----------
AECL is an integrated nuclear technology company providing
services to nuclear utilities worldwide. Our 3,500 employees are
focused on delivering R support, nuclear services, design and
engineering, construction management, specialist technology and
waste management and decommissioning in support of CANDU reactor
products.
Atomic Energy of Canada Limited is also the design authority for
CANDU(R) nuclear reactors providing emissions-free electricity to
the world and is completing the development of an innovative next
generation system - the Advanced CANDU Reactor (ACR(TM)).
For further information: Ian Dovey, AECL, Media Relations,
(905) 823-9040 ext. 4641, (905) 302-6535 (cell), doveyi@aecl.ca
ATOMIC ENERGY OF CANADA LIMITED - Renseignements
*****************************************************************
19 ALERT: Bush seeking to restore $$$ for new nukes.
Date: Thu, 10 Mar 2005 17:28:32 -0600 (CST)
Dear Friend
ALERT: Bush seeking to restore $$$ for new nukes.
Friday, March 9, 2005
After eliminating money for Bush's new nukes plan,
Congress is now wavering under pressure from Bush.
Contact your members of Congress: No Means NO on new Nukes!
Like a petulant teen who is told that he cannot use the car and then
tries to sneak the keys off the hook when the adults aren't looking,
George Bush is trying to get our tax dollars to build new nuclear
weapons.
Last fall, Congressional Republicans and Democrats came together to
eliminate all money for new nuclear weapons.1 It's rare in Washington
these days for politicians from both sides of the aisle to come
together, putting aside partisan politics, to do what's right for the
country and the world. However, both Republican and Democrats found
(after being reminded by people like us) that the Bush policy of
planning to build new [translation: even deadlier] nuclear weapons,
after starting a war in the name of stopping nuclear proliferation, so
hypocritical that they came together to put an end to Bush's dangerous
folly.
However, Bush does not understand that No means NO. In the 2006 Federal
Budget that Bush submitted in February, Bush has tried to pull a fast one
and restore the funds for new nukes.
Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA) is leading the effort to maintain the bipartisan
momentum towards common sense that the House built last fall.
Congress needs to hear from you. Tell your representatives to tell the
President, "No means NO on new nukes!"
Pease take action by using our direct email connection to your
congressional representative.
Pax,
Kevin Martin
Executive Director
P.S.--Our country is already scorned worldwide for hypocracy on human
rights, war, the rule of law, and now Bush wants to add his "do as I say,
not as I do" mantra to the building weapons of mass destruction.
Unfortunately, this particular hypocracy--with its lowering of the
nuclear threshhold--has within it the seeds of nuclear war.2 Please act
today.
If the above links fail, please cut and paste the following into your
browser:
http://hq.demaction.org/dia/organizations/Peaceact/campaign.jsp?campaign_
KEY=440
End note:
1."Congress jettisons nuclear bomb funds President touted bunker buster
as vital to U.S. security," by James Stemgold, SF Chronicle, November
23rd, 2004.
2."Lowering the nuclear threshold," By Ehsan Ahrari, Asia Times, June 11,
2003.
*****************************************************************
20 A nuke in your future?
NNTP-Posting-Date: Wed, 09 Mar 2005 22:44:28 -0600
Posted by Davis Landstrom (195.93.32.9) on March 28, 2003 at 08:03:14:
I have just hear of a new energy generation technology that has tremendous potential as a power source that could take care of our
energy needs well into the future.
It is a technology called the Quantum nucleonic reactor, it was developed by the US Air force laboratories recently.
The principle behind the reactor is very simple and was discovered almost by accident (serendipity). It was found, that by shining
X-rays onto an isotope of Hafnium (178) Gamma emissions were produced that were aproximately 60 times more energetic than the X-rays
that were being used to trigger them, the energy input/output ratio is 1:60. The Gamma emissions can be used to heat air, water, a
heat engine or any other means of transfering/converting large amounts of thermal energy that you care to think of.
The secret behind the extraordinary gamma emissions is a simple one. Hafnium 178 is composed of two different isonucleons, one is
stable with all electron and nuclear shell configurations existing in their ground states, the other posseses a unique nuclear shell
configuration with nuclear particles existing in stable high energy/above ground state configurations, when X-rays fall on a high
energy isonucleon it destabalises and collapses under it's own nuclear forces back to its ground state, as a result of this return
to ground state gamma rays are produced in LARGE quantities!
This nucleonic reactor technology has numerous benefits over existing nuclear technologies.
Primarily it is safe from any form of chain reaction as the reaction technique is not fission based, no neutrons are utalised in the
reactions so no destructive cascade energy release can take place, plus because of the nature of the reaction mechanism power
generation can be tightly controlled.
Secondarily because no neutrons are produced there are no radioactive waste products to be disposed of.
Thirdly, although the Hafnium isotope is a Gamma source it has a very short half life (some 30 odd years) so spent/depleated hafnium
will pose no serious long term disposal problems, unlike nuclear wastes and spent fuel from todays nuclear fission plants which
remains highly radioactive for millions of years.
and finaly the radiation levels can be reduced 60 times simply by turning off the X-ray tube, so long term radiation build up and
disposal of irradiated components is not an issue.
Naturally this technology will probably see it's first application in the production of high performance jet engines for unmanned,
and then manned aircraft, but I am sure that this technology could see it's way into comercial power generation in the not to
distant future.
I suggest that you visit:
http://www.spacedaily.com/news/uav-03m.html
to find out more.
This message was forwarded by news2mail.com. If you do not do no longer want to
receive messages from this group please click on
mailto:alt.energy.renewable-request@news2mail.com?subject=unsubscribe .
For additional information see also www.news2mail.com/alt/energy/renewable.html .
*****************************************************************
21 [epa-impact] Exelon Generating Company, LLC; Notice of Availability
Date: Thu, 10 Mar 2005 11:43:43 -0500 (EST)
http://epa.gov/EPA-IMPACT/2005/March/Day-10/
=======================================================================
[Federal Register: March 10, 2005 (Volume 70, Number 46)]
[Notices]
[Page 12022]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr10mr05-125]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket No. 52-007]
Exelon Generating Company, LLC; Notice of Availability of the
Draft Environmental Impact Statement for an Early Site Permit (ESP) at
the Exelon ESP Site and Associated Public Meeting
Notice is hereby given that the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission
(NRC, the Commission) has published NUREG-1815, ``Environmental Impact
Statement for an Early Site Permit (ESP) at the Exelon ESP Site: Draft
Report for Comment.'' The site is located near the town of Clinton in
DeWitt County, Illinois. The application for the ESP was submitted by
letter dated September 25, 2003, pursuant to Title 10 Code of the
Federal Regulations Part 52 (10 CFR part 52). The application included
a site redress plan in accordance with 10 CFR 52.17(c) and 52.25. If
the site redress plan is incorporated in an approved ESP, then the
applicant may carry out certain site preparation work and preliminary
construction activities. A notice of receipt and availability of the
application, which included the environmental report (ER), was
published in the Federal Register on October 24, 2003 (68 FR 61020). A
notice of acceptance for docketing of the application for the ESP was
published in the Federal Register on October 30, 2003 (68 FR 61835). A
notice of intent to prepare an environmental impact statement and to
conduct the scoping process was published in the Federal Register on
November 25, 2003 (68 FR 66130).
The purpose of this notice is to inform the public that NUREG-1815,
``Environmental Impact Statement for an Early Site Permit (ESP) at the
Exelon ESP Site: Draft Report for Comment,'' is available for public
inspection in the NRC Public Document Room (PDR) located at One White
Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike (first floor), Rockville, Maryland
20852, or from the Publicly Available Records (PARS) component of NRC's
Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS), and will
also be placed directly on the NRC Web site at http://www.nrc.gov
ADAMS is accessible from the NRC Web site at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/
adams.html. (the Public Electronic Reading Room). Persons who
do not have access to ADAMS, or who encounter problems in accessing the
documents located in ADAMS, should contact the PDR reference staff at
1-800-397-4209, 301-415-4737, or by e-mail to pdr@nrc.gov. In addition,
the Vespasian Warner Public Library, located at 310 North Quincy
Street, Clinton, Illinois 61727, has agreed to make the DEIS available
for public inspection.
The NRC staff will hold a public meeting to present an overview of
the DEIS and to accept public comments on the document. The public
meeting will be held at the Vespasian Warner Public Library, located at
310 North Quincy Street, Clinton, Illinois 61727, on Tuesday, April 19,
2005. The meeting will convene at 7 p.m. and will continue until 10
p.m., as necessary. The meeting will be transcribed and will include:
(1) A presentation of the contents of the DEIS, and (2) the opportunity
for interested government agencies, organizations, and individuals to
provide comments on the draft report. Additionally, the NRC staff will
host informal discussions one hour before the start of the meeting at
the library. No formal comments on the DEIS will be accepted during the
informal discussions. To be considered, comments must be provided
either at the transcribed public meeting or in writing. Persons may
register to attend or present oral comments at the meeting by
contacting Ms. Jennifer Davis, by telephone at 1-800-368-5642,
extension 3835, or by Internet to the NRC at ClintonEIS@nrc.gov no
later than April 13, 2005. Members of the public may also register to
speak at the meeting within 15 minutes of the start of the meeting.
Individual oral comments may be limited by the time available,
depending on the number of persons who register. Members of the public
who have not registered may also have an opportunity to speak, if time
permits. Ms. Davis will need to be contacted no later than April 13,
2005, if special equipment or accommodations are needed to attend or
present information at the public meeting, so that the NRC staff can
determine whether the request can be accommodated.
Members of the public may send written comments on the DEIS
concerning the Exelon ESP application to the Chief, Rules and
Directives Branch, Division of Administrative Services, Office of
Administration, Mailstop T-6D59, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
Washington, DC 20555-0001, and should cite the publication date and
page number of this Federal Register Notice. Comments may also be
delivered to Room T-6D59, Two White Flint North, 11545 Rockville Pike,
Rockville, Maryland 20852, from 7:30 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. during Federal
workdays. To be considered, written comments should be postmarked by
May 25, 2005. Electronic comments may be sent by the Internet to the
NRC at ClintonEIS@nrc.gov. Electronic submissions should be sent no
later than May 25, 2005. Comments will be available electronically and
accessible through the NRC's PERR link at
http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, CONTACT: Jennifer Davis, License Renewal and
Environmental Impacts Program, Division of Regulatory Improvement
Programs, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC, 20555-
0001. Ms. Davis may be contacted at the aforementioned telephone number
or e-mail address.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 2nd day of March, 2005.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Pao-Tsin Kuo,
Program Director, License Renewal and Environmental Impacts Program,
Division of Regulatory Improvement Programs, Office of Nuclear Reactor
Regulation.
[FR Doc. 05-4669 Filed 3-9-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P
------------------------------------------
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22 NRC: NRC to Discuss 2004 Performance Assessment for Seabrook Nuclear Power Plant
News Release - Region I - 2005-01 U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY
COMMISSION
Office of Public Affairs, Region I No. I-05-010
March 9, 2005 CONTACT: Diane Screnci (610) 337-5330 Neil A.
Sheehan (610) 337-5331 E-mail:
Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff will meet with
representatives of FPL Energy Seabrook, LLC, on Wednesday, March
16, to discuss the agencys annual assessment of safety
performance at the Seabrook nuclear power plant. The period of
performance to be discussed is Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, 2004..
FPL Energy operates the plant, which is located in Seabrook,
N.H.
The meeting, which will be open to the public for observation,
is scheduled to begin at 3 p.m. at the plants Emergency
Operations Facility, 165 Gosling Road in Newington, N.H. Before
the session is adjourned, NRC staff will be available to answer
questions from the public on the plants safety performance, as
well as the agencys role in ensuring safe operation of the
facility.
Every year the NRC rates the performance of Seabrook and the
nations other commercial nuclear power plants, NRC Region I
Administrator Samuel J. Collins said. This meeting will provide
an opportunity for a discussion of our assessment with the
company and with local officials and residents who live near the
plant. Our goal is to make as much information as possible
available to the public regarding our oversight of these
facilities.
A letter sent from the NRC Region I Office to plant officials
addresses the performance of the plant during the period and
will serve as the basis for the meeting discussion. It is
available on the NRC web site at
http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/LETTERS/seab_2004q4.pdf
[PDF Icon] .
Overall, the Seabrook plant operated safely during the period.
The NRC uses color-coded inspection findings and performance
indicators to assess nuclear power plant performance. The colors
start with green and then increase to white, yellow or red,
commensurate with the safety significance of the issues
involved. Because all of the inspection findings and performance
indicators for the plant during 2004 were determined to be
green, Seabrook will receive a baseline level of inspections
during the upcoming assessment period.
Routine inspections are performed by two NRC Resident Inspectors
assigned to the plant and by inspection specialists from the
Region I Office in King of Prussia, Pa., and the agencys
headquarters in Rockville, Md. Among the areas of plant
operations to be inspected this year by NRC specialists are fire
protection, emergency preparedness and radiological safety.
Current performance information for Seabrook is available on the
NRC web site at:
http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/SEAB1/seab1_chart.html.
Last revised Thursday, March 10, 2005
*****************************************************************
23 NRC: NRC to Discuss 2004 Performance Assessment for Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant
News Release - Region I - 2005-01 U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY
COMMISSION
Office of Public Affairs, Region I No. I-05-011
March 9, 2005 CONTACT: Diane Screnci (610) 337-5330 Neil A.
Sheehan (610) 337-5331 E-mail: opa1@nrc.gov
Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff will meet with
representatives of Entergy Nuclear on Thursday, March 17, to
discuss the agencys annual assessment of safety performance at
the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant. The period of
performance to be discussed is January 1 to December 31, 2004.
Entergy operates the plant, which is located in Vernon, Vt.
The meeting, which will be open to the public for observation,
is scheduled to begin at 2 p.m. at the Governor Hunt House, 320
Governor Hunt Road in Vernon. Before the session is adjourned,
NRC staff will be available to answer questions from the public
on the plants safety performance, as well as the agencys role in
ensuring safe operation of the facility.
"Every year the NRC rates the performance of Vermont Yankee and
the nations other commercial nuclear power plants," NRC Region I
Administrator Samuel J. Collins said. "This meeting will provide
an opportunity for a discussion of our assessment with the
company and with local officials and residents who live near the
plant. Our goal is to make as much information as possible
available to the public regarding our oversight of these
facilities."
A letter sent from the NRC Region I Office to plant officials
addresses the performance of the plant during the period and
will serve as the basis for the meeting discussion. It is
available on the NRC web site at:
http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/LETTERS/vy_2004q4.pdf.
Overall, Vermont Yankee operated safely during the period. The
NRC uses color-coded inspection findings and performance
indicators to assess nuclear power plant performance. The colors
start with "green" and then increase to "white," "yellow" or
"red," commensurate with the safety significance of the issues
involved. Because Vermont Yankee has received an inspection
finding classified as "white," or of low to moderate safety
significance, the plant will receive additional oversight until
the problem involved has been satisfactorily addressed. The
finding stems from a determination that Entergy could not ensure
there was proper distribution and maintenance of tone alert
radios that would be used to alert individuals in portions of
the plants 10-mile-radius Emergency Planning Zone who would not
hear sirens due to the terrain.
In addition, the NRC is still reviewing an apparent violation
related to recordkeeping, procedural adherence and physical
inventory work that may have contributed to the temporary loss
of two spend fuel rod pieces at Vermont Yankee. The NRC may
conduct a follow-up inspection related to the issue upon final
disposition of the apparent violation.
Routine inspections are performed by two NRC Resident Inspectors
assigned to the plant and by inspection specialists from the
Region I Office in King of Prussia, Pa., and the agencys
headquarters in Rockville, Md. Among the areas of plant
operations to be inspected this year by NRC specialists are
emergency response, radioactive materials processing and
transportation, and the effectiveness of the plants maintenance
activities.
Current performance information for Vermont Yankee is available
on the NRC web site at:
http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/VY/vy_chart.html.
Last revised Thursday, March 10, 2005
*****************************************************************
24 Fredericksburg.com: North Anna nuclear debate is good--as long as
it's based on fact
Facts--not diatribes--are needed in nuclear-power debate
Date published: 3/10/2005
RICHMOND--In his recent letter to the editor, Paxus Calta ["Want
the whole story on nuclear power? You pay, big time," Feb. 25]
quotes me as saying, "We're here because we don't think the
media are telling the whole story."
Linking my statement to "anti-market subsidies," he presents the
typical propaganda and skewed data of anti-nuclear extremists
that I was criticizing. He quotes me out of context,
disingenuously, to make his point.
My assertion was that the benefits of nuclear power receive
short shrift in the public discourse on this country's energy
needs. Yes, the nuclear industry receives research and
development funds from the federal government, but so does every
energy technology.
The 2006 Department of Energy research and development budget
provides $1.2 billion for renewables and conservation, $800
million for clean coal, and $510 million for nuclear. These
levels reflect the growing awareness that the United States will
need a diverse generation portfolio to meet increasing demand,
to reduce emissions, and to move closer to energy independence.
Some technologies also receive production tax credits. For
example, the current tax credit for wind power is $18 per
megawatt-hour produced. Currently, no such production tax
incentive exists for the nuclear industry.
However, in order to assist in overcoming financial concerns and
uncertainty in using a new licensing process, some have
suggested that the first few new nuclear plants be provided with
a limited set of incentives. The most recent proposal capped
support at $125 million for up to 6,000 MW for the first eight
years. This formula would equate to about 35 cents per MWh.
Calta's description of government support also distorts the
Price-Anderson Act. First, nuclear operators do carry their own
property insurance. Second, the Price-Anderson Act allows
commercial nuclear operators to purchase "group" liability
insurance that would be used only in the case of a major
accident.
For both property and liability insurance, commercial nuclear
operators pay 100 percent of the premiums; taxpayers and the
government contribute nothing.
Since its inception in 1957, the Price-Anderson Act has become a
model for other industries and activities that our society deems
essential, such as oil production, agriculture, banking, and
vaccine production. If we were to eliminate all such programs,
many people would lose their homes, children would not be
vaccinated, and food and oil prices would skyrocket.
Objections to the Yucca Mountain project fail to mention that
commercial nuclear operators have paid, and continue to pay,
billions of dollars to a fund to store and dispose of spent
nuclear fuel.
Much of the delay and final costs of the project can be
attributed to the frivolous lawsuits filed by extremist groups
such as the Nuclear Information and Resource Service, for which
Calta is a board member.
After working in the management of spent nuclear fuel for nearly
a decade, I am confident that it can be transported and disposed
of safely. If citizens revolt, as Calta suggests, it will be
when they realize that the problem of final disposition is
political, not technical.
And Calta's windmills? Sixty thousand of the most advanced
windmills operating under the best conditions in the most
suitable areas would occupy more than 1.3 million acres of land
and would equate to less than 10 percent of our nation's current
electricity production.
Furthermore, his cost estimate for windmills does not take into
account that backup power sources must be built and maintained
to compensate for wind power's low-capacity factors.
That's not to say that we shouldn't build wind farms where
feasible, but even the American Wind Energy Association has
concluded that under the best of circumstances, wind energy
could supply only about 6 percent of our nation's electricity by
the year 2020.
Should citizens raise their concerns regarding new nuclear power
plants and energy policy? Certainly. But we can't have a fair
debate without proper perspective.
LISA SHELL is vice president of North American Young Generation
in Nuclear, a group of individuals aged 35 and younger who work
in the fields of nuclear science and technology.
Date published: 3/10/2005
Fredericksburg.com, 605 William Street, Fredericksburg, VA 22401
Comments? Send us Feedback, Phone: 540-368-5055 To contact all
other newspaper departments, please call 540-374-5000. Copyright
2005, The Free Lance-Star Publishing Co. of Fredericksburg, Va.
*****************************************************************
25 CNW Telbec: Greenpeace Protests Nuclear Industry Conference - $38
billion bill for Nuclear Power
11 mars 2005
RECHERCHE Attention News/Assignment Editors:
OTTAWA, March 9 /CNW Telbec/ -
What: Greenpeace activists will protest in front of the national
conference of the Canadian Nuclear Association (CNA) - Canada's
nuclear industry lobby. Activists will be dressed in mock-
radiation protection suits, and be handing out $38 billion "Nuke
Bucks" to conference attendees.
$38 billion is the amount of past federal nuclear subsidies to
Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL) plus the expected cost of
rebuilding aging nuclear plants in Ontario, Quebec and New
Brunswick.
Where: The Westin Ottawa, 11 Colonel By Drive, Ottawa, Ontario
When: Thursday March 10, 2005, 10:00a.m.
For further information: Dave Martin, Greenpeace Energy
Coordinator, (cell) (416) 627-5004; Shawn-Patrick Stencil,
Greenpeace Energy Campaigner, (cell) (416) 884-7053; Andrew Male,
Greenpeace Communications Coordinator, (416) 597-8408 X 3030,
(cell) (416) 880-2757
© 2005 Groupe CNW Ltée
*****************************************************************
26 CNW Telbec: MEDIA ADVISORY - "The Nuclear Renaissance - Powering Up"
11 mars 2005 RECHERCHE
Attention News/Assignment/Energy/Environment/Science/Political
Editors:
OTTAWA, March 9 /CNW Telbec/ - With 439 nuclear reactors in
30 countries,
25 nuclear reactors under construction and another 37 being
planned, energy
leaders from around the world will gather in Ottawa to discuss
nuclear energy
policy and nuclear's future in Canada and around the world.
You are invited to attend the Nuclear Industry
Conference
Wednesday and Thursday, March 9 & 10, 2005
The Westin Ottawa, 11 Colonel By Drive, Ottawa,
Ontario
March 9, 2005 - 7:30 p.m.
The Honourable R. John Efford, Minister of Natural Resources
Canada, will
speak about the government's commitment to nuclear technology
research and
development and Canada's leadership role in the nuclear industry
in Canada and
worldwide.
March 10, 2005
8:00 a.m. The Honourable Jake Epp, Chairman, Ontario Power
Generation
(OPG), will look back over the past year, his first as chairman
of OPG. He
will discuss the company's efforts to make its nuclear business
successful -
in terms of better operating performance, good project
management of the
Pickering A Unit 1 return to service, and moving forward with
respect to
long-term management of nuclear waste.
