***************************************************************** 03/25/05 **** RADIATION BULLETIN(RADBULL) **** VOL 13.68 ***************************************************************** 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 US: Las Vegas SUN: Letter: Shoshone lawsuit deserves support 2 Guardian Unlimited Rice: Israel Expansion 'At Odds' With U.S. NUCLEAR REACTORS 3 US: AP Wire: Nuclear Regulatory Commission praises nuclear plant ope 4 ENS: Europe Heals Old Divide Between Bulgaria and Romania 5 Daily Yomiuri: KEPCO head to step down over accident 6 Daily Yomiuri: Row over ITER location ready to boil over 7 US: Tri-City Herald: Opinions Fuel prices prompt new look at nuclear 8 Energy Business Review: UK nuclear energy: set for a comeback soon? 9 US: Vermont Guardian: Nuclear insider cites dangers of Vermont Yanke 10 US: St. Cloud Times: Xcel files for 20-year nuclear plant renewal 11 US: Oswego Palladium Times: SENATOR GENERATES SUPPORT FOR ANOTHER NU 12 US: WIStv.com: Nuclear Regulatory Commission praises nuclear plant o 13 asahi.com: KEPCO president to step down over nuclear plant disaster 14 US: NRC: Notice of Issuance of Partial Conditional Exemption; Portla 15 US: Press Herald: Maine Yankee to donate 200 acres in settlement NUCLEAR SECURITY 16 [NYTr] US sabotages Iran's nuclear program 17 [NYTr] Nuclear Accord "Eludes" Iran and Europeans 18 [toeslist] The Iranian Threat 19 US: [CMEP] Action Alert: Prevent Nuke Secrecy 20 US: Guardian Unlimited: WMD Commission Prepares to Release Report 21 Hindustan Times: US will foil Iran's nuclear ambitions - Kurtzer 22 Korea Herald: Nuclear standoff may enter new phase soon 23 Korea Herald: North Korea ready for war, says envoy 24 BBC: Pakistan mulls nuclear handover 25 US: Las Vegas SUN: Letter: Bush keeps finger on nuclear trigger 26 INSIDE JoongAng Daily: [EDITORIALS]The lines are open ¡ª for now 27 INSIDE JoongAng Daily: Pyongyang reportedly rebuffs congressmen 28 US: Pahrump Valley Times: All roads lead to the Nevada Test Site 29 ISIS: Iran Should Grant the IAEA Further Access to Parchin 30 US: NRC: NRC Issues Advisory to Nuclear Facility Operators for Perso NUCLEAR SAFETY 31 US: [DU Information List] Fayetteville diary - a veteran confronts 32 US: Plutonium in Paint Cans at Weapons Labs 33 US: Bradenton Herald: More toxin tests offered 34 Bellona: No radiation – no compensation 35 US: NRC: NRC Issues Amendments to Specialty Medical Board Certificat NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE 36 US: [NukeNet] 2 Wyoming firms seek OK to reopen uranium ore mill 37 US: deseret news: Nuclear waste changes sought 38 US: deseret news: Tooele may reduce its hazardous waste site 39 US: The State: Nuclear fuel headed to South 40 US: Deseret News: N-waste appeal a hopeful sign 41 US: Independent: Tribes demand respect for peaks; 42 US: Deseret News: Huntsman targets handling of nuclear waste 43 US: Lodinews.com: Lodi asks Pombo for aid 44 US: Modesto Bee JOHN KRIST: Uranium boom left the Southwest a toxic 45 Las Vegas RJ: 'POTENTIAL HAZARD': State challenges Yucca rail action 46 Las Vegas SUN: Speaker: Get former Nevada senator's statue out of U. 47 Las Vegas SUN: Porter requests falsified papers regarding Yucca 48 Las Vegas SUN: State says feds' nuke rail plan broke laws 49 Las Vegas SUN: Columnist Jeff German: It's time for GOP to get a bac 50 Las Vegas SUN: Yucca Mountain woes giving push to alternate storage 51 Salt Lake Tribune: Governor opposes Yucca N-dump 52 Valley Morning Star: Risky options to Yucca Mountain 53 US: ITAR-TASS: Russian atomic industry will not be short of natural 54 US: Pahrump Valley Times: Weapons-grade nuke material shipments to N 55 US: NRC: Notice of Availability of Interim Staff Guidance Documents PEACE US DEPT. OF ENERGY 56 SimiValley Acorn: Field lab cleanup encouraged Report is issued 57 Rocky Mountain News: CH2M to continue work on Idaho nuke cleanup 58 ENS: Nuclear Cleanup Team for Hanford's River Corridor Chosen 59 Tri-City Herald: Centenarian celebrates a life tied to Hanford 60 lamonitor.com: UC, LANL team joined by state Universities ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** FULL NEWS STORIES ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** 1 Las Vegas SUN: Letter: Shoshone lawsuit deserves support Today: March 25, 2005 at 9:07:26 PST The United States government historically has a poor record of dealing with the Indian nations. But now we have the opportunity to uphold the 1863 Ruby Valley treaty with the Western Shoshone nation. Based on the provisions of the treaty, the Western Shoshones have filed a lawsuit against the federal government to prevent it from opening a nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain, which is located on their ancestral lands. Sen. Harry Reid has an opportunity to rectify his error in supporting a bill to compensate the Western Shoshones in exchange for federal control of the land. Reid, along with Congress and President Bush, wanted the Shoshones to accept $145 million for the land, as per the 1979 final report of the Indian Claims Commission. To their credit, the Western Shoshones have not accepted the money. When I called the offices of Sens. Reid and John Ensign, prior to this ill-advised legislation, I was told that the compensation would not affect other terms of the 1863 treaty in relationship to our fight against Yucca Mountain. Now there is an opportunity for our congressional delegation, led by our senators, to support the Western Shoshone nation's lawsuit, and along with it, the state of Nevada. FRANK PERNA ***************************************************************** 2 Guardian Unlimited Rice: Israel Expansion 'At Odds' With U.S. From the Associated Press [UP] Friday March 25, 2005 1:46 PM AP Photo DCGH107 LOS ANGELES (AP) - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Israel's plans to expand a West Bank settlement was ``at odds with American policy'' and could threaten peace with the Palestinians, marking her sharpest attack of Israel since taking office, it was reported Friday. In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, Rice said the Israeli plan to add 3,500 housing units to the Maale Adumim settlement east of Jerusalem were ``not really a satisfactory response.'' Rice said the U.S. expressed its concerns this week with the government of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, who the administration has staunchly supported since President Bush took office. The Israeli Defense Ministry this week confirmed plans for additional housing units in the settlement, where about 30,000 Jewish settlers live. The expansion, however, would not begin for years. In another matter, Rice said the Bush administration is pushing to end the right of countries without nuclear arms to enrich uranium, the Times said. In the Times interview, Rice said the U.S. wants countries, including Iran, to give up their rights under the 1968 Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty to enrich or reprocess uranium for peaceful purposes, saying such activity could camouflage development of a weapons program. ``It is a loophole that countries have used, including, for instance, the North Koreans to gain access to civilian nuclear power but to continue activities that were closed and unclear,'' Rice said. Despite U.S. demands, Tehran has not taken ``clear steps'' to end suspicions that it was seeking to develop nuclear weapons, she added. Rice said the administration wants Tehran to purchase fuel for a future nuclear power program from counties that already have nuclear weapons. Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2005 ***************************************************************** 3 AP Wire: Nuclear Regulatory Commission praises nuclear plant operations | 03/25/2005 | Associated Press HARTSVILLE, S.C. - Workers at the H.B. Robinson Nuclear Station reacted well in shutting down the reactor when a leak occurred last fall, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission says. Paul Fredrickson with the NRC in Atlanta was here Thursday to deliver the public safety assessment for the station, operated by Progress Energy. A leak, at seven gallons a minute, occurred Oct. 12 when the packing in a valve malfunctioned in the reactor's cooling system, Fredrickson said. The leak resulted in the Robinson plant's performance indicator status being downgraded from green, to white, one level lower, for the fourth quarter of 2004. A white level indicates a low to moderate safety issue. The leak posed no harm to Robinson employees or the public, the NRC said. For the other three quarters of the year, the plant received the top performance indicator level of green. A green level indicates a very low safety issue. In a letter to John Moyer, vice president at the Robinson plant, the NRC said company's reaction to the leak and corrective action regarding it were adequate. No additional oversight was recommended. Information from: Morning News, http://www.morningnewsonline.com/ ***************************************************************** 4 ENS: Europe Heals Old Divide Between Bulgaria and Romania Environment News Service (ENS) By Albena Shkodrova and Marian Chiriac SOFIA/BUCHAREST, March 25, 2005 (ENS) - More than a decade after the Soviet bloc disintegrated in Eastern Europe, Bulgaria and Romania have remained strangers to each other. United by geography, these Balkan neighbors have been divided by almost everything else. Until recently, a legacy of economic and environmental disputes, internal problems and the negative images each country cherished about the other, prevented them from cooperating. But in the last two years, things have changed and there are signs that decades-old quarrels and stereotypes that date back generations are crumbling. Several important joint projects and growing cooperation between civic and business groups are reversing old trends and changing the two nations' perceptions of each other. There is a long way to go, for millions of Bulgarians and Romanians still view each other through spectacles colored by historic prejudice. Moreover, recent rows over pollution and energy, in particular, have not been solved entirely. But both countries are candidates for membership in the European Union and this pressure as well as their own political and economic interests are bringing the two peoples closer together for first time in a century. Europe Helps Resolve the Pollution Fight One project that symbolizes the coming together of Romania and Bulgaria under EU auspices is the formation of a so-called “Euro-Region” linking the Romanian city of Giurgiu and Ruse in Bulgaria. [Rousse] Liberty Square in the Bulgarian city of Ruse, or Rousse (Photo courtesy Municipality of Rousse) Created in 2001, it involves a package of cooperative measures between the two cities, consisting mainly of joint ecology and health commissions that handle a range of environmental, health protection and animal protection issues. The commissions meet every three months to hammer out all problems over a dinner and issue recommendations to the local administrations on how to deal with them. One initiative has been to develop a harmonized city plan for both Ruse and Giurgiu, which will mean drawing up joint infrastructure plans. It all marks a change from the rancor of the 1990s, when the two cities were locked in what seemed a never ending dispute over air pollution. Then, Ruse, Nikopol and Svisthov in Bulgaria accused Giurgiu, Turnu Magurele and Zimnicea across the Danube of systematically poisoning their air - and vice versa. Romania and Bulgaria have a long tradition of tit-for-tat accusations about pollution from industrial plants on the Danube, which dates back to the communist era, when both countries engaged in rapid industrialization. For years, Bulgaria and Romania traded especially angry words over the activity of a Romanian chemical plant in the Danube port of Turnu Magurele. [Magurele] The Danube port city of Turnu Magurele (Photo courtesy Dan-Ilie Nicolaescu) Bulgarian media and local officials in Nikopol insisted the high level of ammonia in the air was the result of activity from the Romanian plant. Romania played down complaints, saying the Bulgarians were exaggerating the problem. They also retaliated by claiming toxic clouds from Bulgaria were drifting over the Romanian Danube port of Zimnicea. As recently as 2000, the Romanian Environment Ministry claimed pollution from hydrogen sulphide from the textile mill in the Bulgarian town of Svishtov was drifting across the river and damaging Zimnicea. But after about 15 years of verbal jousting over air and water pollution, Europe is now helping to put an end to this rancorous dispute. The solution lies not in deciding who is right but in the imposition of higher environmental standards on both partners. Under pressure from Brussels, both Bulgaria and Romania have had to upgrade their environmental controls. As a result, the plant in Turnu was closed for months while its equipment was improved and when it was privatized, the new owners were obliged to comply with EU anti-pollution standards. The same standards are now being applied to all factories on the both sides of the Danube River if they wish to remain open after the two states join the EU in 2007. An End at Last to Wasteful Energy Wars Energy is another traditional battlefield between the two countries. It still remains a source of controversies. But a cross-border dialogue has been launched on a number of cases that raises the hope of more positive developments and is an example of how bilateral relations can benefit from EU reforms. As with pollution, tension over energy increased at the start of the 1990s. The immediate case was the EU’s demands for Bulgaria to close four of the six reactors at its Kozloduy nuclear power plant. This was stipulated as a pre-condition to launch accession talks. The EU said the reactors were old and could not be upgraded. But the demand was a shock to Bulgaria as it gets more than 40 percent of its energy from the plant, located on the northern border with Romania. The output of Kozloduy is important both to Bulgarian consumers and to the country’s exports, as it supplies power to Greece, Turkey, Albania and Macedonia. [Kozloduy] Kozloduy nuclear power plant in Bulgaria (Photo courtesy International Nuclear Safety Program) While Bulgaria viewed the early closure of most of the reactors at Kozloduy as a blow, Romania tried to exploit the situation to take over the regional energy market. Bucharest announced that for years Sofia had blocked Romanian plans to export electricity to the Balkans, keeping it out of the regional market by setting excessively high charges for the transit of energy across its territory. In response, Bulgaria accused Romania of waging a smear campaign and denounced the demand for the closure of Kozloduy as part of a western conspiracy. The Bulgarian daily "24 Chasa," for example, in 1999 claimed that French and Canadian companies planned to invest in Romania's nuclear plant at Cernavoda to ensure Romania “replaces Bulgaria as a Balkan energy supplier.” Many other media echoed this speculation. Bulgarian newspapers pointed also to Romania’s poor record on child protection and market reforms - both EU criteria for accession talks – insisting that Romania take action there before intervening in Bulgaria’s energy problems. In the end, Bulgaria agreed to close the four old reactors at the plant. However, determined to prevent the regional energy market from falling into Romanian hands, it announced plans to build a new plant at Belene, 13 kilometers (eight miles) from the Romanian border. Although most local observers doubted whether there were sound economic reasons for such an endeavor, Sofia pushed on with preparing an assessment of the enterprise's environmental impact. Romania responded with anger. In September 2004, Romanian NGOs demonstrated against the planned Belene nuclear plant, denouncing the prospect of “another Chernobyl.” Bucharest remains concerned about the environmental impact of the planned project and insists it must meet European standards. But as with the pollution row, the key appears to lie in harmonizing standards on both sides to European requirements. When it joins the EU in 2007, Bulgaria will not be able to continue building the new plant unless it complies with high safety standards. At the same time, Sofia will not be able to continue to block Romanian penetration of the Balkan energy market. One sign that relations are now improving over this thorny issue came late last year, with the formation of a joint expert group to analyze Bulgaria's nuclear power plant project. The year before, in late 2003, the two states also agreed to deregulate their energy markets, starting in mid-2004, and to allow each other’s utilities access to the other’s infrastructure. Plans were also announced to link the entire Balkan energy grid to the main EU grid, to which Romania is already connected. Despite provisionally closing their energy negotiations, Romania and Bulgaria still have to work on the issue, according to the European Commission update report of October 2004. But both countries are making strides to modernize their nuclear facilities with strong support from the EU. In December 2002, Bulgaria stopped units 1 and 2 at Kozloduy and it will close units 3 and 4 in 2006. In the meantime, it is modernizing the two newer reactors with EU financial support worth 500 million euro. Romania’s sole nuclear power plant in Cernavoda on the Danube, which provides about 10 percent of the country’s power, will also be completed and upgraded, with a second unit expected to start operation in 2007. In March 2004, the EC approved a 223.5 million euro loan to support Romania’s nuclear power operator. The Second Bridge Over the Danube A third area of conflict, which a combination of EU help, pressure and mediation is helping to solve, concerns the long awaited second bridge over the Danube. But Bulgaria and Romania, remarkably, possess only a single bridge across their 500 kilometer river border and this facility is also their sole road connection. This lone monument of Romanian-Bulgarian socialist friendship is now 50 years old and is heavily congested - the two road and rail lanes being wholly inadequate for increased volumes of traffic. [bridge] The only bridge across the Danube linking Bulgaria and Romania (Photo courtesy Monica Getzova) Lying south of Bucharest but about 300 kilometers (200 miles) east of Sofia, its location is inconvenient for Bulgarians trying to access Central Europe through Romania. As a result, most Bulgarians, as well as most travellers from Asia Minor and Middle East, take the route through Serbia and Montenegro. The two countries started plans to build a second bridge more than 10 years ago but disagreements and lack of funds have impeded the project. Work was put off for eight years while Bulgaria and Romania argued about its location. Bulgaria wanted an upstream site and Romania a site downstream, each country hoping to boost the level of road traffic through its own territory. Again, EU pressure coupled with financial assistance have resulted in an agreement being reached in 2003 linking Vidin in Bulgaria and Calafat in Romania. The bridge is estimated to cost 230 million euro and is due for completion in 2006. In February this year the European Union announced it will grant Bulgaria 70 million euro to help it build the new bridge, from the EU’s Instrument for Structural Policies for Pre-Accession, which supports infrastructure projects in applicant states. The Vidin-Calafat bridge will have two motorway lanes and a rail track running in each direction. It will form part of a major EU transport corridor, Corridor IV, connecting Dresden in Germany with Thessaloniki in Greece and Istanbul, in Turkey. Businessmen like Ivan Zhuvetov, owner of an antique shop in Vidin on the Bulgarian side, await the new connection eagerly. He often travels to Calafat but currently has a choice only of a small Bulgarian ferry, which runs without a schedule and an old Romanian boat. “Boarding that is more suited to lovers of extreme sports than businessmen,” he said. Residents of Vidin stand to benefit greatly from the increased traffic and cooperation that will stem from opening the new bridge. In Calafat, gloom over poverty overshadows most public enthusiasm for a new bridge. “It’s a good news for the politicians but not for me,” said Gabriela Mocanu, a local housewife. But if many locals are indifferent, businesses here are not. News of the construction of the second bridge has sent the price of real estate soaring on the Romanian side. “We expect increased interest from foreign investors buying property or starting business in the region,” said Petre Calin, a local real estate agent. “I hope integration into the European Union will bring back the prosperity that Romania had before,” said Ion Popica, a taxi driver in Calafat. “I hope soon to cross the new bridge and make some good money transporting tourists and businessmen.” Two Neighbors Rediscover Each Other in Europe [river] Sunset over the Danube River (Photo courtesy Municipality of Ruse) Pollution, power and the Danube bridge are only some of the areas where a common involvement in the European project has helped two neighboring states, long divided by suspicion, prejudice and a wall of ignorance, to overcome differences and work together. Opinion polls show that the desire for a common European future unites both peoples. More than two-thirds of Romanians and Bulgarians support EU accession, mainly because they both see it as a guarantee of future security and growth after 40 years of communism left them trailing behind Western Europe. But while both countries are rediscovering their links to the wider European family, they are also discovering each other – perhaps for the first time. A combination of EU political pressure, common goals and a common reforming agenda has brought about this positive change. {Published in cooperation with the Institute for War and Peace Reporting. Albena Shkodrova and Marian Chiriac are IWPR program managers in Sofia and Bucharest respectively. They are also directors of IWPR’s newly localized Balkan Investigative Reporting Network. Vanya Miteva, a freelance journalist in Vidin, contributed to this report.} Copyright Environment News Service (ENS) 2005. All Rights Reserved. ***************************************************************** 5 Daily Yomiuri: KEPCO head to step down over accident The Yomiuri Shimbun Kansai Electric Power Co. President Yosaku Fuji will resign in June to take responsibility for a fatal steam leak last summer at Mihama Nuclear Power Plant's No. 3 reactor in Mihamacho, Fukui Prefecture, the firm announced Friday. According to the firm, its vice president, Shosuke Mori, will take over the position. Fuji, however, will remain a director of the board in charge of the firm's quality control and efforts to regain public trust. He also will resign as chairman of the Federation of Electric Power Companies of Japan. Fuji became president in June 2001. He strengthened the firm's sales department in preparation for the deregulation of the electric power industry. However, his tenure was marred by a series of scandals, including the fatal steam leak and the revelation of falsified periodic inspection data on its thermal power plants. Chairman Yoshihisa Akiyama will resign from his current posts of chairman and board member one year later, according to the firm. The firm submitted action plans, including measures to prevent the occurrence of similar accidents, to the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency of the Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry on Friday. Fuji said at the press conference, which was held at its headquarters in Osaka on Friday, "Our report was accepted by the agency, so I told Akiyama that I would voluntarily resign from the position to take responsibility for the accident." Tetsuji Kishida, vice president in charge of nuclear power generation, will be demoted to a managing director also to take responsibility. Hiroshi Matsumura, managing director and head of the atomic energy business department, will resign from both positions. Fuji hinted he might become the firm's chairman after serving as a director, saying, "I want to discuss the best option at the time, including whether it is necessary for the firm to have chairman." Akiyama said, "I believe we made the better choice to adequately handle the two competing tasks, taking responsibility for the incident and implementing measures to prevent similar accidents." Akiyama has served as chairman of the Kansai Economic Federation since 1999. He is expected to win a place in the federation's selection committee in May to serve his fourth two-year term. Copyright 2005 The Yomiuri Shimbun ***************************************************************** 6 Daily Yomiuri: Row over ITER location ready to boil over The Yomiuri Shimbun In the tug-of-war between Japan and the European Union over a site for an experimental nuclear fusion reactor, France now appears to have gone on the offensive against Japan, whose ministries are marching to different drummers. Talks on where to build the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor stalled again after both Japan and the EU peppered each other with new offers for the ITER project. The ITER issue is likely to come up during a scheduled summit meeting between Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and French President Jacques Chirac, who is scheduled to visit Japan on Saturday. But it will not be an easy task for the two leaders to find a way to break the deadlock. The ITER is an international project aimed at developing energy from nuclear reactions similar to those that power the sun. In addition to Japan and the EU, four other countries--China, Russia, South Korea and the United States--have participated in the 1.3 trillion yen project. Two candidate sites for the ITER projects are Rokkashomura, Aomori Prefecture, and Cadarache, France. Negotiations on where to locate the reactor began in June 2003, since which the United States and South Korea have supported the Japanese proposal while the EU, Russia and China have backed the French site. France, which set up a post of extraordinary ambassador to the ITER project, has made a national commitment to becoming the chosen site of the reactor. In June, Koizumi and Chirac had talks in Sea Island, Ga., where leaders from Group of Eight major nations met. According to a Foreign Ministry official, Koizumi had a hard time changing subjects during the summit talks as Chirac seemed determined to stick to the subject of the ITER project. Skillful bargaining also seems to be part of the battle. In November, overseas media quoted a source close to the EU as saying Japan gave up inviting the ITER to Rokkashomura. Senior officials of the Education, Science and Technology Ministry naturally were upset and immediately denied the report, saying it was completely groundless. In the upcoming talks between Koizumi and Chirac scheduled to be held Sunday, the French president is again highly likely to take an aggressive stance on the ITER issue. === Straining ties Tokyo presented a plan on roles of host and non-host countries in the project at a vice ministerial meeting between Japan and the EU in September. Apart from talks on the location issue, negotiations at the administrative level reportedly continue to focus on possible plans for role sharing. Japan appears to be lagging behind France. This perhaps is due to a lack of unity between the government and ruling parties. The education ministry has made active efforts to promote Rokkashomura as the ITER site, but many officials of the Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry reportedly are reluctant to host the ITER project. "We should place priority on measures to fend off expanding energy