***************************************************************** 03/15/05 **** RADIATION BULLETIN(RADBULL) **** VOL 13.59 ***************************************************************** RADBULL IS PRODUCED BY THE ABALONE ALLIANCE CLEARINGHOUSE ***************************************************************** Send News Stories to news@energy-net.org with title on subject line and first line of body NUCLEAR POLICY 1 [toeslist] Revealed: Israel Plans Strike on Iranian Nuclear 2 Guardian Unlimited: Iran Says Tehran Has Offered Europe a Deal 3 BBC: Iran stamp lauds nuclear success 4 Bangornews.com: Logic of Iran's nuclear quest - 5 Guardian Unlimited Iran: Incentives Won't Stop Nuke Program 6 Guardian Unlimited: Rice Takes Hard-Line on N. Korea Nukes 7 Guardian Unlimited: Electricity Is Carrot in North Korea Talks 8 Korea: Digital Chosunilbo: Subtle Signs Betray Uncle Sam's Displeasu 9 Korea: Digital Chosunilbo: Seoul's Clumsy Diplomacy Makes Matters Wo 10 YWS: Six-Party Talks 'Can't Go on Forever': U.S. Nuke Negotiator 11 YWS: Defense Minister Yoon to Visit China for Talks on N. Korea 12 YWS: N. Korea Blasts S. Korea-U.S. Joint Military Exercise 13 AFP: N.Korea threatens to build more nuclear bombs to deter war dril 14 US: Deseret News: Cannon fails voters on N-tests 15 US: DAWN: 'N-warheads kept separate from delivery systems' 16 US: Bush: WMD commission meeting 17 BBC: Talks push for alternative fuels NUCLEAR REACTORS 18 US: Brattleboro Reformer: VY sensor reads hot 19 US: York Dispatch: Activist keeps an eye on nukes 20 US: NRC: Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards; Meeting of the 21 US: Rutland Herald: Entergy, state review differing data on radiatio 22 US: TheStar.com: Keeping the lights on in Ontario 23 PTI: Services in uranium industry remain a public utility - Govt 24 US: NRC: Final Regulatory Guide; Issuance, Availability 25 ITAR-TASS: CIS nuclear scientists from restricted-access cities to d 26 Al Jazeera: Israeli MP: Dimona reactor poses real threat - 27 BakuTODAY.net: Russian Utility ‘Rescued Armenian Nuclear Plant’ 28 US: NRC: Final Regulatory Guide: Issuance, Availability 29 US: NRC: Sunshine Act; Meeting NUCLEAR SAFETY 30 [du-list] US Still Using Depleted Uranium Munitions in Iraq 31 [du-list] US Using Depleted Uranium Munitions in Iraq 32 US: Las Vegas SUN: Changes to be explained in DOE compensation progr 33 New Scientist: French plutonium at 'extreme risk' of terrorist attac 34 CNW Group: Biophage Pharma Reports Increased Demand in Beryllium 35 EMS: High risk U.S. plutonium transport arrives in Normandy from sou 36 US: WHO TV - Des Moines: Harkin urges federal officials to speed IAA 37 US: WCAX.com: Health Department looking at radiation reading at Verm 38 US: deseret news: NRC chief downplays Utah nuclear peril NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE 39 US: DallasNews.com: Firm seeking permits to store waste in W. Texas 40 US: Bradenton Herald: Tallevast again waiting for test results 41 Las Vegas RJ: YUCCA ALTERNATIVE: Longtime nuke plan revisited 42 US: Salt Lake Tribune: Huntsman makes case against nuclear waste 43 US: PE.com: Judge grants money for clean up of Army facility NUCLEAR WEAPONS US DEPT. OF ENERGY 44 Albuquerque Tribune: Editorial: Los Alamos manager needs security fo 45 Associated Press: Battelle will not bid on Los Alamos contract 46 Occupational Hazards: Nuclear Safety Violations Will Cost Hanford 47 ABQjournal: Change at LANL Could Be Costly 48 Jackson Hole Zone: Back INEEL seeks to expand cleanup OTHER NUCLEAR 49 [du-list] DU in the news - 15th March 05 50 [du-list] PAPERS INVITED - Environmental Impact Assessment & 51 [du-list] Save the dates -- Citizen Epidemiology Conference ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** FULL NEWS STORIES ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** 1 [toeslist] Revealed: Israel Plans Strike on Iranian Nuclear Date: Tue, 15 Mar 2005 14:51:15 -0600 (CST) http://www.commondreams.org/headlines05/0313-01.htm /Published on Sunday, March 13, 2005 by the Times/UK / * Revealed: Israel Plans Strike on Iranian Nuclear Plant * *by Uzi Mahnaimi* ISRAEL has drawn up secret plans for a combined air and ground attack on targets in Iran if diplomacy fails to halt the Iranian nuclear programme. The inner cabinet of Ariel Sharon, the Israeli prime minister, gave "initial authorisation" for an attack at a private meeting last month on his ranch in the Negev desert. Israeli forces have used a mock-up of Iran's Natanz uranium enrichment plant in the desert to practise destroying it. Their tactics include raids by Israel's elite Shaldag (Kingfisher) commando unit and airstrikes by F-15 jets from 69 Squadron, using bunker-busting bombs to penetrate underground facilities. The plans have been discussed with American officials who are said to have indicated provisionally that they would not stand in Israel's way if all international efforts to halt Iranian nuclear projects failed. Tehran claims that its programme is designed for peaceful purposes but Israeli and American intelligence officials -- who have met to share information in recent weeks -- are convinced that it is intended to produce nuclear weapons. The Israeli government responded cautiously yesterday to an announcement by Condoleezza Rice, the US secretary of state, that America would support Britain, France and Germany in offering economic incentives for Tehran to abandon its programme. In return, the European countries promised to back Washington in referring Iran to the United Nations security council if the latest round of talks fails to secure agreement. Silvan Shalom, the Israeli foreign minister, said he believed that diplomacy was the only way to deal with the issue. But he warned: "The idea that this tyranny of Iran will hold a nuclear bomb is a nightmare, not only for us but for the whole world." Dick Cheney, the American vice-president, emphasised on Friday that Iran would face "stronger action" if it failed to respond. But yesterday Iran rejected the initiative, which provides for entry to the World Trade Organisation and a supply of spare parts for airliners if it co-operates. "No pressure, bribe or threat can make Iran give up its legitimate right to use nuclear technology for peaceful purposes," said an Iranian spokesman. US officials warned last week that a military strike on Iranian nuclear facilities by Israeli or American forces had not been ruled out should the issue become deadlocked at the United Nations. /Additional reporting: Tony Allen-Mills, Washington / Copyright 2005 Times Newspapers Ltd. ***************************************************************** 2 Guardian Unlimited: Iran Says Tehran Has Offered Europe a Deal From the Associated Press [UP] Tuesday March 15, 2005 4:16 AM By NASSER KARIMI Associated Press Writer TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - Iran's president said Monday that Tehran has given a set of proposals to three key European states involved in talks on Iran's nuclear program, which he stressed must be expanded to provide his country with more energy. Mohammad Khatami's remarks came a day after Iranian officials described progress on nuclear talks with Europe as unsatisfactory and too slow, while Iran's chief negotiator warned it soon may walk away from the discussions. Europe is seeking Iranian guarantees that it will not use its nuclear technology to build bombs, something which the United States claims Tehran is determined to do. But Iran says its nuclear program is aimed at producing energy. ``We have presented five proposals to Europeans, now it's their turn to provide us strong guarantee about security,'' Khatami was quoted by state-run TV during a visit to Iran's atomic energy organization to oversee a ceremony launching a new postage stamp lauding Iran's achievements. Khatami did not elaborate, but the handover of the Iranian proposals indicates Tehran's willingness to continue the protracted discussions with the Europeans. Talks between Iran and Britain, Germany and France, who negotiate on behalf of the European Union, ended without result last week. The two sides were to meet again March 23. The Europeans have been offering economic incentives for Iran to give up any weapons ambitions. Khatami said Iran needs nuclear fuel to meet demands for more nuclear power plants. ``We need to build nuclear power plants; we have to be sure about their fuel supply,'' he said. ``If we stop fuel production, what guarantees that they (European) could provide us with the fuel?'' It was unclear if Khatami was suggesting Iran could suspend its nuclear enrichment program if granted fuel alternatives by the Europeans. Khatami said there is domestic opposition against dismantling Iran's nuclear program in line with U.S.-led demands. Iran suspended uranium enrichment-related activities last year to create confidence in its negotiations and avoid U.N. Security Council referral for possible sanctions. Tehran says maintaining the voluntary freeze depends on progress in the talks with the Europeans. On Saturday, Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi rejected U.S. overtures aimed at coaxing Tehran to drop its nuclear ambitions. The policy shifts, announced earlier by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, include dropping opposition to Iran's application for membership in the World Trade Organization and allowing the sale of some spare parts for civilian aircraft. Rice signaled that Iran should quickly accept, or face the threat of sanctions. Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2005 ***************************************************************** 3 BBC: Iran stamp lauds nuclear success Last Updated: Tuesday, 15 March, 2005 [Screen grab of the stamp from Iran TV ] Books and ears of corn are the emblems of the nuclear programme Iran's post office has issued a stamp celebrating the country's achievements in nuclear technology. President Mohammad Khatami oversaw the issuing ceremony while visiting Iran's Atomic Energy Organisation to mark the 30th anniversary of its foundation. The stamp shows the Bushehr nuclear power plant superimposed over a map of Iran and emblems of the agency. A lightning bolt is meant to symbolise the peaceful, civilian character of the nuclear programme, officials say. Footage on state-run television showed the chief of the IAEO and the head of its postal service joining Mr Khatami at the ceremony. Iran's official news agency Irna reported that the stamp was to mark the occasion of the IAEO's anniversary and "honour Iran's access to nuclear technology". Russian technicians begin construction of Iran's first nuclear reactor at Bushehr in September 2002. Washington accuses Iran of using its nuclear enrichment programme as a cover for developing nuclear weapons. Tehran denies seeking nuclear weapons, but has suspended uranium enrichment after negotiations with France, Germany and the UK. ***************************************************************** 4 Bangornews.com: Logic of Iran's nuclear quest - Tuesday, March 15, 2005 - Bangor Daily News The escalating crisis between Iran and the United States over the Islamic Republic's nuclear program exposes a flaw in the Bush administration's understanding of why Tehran wants to be a nuclear power. The nuclear quest reflects not the nature of the clerical government but rather the national interest as perceived by whomever rules Iran. It predates the 1979 revolution and is likely to continue beyond the Islamic Republic's clerical rule. Threatening Iran with military action will only increase the insecurity of the regime in Tehran. It provides the clerical regime with an excuse to exploit nationalistic sentiments, diverting attention with serious domestic problems facing the regime. If the United States does not want the Islamic Republic to develop nuclear weapons, why not negotiate with Iranians as we propose to do with the North Koreans? Why keep threatening Iran and intensifying Tehran's perceived need to go nuclear? Analysts have been unable to predict with certainty when Iran will achieve its goal of having nuclear capability. However, nobody can deny the Iranians live in a tough neighborhood, surrounded by nuclear powers - Pakistan and India to the east, not to mention China; Russia to the north; and Israel to the west. Iran's former archenemy, Iraq, was close to acquiring nuclear weapons capability in 1981, less than a year after declaring war against the Islamic Republic, until the Israeli air forces struck the Osiraq reactor. Iraq's pursuit of weapons of mass destruction ended due to U.S.-led international sanctions, not because the Baathist government lacked the desire. With the Baath's ouster, Iraq has experienced occupation by the world's largest nuclear power, the United States. Significantly, Iran's nuclearized neighbors have defied international pressure to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Israel's undeclared nuclear weapons are an open secret and the ultimate deterrent to Arab armies. Pakistan, now among Washington's closest allies in the war against terror but once supporting the Taliban, not only refuses to sign the NPT but has also aided other proliferators. Abdol Qadeer Khan, the "father of Pakistan's nuclear bomb," masterminded a clandestine and hugely profitable enterprise selling technology to so-called rogue states, including Iran and North Korea. Members of Pakistan's intelligence and military establishment worked closely with Khan and are known Osama bin Laden sympathizers. In this regional context, any Iranian government not exploring the nuclear option would be irrational. Nuclear capability is considered necessary to thwart military action, whether by a re-assertive Iraq or the world's only superpower whose forces are stationed next door on Iran's eastern and western borders. The continued double standard is problematic in opposing Iran's acquisition of nuclear technology. Neither Israel nor Pakistan faces pressure to abandon their weapons, and even North Korea, the world's most isolated and insular dictatorship, is treated differently than the Islamic Republic. The Bush administration favors multilateral talks and is willing to offer Pyongyang incentives to give up its nuclear capability. But it is not willing to do the same with Iran. The only way to deal with the Iranian regime is to confront them with a unified American-European position. The advantage of this position is that it would allow the responsibility for the likely failure of diplomacy to fall where it should, in Tehran. It will take away the clerics' strategy of dividing the West, using Europeans against Americans. Moreover, a joint American-European multilateral approach would make it far more difficult for Iran to renege on any commitments made to Europeans. Besides, it would deprive the hard-line conservatives of the opportunity to exploit American and Israeli threats to repress pro-democracy forces. The Iran question is not just about the threat of nuclear weapons but it is also the challenge of how best to promote democracy. The regime is under pressure domestically. Despite record prices for its enormous oil output - Iran is the world's fourth-largest producer - the economy is in bad shape, and inflation and youth unemployment both top 15 percent. A recent poll by Iran's state-run National Youth Organization of 16,000 young people in all 30 provinces of Iran found that 44 percent would leave the country if they could. After more than two decades of rule by the clerics, a majority of Iranians have reached the conclusion that religion and politics should be separated. History is not on the side of the clerical regime in Tehran. President Bush's best course would be simply to allow the internal dynamics of Iran to play themselves out. Bahman Baktiari is the director of the International Affairs Program at the University of Maine. Bangornews.com Staff feedback@bangordailynews.net ***************************************************************** 5 Guardian Unlimited Iran: Incentives Won't Stop Nuke Program From the Associated Press [UP] Tuesday March 15, 2005 12:16 PM AP Photo VAH103 By ALI AKBAR DAREINI Associated Press Writer TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - Iran on Tuesday said economic incentives may help improve foreign relations but won't permanently stop Tehran from pursuing a nuclear program it says is for generating electricity but Washington believes is for weapons. The United States agreed last week to drop opposition to Iranian membership in the World Trade Organization and to allow some sales of spare parts for civilian aircraft as part of a European plan that offers economic incentives for Iran to permanently freeze its nuclear activities. Washington accuses Iran of using its civilian nuclear program as a cover to build an atomic bomb, but Tehran has rejected the charges, saying its nuclear program is geared toward generating electricity. Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi said the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty allows Iran to pursue a peaceful nuclear program including enriching uranium. Uranium enriched to low levels can be used as fuel in nuclear reactors to generate electricity, but further enrichment makes it suitable for a nuclear bomb. ``Economic incentives can't replace our rights. Our legitimate rights can't be compensated through economic incentives,'' Kharrazi told a news conference Tuesday. ``That America corrects part of its past mistakes is not incentive,'' he said of Washington dropping its opposition, but offered: ``(That) may be effective to help improve relations between Iran and the U.S.'' Nuclear talks between Iran and Britain, Germany and France, who negotiate on behalf of the European Union, ended without result earlier this month. The two sides are to meet again March 23. The Europeans have been offering economic incentives in the hope that Iran will turn its temporary suspension of uranium enrichment activities into a permanent freeze. Iran suspended all uranium enrichment-related activities last year to create confidence in its negotiations and avoid U.N. Security Council referral for possible sanctions. Tehran says maintaining the voluntary freeze depends on progress in the talks with the Europeans. Kharrazi said a compromise is possible only if it meets Iran's right to continue its peaceful nuclear program and guarantees that ease concerns that Iran's nuclear activities may be diverted toward weapons. ``We have prepared our proposals, which are attractive and can ease European concerns. We expect that Europeans will take the proposals seriously,'' he said. Kharrazi refused to discuss the Iranian proposals but said Europe's reaction will show whether talks will be positive or reach a deadlock. Kharrazi said Iran has already achieved proficiency in the whole range of cycle of nuclear fuel - extracting uranium ore to enriching it. ``(European) negotiators have to know that they are dealing with a capable country. Definitely, we won't give up our right to control the nuclear fuel cycle,'' he said. Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2005 ***************************************************************** 6 Guardian Unlimited: Rice Takes Hard-Line on N. Korea Nukes From the Associated Press [UP] Tuesday March 15, 2005 2:16 PM By ANNE GEARAN AP Diplomatic Writer NEW DELHI (AP) - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Tuesday she will not allow North Korea to play the United States and its allies against one another in an attempt to hang onto its nuclear weapons. Rice blamed the leaders in Pyongyang for stalled progress in ending the diplomatic isolation of the destitute country and said that an international diplomatic effort remains the best way to press North Korea to give up nuclear ambitions. ``The six-party framework is the best and most reliable way to deal with the North Korean program, because it has all of the important neighbors at the table,'' Rice told reporters en route to South Asia and East Asia. The six-way talks included the United States, China, Japan, Russia and South Korea, plus the North Koreans. Pyongyang had pulled out of the talks and announced last month it has already built a nuclear weapon and denounced the United States. ``What the North Koreans would like is to get into a bilateral discussion with the United States so that one by one they can cut separate deals on this issue, and we're not going to allow them to do it,'' Rice said. Her one week trip will include South Korea, Japan and China but not North Korea. Despite worries over North Korea's intentions and recent tensions between China and Taiwan, Rice said the United States enjoys perhaps its best relationships ever with each of the countries she will visit. The United States has built solid relationships with both India and Pakistan, in part because of cooperation in the war on terrorism, Rice said. Those good relations with the United States have ``helped the two states to have good relations with each other.'' India and Pakistan have fought three wars since their independence from Britain in 1947. Rice visits both countries this week and is making her first trip to Afghanistan before her stops in East Asia. Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2005 ***************************************************************** 7 Guardian Unlimited: Electricity Is Carrot in North Korea Talks From the Associated Press [UP] Tuesday March 15, 2005 7:01 PM By BURT HERMAN Associated Press Writer SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - Nighttime spy satellite photos illustrate the stark contrast between the two Koreas: The capitalist South is aglow with shimmering constellations of light, while the North disappears into blackness as deep as the aura of secrecy surrounding the communist nation. That's about to change for a small corner of the North. On Wednesday, for the first time since the Koreas were divided, the South will pipe electricity into the North for a joint economic zone meant to foster cooperation between the countries sharing the world's most heavily fortified border. Seoul's help comes as Pyongyang defies the world by proclaiming it has nuclear weapons and shunning disarmament talks - and it illustrates the differences in the carrots and sticks approach the international community is using to lure the North back to the negotiating table. Coming up with a coordinated strategy on North Korea is expected to be a focus of U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's visit to northeast Asia this week. So far, the other countries in the nuclear talks - China, Japan, Russia, South Korea and the United States - are running in different directions on relations with the North, which proclaimed Feb. 10 that it had nuclear weapons and would boycott the nuclear negotiations. China has the most potential influence as a key energy supplier to North Korea, but has refused to turn off its pipelines to push the North. China has been the only country to send an envoy to North Korea since Feb. 10 but failed to win a breakthrough, with North Korean leader Kim Jong Il saying his country would return to the talks only if the United States shows ``trustworthy sincerity.'' Japan enacted laws this month barring most North Korean ships from its ports, and has seized on the issue of the North's abductions of Japanese citizens in the 1970s and '80s. Some Japanese politicians have called for cutting off exports like melons or cosmetics to the North. But Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has resisted such moves over fears they would only make the situation worse, and the North has said sanctions would amount to a declaration of war. Russia has called for the North to return to the talks and for the interests of all sides to be taken into account, suggesting it supports a softer line with the North. But Moscow has lost the leverage it held as the Soviet Union, when it was Pyongyang's key benefactor. South Korea is continuing aid and moving forward on cooperative projects, like turning on the power for the Kaesong economic zone just north of the border. Seoul hasn't decided on a request by the North for 500,000 tons of fertilizer, but most expect it to go ahead with the delivery. Washington insists the North won't get any concessions until it gives up nuclear weapons. Rice said Tuesday she won't let North Korea play the United States and its allies against one another, saying the six-party talks are ``the best and more reliable way to deal with the North Korea program because it has all of the important neighbors at the table.'' ``What the North Koreans would like is to get into a bilateral discussion with the United States so that one by one they can cut separate deals on this issue - and we're not going to allow them to do it,'' Rice told reporters en route to Asia. North Korea announced last month that it has already built at least one nuclear weapon. The CIA has estimated that with a highly enriched uranium weapons program and the use of high-speed centrifuges, North Korea could be making more. Some weapons analysts and observers have put the estimate at six to eight. The Bush administration has backed off from calling for regime change in Pyongyang, instead saying it hopes for ``regime transformation'' caused by gradual changes in the North. North Korea has introduced elements of capitalism in recent years, and outside influences are creeping in through smuggled South Korean videos and mobile phones that can make international calls. But in a move sure to be watched in Pyongyang, the Bush administration recently nominated one of the North's most outspoken critics, John Bolton, as its ambassador to the United Nations. North Korea labeled Bolton ``human scum'' and refused to accept him as a negotiator at the nuclear talks that began in 2003. Bolton's naming raises the specter for the North that he might press for U.N. Security Council sanctions against it, said Peter Beck, director of the North East Asia Project for the International Crisis Group. ``Certainly that appointment gives the (Bush) administration more of a hard-line image,'' Beck said. ``That doesn't exactly signal to the North that you're taking into consideration their preferences, not that they should.'' However, it's too soon for Washington to take the sanctions route, said Choi Jin-wook, a senior research fellow at the government-affiliated Korean Institute for National Unification. He said that if there are no breakthroughs, steps toward sanctions might be taken in 2006. The South views the North's nuclear weapons declaration as ``bluffing,'' Choi said. Rice's visit is aimed at getting America's allies to ``share the perception of threat,'' he said. Rice travels first to Japan and South Korea before heading to China, an itinerary showing she intends to form a common front with the close U.S. allies before trying to convince the Chinese. ``The six-party talks are useless without a harmonious negotiating strategy,'' Michael Armacost, a former U.S. ambassador to Japan and the Philippines, wrote in South Korea's Joongang Ilbo daily. ``The five countries should stand together and use both carrot and stick properly.'' Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2005 ***************************************************************** 8 Korea: Digital Chosunilbo: Subtle Signs Betray Uncle Sam's Displeasure Home> National/Politics Updated Mar.15,2005 22:27 KST Korea and the Two Alliances U.S. Congress Catches South Korea Chill Unification Minister Gives U.S. Hardliner Short Shrift WASHINGTON -- With Unification Minister Chung Dong-young calling U.S. House Foreign Relations chairman Rep. Henry Hyde¡¯s demand for Korea to clearly define its enemy ¡°inappropriate,¡± subtle waves have been detected in the United States. U.S. White House spokesman Scott McClellan, asked on Monday by a reporter about South Korea¡¯s omission of the term ¡°main enemy¡± to describe North Korea in last year's defense white paper, he appeared not to understand. ¡°I'm sorry, was South Korea what?¡± he asked. He then dodged the reporter's second question about the White House position on the term's omission, instead speaking at length about the need for North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons. To the reporter's third attempt, McClellan replied, ¡°You might want to direct that question to South Korea.¡± It appears that the White House is determined to avoid comment on an issue that has caused small fissures to open up between the allies. With U.S. officials tight-lipped, Washington's understanding of the state of relations between Korea and the U.S. is hard to ascertain. If McClellan avoided comment, it was at least partly because of the sensitive nature of the matter itself, although some believe it reflects discomfort within the U.S. government. Many Korea experts outside U.S. government are becoming more critical. In a March 11 piece entitled ¡°U.S-Korea relations at a crossroads,¡± Washington columnist Richard Halloran raised the alarm. ¡°South Korea is fast approaching a critical decision as to whether to try to revive its troubled alliance with the United States or dissolve their joint security treaty, expel American forces from the peninsula and seek an alliance with China,¡± he wrote. Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) senior fellow Derek J. Mitchell said that while the alliance has ostensibly strengthened due to the deployment of Korean troops to Iraq, there were doubts about its long-term and strategic perspective. He said differences in perception over the North Korean threat had shaken the very raison d'etre of the alliance, and Seoul's continued support of and assistance to Pyongyang "confused" Washington. (Heo Yong-beom, heo@chosun.com ) ***************************************************************** 9 Korea: Digital Chosunilbo: Seoul's Clumsy Diplomacy Makes Matters Worse Home> Editorials/Columns Updated Mar.15,2005 23:39 KST a U.S. lawmaker that Korea must first designate its main enemy before it can count on help from the United States betrayed "a misunderstanding of the objective and spirit of the alliance." He added, "There is no change in [our] perception that the U.S. is an ally, and that North Korea is an ethnic brother." The remark would have been justified if the government had decided that it was vital for Chung as head of the National Security Council to rebuff Rep. Henry Hyde's remark at this juncture. But was it? Does openly aggravating differences with Washington help resolve the nuclear standoff in the Korean Peninsula? There has been no shortage of criticism of South Korea concerning the North Korean nuclear issue from U.S. Congress, press and expert groups. But the U.S. administration prudently avoids comment, from a sense that a united front among countries involved in the six-party talks is the key to resolving the North's nuclear issue. But there is diplomatic calculation, too, in the gap between the U.S. administration and legislature when it comes to pressuring South Korea. Hyde, a U.S. Congressional leader, complains about South Korea's excessive support for the North, and Chung answers that South Korea "will judge and decide how to proceed with aid independently." Propriety apart, that is a rather diplomatically clumsy response, again more likely to fan controversy than put it to rest. Diplomacy is conducted in words, but they should not be empty words but words rooted in strength. If Chung's remarks are to be buttressed by strength, South Korea should have realistic capabilities to deal with the North's nuclear armament without the U.S. Instead we have a diplomacy of empty words, where Seoul says what it wants regardless of whether that could drive the nation into crisis. ***************************************************************** 10 YWS: Six-Party Talks 'Can't Go on Forever': U.S. Nuke Negotiator YONHAPNEWS WORLD SERVICE::ENGLISH NEWS www.yonhapnews.co.kr 2005/03/16 09:01 KST WASHINGTON, March 15 (Yonhap) -- The chief U.S. negotiator on North Korea's nuclear program said Tuesday Washington should seek "other ways" to resolve the problem unless there is progress in the six-nation nuclear disarmament talks. U.S. Ambassador to South Korea Christopher Hill made the remark at a Senate committee meeting that was convened to review his nomination as assistant secretary of state for East Asian affairs. ***************************************************************** 11 YWS: Defense Minister Yoon to Visit China for Talks on N. Korea YONHAPNEWS WORLD SERVICE::ENGLISH NEWS www.yonhapnews.co.kr 2005/03/15 13:39 KST SEOUL, March 15 (Yonhap) -- South Korean defense chief Yoon Kwang-ung will visit China this month to discuss a range of issues, including North Korea's nuclear weapons program, the Defense Ministry said Tuesday. Yoon is scheduled to request that China play a "constructive" role in resolving the North Korean nuclear dispute when he meets his Chinese counterpart Cao Gangchuan, the ministry said in a statement. ***************************************************************** 12 YWS: N. Korea Blasts S. Korea-U.S. Joint Military Exercise YONHAPNEWS WORLD SERVICE::ENGLISH NEWS www.yonhapnews.co.kr 2005/03/15 12:38 KST SEOUL, March 15 (Yonhap) -- North Korea on Tuesday denounced a planned joint South Korea-U.S. military exercise as war preparations and vowed to strengthen its nuclear arsenal. "The DPRK will take necessary countermeasures, including the bolstering of its nuclear arsenal, to cope with the extremely hostile attempt of the U.S. to bring down the system in the DPRK though it is the Korean people's own choice," the North's Foreign Ministry said in a statement. ***************************************************************** 13 AFP: N.Korea threatens to build more nuclear bombs to deter war drills Reuters | AFP | Sky News | Photos Tuesday March 15, 12:36 PM SEOUL (AFP) - North Korea has said it would strengthen its atomic arsenal in an angry response to upcoming joint US-South Korean military exercises which the communist state denounced as nuclear war games. The North justified its possession of nuclear weapons as establishing a balance of power to prevent a nuclear holocaust, ahead of the joint war games in South Korea starting Saturday. "The exercises will be nuclear war exercises aimed to invade the North to all intents and purposes in view of their nature, scope and contents," a foreign ministry spokesman told the official Korean Central News Agency. "The DPRK (North Korea) will take necessary counter-measures including the bolstering of its nuclear arsenal to cope with the extremely hostile attempt of the US to bring down the system in the DPRK though it is the Korean people's own choice," he said. "The reality testifies to the fact that the DPRK's nuclear weapons serve as powerful deterrent to keep the equilibrium of forces in the region, avert a new war and ensure peace." The week-long military drills come amid diplomatic efforts to bring Pyongyang back into six-nation talks aimed at persuading it to give up its nuclear weapons program. They coincide with the arrival here Saturday of US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, on a three-nation North East Asia tour to discuss the nuclear standoff. North Korea declared on February 10 it had nuclear weapons and withdrew indefinitely from the disarmament talks due to "hostile" US policy. The Stalinist state has since sent mixed signals on its willingness to return to the talks, with its leader Kim Jong-Il saying Pyongyang would resume dialogue if "conditions" are met. North Korean Premier Pak Pong-ju will visit China from March 22-27 to discuss the nuclear standoff, China's foreign ministry announced Tuesday. Washington believes North Korea possesses one or two crude bombs and may have reprocessed enough plutonium from spent fuel rods at its Yongbyon nuclear complex for half a dozen more. The two Koreas, the United States, China, Russia and Japan have met three times to try to resolve the nuclear standoff that erupted in 2002 when the United States accused the North of operating a secret uranium-enrichment program. The talks made little progress, with the final round held in June 2004. North Korea boycotted a fourth round scheduled for September last year. The North says the US-South Korean military drills are a rehearsal for a preemptive nuclear attack while officials in Seoul and Washington have said they are defense-oriented to cement the military alliance. North Korea's state media said Sunday that the exercises could turn into "an actual war" and demanded they be called off. A US naval battle group led by the USS Kitty Hawk aircraft carrier arrived on Monday in Busan, 450 kilometers (280 miles) south of Seoul, to take part in the exercises. The drills from March 19-25, involve mock battles aimed at evaluating command capabilities with US and South Korean troops mobilized for anti-commando operations and computer war games. Some 32,500 US troops are stationed in South Korea to help deter aggression from communist North Korea's 1.1-million-strong army, alongside about 650,000 South Korean troops. US forces have remained in the south since the 1950-1953 Korean War. Copyright © 2005 AFP AFP. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 14 Deseret News: Cannon fails voters on N-tests [deseretnews.com] Tuesday, March 15, 2005 While Rep. Jim Matheson is preparing to introduce legislation that would delay the resumption of nuclear testing at the Nevada Test Site, Rep. Chris Cannon is voicing his support for resumed testing. Cannon's comments this week take aim at the very people he is supposed to represent: his constituents. Arguing for renewed nuclear weapons testing does more than endanger a new generation of downwinders in Utah, it threatens to expose the entire country to nuclear fallout again. Has Cannon already forgotten the damage done to his father as a result of nuclear testing during the Cold War era? Cannon should follow Matheson's lead on this issue and work to protect the health and safety of his constituents. Tara Merrill Salt Lake City © 2005 Deseret News Publishing Company ***************************************************************** 15 DAWN: 'N-warheads kept separate from delivery systems' 15 March, 2005 By Anwar Iqbal WASHINGTON, March 14: Most observers believe that neither Pakistan nor India has so far deployed nuclear warheads mated with delivery systems, says the latest congressional report on nuclear threat in South Asia. The report by the Congressional Research Service, which provides policy guidelines to US lawmakers, says that India and Pakistan accelerated nuclear weapons development, and possibly, deployments after testing their devices in May 1998. Both countries, however, decided to keep the warheads separate from delivery systems to avoid accidents and theft. The report points out that there are two basic nuclear risks in South Asia: nuclear material or weapons falling into the hands of terrorists or a miscalculation leading to a preemptive strike and thus to a nuclear war. The threat of terrorism, the report says, calls primarily for greater physical security at weapons sites and sites where nuclear material is produced or stored, particularly weapons-grade material, such as highly enriched uranium or separated plutonium. The threat of accidental nuclear war calls for safer nuclear weapons, whereas reducing the risk of preemptive or sudden war would require enhancing command and control and possibly transparency between the two states. The Congressional Research Service acknowledges that India and Pakistan have been moving towards more structured nuclear command and control authority, organization, and strategic planning. But the report warns that it is not clear if India and Pakistan have implemented the two-man rule, which were used by the United States and Russia during the cold war. Under this rule a concurrent involvement of at least two people is required to fire a weapon. It is also not clear what other procedures have been adopted to prevent unauthorized use, the report adds. "There is no reliable information on where fissile material is shaped or machined into components for weapons, or where fissile cores are kept if they are separated from other weapon components and delivery systems for India and Pakistan," the report warns. Focusing on Pakistan, the CRS points out that some observers believe Islamabad has probably distributed its nuclear weapons in a number of tightly secured facilities at different locations throughout the country. The CRS notes that in Pakistan physical security is provided by the military. India has kept strong civilian oversight of the weapons programme, with the military kept predominantly at arm's length. However, the details of security in both cases are unknown. In April 2000, the Indian government ended independent safety oversight at the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, the "nerve centre" of the Indian nuclear weapons programme. Some analysts have interpreted this change as an indication of accelerated nuclear weapons work at BARC, the report says. The CRS also refers to an Oct 2, 2001 statement by Pakistan's Foreign Ministry saying, "Our nuclear assets are 100 per cent secure, under multiple custody." Media interpreted this as indicating Pakistan had moved nuclear weapons components to several undisclosed locations, the report adds. © The DAWN Group of Newspapers, 2005 ***************************************************************** 16 Bush: WMD commission meeting FR Doc 05-5025 [Federal Register: March 15, 2005 (Volume 70, Number 49)] [Notices] [Page 12684] From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr15mr05-83] EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT Office of Administration; Notice of Meeting of the Commission on the Intelligence Capabilities of the United States Regarding Weapons of Mass Destruction ACTION: Notice. SUMMARY: The Commission on the Intelligence Capabilities of the United States Regarding Weapons of Mass Destruction (``Commission'') will meet in closed session on Wednesday, March 30, 2005, and Thursday, March 31, 2005, in its offices in Arlington, Virginia. Executive Order 13328 established the Commission for the purpose of assessing whether the Intelligence Community is sufficiently authorized, organized, equipped, trained, and resourced to identify and warn in a timely manner of, and to support the United States Government's efforts to respond to, the development of Weapons of Mass Destruction, related means of delivery, and other related threats of the 21st Century. The March 30-31 meeting is expected to include Commission discussions about classified documents, and presentations from Commission staff that are based upon classified information. While the Commission does not concede that it is subject to the requirements of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA), 5 United States Code Appendix 2, it has been determined that the March 30-31, 2005, meeting would fall within the scope of exceptions (c)(1) and (c)(9)(B) of the Sunshine Act, 5 United States Code, Sections 552b(c)(1) & (c)(9)(B), and thus could be closed to the public if FACA did apply to the Commission. DATES: Wednesday, March 30, 2005 (9 a.m. to 5 p.m.), and Thursday, March 31, 2005. (9 a.m. to 2 p.m.). ADDRESSES: Members of the public who wish to submit a written statement to the Commission are invited to do so by facsimile at (703) 414-1203, or by mail at the following address: Commission on the Intelligence Capabilities of the United States Regarding Weapons of Mass Destruction, Washington, DC, 20503. Comments also may be sent to the Commission by e-mail at comments@wmd.gov. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Brett C. Gerry, Associate General Counsel, Commission on the Intelligence Capabilities of the United States Regarding Weapons of Mass Destruction, by facsimile, or by telephone at (703) 414-1200. Victor E. Bernson, Jr., Executive Office of the President, Office of Administration, General Counsel. [FR Doc. 05-5025 Filed 3-14-05; 8:45 am] ***************************************************************** 17 BBC: Talks push for alternative fuels Last Updated: Tuesday, 15 March, 2005 [Wind farm, PA] Green technologies will be a major topic of discussion Environment and energy ministers from 20 countries are meeting in the UK to discuss climate change and how to reduce dependence on fossil fuels. As well as representatives from the G8 group of rich nations, ministers from emerging economies such as China, India and Brazil are taking part. The two-day brainstorming session, which will take place in London, will not involve binding commitments. Instead, ministers will exchange ideas and discuss new technologies. Britain has made tackling global warming a priority for its presidency of the Group of Eight industrialised nations - and Prime Minister Tony Blair has said that securing US support poses a significant diplomatic challenge. The target that was given the United States was so unreasonable James Connaughton, White House Council on Environment Quality "There is an attempt to draw the United States in after its refusal to [ratify] Kyoto," said a Greenpeace spokesman. "It is very sensitive given that the developing countries are trying to climb the development curve and the developed countries must not be seen to be doing anything to hold them back." Kyoto Protocol The Kyoto treaty, which came into effect last month, aims to cut the carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gas emissions of industrialised nations to 5% below 1990 levels by 2012. But the US administration has argued that meeting the target would cost millions of US jobs, many of them "exported" to developing countries where pollution would continue anyway. "The target that was given to the United States was so unreasonable in our ability to meet it that the only way we could have met it was to shift energy intensive manufacturing to other countries," James Connaughton, head of the White House Council on Environment Quality, told the BBC. "That has economic effects and that also has job effects." Green technologies Mr Connaughton repeated Washington's demand for greater investment in scientific research to boost green technologies, so that economies could grow without damaging the environment. "The [Kyoto] protocol was well intentioned, but I think it produced some quite consequential, unintended effects and we are trying to now find a portfolio in which three words are important: technology, technology and technology," he said. The challenge of developing such technology is likely to dominate discussions on Tuesday. Tony Blair, like Washington, is encouraging countries to boost research into green technology. He also wants to build a solid international consensus that global warming poses a serious threat, and that it is caused by greenhouse gas emissions. However, Mr Connaughton appeared to have reservations about a direct scientific link. He told the BBC: "We are still working on the issue of causation, the extent to which humans are a factor, but they may be, as well our understanding of what effects may result from that over the course of the next century." ***************************************************************** 18 Brattleboro Reformer: VY sensor reads hot March 15, 2005 Brattleboro, VT By CAROLYN LORIé Reformer Staff VERNON -- A radiation monitor at the fence line of Vermont Yankee nuclear power station recorded a radiation level above what is allowed by the state, said Dr. Paul Jarris, commissioner of the Vermont Department of Health. Jarris would not reveal where the monitor was located, but said that it was the only one of approximately 40 that recorded increased radiation since the last reading. The monitors are checked quarterly by the department. "We do not believe this poses any immediate threat," said Jarris. He added that health department officials and Vermont Yankee employees are working cooperatively to figure out why there was an elevated reading. It is not clear if there has been an increased release of radiation from the nuclear reactor or if the reading was incorrect. Data from the monitors within the plant do not show an increase of radiation levels, said Vermont Yankee spokesman Rob Williams. Monitors in the plant record levels around the clock. Reports are sent annually to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Under state law, the radiation level at the fence line -- or the perimeter of the plant grounds -- cannot exceed 20 millirems per year. Federal law allows that level to be 25 millirems per year, but Vermont Yankee has always adhered to the state limits. The reading fell between the state and federal limit. According to Jarris, the background level of natural radiation is also checked and factored into the monitor readings. Recently, the background level -- which fluctuates -- dropped, a fact that was reflected in all of the monitor readings, except one. David Lochbaum, a nuclear engineer with the Union of Concerned Scientists, said that if the reading is accurate, it does raise a flag about how the plant is operating, especially in light of the possible uprate. He agreed with Jarris, however, that the amount of radiation detected does not pose any immediate health risk. According to Lochbaum, for an individual to be exposed to the federal limit of 25 millirems per year assumes that the person is standing at the site -- in this case at the monitor in question -- 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The farther one gets from the site, the more the risk of exposure diminishes as radiation levels tend to drop with distance. While Lochbaum said that the cause of the increase needs to be explored, he doubted that Vermont Yankee's data -- which did not show elevated radiation levels -- was faulty. Jarris said the investigation into the monitor's reading was under way and that he anticipated that it would be completed by April 1. Copyright ©1999-2005 New England Newspapers, Inc., ***************************************************************** 19 York Dispatch: Activist keeps an eye on nukes www.yorkdispatch.com March 15, 2005 Name: Eric J. Epstein Town: Harrisburg Civic affiliations: Chairman of Three Mile Island Alert Inc., a safe-energy organization based in Harrisburg and founded in 1977. TMIA monitors Peach Bottom, Susquehanna and Three Mile Island nuclear generating stations. Coordinator of the EFMR Monitoring group, a nonpartisan community-based organization established in 1992. EFMR monitors radiation levels at Peach Bottom and Three Mile Island nuclear generating stations, invests in community development and sponsors remote robotics research. Key issues: Nuclear power, safe-energy development and community investment. How have open government and open records laws helped you in your civic activism: FOIA has been a useful tool for procuring data not sealed as a result of the TMI-2 accident. However, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has created artificial boundaries as a result of 9/11. For example, the NRC closed down the ADAMS Web site in October 2004 in response to a "Dirty Bomb" report published by TMI-Alert documenting weaknesses in the NRC's oversight of data control. Reduction in public library accessibility and distant Public Document Rooms have also hindered support research. Advice for others in seeking or using such records: Persistence, patience and patriotism. ©2005 by The York Dispatch Publishing Co., LLC ***************************************************************** 20 NRC: Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards; Meeting of the FR Doc 05-5006 [Federal Register: March 15, 2005 (Volume 70, Number 49)] [Notices] [Page 12742] From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr15mr05-147] Subcommittee on Plant License Renewal The ACRS Subcommittee on Plant License Renewal will hold a meeting on April 6, 2005, Room T-2B3, 11545 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland. The entire meeting will be open to public attendance. The agenda for the subject meeting shall be as follows: Wednesday, April 6, 2005--1:30 p.m. until 5 p.m. The purpose of this meeting is to discuss the License Renewal Application for Millstone Power Station Units 2 and 3 and the related Safety Evaluation Report (SER) with Open Items prepared by the NRC staff. The Subcommittee will hear presentations by and hold discussions with representatives of the NRC staff, Dominion Nuclear Connecticut, Inc., and other interested persons regarding this matter. The Subcommittee will gather information, analyze relevant issues and facts, and formulate proposed positions and actions, as appropriate, for deliberation by the full Committee. Members of the public desiring to provide oral statements and/or written comments should notify the Designated Federal Official, Mr. Cayetano Santos (telephone 301/415-7270) five days prior to the meeting, if possible, so that appropriate arrangements can be made. Electronic recordings will be permitted. Further information regarding this meeting can be obtained by contacting the Designated Federal Official between 7:30 a.m. and 4:15 p.m. (ET). Persons planning to attend this meeting are urged to contact the above named individual at least two working days prior to the meeting to be advised of any potential changes to the agenda. Dated: March 9, 2005. Michael L. Scott, Branch Chief, ACRS/ACNW. [FR Doc. 05-5006 Filed 3-14-05; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590-01-P ***************************************************************** 21 Rutland Herald: Entergy, state review differing data on radiation March 15, 2005 By Susan SmallheerHerald Staff BRATTLEBORO — Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant exceeded its state radiation standard late last year by 25 percent, preliminary monitoring results show. The Douglas administration and the reactor's owner, Entergy Nuclear, have launched a potentially high-stakes review of the data, which shows that a state Department of Health monitor read a higher-than-allowed radiation limit. The monitor was located on a fence near the office building next to the Vernon reactor, and the higher level occurred during the last three months of 2004. If the higher level is verified, it could have a profound effect on the plant's operation and its future, as well as its plans to build a high-level radioactive waste storage facility and its plans to increase power production by 20 percent. Both projects would result in additional direct gamma radiation released into the environment, company officials testified last year before the Public Service Board. Dr. Paul Jarris, commissioner of the Department of Health, on Tuesday downplayed the preliminary test results and said they posed no risk to public health or safety. Jarris said the increased radiation, if verified through additional calculations, would be equivalent to the radiation in one or two chest X-rays. "We don't believe there's a human health risk," Jarris said. "The issue is, we have conflicting data," he said. Entergy claims it released about 12 millirems of direct gamma radiation last year, rather than the 24.9 millirems a state monitor showed, Jarris said. In a stern-sounding letter sent to Entergy officials late last week, Jarris and David O'Brien, commissioner of the Department of Public Service, asked Entergy to back up its claims of compliance. "Entergy's methodology for determining com-pliance and the state's methodology for determining compliance with the Health Department standard are yielding disparate results," they wrote. The two commissioners asked Entergy for a remedial plan with "an aggressive implementation timeline" if it is shown Entergy was in violation of the 20 millirem standard. Entergy Nuclear spokesman Robert Williams said a thorough review of the data was under way and the company's and the state's results for the last quarter of 2004 were different. Williams declined to say what Entergy's test results were, or to give any detailed information about the radiation testing, saying the matter was under review. Williams said the plant would have declared an emergency if it had released additional radiation. "We're looking at a difference in data," he said. According to Jarris, the state's monitoring showed a cumulative level of 24.9 millirem. The state level is 20 millirem per year. However, the federal level is 25 millirem per year. Vermont argued successfully more than 30 years ago for the stricter standard, and Entergy promised before it bought the Vernon plant in 2001 to abide by the stricter state standard. Last year, Entergy Nuclear vice president Jay Thayer promised the Public Service Board that the company would abide by the 20 milirem annual release standard, and would modify the plant's operation if necessary to maintain that standard. Jarris said the Department of Health had started to notify the towns surrounding the plant about the problem and said he was confident further review could resolve the problem. The Department of Health has about 40 monitors around the plant, including three on the plant's fence. Entergy has an unknown number of the same kind of monitors, but it relies on an indirect calculation of the amount of gamma radiation it releases. Entergy uses a gauge in a steam line inside the plant, and estimates what it is releasing to the environment, according to David O'Brien, commissioner of the Department of Public Service. The steam-line calculation has been accepted by the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission, according to O'Brien and William Sherman, the department's nuclear engineer. "We need to be confident of the results we're getting," O'Brien said. "This is a serious issue to us and we want to get to the bottom of it." "We have a data problem, we need the review and analysis," Sherman said. Raymond Shadis, senior technical advisor for the nuclear watchdog group New England Coalition, said he was unaware of the problem. But he said it demonstrated a need for better radiation monitoring at the plant. "This is not a trivial matter," Shadis said. "More sophisticated and constant monitoring needs to be done. This is an aging plant and it has a potential to leak more and more radiation." Shadis said he hoped "mathematical gymnastics" didn't erase the need for additional and closer monitoring. He said the coalition's expert witness, Arnold Gundersen, who testified about radiation levels before the Public Service Board last year, said the power boost would increase radiation emissions by 20 percent. He said Entergy wasn't basing its calculations on direct monitoring, but on extrapolations based on readings inside the plant. "That's the coward's way of meeting standards," he said. Brattleboro Town Manager Jerry Remillard said he was contacted at home Saturday by Jarris, who briefed him on the preliminary data results. Remillard said he was contacted by Entergy officials Friday night at home. "I'm willing to take their word that there's no public health risk at this time," Remillard said. But Remillard said the differing test results added to public skepticism about the plant. "It does raise a concern and citizens are going to want to know: Is this a mathematical difference or is there something more to it?" Remillard said. Contact Susan Smallheer at susan.smallheer@rutlandherald.com. © 2005 Rutland Herald ***************************************************************** 22 TheStar.com: Keeping the lights on in Ontario Tue. Mar. 15, 2005. | Updated at 07:35 AM Private sector, pricing will play key roles, says Derek Burleton A reliable electricity system has been a key driver of Ontario's standard of living. But, while electricity supply in the province remains sound today, trends percolating below the surface leave cause for concern about the future. Notably, growth in production of electricity has not been sufficient to keep up with increases in power demand, leading to falling exports and an increased reliance on imports. Meanwhile, cracks have been forming in the province's electricity infrastructure, as the amount spent on upkeep and upgrading the system has been scaled back over the past 15 years. What's more, the squeeze is poised to worsen significantly over the medium term, in view of the government's election promise to shut down five coal-fired plants by 2007. This source accounts for a striking one-quarter of the province's current power capacity. Further, about 70 per cent of Ontario's nuclear capacity will need to be replaced or refurbished over the next decade. Faced with these significant risks to the system's ongoing reliability, the government has hedged its position on shutting down the coal-fired generators by saying that it will not put Ontario's consumers in jeopardy. But, while the choice of keeping these units active until the supply can be replaced would greatly reduce the threat of an all-out power crisis in 2007, it will not address the recent, unsustainable trend of demand growth outstripping that of supply. Nor will it resolve the challenges on the nuclear front. Clearly, there is a grave need to alter the status-quo path. The good news is that the McGuinty government appears to be moving in the right direction. In order to enhance supply and diversify its energy sources, Ontario is exploring the possibility of developing hydroelectric projects in both Manitoba and Newfoundland and Labrador in co-operation with the two respective provincial governments. Furthermore, the government has got the message that the private sector will need to form a key cog in the wheel. Boosting supply and improving electricity infrastructure will come at a hefty price tag  as much as $60 billion to $75 billion in the province over the next two decades. And, with the government facing a large structural fiscal deficit, opening the door to more private-sector involvement, both through private ownership of assets and public-private partnerships, could assist greatly in covering these costs. Happily, the Ontario Ministry of Energy has issued two requests for proposals for renewable and clean energy projects in recent months, which mark a good move forward. The private sector has also stepped up with an initiative to develop clean-coal technologies. Ontario needs to band together with the federal government and other provincial jurisdictions in support of such an initiative. Above all, part of the solution rests curbing demand use through charging a price for electricity consumption that better reflects its true marginal cost, and reducing wasteful consumption. In Ontario, the $20 billion-odd stranded debt of the now defunct Ontario Hydro has highlighted the fact that governments in the past have opted to subsidize electricity prices, in part as an industrial strategy. We applaud recent moves by the Ontario government on two fronts to encourage conservation. Its plan to introduce smart meters in 4 million homes and small businesses by 2010 will help to shift power use from peak to non-peak times, and reduce strains on the system. Moreover, last week's announcement by the government to raise the retail price of electricity, effective April 1, is another in a series of moves to eliminate the gap between price and cost. Better aligning power prices with cost would appear to be a strike