9:15 a.m. Dr. James Lovelock, environmentalist, scientist,
author and
inventor, will speak in his video message about the urgency of
reducing the
amount of greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere and of
shifting to
non-emitting sources of energy like nuclear to combat climate
change.
9:30 a.m. Anne Lauvergeon, President and CEO, AREVA, the
largest nuclear
company in the world, will talk about the global need for
nuclear power and
the strategies required to meet the demand for an affordable,
clean and secure
energy supply.
... and other energy leaders in the field from Canada, the
United States
and around the world.
For further information: concerning this event or to book
interviews
please contact: Claudia Lemieux, Director of Communications and
Media
Relations, Canadian Nuclear Association, (613) 237-9082, E-mail:
lemieuxc@cna.ca, Full Program: www.cna.ca
© 2005 Groupe CNW Ltée
*****************************************************************
27 NRC: Agency Information Collection Activities: Submission for the
FR Doc 05-4668
[Federal Register: March 10, 2005 (Volume 70, Number 46)]
[Notices] [Page 12019-12020] From the Federal Register Online via
GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr10mr05-123]
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Review; Comment Request
AGENCY: U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). ACTION: Notice
of the OMB review of information collection and solicitation of
public comment.
SUMMARY: The NRC has recently submitted to OMB for review the
following proposal for the collection of information under the
provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C.
Chapter 35). The NRC hereby informs potential respondents that an
agency may not conduct or sponsor, and that a person is not
required to respond to, a collection of information unless it
displays a currently valid OMB control number.
1. Type of submission, new, revision, or extension: Revision. 2.
The title of the information collection: 10 CFR Part 73--
``Physical Protection of Plants and Materials.'' 3. The form
number if applicable: Not Applicable. 4. How often the collection
is required: On occasion, with the exception of the initial
submittal of revised Security Plans, Safeguards Contingency
Plans, and Security Training and Qualification Plans. Required
reports are submitted and evaluated as events occur.
5. Who will be required or asked to report: Nuclear power reactor
licensees, licensed under 10 CFR Part 50 or 52 who possess, use,
import, export, transport, or deliver to a carrier for transport,
special nuclear material.
6. An estimate of the number of responses: 78,478. 7. The
estimated number of annual respondents: 384.
[[Page 12020]] 8. An estimate of the total number of hours needed
annually to complete the requirement or request: 524,820 hours
(50,212 reporting [0.64 hours per response] and 474,608
recordkeeping [1,236 hours per recordkeeper]).
9. An indication of whether Section 3507(d), Pub. L. 104-13
applies: Not applicable.
10. Abstract: NRC regulations in 10 CFR part 73 prescribe
requirements for establishment and maintenance of a physical
protection system with capabilities for protection of special
nuclear material at fixed sites and in transit and of plants in
which special nuclear material is used. The information in the
reports and records is used by the NRC staff to ensure that the
health and safety of the public is protected and that licensee
possession and use of special nuclear material is in compliance
with license and regulatory requirements.
A copy of the final supporting statement may be viewed free of
charge at the NRC Public Document Room, One White Flint North,
11555 Rockville Pike, Room O-1 F23, Rockville, MD 20852. OMB
clearance requests are available at the NRC worldwide web site:
http://www.nrc.gov/public-involve/doc-comment/omb/index.html. The
document will be available on the NRC home page site for 60 days
after the signature date of this notice.
Comments and questions should be directed to the OMB reviewer
listed below by April 11, 2005. Comments received after this date
will be considered if it is practical to do so, but assurance of
consideration cannot be given to comments received after this
date.
John A. Asalone, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs
(3150- 0002), NEOB-10202, Office of Management and Budget,
Washington DC 20503.
Comments can also be e-mailed to JohnA.Asalone@omb.eop.gov or
submitted by telephone at (202) 395-4687.
The NRC Clearance Officer is Brenda Jo. Shelton, 301-415-7233.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 3rd day of March 2005.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Brenda Jo. Shelton, NRC Clearance Officer, Office of Information
Services.
[FR Doc. 05-4668 Filed 3-9-05; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590-01-P
*****************************************************************
28 VermontGuardian: Vermont Yankee's dry-cask plan expected by week's end
By Kathryn Casa | Vermont Guardian
Posted March 10, 2005
BRATTLEBORO Lawmakers expect a proposal by week's end from
Entergy officials outlining the companys plans to store
radioactive fuel at the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant in Vernon.
Entergy's lobbyists have agreed to give us a written proposal
and we have agreed to work on and try to pass a dry-cask bill
that would involve enough dry cask to enable the plant to
operate until 2012 and have a fee or tax on the casks, Rep.
Steve Darrow, D-Putney, told the Vermont Guardian late
Wednesday.
Legislative leaders and Entergy lobbyists agreed during a
meeting Wednesday that Entergy would submit their plan to the
House Natural Resources Committee, Darrow said.
I feel like we made a lot of progress today, added Darrow, a
member of the Natural Resources Committee who closely follows
energy issues. Im pleased that Entergy will give us the
information that weve been asking for.
The question of whether Vermont should allow dry-cask storage of
spent nuclear fuel has been the elephant in the Statehouse this
session. Although delegates knew Vermont Yankee was seeking
permission to build the facility, the company has yet to submit
a formal proposal to the Legislature.
As recently as late last month, Vermont Yankee officials
continued to press for a simple wording change in Vermont
statute that would extend an exemption to Entergy Nuclear
Vermont Yankee, a subsidiary of the multinational Entergy
Nuclear, which bought the plant three years ago from a coalition
of regional utilities.
Vice President Jay Thayer told lawmakers Feb. 23, I think what
we seek is the clarification of an existing exemption. That
exemption would have allowed Vermont Yankees original owners to
construct a waste storage facility without further legislative
approval. Entergy argues that the exemption should extend to the
plants new owners.
But after the Legislature twice rejected the wording change,
Darrow said earlier this week that he expected more from the
company. We want them to propose a realistic starting point,
since their original starting point was changing one little
world and taking the Legislature out of the picture, he said.
So far, the only formal dry-cask proposal on the table is the
one Vermont Yankee officials filed last month with the Windham
Regional Commission as a precursor to an application to the
Vermont Public Service Board, which must issue a certificate of
public good for the project. Entergy is expected to file
formally with the board as early as March 18.
In its quasi-judicial capacity, the board has a narrower purview
than the Legislature, with a mandate to review only the
financial aspects of radioactive waste storage.
The Windham Regional proposal does not specify the number of
casks for which Vermont Yankee seeks permission. However, a map
included in the plan shows enough space for 36 casks on a
reinforced rebar and concrete pad, plus four empty spaces that
would enable the casks to be moved, if necessary.
Darrow said he expects the Legislature to impost strict
limitations on the number of casks Vermont Yankee is authorized
to install.
Anti-nuclear activists point out that three dozen casks is
enough storage space to enable the plant to operate not only
through its existing license, which expires in 2012, but through
a 20-year license extension.
In addition to their bid for permission to store radioactive
waste, Vermont Yankee officials have also asked the state and
the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission for approval to
increase power output at the 30-year-old boiling water reactor
by 20 percent. Approval of both plans is widely seen as a
prerequisite to an effort to extend the federal license on the
plant.
Vermont Yankees current capacity is 540 megawatts. It supplies
approximately one-third of Vermonts energy.
Vermont Guardian
©2004-2005 Vermont Guardian | info@vermontguardian.com
*****************************************************************
29 NRC: Exelon Generating Company, LLC; Notice of Availability of the
FR Doc 05-4669
[Federal Register: March 10, 2005 (Volume 70, Number 46)]
[Notices] [Page 12022] From the Federal Register Online via GPO
Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr10mr05-125] [[Page 12022]]
Draft Environmental Impact Statement for an Early Site Permit
(ESP) at the Exelon ESP Site and Associated Public Meeting Notice
is hereby given that the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC,
the Commission) has published NUREG-1815, ``Environmental Impact
Statement for an Early Site Permit (ESP) at the Exelon ESP Site:
Draft Report for Comment.'' The site is located near the town of
Clinton in DeWitt County, Illinois. The application for the ESP
was submitted by letter dated September 25, 2003, pursuant to
Title 10 Code of the Federal Regulations Part 52 (10 CFR part
52). The application included a site redress plan in accordance
with 10 CFR 52.17(c) and 52.25. If the site redress plan is
incorporated in an approved ESP, then the applicant may carry out
certain site preparation work and preliminary construction
activities. A notice of receipt and availability of the
application, which included the environmental report (ER), was
published in the Federal Register on October 24, 2003 (68 FR
61020). A notice of acceptance for docketing of the application
for the ESP was published in the Federal Register on October 30,
2003 (68 FR 61835). A notice of intent to prepare an
environmental impact statement and to conduct the scoping process
was published in the Federal Register on November 25, 2003 (68 FR
66130).
The purpose of this notice is to inform the public that
NUREG-1815, ``Environmental Impact Statement for an Early Site
Permit (ESP) at the Exelon ESP Site: Draft Report for Comment,''
is available for public inspection in the NRC Public Document
Room (PDR) located at One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike
(first floor), Rockville, Maryland 20852, or from the Publicly
Available Records (PARS) component of NRC's Agencywide Documents
Access and Management System (ADAMS), and will also be placed
directly on the NRC Web site at http://www.nrc.gov ADAMS is
accessible from the NRC Web site at
http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. (the Public Electronic
Reading Room). Persons who do not have access to ADAMS, or who
encounter problems in accessing the documents located in ADAMS,
should contact the PDR reference staff at 1-800-397-4209,
301-415-4737, or by e-mail to pdr@nrc.gov. In addition, the
Vespasian Warner Public Library, located at 310 North Quincy
Street, Clinton, Illinois 61727, has agreed to make the DEIS
available for public inspection.
The NRC staff will hold a public meeting to present an overview
of the DEIS and to accept public comments on the document. The
public meeting will be held at the Vespasian Warner Public
Library, located at 310 North Quincy Street, Clinton, Illinois
61727, on Tuesday, April 19, 2005. The meeting will convene at 7
p.m. and will continue until 10 p.m., as necessary. The meeting
will be transcribed and will include: (1) A presentation of the
contents of the DEIS, and (2) the opportunity for interested
government agencies, organizations, and individuals to provide
comments on the draft report. Additionally, the NRC staff will
host informal discussions one hour before the start of the
meeting at the library. No formal comments on the DEIS will be
accepted during the informal discussions. To be considered,
comments must be provided either at the transcribed public
meeting or in writing. Persons may register to attend or present
oral comments at the meeting by contacting Ms. Jennifer Davis, by
telephone at 1-800-368-5642, extension 3835, or by Internet to
the NRC at ClintonEIS@nrc.gov no later than April 13, 2005.
Members of the public may also register to speak at the meeting
within 15 minutes of the start of the meeting. Individual oral
comments may be limited by the time available, depending on the
number of persons who register. Members of the public who have
not registered may also have an opportunity to speak, if time
permits. Ms. Davis will need to be contacted no later than April
13, 2005, if special equipment or accommodations are needed to
attend or present information at the public meeting, so that the
NRC staff can determine whether the request can be accommodated.
Members of the public may send written comments on the DEIS
concerning the Exelon ESP application to the Chief, Rules and
Directives Branch, Division of Administrative Services, Office of
Administration, Mailstop T-6D59, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, and should cite the
publication date and page number of this Federal Register Notice.
Comments may also be delivered to Room T-6D59, Two White Flint
North, 11545 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852, from 7:30
a.m. to 4:15 p.m. during Federal workdays. To be considered,
written comments should be postmarked by May 25, 2005. Electronic
comments may be sent by the Internet to the NRC at
ClintonEIS@nrc.gov. Electronic submissions should be sent no
later than May 25, 2005. Comments will be available
electronically and accessible through the NRC's PERR link at
http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html .
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, CONTACT: Jennifer Davis, License Renewal
and Environmental Impacts Program, Division of Regulatory
Improvement Programs, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
Washington, DC, 20555- 0001. Ms. Davis may be contacted at the
aforementioned telephone number or e-mail address.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 2nd day of March, 2005.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Pao-Tsin Kuo, Program Director, License Renewal and Environmental
Impacts Program, Division of Regulatory Improvement Programs,
Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. 05-4669 Filed 3-9-05; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590-01-P
*****************************************************************
30 NRC: In the Matter of Jack J. Spurling; Order Prohibiting Involvement
FR Doc 05-4670
[Federal Register: March 10, 2005 (Volume 70, Number 46)]
[Notices] [Page 12020-12021] From the Federal Register Online via
GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr10mr05-124]
in NRC-Licensed Activities FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Company
(FENOC or Licensee) holds License No. NPF-58 issued by the
Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC or Commission) pursuant to 10
CFR part 50 on November 13, 1986. The license authorizes the
operation of the Perry Nuclear Power Plant (Perry) in accordance
with the conditions specified therein. The facility is located on
the Licensee's site near Painesville, Ohio.
From November 8, 1999, to May 1, 2000, Jack J. Spurling was
employed as the Site Superintendent for the Williams Power
Corporation (Williams Power), a contractor of the Licensee at
Perry.
The NRC Office of Investigations (OI) conducted an investigation
to determine if an individual previously employed as a painter by
Williams Power at Perry was laid off in violation of 10 CFR 50.7
on March 9, 2000, because the painter had participated in
protected activities (OI Report No. 3-2000-025). Three painters
employed by Williams Power met with a FENOC maintenance
supervisor at Perry on March 8, 2000, to discuss their concerns
about directions given by the Williams Power general foreman to
omit steps, including preparing the surface prior to applying
paint, required by a licensee painting procedure for the Perry
Fuel Handling Building. As a result, the FENOC maintenance
supervisor prepared a condition report on March 9, 2000. The
FENOC maintenance supervisor made Mr. Spurling aware of the
contents of the condition report and informed Mr. Spurling that
the painters wanted to meet with the Perry Ombudsman to discuss
their concerns. Mr. Spurling then arranged for the painters to
meet with the Ombudsman.
Subsequently, upon the painters' return to the Williams Power
work area after their March 9, 2000, meeting with the Ombudsman,
Mr. Spurling told the painters that they could volunteer for a
layoff or be terminated. As a result, two painters volunteered
for layoff and the third was forced to resign. Final payroll
checks for the painters had been prepared by Mr. Spurling that
morning before they met with the Ombudsman, indicating that the
layoff was planned by Mr. Spurling in retaliation for the
painters' contacts with the FENOC maintenance supervisor and the
Perry Ombudsman.
The painters' contacts with the FENOC maintenance supervisor on
March 8, 2000, and the Perry Ombudsman on March 9, 2000, to
discuss their concerns about adherence to procedures by Williams
Power were activities protected by 10 CFR 50.7. These protected
activities were a contributing factor to the threats to the three
painters to accept layoff or be terminated, to the layoff of two
painters and to the constructive discharge (forced resignation)
of the third painter. Therefore, a Notice of Violation was issued
on this date to Williams Power Corporation (EA-082) and a Notice
of Violation and Proposed Civil Penalty--$55,000 was issued on
this date to the licensee (EA-01-083), both for an apparent
violation of 10 CFR 50.7, ``Employee Protection.'' During its
investigation, OI requested that Williams Power provide copies of
the termination paychecks which Mr. Spurling had prepared for the
painters. Williams Power produced two checks dated March 9, 2000,
and a third check dated March 10, 2000. During a sworn
transcribed interview with OI on November 2, 2000, and at the
predecisional enforcement conference (PEC) on September 26, 2001,
Mr. Spurling denied that he had selected the three painters for
layoff because they had contacted FENOC with their concerns. Mr.
Spurling also denied that he had prepared any termination
paychecks prior to asking the painters to volunteer for layoff,
and denied that he had destroyed one of the paychecks.
Following the PEC of September 26, 2001, the Williams Power
Assistant General Counsel questioned Mr. Spurling about the
termination paychecks. Mr. Spurling admitted that he had prepared
the termination paychecks on March 9, 2000, prior to asking the
painters to volunteer for layoff. Mr. Spurling also admitted that
he destroyed a check when one of the painters did not volunteer
for layoff. The Assistant General Counsel for Williams Power
initiated an inquiry and determined from payroll records that a
third check was prepared on March 9, 2000, and located a witness
who had been contacted by Mr. Spurling and was told by Mr.
Spurling to delete the third check from the payroll record.
In a second interview with OI on January 12, 2002, Mr.
Spurling verified that he had prepared termination paychecks
prior to asking the painters to volunteer for layoff and that he
had destroyed a check when one of the painters did not volunteer
for layoff. (OI Report No. 3- 2000-025S.) The Office of
Investigations presented information to the U.S. Department of
[[Page 12021]] Justice (DOJ) that Mr. Spurling had deliberately
provided inaccurate information to NRC during a November 2, 2000,
interview with OI and during the September 26, 2001, PEC. The
Office of the United States Attorney, Chicago, Illinois, charged
Mr. Spurling with a violation of 18 U.S.C. 1001(a)(2),
``Statements or Entries Generally,'' for the false information
provided by Mr. Spurling to OI on November 2, 2000, while Mr.
Spurling was under oath. On July 22, 2004, Mr. Spurling appeared
in the United States District Court, Northern District of
Illinois, Eastern Division, Chicago, Illinois, and entered a plea
of guilty to the violation of 18 U.S.C. 1001(a)(2), a felony. Mr.
Spurling was sentenced to serve one year of probation, ordered to
perform 100 hours of community service, and ordered to pay a
special assessment.
Based on the above, NRC concludes that Mr. Spurling deliberately
provided materially inaccurate information to the NRC on November
2, 2000, and September 26, 2001, when he denied that he had: (1)
Preselected the three painters for layoff; (2) prepared any
termination paychecks prior to asking the painters to volunteer
for layoff; and (3) destroyed one of the termination paychecks.
This information was material to the NRC because it was capable
of influencing a determination whether a violation of 10 CFR 50.7
had occurred. Based on the above, Jack J. Spurling, an employee
of Williams Power, a contractor at Perry, caused the Licensee and
Williams Power to be in violation of 10 CFR 50.7, and
deliberately provided materially inaccurate information to the
NRC, placing both himself and Williams Power in violation of 10
CFR 50.5(a)(2). The NRC must be able to rely on its licensees,
contractors of NRC licensees, and the employees of NRC licensees
and their contractors to comply with NRC requirements, including
the requirement to provide information that is complete and
accurate in all material respects. Mr. Spurling's deliberate
misrepresentations to the NRC have raised serious doubt as to
whether he can be relied upon to comply with NRC requirements and
to provide complete and accurate information to the NRC.
Consequently, I lack the requisite reasonable assurance that
licensed activities can be conducted in compliance with the
Commission's requirements and that the health and safety of the
public will be protected if Jack J. Spurling were permitted at
this time to be involved in NRC-licensed activities. Therefore,
the public health, safety and interest require that Jack J.
Spurling be prohibited from any involvement in NRC-licensed
activities for a period of three years from the date of this
Order and that he immediately cease NRC-licensed activities if
currently involved in licensed activities with another NRC
licensee.
Accordingly, pursuant to Sections 103, 161b, 161i, 161o, 182 and
186 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, and the
Commission's regulations in 10 CFR 2.202, 10 CFR Part 50, and 10
CFR 150.20, it is hereby ordered that: 1. Jack J. Spurling is
prohibited for three years from the date of this Order from
engaging in NRC-licensed activities.
NRC-licensed activities are those activities that are conducted
pursuant to a specific or general license issued by the NRC,
including, but not limited to, those activities of Agreement
State licensees conducted pursuant to the authority granted by 10
CFR 150.20. 2. If Jack J. Spurling is currently involved with any
licensee in NRC-licensed activities, he must immediately cease
those activities, and inform the NRC of the name, address, and
telephone number of the licensee, and provide a copy of this
Order to the licensee.
The Director, Office of Enforcement, may, in writing, relax or
rescind any of the above conditions upon demonstration by Jack J.
Spurling of good cause.
In accordance with 10 CFR 2.202, Jack J. Spurling must, and any
other person adversely affected by this Order may, submit an
answer to this Order, and may request a hearing on this Order,
within 20 days of the date of this Order. Where good cause is
shown, consideration will be given to extending the time to
request a hearing. A request for extension of time must be made
in writing to the Director, Office of Enforcement, U.S. Nuclear
Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555, and include a
statement of good cause for the extension. The answer may consent
to this Order. Unless the answer consents to this Order, the
answer shall, in writing and under oath or affirmation,
specifically admit or deny each allegation or charge made in this
Order and shall set forth the matters of fact and law on which
Jack J. Spurling or other person adversely affected relies and
the reasons as to why the Order should not have been issued. Any
answer or request for a hearing shall be submitted to the
Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Attn: Rulemakings
and Adjudications Staff, Washington, DC 20555. Copies also shall
be sent to the Director, Office of Enforcement, U.S. Nuclear
Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555, to the Assistant
General Counsel for Materials Litigation and Enforcement at the
same address, to the Regional Administrator, NRC Region III, 2443
Warrenville Road, Suite 210, Lisle, Illinois 60532- 4352, and to
Mr. Spurling if the answer or hearing request is by a person
other than Mr. Spurling. Because of continuing disruptions in
delivery of mail to United States Government offices, it is
requested that answers and requests for hearing be transmitted to
the Secretary of the Commission either by means of facsimile
transmission to (301) 415-1101 or by e-mail to
hearingdocket@nrc.gov and also to the Office of the General
Counsel either by means of facsimile transmission to (301)
415-3725 or by e-mail to OGCMailCenter@nrc.gov. If a person other
than Jack J. Spurling requests a hearing, that person shall set
forth with particularity the manner in which his interest is
adversely affected by this Order and shall address the criteria
set forth in 10 CFR 2.309. If a hearing is requested by Jack J.
Spurling or a person whose interest is adversely affected, the
Commission will issue an Order designating the time and place of
any hearing. If a hearing is held, the issue to be considered at
such hearing shall be whether this Order should be sustained.