consumption in countries such as China and India, instead of spending a huge amount of money on a project it's said will be completed in 50 years," one bureaucrat said. In the Finance Ministry, some officials are increasingly concerned about mounting costs due to the battle over the site. Furthermore, the territorial dispute over Takeshima island has cast a shadow on the alliance between Japan, South Korea and the United States. As the dispute escalated when a Shimane Prefectural Assembly ordinance designated Feb.22 as a commemorative day for the island, some government officials have been apprehensive that France could take advantage of the deteriorating relationship between Japan and South Korea and push Seoul to back the French site. However, as the education ministry reportedly considers that EU nations other than France are not so enthusiastic about the ITER project, ministry officials are likely to continue administrative-level negotiations to narrow the gap between host and non-host countries. On Thursday, Vice Education Minister Akio Yuki reiterated Japan's wish to host the ITER under the current six-party framework. "The EU set a deadline of July (to settle the ITER dispute). Japan also has no intention to draw out the issue and wants to find a solution as soon as possible," Yuki said at a press conference. Copyright 2005 The Yomiuri Shimbun ***************************************************************** 7 Tri-City Herald: Opinions Fuel prices prompt new look at nuclear This story was published Friday, March 25th, 2005 The thing about good ideas is that all the misinformation in the world won't make them go away. Certainly few scientific products of modern humankind have had quite the negative ride that nuclear power has endured. It has suffered from scatterbrains who think going near a power plant is dangerous. But the merely misguided pale beside knowledgeable manipulators who know better but relish negative press any way they can find it in support of their agendas. Pronounced dead decades ago by environmental activists in this country, nuclear power has had a thriving career in other parts of the world, and certainly in our own country's most prized naval vessels. So it's little surprise when the experts from 74 nations, meeting Monday in Paris to discuss global warming and steep increases in fossil fuel prices, turned to nuclear power as part of the solution. "It's clear that nuclear energy is regaining stature as a serious option," The Associated Press quoted Mohamed ElBaradei, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency -- the U.N. nuclear watchdog -- which organized the conference. "In the past, the virtual absence of restrictions or taxes on greenhouse gas emissions has meant that nuclear power's advantage, low emissions, has had no tangible economic value," ElBaradei said, adding that the Kyoto Protocol "will likely change that over the longer term." Let us all hope so. Living as we do with a nuclear plant as a neighbor, we in the Tri-Cities are perhaps more knowledgeable than most about nuclear issues. And we know of the safety measures taken by Energy Northwest at its plant north of Richland. More than that, we know the spirit of the workers. Providing power enough to light up Seattle, the nuclear power plant is an integral part of the electricity upon which the Bonneville Power Administration depends. Nuclear power suffered a setback during the serious but nonfatal incident at Three-Mile Island. Then the catastrophe that struck at Chernobyl -- in a plant neither built nor staffed with the care of U.S. nuclear stations -- seemed to wipe out all thought of nuclear power as a source of energy. But tough times make for realistic decisions. Finland begins construction of a new nuclear plant this year, and France will do the same in 2007. Interestingly, the indications are that although older environmental extremists may stick to their anti-nuclear positions, younger people are ready to resume its development. According to the AP, Italians voted against the use of atomic energy in a referendum the year after Chernobyl, and the government began gradually decommissioning plants. But the tide seems to be turning. "Regarding nuclear power, we perceive a clear change in public opinion, notably by the young generations," Italian Industry Minister Antonio Marzano said. Yes. It's just about impossible to keep a good idea down. © 2005 Tri-City Herald, Associated Press &Other Wire Services ***************************************************************** 8 Energy Business Review: UK nuclear energy: set for a comeback soon? - UK nuclear energy: set for a comeback soon? Datamonitor predicts future UK government support for nuclear generated energy. 24 Mar 2005, 18:33 GMT - A conference on nuclear energy in Paris has come out strongly in support of nuclear power as an important fuel source in the future, for both economic and environmental reasons. The UK government, which has so far done everything that it can to postpone the nuclear debate, will likely change its policy on nuclear power following the election later this year and allow further development. The requirements of Kyoto as well as the UK's additional self imposed carbon reduction target continue to bring a sustained pressure for government support of alternatives to fossil fuel generation. In the competition between available replacement technologies, nuclear ranks very highly in terms of capital cost, proven ability in large scale deployments and practical viability. Second and third generation reactor designs are currently available to replace the first generation models currently in use in the UK, which should lead to cheaper, more efficient and safer power plants. Unfortunately, one of the least attractive aspects of nuclear power is the long lead time that is needed to plan, approve, design and then construct a reactor. The decision on nuclear power must be taken within the next couple of years to ensure that retiring capacity is able to be replaced without filling their place with greenhouse gas emitting fossil fuel plants. The UK authorities have consistently delayed a final decision on the nuclear options available to them. A range of nations including Germany, Sweden and Italy have stated that they intend to phase out their nuclear assets. However, even in Germany, Werner Mueller, an architect of the country's nuclear phase out, predicted in the Handelsblatt newspaper last week that "...our [future] energy fuel mix will be characterized by coal, nuclear, and renewables." While the UK achieved a head start on its Kyoto goal by completing a large scale switch from coal fired generation to gas after the retroactive start date of 1990, it will have to search for further mechanisms in the future to continue to meet its carbon abatement targets. With the nuclear debate always likely to be very divisive, the government needs to confront the issues surrounding the nation's future fuel mix. While it seems to have carefully sought to avoid this becoming an electoral issue this year, expect the government to lay the groundwork for a policy change shortly afterwards. Source: Datamonitor Commentwire Companies mentioned Mueller Industries When company names are not hyperlinked, this signifies that a company profile is available, but not as part of this Business Review Site. To access 10,000 company profiles under one service, subscribe to Datamonitor's Business Information Center. Related research Extended Expert View: Gazprom 8 Mar 2005 Confectionery in the USA to 2008 9 Mar 2005 Stakeholder Opinions: Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma - Immunotherapy Stimulates the Market 19 Oct 2004 Pipeline Insight: Cancer Overview - Numerous Diverse Drugs Approaching Fruition 19 Oct 2004 Stakeholder Opinions: Urinary Tract Infections - Ciprofloxacin Leads the Way 28 Jul 2004 © Energy Business Review Online 2005 ***************************************************************** 9 Vermont Guardian: Nuclear insider cites dangers of Vermont Yankee casks By Kathryn Casa | Vermont Guardian Posted March 24, 2005 The casks that Vermont Yankee plans to use to store highly radioactive nuclear waste in Vernon are time bombs riddled with material, design and welding flaws, according to a former nuclear industry inspector and auditor of the Holtec cask system. Oscar Shirani, the lead quality-assurance auditor in 1999 and 2000 for Commonwealth Edison, which later became the nuclear giant Exelon, pinpointed major design and fabrication problems during an inspection of casks made by Holtec International, the supplier from which Vermont Yankee owner Entergy Nuclear plans to purchase casks to store waste from the Vernon reactor. Holtec casks are in use at 33 nuclear sites around the country, according to the New Jersey-based companys website. There is no known problem with any of the casks in use, and a spokeswoman for the company notes that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission found no basis for Shiranis allegations. But Shirani says the structural integrity of the casks is so questionable that problems are only a matter of time. Weve been lucky so far. We may be lucky for the next 10 years. But we cannot for sure say that there are reasonable assurances that these casks are safe. There is reasonable assurance that the structural integrity is not intact. It should be the other way around, Shirani said in one of several interviews with the Vermont Guardian. The 2000 audit that he led uncovered so many design, manufacturing, and regulatory code violations with the Holtec casks that in May 2000, the Shirani issued a stop work order to force the company to correct its practices. He alleges that Exelon refused to allow him to perform a follow-up of his audit, and that the company falsified quality-assurance documents, stating that his allegations had been resolved when in fact they were not. Exelon did not return phone calls regarding this story. The NRC formally discounts Shiranis concerns, but Ross Landsman, an NRC Region III inspector, has backed the charges and has refused to approve the NRCs resolution of Shiranis concerns. The guys who falsified my audit reports to say theses casks are safe are worse than any terrorists because these casks are not safe, they are not structurally sound, Shirani told the Vermont Guardian. The problems with the Holtec casks are systemic and relate to quality assurance in the material, welding and inspection of the casks, he charged. The same quality assurance applies to all the casks that they do, it doesnt matter how many different types they have, said Shirani, who also performed audits for international coalitions of nuclear utilities. The quality-assurance design process, the inspection process, the welding process is the same. There has been a significant quality-assurance program breakdown. Holtec International spokeswoman Joy Russell said the company takes Shiranis charges very seriously, but we have always held that they were unfounded and we feel the NRCs ... report has backed up our belief. Russell would not say whether the company has altered its manufacturing or quality-assurance practices since Shiranis audit. We view quality assurance as a journey that we are always striving to improve. So if we have undergone an audit or some sort ... if we have a finding or recommendation we always give it the utmost importance and will incorporate such comments as necessary, she commented. According to Vermont Yankee spokesman Rob Williams, "The issues received a thorough review by the NRC and by the NRC's office of inspector general, and were found to be unsubstantiated. The manufacturer is a leader in the industry and does quality work, and part of makes them a leader in the industry is their effective quality-assurance program and the oversight. That's why we do business with them." In an application filed with the Windham Regional Commission, Entergy is seeking permission from the state to build a temporary nuclear waste storage site using up to 36 Holtec HI-STORM 100S system casks on a concrete pad near the Vernon reactor. Holtecs HI-STORM 100S is one of 15 dry-cask systems issued a general 20-year license by the NRC, which means Entergy needs no modification to Vermont Yankees federal operating license to install the casks in Vernon. But Vermont law requires the company to get approval from the state Legislature, as well as a certificate of public good from the Vermont Public Service Board, before any nuclear waste facility can be built here. At least one U.S. senator wants to see the facility become a permanent disposal facility. Like more than 100 commercial nuclear reactors throughout the country, Vermont Yankee eventually expected to move its waste to a central federal repository at Nevadas Yucca Mountain. But numerous problems have stalled approval of that facility and called into question whether it will ever open. Nevada lawmakers have been battling to keep the waste out of their state. On March 10, Sen. Harry Reid, D-NV, said he plans to introduce a bill that would require the Department of Energy to assume responsibility for storing nuclear waste at the sites where the waste is created, thereby setting up the specter of a long-term waste dump in southern Vermont. Vermonts legislative leaders appear to have accepted that possibility, and seem poised to allow Vermont Yankee to use the Holtec system in exchange for a per-cask tax, similar to one imposed in Minnesota, that could be used to develop renewable energy sources. Ken Pentel, a member of the Minnesota Green Party, said approval of dry-cask storage has been a slippery slope in his state. The legislature recently removed a 1994 limitation on the number of casks allowed, and this year $10 million of the states $16 million renewable energy fund generated from tax on the casks has been earmarked for a coal gasification plant. The intent of the renewable energy fund is being distorted and misused, in my opinion, Pentel said. A lesson learned is that once it happens you end up displacing hundreds of millions of dollars from local economic development in energy efficiency, co-generation and renewables, Pentel said. The more we keep these central, very toxic systems going, were adding to the remedial activity later. We end up paying for future waste so thats an add-on cost. If you stop that type of investment you immediately can go into things that are going to decrease the cost of energy through efficiency and local production of renewables. Early problems In 2000, the NRC determined that the Holtecs HI-STORM 100 cask system, as designed and when fabricated and used in accordance with the conditions specified meets NRC requirements and will provide adequate protection of public health and safety and the environment. The lid welding and testing requirements and the structural and thermal analyses give the NRC staff reasonable assurance that cask confinement and fuel integrity will be maintained under design basis normal, off-normal, or accident events, the agency concluded. But Kevin Kamps, a nuclear waste specialist with the of the Nuclear Information and Resources Service in Washington, points out that problems with other types of cask systems have arisen after only a few years in use, including helium leaks, cracks in a concrete outer shield and weld flaws. These repeated chemical failures, premature aging, degradation and deterioration really point to the need for a comprehensive review of the cask licensing process, Kamps told regulators during a February 2000 NRC briefing on spent-fuel projects. At the Palisades nuclear plant in Michigan, Kamps said, the storage concrete pad was poured on a sand dune. Thats what happens when there is no (environmental impact study) and no challenge. The NRC says casks are designed to resist floods, tornadoes, projectiles, temperature extremes and other unusual scenarios. The agency requires that spent fuel to be cooled in a spent-fuel pool for five years before being transferred to dry casks. Typically, the maximum heat generated from 24 fuel assemblies stored in a cask is less than that given off by a typical home heating system in an hour, according to the NRC website. As the fuel cools further, the heat generated will decrease over time. But Kamps has called on the NRC to abandon the general license procedure. These nuclear waste dumps are being located next to environmental treasures, fresh drinking water supplies, public property and nearby communities, he stated in 2000. In short, the NRC has stripped the public of its right to an adjudicatory process of the right to discovery and cross examination which they would have with public hearings, Kamps stated. He noted that even the agencys chairman, Nils Diaz, opposed the extension in a 2-1 split. My hope is that he would be, like we are, concerned about a 40-year extension thats long time out to rubber stamp. Call for Congressional probe According to Shirani, the NRC license for Holtec is meaningless because federal regulators failed to look closely at the companys design process. He claims his 2000 audit embarrassed the NRC because the agency had also audited the Holtec casks just a few months previously and found no problems. The NRC goes into a corner and reads procedures and writes a report, Shirani told the Vermont Guardian. I constantly check work during an audit. Shirani has a masters degree in civil structural engineering from George Washington University in Washington and worked for more than two decades in the nuclear industry before being sidelined by Exelon in 2000, he says, for refusing to back down on his audit of the Holtec casks. He said after he confronted Holtec officials with his findings during a November 2000 meeting, he was transferred out of the Exelons nuclear department into finance, a field in which he has no training, and was eventually fired. Anti-nuclear activists have called for congressional hearings to investigate Shiranis findings. Kamps said any dry-cask storage facility that Vermont approves should include concrete, steel or earthern berms surrounding dispersed casks, to safeguard the facilities from attack. The Holtecs are only a couple feet of concrete and then 3.25 inches or metal or steel, Kamps said. There are weapons high explosives, shaped charges, an aerial attack that could pretty easily destroy that. He added: Were not clear on what improvements have happened since Sept. 11. We hear from the NRC that they have greatly enhanced security. But the only evidence that we have is security guards working 72 hour work weeks. Send us your news tips, a letter to the editor or general comments. Vermont Guardian ©2004-2005 Vermont Guardian | info@vermontguardian.com ***************************************************************** 10 St. Cloud Times: Xcel files for 20-year nuclear plant renewal Sat, Mar. 26, 2005 By Kirsti Marohn kmarohn@stcloudtimes.com MONTICELLO  Xcel Energy and the company that operates the Monticello nuclear power plant have applied to keep the plant running two decades more. Nuclear Management Co. on Thursday submitted an application for a 20-year license renewal to the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The plant's 40-year license expires in 2010. To keep operating the Monticello plant, Xcel officials say they need more space to store spent fuel. In January, Xcel applied to the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission for permission to build an above-ground nuclear storage facility near the reactor building. The plans must undergo an extensive environmental review. Xcel also plans to seek a license renewal for its two-unit Prairie Island plant, whose licenses expire in 2013 and 2014. Company officials have said keeping the nuclear plants operating will help keep electricity costs down and will cause less air pollution than other power generation fuels, such as coal. Environmentalists have said aging nuclear plants like Monticello should not be allowed to continue operating, and above-ground storage of radioactive waste poses a safety and environmental risk. updated 12/31/2002) © 2005 St. Cloud Times. All Rights Reserved ***************************************************************** 11 Oswego Palladium Times: SENATOR GENERATES SUPPORT FOR ANOTHER NUKE PLANT By SEAN TREACY, Staff Writer OSWEGO - New York State Senator James Wright, R-Watertown, is in favor of bringing another nuclear plant to Oswego County, but said it will take time. Wright, a former Oswego County administrator who describes himself as "the only avowed pro-nuclear legislator in the state legislature," expects there to be opposition from the rest of the state to the idea. "If you look at the northeast as a region, there have been extensive battles over nuclear energy," Wright said. "Whether it's the plants in New England or the plants in New York state." Wright said the largest detriment to building a new nuclear plant will be waste disposal. "If you talk to anybody in the nuclear industry right now, the biggest single detriment to the construction of nuclear facilities is the absence of a finalized site for the disposal of waste," he said. The federal government has considered sending all American nuclear waste to Yucca Mountain in Nevada, but a final decision has been delayed. "Most companies are going to be hesitant to make the investment and take the risk, if it requires storing it on site as they currently do," said Wright. Local push There are currently three nuclear reactors at Nine Mile Point, along the border of the towns of Scriba and New Haven. Two reactors, Nine Mile Point 1 and 2, are run by Baltimore-based Constellation Energy. The third, the James A. FitzPatrick plant, is owned by New Orleans-based Entergy. Oswego City Mayor John Gosek learned of a group of energy companies called NuStart through a Jan. 31 article in Forbes Magazine. The story says they intend to choose two sites for new nuclear plants by September. Gosek has since been pushing for local support to attract them to Nine Mile Point. "NuStart will not actually build a nuclear plant," noted Wright. "It is intended to be a group to go through a licensing process for the technology." The NuStart coalition, which includes both Entergy and Constellation, is a response to attempts by the administration of President Bush to revitalize nuclear energy in the United States. He said there hasn't been construction of a new nuclear reactor since the early 1970's in the United States. Meanwhile there are 26 in construction now in other countries. 50/50 The federal government, according to Wright, will match applicants 50/50 to demonstrate that a nuclear licensing process can be done in a timely manner. The idea is to jump-start the nuclear industry after 30 years of stagnation. "The state will be involved from a standpoint of siting considerations in terms of environmental issues," said Wright. "There would be a series of permits the state would be involved in." There is a whole series of criteria NuStart and its engineers from other sources must evaluate first. "Obviously, the (criteria) Oswego enjoys the most success with is community support," Wright said. "Oswego has long been supportive of the nuclear industry, and I don't envision that changing. "Certainly that's a consideration," he added. "If you're going to build a nuclear plant you're going to build them where they're welcome." Whether or not a new plant would sign on to a payments-in-lieu-of-tax agreement, Wright said, is "so premature it's not even an issue." "From an Oswego standpoint, our first and more practical issue is the relicensing of the existing facilities," Wright said. In May 2004, Constellation Energy applied to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for a 20-year extension of the operating licenses for the Nine Mile Point units. The current operating license for Nine Mile Point Unit 1 is due to expire Aug. 22, 2009. The current operating license for Nine Mile Point Unit 2 is scheduled to terminate on Oct. 31, 2026. CENTER FOR ENTREPRENEURS A BOOST FOR BUDDING BUSINESSESOSWEGO - A bank of computers lines one wall, two screens for slides or Power Point presentations hang on another wall, and conference tables and comfortable chairs are plentiful in SUNY Oswego's new Center for Entrepreneurs. SENATOR GENERATES SUPPORT FOR ANOTHER NUKE PLANTOSWEGO - New York State Senator James Wright, R-Watertown, is in favor of bringing another nuclear plant to Oswego County, but said it will take time. PAY RESTORE TO SUSPENDED DEPARTMENT HEADOSWEGO - Robert Farrell is being paid again. HOSPITAL'S MATERNITY GEARS UP FOR MAKEOVEROSWEGO - The Oswego Hospital has had a long history of bringing new life to the community through the Maternity, or OB/GYN department. As the hospital continues past the halfway point of its current Renewal Project, the Maternity Department has continued to maintain its excellent level of individualized care for new moms and babies as it looks forward to its new facilities scheduled to welcome new moms at the end of 2006. COUNTY HUMANE SOCIETY FEATURES ADOPTION DAYOSWEGO - Sweet Pea is just one of the cats who will be available for adoption at the Oswego County Humane Society's Adoption Day on Saturday at the D.A. Lodge, 178 W. Third St., from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. | News| Sports| Obituaries| Classifieds| Archives| | About Us| World News| Stocks/Market| Entertainment| Town Hall| Home| ***************************************************************** 12 WIStv.com: Nuclear Regulatory Commission praises nuclear plant operations Columbia, SC: (Hartsville-AP) March 25, 2005 - The Nuclear Regulatory Commission says workers at the H.B. Robinson Nuclear Station in Hartsville reacted well in shutting down the reactor when a leak occurred last fall. Paul Fredrickson with the NRC in Atlanta was at the plant yesterday to deliver the public safety assessment for the station, operated by Progress Energy. Fredrickson says a leak occurred October 12th when the packing in a valve malfunctioned in the reactor's cooling system. Robinson's performance indicator was lowered from green to white for the final quarter of 2004. Green is the best of four levels, white is one step lower. The NRC says the leak posed no harm to Robinson employees or the public. The plant got a green rating for the rest of the year. Posted 9:11pm by BrettWitt Copyright 2000 - 2005 WorldNow and WISTV. All Rights Reserved. ***************************************************************** 13 asahi.com: KEPCO president to step down over nuclear plant disaster 03/26/2005 The Asahi Shimbun OSAKA-To take responsibility for Japan's worst accident at a nuclear power plant, Yosaku Fuji will step down as president of Kansai Electric Power Co. in June, the company said Friday. The accident occurred at the Mihama nuclear power plant's No. 3 reactor last August. Five workers were killed and six injured when steam spewed from a ruptured, corroded pipe. Fuji's resignation was also influenced by repeated requests that came from a government investigative committee asking KEPCO to revise an outline of measures to prevent a recurrence of the accident. Fuji will be officially demoted to a director of the executive board after a shareholders meeting scheduled for June. Executive Vice President Shosuke Mori will be promoted to president. Fuji explained his decision at a Friday news conference. ``I am taking responsibility for the accident that left 11 workers either dead or injured and because inappropriate measures had come to light in subsequent investigations,'' he said. Investigations revealed that the pipe that ruptured had not been replaced for years, despite clear signs of corrosion. Fuji will also step down as chairman of the Federation of Electric Power Companies of Japan by June. KEPCO Chairman Yoshihisa Akiyama will remain in his post for another year before stepping down. He said at Friday's news conference he was remaining in his post to assist the new company president in dealing with the company crisis. Executive Vice President Tetsuji Kishida, who was in charge of the nuclear power operations, will be demoted to managing director. Hiroshi Matsumura, the managing director overseeing the nuclear power division, will also step down. Sources said the investigative committee set up by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry will release its final report at the end of March. The report places primary responsibility for the nuclear plant accident with KEPCO. KEPCO resubmitted on Friday a list of measures designed to prevent a recurrence of the accident to industry ministry officials. An earlier list had been rejected by ministry officials as lacking in specific measures.