against both businesses in terms of competitiveness and low-income individuals. However, to the extent that prices increase in the short run, they will ultimately help to raise efficiency, attract investment in new generation, and avert a full-blown power crisis  and sharply higher prices  down the road. While few will welcome cost increases for electricity, there was no "free lunch" with the subsidies of the past. They were simply a transfer from light power users to heavy users. It remains too early to say how far the government's current and planned efforts will go toward ensuring that the electricity system in the province remains on a solid footing. But, just as it took decades for the current problems to emerge, they are unlikely to vanish overnight. Hence, the government will need to build on the recent positive efforts in a sustained campaign well into the future. Derek Burleton, senior economist at TD Bank Financial Group, co-authored the report Electricity in Canada  Who Needs It? Who's Got It?, released last week by TD Economics. Legal Notice: Copyright Toronto Star Newspapers Limited. All ***************************************************************** 23 PTI: Services in uranium industry remain a public utility - Govt Mar 15, 2005 06:03:00 PM New Delhi, Mar 15 (PTI) As part of efforts to prevent sudden strikes in the uranium industry, Government has declared that services in the sector will continue as public utilities for another six months from today. The Labour Ministry has issued a notification under the Industrial Disptues Act in public interest, an official release said here. The employees in the industry would be required to give notice to employers six weeks in advance before going on strike so that conciliatory proceedings could be started, it said. During the conciliatory efforts and within seven days of the compeletion of such proceedings, the employees cannot go on strike. The services in the uranium industry were declared as a public utility for six months from September 15, 2004. PTI © Copyright PTI 2003-2004 ***************************************************************** 24 NRC: Final Regulatory Guide; Issuance, Availability FR Doc 05-5007 [Federal Register: March 15, 2005 (Volume 70, Number 49)] [Notices] [Page 12756-12757] From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr15mr05-151] The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has issued a revision to an existing guide in the agency's Regulatory Guide Series. This series has been developed to describe and make available to the public such information as methods that are acceptable to the NRC staff for implementing specific parts of the NRC's regulations, techniques that the staff uses in evaluating specific problems or postulated accidents, and data that the staff needs in its review of applications for permits and licenses. Revision 2 of Regulatory Guide 7.10, ``Establishing Quality Assurance Programs for Packaging Used in Transport of Radioactive Material,'' provides guidance for use in developing quality assurance programs for packaging to be used in shipping Type B and fissile radioactive materials. This guidance describes a method that is acceptable to the NRC staff for complying with the related regulatory requirements in Title 10, Part 71, of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR Part 71), ``Packaging and Transportation of Radioactive Material.'' In February 2004, the NRC staff published a draft of this guide as Draft Regulatory Guide DG-7004. Following the closure of the public comment period on April 25, 2004, the staff resolved all stakeholder comments in the course of preparing Revision 2 of Regulatory Guide 7.10. The NRC staff encourages and welcomes comments and suggestions in connection with improvements to published regulatory guides, as well as items for inclusion in regulatory guides that are currently being developed. You may submit comments by any of the following methods. Mail comments to: Rules and Directives Branch, Office of Administration, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001. Hand-deliver comments to: Rules and Directives Branch, Office of Administration, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852, between 7:30 a.m. and 4:15 p.m. on Federal workdays. Fax comments to: Rules and Directives Branch, Office of Administration, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission at (301) 415-5144. Requests for technical information about Revision 2 of Regulatory Guide 7.10 may be directed to James J. Pearson at (301) 415-1985 or via e-mail to JJP@nrc.gov. Regulatory guides are available for inspection or downloading through the NRC's public Web site in the Regulatory Guides document collection of the NRC's Electronic Reading Room at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/. Electronic copies of Revision 2 of Regulatory Guide 7.10 are also available in the NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS) at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html , under Accession No. ML050540330. Note, however, that the NRC has temporarily limited public access to ADAMS so that the agency can complete security reviews of publicly available documents and remove potentially sensitive information. Please check the NRC's Web site for updates concerning the resumption of public access to ADAMS. In addition, regulatory guides are available for inspection at the NRC's Public Document Room (PDR), which is located at 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland; the PDR's mailing address is USNRC PDR, Washington, DC 20555-0001. The PDR can also be reached by telephone at (301) 415-4737 or (800) 397-4205, by fax at (301) 415-3548, and by e- mail to PDR@nrc.gov. Requests for single copies of draft or final guides (which may be reproduced) or for placement on an automatic distribution list for single copies of future draft guides in specific divisions should be made in writing to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, Attention: Reproduction and Distribution Services Section; by email to DISTRIBUTION@nrc.gov; or by fax to (301) 415-2289. Telephone requests cannot be accommodated. [[Page 12757]] Regulatory guides are not copyrighted, and Commission approval is not required to reproduce them. (5 U.S.C. 552(a)) Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 4th day of March, 2005. For the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Carl J. Paperiello, Director, Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research. [FR Doc. 05-5007 Filed 3-14-05; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590-01-P ***************************************************************** 25 ITAR-TASS: CIS nuclear scientists from restricted-access cities to discuss jobs for civilian sector 15.03.2005, 07.46 ALMATY, March 15 (Itar-Tass) - Nuclear specialists from the restricted-access cities of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) are to discuss here on Tuesday their experience in creating steady jobs in the civilian sector within the framework of a three-day international conference, which is held under the nuclear centres partnership programme (CNCP). The British government finances the programme, which is aimed at curbing proliferation of nuclear weapons. According to Natalya Zhdanova, executive director of the Nuclear Society of Kazakhstan non-governmental association, the first conference under the CNCP programme is to focus on the manufacture of products and on services for the civilian sector with the use of experience and resources of the former restricted-access cities. In reference to Kazakhstan, this signifies the establishment and development of a nuclear medicine centre, Zhdanova said. © ITAR-TASS. All rights reserved. You undertake not to copy, ***************************************************************** 26 Al Jazeera: Israeli MP: Dimona reactor poses real threat - Aljazeera.com 3/15/2005 7:00:00 PM GMT An Israeli parliament member said that the Dimona nuclear reactor was no longer safe An Israeli parliament member said that the Dimona nuclear reactor was no longer safe because it is more than 40 years old. Knesset Member Gal-on’s comments came in response to the inspection visit paid last Sunday to Dimona by members of the Knesset's foreign affairs and security committee, who claimed that the reactor was safe. Gal-On said that the security checks conducted by the inspection team weren’t serious. She also slammed the committee for “ruling the reactor was safe after one visit.” “How is it possible that following a visit of several hours, rather than an in-depth, comprehensive investigation, the committee decides that everything is in order with a reactor that is more than 40 years old?” she said. Following Sunday’s visit, Defense and Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Yuval Shteinitz said that great efforts are being invested to ensure the safety and reliability of the nuclear reactor in Dimona. Gal-on criticized Shteinitz, saying that the visit was too short to justify such confident statements. "The committee reached the fact that the reactor was safe … If the reactor was constructed in the middle of the country, a serious and profound check would be made," she noted. Dimona is located in the Negev desert and is considered one of Israel’s most secret sites, where it forbids any photography. Some of the reactor’s personnel confirmed that several employees died of cancerous tumors. Moreover, several studies by specialized Israeli centers confirmed that radioactive and nuclear radiations were leaking out of Dimona due to malfunctions attributed to the expiration of its hypothetic age. Israel maintains a policy of ambiguity concerning its nuclear program, neither admitting nor denying that it does posses nuclear weapons. It has repeatedly claimed that Dimona reactor is solely used for peaceful purposes. so, the israelis have had nuklear power for 40 years, and not once have they done anything with it as weponz. it is obvious that they are resonsible enough to have nuklear capabilities, and need them in light of the fact that they don't have oil. iran, on the other hand, doesn't 'need' this energy source, and is unstable enough to pose a great threat to the world unlike israel. Copyright 2005 Al Jazeera Publishing Limited ***************************************************************** 27 BakuTODAY.net: Russian Utility ‘Rescued Armenian Nuclear Plant’ 16/03/2005 03:11 The Armenian government’s decision in 2003 to grant Russia financial control over the nuclear power station at Metsamor has proved to be a blessing for the Soviet-built facility, its chief executive said on Tuesday. Gagik Markosian argued that the plant has balanced its books and experienced no refueling difficulties for the first time since the 1995 reactivation of one of its two reactors. “Last year was the first time that we had no such problem,” he told RFE/RL in an interview. “Fuel was supplied without delays and that is why we produced a record-high volume of energy.” According to official statistics, Metsamor generated 2 billion kilowatt/hours of electricity or almost 40 percent of Armenia’s aggregate power output in 2004. The plant ran up $100 million in debts and was unable to pay for fresh Russian nuclear fuel deliveries until it was placed under the financial management of Russia’s state-run power monopoly, RAO Unified Energy Systems (UES). UES was also granted the ownership of a cascade of hydro-electric power plants near Yerevan in return for writing off Metsamor’s $40 million debt to Russian fuel suppliers. The remaining $60 million, owed to the state budget, was forgiven by the Armenian government. In addition, it diverted last December $27 million in proceeds from the privatization of Armenia’s biggest metallurgical complex to Metsamor in payment for equally big sums owed to the plant by Hayenergo, the now liquidated state-run power distributor. Markosian put Metsamor’s current debt at $4.5 million. He said the plant, located 35 kilometers west of Yerevan, is now financially self-sufficient but still UES’s assistance for making 50 percent advance payments to the fuel suppliers. “That issue is solved by RAO UES,” he said. The plant’s light-water reactor built in 1979 was last refueled in October after a two-month halt during which it underwent regular capital repairs. The reactor’s core was inspected by Czech specialists and, according to Armenian officials, found to be in good condition. Armenia has been under pressure from the United States and especially the European Union to shut down the plant as early as possible due to its perceived insecurity. In a report released earlier this month, the EU’s executive Commission emphasized that the decommissioning of Metsamor and other Soviet-built nuclear facilities remains “a key EU objective.” Markosian, however, repeated the Armenian government’s position that the plant is safe enough to continue to operate for years to come. Copyright (c) 2005. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. www.rferl.org ***************************************************************** 28 NRC: Final Regulatory Guide: Issuance, Availability FR Doc 05-5008 [Federal Register: March 15, 2005 (Volume 70, Number 49)] [Notices] [Page 12755-12756] From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr15mr05-150] The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has issued a revision to an existing guide in the agency's Regulatory Guide Series. This series has been developed to describe and make available to the public such information as methods that are acceptable to the NRC staff for implementing specific parts of the NRC's regulations, techniques that the staff uses in evaluating specific problems or postulated accidents, and data that the staff needs in its review of applications for permits and licenses. Revision 2 of Regulatory Guide 7.9, ``Standard Format and Content of Part 71 Applications for Approval of Packages for Radioactive Material,'' provides guidance for use in preparing applications for NRC approval of packaging to be used in shipping Type B and fissile radioactive materials. This guidance describes a method that is acceptable to the NRC staff for complying with the NRC's related regulatory requirements in title 10, part 71, of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR part 71), ``Packaging and Transportation of Radioactive Material.'' In December 2003, the NRC staff published a draft of this guide as Draft Regulatory Guide DG-7003. Following the closure of the public comment period on March 9, 2004, the staff resolved all stakeholder comments in the course of preparing Revision 2 of Regulatory Guide 7.9. [[Page 12756]] The NRC staff encourages and welcomes comments and suggestions in connection with improvements to published regulatory guides, as well as items for inclusion in regulatory guides that are currently being developed. You may submit comments by any of the following methods. Mail comments to: Rules and Directives Branch, Office of Administration, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001. Hand-deliver comments to: Rules and Directives Branch, Office of Administration, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852, between 7:30 a.m. and 4:15 p.m. on Federal workdays. Fax comments to: Rules and Directives Branch, Office of Administration, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission at (301) 415-5144. Requests for technical information about Revision 2 of Regulatory Guide 7.9 may be directed to Nancy L. Osgood at (301) 415-8513 or via e-mail to NLO@nrc.gov. Regulatory guides are available for inspection or downloading through the NRC's public Web site in the Regulatory Guides document collection of the NRC's Electronic Reading Room at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/. Electronic copies of Revision 2 of Regulatory Guide 7.9 are also available in the NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS) at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html , under Accession No. ML050540321. Note, however, that the NRC has temporarily limited public access to ADAMS so that the agency can complete security reviews of publicly available documents and remove potentially sensitive information. Please check the NRC's Web site for updates concerning the resumption of public access to ADAMS. In addition, regulatory guides are available for inspection at the NRC's Public Document Room (PDR), which is located at 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland; the PDR's mailing address is USNRC PDR, Washington, DC 20555-0001. The PDR can also be reached by telephone at (301) 415-4737 or (800) 397-4205, by fax at (301) 415-3548, and by e- mail to PDR@nrc.gov. Requests for single copies of draft or final guides (which may be reproduced) or for placement on an automatic distribution list for single copies of future draft guides in specific divisions should be made in writing to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, Attention: Reproduction and Distribution Services Section; by e-mail to DISTRIBUTION@nrc.gov; or by fax to (301) 415-2289. Telephone requests cannot be accommodated. Regulatory guides are not copyrighted, and Commission approval is not required to reproduce them. (5 U.S.C. 552(a)) Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 4th day of March, 2005. For the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Carl J. Paperiello, Director, Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research. [FR Doc. 05-5008 Filed 3-14-05; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590-01-P ***************************************************************** 29 NRC: Sunshine Act; Meeting FR Doc 05-5120 [Federal Register: March 15, 2005 (Volume 70, Number 49)] [Notices] [Page 12742-12743] From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr15mr05-148] DATE: Weeks of March 14, 21, 28; April 4, 11, 18, 2005. PLACE: Commissioners' Conference Room, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland. STATUS: Public and closed. MATTERS TO BE CONSIDERED: Week of March 14, 2005 Wednesday, March 16, 2005 9:30 a.m. Meeting with Advisory Committee on Nuclear Waste (ACNW) (Public Meeting). (Contact: John Larkins, (301) 415-7360.) This meeting will be webcast live at the Web address--http://www.nrc.gov . Week of March 21, 2005--Tentative There are no meetings scheduled for the Week of March 21, 2005. Week of March 28, 2005--Tentative Tuesday, March 29, 2005 9:30 a.m. Briefing on Office of Nuclear Security and Incident Response (NSIR) Programs, Performance, and Plans (Public Meeting). (Contact: Robert Caldwell, (301) 415-1243.) This meeting will be webcast live at the Web address--http://www.nrc.gov . 1 p.m. Discussion of Security Issues (Closed--Ex.1). Week of April 4, 2005--Tentative Tuesday, April 5, 2005 9:30 a.m. Briefing on Office on Research (RES) Programs, Performance, and Plans (Public Meeting). (Contact: Alix Dvorak, (301) 415-6601.) This meeting will be webcast live at the Web address--http://www.nrc.gov . Wednesday, April 6, 2005 9:30 a.m. Briefing on Status on New Site and Reactor Licensing (Public Meeting). (Contact: Steven Bloom, (301) 415-1313.) [[Page 12743]] This meeting will be webcast live at the Web address--http://www.nrc.gov . Thursday, April 7, 2005 1:30 p.m. Meeting with Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards (ACRS) (Public Meeting). (Contact: John Larkins, (301) 415-7360.) This meeting will be webcast live at the Web address--http://www.nrc.gov . Week of April 11, 2005--Tentative There are no meetings scheduled for the Week of April 11, 2005. Week of April 18, 2005--Tentative Wednesday, April 20, 2005 1:30 p.m. Briefing on Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation (NRR) Programs, Performance, and Plans (Public Meeting). (Contact: Laura Gerke, (301) 415-4099.) This meeting will be webcast live at the Web address--http://www.nrc.gov . * 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. 