In the absence of any request for hearing, or written approval of
an extension of time in which to request a hearing, the
provisions specified in Section IV above shall be effective and
final 20 days from the date of this Order without further order
or proceedings. If an extension of time for requesting a hearing
has been approved, the provisions specified in Section IV shall
be final when the extension expires if a hearing request has not
been received.
Dated this 25th day of February, 2005.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Frank J. Congel, Director, Office of Enforcement.
[FR Doc. 05-4670 Filed 3-9-05; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590-01-P
*****************************************************************
31 NRC: Sunshine Act; Meeting
FR Doc 05-4789
[Federal Register: March 10, 2005 (Volume 70, Number 46)]
[Notices] [Page 12023-12024] From the Federal Register Online via
GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr10mr05-127]
Agency Holding the Meeting: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Date: Week of March 7, 2005.
Place: Commissioners' Conference Room, 11555 Rockville Pike,
Rockville, Maryland.
Status: Public and Closed.
Matters to be Considered Week of March 7, 2005 Monday, March 7,
2005 11:30 a.m. Discussion of Security Issues (Closed--Ex. 1).
[[Page 12024]] *The schedule for Commission meetings is subject
to change on short notice. To verify the status of meetings call
(recording)--(301) 415- 1292. Contact person for more
information: Dave Gamberoni, (301) 415- 1651.
* * * * * Additional Information By a vote of 5-0 on March 7, the
Commission determined pursuant to U.S.C. 552b(e) and Sec.
9.107(a) of the Commission's rules that ``Discussion of Security
Issues (Closed--Ex. 1)'' be held March 7, and on less than on
week's notice to the public.
* * * * * The NRC Commission Meeting Schedule can be found on the
Internet at:
http://www.nrc.gov/what-we-do/policy-making/schedule.html. * * *
* * The NRC provides reasonable accommodation to individuals with
disabilities where appropriate. If you need a reasonable
accommodation to participate in these public meetings, or need
this meeting notice or the transcript or other information from
the public meetings in another format (e.g. braille, large
print), please notify the NRC's Disability Program Coordinator,
August Spector, at 301-415-7080, TDD: 301-415- 2100, or by e-mail
at aks@nrc.gov. Determinations on requests for reasonable
accommodation will be made on a case-by-case basis.
* * * * * This notice is distributed by mail to several hundred
subscribers; if you no longer wish to receive it, or would like
to be added to the distribution, please contact the Office of the
Secretary, Washington, DC 20555 (301-415-1969). In addition,
distribution of this meeting notice over the Internet system is
available. If you are interested in receiving this Commission
meeting schedule electronically, please send an electronic
message to dkw@nrc.gov. Dated: March 7, 2005.
Dave Gamberoni, Office of the Secretary.
[FR Doc. 05-4789 Filed 3-8-05; 10:00 am] BILLING CODE 7590-01-M
*****************************************************************
32 NRC: Sunshine Act, Meeting
FR Doc 05-4790
[Federal Register: March 10, 2005 (Volume 70, Number 46)]
[Notices] [Page 12024] From the Federal Register Online via GPO
Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr10mr05-128]
Agency Holding the Meeting: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Date: Week of March 7, 2005.
Place: Commissioners' Conference Room, 11555 Rockville Pike,
Rockville, Maryland.
Status: Public and Closed.
Matters to be Considered Week of March 7, 2005 Monday, March 7,
2005 12:40 p.m. Discussion of Management Issues (Closed--Ex. 2).
* The schedule for Commission meetings is subject to change on
short notice. To verify the status of meetings call
(recording)--(301) 415-1292. Contact person for more information:
Dave Gamberoni, (301) 415-1651.
* * * * * Additional Information By a vote of 5-0 on March 7, the
Commission determined pursuant to U.S.C. 552b(e) and Sec.
9.107(a) of the Commission's rules that ``Discussion of
Management Issues (Closed--Ex. 2)'' be held March 7, and on less
than one week's notice to the public.
* * * * * The NRC Commission Meeting Schedule can be found on the
Internet at:
http:http://www.nrc.gov/what-we-do/policy-making/schedule.html. *
* * * * The NRC provides reasonable accommodation to individuals
with disabilities where appropriate. If you need a reasonable
accommodation to participate in these public meetings, or need
this meeting notice or the transcript or other information from
the public meetings in another format (e.g. braille, large
print), please notify the NRC's Disability Program Coordinator,
August Spector, at 301-415-7080, TDD: 301-415- 2100, or by e-mail
at aks@nrc.gov. Determinations on requests for reasonable
accommodation will be made on a case-by-case basis.
* * * * * This notice is distributed by mail to several hundred
subscribers; if you no longer wish to receive it, or would like
to be added to the distribution, please contact the Office of the
Secretary, Washington, DC 20555 (301-415-1969). In addition,
distribution of this meeting notice over the Internet system is
available. If you are interested in receiving this Commission
meeting schedule electronically, please send an electronic
message to dkvw@nrc.gov. Dated: March 7, 2005.
Dave Gamberoni, Office of the Secretary.
[FR Doc. 05-4790 Filed 3-8-05; 10:00 am] BILLING CODE 7590-01-M
*****************************************************************
33 [toeslist] X-Director of US Army DU Project Talks
Date: Thu, 10 Mar 2005 00:25:01 -0600 (CST)
American Free Press August 16, 2004
Depleted Uranium:
U.S. Commits War Crime Against Iraq, Humanity
By Christopher Bollyn
America's controlled press has failed to inform the public that, in spite of
years of UN inspections and numerous international treaties, tons of banned
weapons of mass destruction (WMD) - used and unused - remain in Iraq. Indeed,
both chemical and radio active WMD have been - and continue to be used against
U.S. and coalition soldiers.
The media silence surrounding these banned WMDs, and the horrendous
consequences of their use, is due to the simple fact that they are being used
by the U.S.-led coalition. They are the new "silver bullet" in the U.S.
arsenal. They are depleted uranium weapons.
Depleted uranium (DU) weapons were first used during Gulf War I against Iraq
in 1991. The Pentagon estimated that between 315 and 350 tons of DUW were
fired during the first gulf war. During the 2003 invasion and current
occupation of Iraq, U.S. and British troops have reportedly used more than
five times as many DU bombs and shells as the total number used during the
1991 war.
While the use of DU weapons and their effect on human health and the
environment are subjects of extreme importance, the Pentagon is noticeably
reluctant to discuss these weapons. Despite numerous calls to specific
individuals identified as being the appointed spokesmen on the subject, not
one would answer their phone during normal business hours for the purpose of
this article.
Dr. Doug Rokke, on the other hand, former director of the U.S. Army's Depleted
Uranium Project, is very willing to talk about the effects of DU. Rokke was
involved in the "clean up" of 34 Abrams tanks and Bradley armored vehicles
erroneously hit by U.S. projectiles during the 1991 gulf war. Today he suffers
from the ill effects of DU in his body.
Rokke told American Free Press that the Pentagon uses DU weapons because they
are the most effective at killing and destroying everything they hit. The
highest level of the U.S. and British governments have "totally disregarded
the consequences" of the use of DU weapons, Rokke said.
The first gulf war had the largest "friendly fire" disasters in the history of
American warfare, Rokke says. "The majority of the casualties were the result
of friendly fire," he told AFP.
DU is used in many forms of ammunition as an armor penetrator because of its
extreme density. The uranium used in these missiles and bombs is a by-product
of the nuclear enrichment process. Experts say the Department of Energy has
100 million tons of DU and using it in weapons saves the government great sums
to safely dispose of it.
This is why DU is shaped into penetrator rods used in the billions of rounds
being fired in Iraq and Afghanistan. The radioactive waste from the U.S.
nuclear weapons industry has, in effect, been exported and spread in Iraq,
Afghanistan, the former Yugoslavia, Puerto Rico and elsewhere.
THE REAL "DIRTY BOMBS"
"A flying rod of solid uranium 18 inches long and three-quarters of an inch in
diameter" is what becomes of a DU tank round after it is fired, Rokke said.
Because uranium-238 is pyrophoric, meaning it burns on contact with air, DU
rounds are burning as they fly.
When the DU penetrator hits an object it breaks up and causes secondary
explosions, Rokke said. "It's way beyond a dirty bomb," Rokke said, referring
to the terror weapon that uses conventional explosives to spread radioactive
material.
Some of the uranium used with DU weapons vaporizes into extremely small
particles, which are dispersed into the atmosphere, where they remain until
they fall to the ground with the rain. As a gas, the chemically toxic and
radioactive uranium can easily enter the body through the skin or the lungs
and be carried around the world until it falls to earth with the rain.
AFP asked Marion Falk, a retired chemical physicist who built nuclear bombs
for more than 20 years at Lawrence Livermore lab, if he thought that DU
weapons operate in a similar manner as a dirty bomb. "That's exactly what they
are," Falk said. "They fit the description of a dirty bomb in every way."
According to Falk, more than 30 percent of the DU fired from the cannons of
U.S. tanks is reduced to particles one-tenth of a micron (one millionth of a
meter) in size or smaller on impact.
"The larger the bang" the greater the amount of DU that is dispersed into the
atmosphere, Falk said. With the larger missiles and bombs, nearly 100 percent
of the DU is reduced to radioactive dust particles of the "micron size" or
smaller, he said.
While the Pentagon officially denies the dangers of DU weapons, since at least
1943 the military has been aware of the extreme toxicity of uranium dispersed
as a gas. A declassified memo written by James B. Conant and two other
physicists working on the U.S. nuclear project during World War II and sent to
Brig. Gen. L.R. Groves on October 30, 1943, provides the evidence:
"As a gas warfare instrument the [radioactive] material would be ground into
particles of microscopic size to form dust and smoke and distributed by a
ground-fired projectile, land vehicles or aerial bombs," the 1943 memo reads.
"In this form it would be inhaled by personnel. The amount necessary to cause
death to a person inhaling the material is extremely small. It has been
estimated that one millionth of a gram accumulation in a person's body would
be fatal. There are no known methods of treatment for such a casualty."
The use of radioactive materials "as a terrain contaminant" to "deny terrain
to either side except at the expense of exposing personnel to harmful
radiation" is also discussed in the Groves memo of 1943.
"Anybody, civilian or soldier, who breathes these particles has a permanent
dose, and it's not going to decrease very much over time," Leonard Dietz, a
retired nuclear physicist with 33 years experience, told The New York Daily
News. "In the long run . veterans exposed to ceramic uranium oxide have a
major problem."
Inhaled particles of radioactive uranium oxide dust will either lodge in the
lungs or travel through the body, depending on their size. The smallest
particles can be carried through cell walls and "affect the master code - the
expression of the DNA," Falk told AFP.
Inhaled, it "affects the body in so many ways and there are so many different
symptoms that they want to give it different names," Falk said about the wide
variety of ailments afflicting gulf war veterans.
Today, more than one out of every three veterans from the first gulf war are
permanently disabled. Terry Jemison of the Department of Veterans Affairs said
that of the 592,561 discharged veterans from the 1991 war in Iraq, 179,310 are
receiving disability compensation, and another 24,763 cases are pending.
The "epigenetic damage" done by DU has resulted in many grossly deformed
children born in areas such as southern Iraq, where tons of DU have
contaminated the environment and local population. An untold number of
American babies have also been born with severe birth defects as a result of
DU contamination.
The New York Daily News conducted a study on nine recently returned soldiers
from the New York National Guard. Four of the nine were found to have "almost
certainly" inhaled radioactive dust from exploded DU shells.
Laboratory tests revealed two manmade forms of uranium in urine samples from
four of the nine soldiers. The four soldiers are the first confirmed cases of
inhaled DU from the current Iraq war.
"These are amazing results, especially since these soldiers were military
police not exposed to the heat of battle," said Dr. Asaf Duracovic, who
examined the soldiers and performed the testing. "Other American soldiers, who
were in combat, must have more DU exposure," Duracovic said. Duracovic is a
colonel in the Army reserves and served in the 1991 gulf war.
The test results showing that four of nine New York guardsmen test positive
for DU "suggest the potential for more extensive radiation exposure among
coalition troops and Iraqi civilians," Daily News reported.
"A large number of American soldiers in Iraq may have had significant exposure
to uranium oxide dust," Dr. Thomas Fasey, a pathologist at Mount Sinai Medical
Center and an expert on depleted uranium, said, "And the health impact is
worrisome for the future."
HOTTER THAN HELL
"I'm hotter than hell," Rokke told AFP. The Department of Energy tested Rokke
in 1994 and found that he was excreting more than 5,000 times the permissible
level of depleted uranium. Rokke, however, was not informed of the results
until 1996.
As director of the Depleted Uranium Project in 1994-95, Rokke said his task
was three-fold: determine how to provide medical care for DU victims, how to
clean it up and how to educate and train personnel using DU weapons.
Today, Rokke says that DU cannot be cleaned up and there is no medical care.
"Once you're zapped-you're zapped," Rokke said. Among the health problems
Rokke is suffering, as a result of DU contamination, is brittle teeth. He said
that he just paid out $400 for an operation for teeth that have broken off.
"The uranium replaces the calcium in your teeth and bones," Rokke said.
"You fight for medical care every day of your life," he said.
"There are over 30,000 casualties from this Iraq war," Rokke said.
The three tasks set out for the Depleted Uranium Project have all failed,
Rokke said. He wants to know why medical care is not being provided for all
the victims of DU and why the environment is not being cleaned up.
"They have to be held accountable," Rokke said, naming President George W.
Bush, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, and British Prime Minister Tony
Blair. They chose to use DU weapons and "totally disregarded the consequences
[demime 0.98e removed an attachment of type image/gif which had a name of ChristopherBollyn.gif]
*****************************************************************
34 [toeslist] How radioactive is DU?
Date: Thu, 10 Mar 2005 00:27:54 -0600 (CST)
http://www.geocities.com/pwdyson/du1.html#hrdu
How Radioactive is Depleted Uranium?
1 g of Uranium in Yellowcake emits around 25600 alpha particles
every second.
1 g of newly created DU emits around 14600 alpha particles every
second.
So immediately after the enrichment process DU is 57% as radioactive
as Yellowcake Uranium. However, DU's radioactivity increases in the
first year after enrichment, and increases again after 10,000 years.
This is because Uranium produces many other radioactive substances
that must also be taken into account. For example the radioactive
Thorium present in DU is 97% as radioactive as that in Yellowcake.
If you want to know why, read on.
When an atom of Uranium emits an alpha particle it turns into an
atom of radioactive Thorium.
So in pure Uranium, the amount of Thorium increases as time passes.
Thorium is also radioactive. Over time each Thorium atom emits a
beta particle and turns into Proactinium.
The amount of Thorium increases until it reaches a balance point.
This is when the amount of Uranium turning into Thorium is about
the same as the amount of Thorium turning into Proactinium. i.e.
when the amount of Thorium being produced is pretty much the same
as the amount of Thorium decaying.
For DU this balance point occurs after about a year and remains at
this point for about 10 million years. During this time the Thorium
emits about 12600 beta particles every second.
For Yellowcake this balance point also occurs after about a year,
with Thorium emitting around 12900 beta particles every second.
So although the Uranium in DU is 57% as radioactive as Uranium in
Yellowcake, the Thorium in DU is 97% as radioactive as the Thorium
in Yellowcake.
Uranium and Thorium are just the beginning of the picture. Next
comes radioactive Proactinium and about a dozen more radioactive
substances.
More Info: WISE: Uranium Radiation Properties HYPERLINK
"http://www.antenna.nl/wise/uranium/rccu.html"WISE: Uranium Decay
Calculator
Source: Calculations by the author (rather than by using WISE).
More Info: WISE: Depleted
Uranium Updated:
24/6/2000 Home Copyright (c) 2000, Dr Paul
Dyson. May be reproduced with
acknowledgement of the author.
*****************************************************************
35 [VandenbergWatch]TURNING OUR BACKS ON THE MARSHALL ISLANDS
Date: Thu, 10 Mar 2005 19:43:40 -0800
WITNESS FOR JUSTICE # 0206
March 7, 2005
TURNING OUR BACKS ON THE MARSHALL ISLANDS AGAIN
By Bernice Powell Jackson
Last March 1, I was in the Marshall Islands, tiny atolls in the middle of the
Pacific Ocean, where we commemorated the 50th anniversary of the Bravo test.
On March 1, 1954, the United States dropped a 15-megaton hydrogen bomb 1,000
times more powerful than the bomb dropped on Hiroshima. It was one of 67
nuclear weapons tests conducted in the Marshall Islands by the U.S. between
1946 and
1958. But while many of the islanders had been evacuated in previous tests,
on March 1 the people of four tiny atolls were not. In fact, they were not
evacuated until for four days after the massive explosion whose radioactive
cloud
spread over an area about the size of New Jersey.
While this story is horrible in and of itself, documents declassified during
the Clinton administration appear to point to the decision by the Atomic
Energy Commission (AEC) to make the Marshall Islanders into human guinea
pigs. It
appears that there was an AEC project, named Project 4.1, whose purpose was to
study the effects of radioactive fallout on human beings. Despite its public
statements otherwise, it seems that the AEC decided three days after the Bravo
test to make the Marshall Islanders into research subjects. It is unclear
whether the Marshallese actually received medical treatments for the
exposure to
high levels of radiation or whether they just received tracers which helped
researchers know how human beings were responding, but we do know that they
have suffered extraordinarily high levels of cancer, particularly of the
thyroid.
Moreover, the second
and third generations also have high levels of cancer and immune system
diseases. Women and girls who were originally exposed during the Bravo
tests also
experienced high levels of stillbirths, miscarriages and deformities in their
babies. "The only thing I could think of was Nazi Germany," said then U. S.
Energy Secretary Hazel O'Leary upon first learning about these experiments
when
some documents were declassified.
With the release of these documents in 1993, the survivors from the Bravo
test petitioned the U.S. government for additional compensation to help pay
for
the health care and clean-up needs. Under a compact signed by the governments
of the U.S. and the Marshall Islands in 1983, the U.S. agreed to pay $150
million into a trust fund. Some additional funds were awarded to specific
groups of
survivors. But while the commission managing the trust fund has awarded over
$1 billion in damage claims, less than one percent of that money could be
paid and there are thousands of claims still pending.
Shortly after the beginning of this year, however, the Bush administration
rejected the petition for changed circumstances, telling the U.S. Congress
that
it should not award further compensation to the Marshall Islands. The irony,
of course, is that the U.S. is telling other governments that they must take
full responsibility for their actions, when
we refuse to take responsibility for ours. To make whole the people of the
Marshall Islands to treat their illnesses and clean up their islands would
take
only a few days of the funds we are spending in Iraq and Afghanistan.
This year the survivors of Enewetak, Rongelap, Utrik and Bikini islands
sponsored their own commemoration of the Bravo test by inviting survivors
of the
Chernobyl nuclear reactor meltdown to share their experiences. They found
that
government cover-ups and misinformation were common to both experiences.
More than half a century after one of our nation's most shameful actions, we
must tell the truth, admit our guilt and pay fully for our actions. Only if we
make amends to the people of the Marshall Islands can we move forward into
the future with integrity and truth.
(Note: You can contact your Senators concerning the petition for changed
circumstances of the Marshall Islands at 202-225-3121. Or contact your
congressperson at 202-224-3121).
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36 [southnews] After the War Comes Cancer
Date: Thu, 10 Mar 2005 16:42:52 -0600 (CST)
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Information collected for a German project investigating the use of
uranium-charged ammunition in Iraq shows that when Iraqi women fear for
their children's health, it is with good reason.
After the War Comes Cancer
Deutsche Welle 08.03.2005
Information collected for a German project investigating the use of
uranium-charged ammunition in Iraq shows that when Iraqi women fear for
their children's health, it is with good reason.
After two wars where oil wells were torched, chemical factories bombed
and radioactive ammunition fired, the first thing Iraqi women ask when
giving birth is not if it is a boy or a girl, but if it is normal or
deformed. The number of cancer cases and children born with deformities
has skyrocketed after the two Gulf Wars.
"Since 1991 the number of children born with birth deformities has
quadrupled," said Dr. Janan Hassan, who runs a children's clinic at a
hospital in Basra in southern Iraq. "The same is the case for the number
of children under 15 who are diagnosed with cancer. Mostly, it is
leukemia. Almost 80 percent of the children die because we neither have
medicine nor the possibility to give them chemotherapy."
Doctors have also recorded an extreme rise in cancer cases among adults.
"In 2004 we diagnosed 25 percent more cancer cases than the year before
and the mortality rate increased eight-fold between 1988 and 1991," said
Dr. Jawad al-Ali of the Sadr Hospital in Basra.
Doctors against nuclear war
Hassan and al-Ali are two of 15 Iraqi specialists who have joined forces
with German scientists in a project to research diseases provoked by
acts of war, financed by the German Academic Exchange Service.
In Iraq, burning oil wells, bombed chemical factories, demolished
production sites for chemical weapons and even the use of radioactive
ammunition are just a few of the things which may have triggered
diseases there.
"As epidemiologists, we are quite sure that other diseases than cancer
and birth deformities also have to be considered," said project leader
Wolfgang Hoffmann from the University of Greifswald.
The scientists involved in the project met through the International
Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW). All have a special
interest in the consequences of using depleted-uranium (DU) ammunition,
the German project's main focus.
British and American uranium bombs
In the two US-led wars on Iraq, missile warheads containing the depleted
uranium-238 were used. While it is only lightly radioactive, it is an
extremely tough waste-product to contain because the uranium pulverizes
and contaminates the whole surrounding area with radioactivity at the
moment of the explosion.
"Naturally, the nations leading the war refuse to acknowldege that this
type of uranium can be harmful. But as an epidemiologist, I have to say
that every bit of radiation can give rise to cancer. It's just a
question if what was fired in this case led to an increase in the number
of cancer cases," said Professor Eberhard Greiser from the University of
Bremen.
As with many of the questions arising from the project so far, there is
no definite answer. But al-Ali tried to give a partial answer.
"In Basra in 1991, the Americans and the British dropped at least 300
tons of this kind of ammunition in one battle. That was the battle where
they destroyed all the tanks of the then Republican Army. After the war,
the population was urged to gather all weapons and sell them to the
government. Also if people had guns or bazookas or whatever they found
in the desert, they were told to bring it with them," he said.