(IHT/Asahi: March 26,2005) Sports¡Ã Arts¡Ã LifeStyle[Copyright Asahi Shimbun. All rights ***************************************************************** 14 NRC: Notice of Issuance of Partial Conditional Exemption; Portland FR Doc 05-5901 [Federal Register: March 25, 2005 (Volume 70, Number 57)] [Notices] [Page 15369-15371] From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr25mr05-90] General Electric Company, Trojan Independent Spent Fuel Storage Facility AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission. ACTION: Notice of partial conditional exemption. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Christopher M. Regan, Senior Project Manager, Spent Fuel Project Office, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555. Telephone: (301) 415-8500; fax number: (301) 415-8555; e-mail: cmr1@nrc.gov. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: I. Background Portland General Electric Company (PGE) is the licensee and holder of License No. SNM-2509 for the Trojan Independent Spent Fuel Storage Facility (Trojan ISFSI). In addition, PGE holds License No. NPF-1, pursuant to 10 CFR part 50, for the Trojan Nuclear Plant. The licensee will complete decommissioning of the Trojan Nuclear Plant and intends to terminate its Part 50 license for the Trojan Nuclear Plant. The Trojan ISFSI contains the spent fuel removed from the Trojan Nuclear Plant. Currently, the licensee provides financial assurance for the Trojan ISFSI pursuant to 10 CFR 72.30(c)(5), which allows a part 50 license holder to use the financial assurance provisions of part 50 to provide financial assurance for an ISFSI. The licensee maintains an external sinking fund for decommissioning funds pursuant to 10 CFR 50.75(e). However, when its part 50 license is terminated, it will no longer meet the condition of 10 CFR 72.30(c)(5) that allows it to use its existing external sinking fund to provide financial assurance for its ISFSI. On April 29, 2004, PGE filed a request for NRC approval of a partial exemption from the provision of 10 CFR 72.30(c)(5) that requires an ISFSI licensee to additionally hold a part 50 license in order to use an external sinking fund as the exclusive means of financial assurance for decommissioning costs of an ISFSI. II. Requested Action Pursuant to the requirements of 10 CFR 72.7, PGE requested a partial exemption from the financial assurance requirements of 10 CFR 72.30(c)(5). The exemption request was ``partial'' because it would apply only to the requirement that the ISFSI licensee also hold a Part 50 license to use an external sinking fund as its exclusive method of providing financial assurance for its ISFSI. The licensee will continue to provide financial assurance conforming to the requirements of 10 CFR 50.75(e) and (h), although it reserved the right to change to another method as provided in other sections of 10 CFR 72.30(c). The licensee pointed out that the wording of 10 CFR 72.30(c)(5) allowed an ``electric utility'' to use an external sinking fund as the exclusive method of providing financial assurance when its part 72 ISFSI license was first issued. However, the rule was amended effective on December 24, 2003, which resulted in the change of the condition from ``electric utility'' to ``a part 50 licensee.'' PGE stated that it will remain an electric utility after the termination of its part 50 license, hence it will continue to meet the intent of the rule as originally issued. III. Discussion The Commission may grant a specific exemption to the financial assurance requirements of 10 CFR 72.30(c)(5) provided that the requirements of 10 CFR 72.7 are satisfied. The Commission determined that a partial exemption from 10 CFR 72.30(c)(5) meets the [[Page 15370]] requirements of 10 CFR 72.7, as discussed below: Specific Exemption Is Authorized by Law Prior to December 24, 2003, any ISFSI licensee that met the definition of ``electric utility'' in 10 CFR 50.2 was eligible to use the financial assurance methods of 10 CFR 50.75(e) to provide financial assurance for its ISFSI. As a result, the NRC approved use of an external sinking fund conforming to the requirement of 10 CFR 50.75(e)(1)(ii)(A) as financial assurance for the Trojan ISFSI pursuant to 10 CFR 72.30(c)(5). The amendment to 10 CFR 72.30(c)(5) that became effective December 24, 2003, was incidental to the primary changes in Part 50 issued at the same time with regard to reactor decommissioning trust funds. The amendment to 10 CFR 72.30(c)(5) was in response to a comment that suggested the change to maintain consistency between parts 72 and 50, but did not change the basis of the regulations. The basis of 10 CFR 50.75(e)(1)(ii)(A) is that a licensee that recovers decommissioning costs through rates established through ``cost of service'' or similar rate-making authority may use an external sinking fund as its exclusive means of financial assurance. A licensee that is a public utility is presumed to meet that basis. Because PGE will remain a public utility after termination of its part 50 license, it will continue to meet the basis for allowing a part 72 licensee to provide financial assurance using the methods of part 50. Therefore, the partial exemption from part 72 is authorized by law. Specific Exemption Will Not Present an Undue Risk to the Public Health and Safety The specific exemption requested is administrative in nature. The exemption does not have any reasonable potential to (1) foreclose release of the Trojan ISFSI site for unrestricted use; (2) result in significant environmental impacts not previously reviewed; or (3) result in there no longer being reasonable assurance that adequate funds will be available for decommissioning. The exemption will allow use of a financial assurance method currently in use that has been approved by the NRC. Therefore, the partial exemption will not present an undue risk to the public health. Specific Exemption Will Not Endanger the Common Defense and Security The partial exemption is administrative in nature and does not involve information of activities that could potentially impact the common defense and security of the United States. Therefore, partial exemption will not endanger the common defense and security. Specific Exemption Is Otherwise in the Public Interest PGE's 2003 Annual Financial Statement (Form 10-K, submitted to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on March 19, 2004) stated that PGE will collect $14 million annually, until 2011, from its customers to pay for decommissioning. This includes funding for radiological and non-radiological decontamination as well as on-site spent nuclear fuel storage. Those collections will occur whether or not the exemption is granted. However, if the exemption is not granted, PGE will incur higher costs due to the expense of providing a second independent financial assurance instrument, which would lead to unnecessary additional costs. Therefore, the exemption is in the public interest. Financial Ability of PGE To Fund the ISFSI Decommissioning Cost The Trojan ISFSI decommissioning cost estimate was $7.9 million in 1997. Adjusting for inflation to 2004 would increase the cost to about $10 million. In order to assess the ability of PGE to finance that cost, the staff reviewed PGE's 2003 Form 10-K. The financial statements show that PGE possesses $3.37 billion in assets and earns $1.7 billion annually in revenues. The financial report stated that PGE maintained a strong financial position with stable cash flow, and will receive $14 million per year through 2011 for decommissioning costs. The cost of decommissioning the Trojan ISFSI appears well within the licensee's financial ability. At the time of filing its exemption request, PGE was a wholly owned subsidiary of Enron Corporation. The staff determined that Enron's bankruptcy will not adversely affect PGE's ability to fund decommissioning of its Trojan ISFSI. Although Enron filed for bankruptcy protection, PGE did not. Regulatory ``ring-fencing'' effectively insulated PGE and its customers from the effects of Enron's bankruptcy. (Ring fencing is a state public utility board's regulatory strategy that prevents a utility's assets from being pledged as security for a parent company's obligations.) PGE's Quarterly Report, Form 10-Q, submitted to the SEC on November 5, 2004, states on page 41: PGE, as a separate corporation, owns or leases the assets used in its business and PGE's management, separate from Enron, is responsible for PGE's day-to-day operations. PGE maintains its own cash management system and finances itself separately from Enron, on both a short- and long-term basis. Neither PGE nor Enron have guaranteed the obligations of the other and there are no loans between them. Under Oregon law and specific conditions imposed on Enron and PGE by the Oregon Public Utilities Commission (OPUC) in connection with Enron's acquisition of PGE in the merger of Enron and Portland General Corporation in 1997, Enron's access to PGE cash or utility assets (through dividends or otherwise) is limited. Therefore, PGE's assets will be available to provide funding for decommissioning if it continues as an Enron subsidiary. However, Enron entered into an agreement with Oregon Electric Utility Company, LLC, to sell all issued and outstanding PGE stock to Oregon Electric. In the event the sale is consummated, the Enron bankruptcy will be of no further concern. IV. Conclusion The Commission determined that the specific exemption to the financial assurance requirements of 10 CFR 72.30(c)(5) is authorized by law and will not endanger life or property, or the common defense and security and is otherwise in the public interest. In connection with the issuance of the exemption, an Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact was noticed in the Federal Register on March 17, 2005 (70 FR 13052). Therefore, the Commission grants a partial exemption from the requirement of 10 CFR 72.30(c)(5) that the licensee must hold a part 50 license in order to provide financial assurance using the methods of 10 CFR 50.75(e) and (h); however, the exemption is granted subject to the following two conditions: 1. The exemption shall not become effective until the licensee submits, within 30 days of the issuance of this grant of exemption, documentation adequate to demonstrate that funding for the Trojan ISFSI decommissioning has been approved for recovery in rates by a rate making authority; and 2. The exemption shall cease to be effective in the event that funds remaining to be placed into the Trojan ISFSI decommissioning external sinking fund are no longer approved for recovery in rates by a competent rate regulating authority. This exemption is effective upon satisfaction of Condition 1 above, and shall cease being effective in the event Condition 2 above is triggered. Further Information: Supporting documentation, with respect to this exemption request, is available for [[Page 15371]] inspection at NRC's Public Electronic Reading Room at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/ADAMS.html. A copy of the PGE request for NRC approval of a partial exemption from the provision of 10 CFR 72.30(c)(5), dated April 29, 2004, can be found at this site using the Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS) accession No. ML041260470. Any questions should be referred to Christopher M. Regan, Spent Fuel Project Office, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555, Mailstop O 13D13, telephone (301) 415-8500, fax (301) 415-8555. Dated at Rockville, Maryland this 17th day of March, 2005. For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Christopher M. Regan, Senior Project Manager, Licensing Section, Spent Fuel Project Office, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards. [FR Doc. 05-5901 Filed 3-24-05; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590-01-P ***************************************************************** 15 Press Herald: Maine Yankee to donate 200 acres in settlement The company will also pay $200,000 to the Chewonki Foundation as part of a 1999 rate case agreement. --> [Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram] Friday, March 25, 2005 Associated Press WISCASSET — The Maine Yankee Atomic Power Co. announced Thursday that it has completed its agreement to donate 200 acres of land and to pay $200,000 to the Chewonki Foundation to settle a 1999 rate case with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. The 200-acre Eaton Farm has been owned by Maine Yankee since 1968 and served as a buffer between the nuclear plant and Chewonki. Throughout its years of operation, Maine Yankee kept the property open to public recreation, duck hunting and clam digging. Under the agreement, Chewonki plans to create a nature preserve, maintain public access and establish an environmental education center. "Chewonki is grateful to be the recipient of land and funds as a result of this settlement agreement," said Don Hudson, Chewonki's president. "We take this obligation seriously and plans are already under way for moving ahead." As part of a rate-case agreement, FERC required that Maine Yankee donate the Eaton Farm property to a nonprofit environmental organization and to pay $200,000 to the new owners, Maine Yankee spokesman Eric Howes said. After soliciting interest from more than 20 environmental organizations and colleges, Maine Yankee entertained proposals from three groups interested in the Eaton Farm. Maine Yankee's directors authorized negotiations with Chewonki. The Chewonki Foundation occupies a 400-acre peninsula on Montsweag Bay. Each year, it serves more than 40,000 young people in Maine with environmental education lessons and wilderness expeditions. "We are confident, given Chewonki's outstanding history as an environmental education organization, that implementation of their Eaton Farm proposal will benefit everyone in the midcoast area," said Ted Feigenbaum, Maine Yankee president. Copyright© Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc. ***************************************************************** 16 [NYTr] US sabotages Iran's nuclear program Date: Fri, 25 Mar 2005 14:35:17 -0600 (CST) Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit Workers World - Mar 24, 2005 issue http://www.workers.org/2005/world/iran-nuclear-0324/ U.S. sabotages Iran's nuclear program By Ardeshir Ommani Following are excerpts from a talk by Ardeshir Ommani, delivered at WESPAC on March 5, entitled "U.S. Foreign Policy Toward Iran and Iran's Nuclear Program." Ardeshir is co-founder of the recently-formed American-Iranian Friendship Committee. The full talk is available on the Workers World web site at "U.S. Foreign Policy Toward Iran and Iran's Nuclear Program.". [Only Part I has been posted as of March 25] Iran's interest in nuclear energy, research and know-how began in the mid-1960s under the direct tutelage of the U.S., within the framework of turning Iran the way of Israel, into a regional and nuclear power for containing the movement of Arab Socialism and its orientation towards the Soviet Union. With the technical assistance of the U.S., the first nuclear research facility, the Tehran Nuclear Research Center (TNRC), was built in Tehran University in 1967, and managed by the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI), which was founded in 1974. Immediately after the founding of TNRC, the U.S. sold a five-megawatt research reactor to Iran. It was installed at the Amira bad Technical College in Tehran, and runs on 93-percent highly-enriched uranium. The reactor could produce up to 600 grams of plutonium per year in its spent fuel. Simultaneously, the U.S. sold hot cells to Iran which could be used for separating plutonium from the spent fuel, and then used for the production of atomic bombs. The question that remains to be asked is why the U.S. sold the hot cells to the Shah. Iran became a party to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) on July 1, 1968, which went into effect on March 5, 1970. Article IV of the treaty states that "Nothing in the Treaty shall be interpreted as affecting the inalienable right of all the parties to the Treaty to develop research, production and use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes without discrimination and in conformity with Articles I and II of this Treaty." Furthermore, Article IV continues that "All the Parties to the Treaty undertake to facilitate, and have the right to participate in, the fullest possible exchange of equipment, materials and scientific and technological information for the peaceful uses of nuclear energy..." U.S. backs Shah's nuclear plans According to declassified U.S. government documents, cited extensively by Moham mad Sahimi, professor and chair of Chemical and Petroleum Engineering at the University of Southern California, in his authoritative paper "Iran's Nuclear Program," Washington in the mid-1970's advised "Iran to expand her non-oil energy base" by reasoning that "Iran needed not one but several nuclear reactors to acquire the electrical capacity that the Stanford Research Institute" paper in 1973 "had proposed, and expressing interest in U.S. companies' participation in Iran's nuclear energy projects." Emboldened by Washington's encouragement, the Shah planned to build 23 nuclear power plants throughout the country. No authority in the U.S., France or West Germany disputed the Shah's extensive and expensive projects on the basis of the fact that Iran was rich in oil and natural gas deposits, the reasoning that [U.S. Secretary of State Condoleeza] Rice recently provided for the redundancy of plans for nuclear energy in Iran. At the time of the Shah, the only reason that the plan for the construction of such a huge project could not be enacted was that the price of oil on the world market fell considerably, and the Shah's government was not financially capable of paying for it. However, in 1974, the Shah's government signed a contract with West Ger many's Kraftwerk Union, a subsidiary of Siemens, to begin the construction of two 1,200-megawatt nuclear reactors at Bushehr, a city in the southwestern part of Iran. Soon the Atomic Energy Organi zation of Iran signed a contract with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for training the first group of Iranian nuclear engineers. Meanwhile, West Germany, France, Britain and the U.S. trained thousands of nuclear specialists from around the world. Iranian nuclear personnel received their training in Italy, Belgium and Canada, as well as the U.S. Mark D. Skootsky, in his June 1995 research paper on U.S. Nuclear Policy Toward Iran, writes that "while these specialists were being trained in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy in order to achieve the Shah's plan for 23 nuclear power reactors, the knowledge they gained could also have been used for a secret nuclear weapons program," as it was in India. According to Mohamad Sahimi, the classified documents mentioned above contained the information that in an address to an October 1977 symposium called "The U.S. and Iran, an Increasing Partnership," Sydney Sober, a spokesperson for the U.S. State Department, proudly announced that the Shah's government was about to purchase eight more nuclear reactors from the U.S. Revolution fuels U.S. hostility By 1979, when the Iranian Revolution toppled the pro-U.S. regime, the Shah had reached agreements for a total of six nuclear power reactors from France, West Germany and the U.S. Two 1,200-megawatt German light-water power reactors at Bushehr were partly finished. Reactor Number 1 was 90-percent complete and 60 percent of its equipment was also installed, while Num ber 2 was 50-percent complete. During the 1980s, the Iran-Iraq war brought heavy damage to the core areas of both reactors. After the Iran-Iraq war, the Islamic Republic of Iran under President Rafsan jani re-initiated Iran's nuclear energy program and immediately approached Kraft werk Union to complete the Bushehr project or ship the reactor components and technical documents that Iran had paid for. However, the German government and Kraftwerk, under U.S. pressure, refused to honor the contract or even return the money. Left in the cold, Iran filed a lawsuit in 1996 with the International Com merce Commis sion (ICC) asking $5.4 billion compensation. The case is still unsettled. On May 5, 1987, Iran and Argentina signed agreements concerning the delivery of enriched uranium. The $5.5-million deal would have provided Iran with a new core for its U.S.-purchased, five-megawatt research reactor at Tehran University so that the reactor would operate on 20 percent enriched uranium. The contract also included the Argentine export of the 20-percent enriched uranium to Iran. In September 1980, the International Atomic Energy Agency approved the transfer of 115.8 kilograms of uranium, which was within the IAEA safeguards. Although the U.S. was unsuccessful in blocking Argentina from selling the 20-percent enriched uranium to Iran, it succeeded in preventing that country from fulfilling other aspects of its contractual obligation with Iran in early 1992. Again, under heavy pressure from the U.S., Argentina backed out of the deal by the end of that year. As early as the mid-1980s, writes Sahimi, "A consortium of companies from Argen tina, Germany and Spain submitted a proposal to Iran to complete the Bushehr- Number 1 reactor, but huge pressure by the United States stopped the deal. The U.S. pressure also stopped in 1990 Spain's Nation al Institute of Industry and Nuclear Equipment [from completing] the Bushehr project." After exhausting all avenues in the West in search of finding a country or a company that would not be intimidated by the threats of the U.S. and begin the work on Bushehr's nuclear energy project, Iran turned to the Soviet Union, and then Russia, to finish the job. As long as the Shah was a partner of Israel and a puppet of the United States, it could engage in developing all sorts of nuclear energy and devices. But after the revolution, Iran does not deserve and cannot be trusted with any technological, economic and social advancement, according to Washington and Tel Aviv. Furthermore, countries like Iran, Iraq, Venezuela and 80 percent of humanity have to be kept backward so that they don't ever dream of independence, equality, social change and especially revolution. People engaged in such changes will be branded by the U.S. empire as "terrorists, despots, dictators and rogue nations" to be disposed of. [Ommani has been an activist in the anti-war and anti-imperialist struggle for over 40 years, including against the Vietnam War. He was a co-founder of the Iranian Students Association in the 1960s, which contributed to the overthrow of the Shah, a U.S. puppet. He directly participated in the movements inside Iran that culminated in the 1979 revolution. Ommani is still very active in the anti-war movement and has collaborated with the International Action Center in the struggle against the U.S. war and occupation of Iraq. ] * Search the NYTr Archives at: http://olm.blythe-systems.com/pipermail/nytr/ To subscribe or unsubscribe or change your settings via the web, visit: http://olm.blythe-systems.com/mailman/listinfo/nytr ================================================================= NY Transfer News Collective * A Service of Blythe Systems Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us 339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012 http://www.blythe.org e-mail: nyt@blythe.org ================================================================= ***************************************************************** 17 [NYTr] Nuclear Accord "Eludes" Iran and Europeans Date: Fri, 25 Mar 2005 14:37:05 -0600 (CST) Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit The New York Times - Mar 24, 2005 http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/24/international/europe/24iran.html Nuclear Accord Eludes Iran and Europeans By ELAINE SCIOLINO PARIS, March 23 - Iran and its European negotiating partners struggled without success on Wednesday to break an impasse on reaching a long-term agreement on nuclear, economic and security cooperation. But the Iranian side presented new proposals to provide further assurances to the Europeans that Iran's nuclear program is peaceful, and the two sides have agreed to meet again soon, participants said. "We had rather extensive talks, and we presented a number of ideas on how we can move forward," M. Javad Zarif, ambassador to the United Nations and the leader of the delegation, said in a telephone interview. A European who took part in the meeting said, "By the standards of international group bureaucracies and negotiations, we've moved forward a bit." Senior negotiators from Iran on one side and France, Germany, Britain and the European Union on the other met at the French Foreign Ministry to review three months of negotiations aimed at providing objective proof that Iran's nuclear program is not intended to produce nuclear weapons. Among the ideas presented by the Iranians, participants said, was a phased approach including enhanced monitoring and technical guarantees devised to allow Iran to again enrich uranium, a process used in producing nuclear energy and nuclear bombs. But the Europeans reject that approach, arguing that Iran's nuclear activities are so suspicious that the country should never again be allowed to enrich uranium. Sirus Naseri, a senior Iranian negotiator, told reporters after the talks on Wednesday that Iran would not give in to the European demand that it give up delicate nuclear activities. "This is not something we are prepared to consider," he said. He reiterated the Iranian demand that concrete progress must be made soon. "Time is of the essence," he said. A European participant said, "We are no further forward on this issue." The meeting on Wednesday was the first by the negotiating teams since the Bush administration softened its position to allow the Europeans to offer broader economic incentives to Iran. In exchange, the United States has extracted a pledge from the Europeans to refer Iran's case to the United Nations for possible censure or penalties, if the negotiations fail. The Europeans laid out the difficulties in the talks on March 10 in a confidential, four-page status report that acknowledged that "progress is not as fast as we would wish." But the report added that recent international support for the European negotiating process, particularly from the United States and Russia, "has strengthened the prospects for a satisfactory outcome." The report said that the Europeans were proposing that Iran acquire a light-water research reactor to replace a planned heavy-water research reactor, which is designed to produce plutonium that could be used to fuel weapons. According to weapons specialists, plutonium is often preferred to enriched uranium for compact warheads on missiles because it takes less to produce a significant blast. Light-water reactors are considered better for producing electricity than plutonium. The Europeans are considering dispatching teams of specialists to Iran to investigate the possibility of providing it with such a reactor, a European negotiator said. That plan would ultimately require American support