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 10, 2005. Dave Gamberoni, Office of the Secretary. [FR Doc. 05-5120 Filed 3-11-05; 9:19 am] BILLING CODE 7590-01-M ***************************************************************** 30 [du-list] US Still Using Depleted Uranium Munitions in Iraq Date: Tue, 15 Mar 2005 14:43:06 -0800 US Still Using Depleted Uranium Munitions in Iraq Montreal, Mar 15, 2005 (Prensa Latina) http://www.plenglish.com/article.asp?ID=%7B1620DC1F-B270-48B0-9A53-D077EDE3B5C9%7D&language=EN The US has continued to use depleted uranium (DU) munitions in Iraq despite knowing about their harmful impact on its own forces and even though they are banned by international law, press and scientific sources have denounced. Scientists have established Depleted Uranium (DU) as the source of the so-called Gulf War Syndrome, according to a recent article published in Preventive Psychiatry E-newsletter, the TML Daily reports. The deadly radioactive munitions continue to kill for decades, cause massive birth defects and other harm to children, as well as poisoning the environment. The far larger numbers of deaths and medical problems for the Iraqi people will continue for many decades to come, the paper of the Canadian Communist Party goes on to say. The article refers to a report by scientist Leuren Moret investigating the impact of DU munitions. Commenting on the scientific study, TML Daily quotes executive director of Veterans for Constitutional Law in New York Arthur N. Bernklau as saying that "out of the 580,400 soldiers who served in the first Gulf War, 11,000 are now dead! A decade later, 56 percent of those soldiers who served have some form of permanent medical problems." Bernklau added that "the long-term effects have revealed that DU is a virtual death sentence." The Canadian daily underlines the fact that the US government and specifically the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) know about the deadly impact of that type of munitions and continues to use them in the current war against Iraq further shows the ruthless character of the administration in Washington and its readiness to commit war crimes as it strives for world domination. The US also continues to make these weapons, even though they are banned by international law, it denounces. Use of these weapons is a war crime and those responsible from the top down must be charged and punished, it concludes. -- Posted for educational and research purposes only, ~ in accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107 ~ NucNews Links and Expanded Archives - http://nucnews.net ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Need a home for your web domain? We recommend our provider, Hosting Direct https://support.hostingdirect.net/cgi-bin/affiliates/clickthru.cgi?id=nucnews ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Has someone you know been affected by illness or disease? Network for Good is THE place to support health awareness efforts! http://us.click.yahoo.com/RzSHvD/UOnJAA/79vVAA/FGYolB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> To unsubscribe from this groups send a message to du-list-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com. In the body of the message type unsubscribe and send. Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/du-list/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: du-list-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ ***************************************************************** 31 [du-list] US Using Depleted Uranium Munitions in Iraq Date: Tue, 15 Mar 2005 14:42:58 -0800 US Using Depleted Uranium Munitions in Iraq http://www.plenglish.com/article.asp?ID=%7B1620DC1F-B270-48B0-9A53-D077EDE3B5C9%7D&language=EN Montreal, Mar 15 (Prensa Latina) The US has continued to use depleted uranium (DU) munitions in Iraq despite knowing about their harmful impact on its own forces and even though they are banned by international law, press and scientific sources have denounced. Scientists have established Depleted Uranium (DU) as the source of the so-called Gulf War Syndrome, according to a recent article published in Preventive Psychiatry E-newsletter, the TML Daily reports. The deadly radioactive munitions continue to kill for decades, cause massive birth defects and other harm to children, as well as poisoning the environment. The far larger numbers of deaths and medical problems for the Iraqi people will continue for many decades to come, the paper of the Canadian Communist Party goes on to say. The article refers to a report by scientist Leuren Moret investigating the impact of DU munitions. Commenting on the scientific study, TML Daily quotes executive director of Veterans for Constitutional Law in New York Arthur N. Bernklau as saying that "out of the 580,400 soldiers who served in the first Gulf War, 11,000 are now dead! A decade later, 56 percent of those soldiers who served have some form of permanent medical problems." Bernklau added that "the long-term effects have revealed that DU is a virtual death sentence." The Canadian daily underlines the fact that the US government and specifically the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) know about the deadly impact of that type of munitions and continues to use them in the current war against Iraq further shows the ruthless character of the administration in Washington and its readiness to commit war crimes as it strives for world domination. The US also continues to make these weapons, even though they are banned by international law, it denounces. Use of these weapons is a war crime and those responsible from the top down must be charged and punished, it concludes. mh/rma ---------- No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Anti-Virus. Version: 7.0.308 / Virus Database: 266.7.3 - Release Date: 3/15/05 [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Has someone you know been affected by illness or disease? Network for Good is THE place to support health awareness efforts! http://us.click.yahoo.com/RzSHvD/UOnJAA/79vVAA/FGYolB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> To unsubscribe from this groups send a message to du-list-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com. In the body of the message type unsubscribe and send. Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/du-list/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: du-list-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ ***************************************************************** 32 Las Vegas SUN: Changes to be explained in DOE compensation program By Suzanne Struglinski SUN WASHINGTON BUREAU Labor Department town hall meetings on the Energy Employee Occupational Illnes Compensation Program Act will be 6 p.m. today and 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. Wednesday at Texas Station. The Resource Center is at Flamingo Executive Park, 1050 E. Flamingo Road, Suite W-156. Call (866) 697-0841. WASHINGTON -- Former Energy Department employees with questions on the change in the federal sick workers compensation program can get answers straight from the source tonight and Wednesday. The Labor Department took over a portion of the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program originally controlled by the Energy Department in January. Congress approved a law last year to make the change after numerous complaints on the Energy Department's control of the project. John Vance, the Labor Department's branch chief for outreach and technical assistance will hold three town hall meetings in Las Vegas starting tonight to answer questions about the change. Vance has been visiting states with Energy Department facilities, such as the Nevada Test Site, where workers may have become ill based on their work there. The biggest difference as a result of the change has to do with the benefits. Under the new program, those eligible for payment will receive compensation or reimbursement for medical expense directly from the department. Under the old program, the Energy Department would help qualified workers navigate the state's worker compensation program. As of March 10, just over 26,000 cases from the Energy Department have been moved to the Labor Department, according to the program's statistics. It has paid out 188 claims totaling $23.5 million. There is no breakdown of the claims by state, Vance said, so he could not say if any of these claims had been paid in Nevada. Under the old program, about 2,000 claims had been filed from Nevada resident from only 985 had received a final decision. Under the law, people who are sick from their work at government nuclear facilitie are eligible. Applicants must have a disease that may have been caused by a toxic substance they were exposed to during their employment such as asbestosis, liver disease or heavy metal poisoning. Vance said the department has received a lot of questions since the change went into effect and the town hall meetings are designed to answer as many as possible. Those unable to attend can visit the Resource Center in Las Vegas or call (866) 697-0841 for help. ***************************************************************** 33 New Scientist: French plutonium at 'extreme risk' of terrorist attack [NewScientist.com] 16 March 2005 Plutonium being transported across France could be attacked by terrorists and turned into dirty bombs in a matter of minutes, a US nuclear security expert is warning. Cargoes of plutonium oxide are taken by road at least once a month from nuclear plants at La Hague in the north to Marcoule in the south to make fuel for French reactors. But according to Ronald Timm, a consultant from Lemont, Illinois, US, and for 5 years a senior nuclear security advisor to the US Clinton administration, the shipments are very poorly guarded. "The protection afforded these everyday shipments is virtually non-existent," he claims. In a study commissioned by the anti-nuclear group, Greenpeace, he concludes that they are at "extreme risk" of terrorist attack. Each shipment has less than a dozen guards and they could all be killed in a surprise attack by as few as three armed terrorists, he argues. Then it would only take "seconds" to break open the transport casks with power tools or explosives, he claims, and to start releasing plutonium into the environment. Another possibility is that the plutonium could be stolen with the intention of making it into nuclear bombs. The risk to the health and safety of the public in France is "of grave concern", Timm says. "Prime target" His study also assesses a controversial cargo of 140 kilograms of plutonium oxide, sent to France from the US in 2004, as being at "high risk" of terrorist attack. The plutonium has now been made into fuel and is due to be transported back to the US in the next few weeks. The plutonium casks transported from the US were a "prime sabotage target" but were only designed to withstand accidents and not "malevolent attacks", Timm alleges. However, this is rejected by the French nuclear company, Cogema, as "absolutely wrong". The casks are approved as safe by scientists from the UN International Atomic Energy Agency, says Cogema's head of transport, Henry-Jacques Neau. "They are able to withstand deliberate attack, and are extremely safe," he told New Scientist. It is always possible to imagine "sensationalist" scenarios but in reality the security arrangements were "perfectly adequate", Neau says. "Every time Greenpeace gets experts - or pseudo-experts - to produce reports they have proved to be of no value." NewScientist.com ***************************************************************** 34 CNW Group: Biophage Pharma Reports Increased Demand in Beryllium Sensitization Testing Business Canada NewsWire Group March 16, 2005 QUICK Company Received Significantly Increased Order from Current Client MONTREAL, March 15 /CNW Telbec/ - (TSX.V: BUG) Biophage Pharma today announced that it is seeing increased interest from large industrial clients for beryllium sensitization testing of their employees. This test identifies people with elevated risk of developing chronic beryllium disease, and is useful in medical surveillance. Risk assessment in a given workplace is the first step toward controlling beryllium exposure and introducing specific intervention safety attitudes. The company has recently received from a current client, a significant new order that more than triples the number of tests that were conducted last year for the same client. The client also indicated the possibility for additional orders to be placed later in the year. Overall, Biophage conducted nearly 2,000 beryllium sensitization tests in 2004 for different clients. Currently, the test sells for approximately $ 350.00 per person and Biophage is among the few laboratories in North America that offer this service. "Biophage is becoming a premier provider of beryllium hypersensitivity testing in Canada and is also currently working on expanding this service to the United States. Each day, more companies are becoming aware of the health issues surrounding exposure for beryllium-sensitized workers," said Dr. Rosemonde Mandeville, President and Chief Executive Officer. "Last week at an International Beryllium Research Conference, the CSST, a major public insurance company, reported that in 2,800 industrial establishments, an estimated 100,000 workers, in Quebec alone, are likely to have been exposed to beryllium," added Dr. Mandeville. About Biophage Pharma Inc. Biophage Pharma Inc. is a Canadian biopharmaceutical company developing new therapeutic and diagnostic products using phage-based technology. Founded in 1995, Biophage is located at the Biotechnology Research Institute in Montreal and employs 15 people, including a team of 13 researchers. Through an active research and development program, as well as in-licensing and collaboration agreements, Biophage is building a portfolio of promising new diagnostic and therapeutic compounds and highly specialized biosensors for international markets. (www.biophage.com). About beryllium sensitization Beryllium is harmless in the solid state, but becomes very toxic as dusts or fumes. In individuals sensitive to beryllium, its inhalation may cause sensitization and a serious lung disease called chronic beryllium disease. Occupations with the highest risk involve processes that generate light particulates, especially metalwork and metal recycling (alloys of copper, aluminum, etc.). Other hazardous occupations include, the manufacture of semi- conductive ceramic, the manufacture of electrical, electronic and microelectronic components, the machining and welding of alloys, the manufacture of sporting goods (golf clubs, bicycles, tennis rackets), the manufacture of automobile parts, gun parts and ball bearings, as well as, dental technicians and jewelers. For further information: Rosemonde Mandeville, M.B. Ch.B., Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer, Biophage Pharma Inc., (514) 496-1488, info@biophagepharma.com; Stuart Fine, Investor Relations, Carpe DM Inc., (908) 490-0075, stuart@carpedminc.com; Martin Lefebvre, Investor Relations, Renmark Financial Communications Inc., (514) 939-3989, mlefebvre@renmarkfinancial.com © 2005 CNW Group Ltd. PRIVACY &TERMS ***************************************************************** 35 EMS: High risk U.S. plutonium transport arrives in Normandy from south of France http://www.ems.org [Environmental Media Services - Washington, DC] Source: Greenpeace International Posted on: Mar 15, 2005 @ 6:00 pm Paris, 15 March 2005 - A cargo of 140 kilograms of U.S. weapons-grade plutonium (1) has completed the first leg of its controversial journey from France to the U.S. The armed convoy left the Areva plutonium fuel factory at Marcoule, north of Avignon, between Monday night and Tuesday morning. It travelled around 1000 kilometres over land to Areva's la Hague plutonium complex in Normandy and arrived early in the night of 15 March. The nuclear cargo will be repackaged and taken in the coming days to Cherbourg for onward sea transport to the U.S. port of Charleston. Greenpeace activists tracked the transport as it neared la Hague, to alert the public and local authorities to the safety and security risk it presents and to voice opposition to the proliferation threat posed by such trade in nuclear weapons materials. The convoy travelled over major French highways without adequate protection and packaging, according to Greenpeace, and will also present a risk when at sea. A new report by a U.S. nuclear security expert has concluded that the transportation last October of U.S. plutonium in France was at "high" risk from terrorist attack, with inadequate security protection (2). French transports of plutonium are also assessed in the report, with the conclusion that there is currently no effective security applied, and the level of risk is categorized as "extreme." "This whole plutonium program is about the survival of the nuclear industry in France, the U.S. and Russia. Instead of proliferating more plutonium around the planet, governments need to take action to shut down this industry before catastrophe strikes," said Yannick Rousselet of Greenpeace France. Greenpeace rejects the transport and use of all nuclear weapons materials and is calling for an international treaty that bans the further production and use of weapons-usable fissile materials such as plutonium and highly enriched uranium. For more information please contact: Yannick Rousselet - Greenpeace France, +33 685806559 Shaun Burnie - Greenpeace International, +31 629 001133 Tom Clements - Greenpeace International (in Washington DC), +1 202 319 2411 Cecilia Goin - Greenpeace International Press desk, +31 621296908 Or see http://www.stop-plutonium.org Notes to Editors: (1) In the form of nuclear fuel, mixed uranium-plutonium (MOX) This shipment of pure U.S. weapons plutonium oxide (powder) that was transported from the U.S. to France in September/October 2004. The plutonium has since been manufactured into experimental MOX at the Cadarache and Melox nuclear facilities, for testing in U.S. reactor in South Carolina. MOX fuel is classified by the IAEA as Category 1 nuclear material (the same as separated plutonium), requiring high level security. Greenpeace tracked and protested against its entire journey. 2). The security report commissioned by Greenpeace International challenges the French government to explain the extreme risks posed by the present security arrangements for plutonium transportation. Available on http://www.stop-plutonium.org. The security of plutonium transports will also be discussed at an IAEA nuclear security conference in London this week see http://www.iaea.org for further details. Environmental Media Services 1320 18th Street NW 5th Floor Washington, DC 20036 (202) 463-6670 Website comments: Copyright © 2003 Environmental Media Services ***************************************************************** 36 WHO TV - Des Moines: Harkin urges federal officials to speed IAAP payments March 15, 2005 DES MOINES, Iowa Iowa Senator Tom Harkin, in a letter today, chided federal officials for continued delays in compensating people sickened by their work at a former nuclear weapons factory in southeast Iowa.From the late 1940s until the mid-1970s, about four-thousand workers assembled and test-fired nuclear weapons at the Iowa Army Ammunition Plant at Middletown. Many became ill after exposure to radioactive or harmful materials.Last month, an advisory board to the National Institute for Occupational Health and Safety recommended expediting payments to former I-A-A-P workers with any one of 22 types of cancer.However, Harkin says Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt has not yet received the recommendation.In a letter to officials who must forward that recommendation to Leavitt, Harkin says it's "unfathomable" that the advisory board could not complete and transmit a simple letter in less than a month.___On the Net:NIOSH Advisory Board on Radiation and Worker Health: http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/ocas/ocasadv.html Copyright 2005 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may Copyright 2001 - 2005 WorldNow and WHO-TV, a division of NYT Broadcast Holdings, LLC. ***************************************************************** 37 WCAX.com: Health Department looking at radiation reading at Vermont Yankee March 15, 2005 VERNON, Vt. A radiation monitor at the Vermont Yankee nuclear power station has recorded a radiation level above the amount the state allows. Officials with the Vermont Department of Health say the monitor was the only one of approximately 40 that recorded increased radiation since the last reading. The Health Department checks the monitors quarterly.Health Commissioner Paul Jarris says officials do not believe the elevated reading poses any immediate threat. Jarris says the Health Department and Vermont Yankee are working to figure out what caused the reading. It is unclear if there was increased release of radiation from the nuclear reactor or if the reading was incorrect. Copyright 2005 Associated Press. All rights Copyright 2001 - 2005 WorldNow and WCAX. All Rights Reserved. ***************************************************************** 38 deseret news: NRC chief downplays Utah nuclear peril [deseretnews.com] Tuesday, March 15, 2005 But Huntsman disputes nuclear-risk comments By Jerry Spangler Deseret Morning News WASHINGTON — The nation's top nuclear regulator is assuring residents of the Wasatch Front they will not suffer health or environmental risks should 4,000 casks of spent nuclear fuel be stored in Tooele County, even in the unlikely event that a terrorist attack breached some of the containers. Deseret Morning News graphic Nils A. Diaz, chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, told reporters at the National Press Club on Monday the canisters are designed to withstand attacks and "pose no radiological hazard with the present weaponry" available to terrorists. "I think the casks there will be well protected," Diaz said. The NRC chairman said the concentration of canisters in one location could make it so that an attack — by an aircraft flying into a cluster of casks, for example — could result in damage to a few casks being knocked into one another. But even if the casks were breached, the radiation leakage would be confined to the immediate impact area, and radiation would not extend beyond a two-mile zone around the site, he said. The NRC will soon ratify or reject the recommendation of the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board that Private Fuel Storage be granted an NRC license to store spent fuel for up to 40 years in above-ground casks in Skull Valley about 70 miles southwest of Salt Lake City. The NRC is expected to approve the PFS license, although Diaz insisted the NRC does not rubber-stamp decisions by the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board, an independent judicial arm of the NRC. In at least three or four recent cases, the NRC went against the board's recommendation, Diaz said. Whether PFS gets an NRC license and becomes operational are "both big ifs," he said. Diaz pledged the NRC would review the official findings without political interference, most of it expected to come from the Utah delegation. Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. was in Washington, D.C., Monday also lobbying against PFS. Huntsman, who has been pushing an agenda of waste storage at nuclear power plant sites and reprocessing of nuclear waste, told the Deseret Morning News that he was encouraged by meetings with Energy Secretary Sam Bodman, with whom he shared Utah's concerns over homeland security issues surrounding the site. "We need to buy 30 to 50 years so the (reprocessing) technology can catch up," Huntsman said. "We need to buy time to accommodate a policy to allow on-site storage and reprocessing." Huntsman is of the mind that Utah ought to be supporting Nevada's opposition to storage of spent nuclear fuel, whether permanently at Yucca Mountain or temporarily at Skull Valley. Utah's House delegation supports that position to some degree, but it puts Huntsman at odds with Sens. Bob Bennett and Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, who support the Yucca Mountain solution. "The West is the fastest growing region in the United States, and it is in our interest to maintain the unparalleled quality of life here," Huntsman said. But the ultimate decision on the PFS license, he added, may come down to the Department of Interior, which must still approve the lease between PFS and the Goshute tribe. The governor will meet with Secretary of Interior Gale Norton later today. Huntsman, who is not optimistic the NRC will reject the PFS application, isn't buying Diaz's argument that above-ground storage at Skull Valley does not pose a threat to Utahns, pointing to a dissenting opinion in the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board's 2-1 decision. The dissenting opinion, he noted, specifically cited the threats that Diaz dismissed. Huntsman's efforts in Washington, D.C., coincide with ongoing efforts by the Utah congressional delegation to influence decision-makers who will decide whether PFS gets its license. "Politics plays no role" in the NRC decision, Diaz insisted but added, "We will pay serious attention to the Congress. We appreciate comments from the congressional parties." Without directly saying it, Diaz dropped several hints that he doesn't seem too worried about the PFS proposal. He repeatedly described his confidence the storage casks could withstand any type of attack or impact, he mentioned the remote Skull Valley location where any radiological releases would be contained far from population centers, and he expressed his intent that the decision would be based on the science of the proposal — something already examined in great detail and approved by the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board. He also echoed PFS's contention that Skull Valley would be temporary storage. "I do not see them as replacing a geological repository," he said. Diaz, a nuclear engineer, said the NRC is in favor of a "geological repository," but he insisted that does not mean the commission is predisposed to approve Yucca Mountain as a permanent storage site, even though it is the only geological solution now on the table. He also expressed support for continued on-site storage of spent fuel at nuclear power plants, but added that is only a temporary solution. Eventually the waste should be moved deep underground, he said. As to Utah's concern that if the waste is shipped to Skull Valley it will stay there forever: "Not a plausible scenario," he said. "We know that temporary becomes permanent," Huntsman responded, adding that a new national energy policy that encourages on-site storage and reprocessing of spent fuel is "in the interests of Utah." "We still have a lot of fight left in us." E-mail: spang@desnews.com © 2005 Deseret News Publishing Company ***************************************************************** 39 DallasNews.com: Firm seeking permits to store waste in W. Texas agrees to state tax on revenues 10:18 PM CST on Friday, March 11, 2005 By RANDY LEE LOFTIS / The Dallas Morning News For 10 years, Dallas billionaire Harold C. Simmons has tried to turn a converted patch of West Texas scrubland into a tomb for Cold War nuclear waste so hot it will need guarding for thousands of years. A few legislators want to hit the brakes, saying Texas shouldn't agree to take some of the government's most-radioactive leftovers  waste that Ohio, Nevada and Utah already rejected  without so much as a public hearing. [ src=] But a plan is in the works that might drown out those protests. In agreeing to a new state radioactive-waste tax on its federal revenue, Mr. Simmons' company would get some assurance that the Legislature won't try to keep it from taking government nuclear waste from around the country. "It gives the state some incentive to continue the licensing process," said George M. Dials, president of Waste Control Specialists. Some lobbyists see a potential conflict of interest: If the federal waste becomes a huge revenue source, regulators might feel pressure to approve the company's plans, in turn helping make Texas the nation's main destination for the material. "We're really concerned that they wouldn't put it through the same level of scrutiny," said Cyrus Reed, a Sierra Club lobbyist. The tax bill's author, Sen. Robert Duncan, R-Lubbock, said the federal waste would come, with or without a tax. State regulators already ruled that Waste Control Specialists could store waste from one possible federal job for two years. They're processing the company's request for permanent disposal  a decision that would help it go after big-income federal contracts. "I have concerns about Texas  especially West Texas, where I live  becoming the disposal site of first and last resort for the whole country," Mr. Duncan said. "But the laws that are on the books already permit that. This is just a matter of making sure that the state reaps the benefits." But a key environmental lobbyist said the state shouldn't start welcoming waste that must be guarded for millennia without public debate. "We're about to see the ship of state buried under a maelstrom of radioactive waste," said Tom "Smitty" Smith, Texas director of the environmental and consumer group Public Citizen. Another idea arose about the tax during the company's discussions with Mr. Duncan: Because paying for Texas' cash-starved schools is the Legislature's hottest button right now, why not earmark the radioactive-waste tax money for education? "It has been discussed," Mr. Dials said. "Hopefully, they would use this for the education of our children." Mr. Duncan said he wants the waste-tax income to go into general revenue. But if tagging the money for schools became the deciding factor in getting the tax passed, he would concur. Waste Control Specialists lawyer Michael L. Woodward said the company has agreed not to use its political clout to oppose the tax. However, he said, there was no deal to use school funding or anything else in order to undercut legislative opposition. "It's just kind of a realization that we're going to have a tax," he said. Critics such as Mr. Smith of Public Citizen said even discussing a link to school funding would be a bad idea, essentially turning teachers into lobbyists for the importation of radioactive waste. Waiting for payoff The decadelong drive of the 73-year-old Mr. Simmons  chemicals and metals mogul, Republican moneyman and shadow presence in the government halls of Washington and Austin  to reach this point has not been easy or cheap. He has spent millions on lobbyists and politicians' campaigns. He's spent millions more on his small, as-yet unprofitable waste-disposal company. Its reported losses total $25 million. Any day now, that work could pay off. The deciding factors are pending state licenses for disposal of radioactive waste and a federal contract that could open the door for much bigger ones. Within a week, a federal contractor will tell the U.S. Energy Department who should get a job worth millions: disposing dangerous leftovers from an old atomic-bomb materials plant in Fernald, Ohio. Waste Control Specialists is among a few select bidders. There's no winner yet; reviewing the choice will take about a month. The company might lose; it lost a smaller contract to handle less-radioactive federal waste last month. But if it gets the nod, which seems increasingly likely, sometime this year the first of 3,500 truckloads of uranium waste mixed with concrete and encased in steel would leave Ohio for Andrews, Texas, west of Midland. It would possibly truck along Interstate 20through Dallas-Fort Worth, although no route is set. Mr. Duncan's proposed tax  10 percent of the company's gross receipts from a number of kinds of radioactive waste, with a surcharge on the most radioactive types  ultimately would yield millions for the state. How much depends on whether the company gets the big contracts. First contract of many? The Fernald disposal contract is likely to be fairly small, in the range of $20 million, based on projections of $2 million in state tax on the company's receipts. The Fernald waste project, counting the planning, transportation, disposal and the cleanup contractor's share, is just $50 million out of a $4.4 billion cleanup-and-closure effort. But the Fernald contract is only one step toward potentially huge income. The company also is seeking a state license to dispose of low-level radioactive waste, such as contaminated clothing or tools, mostly from commercial nuclear plants. It can treat and store it now but must send it elsewhere for disposal. The big money, Mr. Dials said, would come from future contracts for federal radioactive waste from facilities such as the Savannah River Plant and Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The Army also has cleanups under way. And with uranium's price going up, there's likely to be more mining in the West, with disposal sites needed for the radioactive waste, called tailings. "We think we can meet that market need," said Mr. Dials, a trim, white-haired West Point-MIT graduate and former Energy Department project manager who wears his Vietnam Silver Star ribbon on his lapel. "That's why we're willing to spend millions and millions of dollars to get this license, because we have an ideal site for that type of facility." Possible nuclear zone Another company, Louisiana Energy Services  formerly headed by Mr. Dials  wants to build a factory for nuclear power plant fuel in New Mexico, across the state line from Waste Control Specialists' West Texas facility. It doesn't have a license yet, but depending on future decisions by LES and federal agencies, waste from that plant could end up in Texas, too. Taken together, the projects would mean that Andrews County, Texas, and Lea County, N.M., would become a nuclear zone of national importance  a point that bothers some legislators. "This isn't what we had in mind," said state Rep. Pete Gallego, D-Alpine, who wants a joint committee to review Waste Control Specialists' plans. But two weeks after he filed his resolution, it hasn't advanced. Rep. Mike Villarreal, D-San Antonio, filed a bill to block shipments from anywhere but Texas, Vermont and Maine, the original partners in a three-state compact. That bill is in committee. Such moves could keep Waste Control Specialists from making good on its decade of planning and politicking  unfairly so, the company says. "All we are asking them to do is to fairly implement the regulations that are already on the books," Mr. Dials said. Locals behind plan If anything blocks the company's plans, it won't be local opposition or technical concerns about the site. Andrews County officials back the plans, and the Fernald cleanup contractor's waste manager called the site ideal. "They are granted with about the perfect combination of climate and geology of any site I've seen," said Dennis Carr, who works for contractor Fluor Fernald. "They're over a 600-foot [deep] layer of this red, dense clay that, combined with a climate that has less than about 10 inches of rainfall a year. ... It's just an amazing site." Moving the waste to West Texas isn't a concern, even if it passes just south of downtown Dallas and Fort Worth, said Richard Ratliff, head of the state health department's radiation control bureau. "I'd much rather be next to a truckload of this material at a red light than next to a tanker of gasoline," he said. But Mr. Smith of Public Citizen said anybody who's ever been in urban interstate traffic, combining backups with fast, careless drivers, should think twice about the chance of a radioactive crash. "Rather than earmark this money for schools or general revenues, we should put it into a fund to pay for the inevitable cleanup after an accident," he said. Competitors for the Fernald waste could include sites in South Carolina, Tennessee, Washington state and Idaho. A federal facility in Nevada, the Nevada Test Site, is also officially on the list, but that state says it would sue to block it. Leaving the waste in Ohio isn't an option. Technical concerns and Ohio politicians saw to that. Fluor Fernald also has a big incentive to ship the waste this year: It gets a government bonus. Texas has struggled with radioactive waste questions for more than 20 years. A state agency, the Texas Low-Level Radioactive Waste Authority, was supposed to plan and run a waste facility. The authority failed; El Paso blocked a site near that city, and in 1998 the state's environmental commissioners, appointed by then-Gov. George Bush, rejected a site at Sierra Blanca, also in West Texas. The next year, the Legislature abolished the authority and launched new studies. In 1995, another factor arose. Waste Control Specialists  founded by Houston businessman Ken Bigham and Kent Hance, a congressman turned lobbyist  tried but failed to get the Legislature to let a private company operate the low-level facility. Mr. Simmons' corporation, Valhi Inc., invested $25 million to get half interest in Waste Control Specialists in 1995. Gradually, Valhi bought nearly the whole company. Mr. Bigham left, but Mr. Hance stayed as part owner and a management committee member; it was Mr. Hance who recruited Mr. Dials, then an independent consultant, in September 2003 to the company. Valhi's reports to the Securities and Exchange Commission revealed as early as 1995 how valuable contracts for Energy Department waste would be. Eventually, the department began sending some waste for treatment and temporary storage. But what the company really wanted were disposal licenses. Political contributions Money helped fuel that effort. Since 2000, when Texas campaign finance reports went online, Mr. Simmons, his family, his business executives and associates and his lobbyists have given nearly $2.04 million to Texas candidates. They also have given nearly $2 million to federal candidates since 1995, Federal Election Commission reports show. Neither figure includes millions spent on lobbyists, political action committees and parties. In 2003, the Legislature granted the company the change it had long sought: opening low-level waste disposal to private companies. When the state solicited license applications last year, Waste Control Specialists was the only applicant. Mr. Woodward, the company lawyer, said money didn't make the difference, based on the years it took to get the state's go-ahead. "This type of facility does not get its license without extensive scrutiny by the regulators," he said. Mr. Ratliff, the health department regulator, said rules, not politics, have driven the state's reviews. Susan Jablonski, a Texas Commission on Environmental Quality official handling the low-level disposal license review, said regulators have the power to reject Waste Control Specialists' bid. "The rules are clear," she added. Mr. Smith of Public Citizen sees it differently. "It's the same old game," he said: "Only organized people can defeat organized money." E-mail FROM AFRICA TO OHIO, ON TO TEXAS? How the Fernald radioactive waste came about is a lesson in World War II and Cold War history. From 1951 to 1989, the U.S. Energy Department plant in Fernald, Ohio, processed the world's richest uranium ore into fuel for reactors that made plutonium for atomic bombs. The ore came from the same mine in the Belgian Congo, now Zaire, that produced the uranium  spirited out of Africa to keep it out of Nazi hands  used in the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombs. Because the Congo ore was so much higher in uranium content than ores from the western United States  about 45 percent, compared to less than 1 percent from most American ore  it took much less to get the same amount of pure uranium. Fernald produced 500 million pounds of pure uranium, leaving about 8,900 cubic yards of waste  a fraction of the waste that extracting the same amount of uranium from low-grade American ores would have produced. But the higher uranium content also meant that pound for pound, the Fernald waste had much more of uranium's radioactive "daughter products," such as radium and thorium that are produced when uranium decays. That's why the Fernald waste will be chemically stabilized, mixed with 40,000 cubic yards of concrete, then put inside steel containers for the trip to West Texas  or to whatever site wins the contract. Once disposed of, it must be managed "basically forever," said Fluor Fernald spokesman Jeff Wagner. [FILE] FILE Waste Control Specialists' West Texas site is 'granted with about the perfect combination of climate and geology,' for nuclear disposal, some say. But critics argue that public debate is necessary before the company is granted permission to store the waste. ***************************************************************** 40 Bradenton Herald: Tallevast again waiting for test results | 03/15/2005 | SCOTT RADWAY Herald Staff Writer TALLEVAST - For Laura Ward and other community leaders, this has become a ritual. Residents in this 85-home community are once again awaiting drill rigs to test for toxic groundwater pollution. Residents are again hearing assertions that the contamination is just about mapped. And once again, residents are in disbelief, grasping for answers. "I don't know when they are going up to wake up and see the truth," said Ward, president of community group FOCUS, as she reviewed the latest expanded maps of the Tallevast contamination. Lockheed officials told community leaders and county officials Friday that another nine wells need to be drilled in Tallevast and mapping of the contamination would now take another month. Originally, the expectation was Feb. 1 for finishing the mapping. But the estimated plume doubled to 50 acres and Lockheed said it would need until mid-March to finish testing. Now the date is April 15 for the final report. Ward laughs when she contemplates the assertion that while Lockheed Martin needs more time to map the plume, the plume is not getting bigger. She also thinks it could take months to finish. "This is going to get much bigger," Ward said. "They are most likely going to have to step out again." But Lockheed spokeswoman Meredith Rouse Davis maintained Monday that as long as crews can get property access, the company is confident the final assessment will be completed by that date. The company is gearing up to develop a cleanup plan. Stepping out further "is always the potential, but with this round of drilling we hope that is all that is necessary," Rouse Davis said. The drill rigs are expected to arrive this week and sample from an area in the northwest, southwest and southeast. Two of those are pushing out into new areas, Rouse Davis said. The biggest hurdle for Lockheed is getting access to airport property, because that requires Federal Aviation Administration approval. The No. 1 contaminant mapped so far is a solvent known as trichloroethylene, or TCE. But the last one that needs to be mapped is called 1,4-Dioxane, also a solvent. Dioxane can move more quickly through the groundwater and perhaps farther out. Dioxane was identified in the Feb. 1 report for the first time. Residents' questions reach beyond the new