According to al-Ali's calculations, approximately 750,000 people in
Basra and the surrounding areas were exposed to radiation as a result.
Finding the evidence
The doctors say the connection between the contamination of hundred of
thousands of people on one side and the rising number of cancer cases on
the other is beyond doubt, but proving it is not easy.
"To prove it, we would have to demonstrate that there was uranium 238 on
the patients' clothes or in their body fluid. And besides, cancer is a
multi-causal disease. How would we be able to give 100 percent proof?"
al-Ali asked.
Despite the resigned attitudes among many of her colleagues, Hassan
firmly believes that the radioactive missiles used by the Americans and
the British are responsible for the increased incidence of cancer in
Iraq since the early 1990s. She hopes a future independent Iraqi
government will seek compensation from Washington and London. "We have
to demand it. That is the price of the war," she said.
Author J|rgen Hanefeld (nk)
http://www.dw-world.de ) Deutsche Welle
________________________________________
Lawmakers want state to track veterans health problems
(Hartford-AP, Mar. 10, 2005 1:25 PM) _ Some state lawmakers want to
better track the health problems of Connecticut veterans.
They've proposed a new health registry for veterans and military
personnel returning from Afghanistan, Iraq and elsewhere. They are
especially interested in soldiers who've been exposed to depleted
uranium, which is used in armor-piercing ammunition by the U.S. military.
The legislature's veterans committee is also considering a new task
force that would study the health effects of depleted uranium.
Melissa Sterry of New Haven says she believes that her exposure to
depleted uranium and other substances harmed her health. She worked with
an Army unit during Operation Desert Storm cleaning up the military
equipment that was left behind after the war ended.
Since she returned home, Sterry has had three heart attacks, chronic
respiratory problems and headaches, among numerous other problems. She
takes about 30 medications.
Lawmakers are also considering another bill that would require guarantee
returning military personnel get independent testing to see if their
ailments were caused by uranium dust.
http://www.wtnh.com/global/story.asp?s=3059059&ClientType=Printable
The archives of South News can be found at
http://southmovement.alphalink.com.au/southnews/
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37 [DU Information List] Australian troops may be exposed to
Date: Thu, 10 Mar 2005 15:13:41 -0800
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,12489770-2,00.html
Comments to...
Sigrid Kirk
Editor-in-Chief
Email: newsroom@NEWS.com.
Australian troops may be exposed to uranium
By Luke McIlveen
March 09, 2005
Exposure risk ... Aussie troops sent to Iraq may come into contact with
leftover uranium-based munitions
THE army is investigating the possibility that 450 Australian troops bound
for Iraq could be exposed to toxic materials, including uranium.
The troops will be deployed to Al Muthanna province in southern Iraq, an
area suspected of being a dumping ground for depleted uranium left by US
forces in the Gulf War.
An Australian Army reconnaissance team has been in Iraq to investigate the
presence of uranium and other safety threats, and is due to report back
this week.
Defence authorities confirmed they were investigating the uranium threat to
the Diggers, who will be sent to Iraq in May to protect Japanese military
engineers.
"The health and safety of our personnel is the ADF's highest priority," the
Department of Defence said in response to written questions from the Herald
Sun this week.
"The ADF is aware of the issues surrounding the presence of depleted
uranium in Iraq.
"The ADF currently has a reconnaissance team in Iraq that is examining in
detail a range of issues related to the forthcoming deployment.
"Following their assessment, the ADF will take the necessary steps to
ensure that the deployment will be as safe as possible."
Defence Minister Robert Hill told the Senate the army was conducting
"surveys" on contaminated areas to reduce the risk to Diggers.
Senator Hill said he would take advice on whether Australian troops should
be tested for radioactive contamination when they return.
Several of the 1400 Dutch troops the Australian contingent is replacing
have complained to their union after expended uranium shells were found
near their camp.
The long-term effects of the shells have been linked to various cancers and
the mysterious Gulf War syndrome, which plagued thousands of US marines in
the Gulf War when repelling Iraqui troops from Kuwait.
Sigrid Kirk
Editor-in-Chief
Email: newsroom@NEWS.com.
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38 Bellona: Shooting at Russian nuclear site – one dead
A conscript guarding the Zheleznogorsk Chemical combine in
Siberia opened fire killing one soldier.
2005-03-10 19:36
19 years-old conscript Gabyshev while guarding the Zheleznogorsk
Chemical Combine left his post with Kalashnikov and 60 rounds.
He went towards the checkpoint at the mine entry, but was
stopped by the guards. Gabyshev opened fire killing one and
wounding another conscript guard. The other guards began to fire
at Gabyshev. Only after arrival of the police forces the
conscript surrendered, Regnum.ru reported.
Eight conscript soldiers from military unit no. 33/77 are
guarding the entry to the mine of the Zheleznogorsk Chemical
Combine. Three soldiers are stationed before the entry, and five
are inside the mine. It is not clear why Gabyshev shot at the
guards.
The military prosecutor’s office launched the criminal case “on
violation of the regulations while handling the weapon and the
objects presenting enhanced danger for the surroundings”. “The
victims served the military service not in the same company
command with the shooter so it is to early to say it happened
due to the non-manual relations” said a representative of the
Krasnoyarsk military prosecutor’s office to Komsomolskaya Pravda
– Krasnoyarsk daily.
The press-secretary of the Zheleznogorsk Chemical Combine Pavel
Moroz said to the Russian media that the Combine has a three
level security system provided by the internal troops and the
accident happened on the first level, while two other levels
remained in action.
This is not the first accident of this kind in Zheleznogorsk’s
garrison. Only in 2004, two conscripts committed suicide, one
escaped and one failed to commit suicide. On May 25, 2004, while
standing at his post a conscript shot himself twice to the
stomach but survived.
Publisher: Bellona Foundation, President: Frederic Hauge
Information: info@bellona.no, Technical contact:
webmaster@bellona.no
Telephone: +47 23 23 46 00 Telefax: +47 22 38 38 62 * P.O.Box
2141 Grunerlokka, 0505 Oslo, Norway
*****************************************************************
39 Advocate: Lawmakers want state to track health effects of depleted uranium
Associated Press
March 10, 2005
HARTFORD, Conn. -- In the 13 years since she cleaned
uranium dust off U.S. military tanks and other equipment after
Operation Desert Storm ended, Melissa Sterry's health has
steadily deteriorated.
She had three heart attacks and was diagnosed with a laundry
list of other ailments, including chronic respiratory
difficulties, muscle aches and spasms, chronic fatigue and a
restricted airway, among other things. She takes 30 medications
and is unable to work.
The 42-year-old veteran from New Haven believes many of her
medical problems are from exposure to depleted uranium, a heavy
metal used in armor-piercing weapons, and other chemicals she was
exposed to while working in Kuwait with an Army logistical
support unit.
"For me there's been this gradual loss of abilities," she told a
legislative committee Thursday.
State legislators in Connecticut want to keep track of Sterry
and other veterans' health problems as they return from Iraq,
Afghanistan and elsewhere.
On Thursday, the Select Committee on Veterans Affairs
unanimously passed a bill that would establish a commission to
study the health effects of depleted uranium and other toxic
substances. It would also create a new health registry for
Connecticut's returning military personnel and veterans.
Sen. Gayle Slossberg, D-Milford, the committee co-chairman, said
if the full General Assembly passes the bill, Connecticut would
be the first state to embark on such a study and create a related
health registry.
"Over the next six months, by having a task force develop a
registry and protections for our soldiers, Connecticut is going
to lead the nation in taking care of - and insuring the health
and well-being of - our servicemen and servicewomen," Slossberg
said.
The committee also passed a related bill proposed by Rep.
Patricia Dillon, D-New Haven, that would ensure that any
Connecticut member of the armed services or any reserve component
who has been called up for active duty can be independently
screened for possible exposure to depleted uranium when they
return home.
Both bills await action by the Public Health Committee.
Several Connecticut military personnel who recently returned
from Iraq told legislators personal stories of being exposed to
all sorts of chemicals including depleted uranium, which is left
over from the process of enriching uranium for use as nuclear
fuel.
Capt. Gregory Samuels of Mansfield, former commander of the
Connecticut National Guard's 143rd military police unit, spent a
year in Baghdad. He told of a vehicle filled with munitions that
exploded outside his camp in 150-degree heat. The vehicle
remained at the site for about week.
"I would say every soldier was exposed to depleted uranium one
way or another," he said.
Maj. Kevin McMahon of Old Lyme, a member of the 118th medical
battalion, said his unit was stationed near an Iraqi trash pit
that burned day and night, billowing black smoke.
"I have no idea if I'm going to have a hacking cough 10 years
from now," he said. "I do know I was exposed to things. What are
those things? I don't know."
By tracking the soldiers' ailments, the state can collect the
data and document what is happening to the veterans, said state
Veterans Commissioner Linda Schwartz. The information will also
help Connecticut determine the needs of its soldiers.
"Something happened to them between the time they left and the
time they returned," Schwartz said. "We may theorize it could be
depleted uranium, but it may be a number of things."
Although Sterry receives federal veterans benefits for a leg
injury, she still needs medical benefits. Like the Vietnam War
veterans exposed to the allegedly toxic defoliant Agent Orange,
Sterry said she has had to fight to convince the federal
government to recognize there are health risks to uranium
exposure.
The Pentagon has said depleted uranium is safe and is about 40
percent less radioactive than natural uranium.
"People should be assured that this substance, this depleted
uranium, does not pose a major risk for their health," Dr.
William Winkenwerder, assistant secretary of defense for health
affairs, said last year regarding a New York National Guard
soldier who claims he fell ill due to exposure to depleted
uranium.
The Pentagon ultimately determined that the soldier's health
problems were not caused by the exposure.
Copyright © 2005, The Associated Press [Cars.com]
© 2005, Southern Connecticut Newspapers, Inc. All rights
*****************************************************************
40 CBC: Workers want decision on Lepreau
New Brunswick
www.cbc.ca
WebPosted Mar 10 2005 12:28 PM AST
CBC News
SAINT JOHN — The union at the Point Lepreau nuclear station is
pushing the Lord government to make a decision about the plant's
future. The generator is nearing the end of its operating life
and if it's to run for another two or three decades, it will
need to be re-tooled from top to bottom.
Refit costs $1.4 billion
Premier Bernard Lord has been trying to get the federal
government to help with the $1.4 billion cost, but he hasn't had
any success so far. Ross Galbraith speaks for the union at Point
Lepreau. He says the workers are tired of being used in a
political game between New Brunswick and Ottawa. "The 700 people
that work here don't like being pawns in a poker game,"
Galbraith said. "I'm just really concerned that they'll delay to
the 11th hour and it'll be like the hockey strike, you know.
They weren't able to get a deal at the end of the day."
Galbraith says the longer it takes to make a decision, the more
expensive the project will be. That's the same point that was
made earlier this week by the CEO of Bruce Power, an Ontario
company that wants the contract to refurbish Lepreau.
+ FROM Feb 9, 2005: Lepreau partner wants decision Duncan
Hawthorne said the $1.4 billion price tag was based on financial
estimates that are quickly becoming out of date. He added that
the project had been "analyzed to death." However, Bill Thompson,
the deputy minister in the energy department, says the province
can't afford to take this decision lightly.
Thompson says the board of directors at NB Power is assessing
what makes the most sense financially and for the environment
to refurbish Lepreau or to burn more fossil fuels, such as coal
and oil.
"What we've got to do is make sure that the option that's
taken is the most secure," Thompson said. "We're making a
decision that's going to affect your power rate and my power
rate for the next 25 to 30 years."
Thompson says the province expects NB Power to present its
recommendations in the next few weeks. But he repeated the
premier's concerns that the lack of a financial commitment from
the federal government could be a deal-breaker.
*****************************************************************
41 deseretnews: Utah N-waste plea wins sympathy . . .
[deseretnews.com]
Thursday, March 10, 2005
. . . but White House offers little hope of preventing
temporary storage in state
By Jerry Spangler Deseret Morning News
WASHINGTON —
The White House offered up some sympathy to Utah's concerns over
the temporary storage of 4,000 nuclear waste casks in Tooele
County, even agreeing with Utah's Republican senators Orrin
Hatch and Bob Bennett that it is a really bad idea.
['Image']
At Jordan Park Wednesday, Eileen Greene protests plans to
transport hazardous wastes through Utah.
Michael Brandy, Deseret Morning News
But when the meeting was over, the senators received
little encouragement that administration officials could — or
would — do much to stop the private project, which recently
received a license recommendation from the Atomic Safety and
Licensing Board, a judicial arm of the Nuclear Regulatory
Commission.
"We had very, very good discussions," Hatch said. "It is
a very difficult set of issues. The ultimate goal is to have a
repository at Yucca Mountain, and we will have to work to see
that that is where it goes. They know that Yucca Mountain is the
ultimate goal here."
Hatch and Bennett took their concerns to the White House
Wednesday, meeting with Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove and
other top officials to express concerns and enlist
administration support. In some regards, they got what they
wanted.
"They agreed with us that it is not in the national
interest," Bennett said.
And they agreed that spent nuclear fuel should be moved
only once, from the nation's 103 nuclear power plants to
permanent storage in Nevada.
But the White House and Utah senators apparently agreed
that it may be beyond the ability of the federal government to
block a private project initiated by a consortium of nuclear
power utilities, called Private Fuel Storage, who signed a
contract with the Skull Valley Band of Goshutes to store the
waste for up to 40 years on tribal lands about 70 miles
southwest of Salt Lake City.
The Utah senators outlined for the administration a
litany of reasons why temporary storage in above-ground casks is
not a good idea — from their proximity to Salt Lake City and the
military's Utah Test and Training Range, to their potential
targeting by terrorists.
Hatch said the White House understands those concerns, but
whether the White House will intervene is another story.
"Of course they have the power," he said. "There is no
question about it."
But, he added, "what is involved here is to prevent (PFS)
from stacking this stuff above ground where two private
entities, one of which is a shell corporation (PFS) and the
other a small Indian tribe with less than 125 people. That's
ridiculous."
The NRC is set to rule on the decision of the Atomic
Safety and Licensing Board, something that is considered a mere
formality. Bennett said the White House cannot intervene with
the NRC.
Both senators reiterated their support for the Yucca
Mountain project, a permanent storage solution wherein spent
nuclear fuel would be stored deep underground in Nevada —
something the Nevada delegation has been fighting. Due to
legislative opposition and legal maneuvering, the Yucca Mountain
facility's opening has been delayed until at least 2012.
The delays surrounding Yucca Mountain, along with a
growing uncertainty that it will ever happen, has renewed
interest in the PFS proposal, which would allow utilities to
temporarily store their waste in Utah pending the eventual
opening of Yucca Mountain.
The PFS facility, with license approval from the NRC,
could open as soon as 2007.
Bennett is holding fast to a commitment made by all by a
few members of the consortium not to pursue the Skull Valley
project so long as Yucca Mountain is moving forward. The
question is whether the project is moving forward fast enough to
meet the industry's needs.
E-mail: spang@desnews.com
© 2005 Deseret News Publishing Company
*****************************************************************
42 Brattleboro Reformer: Entergy prepares dry cask proposal
March 10, 2005 Brattleboro, VT
By CAROLYN LORIé
Reformer Staff
BRATTLEBORO -- There might be some progress on the horizon for
getting the dry cask storage issue at Vermont Yankee moving
through the state Legislature.
Rob Williams, spokesman for Entergy Nuclear Vermont Yankee,
said the House Committee on Energy and Natural Resources asked
plant officials to submit a proposal for what they are seeking.
Williams said the company would have something to the committee
by the end of the week.
Legislators are also in agreement about how the issue will be
addressed.
After conflicting statements about whether the matter would be
dealt with through a petition process or through a bill, Rep.
Steve Darrow, D-Putney, said legislation would be introduced
through one of the standing committees. Entergy will not go
through the petition process, which would have most likely taken
much more time.
Darrow also said that current discussion among legislators
indicate that the bill will cap the number of units to those
necessary to get through to 2012, which is when the plant's
license expires.
Another matter under consideration is taxing each cask, which
an Entergy representative said would not be acceptable to the
company.
The state of Minnesota currently taxes the casks at one of its
nuclear power plants that is owned by several utilities.
Although Entergy Nuclear is a private corporation, nothing in
Vermont law bars the state from doing the same as Minnesota.
Once the issue is resolved in the Legislature, Entergy can
apply to the Public Service Board for a certificate of public
good.
There has been some confusion about whether the company could
pursue approval from both bodies simultaneously. Earlier this
week, however, the Windham Regional Commission recommended that
the board reject Entergy's application until the general
assembly gave its approval for dry cask storage.
Copyright ©1999-2005 New England Newspapers, Inc.,
*****************************************************************
43 AP Wire: Environmental group wants regulators to reconsider MOX decision
| 03/10/2005 |
Associated Press
ROCK HILL, S.C. - An environmental group wants the Nuclear
Regulatory Commission to reconsider its approval of plans to
test fuel made with weapons-grade plutonium at the Catawba
Nuclear Station in South Carolina.
The Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League says the March 3
decision allowing Duke Power to test mixed-oxide, or MOX, fuel
at the York County plant before an NRC licensing board rules on
security concerns violates agency policy.
"It is illegal to issue a license during the hearing process,"
said Diane Curran, the defense league's attorney.
An NRC panel heard four days of testimony in January concerning
security issues raised by the Blue Ridge group for how the fuel
rods containing weapons-grade plutonium would be protected. A
ruling is expected by the end of the month.
The league says this month's decision to approve the test
program did not properly consider theft and terrorism risks.
An NRC spokesman said the agency has done nothing illegal.
"There is nothing in the law or regulations that would require
the agency to wait for those contentions to be resolved," said
spokesman Dave McIntyre.
McIntyre said Duke is scheduled to refuel Catawba's Reactor 1
this spring, and safety concerns about using MOX fuel have been
resolved.
Agency staff has reviewed the security plan Duke submitted for
transporting, protecting and loading the MOX assemblies, he
said.
"The NRC staff evaluated enhancements to the Catawba plant to
provide for the protection of the fuel while on site," McIntyre
said. "For them to say we haven't even looked at security is
ridiculous."
Steve Nesbit, MOX fuel manager at Catawba, said the NRC put
Duke's application through a rigorous review for safety and
security.
The petition Wednesday alleges the approval was illegal because
it came before the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board issued a
decision on the Blue Ridge group's security contention.
Details of the security concerns are classified, but they
address a request by Duke to be exempt from certain security
regulations normally required to protect plutonium fuel from
being stolen.
"We think in a post-Sept. 11 era, that is a mistake," said Ed
Lyman of the Union of Concerned Scientist, who is helping the
Blue Ridge group. "The threat of nuclear terrorism is on
everyone's minds these days."
Additional security is required by the NRC when a facility has
more than 2 kilograms of highly enriched plutonium. Lyman said
it would not take much more than that to create a crude nuclear
bomb.
Each of the four MOX assemblies to be used at Catawba have 20
kilograms of highly enriched plutonium.
Lyman and Curran said they think the licensing board will rule
in their favor. Such a decision would not stop the test but
would delay it until a new security plan was created and
implemented.
The organization could sue if the NRC rejects the request,
Curran said.
The MOX test assemblies are expected to be shipped from France
to Charleston next month. They would be trucked to York County.
The assemblies would be stored in an underwater facility at the
Catawba plant before being loaded into the reactor.
The test would last about three years to determine if
weapons-grade plutonium can be used safely in commercial power
plants.
Catawba will be the first American plant to use MOX fuel and the
first in the world to use weapons-grade plutonium. Between 30
and 35 nuclear plants in Europe use MOX fuel, but the plutonium
is not weapons-grade.
The program is designed to dispose of 34 metric tons of
plutonium from nuclear warheads by burning it in U.S. nuclear
reactors. The same will be done in Russia to reduce that
country's nuclear stockpile.
Information from: The Herald, http://www.heraldonline.com
*****************************************************************
44 Las Vegas RJ: Utah Republicans fight nuclear dump on reservation site
Thursday, March 10, 2005
Hatch: 'Yucca Mountain is the ultimate goal'
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
SALT LAKE CITY -- Frustrated at failing to win over federal
regulators, Utah officials took their case against a high-level
nuclear repository proposed for a Utah Indian reservation to the
White House on Wednesday.
Utah Republican Sens. Orrin Hatch and Bob Bennett and Rep. Rob
Bishop met with White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card and
Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove, a former Utah resident and Bush
strategist.
Hatch and Bennett said the meeting was good, but they wouldn't
say whether Bush administration officials had made any specific
commitments to stop the commissioning of a nuclear waste dump on
the Goshutes' Skull Valley land.
"They know that Yucca Mountain is the ultimate goal here; it's
what has to be done under the circumstances and we're going to
do everything to help them get there," Hatch said. "But we
expect them to help us to not have to put up with this type of
treatment."
Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman will go to Washington next week to meet
with Bush administration officials about several issues,
including the state's opposition to the nuclear-waste plan.
The new effort comes after the Atomic Safety and Licensing
Board rejected the state's argument that there was an
unacceptable risk that a fighter from Hill Air Force Base could
crash into the waste site and release radioactive material.
The state has asked the board to reconsider its decision. If
that fails, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission will decide
whether to license the facility.
The repository would be on the Goshutes' Skull Valley land 50
miles southwest of Salt Lake City. It would be operated by
Private Fuel Storage, a consortium of eight utilities, as a
temporary dump for spent nuclear fuel rods before they are
stored permanently at the proposed Yucca Mountain facility, 100
miles northwest of Las Vegas.
Opponents fear that if the temporary site is approved, the
Yucca plans will be dropped and Utah will end up having the
depleted nuclear fuel permanently.
Hatch said state lawmakers would have to go the extra mile to
ensure that the state didn't "suffer the indignity of having
4,000 casks of spent fuel rods stored above ground" near the
Utah testing range.