because some of the technologies needed are barred by United States restrictions. On the security side, the report said the Iranians were seeking a relaxation of controls on goods exported to Iran as well as security guarantees. The Iran nuclear negotiations have already failed once. An agreement to suspend Iran's uranium enrichment activities announced with much fanfare in Tehran in the presence of the foreign ministers of Britain, France and Germany in October 2003 fell apart after Iran interpreted the deal loosely and continued some uranium enrichment activities. The three European nations negotiated a tougher agreement the second time around. Iran's public posture has stiffened in recent weeks. In a news conference in Tehran on March 5, Hassan Rowhani, the midlevel cleric who is in charge of the nuclear negotiating team, threatened that if Iran's nuclear program was referred to the United Nations, Iran would resume enriching uranium. He also said that Iran would cease to abide by the Additional Protocol of the Nonproliferation Treaty. The Additional Protocol substantially expands the ability of the International Atomic Energy Agency, the United Nations' nuclear monitoring agency, to check for clandestine nuclear facilities. Copyright 2005 The New York Times Company * Search the NYTr Archives at: http://olm.blythe-systems.com/pipermail/nytr/ To subscribe or unsubscribe or change your settings via the web, visit: http://olm.blythe-systems.com/mailman/listinfo/nytr ================================================================= NY Transfer News Collective * A Service of Blythe Systems Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us 339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012 http://www.blythe.org e-mail: nyt@blythe.org ================================================================= ***************************************************************** 18 [toeslist] The Iranian Threat Date: Fri, 25 Mar 2005 20:09:11 -0600 (CST) http://www.libertyforum.org/showflat.php?Cat= &Board=news_international&Number=293475045&page=&view=&sb=&o=&vc=1&t=0#Post2 93475045 Dr. Elias Akleh, Serendipit March 19, 2005 - Iran does not pose a threat to the United State because of its nuclear projects, its WMD, or its support to "terrorists organizations" as the American administration is claiming, but in its attempt to re-shape the global economical system by converting it from a petrodollar to a petroeuro system. Such conversion is looked upon as a flagrant declaration of economical war against the US that would flatten the revenues of the American corporations and eventually might cause an economic collapse. In June of 2004 Iran declared its intention of setting up an international oil exchange (a bourse) denominated in the Euro currency. Many oil-producing as well as oil-consuming countries had expressed their welcome to such petroeuro bourse. The Iranian reports had stated that this bourse may start its trade with the beginning of 2006. Naturally such an oil bourse would compete against London's International Petroleum Exchange (IPE), as well as against the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX), both owned by American corporations. Oil consuming countries have no choice but use the American Dollar to purchase their oil, since the Dollar has been so far the global standard monetary fund for oil exchange. This necessitates these countries to keep the Dollar in their central banks as their reserve fund, thus strengthening the American economy. But if Iran - followed by the other oil-producing countries - offered to accept the Euro as another choice for oil exchange the American economy would suffer a real crisis. We could witness this crisis at the end of 2005 and beginning of 2006 when oil investors would have the choice to pay $57 a barrel of oil at the American (NYMEX) and at London's (IPE), or pay 37 Euros a barrel at the Iranian oil bourse. Such choice would reduce trade volumes at both the Dollar-dependent (NYMEX) and the (IPE). Many countries had studied the conversion from the ever weakening petrodollar to the gradually strengthening petroeuro system. The de-valuation of the Dollar was caused by the American economy shying away from manufacturing local products - except those of the military -, by outsourcing the American jobs to the cheaper third world countries and depending only on the general service sector, and by the huge cost of two major wars that are still going on. Foreign investors started withdrawing their money from the shaky American market causing further devaluation of the Dollar. The keen observer of the money market could have noticed that the devaluation of the American Dollar had started since November 2002, while the purchasing power of European Euro had crept upward to reach nowadays to $1.34. Compared to the Japanese Yen the Dollar had dropped from 104.45 to 103.90 yen. The British pound climbed another notch from $1.9122 to $1.9272. Economic reports published at the beginning of this month (March) had pointed towards the deep dive of the American economy and to the quick rise of the deficit up to $665.90 billion at the end of 2004. The worst is still to come. These numbers worried the international banks, who had sent some warnings to the Bush administration. In its economical war Iran is treading the same path Saddam Hussein had started when he, in 2000, converted all his reserve from the Dollar to the Euro, and demanded payments in Euro for Iraqi oil. Many economists then mocked Saddam because he had lost a lot of money in this conversion. Yet they were very surprised when he recuperated his losses within less than a year period due to the valuation of the Euro. The American administration became aware of the threat when central banks of many countries started keeping Euros along side of Dollars as their monetary reserve and as an exchange fund for oil (Russian and Chinese central banks in 2003). To avoid economical collapse the Bush administration hastened to invade and to destroy Iraq under false excuses to make it an example to any country who may contemplate dropping the Dollar, and to manipulate OPEC's decisions by controlling the second largest oil resource. Iraqi oil sale was reverted back to the petrodollar standard. There is only one technical obstacle concerning the use of a euro-based oil exchange system, which is the lack of a euro-denominated oil pricing standard, or oil 'marker' as it is referred to in the industry. The three current oil markers are U.S. dollar denominated, which include the West Texas Intermediate crude (WTI), Norway Brent crude, and the UAE Dubai crude. Yet this did not stop Iran from requiring payments in the euro currency for its European and Asian oil exports since spring 2003. Iran's determination in using the petroeuro is inviting in other countries such as Russia and Latin American countries, and even some Saudi investors especially after the Saudi/American relations have weakened lately. This determination had also invited an aggressive American political campaign using the same excuses used against Iraq: WMD in the form of nuclear bomb, support to "terrorist" Lebanese Hezbollah organization, and threat to the peace process in the Middle East. The question now is what would the American administration do? Would it invade Iran as it did Iraq? The American troops are knee-deep in the Iraqi swamp. The global community - except for Britain and Italy- is not offering any military relief to the US. Thus an American strike against Iran is very unlikely. Iran is not Iraq; it has a more robust military power. Iran has anti-ship missiles based in "Abu Mousa" island that controls the strait of Hermuz at the entrance of the Persian Gulf. Iran could easily close the strait thus blocking all naval traffic carrying gulf oil to the rest of the world causing a global oil crisis. The price of an oil barrel could reach up to $100. The US could not topple the regime by spreading chaos the same way it did to Mussadaq's regime in 1953 since Iranians are aware of such a trick. Besides Iranians have a patriotic pride of what they call "their bomb". America has resorted to instigate and encourage its military bastard, Israel, to strike Iranian nuclear reactors the way it did to Iraq. Leaked reports had revealed that Israeli forces are training for such an attack expected to take place next June. Israel is afraid of an Iranian bomb. Such an "Islamic" bomb would threaten Israel's military hegemony in the Middle East. The bomb would extract some Israeli concessions and would create an arm race that would gobble a lot of Israeli defense expenditure. Further more the bomb would force the US to enter into negotiations with nuclear Iran that may limit Israeli expanding ambitions. Iran had invested a lot of money and effort to obtain nuclear technology and would never abandon it as evident in its political rhetoric. Unlike Iraq Iran would not keep quiet of Israel strikes its nuclear facilities. Iran would retaliate aggressively which may lead to the destabilization of the whole region including Israel, Gulf States, Iraq, and even Afghanistan. ***************************************************************** 19 [CMEP] Action Alert: Prevent Nuke Secrecy Date: Fri, 25 Mar 2005 16:09:57 -0600 (CST) This e-mail message contains two items: (1) An ACTION ALERT to prevent the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission from establishing new regulations that would cloak nuclear industry operations from public oversight. (2) A PRESS RELEASE about a new lobbying group created by big energy companies that have been implicated in electricity market manipulation scandals. ========== !!! A C T I O N A L E R T !!! PREVENT FEDS FROM CLOAKING NUKE INDUSTRY OPERATIONS! The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has proposed a rule to amend its regulations protecting "Safeguards Information" that would drastically limit the scope of nuclear industry information available to the public. TAKE ACTION! Tell the NRC to withdraw this regressive, undemocratic initiative! Submit comments NOW via the Public Citizen Web site: http://action.citizen.org/pc/mail/oneclick_compose/?alertid=7301516 Rather than applying the requisite "minimum restrictions needed," the NRC is attempting to expand its authority to make virtually any information secret -- including such things as engineering and safety analyses, emergency planning procedures, inspections, and reports. Public access to such information is essential to hold the NRC and industry accountable. ========== *** P R E S S R E L E A S E *** BIG ENERGY LOBBY PUSHES DEREG For Immediate Release: March 25, 2005 Contact: Tyson Slocum (202) 454-5191; Erica Hartman (202) 454-5174 Energy Corporations With Record of Cheating Consumers Form New Lobbying Group to Influence Energy Policy Four of the Six Corporations Have Paid Nearly $1 Billion to Settle Allegations of Market Manipulation WASHINGTON, D.C. - A lobbying group formed by six energy companies is lobbying the federal government in an effort to convince lawmakers and regulators that deregulation is good for consumers, despite the fact that these companies have paid nearly $1 billion over the past three years to settle allegations of Enron-style market manipulation for acts they were able to more easily commit because of deregulation. One company is under criminal indictment for its role in intentionally shutting down power plants in California -- also an act it was able to commit more easily because of deregulation. With the energy bill due to be introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives on April 5, this group is likely working behind the scenes to convince Congress that electricity deregulation is a benefit for the public. Instead, recent history proves just the opposite: Deregulation has led to price-gouging of consumers and California's brush with bankruptcy, while the energy marketers have been raking in higher profits. "It is disingenuous for this lobby group to push deregulation policies that they claim are good for consumers when history shows that their own companies used these very policies to profit from the biggest consumer rip-off in history," said Joan Claybrook, president of Public Citizen. "The last people Congress should listen to for advice on energy policy are the companies that have succeeded in gouging ratepayers in some of the biggest corporate scandals we've seen in the past century." Among other provisions in the energy bill that the group is likely targeting is the repeal of the Public Utility Holding Company Act (PUHCA), a consumer protection law that limits the investment of utility profits in unrelated business ventures and prohibits expansion-minded corporations from siphoning off profits for risky investment schemes that do nothing to improve service reliability or keep electricity rates low. PUHCA is the key reason America has such stable and reliable utility companies. Corporate opponents of PUHCA claim it stands in the way of a deregulated electricity market, but deregulation has been a demonstrated failure, with prices for this essential commodity rising faster in the 15 deregulated states than in the 35 states that remain regulated. That's because companies in deregulated markets can - and do - charge much higher prices than companies in regulated states. While proponents of deregulation were once common, they now are largely limited to those corporations profiting from under regulated energy markets and the politicians receiving generous financial support from these companies. Consumer groups such as Public Citizen have long said that the economic characteristics unique to electricity - such as inelastic supply and demand - preclude effective competition from occurring, making it easy for a handful of unregulated energy companies to control the market and gouge consumers. The companies-Calpine, Constellation Energy, Exelon, Mirant, PSEG and Reliant Energy-have hired a bi-partisan group of six lobbyists that includes recently retired powerful government officials who will do the bulk of the organizing for the new coalition: * William Massey, Democrat, commissioner for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission from 1993-2004 and now a lobbyist with Covington & Burling. * Don Nickles, a former GOP senator from Oklahoma and Senate majority whip, now the founding partner of the lobbying firm the Nickles Group. * Robert S. Walker, former Pennsylvania GOP representative from 1976 to1996 and a founder of the lobbying firm Wexler & Walker. * Jack Howard, former deputy assistant for legislative affairs to President George W. Bush and a former senior aide to House Speakers Dennis Hastert, Newt Gingrich and former Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott. Howard now is president of the Wexler & Walker lobbying firm. * Hazen Marshall, former top aide to Don Nickles, now a lobbyist with the Nickles Group. * Joel Malina, Democrat, a lobbyist with Wexler & Walker. "This is a classic revolving door scenario in Washington, D.C.," said Tyson Slocum, research director of Public Citizen's energy program. "These lobbyists are exploiting the government connections they've 'earned' while on the public payroll. They are also helped by the nearly $4.6 million in contributions they and their companies' political action committees have given to federal political candidates over the years." As veterans of past deregulation fiascos, these companies already have paid nearly $1 billion to settle allegations of market manipulation. Houston-based Reliant Energy has paid nearly $125 million to federal and state governments for its role in intentionally shutting down power plants in California to drive up prices, which gave them bigger profits. The company also has been criminally indicted by the Bush administration for its price-gouging. Atlanta-based Mirant has agreed to pay $780 million to settle allegations of market manipulation. California-based Calpine also agreed to pay $7.5 million to settle allegations that it manipulated natural gas and power markets. And Baltimore-based Constellation Energy paid the California Attorney General's office $2.5 million to settle allegations that it manipulated that state's electricity market. All of the actions that led to the payments were committed in deregulated markets. "Public Citizen urges Congress to see through this lobbying group's thinly veiled disguise," said Slocum. "These companies have promised consumers lower prices and better service before but then participated in the largest consumer fraud in history. Congress should realize that their claims to represent consumers' best interests are a sham." To view a chart detailing the companies' campaign contributions to federal candidates since 2001, go to http://www.citizen.org/documents/ACF6081.pdf ### Public Citizen is a national, nonprofit consumer advocacy organization based in Washington, D.C. For more information, please visit www.citizen.org. ********** To SUBSCRIBE to the CMEP ListServ, visit https://www.citizen.org/email/enteremail.cfm If you would like to be removed from the CMEP ListServ, send an email to listserv@listserver.citizen.org with the words "unsubscribe CMEP" in the message. Questions about the CMEP ListServ can be directed to CMEP-request@LISTSERVER.CITIZEN.ORG. To learn more about this and other Public Citizen Critical Mass Energy and Environment Program campaigns, visit our website at http://www.citizen.org/cmep/ -Public Citizen's Critical Mass Energy and Environment Program ***************************************************************** 20 Guardian Unlimited: WMD Commission Prepares to Release Report From the Associated Press [UP] Friday March 25, 2005 9:01 AM By KATHERINE SHRADER Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) - None of the 15 U.S. agencies that collected or assessed intelligence on weapons of mass destruction in Iraq is likely to be commended for doing an exemplary job, according to officials familiar with a report being prepared by a presidential commission. The nine-member panel led by Republican Laurence Silberman, a retired federal appeals court judge, and Democrat Charles Robb, a former Senator from Virginia, is expected to issue its report on weapons of mass destruction next week. It's unclear how much of the report, which may run into the hundreds of pages, will be available to the public. ``I think questions had to be answered as to why we were so wrong,'' said Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., a member of the commission. ``We needed to have recommendations as to how to prevent something like this from ever happening again.'' The commission also is highly critical of the agencies' performance on Iran, North Korea and Libya, individuals familiar with its findings said on condition of anonymity. The report comes at a critical time for the CIA, the Defense Intelligence Agency, the National Security Agency and others charged with collecting, protecting and analyzing secrets. All face the prospect of sweeping changes from the intelligence reform bill passed in December, including the appointment of a national intelligence director. President Bush's nominee, John Negroponte, has a Senate confirmation hearing next month. The new director takes over a sprawling bureaucracy, beset by infighting and finger-pointing following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and the botched prewar intelligence on the threat from Iraq. The commission's recommendations will largely fall to him to implement. Individuals familiar with the report said the commission devoted significant time to dissecting what went wrong on the Iraq intelligence, including many issues that have been examined by internal government investigations and the Senate Intelligence Committee. The commission, for instance, has reconsidered the issue of aluminum tubes. A National Intelligence Estimate on Iraq in October 2002 said that most intelligence agencies believed that Iraq's ``aggressive pursuit'' of high-strength aluminum tubes provided ``compelling evidence'' that Saddam Hussein's regime was reconstituting its uranium enrichment effort and nuclear program. In its report last summer, the Senate Intelligence Committee found that the Energy Department was more accurate in its assessment that Iraq sought the tubes for a conventional rocket program, not a nuclear program. The Silberman-Robb commission also closely examined U.S. capability to understand the programs for weapons of mass destruction, or WMD, of Libya, North Korea and Iran. Libya has agreed to give up its efforts to develop such weapons of mass destruction and dismantle those it has. Iran and North Korea, however, remain significant hot spots for the United States. Intelligence operatives and analysts are not expected to get glowing marks on their abilities there. Based on Bush's direction, the commission looked at the merits of creating an intelligence center devoted to tracking WMD proliferation, as written in the intelligence overhaul law passed in December. The panel also consulted lawmakers on congressional oversight and considered how the president actually receives intelligence, including his daily briefings. In contrast to the Sept. 11 commission, the WMD commission's work has been done largely behind closed doors, with only brief press releases about witnesses who appeared. McCain said he's learned much about the intelligence agencies and how they interact now and in the run-up to the Iraq invasion. He said he's gotten an understanding of the value of ``human intelligence'' - or traditional spying - and that the report was worth the $10 million Congress dedicated to it. Final drafts of the commission's report are being circulated among the intelligence agencies for declassification. Historically, they have tried to use that process to keep secret some of the most embarrassing or critical details of investigative findings. Commission spokesman Larry McQuillan said commissioners intend to release as much of the report as possible. ^--- On the Net: The commission's Web site: http://www.wmd.gov Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2005 ***************************************************************** 21 Hindustan Times: US will foil Iran's nuclear ambitions - Kurtzer HindustanTimes.com Jerusalem, March 25, 2005|19:46 IST Amid efforts by the EU to come to an agreement with Iran on the latter's nuclear policy, United States has said it would "not wait forever" and would foil the Islamic republic's "nuclear ambitions." United States doesn't have "unlimited" patience with Iran and does not dismiss the possibility of carrying out a strike on its nuclear facilities, US Ambassador to Israel Dan Kurtzer told foreign ministry officials in a closed door meeting last week, a media report said on Saturday. Kurtzer said that the US would not wait forever for the Europeans to come to an agreement with Tehran and would take steps to foil the Islamic Republic's nuclear ambitions, according to the daily 'Yediot Ahronot'. "Iran had better get the message," Kurtzer said and added, "the missiles haven't yet been fired, but that doesn't mean they won't be if the Iranians don't stop their attempt to develop nuclear weapons." Kurtzer also cast aspersions over Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's government completing its tenure. "The current government won't make it to the next elections," he said. ***************************************************************** 22 Korea Herald: Nuclear standoff may enter new phase soon (angiely@heraldm.com) By Lee Joo-hee 2005.03.26 The Nation's No.1 English Newspaper The North Korean nuclear standoff is likely to enter a new phase in the near future with signs China is pushing hard to get the six-party talks going again, sources said. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said Chinese President Hu Jintao will visit North Korea upon the invitation of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il. A specific date has yet to be set but some predicted the trip may happen within the first half of this year. June will mark one year since the last round of the disarmament talks. Leaders of five of the six parties - South Korea, the United States, China, Japan and Russia - have increasingly stated the standoff cannot continue for much longer. Experts here said Hu Jintao's visit to North Korea will be significant to the disarmament discussion. "China will show its signature diplomacy with the presidential visit, saving face for Kim Jong-il and at the same time strongly implying the North should return to the six-party table," said Park Young-ho of the state-run Korean Institute for National Unification. Pyongyang said Feb. 10 it possesses nuclear weapons and will indefinitely boycott the six-party talks unless Washington drops its "hostile" policy on North Korea. In an apparent effort to soften the situation, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice used much of her time during her Asian tour urging the North to resume talks and acknowledging it as a negotiator. Sources said the Hu visit has been considered a possibility since last year and suggested the trip is highly likely to occur before the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in September in South Korea. "Positive gestures will be expected from North Korea upon the visit of Hu Jintao," Park Young-ho said. South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon also talked about the six-party talks. "By June, it will be a year since the last round of the six-party talks. Haven't we waited long enough?" Ban said in a morning debate hosted by the Korea Regional Policy Institute in central Seoul yesterday. "Secretary Rice description of the North as a 'sovereign state' during her Asian tour was a gesture crediting Pyongyang as an equal negotiating partner," Ban said. Ban also said there was no deadline agreed among the five of the six-party members on North Korea's return to the table but that resumption of the negotiations was a priority. On her last Asian stop in Beijing earlier this week, Rice warned that Washington may consider "other options" should Pyongyang continue to boycott the talks. Other options coukld include referring North Korea's nuclear program to the United Nations Security Council, according to experts. In an interview with The Nation, North Korean Ambassador to Thailand O Song-chol said Pyongyang was ready to go to war with the United States over the Stalinist state's contentious nuclear program. Chol added that North Korea was also prepared to enter into peace talks to resolve the dispute. Chol urged the United States not to refer the case to the Security Council, saying the move would be tantamount to a declaration of war, the Nation reported. ***************************************************************** 23 Korea Herald: North Korea ready for war, says envoy North Korean Ambassador to Thailand O Song Chol said his country was ready to go to war with the United States over the state's contentious nuclear programme. Chol added that North Korea was also prepared to enter into peace talks to resolve the dispute. "We are ready to talk peace and we are ready for war with the Americans," he said Thursday. The North Korean government has prepared a contingency plan in case of war and will hit back hard, he said. In an exclusive interview with The Nation, Chol urged the US not to refer the stalled six-nation talks on Pyongyang's nuclear programme to the UN Security Council, saying the move would be tantamount to a declaration of war. Chol, stationed here for the past two years, blamed Washington for pushing the deadlock on the Korean Peninsula to the brink of war by trying to place the dispute on the UN Security Council's agenda. He said the six-nation talks could only resume if the US apologised for labelling Pyongyang an "outpost of tyranny" and ended its "hostile policy" towards North Korea. The ambassador also dismissed reports that China had been pressuring