testing. Still unaddressed are concerns from FOCUS and its consultant about differences in test results from mid-2004 and test results reported by Lockheed in its Feb. 1 report. Tim Varney, a consultant for FOCUS, said the levels of contamination found in the private wells are notably higher than the recent Lockheed testing done near those wells. Varney said the process of digging a test well could have disturbed the aquifer and skewed the results because the area was not given enough time to resettle. Varney said he expects it to take until June to fully map the plume. Residents told the Florida Department of Environmental Protection last week about their concerns and had expected a report from DEP this week raising the issue with Lockheed. But DEP spokeswoman Pamala Vazquez said the agency is not yet finished with its review of the Lockheed data. DEP had told The Herald it would release its report last week, but decided to postpone its review one to two weeks to review the most recent testing results. Although Lockheed needs to dig more wells, the company submitted results to the state from additional testing it conducted in February. Vazquez said DEP would consider resident concerns, but could not say if they would be incorporated into the DEP report. Rouse Davis said Lockheed was awaiting information from Varney that spelled out the concerns about the testing differences. Meanwhile, residents are moving forward with an effort to retest the private wells. Ward said she expects a proposal this week from an independent hydrologist. Lockheed has agreed to pay for the testing before moving to close those wells. Another resident concern is that some Tallevast private wells were never identified by government officials and might still be in use. To make her point, Ward notes an irrigation well on a farm next to the Post Office on Tallevast Road. "No one ever tested that well," Ward said. The owner, Heidi Booth, reached by phone, said no one drinks from that well and she believes she is outside the contamination area. Booth said the well is for five cattle and farm workers know not to drink from it. Ward said she does not believe anyone is using any well in Tallevast for drinking water, but the Booth well is proof that Lockheed and the government are not concerned enough about Tallevast, she said. "You need to treat this as the worst-case scenario," Ward said. "You need to treat this like it is going to blow up any minute." Scott Radway, environmental reporter, can be reached at 708-7919 or at sradway@HeraldToday.com. Find an archive of extensive coverage of the Tallevast pollution online. The Herald continues its in-depth coverage of the beryllium pollution problem plaguing Tallevast. Herald watchdog Question marks • The contamination plume is now estimated at 50 acres, but Lockheed Martin continues to do more groundwater testing to map its full extent. Lockheed has not provided a map of that 50 acres of contamination. • Residents say there are numerous private wells in the community that were not tested by health officials, though they say no one is drinking from them. Only one example was provided, a farm irrigation well next to the Tallevast Road Post Office. • The Florida Department of Environmental Protection had said it would release its report on Lockheed Martin's Feb. 1 contamination assessment, but decided to hold off to review new water sampling results. Target date for report is one to two weeks. ***************************************************************** 41 Las Vegas RJ: YUCCA ALTERNATIVE: Longtime nuke plan revisited Tuesday, March 15, 2005 Reid to pitch keeping waste at plants By STEVE TETREAULT STEPHENS WASHINGTON BUREAU WASHINGTON -- Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., is looking to inject new life into a perennial proposal that would keep nuclear waste stored at power plants rather than sent for burial in Yucca Mountain. Reid is preparing a bill that would require the Department of Energy to take ownership of radioactive spent fuel and build onsite containers to store the material at reactor sites The proposal represents a fundamental shift in how the government manages the nation's nuclear waste. Efforts have focused for decades on developing an underground tunnel repository at the Yucca site 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas. Previous attempts to advance onsite storage as a Yucca Mountain alternative have been rebuffed by utilities and officials in states with nuclear plants that want the dangerous waste moved away. Reid said Energy Department legal and budget setbacks the past year signal it is time to look at other options. After a court ruling in July that voided a key radiation health standard, the DOE set aside a 2010 target date to begin accepting nuclear waste at a Nevada repository. DOE officials have said they expect to face continuing difficulties obtaining repository construction funding from Congress unless changes are made in Yucca Mountain accounting methods. "It should be clear to anyone that this project is not going anywhere," Reid said in a statement he submitted at a Senate repository budget hearing last week. "One option may be for the federal government to take responsibility for the nuclear waste at the reactor sites," Reid said. "This is the right thing to do and I look forward to discussing this option with my colleagues." Reid's bill would redirect the $16.3 billion balance in the Yucca Mountain construction fund to build more "dry cask" storage facilities at reactor sites to hold radioactive spent fuel. Reid plans to introduce the bill early in April, spokeswoman Tessa Hafen said Monday. She said it was too soon to say what course Reid might take to push the plan. Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., probably will co-sponsor the bill, a spokesman said. Reid might pick up support from Utah Sens. Orrin Hatch and Robert Bennett, who want to head off a temporary storage site being developed on the Goshute Indian reservation. More than two dozen nuclear power plants have invested in storage canisters, and the Nuclear Energy Institute has projected 83 of 103 active reactors will have dry storage by 2050. Utilities store spent fuel in cooling pools they say are running out of room. Officials at NEI, the nuclear industry's trade association, say reactor sites were not intended as storehouses, and onsite waste storage is only an interim measure until waste can be moved to a permanent repository. Steve Kraft, NEI waste management director, said Reid's plan "is a non-starter. Changing ownership of the fuel doesn't change the location." Utilities and surrounding communities want waste sent elsewhere, he said. The Reid proposal is similar to legislation that has been promoted since 2001 by Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev. Berkley's bill has received little attention. Involvement from Reid, the Senate Democratic leader, could give the idea new prominence. "I can't say we've been shaking the industry, but Reid brings a bully pulpit and the ability to bring in big guns," said David Cherry, a Berkley spokesman. Copyright Las Vegas Review-Journal ***************************************************************** 42 Salt Lake Tribune: Huntsman makes case against nuclear waste Last Updated: 03/15/2005 12:59:49 AM By Robert Gehrke The Salt Lake Tribune WASHINGTON - Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. urged Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman on Monday to develop a federal policy that would allow nuclear waste to remain at the reactors that produce it rather than shipping it to a proposed storage facility in Utah's west desert. Huntsman also said Monday that he will ask Interior Secretary Gale Norton to override the Bureau of Indian Affairs' decision to approve the lease between the utility companies seeking to build the repository and the Skull Valley Band of Goshutes, whose reservation would be home to the facility. "As I told Secretary Bodman, there's no such thing as temporary storage in today's world. If this finds its way to Utah, I'm not sure it would ever leave," the Republican governor said. He urged the Energy Department to develop a long-term energy storage plan that would allow waste to be stored at reactors for half-a-century. "Let's let research and development catch up. If we were to buy 30 to 50 years on-site, reprocessing could happen. That's not beyond reality," Huntsman said. Bodman understood the issue, but did not commit to any action by the department. The Bush administration has budgeted $651 million in the coming year for work on a permanent nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain in Nevada and remains committed to that site. Sens. Orrin Hatch and Bob Bennett, both R-Utah, said after a meeting last week with the White House that rapidly getting Yucca Mountain into operation is the best way to prevent interim storage in Utah. Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada has spent years trying to stop Yucca Mountain, and said last week that he plans to introduce legislation in the coming weeks that would allow the Energy Department to take ownership of waste at the nuclear reactors and store it in casks at the facilities. That could make Yucca Mountain and the Utah west desert site unnecessary. Huntsman plans to meet with Norton today and said he would likely ask her to use her authority to unilaterally reverse the BIA superintendent's approval of the lease between Private Fuel Storage, a consortium of utility companies, and the Skull Valley Goshutes. "The Secretary of the Interior does have a tremendous amount of clout in this process," Huntsman said. As the trustee for Indian tribes around the country, the Bureau of Indian Affairs must approve tribal business deals. The BIA is part of the Interior Department. In 1997, the bureau approved the lease, contingent upon the completion of necessary environmental studies and the granting of a license by the Nuclear Regulatory Commis- sion. "There's something fundamentally amiss about having 4,000 casks above ground in an era of dirty bombs and truck bombs and commercial aviation [threats]," said Huntsman. If the facility was targeted by terrorists, "the result would be not just contamination of the Wasatch Front but many places further east," he said. Huntsman also will meet with Education Secretary Margaret Spellings today and lay out 14 points of concern the state has with the No Child Left Behind school reform law. The state would like to opt out of some of the federal requirements. Utah already has received a special dispensation from the department regarding teacher qualifications and the Utah Legislature has made clear that it would rather use its own testing regimen rather than the federally mandated testing battery. "It would be in the interest of the Department of Education to reach a compromise with the State of Utah. There are probably eight to 10 states right behind us with similar circumstances. I've offered Utah to the Education Secretary to" act as a model for a new system blending federal and state standards, Huntsman said. Huntsman has called a legislative special session for April 20 to give his office, state education leaders and federal officials more time to negotiate flexibility under No Child Left Behind. The planned special session effectively stalled a bill before the Legislature challenging the sweeping federal law's imposition on state policies and resources. The governor also said he is optimistic the Energy Department will decide to move 11 million tons of uranium tailings and contaminated soil from the defunct Atlas uranium mill, on the banks of the Colorado River near Moab. The department is expected to make a decision this spring on whether to move the pile, which continues to contaminate the river, or cover it with an earthen cap. Huntsman, Utah's congressional delegation and governors and members of Congress from other Western states say the pile should be moved. "I think we'll have a good outcome there," Huntsman said. "My visceral response is I think we're in good shape and that comes from meetings with the top public lands folks in Congress who understand the issue and want to do something about it, and with Secretary Bodman." © Copyright 2005, The Salt Lake Tribune. ***************************************************************** 43 PE.com: Judge grants money for clean up of Army facility | Inland Southern California | San Bernardino Metro 12:10 AM PST on Tuesday, March 15, 2005 By CHRIS RICHARD / The Press-Enterprise CLEANUP A federal judge has approved a consent decree for a project to clean up San Bernardino's drinking water, contaminated by an Army camp during World War II. What's Next: The U.S. Justice Department will hand over $69 million within the next 90 days. The money will pay for water-cleaning wells and filtration plants that already have been built and to run the program for the next half-century. LOS ANGELES - A federal judge approved a consent decree Monday that grants San Bernardino officials $69 million to clean up water contamination caused by an Army tent-cleaning facility during World War II. San Bernardino will receive the money in about 90 days. The consent decree dictates how city officials will spend a one-time payout, which comes from a Justice Department fund used to pay legal claims against the government, over the next 50 years. Judge Mariana R. Pfaelzer granted an approval after a 10-minute hearing in her Los Angeles courtroom, ending a decade of legal maneuvering. "This has been a very long road," said Stacey Aldstadt, deputy general manager of San Bernardino's city water department, after the hearing. "We're just grateful to be here, although there's still a long road ahead." Decades-Old Problem The contamination dates from World War II, when the Army operated a tent-cleaning facility at Camp Ono, near what is now Cal State San Bernardino. Workers used the solvents tetrachloroethylene and trichloroethylene to clean tents and to oil roads. Health agencies have classified both substances as probable carcinogens. The decree gives San Bernardino money to pay for and operate a water-cleaning system in the Bunker Hill basin, which lies beneath the city and provides water for hundreds of thousands of people. Later this month, city officials will dedicate the last portion of the system -- five new water-extraction wells along 13th and 14th streets on either side of Interstate 215. Those pumps join six others that have been operating since 1998 east of the Shandin Hills. They draw contaminated water from the soil and pass it through filtration plants before the water enters city pipelines. Protecting Interests The consent decree removes legal and financial obstacles that could have kept attorneys wrangling for decades over how to clean up the mess. But before it could be approved, neighboring water agencies and companies that pump from the aquifer had to be notified, and several have been maneuvering to protect their interests. One was Lockheed Martin, which has several extraction wells of its own in the area to remove perchlorate, a salt used in manufacturing rocket fuel, and trichloroethylene from drinking water. Company officials were concerned that the "management zone," an area where pumping is restricted under the consent decree, might include their wells. The zone stretches from the city's northern border to Mill Street on the south, and from the San Jacinto earthquake fault on the west to Harrison Canyon on the east, said Bernie Kersey, general manager of the city water department. He said Lockheed Martin's wells are outside the area. "We believe our concerns have been resolved," Gail Rymer, Lockheed Martin's director of environmental communications, said Monday. "There's no reason for us to pursue this further." Robert Reiter, general manager of the San Bernardino Valley Municipal Water District, also said he was reassured. Reiter's district oversees groundwater storage in a 325-square-mile area extending from Bloomington to Yucaipa. The district is responsible for pumping groundwater out of the Bunker Hill area if it rises too high. Water has at times risen to within 10 feet of the ground's surface at the basin's southern end, posing a risk of soil liquefaction during an earthquake. Reiter said his staff has met with Kersey several times, and he's confident that the district can continue to fulfill its mandate under the consent decree. "We're pleased that everyone is working together," he said. Reach Chris Richard at (909) 806-3076 or More headlines... ***************************************************************** 44 Albuquerque Tribune: Editorial: Los Alamos manager needs security focus March 15, 2005 If not for the national security implications, the small herd of potential bidders fleeing from a chance to vie for the management contract to run Los Alamos National Laboratory would be humorous. Long considered the most prestigious laboratory in the world and managed since its inception by the University of California, the world's first nuclear weapons lab has suffered in recent years through a series of management setbacks and humiliations. It gives new meaning to the old adage: The bigger they are, the harder they fall. From security breaches to employee thefts of government resources, Los Alamos lab's recent troubled history may be at least partly responsible for the apparent lack of interest from corporate America - notably big companies with large government military and energy-production or research contracts - in running the lab. Perhaps the lab no longer is the ultimate prize atop the lofty pedestal of research and development, a position that had enhanced the reputation of the University of California. Last week, the highly regarded Battelle Memorial Institute got cold feet and announced it would not pursue the management contract, now open for competitive bidding for the first time in history. Battelle already has management contracts for five other Department of Energy national laboratories, including two with nuclear energy missions. It was thought to be a major contender for the new Los Alamos contract and a serious threat to continued University of California management. But Battelle officials said they had decided instead to focus on its existing contracts. Battelle's withdrawal follows that of several other potential contract contenders, including behemoth Lockheed Martin - which manages Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque - the University of Texas and Texas A University. Still reported to be weighing a bid for the contract are Northrop Grumman and General Atomics. In addition to the University of California - whose Board of Regents has historically supported the contract, despite deep faculty misgivings - a group of California and New Mexico anti-nuclear groups is preparing a management-contract proposal. It would be a stark choice for DOE, if it came down to picking between the academic institution that many see as the historic source of the lab's contemporary problems and groups that seek to move Los Alamos away from the nuclear weapons mission that has defined its entire history. DOE is expected to announce its request for proposals for the lab's contract - which expires Sept. 30 - within a few weeks, starting the clock on the 60-day bidding period. The Tribune long has argued that the lofty academic culture Los Alamos has developed under University of California management has outlived its usefulness and has left Los Alamos staggering in an increasingly competitive national and international research and development environment. We again encourage corporate America, perhaps in conjunction with a major research university such as the University of New Mexico, to take a long look at the lab contract and consider how the lab might be strengthened and reformed to serve the country in a broader national security mission than just nuclear weaponry. While Los Alamos already does some of that, it clearly has lagged behind others since the end of the Cold War in finding its true heart and soul, which should be science and technology in the national interest. Los Alamos and sister nuclear weapon-design sibling Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California would benefit from the kind of no-nonsense corporate management that has produced stunning science and engineering at Sandia and Oak Ridge National Laboratories. Los Alamos is among this nation's most precious assets. But it has been allowed to atrophy. The next contract manager, whether academic, corporate or a blend of the two, must rebuild the lab's reputation and help it and DOE recognize that national security - not primarily nuclear weaponry - is the name of the game. ***************************************************************** 45 Associated Press: Battelle will not bid on Los Alamos contract Tue Mar 15, 2005 5:06 pm LOS ALAMOS -- Battelle Memorial Institute will not bid for the contract to manage Los Alamos National Laboratory. Kate Delaney, a spokeswoman for the nonprofit institute, said the Ohio-based organization studied the possibility of competing for the contract for a long time, but she could not pinpoint any one thing that was responsible for the decision not to compete to run the U.S. Department of Energy nuclear weapons lab. Battelle already manages five national laboratories for the DOE, including Idaho National Laboratory, which it took over a month ago. "Even in a partnership like Los Alamos, we just thought it would stretch our resources very thin," Delaney said. September marks the expiration of the current contract with the University of California, which has managed Los Alamos since its founding during World War II to build the world's first atomic bomb. UC officials have said they are preparing as if they expect to submit a bid, but the university's regents have not made a final decision. The DOE decided in April 2003 to open bidding for the contract for the first time after management failures and security problems at the lab. Lockheed Martin, the University of Texas and Texas A&M University have already announced they will not compete for the contract. According to a list compiled by the DOE's National Nuclear Security Administration, potential bidders for the Los Alamos contract include Bechtel, Northrop Grumman, Computer Services Corp., CH2M Hill, Washington Group BWTX Operating Services, Titan Corp., Teledyne Brown Engineering and Shaw Environmental & Infrastructure. Battelle, a noncharitable trust that oversees about $3 billion a year in research and development, operates Pacific Northwest National Laboratory in Richland, Wash., and with various partners manages Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee, Brookhaven National Laboratory in Upton, N.Y., and the National Energy Renewable Laboratory in Golden, Colo. Copyright 2004 Santa Fe New Mexican ***************************************************************** 46 Occupational Hazards: Nuclear Safety Violations Will Cost Hanford Contractor $300,000 THE AUTHORITY ON OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY, HEALTH AND LOSS PREVENTION - 03/15/2005 The Department of Energy has issued more than $300,000 in fines to CH2M Hill Hanford Group Inc., a contractor involved in a multibillion-dollar cleanup effort at the former site of the Manhattan Project in Washington state. The department on March 10 announced it plans to fine the Englewood, Colo.