In 2002, Hatch and Bennett agreed to vote for storing waste at
Yucca Mountain in exchange for a pledge from then Energy
Secretary Spencer Abraham and Card that federal funds would not
be used to help ship nuclear waste to the Goshute facility if it
were licensed by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Copyright Las Vegas Review-Journal
*****************************************************************
45 BBC: Fresh rumpus over Dounreay waste
Last Updated: Thursday, 10 March, 2005
[Dounreay Nuclear Power Plant]
Objections have been raised over plans to move nuclear waste
Councillors from England who are fighting a switch of nuclear
waste from Dounreay to Cumbria are visiting the Caithness plant.
Members of Cumbria County Council have objected to the move,
which is backed by the reprocessing plant's regulators.
Low level radioactive waste is being caused by the operation to
decommission the site, where waste dumps are full.
The objectors from Cumbria are arguing that rubbish generated at
the complex should stay where it is.
Regulators have said there is no alternative to exporting the low
grade material - estimated at a lorry-load per week - to the
national waste depository at Drigg, near Sellafield.
We feel that low level nucle waste should stay where it is until
policy issues have been resolved Tim Knowles Cumbria County
Council
The move has been supported by green watchdogs, the Scottish
Environmental Protection Agency (Sepa).
New dumps at Dounreay are not expected to be complete for
another six years.
But bosses have insisted they are confident they will eventually
be able to deal with the 100,000 cubic metres of new radioactive
rubbish caused by decommissioning the nuclear power plant.
[Dounreay]
It is feared that moving waste may cause environmental problems
Boss Norman Harrison said: "By using the right processes here,
we're actually minimising the amount of low level waste that's
produced.
"It's part of how we want to engage with the county councillors
to get their sign-on for this interim period when - to keep our
processes flowing - it would be appropriate to export some low
level waste down to Drigg."
But delegation member, councillor Tim Knowles, replied: "We're
not very happy about it to be honest. There is clearly a problem.
"We feel that low level nuclear waste should stay where it is
until policy issues have been resolved. The government's
reviewing the low level waste issue, with a report coming out
next year."
He added: "We really can't see the urgency and we don't want to
be in a position where the ultimate destination of this material
is pre-judged.
"I think we tend to be seen as the central location to deal with
all these problems. We've got 60% of the UK's waste, therefore
we've got the problems associated with that. We don't want to be
taken for granted."
Environmental objection
Councillor Knowles added: "It's all right for Sepa to say that
they support it, but they don't have to deal with political
issues arising from transport - either at this end, in the areas
that are going to be affected and at the destination site at
Drigg.
"I think there's a lot more water to flow under the bridge."
He was supported by anti-nuclear campaigner Peter Roach, who
added: "It might be setting a precedent for other types of waste
which are currently on the site at Dounreay.
"It's also going to fill up the facility at Dounreay much more
quickly than is necessary."
He went on: "That's going to mean that other low level waste
later on will have to find a home, which might be far more
difficult than finding a home for the low level waste at
Dounreay."
*****************************************************************
46 Las Vegas SUN: Despite delays, Yucca director says project is alive and well
Bush support remains strong
By Benjamin Grove SUN WASHINGTON BUREAU
CHIEF
WASHINGTON -- Despite critics recently sounding a death knell
for Yucca Mountain, the nuclear waste repository program is
alive and well, the acting Yucca manager told Congress this
morning.
"I believe we are better situated today than we have ever been
to move forward with this program," Theodore Garrish, deputy
director of the Energy Department's Yucca program, said at a
Senate appropriations subcommittee hearing.
Garrish is standing in as the person in charge of the Yucca
Mountain program in the wake of Margaret Chu's resignation from
the Yucca director position.
In testimony Garrish delivered a rosy portrait of the program,
adding that Bush administration support remains strong.
"We are poised to make significant progress in the coming
years," he said.
After the hearing, Garrish acknowledged that two program
hurdles made it impossible to say exactly when Yucca might open.
That depends on when the Environmental Protection Agency
releases a revised radiation standard, and on Congress
delivering Yucca budget requests, Garrish said.
"I don't know what the end date is because of those two
issues," Garrish told reporters.
Chu had said the underground repository could be completed by
2012. Garrish called that the "earliest" possible date. Project
critics and some insiders have said 2015 or 2017 is more
realistic.
Garrish said the department still aims to have its application
for a license to construct Yucca completed by the end of this
year, although the department may not actually submit it to the
Nuclear Regulatory Commission by then.
The planned $57.5 billion program has been beset by delays and
budget setbacks since Congress chose the site 90 miles northwest
of Las Vegas as the nation's high-level nuclear waste dump.
Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, a member of the
appropriations panel with jurisdiction over Yucca, today ticked
off a short list of program setbacks, including a July federal
court ruling that threw out the EPA's 10,000-year radiation
standard, and an Energy Department delay in filing Yucca
documents on a public computer database.
"Last year was really a bad year for Yucca Mountain," said
Reid, who annually works to slash funding for Yucca.
Garrish said the department had submitted roughly 1 million
documents, roughly 5 million pages, to the License Support
Network database. The department aims to post another 3.7
million documents, which are under review, by mid-summer.
"All told, the license application process is going well,"
Garrish told the panel.
Panel chairman Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., asked Garrish if the
Energy Department's $651 million request for Yucca in the fiscal
year beginning Oct. 1 was sufficient. Garrish responded that it
was.
But Garrish in his testimony emphasized that the department
still aims to lean on Congress to give it more direct access to
a national nuclear waste fund, free from the constraints of
annual budget limits set by Congress. The program will need
"significantly increased funding" in the 2007 fiscal year and
beyond, Garrish said in prepared written testimony.
"Historic appropriations will not get this job done," Garrish
told reporters. "Where you need the money is in the
construction."
Next year the department needs money to respond to NRC reviews
of the license application, Garrish said. The department's goals
for 2006 include fabricating prototype waste containers;
procuring some equipment for Yucca construction; and completing
a revised work plan, cost estimate and schedule, he said.
The department this year aims to complete the license
application and complete a draft environmental impact report for
the Nevada rail line that would be used to ship waste to Yucca.
Of most immediate concern to program managers is how the
department's license application will mesh with the new
radiation standard, which the EPA could release this spring. The
department's license application aims to demonstrate to the NRC
that Yucca can meet the court-rejected 10,000-year standard.
Energy Department and EPA officials are not having a
behind-the-scenes dialogue about the revised standard, Garrish
said. The department has merely given technical data to the EPA,
he said. He dismissed Nevada officials who claim the two
agencies are legally, but inappropriately, communicating about
the revised standard without Nevada participation.
"This is totally EPA's issue," Garrish said. "They have to
decide the standard, not us."
*****************************************************************
47 Las Vegas SUN: Ex-Reid aide is mum on Yucca in NRC post
Today: March 10, 2005 at 11:22:14 PST
By Suzanne Struglinski SUN WASHINGTON
BUREAU
ROCKVILLE, Md. -- New Nuclear Regulatory Commission member Greg
Jaczko has a perfectly crafted, quick response when people ask
him about his views on the proposed nuclear waste repository at
Yucca Mountain.
Ask him about it again in a year.
Jaczko, a former staff member of Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., made
his first public address at a commissioner at the annual
Regulatory Information Conference on Wednesday.
After outlining his vision for his new position on the
five-member commission, the first questions from the audience
revolved around how he would remain objective on the proposed
nuclear waste storage facility at Yucca, 90 miles northwest of
Las Vegas.
Jaczko, a particle physicist by training, was Reid's science
adviser during the height of the congressional debate on the
repository in 2002, raising questions about his ability to
appropriately serve as a commissioner. The commission will
ultimately decide whether to give a license to the Energy
Department to build the repository.
Reid, one of the Senate's most vocal opponents of the
repository along with Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., pushed hard for
about two years for Jaczko's confirmation, placing holds on
other nominees and bills until Congress would approve him.
Jaczko, who was sworn in on Jan. 21, said that before his
official nomination, he thought a lot about what happens to
congressional staff members and other federal employees when
they switch to another job. They are usually barred from
interaction with topics or issues they formerly dealt with for
at least a year.
"This was a principle that I thought would be appropriate for
me given my past work for Sen. Reid when I came to the
commission," Jaczko said.
Part of the deal reached in Congress that eventually led to a
recess appointment by President Bush, included a one-year
recusal on anything related to Yucca Mountain or geological
disposal. Jaczko volunteered for it, although it is unlikely the
commission would vote on its license application in the next
year.
"I have agreed not to discuss the issue publicly," Jaczko said.
"This makes it easy to answer questions because I can truthfully
say I cannot answer them at this time."
He said one of the ways he can be "fair and objective" on the
matter is to wait to discuss it after a year, or when he has
"appropriately distanced myself from the previous work I have
done on the issue."
His recusal does not limit him from working on the proposed
Private Fuel Storage facility in Utah. The commission could
consider a license application for the site this year. The site
would temporarily hold high-level nuclear waste.
The Nuclear Energy Institute and other Yucca Mountain
supporters objected to Jaczko's nomination throughout the
confirmation period, but Marvin Fertel, NEI's senior vice
president and chief nuclear officer, said he has met with Jaczko
and will work with him as he would work with any of the
commissioners. Fertel said the industry's main concern is that
things are done safely.
"I think Greg wants to do that too," Fertel said.
Because his confirmation was done through a recess appointment,
Jaczko will only serve a two-year term, unless he is
re-nominated for the position.
Jaczko poked a little fun at the controversy surrounding his
nomination, starting his speech saying he "would like to publicy
express my deep disappointment with many of the newspaper
articles written about me" during his confirmation process.
"I was deeply disturbed by them and I will tell you why: not a
single article gave you an accurate description of how to say my
name. So for the record, it's pronounced 'yatz ko.' "
*****************************************************************
48 NRC: Advisory Committee on Nuclear Waste; Notice of Meeting
FR Doc 05-4667
[Federal Register: March 10, 2005 (Volume 70, Number 46)]
[Notices] [Page 12022-12023] From the Federal Register Online via
GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr10mr05-126]
The Advisory Committee on Nuclear Waste (ACNW) will hold its
158th meeting on March 15-17, 2005, Room T-2B3, Two White Flint
North, 11545 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland. The date of
this meeting was previously published in the Federal Register on
Wednesday, December 8, 2004 (69 FR 71084).
The schedule for this meeting is as follows: Tuesday, March 15,
2005 10:30 a.m.-10:40 a.m.: Opening Statement (Open)--The ACNW
Chairman will make opening remarks regarding the conduct of
today's sessions.
10:40 a.m.-11:40 a.m.: Preparation of ACNW Reports (Open)--The
Committee will discuss potential letter report on the Status of
High- Significant Agreements Associated with the Proposed HLW
Repository. Other potential letter reports may be discussed.
1 p.m.-3 p.m.: Preparation for the March 16, 2005 Briefing with
NRC Commissioners (Open)--The Committee will review the briefing
materials to be discussed with the Commission on March 16, 2005.
3 p.m.-5 p.m.: Preparation for Visit to the Center for Nuclear
Waste Regulatory Analyses (CNWRA) (Open)--The
[[Page 12023]] Committee will review its preparation for its
planned visit to the CNWRA in San Antonio, Texas on April 14-15,
2005. The purpose of this visit is to review the technical
assistance work being performed on behalf of the NRC's Office of
Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards.
Wednesday, March 16, 2005 8:30 a.m.-9 a.m.: Final Preparation for
Commission Briefing (Open).
9:30 a.m.-11:30 a.m.: Meeting with the NRC Commissioners (Open)--
The Committee will meet with the NRC Commissioners in the
Commission's Conference Room, One White Flint North. The outline
for this proposed meeting is as follows: Introductory Remarks.
Working Group Meetings.
ICRP Draft Recommendations.
Waste Management Research Review.
Future Activities/Working Groups.
2005 ACNW Action Plan.
1 p.m.-1:10 p.m.: Opening Statement (Open)--The ACNW Chairman
will begin the meeting with brief opening remarks, outline the
topics to be discussed, and indicate items of interest.
1:10 p.m.-2:40 p.m.: Estimation of Groundwater Recharge at the
Watershed Scale: Implications for Model Abstractions and
Validations (Open)--The ACNW will hear presentations by and hold
discussions with representatives of the Office of Nuclear
Regulatory Research and Department of Agriculture/Agricultural
Research Service staff on field studies to test and evaluate
groundwater recharge estimation techniques, methods, and their
uncertainties.
2:40 p.m.-3:40 p.m.: NMSS Office Director Semi-Annual Briefing
(Open)--The Committee will be briefed by the Director of the
Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards on recent
activities of interest to the Committee.
4 p.m.-5 p.m.: Status of NRC's Review of USEC Inc.'s License
Application for a Gas Centrifuge Uranium Enrichment Facility
(Open)-- The Committee will receive a briefing by an NMSS
representative on the status of the license application for the
proposed facility in Piketon, Ohio.
5 p.m.-6 p.m.: Preparation of ACNW Reports (Open)--The Committee
will discuss potential reports on the Estimation of Groundwater
Recharge Techniques and Status of USEC Inc.'s License Application
for a Gas Centrifuge Uranium Enrichment Facility.
Thursday, March 17, 2005 8:30 a.m.-8:40 a.m.: Opening Statement
(Open)--The ACNW Chairman will make opening remarks regarding the
conduct of today's sessions.
8:40 a.m.-11 a.m.: Preparation for ACNW May 2005 Visit to Japan
(Open)--The Committee will review preparations for its planned
visit to Japan on May 14-21, 2005. The purpose of this visit is
to meet with representatives of the Japan Nuclear Safety
Commission (Tokyo).
In addition, the Committee will meet with the operators of the
Rokkasyo- Mura low-level radioactive waste reprocessing and
disposal facility. Members will also meet with representatives of
the Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute, the Japan Nuclear
Cycle Development Institute, the Nuclear and Industrial Safety
Agency, Japan Nuclear Fuel Limited, and the Nuclear Waste
Management Organization of Japan.
1 p.m.-1:30 p.m.: ACNW White Paper on Low-Level Radioactive Waste
Management Issues (Open)--The Committee will discuss the format
and content of a potential ACNW White Paper addressing technical
issues in the management of civilian low-level radioactive waste.
1:30 p.m.-3 p.m.: Miscellaneous (Open)--The Committee will
discuss matters related to the conduct of ACNW activities, and
specific issues that were not completed during previous meetings,
as time and availability of information permit. Discussions may
include future Committee Meetings.
Procedures for the conduct of and participation in ACNW meetings
were published in the Federal Register on October 18, 2004 (69 FR
61416). In accordance with these procedures, oral or written
statements may be presented by members of the public. Electronic
recordings will be permitted only during those portions of the
meeting that are open to the public. Persons desiring to make
oral statements should notify Ms. Sharon A. Steele, (Telephone
301-415-6805), between 7:30 a.m. and 4 p.m. ET, as far in advance
as practicable so that appropriate arrangements can be made to
schedule the necessary time during the meeting for such
statements. Use of still, motion picture, and television cameras
during this meeting will be limited to selected portions of the
meeting as determined by the ACNW Chairman.
Information regarding the time to be set aside for taking
pictures may be obtained by contacting the ACNW office prior to
the meeting. In view of the possibility that the schedule for
ACNW meetings may be adjusted by the Chairman as necessary to
facilitate the conduct of the meeting, persons planning to attend
should notify Ms. Steele as to their particular needs.
Further information regarding topics to be discussed, whether the
meeting has been canceled or rescheduled, the Chairman's ruling
on requests for the opportunity to present oral statements and
the time allotted, therefore can be obtained by contacting Ms.
Steele. ACNW meeting agenda, meeting transcripts, and letter
reports are available through the NRC Public Document Room at
pdr@nrc.gov, or by calling the PDR at 1-800-397-4209, or from the
Publicly Available Records System (PARS) component of NRC's
document system (ADAMS) which is accessible from the NRC Web site
at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html or
http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/ (ACRS & ACNW Mtg
schedules/agendas).
Video Teleconferencing service is available for observing open
sessions of ACNW meetings. Those wishing to use this service for
observing ACNW meetings should contact Mr. Theron Brown, ACNW
Audiovisual Technician (301-415-8066), between 7:30 a.m. and 3:45
p.m. ET, at least 10 days before the meeting to ensure the
availability of this service. Individuals or organizations
requesting this service will be responsible for telephone line
charges and for providing the equipment and facilities that they
use to establish the video teleconferencing link. The
availability of video teleconferencing services is not
guaranteed.
Dated: March 4, 2005.
Annette Vietti-Cook, Secretary of the Commission.
[FR Doc. 05-4667 Filed 3-9-05; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590-01-P
*****************************************************************
49 Spectrum: Senators lobby against storing waste in Skull Valley
St. George - www.thespectrum.com
Thursday, March 10, 2005
By DENNIS CAMIRE
Gannett News Service
WASHINGTON — After meeting with top White House officials on
Wednesday, Utah’s two Republican senators said the Bush
administration is trying to do everything it can to assist them
to keep a temporary high-level nuclear waste repository from
being built on a Utah Indian reservation.
“It was a successful meeting as far as I’m concerned,” said
Sen. Orrin G. Hatch, R-Utah. “Certainly, the people in the White
House are accommodative and trying to do everything they can to
assist.”
Hatch, Sen. Robert Bennett, R-Utah, and Rep. Rob Bishop, R-Utah,
met Wednesday with White House Chief of Staff Andy Card and
deputy staff chief Karl Rove to voice their concerns about the
proposed nuclear waste storage site on the Skull Valley
Reservation of the Goshute Indian tribe.
Hatch said the goal is to have a nuclear waste repository in
Nevada’s Yucca Mountain and the White House is committed to that
effort.
“We all have to work to see that is where it goes,” he said.
Hatch and Bennett declined to say if they received any specific
commitments from the White House on efforts to block the Goshute
project or help the Yucca Mountain project move forward.
“There are many reasons why the Goshute project should never go
forward,” Hatch said. “We won’t go into all those today.”
Bennett said there are limitations on what the White House can
do since the project is an agreement between two private
organizations — the Goshute tribe and Private Fuel Storage, a
consortium of eight utilities.
“But they agreed with us that this would not be in the national
interest to have this happen, and having them brought up to date
on the latest developments, I think helps,” Bennett said.
The proposed dump is intended to be a temporary above-ground
facility to store about 4,000 casks of spent nuclear fuel rods
on concrete pads before they are taken to Yucca Mountain.
Opponents are concerned that with the delays plaguing the Yucca
Mountain project, Utah could end up with the waste permanently.
The Goshute project received a boost in February when the Atomic
Safety and Licensing Board forwarded Private Fuel Storage’s
application to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for final
approval.
“Frankly, the NRC looks like it’s pushing forward, although on a
split vote, to get this problem off their shoulders regardless
of the facts,” Hatch said.
Both Hatch and Bennett said one area that the NRC hasn’t
considered is terrorism. “This could be a significant terrorist
target,” Bennett said. “The NRC doesn’t take that into account
and the White House very much does. They will be looking for
ways, I believe, to inject the homeland security issue into the
overall equation.”
Bennett also said that Private Fuel Storage executives pledged
in writing that they would not fund the Goshute facility as long
as the Yucca Mountain is going forward.
Hatch added that Yucca Mountain “is moving forward, has moved
forward, although it has been delayed by politics here in this
body.”
The White House is committed to a strategy of “straight to
Yucca,” which means not stopping in Skull Valley, Bennett said.
Originally published March 10, 2005
Copyright ©2004 The Spectrum. All rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
50 Salt Lake Tribune: Goshutes file lawsuit to stop feds from dealing
with disputed leaders
Article Last Updated: 03/10/2005 01:20:25 AM
By Matt Canham The Salt Lake Tribune
A group of disgruntled Goshute Indians has filed a lawsuit
against federal agencies. They seek greater involvement in the
process that may send 44,000 tons of spent nuclear fuel to a
proposed storage facility on their Tooele County reservation.
The suit, filed against the U.S. Interior Department and the
Bureau of Indian Affairs, claims federal administrators have
erroneously negotiated with disputed leaders and failed to take
into account the concerns of the 124-member tribe.
Abby Bullcreek and the other five individuals named Tuesday
as plaintiffs say they have "a strong interest" in blocking
Private Fuel Storage from gaining federal approval to build a
nuclear storage site on their reservation.
"A release of radiation from the stored material has the
potential of causing widespread injury, death, property damage,
and permanent harm to the environment of their permanent
homeland," the suit says.
Private Fuel Storage is a utility consortium that signed a
lease with disputed Tribal Chairman Leon Bear in May 1997 to
house spent fuel from nuclear power plants used throughout the
country to produce electricity.
The consortium's proposal received the approval of a panel of
Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) judges two weeks ago,
clearing the way for the full NRC to grant the federal license.
Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. has promised to continue the
state's fight against the proposed waste site, indicating that an
appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court is "becoming increasingly
viable."
The Goshutes who filed suit Tuesday want the Bureau of Indian
Affairs (BIA) to stop recognizing Bear as the chairman of the
tribe's executive committee.
The plaintiffs, members of the tribe's general council, say
they recalled Bear in 2001 and replaced the executive committee
members with new leaders. The BIA refuses to recognize the
authority of the new elected committee members.
The suit claims the leadership dispute throws the entire
waste lease into question. After a new election, the plaintiffs
want to reopen the lease agreement, allowing for new
negotiations.
Bear's attorney Scott York said he had not yet seen the
federal lawsuit and declined comment.
mcanham@sltrib.com
© Copyright 2005, The Salt Lake Tribune.
*****************************************************************
51 Salt Lake Tribune: Bush asked to fight Goshute plan
Last Updated: 03/10/2005 07:36:11 AM
By Robert Gehrke The Salt Lake Tribune
WASHINGTON - Utah's senators invoked the national security
risk inherent in private storage of nuclear fuel in the state's
west desert to argue the waste should go straight to a permanent
facility in Nevada - an argument they said was endorsed
Wednesday by the White House.
Sens. Orrin Hatch and Bob Bennett's 45-minute meeting with
Chief of Staff Andrew Card and Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove
ended without a firm commitment on specific steps the White
House would take to help stop the Skull Valley site, which would
be built by Private Fuel Storage, a consortium of eight electric
utilities.
But Bennett said there is agreement between the senators and
the administration that there should not be temporary storage.
"They are committed to a strategy of straight to Yucca.
Straight to Yucca means not stopping in Skull Valley," Bennett
said.