Pyongyang to return to the multilateral talks, saying Beijing had made "some suggestions" over the issue but no demands. North Korea declared last month for the first time that it had nuclear weapons, before claiming on Monday that had increased its nuclear arsenal. Chol said the weapons were needed to counter "hostile American policies". Pyongyang's announcement on Monday coincided with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's trip to Asia. During her stopover in Beijing, Rice said other means would have to be considered if North Korea continued to avoid talks. It was the strongest hint yet the United States might resort to sanctions against the country. Chol dismissed suggestions that North Korea's nuclear-weapon programme posed a security threat to the region. "We are a small country. We have no capacity or intention to invade anybody." In December 2002, North Korea ordered two UN inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency to leave the country amid a stand-off over its plan to revive a mothballed nuclear complex at Yongbyon, 90 kilometres north of Pyongyang. "It was agreed that they [the inspectors] would see the testing room, but when they arrived, they demanded to see the Army's underground facility," Chol said. "It was as if they wanted us to take our pants off for them." Chol said Thai-North Korean relations had improved. North Korea's state-run media continually reported on positive developments in ties between the two countries and Pyongyang received Thai delegations on a regular basis, he said. Two-way trade between the two countries reached Bt380 million last year and Thai telecommunication giant Loxley had invested Bt190 million to develop a mobile-phone network in North Korea, Chol said. To commemorate the 30th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries this year, Pyongyang will send up to 30 cultural and dance troupes to perform in Bangkok, the ambassador said. 2005.03.26 ***************************************************************** 24 BBC: Pakistan mulls nuclear handover Last Updated: Friday, 25 March, 2005 [Nuclear equipment] Critics ask why fuel-rich Iran needs nuclear energy Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf is considering sending nuclear parts to a UN watchdog to help it investigate if Iran is developing atomic weapons. Pakistan admits its disgraced scientist AQ Khan gave Iran nuclear centrifuges. The centrifuges help produce enriched uranium that can be used for nuclear weapons or in power plants. The International Atomic Energy Agency found traces of uranium in Iran's equipment, which Tehran blamed on the second-hand Pakistani centrifuges. Two-year inquiry Earlier this month, Pakistan denied reports from sources close to the UN inquiry into Iran's nuclear programme that it would hand over the uranium-enriching components to inspectors. We will give you them and y examine them... but once and for all Pervez Musharraf Story that refuses to die Profile: AQ Khan But now Gen Musharraf has told the Aaj television channel that Pakistan was considering a "one-off" offer to co-operate, either by sending parts to the IAEA in Vienna or hosting its inspectors in Pakistan. "We are considering and negotiations are under way and we will see," he said. "We have said, 'OK, we will give you them and you examine them outside, or maybe you [come] to us'. But once and for all, and after that, we've told them that once we do it, then don't ask next time." The BBC's Zaffar Abbas in Islamabad says the move is apparently aimed at clearing Pakistan's name in the controversy surrounding Iran's nuclear programme. US pressure The IAEA has been investigating Iran's programme for more than two years. [Abdul Qadeer Khan] AQ Khan - still a hero to many Pakistanis It is still trying to verify whether, as Tehran says, Iran's nuclear ambitions are purely peaceful. The US accuses Iran, a state already rich in gas and oil, of pursuing atomic energy as a screen to develop nuclear weapons. Only last week, Pakistan's foreign ministry rejected the suggestion Pakistan would hand over technology for inspection as baseless. "Pakistan has not been asked to give centrifuges, nor will Pakistan do so," Jalil Abbas Jilani told reporters. On her trip to Pakistan last week, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice pressed Pakistan to tell Washington everything it knew about the AQ Khan nuclear weapons-smuggling network. Pakistan has admitted Dr Khan led an international network that was involved in transferring nuclear information and material to countries like Iran, Libya and North Korea. Since this public confession, Dr Khan has remained under house arrest. However, he remains a hero to many Pakistanis and has received a presidential pardon. Pakistan has so far refused to allow foreign investigators to interrogate Dr Khan. ***************************************************************** 25 Las Vegas SUN: Letter: Bush keeps finger on nuclear trigger Today: March 25, 2005 at 9:07:26 PST Most Americans probably don't know President Bush's position on U.S. nuclear weapons and their deployment. Under Bush's "Nuclear Posture Review of 2001," he asserts his right to use nuclear weapons pre-emptively. Since 1992, on order of President George H.W. Bush, the U.S. has observed a moratorium on nuclear testing, but Bush II has no intentions of asking the Senate to ratify the treaty his own father patriotically observed. At present, the U.S. has 10,000 nuclear weapons, 6,000 of them in active readiness. Finally, this president has ignored, failed to ratify or walked away from the following: anti-ballistic missile treaty, comprehensive test ban treaty, fissile material cut-off treaty. Knowing this, what do you think the North Koreans and the Iranians say to themselves when Bush continues to call them "tyrannical rogue governments" for going forward with nukes of their own? JAMES J. POUPARD ***************************************************************** 26 INSIDE JoongAng Daily: [EDITORIALS]The lines are open ¡ª for now March 26, 2005 KST 15:24 (GMT+9) As of May 31, it will be possible to make direct calls, by land-based telephone lines from South Korea to the Kaesong Industrial Complex in the North. Power and communication lines between the Koreas, disconnected for more than half a century of confrontation, will be restored. This is an historic event with significant symbolic meaning. We hope that such connections will spread all over North Korea, and eventually lead to the long-desired reunification of our countries. Among other things, the reconnection means there is a quality infrastructure within the Kaesong complex, and therefore a basis for stable production. But it is also true that prospects for the industrial complex are not very bright. The North Korean nuclear issue has raised tensions on the peninsula, and inter-Korean talks have not been held for months. It is fortunate that economic cooperation continues for now, but how long it will do so is an open question. It is said that Washington has affirmed the Kaesong project at the pilot level, but is resistant to further development. Washington is said to have advised against having high expectations for the project. This contradicts the South Korean government's belief that increased economic cooperation between the Koreas can help resolve the nuclear issue. For the project to advance, this difference in views between Seoul and Washington should not be allowed to become a major conflict. This is where persuation is needed from Seoul. The biggest obstacle to Kaesong is the nuclear issue, which can only be resolved when Pyongyang gives up its nuclear weapons programs. North Korea is attempting to alleviate its people's suffering by way of several market-based projects it has introduced since initiating economic reform in 2002. One such project was to lease one of its major military sites ¡ª the Kaesong site ¡ª to South Koreans. Of course, the importance of the nuclear issue is not limited to whether Kaesong succeeds or fails. The whole world is promising economic aid to North Korea if it gives up its nuclear programs. Pyongyang should open its heart as soon as possible if it truly wants its people to live a better life. The whole world, in one voice, is telling North Korea that having nuclear weapons will not solve the thousands of problems that the Stalinist state faces. Pyongyang should listen. 2005.03.25 Copyright by Joins.com, Inc. Terms of Use | ***************************************************************** 27 INSIDE JoongAng Daily: Pyongyang reportedly rebuffs congressmen March 26, 2005 KST 15:24 (GMT+9) March 26, 2005 ¤Ñ Repeated requests to visit North Korea from U.S. lawmakers have been rejected by Pyongyang, diplomatic sources in Washington said yesterday. U.S. congressional delegates want to visit the North later this month to attempt a breakthrough in the stalled six-nation nuclear disarmament talks. Congressman Curt Weldon, a Pennsylvania Republican, said earlier this month that he had contacted Han Song-ryol, North Korea's deputy UN ambassador to arrange a trip. Pyongyang, however, rejected Mr. Weldon's request, the sources said. Congressman Tom Lantos, a California Democrat, told U.S. media he would also visit the North again, but it is unknown if Pyongyang has approved it. Two U.S. congressional groups led by Mr. Lantos and Mr. Weldon, visited the North in January for talks with ranking officials. Copyright by Joins.com, Inc. Terms of Use | ***************************************************************** 28 Pahrump Valley Times: All roads lead to the Nevada Test Site March 25, 2005 More than 666,610 cubic feet of low-level radioactive waste was transported into Nye County for disposal at the Nevada Test Site during the fourth quarter of 2004, according to a recent report released by the Department of Energy. Low-level waste is defined by the Energy Department as consisting of rags, paper, filters, equipment, dirt, discarded protective clothing or construction debris that are contaminated with radionuclides. The low-level waste was delivered in 412 shipments with 265 shipments traveling through Tonopah on Highway 6 and or Highway 95. Alternately, 136 shipments traveled through Nye County's population center of Pahrump along Nevada Route 160. Amargosa Valley received 11 inbound shipments and 11 outbound shipments to and from the Nevada Test Site to the Carlsbad, N.M., Waste Isolation Pilot Program site via Nevada Route 373. According to the report it appears the Energy Department received almost half of the annual average of radioactive waste in the first quarter of the year. According to the Energy Department's Web site, less than one million cubic feet of low-level waste is received at the Nevada Test Site each year. In fiscal year 2004 the Energy Department reported 2,414 shipments to the Test Site totaling more than three million cubic feet of low-level radioactive waste to be buried at two sites. Shipments to the site during the first quarter originated in Maryland, California, New York, Idaho, Texas, Colorado, Ohio, South Carolina and Tennessee. All shipments were hauled with semi-trucks along U.S. highways by motor-carriers contracted by certified waste generators and the federal government. For comment or questions, please e-mail webmaster@pahrumpvalleytimes.com Copyright © Pahrump Valley Times, 1997 - 2005 ***************************************************************** 29 ISIS: Iran Should Grant the IAEA Further Access to Parchin Institite for Science and International Security (ISIS) March 24, 2005 The Parchin military complex in Iran is located about 30 kilometers southeast of Tehran. This huge complex is dedicated to research, development, and production of ammunition, rockets, and high explosives. The site, owned by Iran's military industry, has hundreds of buildings and test sites. During the IAEA’s only visit to the site, in January 2005, it was allowed to visit only one area out of four possible areas and permitted into only 5 buildings in this area. The IAEA was given free access to these buildings and their surroundings and permission to take environmental samples. The IAEA saw no relevant dual-use equipment or materials in the locations they visited. They are awaiting the results of sampling to determine whether any nuclear material was used in that area. In addition to high explosive test sites, there is other activity at Parchin which warrants closer scrutiny. For example, there is a site that was under construction in August 2004 and is located about one kilometer from the area visited by the IAEA. The construction involves the excavation of a hilly area. This excavation may be intended to use the hill to physically support a future structure. It may have also have involved tunneling into the side of the hill. The actual purpose of this site is difficult to discern. If tunneling is occurring, the site could have a range of purposes, none of which can be singled out from the imagery as more likely than the others. If no tunneling is occurring, the site could be for some type of armaments testing. In late-February 2005, Iran told the IAEA “there is no justification for any additional visit.” The IAEA Board of Governors, in its November 29, 2004 resolution, requested that, “Iran as a confidence building measure … provide any access deemed necessary by the Agency in accordance with the Additional Protocol.” It is in Iran’s best interest to accept this condition, and allow the IAEA to visit Parchin as it deems necessary. For more information, please contact David Albright at (202) 547-3633. ***************************************************************** 30 NRC: NRC Issues Advisory to Nuclear Facility Operators for Personnel Security Controls News Release - 2005-05 U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Office of Public Affairs Telephone: 301/415-8200 Washington, DC 20555-0001 E-mail: opa@nrc.gov No. 05-055 March 25, 2005 The Nuclear Regulatory Commission said Friday it issued an Advisory March 23 to nuclear facility operators emphasizing the need for a heightened level of awareness in ensuring the proper identity of personnel even though they may be escorted while in the facility. In order to obtain unescorted plant access, individuals are subject to an array of additional checks. A recent incident of a foreign national using a false social security number and a false alien registration card to obtain escorted access to work at a nuclear power plant identified the need for additional checks on escorted personnel. Although the worker was escorted at all times while he was at the nuclear power plant, the incident points to the need for heightened vigilance in checking the true identity of such individuals. The NRC urged licensees to check identities against a national security database. Licensees were encouraged to report promptly the fraudulent use, or attempted use of false identification information. The NRC continues to work closely with other federal agencies to address this issue and will advise its licensees of any further developments. Last revised Friday, March 25, 2005 ***************************************************************** 31 [DU Information List] Fayetteville diary - a veteran confronts Date: Fri, 25 Mar 2005 14:46:22 -0800 Fayetteville Diary A veteran confronts charges Fort Bragg was the wrong place to protest By Dennis Kyne www.gnn.tv A veteran confronts charges Fort Bragg was the wrong place to protest From a distance I heard Drew Plummer say, “Hey, Dennis!” He was standing in the Porta Potty crowd, in the middle of a line that was on the end of ten lines that were already twenty people deep. It was eleven in the morning and it was packed; the rally in Fayetteville, North Carolina hadn’t even started. In the distance, musician Ralph Baldwin, a Vietnam veteran, kicked off the rally with a haunting song from his album, Hold Onto The Dream. I knew right then, and I get goose bumps as I write this, that I was in the right place, and this was definitely the right time. The South Carolina Stop the War coalition marched in unannounced as the rally began. Buses from New York City, Washington D.C., Atlanta and all points west arrived continuously, unloading people who walked onto the rally area and created a mass that organizers put at nearly 5,000 – far larger than the “small gathering” reported by some media outlets the following day. Organizer Lou Plummer said this was the biggest protest ever in Fayetteville. The hot topic of the day was the simmering controversy over recent statements by Paul Rieckhoff, founder of the Manhattan-based soldier advocacy group Operation Truth. Rieckhoff, an Iraq war veteran and a favorite of media outlets from CNN to The New York Times, stated that protesting in Fayetteville represented, “the height of insensitivity by the anti-war organizations” due to its proximity to Fort Bragg, home to the 82nd Airborne. On Air America last week, he repeated the charge, getting into a heated argument with Unfiltered host Rachel Maddow. Aside from the insinuation that troops are trained with sensitivity, it is an incredible assumption to think that all troops on active duty are so dense they don’t know we are there in their interests. One could very easily infer from Rieckhoff’s rhetoric that we were there to spit and curse at the troops. But there were no cries of “babykillers” coming from this crowd. In fact, there was nothing but love for the sons and daughters sent to fight a war sold to the public on a lie. Riechkhoff seems to forget that the organizations hosting this event were all family members of service members who have died in action or are currently serving. In addition, the organizations were made up of many veterans, people who have served in both peace and wartime. Rieckhoff, who is not an active duty soldier, is currently a 1st Lieutenant in the New York State National Guard. Having spent fifteen years in the Army myself, from 1987 until 2003, including service as a medic on the frontlines of Operation Desert Storm, I can tell you, the only person insulting anyone is Rieckhoff. Drew Plummer had just returned from the Navy the day before, having battled the machine long enough to know what it is doing to young women and men. Drew enlisted during his last year in high school, just three months before 9/11. He was released from his military obligations last week after a prolonged legal battle resulting from his exercise of the freedoms he supposedly was fighting to protect. Home on leave, he had joined his father, Lou, at an anti-war vigil. When an Associated Press reporter asked his opinion on the war, Drew replied, “I just don’t agree with what we’re doing right now. I don’t think our guys should be dying in Iraq. But I’m not a pacifist. I’ll do my part.” He paid the price. The Navy charged Drew with making disloyal statements, under Article 134 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice. At his hearing, he was asked if he “sympathizes” with the enemy or was considering “acts of sabotage” against the U.S. military. He replied, no, and was convicted and demoted. Drew told me he had recognized early on that the war was waged under false pretenses. He said, “One of the ways to end war is resistance from the inside. We are making them aware with protests. Troops realize war is wrong sooner or later, and they start the moves to get out.” This is what Drew did, and he received more than fifty letters from around the country in support. He’ll always be a hero to me. So will Jose Couso, the slain journalist from Spain. Jose was hit by a U.S. tank shell while inside the Palestine Hotel during the fall of Baghdad in April 2003. Everyone in the world knew the hotel was where the world’s media was operating out of. His brother, David, traveled from Madrid to Fayetteville in his honor. With the aid of an interpreter, David told me, “It is the right thing to do, when it comes to struggle you have to go to them and invite them because it is open to everyone. This is not an issue of confrontation, this in issue of invitation, we invite everyone to come.” The majority of the people who arrived were from places other than Fayetteville. That is not to say Fayetteville wasn’t alive, and Fort Bragg soldiers and their family members weren’t speaking out just as hard, if not harder, than the out-of-towners. On the condition of anonymity, of course, having been told by commanders on Fort Bragg not to get anywhere near the protest or else risk being punished, there were members of the 82nd Airborne, both current and former present at the protests. The 82nd Airborne is on a steady rotation to combat zones, and Ann Roesler, who was staying in her son Michael’s apartment while he was off fighting, had something to say about Rieckhoff’s statement as well. “Michael is on his second rotation to Iraq with the 82nd. It is a crock of s*** what Rieckhoff says. Many of the troops I have spoken with don’t believe in this war. What Rieckhoff’s doing is creating a hornets’ nest, making things worse.” I concur, so does Ward Reilly, of Vietnam Veterans Against the War, who traveled from Baton Rouge, Louisiana for the event. Ward, a major organizer of the Jazz Funeral For Democracy held in New Orleans earlier this year, said, “One thing that separates us from them is credibility. They [Operation Truth] have no credibility, what Rieckhoff is doing is straight Nixonian. Talk about telling the truth, the Winter Soldiers’ testimony in 1971 was telling the truth, which led to the pulling of money for the war. What Rieckhoff is doing is participating in the division, knowing most likely that power divides each to conquer both.” Many simply asked, “What the hell is Rieckhoff doing?” Responses from Military Families Speak Out, the “Gold Star” mothers and veterans of this current war and many wars past said that Rieckhoff, a young man who is more than likely loaded with good intentions, doesn’t have any idea what he is doing. Rieckhoff wants to blame the White House and everyone else, when the fact is everyone is accountable to the truth. What truth is his operation telling? That the White House lied? Most people in Fayetteville knew that before Rieckhoff ever deployed to Iraq. Kevin and Joyce Lucey were telling the truth as they spoke to the thousands of anti-war protesters. Kevin Lucey told of finding his son, Jeffrey, in the basement of their home strangled with a garden hose. Jeffrey, who was only 23, had left dog tags of two Iraqi soldiers he said he was forced to shoot unarmed on his bed. After hearing these remarkable parents, I was in tears – so were many others. Jeffrey’s fate is similiar to many of the 11,000 Desert Storm veterans I served with who are now dead. As I climbed the stage, held the microphone, and told the crowd I wanted to have a cry, I had to remind myself and the thousands of listeners, “everyone in Fayetteville knows soldiers don’t cry.” I spoke about depleted uranium and the fact that 18,500 Desert Storm Veterans are incarcerated for rape or violent crimes in our federal and state prisons. I mentioned these troops currently are coming home with something deeper than PTSD, it is Soldier’s Heart (WWI), Shell Shock (WWII), the 1,000 yard stare (Vietnam)? I asked, “What will they call it this war?” As the crowd applauded and I left the stage, I was reminded that I was in the right place and it was the right time. It was the right thing, and no 1st Lieutenant in the United States military, still collecting money in a time of war, is going to pass himself off as truth-teller to me, or any of the thousands of anti-war protesters I shared the day with in Fayetteville on the second anniversary of an illegal invasion. While Rieckhoff, and others, believe Fayetteville was the wrong place to protest; Drew Plummer, the Luceys and thousands of others were down south saying, “Bring Them Home Now, we don’t support an illegal war.” For most troops and their families, that is the only operational truth worth telling. Read Paul Rieckhoff’s response to Kyne’s diary here. Dennis Kyne is a military veteran who served for fifteen years in the U.S. Army, and was a battlefield medic on the frontlines of Operation Desert Storm, where he saw first-hand the effects of Depleted Uranium weapons and PB Tablets. He is the author of the self-published memoir, Support the Truth, and a musician. For more info, see www.denniskyne.com. Send instant messages to your online friends http://uk.messenger.yahoo.com ---------- Yahoo! Groups Links * To visit your group on the web, go to: * http://groups.yahoo.com/group/pandora-project/ * * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: * pandora-project-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com * * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service. ***************************************************************** 32 Plutonium in Paint Cans at Weapons Labs Date: Fri, 25 Mar 2005 14:46:37 -0800 Dear colleagues: This story is only beginning to get the attention in the media that it deserves. I hope you "enjoy" (if that's the right word for a scary situation) this preview. Read on... Marylia for more information, contact Jay Coghlan, Executive Director, Nuclear Watch of New Mexico (NWNM), 505.989-7342 Marylia Kelley, Executive Director, Tri-Valley CAREs (TVC), 925.443.7148 for immediate release, March 24, 2005 DOE Fails to Provide Technical Criteria for Safe Nuclear Storage Watchdog Groups Appalled at Current Conditions; Plutonium Stored in Paint Cans, Food Pack Cans, Slip-Lid Containers at Weapons Labs Santa Fe, NM and Livermore, CA ---- On March 21, 2005, the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) announced in the Federal Register a proposed formal recommendation "to improve the packaging and storage conditions of [DOE's] large inventory of nuclear materials once used for weapons manufacture." The DNFSB is an independent board commissioned by Congress to oversee safety issues pertaining to the Department of Energy's (DOE's) nuclear weapons complex. In its Federal Register notice, the Board stated: "Other than two narrowly focused standardsŠ there is no explicit DOE-wide requirement to ensure the safe storage of nuclear materials" such as plutonium. The Board observed "Yet sites continue to rely on container types that have been used historically, but have no technically justified safety or design basis. These container types are generally forms of packaging typically used in non-nuclear applications (e.g., paint cans, food pack cans)." Thin-walled "slip-lid cans" with loose fitting covers closed only by tape are also used, even for plutonium-238, which is 100's of times more radioactive than the more common plutonium-239. In what perhaps seems like a painfully obvious necessity the Board recommended that DOE "[i]ssue a requirement that nuclear material packaging meet technically justified criteria for safe handling and storage." Nuclear Watch New Mexico and Tri-Valley Communities Against a Radioactive Environment call on DOE to quickly do just that, given that it is long overdue. Moreover, the two groups applaud the DNFSB's action. Present and recent halts to operations at DOE's major plutonium facilities, in large part caused by unsafe nuclear materials storage, illustrate how serious these issues are. Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory's (LLNL) Plutonium Facility has been idle since January 15th due to safety problems. In this latest action, the Board found that LLNL had not fully considered the potential effects of gas generation, oxidation due to leaky seals, and damage from drops and tools in its choice of nuclear materials storage containers. The Board also found that 15% of weapons-related nuclear materials are stored in technically unjustified packaging more than five years old. Meanwhile, LLNL is pushing to increase its plutonium inventory from a storage limit of 1,540 pounds to 3,300 pounds. DOE's other major nuclear weapons-related plutonium facilities are at the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), and both LANL and LLNL are managed by the University of California. Los Alamos had serious plutonium-238 contamination incidents of multiple workers in August 2001 and August 2003, the latter due to leakage from a slip-lid can which has still not been cleaned up. In its recommendation the Board observed that "the technical adequacy of packaging - the combination of containers and other components providing a contamination barrier - for nuclear materials, including liquids, is dependent on the safety bases of individual facilities." Yet, in a separate report, the DNFSB has found that LANL's plutonium facility has not had an updated, approved safety basis since 1996. Further, an August 2004 audit by the DOE's own Inspector General found that '[t]hese materials are kept in containers that are not acceptable for long-term storage", and that the Lab's nuclear materials stabilization program had to be extended from 2002 to 2010, increasing taxpayers' costs by an additional $78 million. Finally, the so-called stand down to all operations at LANL because of security and safety issues has cost taxpayers at least $367 million. Jay Coghlan, NWNM Director, commented: "The Safety Board has done the public a great service alerting us to these serious inadequacies in the storage of some of the world's most dangerous materials. It is unfathomable that the Labs could be so negligent in issues that can have such serious consequences. It's time for them to truly prioritize nuclear materials stabilization above the indefinite preservation and so-called improvement of nuclear weapons." Marylia Kelley, Executive Director of Tri-Valley CAREs and a close neighbor of LLNL, stated: "Safety procedures at Livermore Lab's Plutonium Facility are out of compliance with regulations. Faulty gloveboxes and other equipment have been found in use at the facility. Plutonium is stored in paint cans and food pack cans. As shocking as this is, it is perhaps even more shocking to realize that these are all repeat violations and safety lapses. Worker and public safety dictate that the Livermore Lab Plutonium Facility remain shut down this time -- and not be allowed to reopen on mere promises from management of reform at a later date. Further, the Department of Energy should move to de-inventory the plutonium at the Lab, not double it." # # # The DNFSB's full recommendation is available at http://www.dnfsb.gov/pub_docs/dnfsb/rec_2005.html. For further information, please call Tri-Valley CAREs at (925) 443-7148 or Nuclear Watch of New Mexico at (505) 989-7342. Or, visit their websites at www.trivalleycares.org and www.nukewatch.org. Marylia Kelley Executive Director Tri-Valley CAREs (Communities Against a Radioactive Environment) 2582 Old First Street Livermore, CA USA 94551 - is our web site address. Please visit us there! (925) 443-7148 - is our phone (925) 443-0177 - is our fax ***************************************************************** 33 Bradenton Herald: More toxin tests offered | 03/25/2005 | DONNA WRIGHT Herald Staff Writer More help is on the way for former employees of Loral American Beryllium Co. in Tallevast who fear their exposure to toxic dust may have made them sick. A free federal testing program for beryllium sensitivity offered through the U.S. Department of Energy will begin April 4, U.S. Rep. Katherine Harris announced late Wednesday. The specialized blood test to determine if a worker has become allergic to toxic beryllium dust will be provided locally at U.S Healthworks Clinic, 1105 53rd Ave. E., Bradenton. Any worker employed at the plant between 1967 to 1968 or from 1980 to 1989 - the only known periods when Loral American did work for the Energy Department - is eligible for the free tests. But energy officials say they are willing to expand those eligibility periods, if proof of additional contract work can be found. Assistant Secretary John Shaw recently told The Herald that his staff will examine any evidence submitted by any former employee. Meanwhile, U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson's office is continuing to pressure Energy Department officials to do a more thorough investigation of their own. In a March 3 letter to Shaw, Nelson said he wanted to make sure no workers who may be eligible for federal benefits did not fall through the cracks due to a lack of information on dates of coverage. Loral American Beryllium was one of many factories nationwide that produced parts for atomic weapons, nuclear energy facilities and missile guidance systems during the Cold War. Beryllium was used for many of those projects. Machining the exotic metal created a toxic dust that can cause some people to develop a severe lung disease that is often fatal if it is not treated. Nelson's staff said Thursday that they have been told Shaw should reply to the senator's letter by the week's end. Harris said the free testing program is a big step forward to helping Cold War warriors who have been neglected in the past. Pressure from Harris, R-Sarasota, and Nelson, D-Fla., over the past few months helped push the Energy Department to recently expand a free testing program for its own workers to employees of vendor companies like Loral American Beryllium. Funding requirements limit the free testing program to former American Beryllium employees. Nelson and Harris both said that they will continue efforts to make sure residents of the Tallevast area who may have been exposed to the toxic dust will be tested as well. Details of testing A beryllium testing program is being offered by the U.S. Department of Energy in relation to the former Loral American Beryllium Co. in Tallevast. The testing begins April 4. Who is eligible for this free beryllium screening program? The Department of Energy will provide screening for beryllium sensitization for former employees of beryllium vendors who are no longer in business, including the Loral American Beryllium Company in Tallevast, who worked for the company while it was under contract to DOE. When was the American Beryllium Company under contract to DOE? DOE believes that the American Beryllium Company was under contract to DOE (or its predecessor agencies) in the years 1967-1968 and 1980-1989. Based upon ongoing research, it is possible that additional years will be included in the future. Who will oversee the program for DOE? The testing program will be overseen by the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education, which also provides beryllium screening for former DOE workers. What about community residents or former workers who did not work at the plant during the time it was under contract to DOE? By law, DOE can only provide tests for workers who were employed at the plant while it was under contract to DOE. Other workers, as well as community residents who feel they may have been affected, can receive a test through the Florida Department of Health by contacting the Sarasota County Health Department at 861-6092. How do eligible former ABC workers go about getting a test? ORISE has obtained a list of former employees and will contact all workers on that list. In addition, workers can directly contact ORISE toll free at 1-866-219-3442. What will happen next? ORISE staff will speak by phone with interested workers and explain the testing program. ORISE will obtain a brief work history, including a history of the worker's exposure to beryllium, and discuss the worker's current medical condition. ORISE will then arrange an appointment for the former worker to receive a beryllium lymphocyte proliferation test, or BeLPT, blood test at: U.S Healthworks Clinic, 1105 53rd Ave. E., Bradenton. ORISE medical staff will be at the clinic to administer consent and answer questions. What if the former worker no longer lives in the Bradenton area? Those who do not reside in the Bradenton area will be sent a test kit to take to their physicians or clinic of their choice. ORISE will pay for costs of drawing the blood and for the analysis of the blood. Where will the blood be analyzed? ORISE will arrange for each individual's blood samples to be analyzed by two laboratories with experience with beryllium testing. Results are generally expected within four to five weeks. What happens if the results are abnormal? If the BeLPT test results are abnormal, ORISE will call the individuals to discuss the results and what they mean. ORISE will also provide information on how the individual may be eligible to apply for benefits under the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act. What if results are normal and a worker has concerns in the future? If test results are normal, individuals will be invited to stay in touch with ORISE and request another test if they develop symptoms or have concerns in the future. What if a qualified worker paid for his or her own test? Can they be reimbursed? Qualified individuals can be reimbursed if they were tested within the past six months. To request reimbursement, individuals should call ORISE, at 1-866-219-3442. SOURCE: U.S. Department of Energy Herald Watchdog This story is part of The Herald's continuing coverage of health issues related to the former Loral American Beryllium Co. in Tallevast. HeraldToday.com Find out the details of the testing program and read the history of Tallevast. About HeraldToday.com | ***************************************************************** 34 Bellona: No radiation – no compensation The Russian Nuclear Federal Agency deprived the inhabitants of the 30-km zone around Siberian Chemical Combine of the compensation for electricity payments. 2005-03-23 18:15 Tomsk region authorities want to fight back the 50% compensation of the electricity payments for those living in the 30-km zone around the Siberian Chemical Combine, the Tomsk region deputy governor Vyacheslav Nagovitsyn stated to the media on February 24. He said the Nuclear Agency representatives refer to the normal radiation levels in the zone and, therefore, are denying the compensation. Vyacheslav Nagovitsyn pledged to send a legislative initiative on the compensation restitution to the Russian Parliament, Regnum.ru reported. The 50% compensation for electricity payments for the inhabitants of the 30-km zone around Siberian Chemical Combine had existed until 2005. The financing of the compensation was in the form of 50% discount for the local energy stock buyer Tomskenergo. The compensation for 2005 is estimated as $2.1m. Approximately 650,000 inhabitants from 80 settlements, including Tomsk and Seversk cities, live in the 30-km zone. One of the biggest in Russia Petrochemical Company Tomskneftekhim is situated just a few kilometres from the reactor and radiochemical plants of the Combine. Besides, all the hazardous cargo for the Combine is shipped right through the densely populated districts of the Tomsk City, Regnum.ru reported. Publisher: Bellona Foundation, President: Frederic Hauge Information: info@bellona.no, Technical contact: webmaster@bellona.no Telephone: +47 23 23 46 00 Telefax: +47 22 38 38 62 * P.O.Box 2141 Grunerlokka, 0505 Oslo, Norway ***************************************************************** 35 NRC: NRC Issues Amendments to Specialty Medical Board Certification Criteria News Release - 2005-05 U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Office of Public Affairs Telephone: 301/415-8200 Washington, DC 20555-0001 E-mail: opa@nrc.gov No. 05-054 March 25, 2005 The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is amending the criteria used by the NRC and Agreement States to recognize certifications conferred by professional specialty boards on applicants for various medical radiation safety positions. In a final rule to be published shortly in the Federal Register, the NRC implements several changes to 10 CFR Part 35, Medical Use of Byproduct Material, based upon recommendations by the NRCs Advisory Committee on the Medical Uses of Isotopes (ACMUI) and the Agreement States. The changes should make the process of recognizing boards by the NRC or Agreement States more efficient. (Agreement States are the 33 states that have agreed with the NRC to regulate the medical and industrial uses of byproduct material.) These changes to the certification criteria will continue to ensure the safe use of radioactive material by medical licensees while improving the process of recognizing board certifications, said Jack Strosnider, director of the NRCs Office of Nuclear Materials Safety and Safeguards. The final rule provides specialty boards more latitude in making the determination that an individual is fully trained and capable of performing duties related to radiation safety. The revised requirements include a degree from an accredited college or university, professional experience, passing an examination conducted by the specialty board, and specialized training. The specific degree level and amount of training and experience required vary depending on the position. The NRC will publish the procedures for recognizing specialty boards, as well as the list of those whose certifications meet the criteria, on its Web site instead of in its regulations. This will make it easier to change the list to add or remove boards. A proposed rule outlining the changes was published Dec. 9, 2003, in the Federal Register. The agency received 27 comments on the proposed rule; those comments and the agency responses are summarized in the forthcoming Federal Register notice. The changes become effective 30 days after publication. Last revised Friday, March 25, 2005 ***************************************************************** 36 [NukeNet] 2 Wyoming firms seek OK to reopen uranium ore mill Date: Fri, 25 Mar 2005 14:53:59 -0800 NukeNet Anti-Nuclear Network (nukenet@energyjustice.net) http://deseretnews.com/dn/view2/1,4382,600120235,00.html?textfield=nuclear 2 Wyoming firms seek OK to reopen uranium ore mill Associated Press Tuesday, March 22, 2005 Two Wyoming mining companies have filed a request with the state of Utah to reopen a uranium ore processing mill shuttered since the early 1980s. The request from U.S. Energy Corp. and its partner, Crested Corp., comes as uranium prices register higher than they've been in decades. The mill in question is Shootering Canyon, about 15 miles north of Lake Powell near Ticaboo, Garfield County. The Shootering mill is the last and most modern uranium mill built in the United States, U.S. Energy spokesman Don Warfield said. It is one of only four uranium mills left in the country, and only two of those are now operating. U.S. Energy, which owns nearby uranium mining acreage, expects to eventually mine that property to provide feedstock for the mill. The company, however, estimates it could take up to two years to secure the necessary permits to reopen the mill, which operated only a few months after construction was completed in 1982. The companies estimate it will cost about $25 million to make the mill operational. They hope to arrange financing while the license application is processed by the Division of Radiation Control, which is part of the Utah Department of Environmental Quality. Uranium is selling above $21 per pound. It sold as low as $7.50 per pound in 2001. The surge is occurring because some are concerned uranium supplies for power plants worldwide may be within a decade of outstripping existing supplies. U.S. Energy's proposal, though, is not without critics. "It is just a bad idea to restart a mill to provide more fuel for existing nuclear powerhouses," said Sarah Fields, chairwoman of the nuclear Waste Committee of the Utah Sierra Club's Glen Canyon Group. "We still don't have a solution to the spent fuel problem, and we're still dealing with the waste from all the other mills." Uranium mining boomed in Utah after miner Charles Steen in 1952 struck a deep bed of ore near Moab. By 1955, the year the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission announced a cooperative program between the federal government and the nuclear power industry to develop power plants, there were approximately 800 mines operating in the region. The industry collapsed in 1962. _______________________________________________________________________ Subscribe/Unsubscribe Here: http://www.energyjustice.net/nukenet/ Change your settings or access the archives at: http://energyjustice.net/mailman/listinfo/nukenet_energyjustice.net ***************************************************************** 37 deseret news: Nuclear waste changes sought [deseretnews.com] Friday, March 25, 2005 Huntsman wants feds to look at how it's transported and stored By Josh Loftin Deseret Morning News Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. hopes to encourage congressional leaders to change the way the United States handles nuclear waste. While trying to stop the transport of high-level nuclear waste to Utah, Huntsman said during his monthly news conference at KUED, he also wants Congress to take a broader look at how the waste is transported and stored. Whether it's in Utah or some other off-site storage facility such as Yucca Mountain in Nevada, the dangers presented by moving the waste and the limited options for storage facilities make it difficult to continue with the current waste storage proposals. "Even with Yucca Mountain, you're looking at just a temporary storage solution," Huntsman said. "And I'm saying, why do we keep moving from one temporary solution to another?" Huntsman said that he plans to discuss the issue with Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada, during the senator's visit to Utah next week. He hopes to help bring Reid, Utah's congressional delegation and other Western officials together in united opposition against storage at Western nuclear dumps for waste generated in other parts of the country. That was not the case when Congress voted on storing waste at Yucca Mountain because Utah officials feared that a vote against Yucca Mountain may have forced the waste to Skull Valley. "Congress standing up and doing something in the form of changing our storage policy in the United States is something I hope we can push. . . . I think we can find allies on both sides of the aisle," Huntsman said. "This is not a partisan issue. It is a regional issue." In addition to the nuclear waste issue, Huntsman and other state educational officials continue to work with federal officials on the No Child Left Behind mandate before an April 20 special session of the Legislature. Among his primary concerns about the NCLB are a lack of recognition for the state's own U-PASS testing system and the "one-size-fits-all" standards that do not account for unique challenges such as disabled students or those who are learning English as a second language. Other topics addressed by the governor during the half-hour news conference on the University of Utah campus, which was recorded Thursday morning and broadcast Thursday night: • Salt Lake City's measures to reduce emissions are something the state should study, Huntsman said. It is also an issue he has discussed with Mayor Rocky Anderson. • Employee morale within state government needs to be addressed, Huntsman said, especially for the veteran employees who took the most significant hit because of tightened restrictions on sick leave reimbursement at retirement. However, one of the best things for morale will be the pay increases, the "largest in years," which will take effect July 1. • A lawsuit challenging an anti-pornography bill that creates a registry of pornographic sites would not surprise him, although he said state attorneys were confident that the law would be upheld. The registry would be used by service providers, at their customers' request, to block sites with adult material. E-mail: jloftin@desnews.com © 2005 Deseret News Publishing Company ***************************************************************** 38 deseret news: Tooele may reduce its hazardous waste site [deseretnews.com] Friday, March 25, 2005 Corridor would be shrunk by 88%, split into 3 parts By Joe Bauman Deseret Morning News Tooele County is considering an 88 percent reduction in its Hazardous Waste Corridor, which has been welcoming companies like Envirocare since 1988. New boundaries under study by the County Commission would chop the specialized zone from 78,720 acres to 9,440 acres. Rather than a single L-shaped swath, the corridor would be reduced to three separate regions, surrounding three existing operations. Instead of the present layout, where I-80 actually crosses the Hazardous Waste Corridor, if the changes are made, the nearest such zone would be about 1.25 miles from the freeway. Companies in the zone are the Envirocare of Utah low-level radioactive waste disposal operation; the Clean Harbors Environmental Services incinerator at Aragonite, formerly called Aptus; and the Grassy Mountain landfill, also operated by Clean Harbors. "What we're looking at doing is just shrinking it (the corridor) down to necessary proportions," said County Commissioner Matthew Lawrence. The commission will take up the subject in its meeting next week, he said. The object is to restrict the special zone to businesses that are already there. "We are feeling like the corridor was unnecessarily large," he said. No particular actions prompted the potential change, he added. The county is satisfied with the businesses that are already there and may not be interested in encouraging more hazardous waste companies to settle there. "By now, industry would have come here and located here," Lawrence added. "We feel like everybody's had a fair shot, and now it's time to shrink down that corridor." The proposals should not impact the industries presently in the corridor, he said. "We would never do anything to diminish their ability to operate," he said. "I think it would only (affect) companies moving in because there just won't be a lot of area to locate now." Still, Lawrence added, the matter is open for discussion. "It's far from a done deal, but I think it's important that we look at it," he said. Envirocare of Utah officials confirmed the corridor reduction would not impact the company's operation. Nicole Cline, planning and economic development director for Tooele County, noted the corridor was established Jan. 12, 1988. Although the Bureau of Land Management has a lot of land in the area, the facilities are on private land, she said. If the reduction happens, she said, there would be enough room for existing companies to expand. But the change would "really prohibit any new company from coming in." New siting is unlikely, anyhow, she said, and the policy behind the change may be that Tooele County has done its part to provide locations for hazardous waste facilities, and now someone else can deal with it. Jason Groenewold, director of the Healthy Environment Alliance of Utah, said "It's welcome news and a step in the right direction. It's nice to see that the welcome mat of new nuclear and toxic waste facilities is being removed." E-mail: bau@desnews.com © 2005 Deseret News Publishing Company ***************************************************************** 39 The State: Nuclear fuel headed to South 03/25/2 CHERBOURG, France  Two ships outfitted with naval guns set sail for the United States this week loaded with a special commercial nuclear fuel made from U.S. weapons-grade plutonium, officials said. The four rods of MOX, as the transformed fuel is known, left the English Channel port Wednesday for Charleston, said a statement from Areva, the company that transformed the plutonium. The plutonium was taken from nuclear warheads to be transformed into a commercial fuel to help fulfill the terms of a September 2000 U.S.-Russia disarmament accord in which both countries promised to destroy 34 tons of military plutonium. The MOX is to be used at South Carolinas Catawba Nuclear Station  a test run to confirm that the fuel works there. A MOX factory would then be built with French help at the Savannah River Site to dispose of the rest of the plutonium the United States agreed to destroy. TheStateOnline ***************************************************************** 40 Deseret News: N-waste appeal a hopeful sign [deseretnews.com] Friday, March 25, 2005 Deseret Morning News editorial Anything state or federal leaders can do to stave off placing a nuclear waste dump on the Skull Valley Goshute reservation in Tooele County is a wise move in our book. Utah doesn't want to be the nation's dumping ground for out-of-state nuclear power plants, so it is imperative that the state and Utah's congressional delegation exhaust every avenue to keep that from happening. It is unclear whether state attorneys will prevail in their newly granted appeal to the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board, but the door has been opened for further consideration. That's a hopeful sign. Earlier, the board recommended that the nuclear Regulatory Commission grant a license to Private Fuel Storage, a consortium of eight utilities. At that time, the board, in a split decision, determined that the risk of a plane from nearby Hill Air Force Base crashing into the depleted nuclear fuel was not great enough to render the project unsafe. Although Utahns have steadfastly opposed establishing a nuclear waste facility in the state, the urgency to keep the waste out of Utah is far greater because of new concerns that the opening of the planned Yucca Mountain nuclear Waste Repository in Nevada will be delayed after claims that federal scientific studies were falsified. Will this mean greater urgency to open the Skull Valley site and operate it as the permanent disposal site? Or will the federal government keep the nuclear waste at the power plants where it was generated, as proposed by Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev.? As we've opined many times before, our preference would be to keep the waste where it was generated. If it is as safe as power plant operators contend, there would appear to be little disadvantage to keeping it on-site. Moreover, it relieves security concerns of shipping spent fuel across the country to a remote site in the West. In the post-Sept. 11 world, homeland security interests have to trump the desires of nuclear power plant operators. The federal government, though, must continue to work for a long-term solution for the spent fuel produced at these power plants, as it vowed to do long ago. Reviews of Yucca Mountain's scientific studies will determine in due time whether the Nevada site is suitable for permanent storage. Until that determination is made, Utah should in no way be considered Plan B. The smartest course is to leave the waste where it is and to continue to seek a permanent solution. Federal regulators must do all they can to ensure that the proposed "temporary" storage site in Utah's west desert does not become a permanent solution by default. © 2005 Deseret News Publishing Company ***************************************************************** 41 Independent: Tribes demand respect for peaks; March 24, 2005: Ask U.S. government to reverse recent Forest Service decision By Kathy Helms Diné Bureau CROWNPOINT — Navajo, Hopi and surrounding tribes are asking the U.S. government to stop persecuting them and start respecting their First Amendment guarantee to Freedom of Religion by reversing a recent Forest Service decision affecting one of the Four Sacred Mountains, Dook'o'osliid, the San Francisco Peaks in Flagstaff. On March 8, Coconino National Forest Supervisor Nora Rasure authorized the use of reclaimed wastewater from the City of Flagstaff to make artificial snow at the Arizona Snowbowl located on the Peaks. The Snowbowl consists of 777 acres of national forest lands and operates under a special use permit issued by the forest service. This decision left the tribes, the Navajo Nation in particular, feeling very much disrespected. As a result, members of the Navajo Nation Council's Resources Committee and Lloyd Thompson of Diné Medicine Men's Association tried Tuesday at a committee meeting in Crownpoint to craft get-tough legislation the federal government will better understand regarding their opposition to the forest service decision. Strong words Rather than reaffirming language included in a 1998 Council resolution approved when Kelsey Begaye was Speaker, the committee approved amended wording proposed by Resources Vice Chairperson LaVern Wagner, Pueblo Pintado/Torreon/Whitehorse Lake. Wagner recommended changing the title of the legislation from "Affirming the Navajo Nation Opposition ..." to state: "The Navajo Nation Strongly Opposes Desecration of Dook'o'osliid (San Francisco Peaks)." At her recommendation the committee also modified a second part of the resolution authorizing the Navajo Nation President, Speaker of the Navajo Nation Council, Resources Committee and the Washington Office to advocate with the federal government against desecration of the peaks. The committee inserted language recommending working with three agencies in particular U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Department of Interior, and U.S. Forest Service in addition to the already named State of Arizona and City of Flagstaff, in an attempt to be heard. Delegate Nelson Begaye, Lukachukai/Tsaile/Wheatfields, addressed the committee. "I would thank my sister, the Honorable Wagner for that language, because if we just reaffirm the resolution that's there, 'Now therefore be it resolved that the Navajo Nation Council respectfully urges ...'