-based company $316,250 for violations of the department's nuclear safety requirements, which resulted in several workers being exposed to radiation at the Hanford Tank Farms near Richland, Wash. The tank farms are part of a 586-square-mile plutonium production complex in southeastern Washington known as the Hanford Site, which played a key role in the development of the atomic bomb and other nuclear weapons. CH2M Hill is the Department of Energy's prime contractor in charge of safely storing the more than 50 million gallons of highly radioactive liquid waste in 177 underground storage tanks within the site. The tanks are arranged into 18 farms, known as "tank farms." Energy Department: CH2M Hill Needs to Be Proactive When issuing a Preliminary Notice of Violation to CH2M Hill, the Department of Energy cited four alleged events that took place in 2003 and 2004. The events include the contamination of several CH2M workers while removing equipment from a valve pit (June 2003) and the exposure of a worker to radiation while removing equipment from a tank (July 2004), according to the agency. As a result of the July 2004 event, the worker received an exposure of 22 rem to his hand, as compared to an annual Department of Energy limit of 50 rem, the agency says. Although no regulatory limit was exceeded, according to the department, the exposures could have been much higher because effective controls were not in place. The agency says the amount of the proposed civil penalty was based on the significance of the violations. "We want our contractors to identify and address safety issues before they cause a serious problem," said John Shaw, assistant secretary for environment, safety and health at the Energy Department. "These issues have been identified before and attempts at correction have not been effective. It is important that senior management get involved to be sure that these problems are corrected now." In its letter to the company, the Department of Energy noted a "…lack of sustained improvement" in CH2M Hill nuclear operations, demonstrating the need for "…further improvement in nuclear safety culture." CH2M Hill, according to the agency, has been under contract since 1999 to manage Hanford's tank waste and was awarded a 5-year extension in January 2001. CH2M Hill Pledges 'Constant Vigilance' and Improvement CH2M Hill, in a statement, called the events cited by the Department of Energy "a reminder that constant vigilance and continuous improvement are required for us to be protective of workers and the environment as well as respectful of our cleanup responsibilities for the nation's taxpayers." "The events cited in the penalty are unacceptable in the complex work environment we face each and every day at Hanford's tank farms," the company said. CH2M Hill says the violations have prompted the company to take several corrective actions, including improved work processes and additional training and testing for key personnel. 2003 Report Blasted Energy Department, CH2M Hill Both CH2M Hill and the Department of Energy have come under fire before for allegedly failing to protect worker health and safety at the Hanford Tank Farms. A report issued in 2003 by the Government Accountability Project, titled "Knowing Endangerment: Worker Exposure to Toxic Vapors at the Hanford Tank Farms," documented dozens of instances in which CH2M Hill workers were exposed to toxic chemical vapors, which caused workers to complain of nosebleeds, persistent headaches, tearing eyes, burning skin and lungs, shortness of breath, dizziness and other symptoms. The report attributed the exposures, in part, to CH2M Hill's failure to provide adequate respiratory protection. For more on the report, read "Hanford: Is Fast Cleanup Endangering Workers?" CH2M Hill responded in 2004 with pledges to examine and upgrade its safety practices. For more, read "New Safety Precautions Launched at Hanford Facility"and "CH2M Hill Hanford Expands Worker Health and Safety Efforts." - Josh Cable Quick Links Occupational Hazards | © 2004 ***************************************************************** 47 ABQjournal: Change at LANL Could Be Costly Albuquerque Journal newspaper. Tuesday, March 15, 2005 Albuquerque Journal--> By Adam Rankin Journal Staff Writer A change in management at Los Alamos National Laboratory will likely mean the new lab operator will have to pay some state gross receipts taxes, resulting in a significant increase to state revenue. Billed by federal lawmakers as a means to reduce taxpayer costs and increase efficiencies, the competition for the LANL management contract so far looks like it will cost taxpayers more than if the University of California had continued to run the lab, as it has done for 60-plus years. Federal officials have already upped the fee for running the nuclear weapons research facility from $8 million a year to a maximum potential of about $60 million a year, still short of what many industrial bidders deem optimal. With the additional burden of a gross receipts tax, the increased taxpayer costs for LANL management could reach $100 million a year. The management fee increase was proposed by federal officials as a way to bring in bidders for the LANL contract. Several top competitors, including Lockheed Martin, Batelle and the University of Texas System, among others, have dropped out because the financial risks were deemed too great. Now, Jan Goodwin, Secretary of the state's Taxation and Revenue Department, is reminding federal officials that any new LANL management arrangement that includes a for-profit company means at least some state gross receipts taxes will have to be paid. "Non-profit organizations that intend to partner with a for-profit entity for any part of the lab's operations should expect to pay New Mexico gross receipts tax, relative to the portion of the contract performed by the for-profit entity," she wrote federal officials in January. She advised that "potential applicants, regardless of their corporate structure, should expect to have their tax status carefully monitored by the state of New Mexico." Under state law, non-profit organizations such as the University of California, LANL's current manager, are exempt from paying gross receipts taxes, though LANL officials have said the laboratory indirectly pays about $30 million in gross receipts taxes through reimbursements to its for-profit contractors subject to the tax. For years, state lawmakers have discussed the possibility of changing the tax-exempt status of non-profits as a way to increase state revenue. In LANL's case, gross receipts taxes on its $2 billion budget have been estimated at about $80 million a year or more. Los Alamos County's gross receipts tax rate is 6.5625 percent. How the additional costs of state gross receipts taxes will be factored into LANL's future budgets— whether into the lab's overall federal budget appropriation or by making the management team itself responsible for the costs— has not been announced. How the tax would be levied against a limited liability corporation, which federal officials have proposed should be the legal structure of the next LANL manager, has not been determined either. That a for-profit industrial partner will be part of LANL's next management mix is nearly a certainty, given Energy Department preference for privatization as a means to save money. In years past, LANL officials have fought to prevent a change in the lab's tax status, asserting such a move would have a devastating ripple effect on the economy of northern New Mexico. When state legislation was proposed in 2003 to make LANL liable for gross receipts taxes, LANL officials said such a move would result in at least 370 lost LANL jobs and the loss of another 750 jobs tied to LANL contractors. Copyright Albuquerque Journal Steve@abqjournal.com ***************************************************************** 48 Jackson Hole Zone: Back INEEL seeks to expand cleanup March 16, 2005 The U.S. Department of Energy wants to double the area targeted for cleanup at the toxic Pit 4 site at the Idaho National Laboratory about 100 miles west of Jackson. DOE officials will describe the proposal during a meeting today at Jackson Hole Middle School. Officials will be available for questions at 6:30 p.m. while a formal presentation will be given at 7 p.m. Pit 4 has the dubious honor of possibly being the most toxic of 20 pits and trenches, holding Cold War nuclear waste, at the Idaho lab upwind of Yellowstone National Park. In January, crews began digging up waste from a half-acre site, which is enclosed in a heavy-duty, fire-resistant tent with filtered air ventilation. An air monitor is in place to detect radiation should the air filtration system fail, according to DOE. Inside the tent, track-hoe drivers breathe bottled air and work from inside a pressurized cab for their own protection. So far crews have excavated 111 drums of targeted waste, or about 2 percent of the total volume slated for removal, said Jeff Perry, project manager. Now, DOE officials want to double the size of the operation by erecting a second tent over an adjacent half-acre site. The wall between the two tents would be removed so excavation could continue uninterrupted once the first site is finished, he said. An excavator that could be operated from a remote location would be used at the second site to eliminate the need to suit up drivers to work inside the contaminated area. Each half-acre cleanup is estimated to cost about $173 million. Once the buried waste is retrieved, workers then test the contaminated materials to ensure that they are radioactive enough to qualify for disposal at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico. While officials have been trying to speed up cleanup of Pit 4 because the site is so contaminated, the Jackson-based group Keep Yellowstone Nuclear Free has questioned whether the process is thorough enough to ensure long-term protection of the Snake River Plain Aquifer. The pit sits atop the aquifer. DOE officials contend that the best way to protect the aquifer is to quickly remove the waste. Already, volatile organic compounds, from solvents mixed with the other waste, have leached into the aquifer, DOE officials have said. The radioactive waste targeted for removal from Pit 4 includes contaminated graphite molds, air filters and sludge, which were used in bomb-making at Rocky Flats in Colorado. Removing the graphite molds has been a concern because the graphite is a fine particle, which could be stirred into the air. However, the graphite dust is enclosed in plastic bottles and bags, which crews can remove without breaking the bottles or ripping the bags, according to DOE officials. "We haven’t had any unexpected exposures," Perry said. "We haven’t had the degree of the problem that we anticipated to begin with." The Pit 4 waste is the same leftover bomb-making material that DOE had proposed incinerating several years ago at the Idaho lab. DOE eventually halted plans to incinerate nuclear waste in response to outcry from Jackson residents, who formed Keep Yellowstone Nuclear Free. The Pit 4 waste, however, was buried prior to 1970 while the waste proposed for incineration was stored on asphalt pads from 1970 to 1984, Perry said. No incineration is proposed as part of the Pit 4 cleanup. However, some thermal treatment may be needed in the future to separate volatile organic compounds from radioactive waste. Waste containing volatile organic compounds would be put aside during pit cleanup and a decision would be made later on how to treat it, Perry has said. Copyright 2003 The Jackson Hole Zone All Rights ***************************************************************** 49 [du-list] DU in the news - 15th March 05 Date: Tue, 15 Mar 2005 14:43:02 -0800 Venezuela Electronic News, Tue, 15 Mar 2005 2:56 AM PST VHeadline.com - Kenneth T. Tellis: USA is a worldwide threat to oil producing countries http://www.vheadline.com/readnews.asp?id=27324 VHeadline.com guest commentator Kenneth T. Tellis writes: We will be soon reaching that fateful day in 1964, when the democratically-elected President of Brazil, Joao Goulart was deposed by US puppets and direct intervention of the CIA in the internal affairs of a sovereign nation. The Times Argus, Mon, 14 Mar 2005 12:08 PM PST Iraqi official: Arms looting was highly skilled operation http://www.timesargus.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050313/NEWS/503130369/0/FRONTPAGE BAGHDAD, Iraq In the weeks after Baghdad fell in April 2003, looters systematically dismantled and removed tons of machinery from Saddam Hussein's most important weapons installations, including some with high-precision equipment capable of making parts for nuclear arms, a senior Iraqi official said last week in the government's first extensive comments on the looting. ---------- No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Anti-Virus. Version: 7.0.308 / Virus Database: 266.7.3 - Release Date: 3/15/05 [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> What would our lives be like without music, dance, and theater? Donate or volunteer in the arts today at Network for Good! http://us.click.yahoo.com/TzSHvD/SOnJAA/79vVAA/FGYolB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> To unsubscribe from this groups send a message to du-list-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com. In the body of the message type unsubscribe and send. Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/du-list/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: du-list-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ ***************************************************************** 50 [du-list] PAPERS INVITED - Environmental Impact Assessment & Date: Tue, 15 Mar 2005 14:43:04 -0800 Gulf First Urban Planning and Development Conference www.gulfurban.com The Scientific Committee is pleased to invite you to participate in Gulf First Urban Planning and Development Conference, to be held 12 - 14 December 2005, in Kuwait. It's an exciting opportunity to share your knowledge with a respected audience of Engineers, Scientists and professionals. Scope of Papers The following topics for technical papers are strongly encouraged: 1- Urban Growth Trends & Development Strategy 2- Sustainable Urban Development 3- Information Technology in Urban Planning 4- Urban Transportation Systems Strategy & Management (TSSM) 5- Quantitative Methods in Planning 6- Urban Utilities and Infrastructure Planning 7- Environmental Impact Assessment & Management 8- Mass Transit and Transportation Infrastructure 9- Affordable Housing in the GCC Countries 10- Sustainable Tourism 11- Computer Aided Planning (CAP) & GIS 12- E-Government & E- Municipal Services 13- GCC Regional Planning Integration 14- Public Participation in Urban Planning Decision making 15- Urban Demographics and Public Services 16- GCC Cities Strategic Planning 17- Coastal Areas Development in the GCC Countries 18- Municipalities and Private Investors Partnership 19- Real Estate Development and urban growth management 20- Urban & Regional Economics 21- Urban Resources Management Important Dates: Deadline for Abstracts: June 30, 2005 Deadline for Papers: August 4, 2005 For more Information: Tel: +965 2453036 - 2453036 - 2413047 Fax:+965 2405018 Email: info@promedia-international.com ---------- No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Anti-Virus. Version: 7.0.308 / Virus Database: 266.7.3 - Release Date: 3/15/05 [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> What would our lives be like without music, dance, and theater? Donate or volunteer in the arts today at Network for Good! http://us.click.yahoo.com/TzSHvD/SOnJAA/79vVAA/FGYolB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> To unsubscribe from this groups send a message to du-list-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com. In the body of the message type unsubscribe and send. Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/du-list/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: du-list-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ ***************************************************************** 51 [du-list] Save the dates -- Citizen Epidemiology Conference Date: Tue, 15 Mar 2005 14:42:55 -0800 -------- Original Message -------- Subject: Save the dates -- Citizen Epidemiology Conference Date: Mon, 14 Mar 2005 05:07:06 -0500 From: David A. Kraft Reply-To: neis@neis.org To: neis@neis.org Save the dates! Announcing... The "Next Step:" Citizen Epidemiology Conference May 20-22, 2005 at Northwestern University, Evanston, IL (USA) Campus Invited Speakers: -- Dr. Chris Busby, Wales, European Committee on Radiation Risk (ECRR); director, Green Audit -- Dr. Ernest Sternglass, USA, co-founder of the "Tooth Fairy" Project -- Dr. Rosalie Bertell (video presentation), Canada and USA, professional epidemiologist -- Dr. Jawad Al-Ali, Iraq, Oncologist in Basra Tuition: $30 US (EUR24 for European guests) Sponsoring groups: NEIS, USA; GAAA, Germany hosted by Northwestern SEED Registration form here for downloading; or contact the NEIS office by phone, e-mail, or fax The long awaited follow-up to the highly successful 2003 World Depleted Uranium/Uranium Weapons Conference is here. Save the dates, and make plans to attend! See details in the attached Word documents. Please publicize this event by posting it in newsletters and on websites, and sending it to your members and other interested people. Co-sponsors and contributors are both needed and welcome. For more information, contact: Dave Kraft, NEIS Marion Kuepker, GAAA Neis@neis.org marion@motherearth.org (847)869-7650; -7658 fax +49-40-430-7332 Dave Kraft Director Nuclear Energy Information Service P.O. Box 1637 Evanston, IL 60204-1637 (847)869-7650; -7658 fx Hamburg: 011-49-40-430-7332 neis@neis.org www.neis.org [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> In low income neighborhoods, 84% do not own computers. At Network for Good, help bridge the Digital Divide! http://us.click.yahoo.com/EA3HyD/3MnJAA/79vVAA/FGYolB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> To unsubscribe from this groups send a message to du-list-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com. In the body of the message type unsubscribe and send. Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/du-list/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: du-list-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ ***************************************************************** NOTE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107 this material is distributed without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for non-profit research and educational purposes only. For more information go to: *****************************************************************