A prominent part of their argument - and one where the Bush
administration could play a role - is that 40,000 tons of
nuclear waste sitting on concrete pads on the Skull Valley
reservation of the Goshute Indian tribe would pose a
"significant terrorist target," he said.
"The Nuclear Regulatory Commission doesn't take that into
account. The White House very much does, so they will be looking
for ways to inject the homeland security issue into the overall
equation," Bennett said.
"They know Yucca Mountain is the ultimate goal here," said
Hatch. "It's what has to be done under the circumstances and
we're going to do everything to help them get there."
White House spokesman Taylor Gross said he couldn't
comment on the substance of the meeting with the senators,
"however the president's position is well-known. The president
believes there should be a permanent repository for nuclear
waste at Yucca Mountain."
PFS spokeswoman Sue Martin welcomed Hatch and Bennett's
endorsement of Yucca Mountain.
"We have said all along that if Yucca Mountain had been on
schedule, then there would not be a need for this facility at
all," she said. "I think I can speak for all of our PFS members
that we would be very pleased if the Utah delegation and the
White House could make sure that Yucca Mountain gets the funding
it needs and the other support it needs to move forward as
quickly as possible."
Still, she said, as a practical matter, it is likely that
some of the plants in the PFS group will need off-site storage
before Yucca Mountain could be completed, so the Skull Valley
facility remains necessary as "a stopgap measure."
Bennett and Hatch voted for the Yucca Mountain plan in 2002
after another meeting at the White House where they were assured
by then-Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham that supporting Yucca
was the best way to guarantee that the Skull Valley site would
be unnecessary.
The stance of Bennett and Hatch puts them in direct conflict
with Nevada's delegation, including Senate Minority Leader Harry
Reid.
"Senator Reid has said repeatedly that he doesn't believe
Yucca Mountain will ever open and they are years behind deadline
now," said Reid's spokeswoman, Tessa Hafen. He has not taken a
stance on the Skull Valley site, but "he is concerned about
transporting nuclear waste so he has that same concern for our
neighbors to the east."
Work on Yucca Mountain has been repeatedly delayed and it is
unknown when or if it will be complete. Bush is seeking $650
million for the project in the coming budget year, but that is
substantially less than was projected a year ago.
Rep. Rob Bishop, R-Utah, has blamed Reid and Sen. John
Ensign, R-Nev., for blocking his legislation that would create a
wilderness area around the Skull Valley reservation to prevent a
rail line from servicing the PFS site. He has said it is
essentially payback for Bennett and Hatch voting to build Yucca
Mountain.
Hatch said he doesn't blame Nevada's senators for opposing
Yucca Mountain, but that is what Congress has decided should be
done. And he downplayed the potential that the matter could turn
into a battle of which state has the most clout.
"I don't think it comes down to politics," he said. "I think
it comes down to doing what's right."
© Copyright 2005, The Salt Lake Tribune.
*****************************************************************
52 Biz Journal: Cotter Corp. denied permission to take radioactive soil -
2005-03-10
The Denver Business Journal - 2:55 PM MST
Thursday
Uranium processor Cotter Corp.again has been denied permission to
accept and dispose of radioactive soil, taken from a Superfund
site near Maywood, N.J., at its Canon City mill.
The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment turned
down the application on July 9, 2004. But Cotter, based in
Englewood, appealed the department's decision to an
administrative hearing judge.
Cotter said Thursday the initial ruling from hearing officer
Richard Dana upheld the department's denial.
Cotter said it's considering whether it will file objections to
Dana's initial decision, pursuant to the Colorado Administrative
Procedures Act.
John Watson, an attorney who represented Cotter in the appeal,
said in a statement:
"The company feels that the hearing officer may not have
properly considered relevant facts related to Cotter's
operational procedures as of July 9, 2004, when the department
issued its denial. The decision is essentially a snapshot taken
at one point in time of a continuous process. Accordingly, the
Maywood issues may be resolved during the company's continuing
discussions with the department concerning renewal of the
company's mill license."
Cotter, an affiliate of General Atomics, a private company based
in San Diego, has a mill near Canon City with the license to
process a wide range of uranium-bearing feed material.
© 2005 American City Business Journals Inc.
*****************************************************************
53 Times-News Online: Locals question DOE waste retrievalBy Michelle Dunlop
www.magicvalley.com The Times-News | AG Weekly |
Thursday, March 10, 2005 • Twin Falls, Idaho
Times-News writer
TWIN FALLS -- Random dumping.
That's the caption for a photo showing a Department of Energy
official observing dozens of 55-gallon drums filled with nuclear
waste falling out of an elevated red container into an unlined
soil pit above the Snake River Aquifer.
The photo was taken at the Idaho National Laboratory in
southeastern Idaho in 1969, and it was shown to local residents
who attended a public meeting hosted by the DOE at the College
of Southern Idaho Wednesday night.
The waste disposal method pictured more than 30 years ago
captures the way the DOE buried the majority of waste in a
half-acre section of Pits 4 and 6 of INL's Subsurface Disposal
Area. DOE officials, including project manager Jeff Perry, were
on hand to discuss two proposed retrieval options.
"Do we dig it up now or do we wait for the formal record of
decision?" Perry posed as the most pressing questions.
The DOE says it's targeting the areas of highest waste
concentration in the pits as part of its accelerated effort. The
no action alternative means leaving the waste until a final plan
for waste retrieval is issued in 2008.
Longtime nuclear opponent Peter Rickards offered his assessment
of the DOE's proposals.
"It's like, 'would you like to kill me slowly or quickly?'"
Rickards said.
The department considers certain types of waste as its targets:
transuranic waste -- including plutonium and americium -- and
volatile organic compounds -- including chemicals used as
solvents and degreasers in weapons manufacturing. These
compounds pose the more urgent threat because of increased
mobility.
Perry pointed out that the proposed project would retrieve 41
percent of sludge containing volatile organic compounds disposed
in the Subsurface Disposal Area. Some of the chemicals have
already migrated to the aquifer, Perry said. These chemicals do
show up "slightly in excess" of drinking water standards in test
areas on-site, he said.
"Our goal is to get all of the targeted waste out," Perry said.
"Do we think we're going to get it all? We'll probably leave
some behind."
DOE officials devised their waste retrieval plan by deciphering
inventory lists from when workers buried the waste in the
half-acre location between January 1963 and October 1968.
However, they're still determining the accuracy of those
records.
The DOE's inventory of the section of Pits 4 and 6 suggests that
the area contains 21,032 drums worth of waste shipped to the
site from the Rocky Flats Plant in Colorado. The department
proposes to remove the equivalent of 7,000 to 10,000 drums of
waste.
It is the waste that gets left behind that had some residents
reeling.
"It seems like you're just spot checking," Rickards said.
Times-News reporter Michelle Dunlop can be reached at 735-3237
or by e-mail at mdunlop@magicvalley.com.
Copyright © 2005, Lee Publications Inc.
Magicvalley.com is an on-line division of The Times-News,
*****************************************************************
54 Scotsman.com: Nuclear Waste Transported Across Border
Thu 10 Mar 2005
By Lisette Johnston, Scottish Press Association
Nuclear waste is to be transported south of the border because
facilities in Scotland are too full, it emerged today.
Officials from Cumbria County Council are visiting the Dounreay
nuclear site at Caithness to discuss decommissioning and the
shipping of low-level waste to Sellafield.
At the moment, excess waste which cannot fit into the Dounreay
disposal facility is being stored in shipping containers.
This contravenes the 1998 Safety Act and is contrary to
Government policy.
It means the excess, which is the size of 750 double-decker
buses, must be moved to a disposal site at Drigg, by Sellafield,
until the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) can
build another disposal facility at Dounreay.
This will not be until at least 2011, subject to planning
permission.
Officials at Dounreay have now made an application to the
Scottish Environment Protection Agency for approval to transport
the waste and this will be considered by ministers.
Colin Punler, spokesman for Dounreay, said: “Part of the plan
for decommissioning Dounreay is transporting some of the
material from here down to Sellafield, so we are very keen to
explain what the proposals are and have the view on Cumbria
County Council on that.
“There are a lot of common interests between Dounreay and
Sellafield, especially in terms of jobs and how waste is
managed, as they are the two largest nuclear sites in Britain.
“Around one in five jobs in Caithness are at Dounreay.
“At the moment our disposal facility here is full.
“It is an interim measure, a temporary measure.â€
The officials are also meeting local businesses and workers to
discuss the future of the sites, as Sellafield is in the process
of decommissioning.
A new disposal facility at Dounreay, which is due to finish
decommissioning by 2035, will cost between £60 million and
£100 million of Government money.
Once it is built, the low-level waste will be put into shipping
containers, bar-coded and compressed, then sealed in cement and
stored in lined vaults.
*****************************************************************
55 PE.com: Activist honored for cleanup efforts
| Inland Southern California | Inland News
Woman of the year: Penny Newman is known for her fight to
cleanse the Stringfellow acid pits.
11:30 PM PST on Wednesday, March 9, 2005
By JENNIFER BOWLES / The Press-Enterprise
Penny Newman, a prominent Inland environmental activist, has
been named Woman of the Year for state Sen. Nell Soto's
district, officials said Wednesday.
Newman will join other honorees from across the state at
ceremonies Monday in Sacramento, said David Miller, a spokesman
for Soto, D-Pomona, whose district stretches from Pomona to San
Bernardino.
"It's a recognition of her life's work, geared towards improving
the environmental and overall quality of life of the Inland
region," Miller said.
Since the late 1970s, Newman has fought for the cleanup of the
Stringfellow acid pits, a dumping ground for toxic materials, in
northwest Riverside County.
Over the last eight years as executive director of the Center
for Community Action and Environmental Justice in Glen Avon, she
has joined battles against air and water pollution in
neighborhoods across Riverside and San Bernardino counties.
"I view this as a recognition of the work that all of these
communities are doing and the fact we have very brave people in
those communities demanding from the powers that be that their
voices be heard and their families be taken into account,"
Newman said.
Her group is opening a San Bernardino office, at which staff
will focus on perchlorate contamination of underground water
supplies and other local issues, Newman said.
Reach Jennifer Bowles at 951-368-9548 or
jbowles@pe.comMore
Belo Interactive Inc.
*****************************************************************
56 Austin Chronicle: News: Naked City
HOME: MARCH 11, 2005: NEWS: NAKED CITY
No Nukes? How About Just Fewer Nukes?
BY WELLS DUNBAR Last week, Rep. Mike Villarreal, D-San Antonio,
took the first swing in fighting the importation of out-of-state
radioactive waste into Texas. His HB 1656 would close a loophole
in Texas law allowing for the importation of radioactive waste
from across the nation, while HCR 85 puts the breaks on
importation, calling for further examination of the nature of
the waste.
Under current law, states enter into compacts with others to
create consolidated nuclear waste disposal sites. Texas'
partners are Maine and Vermont. But last summer, a briefing
document from Gov. Rick Perry's office drove an 18-wheeler
through holes in the compact. Unlike our current partners, which
are limited in what they can unload, the briefing doc opens up a
loophole that allows other states and entities outside the
compact to import as much low-level radioactive waste into our
cash-strapped, tax-slashing state as the Capitol can handle.
"Agreements made with a person, state, regional body, or group
of states are not subject to … limitation," it reads.
Villarreal's HB 1656 rectifies this by only allowing importation
of waste from our initial compact partners. "We can't open our
doors and become the primary radioactive waste dump for the
entire United States," said Villarreal in a press release. "I
filed these bills to make sure we all live up to the intent of
the laws that regulate how we dispose of radioactive waste."
A separate resolution, HCR 85, would create a committee to study
all the waste streams coming into Texas outside the compact.
This includes nuke gunk from the likes of GOP contributor Harold
Simmons' Waste Control Specialists, said Colin Leyden,
legislative director for Rep. Lon Burnam, D-Fort Worth. Leyden,
concerned with WCS's carte blanche in importing waste since the
passage of HB 1567 paved the way for private companies to manage
waste, continued that Sen. Robert L. Duncan, R-Lubbock, "is
apparently trying to work out some kind of a tax deal [to
import] Fernald, Ohio's waste." Leyden described the potential
revenue as a dance with the devil, saying, "Once you tax it,
you're going to end up with school districts and teachers
lobbying the capitol, trying to import more radioactive waste."
Calls to Duncan were not returned.
Of HCR 85, Leyden said, "We're looking for someone to file that
resolution in the Texas Senate," knowing it steps on a few toes.
"They have that whole gentlemanly way over there," Leyden
lamented, saying Sen. Kenneth Armbrister, D-Victoria, is a big
booster of importation, being a driving force behind HB 1567. "I
think everyone is scared" of crossing the Natural Resources
chair, he said. Calls to Armbrister also were not returned.
Copyright © 1995-2005 Austin Chronicle Corp. All rights
*****************************************************************
57 PRN: Catapult Technology Wins $45.6 Million Contract From the
Department of Energy Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste
Management (OCRWM)
ALT="http://www.catapulttechnology.com"
BETHESDA, Md., March 10 /PRNewswire/ -- Catapult Technology,
Ltd., a
Maryland-based 8(a) Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small
Business (SDVOSB),
has been awarded a five-year $45.6 million contract to support
the Office of
Civilian Radioactive Waste Management (OCRWM) at the U.S.
Department of
Energy. This is the largest single award to an SDVOSB.
Established in 1982 by the Nuclear Waste Policy Act, OCRWM
is dedicated to
develop and manage a federal system for storing spent nuclear
fuel from
commercial nuclear reactors and radioactive waste from national
defense
activities. OCRWM has established a program of three major
projects: the Yucca
Mountain Project, The National and Nevada Transportation Project
and the Waste
Acceptance Project, all with significant emphasis on efficient
and effective
project management.
OCRWM is dedicated to protecting the health and safety of
the current
population and future generations in a safe and environmentally
conscious
manner. Since 1982, the Yucca Mountain Project has led
extensive scientific
studies to suitably develop an underground repository for safely
isolating
radioactive nuclear waste for at least 10,000 years. Currently,
the Yucca
Mountain Project is acquiring a license from the U.S. Nuclear
Regulatory
Commission to construct the repository.
Catapult will support OCRWM in obtaining this licensing.
Emphasizing
safety and quality, Catapult will provide IT support services
for the
operation and maintenance of the OCRWM communications network,
computer
operations, cyber security, software development, and program
support
activities at three sites: Washington, D.C., Las Vegas, and
Yucca Mountain,
Nevada.
Randy J. Slager, President and CEO of Catapult, noted, "This
contract
recognizes Catapult's award-winning past performance as the
contractor of
choice for many government agencies. Catapult is a
project-oriented
organization with a proven focus on quality and safety. We look
forward to
working with the Department of Energy by supporting the safe
operation of the
repository, protecting people and the environment."
An established 8(a) Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned
information technology
and consulting firm, Catapult provides quality technology
solutions, human
resources and management consulting to the federal government
and private
sector. Recognized as the top SDVOB IT prime contractor to the
federal
government, Catapult is the 31st fastest growing private company
in the
country. An SEI Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI(R))
Level II
company, Catapult is ISO 9001:2000 registered. Founded in 1996,
Catapult has
a staff of approximately 300, many of whom hold active security
clearances.
Richard Lum
Communications Director
Catapult Technology, Ltd.
(240) 482-2100
SOURCE Catapult Technology, Ltd.
Web Site: http://www.catapulttechnology.com
Copyright © 1996-2004 PR Newswire Association LLC. All Rights
*****************************************************************
58 News First: Radioactive sludge troubles local treatment plants
Conflicting laws are making it difficult to treat and store
water in Colorado. Federal regulations require water treatment
facilities remove all radioactive contaminants. Much of
Colorado's water contains trace amounts of radium and uranium
that once removed becomes sludge.
However, there is not a place to put the sludge. Local treatment
plants are forced to let it dry in piles onsite. Although
neighbors haven't complained yet, Canon City Water Treatment
officials say they'd like to find a more permanent solution.
"We can't leave it in the water, so we remove it. It can't be
left in the water plant so we have to move it down here. I'd be
happy if there'd just be a place we could take it in state,"
says Canon City Water Treatment Representative Bob Hartzman.
As facilities are forced to meet stricter guidelines, the
problem is expected to get worse. State officials will meet with
treatment supervisors to find solutions later this month.
Updated: 3/10/2005 4:41:17 PM QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS ON THIS
© 2005 - KOAA-TV. All Rights Reserved.
*****************************************************************
59 Business Gazette: US FIRMS FIGHT FOR SELLAFIELD CONTRACTS
Published in
Whitehaven News on Thursday, March 10th 2005
By David Siddall
AMERICAN firms are jockeying for position to take over major
parts of Sellafield.
Fluor, a US engineering group, and Jacobs, a consultancy, are
said to be bidding for key contracts. It is claimed British
firms are angry at being excluded from the lucrative tier-two
and tier-three contracts at Sellafield.
The California-based Fluor Corporation is one of the worlds
largest publicly owned engineering, procurement, construction,
and maintenance services organisations.
Nick Turtin for the DTi (the Government department responsible
for the NDA and BNFL) said on Tuesday that: For the initial
period to 2008 British Nuclear Group will secure the overall
management of the Sellafield site.
But asked about lesser tier-two and tier-three contracts, such
as the massive Thorp plant, he said it would be for the British
Nuclear Group to comment. A BNG spokesman said no final decision
had yet been made and they were not outsourcing the management
of the entire site but just tier-two consultancy work.
Another US multinational, Bechtel, is said to be hoping for a
key role in the future structure at Sellafield. Already Bechtel
has had £9 million in consultancy fees for the creation of the
NDA.
Peter Kane, union leader at Sellafield, said: BNFL informs us
that whatever the structure below the NDA, we will all come
under the umbrella of BNFL and we are in ongoing talks with them
to ensure collective bargaining and other rights are maintained.
n Meanwhile MP Jack Cunningham was last week at a USA nuclear
research deal signing.
*****************************************************************
60 EPA: WIPP Trannie and Mixed Waste Characterization
FR Doc 05-4713
[Federal Register: March 10, 2005 (Volume 70, Number 46)]
[Proposed Rules] [Page 11913-11916] From the Federal Register
Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr10mr05-32]
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY
40 CFR Part 194
[FRL-7882-9]
Waste Characterization Program Documents Applicable to
Transuranic Radioactive Waste From the Idaho National Engineering
and Environmental Laboratory Advanced Mixed Waste Treatment
Project for Disposal at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant
AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency. ACTION: Notice of
availability; opening of public comment period.
SUMMARY: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA, or ``we'') is
announcing an inspection for the week of February 28, 2005, at
the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory
(INEEL) Advanced Mixed Waste Treatment Project (AMWTP). With this
notice, we also announce availability of Department of Energy
(DOE) documents in the EPA Docket, and solicit public comments on
these documents for a period of 30 days. The following DOE
documents, entitled ``INEEL Advanced Mixed Waste Treatment
Project Certification Plan for
[[Page 11914]]
Contact-Handled Transuranic Waste, MP-TRUW-8.1, Revision 7'' and
``INEEL Advanced Mixed Waste Treatment Project Quality Assurance
Project Plan, MP-TRUW-8.2, Revision 3,'' are available for public
review in the public dockets listed in the ADDRESSES section. EPA
will conduct an inspection of waste characterization systems and
processes at INEEL/AMWTP to verify that the site can characterize
transuranic waste in accordance with EPA's WIPP Compliance
Criteria. DATES: EPA is requesting public comment on the
documents. Comments must be received by EPA's official Air Docket
on or before April 11, 2005.
ADDRESSES: Comments may be submitted electronically, by mail, by
facsimile, or through hand delivery/courier. Follow the detailed
instructions as provided in Unit I.B of the SUPPLEMENTARY
INFORMATION section.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ms. Rajani Joglekar, Office of
Radiation and Indoor Air, (202) 343-9462. You can also call EPA's
toll- free WIPP Information Line, 1-800-331-WIPP or visit our Web
site at http://www.epa/gov/radiation/wipp.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
I. General Information
A. How Can I Get Copies of This Document and Other Related
Information?
1. Docket. EPA has established an official public docket for
this action under Docket ID No. OAR-2005-0080. The official
public docket consists of the documents specifically referenced
in this action, any public comments received, and other
information related to this action. Although a part of the
official docket, the public docket does not include Confidential
Business Information (CBI) or other information whose disclosure
is restricted by statute. The official public docket is the
collection of materials that is available for public viewing at
the Air and Radiation Docket in the EPA Docket Center, (EPA/DC)
EPA West, Room B102, 1301 Constitution Ave., NW., Washington, DC.
The EPA Docket Center Public Reading Room is open from 8:30 a.m.
to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding legal holidays.
The telephone number for the Public Reading Room is (202)
566-1744, and the telephone number for the Air and Radiation
Docket is (202) 566-1742. These documents are also available for
review in paper form at the official EPA Air Docket in
Washington, DC, Docket No. A-98-49, Category II-A2, and at the
following three EPA WIPP informational docket locations in New
Mexico: in Carlsbad at the Municipal Library, Hours:
Monday-Thursday, 10 a.m.-9 p.m., Friday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m.,
and Sunday 1 p.m.-5 p.m.; in Albuquerque at the Government
Publications Department, Zimmerman Library, University of New
Mexico, Hours: vary by semester; and in Santa Fe at the New
Mexico State Library, Hours: Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.- 5 p.m. As
provided in EPA's regulations at 40 CFR Part 2, and in accordance
with normal EPA docket procedures, if copies of any docket
materials are requested, a reasonable fee may be charged for
photocopying.
2. Electronic Access. You may access this Federal Register
document electronically through the EPA Internet under the
``Federal Register'' listings at http://www.epa.gov/fedrgstr/.
An electronic version of the public docket is available
through EPA's electronic public docket and comment system, EPA
Dockets. You may use EPA Dockets at http://www.epa.gov/edocket/
to submit or view public comments, access the index listing of
the contents of the official public docket, and to access those
documents in the public docket that are available electronically.
Once in the system, select ``search,'' then key in the
appropriate docket identification number.
Certain types of information will not be placed in the EPA
Dockets. Information claimed as CBI and other information whose
disclosure is restricted by statute, which is not included in the
official public docket, will not be available for public viewing
in EPA's electronic public docket. EPA's policy is that
copyrighted material will not be placed in EPA's electronic
public docket but will be available only in printed, paper form
in the official public docket. To the extent feasible, publicly
available docket materials will be made available in EPA's
electronic public docket. When a document is selected from the
index list in EPA Dockets, the system will identify whether the
document is available for viewing in EPA's electronic public
docket. Although not all docket materials may be available
electronically, you may still access any of the publicly
available docket materials through the docket facility identified
in Unit I.B. EPA intends to work towards providing electronic
access to all of the publicly available docket materials through
EPA's electronic public docket.
For public commenters, it is important to note that EPA's
policy is that public comments, whether submitted electronically
or in paper, will be made available for public viewing in EPA's
electronic public docket as EPA receives them and without change,
unless the comment contains copyrighted material, CBI, or other
information whose disclosure is restricted by statute. When EPA
identifies a comment containing copyrighted material, EPA will
provide a reference to that material in the version of the
comment that is placed in EPA's electronic public docket. The
entire printed comment, including the copyrighted material, will
be available in the public docket.
Public comments submitted on computer disks that are mailed
or delivered to the docket will be transferred to EPA's
electronic public docket. Public comments that are mailed or
delivered to the Docket will be scanned and placed in EPA's
electronic public docket. Where practical, physical objects will
be photographed, and the photograph will be placed in EPA's
electronic public docket along with a brief description written
by the docket staff.
For additional information about EPA's electronic public
docket visit EPA Dockets online or see 67 FR 38102, May 31, 2002.
B. How and To Whom Do I Submit Comments?
You may submit comments electronically, by mail, by
facsimile, or through hand delivery/courier. To ensure proper
receipt by EPA, identify the appropriate docket identification
number in the subject line on the first page of your comment.
Please ensure that your comments are submitted within the
specified comment period. Comments received after the close of
the comment period will be marked ``late.'' EPA is not required
to consider these late comments. However, late comments may be
considered if time permits.
1. Electronically. If you submit an electronic comment as
prescribed below, EPA recommends that you include your name,
mailing address, and an e-mail address or other contact
information in the body of your comment. Also include this
contact information on the outside of any disk or CD ROM you
submit, and in any cover letter accompanying the disk or CD ROM.
This ensures that you can be identified as the submitter of the
comment and allows EPA to contact you in case EPA cannot read
your comment due to technical difficulties or needs further
information on the substance of your comment. EPA's policy is
that EPA will not edit your comment, and any identifying or
contact information provided in the body of a comment will be
included as part of the comment that
[[Page 11915]]
is placed in the official public docket, and made available in
EPA's electronic public docket. If EPA cannot read your comment
due to technical difficulties and cannot contact you for
clarification, EPA may not be able to consider your comment.
i. EPA Dockets. Your use of EPA's electronic public docket to
submit comments to EPA electronically is EPA's preferred method
for receiving comments. Go directly to EPA Dockets at
http://www.epa.gov/edocket , and follow the online instructions
for submitting comments. To access EPA's electronic public docket
from the EPA Internet Home Page, select ``Information Sources,''
``Dockets,'' and ``EPA Dockets.'' Once in the system, select
``search,'' and then key in Docket ID No. OAR- 2005-0080. The
system is an ``anonymous access'' system, which means EPA will
not know your identity, e-mail address, or other contact
information unless you provide it in the body of your comment.
ii. E-mail. Comments may be sent by electronic mail (e-mail)
to a-and-r-docket@epa.gov, Attention Docket ID No. OAR-2005-0080.
In contrast to EPA's electronic public docket, EPA's e-mail
system is not an ``anonymous access'' system. If you send an
e-mail comment directly to the Docket without going through EPA's
electronic public docket, EPA's e-mail system automatically
captures your e-mail address. E-mail addresses that are
automatically captured by EPA's e-mail system are included as
part of the comment that is placed in the official public docket,
and made available in EPA's electronic public docket.
2. By Mail. Send your comments to: EPA Docket Center
(EPA/DC), Air and Radiation Docket, Environmental Protection
Agency, EPA West, Mail Code 6102T, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue,
N.W., Washington, DC 20460. Attention Docket ID No.
OAR-2005-0080.
3. By Hand Delivery or Courier. Deliver your comments to: Air
and Radiation Docket, EPA Docket Center, (EPA/DC) EPA West, Room
B102, 1301 Constitution Ave., NW., Washington, DC, Attention
Docket ID No. OAR- 2005-0080. Such deliveries are only accepted
during the Docket's normal hours of operation as identified in
Unit I.A.1.
4. By Facsimile. Fax your comments to: (202) 566-1741,
Attention Docket ID. No. OAR-2005-0080. C. What Should I Consider
as I Prepare My Comments for EPA?
You may find the following suggestions helpful for preparing
your comments:
1. Explain your views as clearly as possible.
2. Describe any assumptions that you used.
3. Provide any technical information and/or data you used
that support your views.
4. If you estimate potential burden or costs, explain how
you arrived at your estimate.
5. Provide specific examples to illustrate your concerns.
6. Offer alternatives.
7. Make sure to submit your comments by the comment period
deadline identified.
8. To ensure proper receipt by EPA, identify the appropriate
docket identification number in the subject line on the first
page of your response. It would also be helpful if you provided
the name, date, and Federal Register citation related to your
comments.
II. Background
DOE is developing the WIPP near Carlsbad in southeastern New
Mexico as a deep geologic repository for disposal of TRU
radioactive waste. As defined by the WIPP Land Withdrawal Act
(LWA) of 1992 (Pub. L. 102- 579), as amended (Pub. L. 104-201),
TRU waste consists of materials containing elements having atomic
numbers greater than 92 (with half- lives greater than twenty
years), in concentrations greater than 100 nanocuries of
alpha-emitting TRU isotopes per gram of waste. Much of the
existing TRU waste consists of items contaminated during the
production of nuclear weapons, such as rags, equipment, tools,
and sludges.
On May 13, 1998, EPA announced its final compliance
certification decision to the Secretary of Energy (published May
18, 1998, 63 FR 27354). This decision stated that the WIPP will
comply with EPA's radioactive waste disposal regulations at 40
CFR Part 191, Subparts B and C.
The final WIPP certification decision includes conditions
that (1) prohibit shipment of TRU waste for disposal at WIPP from
any site other than the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL)
until the EPA determines that the site has established and
executed a quality assurance program, in accordance with Sec.
Sec. 194.22(a)(2)(i), 194.24(c)(3), and 194.24(c)(5) for waste
characterization activities and assumptions (Condition 2 of
Appendix A to 40 CFR Part 194); and (2) prohibit shipment of TRU
waste for disposal at WIPP from any site other than LANL until
the EPA has approved the procedures developed to comply with the
waste characterization requirements of Sec. 194.22(c)(4)
(Condition 3 of Appendix A to 40 CFR Part 194). The EPA's
approval process for waste generator sites is described in Sec.
194.8. As part of EPA's decision-making process, the DOE is
required to submit to EPA appropriate documentation of quality
assurance and waste characterization programs at each DOE waste
generator site seeking approval for shipment of TRU radioactive
waste to WIPP. In accordance with Sec. 194.8, EPA has placed
this documentation in the official Air Docket in Washington, DC,
and informational dockets in the State of New Mexico for public
review and comment.
EPA will perform an inspection of the Idaho National
Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL) Advanced Mixed
Waste Treatment Project (AMWTP)'s technical program for waste
characterization in accordance with Condition 3 of the WIPP
certification. We will evaluate the adequacy, implementation, and
effectiveness of technical processes related to the AMWTP's TRU
waste characterization and certification activities. The elements
of 40 CFR 194.8 waste characterization to be inspected are: (1)
Acceptable knowledge (AK), nondestructive assay (NDA), and the
WIPP Waste Information System (WWIS) for the purpose of
confirming processes used to characterize CH TRU debris
(compressed) waste; and, (2) the WWIS for characterizing CH TRU
solid waste. The inspection is scheduled to take place the week
of February 28, 2005.
EPA has placed DOE documents pertinent to the inspection in
the public docket described in ADDRESSES. These include: (1)
INEEL Advanced Mixed Waste Treatment Project Certification Plan
for Contact-Handled Transuranic Waste, MP-TRUW-8.1, Revision 7,
and (2) INEEL Advanced Mixed Waste Treatment Project Quality
Assurance Project Plan, MP-TRUW- 8.2, Revision 3. The documents
have been placed in Docket A-98-49, Category II-A2, and can also
be found online in EPA's EDOCKET OAR-2005- 0080. In accordance
with 40 CFR 194.8, as amended by the final certification
decision, EPA is providing the public 30 days to comment on these
documents.
If EPA determines as a result of the inspection that the
proposed processes and programs at INEEL/AMWTP adequately control
the characterization of transuranic waste, we will notify DOE
[[Page 11916]] by letter and place the letter in the official Air
Docket in Washington, DC, as well as in the informational docket
locations in New Mexico. A letter of approval will allow DOE to
ship transuranic waste characterized by the approved processes
from INEEL/AMWTP to the WIPP.
The EPA will not make a determination of compliance prior to the
inspection or before the 30-day comment period has closed.
Information on the certification decision is filed in the
official EPA Air Docket, Docket No. A-93-02 and is available for
review in Washington, DC, and at three EPA WIPP informational
docket locations in New Mexico. The dockets in New Mexico contain
only major items from the official Air Docket in Washington, DC,
plus those documents added to the official Air Docket since the
October 1992 enactment of the WIPP LWA.
Dated: March 3, 2005. Robert Brenner, Acting Assistant
Administrator for Air and Radiation. [FR Doc. 05-4713 Filed
3-9-05; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 6560-50-P
*****************************************************************
61 deseretnews: Matheson moves to block Nevada nuclear tests
[deseretnews.com]
Thursday, March 10, 2005
By Jerry Spangler Deseret Morning News
WASHINGTON — Rep. Jim Matheson is getting
ready to butt heads with the White House over a resumption of
nuclear weapons testing.
On Wednesday, Matheson, D-Utah, reintroduced legislation
that impedes efforts to resume nuclear weapons testing at the
Nevada Test Site, where tests during the 1950s and 1960s led to
the deaths of thousands of downwinders, including Matheson's
father, former Utah Gov. Scott Matheson.
"Like thousands of Utah families, I am painfully aware of
the federal government's failure to protect its citizens from
the dangers of radioactive fallout created during atomic testing
in Nevada," Matheson said. "The federal government said we were
safe. The federal government knew we were at risk. I will not
stand by and let the government take Utah families down that
path again."
Matheson originally introduced the "Safety for Americans
from Nuclear Weapons Testing Act" in 2004 after funds were
appropriated to study development of two new types of nuclear
weapons and to shorten the time needed for test site readiness.
Sen. Bob Bennett, R-Utah, has announced plans to
reintroduce companion legislation in the Senate.
Bipartisan efforts in the House and Senate last year
resulted in much of the proposed funding for nuclear weapons
development being gutted from the 2005 Department of Energy
budget.
The president's 2006 budget includes $8.5 million in both
the DOE and the Department of Defense budgets to continue
studying the Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrator, or "bunker-buster"
weapon.
Matheson said he doubts the military would spend half a
billion dollars developing new nuclear weapons and then not test
them. Matheson favors research into non-nuclear precision
weapons to destroy deeply buried, hardened bunkers.
Matheson said the cost to American citizens of nuclear
testing is too great.
To date, more than 5,100 Utahns have filed claims under
the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA) for cancer and
other illnesses from atomic fallout. More than $200 million has
been paid by the Department of Justice.
"We need much more accountability from the federal
government before we even consider putting citizens at risk
again," said Matheson.
Matheson's legislation would require the government to
conduct a National Environmental Policy Act review to assess
health, safety and environmental impacts prior to conducting
nuclear weapons testing, require congressional authorization
prior to the possible resumption of weapons testing at the
Nevada Test Site and require at least one week's public notice
prior to any test.
It also requires government and private monitoring of
radiation levels throughout the country and creates a consortium
of universities that will study the health effects of radiation
exposure.
It also requires local citizen involvement. Groups such
as the National Atomic Veterans Association, the Physicians for
Social Responsibility, the Utah Medical Association, the Ute,
Navajo and Paiute tribal governments, the Grand County Council
and the St. George Chamber of Commerce have endorsed the
legislation.
"I remember my father telling me about how people in
southern Utah would watch the sky light up from the nuclear
tests and how Utahns supported the program because they were
strong patriots who believed in their country and trusted their
government," Matheson said. "Many untimely deaths later, we've
learned to be skeptical of the government's safety claims
regarding this issue."
E-mail: spang@desnews.com
© 2005 Deseret News Publishing Company
*****************************************************************
62 Rocky Mountain News: Measure could aid Flats workers
Salazar's bill would eliminate need for proof of exposure
By Rocky Mountain News
March 10, 2005
U.S. Sen. Ken Salazar introduced a bill Wednesday that would
allow Rocky Flats workers sickened on the job to qualify for aid
without having to prove their exposure to radiation.
A Rocky Flats worker suffering from one of the 22 listed cancers
would be eligible to receive benefits despite the inadequate
records maintained by the Department of Energy and its
contractors or other problems.
The bill is a companion measure to one sponsored in the House
of Representatives by two fellow Coloradans: Democrat Mark Udall
and Republican Bob Beauprez.
Those three, along with Sen. Wayne Allard, R-Colo., have written
to Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt in
support of a petition by the steelworkers union seeking the same
result as the legislation.
Allard called the workers "heroes of the Cold War" for giving
their health and sometimes their lives to build atom bombs. The
workers have been trying since 2000 to qualify for federal
compensation.
Workers covered by the bill could receive a lump-sum payment of
$150,000, lost wages and medical coverage.
Meanwhile, the General Accounting Office has started a new
report on progress of the Rocky Flats cleanup.
The GAO, the investigative arm of Congress, plans to revisit
some of the topics of its February 2001 report, which warned
that the Department of Energy might miss its 2006 target for
cleaning up the former nuclear weapons plant.
Since that report, contractor Kaiser-Hill Co. has accelerated
the project, and Department of Energy officials say the work
might be finished before the end of this year. That would be
more than a year early and close to the time the GAO plans to
finish its new study, which was requested by Allard.
The new report will try to determine whether the DOE has
overcome challenges identified in the 2001 report; whether the
project will be done by the end of 2006 and meet the $7 billion
budget; and whether the result will meet strict standards to
protect the environment and public health.
Victor Holm, former chairman of the Rocky Flats Citizens
Advisory Board, welcomed the new study.
"It's important at this point in the cleanup because there are
still people who doubt the cleanup is going to be protective of
human health," Holm said.
Karen Lutz, a Department of Energy spokeswoman at Rocky Flats,
said the GAO report is just one in a series of independent
reviews to determine the safety of the cleanup.
SITE MAP PHOTO REPRINTS CORRECTIONS 2005 © The E.W. Scripps
*****************************************************************
63 DenverPost.com: Salazar seeks aid for ill Flats workers
Published: Thursday, March 10, 2005
By Kim McGuire Denver Post Staff Writer
Sen. Ken Salazar, D-Colo., introduced legislation Wednesday
that would make it easier for sick Rocky Flats workers to get
compensation.
Salazar's bill asks that people who worked at the nuclear-
weapons plant be given a special designation, making them
eligible for a lump-sum payment of $150,000 and medical
benefits.
Last year, Republican Rep. Bob Beauprez of Arvada and Rep. Mark
Udall, an Eldorado Springs Democrat, introduced similar
legislation on Capitol Hill.
"Through five decades, men and women worked on the front lines
of the Cold War producing plutonium (triggers) at Rocky Flats,"
Salazar said. "We owe them this classification if they are
suffering from illnesses causes by exposure while ensuring our
national safety."
Also on Wednesday, Sen. Wayne Allard, R-Colo., announced that
the Government Accountability Office is reviewing the cleanup at
the former weapons plant. The study will examine whether the
cleanup will be complete by 2006 and in line with Department of
Energy cost projections.
Allard said the study should be complete by this fall.
"What is needed is independent assurance that the project is on
time and on budget, and that the site is going to meet the
stringent environmental standards outlined for the contractor
when the project was initiated," Allard said.
Allard was among four members of the Colorado congressional
delegation to write a letter to U.S. Secretary of Health and
Human Services Mike Leavitt this week urging him to approve a
petition filed on behalf of Flats workers.
That petition, submitted in February by the Rocky Flats
Steelworkers of America Local 8031, asks that Leavitt grant
workers the designation spelled out in the legislation filed by
Salazar, Beauprez and Udall.
Staff writer Kim McGuire can be reached at 303-820-1240 or
kmcguire@denverpost.com.
All contents Copyright 2005 The Denver Post or other copyright
*****************************************************************
64 chillicothe gazette: Trees help clean Piketon naturally -
www.chillicothegazette.com
Thursday, March 10, 2005
Poplars sop up chemical in groundwater
By DANIEL PRAZER
Gazette Staff Writer
PIKETON -- Cleanup experts at the Piketon uranium enrichment
plant have turned to Mother Nature for help removing groundwater
contamination.
They've planted 4,000 hybrid poplar trees in areas over plumes
of the industrial solvent trichloroethene (TCE). But it was
difficult to figure out how well it was working, so they had to
come up with a way to find out.
"We set up several instruments on the plants themselves to help
measure the sap flow, and what we want to do is get an idea of
how much water the trees are pumping, so to speak, so we can
help model our progress and predict how soon it will start to
get cleaner," said Dave Rieske, senior geologist with the
Bechtel- Jacobs Co. subcontractor Pro2Serve.
This April, John Sokol, technology development coordinator at
the Piketon plant for Bechtel-Jacobs Co., and Rieske will
present their method to an international conference sponsored by
the Environmental Protection Agency.
Soil moisture probes measure how much water goes into the ground
versus running off, Sokol said.
"By knowing all this ... we're trying to get an indication of
how long it will take before the trees clean up the
groundwater," he said. "In other words, we're doing a water
balance of the system."
The trees act as a huge series of small pumps to get groundwater
to the surface, Rieske said.
"TCE is broken down by various processes, first in the soil
itself with the roots and the oxygen that the plants introduce
into the soil with the bacteria there, then in the tissue of the
plant, then some of the TCE may be respired back into the
atmosphere where it's quickly broken down by the sunlight," he
said.
The trees are just part of a strategy to contain and get rid of
the plume of contamination. Besides monitoring the plume with
750 wells, workers have installed an underground wall of slurry
near the boundary of the site that should prevent the TCE from
moving off. They're also pumping groundwater to the surface,
treating it, and putting it back into the aquifer.
The contaminated water isn't being consumed right now, even off
the plant site, Sokol said.
"There's really not an exposure scenario right now for the
groundwater that is a concern until it comes out in surface
water in the streams where it may drain out," he said.
But surface runoff has continually tested and shows up clean of
TCE, he said.
(Prazer can be reached at 772-9364 or via e-mail at
dprazer@nncogannett.com)
Originally published Thursday, March 10, 2005
Copyright ©2004 Chillicothe Gazette. All rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
65 Tri-City Herald: Plutonium cleanup takes next step
This story was published Thursday, March 10th, 2005
By Annette Cary, Herald staff writer
For 15 years, no person has been inside the Americium
Reclamation Facility within the Plutonium Finishing Plant.
Workers could shine flashlights through the doors' windows to
see through the dark to hot cells and a debris-strewn floor.
It was in that room that one of Hanford's most infamous
accidents occurred in 1976 -- a chemical explosion that peppered
Harold McCluskey with a massive dose of radioactive americium.
Dubbed "the Atomic Man," McCluskey's body set off Geiger
counters 50 feet away. But he lived another 11 years before
dying at age 75.
Next month, work begins to clean up the facility -- one more
step in the efforts to decontaminate the Plutonium Finishing
Plant and tear it to the ground.
"The principal object is getting rid of hazards or risk
reduction," said Bruce Klos, vice president of the closure
project for DOE contractor Fluor Hanford.
For nearly four decades the plant made plutonium produced at
Hanford reactors into metal buttons the size of hockey pucks for
shipment to the nation's weapons production plants. More than
half the nation's plutonium for nuclear weapons came through the
plant.
When operations stopped abruptly in 1989, plutonium was left in
different forms throughout the massive plant. A year ago, after
a four-year campaign, workers finished converting the leftover
plutonium into a form that can be safely stored.
Since then, chemical systems have been cleaned out, including a
tank that exploded in 1997, blasting out doors and punching
holes in the roof.
With that work finished, the focus is on removing the residual
plutonium or what Hanford workers call "held up" plutonium.
"The priorities are risk-driven," said Bob Heineman, Fluor's
director of the closure project.
The plan is to have the plant decommissioned by 2009. But under
the proposed 2006 Hanford budget, work likely would slow.
The proposed fiscal year 2006 budget would reduce spending on
cleanup at the plant, which now employs 800 people, from $224
million this year to $191 million next year.
But spending on security would increase from $56 million to $82
million, as changes planned after Sept. 11, 2001, are made.
Much of the material tainted with plutonium at the plant has
been shipped to a deep geological repository in New Mexico. But
more than 4 tons of weapons-grade plutonium remains stored in a
heavily guarded vault at the plant. Just 10 pounds are enough to
make a bomb.
Getting that plutonium shipped off Hanford under a federal
program to consolidate plutonium at the Savannah River, S.C.,
nuclear site is a top priority of DOE's Richland Operations
Office.
But Hanford officials must wait for a national decision to allow
plutonium to be shipped to Savannah River, where some would be
made into mixed oxide fuel for commercial nuclear reactors and
other plutonium would be turned into a stable glass form.
With little hope that the plutonium will be shipped before
fiscal year 2006, security costs will increase that year and
possibly again the next as more security improvements are made.
Less money may be available for cleanup in 2006, but progress
will continue under the same approach being used now, said Stacy
Charboneau, project manager for DOE.
The plant has 250,000 square feet of plutonium processing area
-- the size of a couple of Wal-Marts -- packed with 231 glove
boxes and laboratory hoods. The largest glove boxes are 60 feet
long and 8 feet tall and many are filled with contaminated
equipment.
In many areas workers must wear voluminous protective clothing
marked with radiation symbols and breathe fresh air supplied
through hoses from tanks wheeled in on carts. The risk of heat
exhaustion is so great that Fluor is developing a system using
compressors to blow cool air into their suits as they work.
"The biggest challenge is that work is changing every day,"
Heineman said. "This is work that has never been done before.
(Equipment and hot cells) were not designed to be
deconstructed."
The Americium Reclamation Facility is not the only area at the
plant that humans have not entered for more than a decade.
November was the first time workers had been back in the canyon
of the Plutonium Reclamation Facility.
During the Cold War, the government wanted to recover any bit of
plutonium it could from scrap material. Hanford employees worked
around the clock using a solvent extraction process.
Since November, workers have been in the facility's
multistory-high canyon more than 20 times, characterizing the
waste left there and getting its crane ready to operate again.
Progress in the Plutonium Finishing Plant has been steady. More
than 71 percent of the plutonium "held up" in equipment, drain
lines and ventilation systems has been removed and the project
is on target to be completed this summer.
Equipment in 45 of the plant's glove boxes and laboratory hoods
has been removed. The first 21 of the 231 glove boxes and
laboratory hoods have been decontaminated.
Much of the work at the plant was done by workers who reached
their hands through oversized gloves into boxes with shielded
glass windows. In at least one glove box lined with worker
stations, a conveyer belt would move materials along as if it
were a factory assembly line.
By the time all equipment is removed and all 63 buildings torn
down, more than 2 million cubic meters of waste will have been
removed. That's enough to load up about 2 million small pickups.
© 2005 Tri-City Herald, Associated Press &Other Wire Services
*****************************************************************
66 Tri-City Herald: Legislature works on fix for IsoRay
This story was published Thursday, March 10th, 2005
By Chris Mulick, Herald Olympia bureau
OLYMPIA -- Gov. Christine Gregoire and a Richland isotope
producer are working on an administrative strategy that would
allow the company to operate in Washington, resolving legal
questions raised after the passage of Initiative 297.
That development has led IsoRay Medical to tell lawmakers it no
longer supports a bill in the Legislature that was designed to
clarify the Hanford cleanup initiative, throwing the bill and
possibly the voter-approved initiative into jeopardy.
In the meantime, the start-up company still is considering
building its plant to manufacture cancer-treating radioactive
isotopes somewhere else, saying it has one written proposal in
hand from another state with one or two others on the way. Roger
Girard, IsoRay's chief executive officer, said discussions are
serious.
Tom Fitzsimmons, Gregoire's chief of staff, said Wednesday
evening that the governor is working with IsoRay to develop
plans that would give the company the legal certainty it needs
in Washington without harming the state's legal case defending
the initiative in court.
The federal government sued after voters approved the initiative
-- which generally sought to prevent the federal government from
importing new nuclear wastes to Hanford until existing wastes
are cleaned up -- arguing the measure violates the U.S.
Constitution.
It also moved to stop a wide range of activities at Hanford and
the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, where part of
IsoRay's production is done, arguing those activities may also
be limited by the initiative. A federal judge ruled that the
initiative will not be enforced until the lawsuit is resolved.
State lawmakers rushed to introduce bills in the Legislature in
January to clarify the initiative and made a poster child out of
IsoRay, a company that hopes to eventually employ 200 while
spurring the development of a new industry. That bill has torn
factions in the Tri-Cities, which opposed I-297. Some see the
bill as a way to save IsoRay but others believe its defeat would
leave the initiative more vulnerable to being thrown out in
court.
Sen. Jerome Delvin, R-Richland, sponsored his own bill to aid
IsoRay while Reps. Shirley Hankins, and Larry Haler, both
R-Richland, were working to kill it. Stuck uncomfortably in
between, IsoRay sought other remedies with Gregoire's office.
"The strategic path has been set but we're continuing to work on
the details," Girard said Wednesday night. That path may not be
revealed for several months but would be "very clear" as the
company must present challenges and uncertainties to investors.
Even if the state can provide an administrative solution it
won't guarantee IsoRay will stay, Girard said, but "that will
certainly be a positive step in that direction."
The developments have left lawmakers puzzled and the bill to
clarify I-297 in trouble.
After the announcement IsoRay had reached a one-year lease
agreement with Pacific EcoSolutions to set up a temporary lab,
Haler sent an e-mail to the entire Legislature claiming credit
for work he, Hankins and Delvin had done to "convince IsoRay to
remain in Richland." He told colleagues "any such legislation to
keep them here is not necessary."
After reading the note Girard sent Sen. Adam Kline, a Seattle
Democrat sponsoring Senate Bill 5445, an e-mail in which he said
IsoRay still needed a legislative fix.
"If I-297 is not fixed and fixed soon, IsoRay will have no
option but to move to Idaho," he wrote on Feb. 24.
But in another e-mail Feb. 28 Girard said "we can no longer
support any legislative bills related to I-297." Girard
explained Wednesday that Kline's bill was getting too cluttered
and that the company would prefer a fix that doesn't involve
being in a legislative dust-up.
Kline said IsoRay would be smarter to be working multiple angles
in case any remedy with Gregoire's office doesn't pan out.
"If it falls through who is going to answer to IsoRay
investors," Kline asked. "They better be damn lucky or damn
smart."
Without IsoRay on board, Delvin said he'll no longer support
Kline's bill, which needs a two-thirds majority to pass because
it changes a recently approved initiative. And without his
support Delvin predicts other Republicans will peel off as well.
And that would put into jeopardy a laundry list of other fixes
for I-297 included in the bill that arguably would help the
initiative withstand a legal challenge.
"Initiatives, whether it's Tim Eyman or the health care
initiative, are written by 12 people who agree with each other,"
said Kline, who predicted his bill still would gain approval
today. "They don't do what we do here."
© 2005 Tri-City Herald, Associated Press &Other Wire Services
*****************************************************************
67 lamonitor.com: LANL and UNM sign isotope agreement
ROGER SNODGRASS, roger@lamonitor.com, Monitor Assistant Editor
Gov. Bill Richardson hosted a signing ceremony in the Capitol to
mark a new partnership between Los Alamos National Laboratory
and the University of New Mexico in the field of medical
isotopes.
Laboratory Director Pete Nanos and UNM President Louis Caldera
participated in the signing Tuesday.
"For too long, the academic institutions in New Mexico have been
on the outside looking in at educational partnerships and
opportunities with the lab," Richardson said in a prepared
statement.
LANL and the University of California have responded to concerns
by state officials in recent years that the state was not
receiving the benefit of the laboratory's high-tech jobs and
research. The lab has been actively firming up a series of
collaborative arrangements with New Mexico universities in the
last several months.
The newly created New Mexico Center for Isotopes in Medicine
will make use of technological capabilities at the lab's isotope
production facility. The center will conduct programs for
developing new drugs and other products, including preclinical
and patient testing.
Medical isotopes are used in medical screening technologies and
in the diagnosis and treatment of cancer and other illnesses.
Some of the isotopes have a short period of usefulness before
they decay, so supplies must be continuously renewed.
The UNM Health Sciences Center will expand educational programs
to develop trained workers in the new field.
The laboratory's Isotope Production Facility (IPF) came on line
early last year. It makes use of a particle accelerator beam at
LANSCE (Los Alamos Neutron Science Center), which can be used to
produce more than 35 medical isotopes and has an international
clientele.
In his remarks, Nanos described UNM as a special partner. The
Memorandum of Understanding between the two institutions will
not only enhance the economy of New Mexico, but will also help
develop a new generation of radiochemists at UNM, he said.
Terry Yates, UNM's vice president for research and development,
said this morning that the program was a big deal for the state
and the country.
"There is nothing like it in the country," he said.
"Nobody else is producing these kind of isotopes, the light ones
requiring a proton beam to make, and nobody is linked up with a
world-class radiopharmacy program like ours."
Among other benefits, the collaboration will provide joint
faculty appointments, joint research proposals and projects, and
additional UNM interns at LANL.
The center will be located at the UNM Cancer Research &Treatment
Center, the UNM MIND (Mental Illness and Neuroscience Discovery)
Institute and the UNM School of Medicine.
The arrangement also includes private partnerships with Lovelace
Respiratory Research Institute, Technology Commercialization
International Inc. and other New Mexico businesses.
Richardson said he was pleased to see the arrangement take shape.
"As Energy Secretary, I pushed for funding for the technology
that helped LANL create one of the largest isotope production
facilities in the world," he said.
© 2003 Los Alamos Monitor All Rights Reserved.
*****************************************************************
68 lamonitor.com: Federal initiative hurts many state businesses
The Online News Source for Los Alamos
CAROL A. CLARK, lanews@lamonitor.com, Monitor Staff Writer
Editor's note: This is part one of a two-part series that looks
at a federal procurement law granting Alaska Native Corporations
advantage over other minority and disadvantaged businesses. Part
two looks at the National Nuclear Security Administration's
Tri-Lab Initiative and its impact on minority and small
businesses.
Members of the New Mexico 8(a) and Minority Business Association
are speaking out against a provision in the 2000 Department of
Defense Appropriations Act that allows federal officials to
award contracts to Alaska Native Corporations (ANC's) without
going through a competitive bidding process and with no price
cap.
Los Alamos National Laboratory currently has one ANC contract
and is looking at another, said NNSA Contracting Officer Anthony
Lovato in a telephone interview Monday.
Chugach Corp. currently holds a janitorial contract at the lab.
"I had heard there were rumors that Chugach was going to replace
KSL but that's not true," Lovato said. "I spoke at a chamber
breakfast a few weeks ago to dispel that rumor. KSL has a $150
million a year contract and we're not going to suddenly switch
contractors."
LANL could take the contract away from KSL, Lavato said, and
give it to Chugach to have its small business requirements met
for a year, but said that is not what they want to do.
"We want to diversify the businesses and not just meet the
numbers," he said. "We don't want every small business dependent
on the lab. We want them to also contract with ANC's, NNSA, KSL
and others."
He added that LANL is looking at replacing IBM as the integrator
on the Enterprise Project. In 2002, the Lab selected IBM to
provide hardware for central computing systems to help
integrate, unify, modernize and streamline their administrative
operations.
The initial contract was worth nearly $2 million and required
IBM to provide computer hardware to replace the laboratory's
entire administrative computing infrastructure. The Alaskan firm
of ASRCAC will be the umbrella contractor taking over the
contract, Lavato said.
"ASRCAC will team with several Northern New Mexico firms on the
contract," he said.
Lovato said that unlike American Natives, the ANC's have
corporations rather than tribes.
ASRCAC is one of 10 divisions of Arctic Slope Regional Corp.
(ASRC), owned by the Inupiat Eskimos of Alaska's north slope.
In Los Alamos, one of the divisions of ASCG designed a facility
to store and dispose of mixed wastes. The Mixed Waste Disposal
Facility is part of LANL's Environmental Restoration Program.
ASCG's work under the contract consisted of designing a disposal
facility, constructing three buildings and a disposal pit.
One of ASCG's divisions also designed a segment of the highway
on U.S. 285 from the Lincoln/DeBaca County line north to the
Junction of U.S. 60, according to the ASCG web site.
ASCG performed the study and design of the Paseo Del Norte/Coors
Road Interchange in Albuquerque.
The firm performed Airport Design on several New Mexico
facilities, including the Artesia Municipal Airport, Clayton
Municipal Airport, Deming Runway Extension, Dona Ana County
Airport, Grants/Milan Municipal Airport, Lea County-Hobbs
Airport, Roswell Industrial Air Center, Sierra Blanca Airport in
Ruidoso and the Truth or Consequences Airport.
The Alaskan firm also worked on an Albuquerque water and sewer
infrastructure design, designed a Base Refueling Station at
Holloman AFB, and together with Flintco West, was selected to
design and build a new campus for the Santa Fe Indian School.
Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, inserted the controversial provision
in the Act, which excludes Native Americans and Hawaiian Natives
from the no bid, no ceiling advantage.
"We are going to be the morticians of this law," said Anna
Muller, president of NEDA Business Consultants Inc.
The Minority Business Development Agency of the U.S. Department
of Commerce funds Muller's statewide minority business
development company.
Her firm has assisted small and minority businesses for over
three decades and Muller is fighting mad at the law that allows
ANC's to enter New Mexico and take jobs away from local firms.
The history leading up to the creation of the ANC's began in the
1860s after the United States government purchased Alaska from
the Russia government.
At that time, the Eskimos, Indians and Aleuts had been living in
Alaska for thousands of years.
It was agreed that Alaska Natives had land rights to the lands
they used. But for more than 100 years, it was not clear which
land belonged to the Alaska Natives and which to the United
States government.
The Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) was finally
passed in 1971. The intent of the law was to settle that
100-year-old question.
ANCSA created 13 regional corporations, which represent over
80,000 Alaska Native Eskimos, Indians and Aleuts.
The U.S. government paid $962.5 million to the Alaska Natives
through those corporations.
Forty-three million acres of land also were set aside for the 13
regional corporations.
These corporations multiplied into some 200 subsidiaries all
operating under the no bid, no ceiling provision.
Stevens says the law corrects an imbalance and helps a minority
group that has had few job opportunities, according to the
Indianz.com website.
He states the Native American exception is intended to advance
the federal government's interest in promoting self-sufficiency
and the economic development of Native American communities.
Stevens also insists it does so not on the basis of race, but
rather, based upon the unique political and legal status of the
aboriginal, indigenous, Native people.
The New Mexico 8(a) and Minority Business Association board is
preparing a position paper voicing their opposition to the law,
Muller said.
These Alaskan sole source contracts with unlimited ceilings can
streamline the federal procurement process down to days rather
than weeks or months.
The trend is steadily growing for government entities to bypass
cumbersome bidding procedures and simply award contracts to the
ANC's.
In a move by the National Imagery and Mapping Agency, Arctic
Slope Regional Development Corp. and Chenega were given a $2
billion contract - a public request for proposals was never
placed on the table.
The American Federation of Government Employees appealed the
award to the Supreme Court saying the contracting set-asides
violate the U.S. Constitution's ban on race-based preferences.
The Supreme Court rejected their appeal.
A coalition of regional and national minority businesses and
trade associations will hold a summit in Albuquerque on Friday
to discuss a national agenda for public policy and regulatory
matters relating to minority and small businesses. This is the
first time the summit, sponsored by the New Mexico 8(a)
Association, NEDA Business Consultants Inc. and the Minority
Small Business Council will be held outside the Washington D.C.
beltway, Muller said.
The summit takes place from 4-6 p.m. at the Sheraton Old Town in
Albuquerque.
The summit agenda lists a number of issues for discussion
including:
+ Contract bundling.
+ Small Business Administration annual budget.
+ General Services Administration acquisition policy.
Summit coalition members include the National Minority Suppliers
Development Council, Latin American Management Association, the
Association for Small Business in Technology Inc., Minority
Business Enterprise Legal Defense and Education Fund,
President's Roundtable, and the Northern California and New
Mexico 8(a) Minority Business Associations.
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69 Progress Update: Fernald Uranium Park
Developing Future Fernald Park Site Disputed (7/5/04)
Reported by: 9News
Web produced by: Mark Sickmiller
Photographed by: 9News
3/10/2005 5:39:26 PM
In about a year and a half, you could take a trip for a nice day
at a park -- that used to be the Fernald Uranium site.
The company cleaning up the site is nearing the end in the
process of moving radioactive waste off the western Hamilton
County site.
Fluor Fernald watered down the uranium waste in some of the
silos and removed ash from others.
They then mixed it with concrete and it will soon be shipped out
of our area.
"Taking the waste out of the silos has been a big step for Fluor
Fernald," said Jeff Wagner of Fluor Fernald.
"This is waste that's been in these silos for over 50 years. It
presents a real health and safety hazard for workers and really
for the environment, so the first priority for us was to get the
waste out of the silos," Wagner said.
Fluor Fernald still doesn't know where some of the waste will
go, but crews expect it to be gone in the coming weeks.
Next they will remove the silos and scrape away any contaminated
soil before planting new trees and grass for a park, which
should be ready in less than two years.
WCPO-TV
*****************************************************************
70 New Interactive Animations Show Nuclear Reactors
Date: Thu, 10 Mar 2005 01:00:51 -0600 (CST)
Date: Mon, 07 Mar 2005 11:24:04 -0800 From: "Russell D. Hoffman"
Subject: New Macromedia Flash web
site presents U.S. nuclear reactor systems in animated format
March 7th, 2005
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Re: New interactive animations show the inner workings of U.S.
nuclear power reactors.
To help people understand nuclear power, the author has created a
web site with animated drawings of the two types of nuclear reactors
in use in the United States: Pressurized Water Reactors (PWRs) and
Boiling Water Reactors (BWRs). There is an animated overview for
each type and, for the PWR, there is also a view showing a typical
steam generator arrangement. For the BWR, there is a reactor core
flow diagram.
All four animations are based on common, well-known industrial
illustrations of Westinghouse and General Electric reactors. The
program may be freely copied if left unchanged.
Here is the URL for these new animations:
http://www.animatedsoftware.com/environm/nukequiz/nukequiz_one/nuke_parts/reactor_parts.swf
Depending on your browser and/or email settings, you might want to
try the "html" file instead:
http://www.animatedsoftware.com/environm/nukequiz/nukequiz_one/nuke_parts/reactor_parts.html
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
This author would also like to gratefully acknowledge
Synthesis/Regeneration: A Magazine of Green Social Thought, which
included my essay about the dangers of tsunamis and nuclear power
plants in their March issue (page 4). Other places the Tsunami
article can be found include:
http://www.counterpunch.org/hoffman12292004.html
http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/printer_123004W.shtml
http://progressivetrail.org/articles/041231D.Hoffman.shtml
http://www.leftgatekeepers.com/articles/TsunamisAndNuclearPowerPlantByRussellDHoffman.htm
These sites have also either posted the article, or at least a link
to one of the other postings, and usually a description as well:
http://www.malaysia-today.net/Blog-i/2004_12_30_MT_international_archive.htm
http://www.semitic.org/hoffman12292004.html
http://www.fornits.com/renegade/peaars.cgi?fetch=8028
http://www.thedeprogrammer.com/nukes.html
http://lightspeedpub.blogspot.com/2004_12_01_lightspeedpub_archive.html
http://r7rock.blogdrive.com/comments?id=26
http://lists.nfg.nl/mhonarc/listeeworld/msg00237.html
You'll also find the essay mentioned at the dukeemployees.com web
site:
http://www.dukeemployees.com/nuclear31.shtml
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
To see what can go wrong at these reactors, please view my previous
animation, called ONE BAD DAY AT SAN ONOFRE, about an internal memo
sent by the plant's management to all employees in December, 2004
regarding this author. ONE BAD DAY includes a graphic depiction
of various natural (and unnatural) disasters which might befall the
facility (move your mouse over the icon ONE BAD DAY, on the left,
to view the animated destruction of the facility):
http://www.animatedsoftware.com/environm/onofre/2005/sce_memo/sce_memo_2004.swf
or try:
http://www.animatedsoftware.com/environm/onofre/2005/sce_memo/sce_memo_2004.html
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Here are some additional URLs for essays and animations about nuclear
power by this author:
Animated history of U.S. nuclear activities, including over 1500
data points (ongoing project):
21 subcritical tests 1033 bomb blasts on, above, or under continental
U.S. soil 113 additional U.S. bomb blasts 10 U.S. Carriers 190 U.S.
Nuclear Submarines 28 U.S. Nuclear rockets 9 U.S. Nuclear Cruisers
1 U.S. "Civilian" nuclear ship 41 BWRs (8 closed) 83 PWRs (13 closed)
1 Yucca Mountain A few dozen mines, also research facilities,
processing plants, etc. etc..
http://www.animatedsoftware.com/poifu/poifu.swf or try:
http://www.animatedsoftware.com/poifu/poifu.html
List of U.S. Nuclear Power Plants with , with activists, output
levels, CRAC-2 estimates, years of operation, owners, locations,
etc:
http://www.animatedsoftware.com/environm/no_nukes/nukelist.htm
Glossary of Nuclear Terminology (aka "the Demon Hot Atom"):
http://www.animatedsoftware.com/hotwords/index.htm
List of most of the ~500 books in my collection about nuclear energy,
atomic theory, and nuclear weapons:
http://www.animatedsoftware.com/environm/no_nukes/mybooks.htm
NASA's Nuclear Nuttiness (which is ongoing, with the expected 2006
launch of another "RTG)":
http://www.animatedsoftware.com/mx/nasa/columbia/index.swf
The Effects of Nuclear War -- don't let this happen to you (or in
your name)!:
http://www.animatedsoftware.com/environm/no_nukes/tenw/nuke_war.htm
Shut San Onofre home page:
http://www.animatedsoftware.com/environm/onofre/index.htm
My own personal Flash-based home page:
http://animatedsoftware.com/mx/ Non-Flash:
http://animatedsoftware.com/
=============================================== Contact information
for the author of this email:
===============================================
************************************************* ** THE ANIMATED
SOFTWARE COMPANY ** Russell D. Hoffman, Owner and Chief Programmer
** rhoffman@animatedsoftware.com ** P.O. Box 1936, Carlsbad CA
92018-1936 ** (800) 551-2726 ** (760) 720-7261 ** Fax: (760) 720-7394
** Visit the world's most eclectic web site:
** http://www.animatedsoftware.com
*************************************************
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71 [du-list] DU in the news - 11th March 05
Date: Thu, 10 Mar 2005 15:14:05 -0800
Lawmakers want state to track veterans health problems
http://www.wtnh.com/Global/story.asp?S=3059059&nav=3YeXXKf7
(Hartford-AP, Mar. 10, 2005 1:25 PM) _ Some state lawmakers want to better
track the health problems of Connecticut veterans. They've proposed a new
health registry for veterans and military personnel returning from
Afghanistan, Iraq and elsewhere.
Rice Lake Online, Thu, 10 Mar 2005 8:48 AM PST
Rice Lake Online http://www.chronotype.com/article.asp?ArticleID=8127
Woodland Women in Black invites the community to a vigil and rally
Saturday, March 19 to mark the second anniversary of the invasion of Iraq
and to coincide with Global Days of Action Against the War.
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