." "I think we're beyond 'respectfully urging' the United States Congress," he said. Begaye also questioned whether the legislation has "enough teeth" to stop the Snowbowl expansion. Sponsor Amos Johnson of Black Mesa asked the committee "for all your wisdom and minds to help me with this legislation. If the word 'reaffirming' is not strong enough, let's say 'strongly oppose.' I'm asking for your wise choice of words." Begaye suggested that Thompson, as a member of the medicine men's association "might have the right language. ... I really don't like 'reaffirming'," Begaye said. Resources Chairman George Arthur, battling a case of laryngitis, mustered enough voice to tell Begaye: "You are right that this legislation should be in a manner that there is no direct misunderstanding on how the Navajo people feel about the development that's being initiated in Dook'o'osliid. "I did not hear Navajo Nation leadership taking a public stand or a strong stand against this initiative. I have only read what is in the news media with comments being made from Navajo Nation leadership," Arthur said. Thompson said the tribes' 45-day appeal period is under way. "Within 45 days another resolution is coming. We try to stay away from the legal sovereignty. We try to use our traditional sovereignty. The white people never understand us," he said. After his presentation, Thompson elaborated further, saying the peaks have not been the only sacred mountain under attack. The medicine men also opposed uranium mining on the west side of Mount Taylor back around 1980. Strong medicine "The white people, they seem like they don't understand, really, because they've never been around the reservation and grew up with the ceremonial way of life. That's the reason why they don't understand. What it says in there (Snowbowl decision), Nora Rasure says economics is No. 1. That's money," Thompson said. The white people talk about God creating people, he said. "He created different races, like us Indians. The Great Spirit gave us our language. He gave us a ceremony to pray for ourselves, to pray for our people. He even let us, sort of like 'own' this world, the Universe. That's why we have Four Directions. "The Navajo pray with this mountain. Seems like this mountain is themselves. ... That's the reason why I say, 'How would you like it if people keep hitting you like this'?" He smacked his fist into his hand. "That is what is happening to us. It is beating us, putting scars on us. ... Way back in 1978 they started. Way back in 1940 they started. Way back in 1830 when Congress passed the Indian Removal Act, then they started hunting us down like we're not human, we're like animals," Thompson said. Now, the federal government once again is in a dispute with the Indians, but next Tuesday, the affected tribes will gather at the museum in Flagstaff, in the shadow of the peaks, to discuss the next course of action. Thompson said the medicine men contacted environmental specialists in California and were told there are 22 ingredients used to clean up the wastewater. "But from the medicine man's point of view, there are human remains in there. "You know those driver's licenses that say, 'Donor'? Those people when they get killed, these interns that want to be doctors, they take them to the hospital and they practice on them. And all that blood goes in there (wastewater). People that have to amputate their arms and legs, that goes in there. And birth. It all goes in there. Monthly from the woman goes in there," he said. To Native Americans, dousing this wastewater on their house of worship is not only a sacrilege, but eventual cultural suicide. Traditional medicine man Johnson Dennison, said, "The Navajo Blessing Way Ceremony says before anyone came, there was a Goddess, Changing Woman, who instructed to find Four Sacred Mountains." One of those, Dook'o'osliid, is in the west and is the color of twilight. "It should be kept pure and clean. If one is not respecting it, there will be consequences," Dennison said. — To contact reporter Kathy Helms: call (928) 729-2331; fax (928) 729-2446; e-mail, khelms@frontiernet.net Thursday March 24, 2005 Selected Stories: Please send the Gallup Independent feedback on this website and the paper in general. Send questions or comments to gallpind@cia-g.com ***************************************************************** 42 Deseret News: Huntsman targets handling of nuclear waste [deseretnews.com] Friday, March 25, 2005 Huntsman wants feds to look at how it's transported and stored By Josh Loftin Deseret Morning News Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. hopes to encourage congressional leaders to change the way the United States handles nuclear waste. While trying to stop the transport of high-level nuclear waste to Utah, Huntsman said during his monthly news conference at KUED, he also wants Congress to take a broader look at how the waste is transported and stored. Whether it's in Utah or some other off-site storage facility such as Yucca Mountain in Nevada, the dangers presented by moving the waste and the limited options for storage facilities make it difficult to continue with the current waste storage proposals. "Even with Yucca Mountain, you're looking at just a temporary storage solution," Huntsman said. "And I'm saying, why do we keep moving from one temporary solution to another?" Huntsman said that he plans to discuss the issue with Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada, during the senator's visit to Utah next week. He hopes to help bring Reid, Utah's congressional delegation and other Western officials together in united opposition against storage at Western nuclear dumps for waste generated in other parts of the country. That was not the case when Congress voted on storing waste at Yucca Mountain because Utah officials feared that a vote against Yucca Mountain may have forced the waste to Skull Valley. "Congress standing up and doing something in the form of changing our storage policy in the United States is something I hope we can push. . . . I think we can find allies on both sides of the aisle," Huntsman said. "This is not a partisan issue. It is a regional issue." In addition to the nuclear waste issue, Huntsman and other state educational officials continue to work with federal officials on the No Child Left Behind mandate before an April 20 special session of the Legislature. Among his primary concerns about the NCLB are a lack of recognition for the state's own U-PASS testing system and the "one-size-fits-all" standards that do not account for unique challenges such as disabled students or those who are learning English as a second language. Other topics addressed by the governor during the half-hour news conference on the University of Utah campus, which was recorded Thursday morning and broadcast Thursday night: • Salt Lake City's measures to reduce emissions are something the state should study, Huntsman said. It is also an issue he has discussed with Mayor Rocky Anderson. • Employee morale within state government needs to be addressed, Huntsman said, especially for the veteran employees who took the most significant hit because of tightened restrictions on sick leave reimbursement at retirement. However, one of the best things for morale will be the pay increases, the "largest in years," which will take effect July 1. • A lawsuit challenging an anti-pornography bill that creates a registry of pornographic sites would not surprise him, although he said state attorneys were confident that the law would be upheld. The registry would be used by service providers, at their customers' request, to block sites with adult material. E-mail: jloftin@desnews.com © 2005 Deseret News Publishing Company ***************************************************************** 43 Lodinews.com: Lodi asks Pombo for aid Lodi, California, News By Layla Bohm News-Sentinel Staff Writer Last updated: Thursday, Mar 24, 2005 - 11:44:13 pm PST STOCKTON -- Lodi city officials Thursday asked Congressman Richard Pombo, R-Tracy, to help them find money to clean up the city's polluted groundwater -- a project that is currently estimated at $40 to $45 million. The issue is so important that officials did not ask for money for any other projects, including a proposed fire and police training center. "It's the most significant need we have," City Manager Blair King said of the contamination cleanup. "Other things we need are really just electives." Every year, cities ask their representatives for federal funding, and the requests go through an appropriation process. Pombo said he would get started on Lodi's request for roughly $1.2 million, which would pay for the installation of a cleanup system in downtown Lodi. If Pombo can find appropriations in which Lodi's request would fit, the money could come through this year, he said. If not, it will require breaking new ground and could take a couple of years. That's what Pombo did for cities in the Santa Clara Valley, where residents are dealing with water contaminated by perchlorate, a toxic chemical commonly left behind by the defense industry. The problem is so bad that residents are drinking bottled water. Earlier this month, the House of Representatives passed legislation that would give the Santa Clara Valley $25 million to help pay for cleanup. The bill must still go through the Senate. Contamination is nothing new to Pombo, who said he's been hearing about Lodi's problems since he was elected 12 years ago. "If we spent more on cleanup than on lawyers, we'd be better off," he said after meeting with Lodi officials. After spending roughly $30 million on lawyers and consultants, the City Council in January 2004 fired lead outside attorney Michael Donovan and sharply switched goals from litigation to settlement. Since then, the city has made headway on the settlement process, including settling with the News-Sentinel and Guild Cleaners. Both businesses were involved in the battle over what City Attorney Stephen Schwabauer said Thursday is the worst area of contamination. Known as the "Central Plume," it's in the heart of the city, near Church and Pine streets. "It's a two-mile-long plume at this point, and it's just getting bigger," he told Pombo. The contamination is moving south at the rate of roughly 200 feet each year, Public Works Director Richard Prima said. Two wells were closed years ago, and another well is now being closely watched because the chemicals are getting close to it. Residents are not currently in danger because the contamination is far beneath the surface of the ground, but it's resting in the groundwater, which will provide drinking water decades from now. The state limits the amount of perchloroethylene to five parts per billion, but some measurements in the Central Plume area have revealed levels of 140,000 parts per billion, Schwabauer said. Businesses involved in that area recently settled for a combined total of about $7.4 million, and the city pledged an additional $2.2 million from a settlement with its insurers. However, the $9.6 million falls well short of the estimated $20 to $24 million total for cleanup. A state water board engineer last month placed the estimate at $16 to $18 million, but that still exceeds the settlement amount. And that doesn't include the rest of the city's pollution. All told, it could total as much as $45 million, Schwabauer said. The balance will have to be paid by the city's water and sewer ratepayers. "We have no other place to go," King said. "There isn't any rabbit to pull out of a hat." 125 N. Church St. P.O. Box 1360 Lodi, CA 95241 (209) 369-2761 Fax: (209) 369-1084 Newsroom E-mail (209) 369-7035 Fax: (209) 369-6706 (209) 369-2761 Fax: (209) 369-1084 (209) 333-1111 Fax: (209) 369-1084 --> Contact Us ©2005 Lodi News-Sentinel ***************************************************************** 44 Modesto Bee JOHN KRIST: Uranium boom left the Southwest a toxic legacy Modbee.com | Scripps Howard News Service Last Updated: March 25, 2005, 05:04:00 PM PST (SH) - Among the most enduring themes in the history of the American West is the pursuit of quick wealth, egalitarian wealth, the sort of wealth that can accrue to an individual by virtue of nothing more than luck and hard work. The lure of prosperity unrelated to family pedigree, social status or access to investment capital helped drive hundreds of thousands to the gold fields of California, the silver mines of Nevada, even the rich farmland and timber at the end of the Oregon Trail. Almost inevitably, these quests for easy money - or at least easier money, compared with the pinched prospects available in the settled East - were characterized by disregard for past and future. The focus was on short-term gain rather than sustainable prosperity, on immediate exploitation without regard for consequences or the natural forces that historically shaped the landscape. No phenomenon better illustrates this potent theme in western history than the classic mining boom and its inescapable companion, the mining bust. And no mining boom-bust cycle better illustrates the often perverse and destructive nature of western prosperity over the past 150 years than the uranium boom of the 1950s, which produced a legacy that continues to haunt the region. The threat is particularly worrisome for the nearly 20 million inhabitants of the urban Southwest. In broad outline, the uranium boom was like any other mining boom in American history: a flood of amateur prospectors seeking quick wealth, consolidation in the hands of corporations, a sudden bust that left countless abandoned mines and waste piles littering the landscape. What made the uranium boom unique, however, was its brevity and the fact that there was but a single buyer for the material being mined - the U.S. government. As long as Uncle Sam was stockpiling uranium for atomic bomb production and paying a guaranteed price for all the ore anyone could find, the boom roared along, transforming the scruffy little towns of the Colorado Plateau. One of them was Moab, a sleepy farming village established by Mormon settlers in a valley near the Colorado River in eastern Utah. Moab's population soared from 1,275 in 1950 to 4,682 in 1960. Edward Abbey, who worked as a seasonal ranger in nearby Arches National Monument (now a national park) in the late 1950s, described the town in his classic book "Desert Solitaire" as "a throbbing dynamo of commerce and pleasure." Its numerous bars, he wrote, were "crowded with prospectors, miners, geologists, cowboys, truckdrivers and sheepherders, and the talk (was) loud, vigorous, blue with blasphemy." In 1962, the Atomic Energy Commission announced it had ample amounts of uranium and would phase out the buying program. Within a decade, Moab was practically a ghost town. Twenty years later, it underwent a second boom as a hub of recreation, catering to mountain bikers, climbers, backpackers, rafters plying the Colorado and Green rivers, and tourists headed to Arches and Canyonlands national parks. Across the river from Moab lies a tangible reminder of the town's past: a pile of processed uranium mining waste left behind by a mill that closed in 1984. The pile averages 94 feet tall, covers 130 acres, and contains about 12 million tons of pasty debris laced with radium, uranium, ammonia and other dangerous substances. About 15,000 gallons of contaminated water leach from the heap each day into the Colorado, source of half the supply delivered by the Metropolitan Water District to nearly 18 million people in six Southern California counties. Experts have warned that a flood could wash the entire pile into the river. The owner of the mill and the tailings pile declared bankruptcy in 1998, leaving the U.S. Department of Energy responsible for it. The DOE has dealt with other radioactive waste piles near waterways by hauling the contaminated debris away and burying it, an option that an impressive array of elected officials, water-agency managers, environmental groups and business leaders demand for the Moab pile. This time, DOE is dithering, daunted by the cost and complexity of such an effort. Instead, it is considering capping and leaving the pile in place, gambling that the Colorado will not rise up anytime over the next few centuries and send the whole poisonous mess downstream toward Phoenix, Las Vegas, Los Angeles and San Diego. A final decision is expected within a month. Whatever that decision, the Moab pile offers a lesson of enduring relevance for the West, now in the throes of another energy-exploration frenzy. Today's boom is tomorrow's bust, and there are lasting consequences when human beings rearrange the landscape in the pursuit of profit. Copyright © 2005 The Modesto Bee. ***************************************************************** 45 Las Vegas RJ: 'POTENTIAL HAZARD': State challenges Yucca rail action Friday, March 25, 2005 Energy officials accused of skipping environmental studies By STEVE TETREAULT STEPHENS WASHINGTON BUREAU Graphic by Mike Johnson. WASHINGTON -- The Energy Department rushed to begin developing a Nevada railroad line to carry nuclear waste to Yucca Mountain without completing environmental studies required by a federal law, the state charged in court documents filed Thursday. Attorneys for Nevada said the department violated the National Environmental Policy Act in a half-dozen ways, and committed other offenses, when it set out in late 2003 to mark a 319-mile path from Caliente to the proposed repository site 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas. The state urged federal judges to stop the government from moving ahead on what has been called the nation's largest rail project in 80 years. Nuclear waste shipments would create "great potential hazard to the surrounding environment, water and other natural resources," attorneys said in a brief filed with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. The filing marked a new chapter in Nevada's legal maneuvering against the Yucca program since President Bush and Congress designated the nuclear waste site in 2002. A Nevada victory in the case would not kill Yucca Mountain but would cause DOE to reconsider the railroad, causing more delays and adding to mounting questions surrounding the repository, said Bob Loux, executive director of the Agency for Nuclear Projects. "This is not a fatal issue to the overall project; but in lieu of everything else going on, if their transportation planning is set aside it will add to a growing lack of confidence in the program," Loux said. The state's legal charge comes a week after the uproar surrounding Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman's disclosure that at least one U.S. Geological Survey worker may have falsified data on climate conditions and water flow through the repository area. The government's plans to open a repository by 2010 also have been delayed by two years or more by ongoing budget troubles and a court ruling last summer that threw out a 10,000-year radiation safety standard. The Energy Department was ordered to reply to the Nevada case in a court brief by April 25. In its filing, Nevada laid out arguments that DOE violated the National Environmental Policy Act in pursuing a rail strategy to move 77,000 tons of nuclear waste and spent nuclear fuel to Yucca Mountain. DOE failed to justify its selection of the Caliente corridor in Yucca studies that it did perform, the state said. Also, without adequate justification the department revived a strategy to load railroad cars with nuclear waste casks designed to be carried by trucks, the state charged. The idea had been rejected earlier as impractical and carrying the highest safety risk, attorneys said. The state also alleged DOE usurped the authority of the Surface Transportation Board, a federal agency that would normally have jurisdiction over rail projects. The Nevada state engineer and the Bureau of Land Management, which oversees most of the property along the Caliente corridor, also were not consulted, attorneys said. Copyright Las Vegas Review-Journal ***************************************************************** 46 Las Vegas SUN: Speaker: Get former Nevada senator's statue out of U.S. Capitol By BRENDAN RILEY ASSOCIATED PRESS CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) - Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., said Thursday she'd support a move by the state Legislature to get the late Nevada Sen. Pat McCarran's statue out of the U.S. Capitol given new disclosures of his racist, anti-Semitic views. Berkley made the comment to reporters following a wide-ranging speech to state lawmakers - a speech that ranged from Social Security, Iraq and nuclear waste to the statue of 19th Century Indian activist and teacher Sarah Winnemucca of Nevada that was just placed in the Capitol. Author Michael Ybarra's new biography of McCarran, a U.S. senator from Nevada from the late 1930s to the early 1950s, describes him as a vindictive, anti-immigrant supporter of security laws that ran counter to American ideals of law and liberty. Berkley said the state Legislature would have to take the first step to get rid of McCarran's statue - and "if the Legislature decided to go in that direction, they would get no argument from me." "Having learned about Sen. McCarran, his racist views, his anti-Semitic views, I think perhaps the time has come to retire him gracefully and leave that (statue) opening for perhaps another outstanding Nevadans that will come in the future." Each state gets two statues in the Capitol. On other subjects, Berkley said: -The Bush administration must work on an exit strategy from Iraq. While the elections in Iraq are significant, she said U.S. troops can't be stretched too thin given other challenges in coming years that may include Iran, North Korea and even China. -The privatization plan for the Social Security system being pushed by President Bush "is not a sure bet." She said the system's trust fund is solvent and not in a crisis, and can pay benefits until 2041. Berkley also said the private investment accounts that Bush is promoting could suffer huge losses in the event of a stock market downturn. -Nevada lawmakers supporting Canadian imports of medical drugs deserve praise for their efforts. She said a federal law on prescription drugs was "a gift plain and simple to the pharmaceutical companies" in the U.S. -The battle against a proposed high-level radioactive waste dump in Nevada has been helped by the disclosure of faked scientific documents in support of the project. Berkley said that even the nuclear industry is now talking about alternatives such as safe storage at the sites where the waste is generated. Despite the latest disclosures, Berkley said she doubted the Bush administration would back off from the Yucca Mountain project because "they are intransigent. They don't budge." -- ***************************************************************** 47 Las Vegas SUN: Porter requests falsified papers regarding Yucca March 24, 2005 By Suzanne Struglinski SUN WASHINGTON BUREAU WASHINGTON -- Rep. Jon Porter, R-Nev., has asked the Energy and Interior departments to turn in all alleged falsified documents related to the Yucca Mountain project to his House subcommittee by the end of the month. Porter, who is chairman of the House Federal Workforce and Agency Organization Subcommittee, plans to conduct a hearing April 5 in Washington, examining the recently discovered documentation problems now under investigation by both departments. Last week, the Energy Department announced that it discovered e-mails from 1998 that indicated U.S. Geological Survey employees might have falsified scientific data while studying Yucca Mountain to serve as the nation's repository for nuclear waste. The fabricated data could affect water and climate studies at the mountain. Porter wants the departments to produce all 20 e-mails and any other documents and records related to the problems, unredacted, by March 29. Ron Martinson, the subcommittee staff director, said it is important for the subcommittee to get the clearest information and as close to the original documents as possible. Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., are scheduled to testify before the panel as well as Gov. Kenny Guinn and Virginia-based attorney Joe Egan, who represents the state on Nevada issues. Bob Loux, executive director for the Agency for Nuclear Project and Steve Frishman, a technical consultant for the state will also testify. Porter has also invited Charles Groat, director of the U.S. Geological Survey, Ted Garrish, deputy director of the Yucca Mountain project, Earl Devaney, the Interior Department inspector general and Gregory Friedman, the Energy Department inspector general and B. John Garrick, chairman of the Nuclear Waste Techincal Review board to testify. ***************************************************************** 48 Las Vegas SUN: State says feds' nuke rail plan broke laws Today: March 25, 2005 at 10:19:46 PST By Suzanne Struglinski SUN WASHINGTON BUREAU WASHINGTON -- The Energy Department violated several federal laws when it decided to build a rail line in Nevada to move waste to the potential Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository, Nevada's lawyers allege in court documents filed Thursday. In a 74-page legal brief filed in Washington, the state lays out its arguments against the Energy Department's transportation plans to ship waste across the country to Nevada. The department announced last April that it would build a 319-mile rail line in the "Caliente Corridor" to move waste to Yucca, the proposed nuclear waste repository 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas, and would use "mostly rail" to ship waste across the country. If the rail line is not be ready by the time the high-level radioactive waste needs to be moved, the department will ship the waste via truck. It is currently working on a environmental analysis of the Caliente route, which the department anticipates will be done this summer. Nevada claims this violated the National Environmental Policy Act, a federal law that requires environmental studies of federal projects. The state's lawyers argue the department did not do the required analyses prior to selecting the route and preferred method of transportation. "Lots of shortcuts were made that we think were inappropriate," said Deputy Attorney General Marta Adams. Nevada argues that the department violated the act by selecting the Caliente route without individually analyzing each transportation option. A final environmental impact statement released in February 2002 contained descriptions of the different options but the department selected the Caliente train route without even notifying citizens, ranchers or local governments about its intention to withdraw 308,600 acres of public land. Adams also said that while the department had public hearings on the project's general environmental study outside Nevada, it was unlikely residents in those areas knew the meetings were also about potentially moving waste through their states too. The state also argues that the department further violated the by failing to conduct a study on interim truck shipments and that the department moved ahead with the largest railroad construction project in 80 years without consulting the Surface Transportation Board, the federal agency that oversees rail projects. The Nevada Attorney General Brian Sandoval asked the Council on Environmental Quality to intervene regarding the board's lack of involvement with the proposed rail line, but chairman James Connaughton refused. Sandoval initiated the court case in September when he filed suit in the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, the same court that threw out the nuclear waste storage project's 10,000-year radiation standard last year. The Energy Department has until April 25 to respond to Nevada's filing and Nevada will have until May 24 to file its response to whatever the Energy Department files. Final briefs are due by June 14. There is no date set yet for oral arguments. ***************************************************************** 49 Las Vegas SUN: Columnist Jeff German: It's time for GOP to get a backbone Jeff German's column appears Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays in the Sun. Reach him at german@lasvegassun.comor (702) 259-4067. It was only a matter of time before fallout from the wounded Yucca Mountain Project reached President Bush. It came this week from an unlikely source -- Lt. Gov. Lorraine Hunt, a Republican candidate for governor who is known for attracting business to Nevada rather than pointing out the dangers of storing nuclear waste here. In the wake of revelations that government scientists may have falsified documents to move the much-delayed project along, Hunt sent a letter Wednesday to Bush urging him to re-evaluate the evidence he used in 2002 to recommend sending the deadly waste our way. Hunt told the president the revelations "put serious doubts on the truth and accuracy of the sound science" the president relied upon. They were strong words that no other ranking Nevada Republican has managed to put in writing for the president's eyes. "This is very encouraging," says Bob Loux, the state's chief Yucca Mountain watchdog. "A good case can be made that the president was duped by the Energy Department. "There's an opening here for him to basically move away from the decision if he wants to." No one, however, is willing to bet that Bush will listen to Hunt -- who's not even her party's front-runner for governor -- and change his mind about Yucca Mountain in the immediate future. But imagine the motivation the president would have to take another look at the stalled project if other top Nevada Republicans, from Gov. Kenny Guinn on down, started putting more public pressure on the president when the opportunity arose. Even as Hunt was composing her letter on Tuesday, her fellow Republicans missed another chance to confront the administration directly about Yucca Mountain. Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., and other GOP leaders let Vice President Dick Cheney come to Reno without facing a single question about the reported rigging of scientific evidence at the project. It was a replay of what happened during the 2004 president race, when Bush and Cheney stumped in Nevada many times without having to be held accountable for their decision to make us the nation's nuclear waste dumping ground. Bush ended up winning our five electoral votes and his re-election over a Democratic challenger who had vowed to kill Yucca Mountain if he got to the White House. Just as in the campaign, reporters in Reno Tuesday weren't allowed to question Cheney, and the Ensign-led Republicans baby-sitting the vice president didn't lift a finger to put him on the hot seat. The Republicans showed the lack of backbone we've come to expect from them in this fight since Bush was first elected in 2000. Once more they made us look like fools. "They've helped the president carry the state twice, and he's done nothing but screw us ever since," says former Democratic Gov. Bob Miller. And the president will continue to screw us until Nevada Republicans have the courage to stand up to him when it counts. ***************************************************************** 50 Las Vegas SUN: Yucca Mountain woes giving push to alternate storage plans By ERICA WERNER ASSOCIATED PRESS WASHINGTON (AP) - As problems mount with the government's plan to open a national nuclear waste dump in Nevada, lawmakers and industry officials are increasingly pushing for a Plan B. After the most recent setback for Yucca Mountain - a revelation last week that government workers on the planned dump may have falsified documents - a key House Republican urged the Energy Department to look at temporary waste storage solutions. And Senate Energy Committee Chairman Pete Domenici, R-N.M., is promoting talk of alternatives to Yucca Mountain, while nuclear utilities are already looking into other options. Many have begun building onsite storage for spent fuel and moving forward with plans for a private waste dump in Utah. They also are pursuing lawsuits against the government, seeking reimbursement for the cost of temporary waste storage. While the Energy Department remains committed to Yucca Mountain, there's a growing consensus that the dump - scheduled until recently to open in 2010 but now delayed indefinitely - can no longer be considered the only answer for disposing of the nation's nuclear waste. "What matters is getting rid of the fuel," said attorney Jerry Stouck, who represents nuclear utilities in lawsuits against the government. "I don't think Yucca Mountain is so important as a solution." Yucca Mountain, approved by Congress in 2002, is planned as a repository for 77,000 tons of defense waste and used reactor fuel from commercial power plants. The material is supposed to be buried for at least 10,000 years beneath the desert 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas. But the project has suffered serious setbacks, including funding problems and an appeals court decision last summer that's forcing a rewrite of radiation exposure limits for the site. Some 55,000 tons of commercial reactor fuel and 16,000 tons of high-level defense waste are already waiting at sites in 39 states. The government, which originally promised nuclear utilities it would begin accepting their spent fuel in 1998, is facing billions of dollars in lawsuits for failing to make good on that pledge. That mounting liability prompted Rep. David Hobson, R-Ohio, last week to urge the Energy Department official in charge of Yucca - Theodore Garrish - to start looking at alternatives. Hobson, chairman of the House Appropriations Committee panel that oversees the project, proposed an interim, aboveground storage facility at the Nevada Test Site or elsewhere to accept waste for up to 500 years, giving scientists time to develop new disposal solutions. "It doesn't take brain science to think that we could save money in the long run to get this stuff out of where it is and live up to an obligation, a contractual obligation," Hobson told Garrish at a hearing. He also suggested another look at reprocessing used reactor fuel. Garrish said the Energy Department remained "100 percent committed" to Yucca, but said he understood Hobson's complaints. Hobson's ideas aren't new. The Energy Department pursued interim "monitored retrievable storage" facilities in the late 1980s and early 1990s before abandoning the idea. The Bush administration has also proposed reviving reprocessing, which the United States abandoned in the 1970s over fears the resulting plutonium could be seized by terrorists or a rogue state. Yucca Mountain's chronic delays are forcing the ideas to the surface again, even from supporters. "There has been a sea change in the way the nuclear community looks at Yucca Mountain," said Marnie Funk, spokeswoman for Domenici, the Energy Committee chairman who is a Yucca backer but nonetheless is open to such discussions. "People are no longer saying Yucca Mountain has to be finished in order for the nuclear industry to have a revival in this country. You can still have a nuclear renaissance without Yucca Mountain, but that would mean at some point other options have to be discussed." The Justice Department settled a suit with Chicago-based electric utility Exelon Corp. last August for a sum that could rise to $600 million if Yucca Mountain doesn't open until 2015. Other suits are moving forward, including one by the Sacramento Municipal Utility District that began this week in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims. Damages against the government are estimated at $2 billion to $3 billion if Yucca Mountain opens in 2010, 12 years after the government's contractual obligation to start storing the nation's nuclear waste, Garrish told lawmakers. Damages could be $1 billion a year after that, meaning the project's annual liability costs would nearly match its projected budget needs. The Energy Department has estimated the total cost of the project at $58 billion, but critics say it could rise much higher. In recognition of the delays, President Bush's 2006 budget request for the project was $651 million, about half what the Energy Department originally envisioned. Meanwhile, a group of eight utility companies is moving forward with plans for a private, aboveground dump on an Indian reservation in Utah. That won approval in February from a licensing board and is awaiting final Nuclear Regulatory Commission approval. Utah's congressional delegation opposes the project just as strenuously as Nevada lawmakers - including Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid - oppose Yucca Mountain. Now, many Utah officials say they're beginning to agree with Nevadans, who favor leaving the waste permanently at utility sites. The nuclear industry and the Energy Department oppose that idea. "Pretty much the whole Utah delegation voted to do Yucca Mountain, and the premise there was we want that finished so it's not stuck in Utah," said Rep. Chris Cannon, R-Utah. "But since that vote the world has changed a lot. It just sees to me that the transition has been such that it now becomes reasonable to say not Utah, not Nevada, nowhere." --- On the Net: Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management: http://www.ymp.gov State of Nevada Agency for Nuclear Projects: http://www.state.nv.us/nucwaste Nuclear Regulatory Commission: http://www.nrc.gov -- ***************************************************************** 51 Salt Lake Tribune: Governor opposes Yucca N-dump Article Last Updated: 03/25/2005 02:08:18 AM wants to keep the waste where it is Storage fight: He's against hauling material across Utah, and said he plans to meet with Nevada's Sen. Reid By Rebecca Walsh The Salt Lake Tribune Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. said Thursday he does not support dumping the nation's radioactive waste at Nevada's Yucca Mountain - a position that separates the new governor from Utah's two U.S. senators. At his monthly KUED press conference Thursday, Huntsman acknowledged he does not like the idea of shipping spent nuclear fuel rods cross-country - and across Utah - from power plants in the east to the concrete bunker in the desert outside Las Vegas. Instead, the governor believes Congress should adopt a national storage policy that favors keeping casks of nuclear waste where they are. "I don't think there's any reason we should be in the transportation and storage of this material," Huntsman said. "Even if we did Yucca Mountain, we wouldn't be able to store all of [the nuclear waste] we have to be stored today. You're just looking at a very temporary solution," he added. "Why do we keep going from one temporary solution to another?" The governor said he plans to meet with Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, a Democrat from Nevada, next week to discuss the issue. Reid will speak April 1 at the University of Utah's Hinckley Institute of Politics. Three years ago, Reid openly chastised Utah Sens. Bob Bennett and Orrin Hatch after they voted to open Yucca Mountain, saying it would head off Private Fuel Storage's plans to temporarily store 44,000 tons of nuclear waste on the Skull Valley Goshute Indian Reservation in Tooele County until Yucca is completed. The two continue to push Yucca as an alternative to the utility consortium's efforts to store the spent fuel in above-ground casks in Utah. Bennett spokeswoman Mary Jane Collipriest did not return a call for comment Thursday. While Huntsman did not criticize Utah's senators - who "were put in a very delicate situation" - the governor said having Reid as an ally could help the state stop PFS' plans. "We can find allies on both sides of the issue," he said. "It's helpful to be of one mind and one voice in this situation." Highlights of the governor's news conference: l Defended firing the state's top utility watchdog, Utah Committee of Consumer Services Director Roger Ball, as the prerogative of any governor to replace his or her predecessor's political appointees. He insists the selection of Ball's replacement, former telephone company lobbyist Leslie Reberg, will be "subject to a very open and transparent process. . . . All I'm looking for is a new person with a fresh set of eyeballs to do what we think is best for the consumer," he said. l Said he is considering putting some of Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson's ideas for reducing greenhouse gases into place in state government, including adjusting heating and lighting in state buildings. l Noting "abuses" of redevelopment law, explained that he signed a controversial moratorium on city and county redevelopment projects to establish a one-year "cooling-off period," giving legislators time to draft "better RDA policy." © Copyright 2005, The Salt Lake Tribune. ***************************************************************** 52 Valley Morning Star: Risky options to Yucca Mountain www.valleystar.com We don’t entirely blame Sen. Harry Reid and other members of Nevada’s congressional delegation for working every angle they can when trying to derail the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository. No matter how safe the waste will be when stored deep inside a mountain on the Nevada Test Site, no one, understandably, would be enthusiastic about playing host to it. But Reid’s latest proposal — to permanently leave this radioactive material at dozens of sites where it’s temporarily stored — is so reckless that it actually serves to reinforce the need for Yucca Mountain. After all, if the remote, secure, exhaustively studied Yucca Mountain isn’t a safe enough place to store these materials — as Reid and other critics of the project contend — how much more risky is it to create dozens of far less safe, far less secure sites around the country? That only expands the list of potential targets for terrorists and nuclear proliferators, and multiplies, many times over, the danger of environmental contamination. In addition, this approach effectively would kill off a nuclear energy industry that generates 20 percent of U.S. electricity, because the reactors would have to go cold once temporary, on-site storage reaches capacity. "It should be clear to anyone that this project is not going anywhere," Reid said at a budget hearing (though he neglected to explain that it wasn’t going anywhere because of the obstructionism of himself and a handful of anti-nuclear activists). "One option may be for the federal government to take responsibility for the nuclear waste at the reactor sites. This is the right thing to do and I look forward to discussing this option with my colleagues." We can only hope his colleagues slam the door in Reid’s face once they recognize the implications of the plan. At present, tons of highly radioactive waste is being held at temporary storage sites across the country, usually right alongside the reactors that generate it. Many of these sites are in densely populated areas. Clearly, this is not an ideal situation from an environmental or security standpoint. These wastes were supposed to be moved to a central repository for long-term safekeeping, paid for with $10.5 billion that energy companies have been paying the federal government, based on Uncle Sam’s promise to come up with a permanent solution. After exhaustive analysis, the storage options were narrowed to Yucca Mountain. But anti-nuclear activists and a handful of politicians, including Reid, have done everything possible to delay or derail the project. The tactics not only threaten to choke off nuclear power generation, because plants will have to shut down once temporary storage facilities reach capacity, but it’s costing taxpayers millions of dollars in payouts to companies that were promised a solution. Last fall, the federal government agreed to pay at least $300 million to nuclear power companies because of the delay, and it faces similar fines and payouts unless Yucca Mountain is opened as promised. "With other utilities waiting in line to file similar suits, experts said (the Department of Energy) could owe estimated damages from $2 billion to $56 billion," according to one news story. "The agreement means that taxpayers in every state, including those who do not receive electricity supplies from nuclear power plants, are now officially paying the cost of the federal government’s failure to meet its obligations," said a spokesperson for the Nuclear Energy Institute. Yucca Mountain isn’t a perfect solution. But it’s the best alternative available at the moment and far, far better than permanently storing radioactive waste where it is. Reid reportedly is preparing legislation to execute his plan. We hope, when other members of Congress understand the bill’s dangerous and costly implications, it will suffer a much-deserved meltdown. Posted on Mar 25, 05 | 6:58 am Printer Friendly Version What's your Opinion? ***************************************************************** 53 ITAR-TASS: Russian atomic industry will not be short of natural uranium 25.03.2005, 15.23 MOSCOW, March 25 (Itar-Tass) - “Russia’s nuclear energy sector is steadily developing and this calls for increasing amounts of uranium to be mined”, Vice-President of the TVEL State Corporation Stanislav Golovinsky told Itar-Tass. The TVEL Corporation, he noted, is the only company “that is mining natural uranium in Russia today”. This job “is being done by the corporation’s three daughter enterprises: the Priargunskoye Mining and Chemical Complex in Chita Region, which annually mines three thousand tons of uranium, the Dalur Association in Kurgan Region, and the Khiagda Association in Buryatia”. The output of the two latter enterprises will reach one thousand tons of natural uranium each within the next five years. In the opinion of the TVEL vice-president, “more than five thousand tons of natural uranium will be extracted in Russia in the foreseeable future, while the annual requirement of the country’s atomic industry stands at eight thousand tons”. The shortage, Golovinsky explained, “will be made up from the available stockpiles of uranium and by processing irradiated nuclear fuel”. Officials of the corporation also said the output of uranium in the country “is to be guaranteed after 2010 by sinking new uranium mines”. Golovinsky said “new large uranium-mining enterprises could be built on the basis of some large deposits in South Yakutia. The first uranium from those mines is expected to be obtained by 2015,” he added. True, Golovinsky noted, “these deposits, sufficient for fifty years to come, cannot be tapped without government support”. Moreover, TVEL officials stated, “new uranium deposits are most likely to be found also in Karelia and East Siberia”. In 2004, the corporation “had invested in 51.5 million roubles in geological prospecting". © ITAR-TASS. All rights reserved. You undertake not to copy, ***************************************************************** 54 Pahrump Valley Times: Weapons-grade nuke material shipments to Nevada delayed March 25, 2005 By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS LAS VEGAS - Additional shipments of weapons-grade nuclear materials from New Mexico to the Nevada Test Site have been delayed until the end of the year. The delay was caused by last summer's shutdown of Los Alamos National Laboratory, said Linton Brooks, chief of the National Nuclear Security Administration. "We will have half the material in Nevada by the end of the year," Brooks told the House Energy and Commerce subcommittee on oversight and investigations during a hearing Friday in Washington, D.C. NNSA began shipping nuclear materials in September to the site's underground Device Assembly Facility, which is considered far more secure than the current storage location at Los Alamos. The lab was virtually shut down last July after reports surfaced that two classified computer disks had disappeared. An investigation later determined they never existed. But some of the lab's normal activities did not resume until February. As a result, more shipments that had been scheduled for September of this year will be postponed until mid-November, Brooks said. "The rest of the material will be moved ... to another location in Los Alamos temporarily, and then will be moved to Nevada over the next couple of years," Brooks said. Danielle Brian, executive director of the watchdog group Project On Government Oversight, accused Los Alamos officials of purposefully creating the delay and said nuclear material from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory near San Francisco also should be transferred to the underground Nevada facility. "Removing all special nuclear materials from these facilities eliminates security vulnerabilities at those facilities while dramatically decreasing security costs," Brian said. "An underground facility would be much harder to penetrate and would serve as a greater deterrent to terrorists." For comment or questions, please e-mail webmaster@pahrumpvalleytimes.com Copyright © Pahrump Valley Times, 1997 - 2005 ***************************************************************** 55 NRC: Notice of Availability of Interim Staff Guidance Documents For FR Doc 05-5902 [Federal Register: March 25, 2005 (Volume 70, Number 57)] [Notices] [Page 15371] From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr25mr05-91] Fuel Cycle Facilities AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission. ACTION: Notice of availability. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Wilkins Smith, Project Manager, Technical Support Group, Division of Fuel Cycle Safety and Safeguards, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20005-0001. Telephone: (301) 415- 5788; fax number: (301) 415-5370; e-mail: . SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: I. Introduction The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is preparing and issuing Interim Staff Guidance (ISG) documents for fuel cycle facilities. These ISG documents provide clarifying guidance to the NRC staff when reviewing licensee integrated safety analyses, license applications or amendment requests or other related licensing activities for fuel cycle facilities under subpart H of 10 CFR part 70. The NRC is soliciting public comments on two ISG Draft documents (ISG-01 and -04) which will be considered in the final versions or subsequent revisions. ISG-03 has been issued and is provided for information. II. Summary The purpose of this notice is to provide the public an opportunity to review and comment on the Interim Staff Guidance documents for fuel cycle facilities. Draft Interim Staff Guidance-01, Version 02, provides guidance to NRC staff relative to methods for qualitative evaluation of likelihood in the context of a review of a license application or amendment request under 10 CFR part 70, subpart H. ISG-01, Version 02, has been generally revised based on NRC staff and public comments on the initial version. Interim Staff Guidance-03, Revision 0 has been approved and issued and provides guidance to NRC staff relative to relationships between 10 CFR part 70, subpart H, nuclear criticality safety performance requirements and the double contingency principle. Draft Interim Staff Guidance-04, Version 0 provides guidance to NRC staff relative to baseline design criteria for new facilities and new processes at existing facilities. III. Further Information Documents related to this action are available electronically at the NRC's Electronic Reading Room at . From this site, you can access the NRC's Agencywide Document Access and Management System (ADAMS), which provides text and image files of NRC's public documents. The ADAMS accession numbers for the documents related to this notice are provided in the following table. If you do not have access to ADAMS or if there are problems in accessing the documents located in ADAMS, contact the NRC Public Document Room (PDR) Reference staff at 1-800-397-4209, 301-415-4737, or by e-mail to . ----------------------------------------------------------------- ------- Interim staff guidance ADAMS accession number ----------------------------------------------------------------- ------- Interim Staff Guidance-01, Version 02..... ML050690286. Interim Staff Guidance-03, Revision 0..... ML050690302. Interim Staff Guidance-04, Version 0...... ML050690296. ----------------------------------------------------------------- ------- These documents may also be viewed electronically on the public computers located at the NRC's PDR, O 1 F21, One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD 20852. The PDR reproduction contractor will copy documents for a fee. Comments and questions on ISG-01 and ISG-04 should be directed to the NRC contact listed below by April 25, 2005. Comments received after this date will be considered if it is practical to do so, but assurance of consideration cannot be given to comments received after this date. Wilkins Smith, Project Manager, Technical Support Group, Division of Fuel Cycle Safety and Safeguards, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20005-0001. Comments can also be submitted by telephone, fax, or e-mail which are as follows: Telephone: (301) 415-5788; fax number: (301) 415-5370; e-mail: . Dated in Rockville, Maryland this 18th day of March, 2005. For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. David H. Tiktinsky, Acting Chief, Technical Support Group, Division of Fuel Cycle Safety and Safeguards, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards. [FR Doc. 05-5902 Filed 3-24-05; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590-01-P ***************************************************************** 56 SimiValley Acorn: Field lab cleanup encouraged Report is issued By Michelle Knight knight@theacorn.com March 25, 2005 Another chapter opened last week in the complex and controverisal saga of the Santa Susana Field Lab when an environmental group released a report saying not enough is being done to clean up the site. Located in the hills southeast of Simi Valley, the field lab was home to nuclear reactors in the 1950s. The site now tests rocket engines. The lab was purchased by the Boeing Co. in 1996 when Boeing bought Rocketdyne Propulsion & Power. (Boeing announced recently that it will sell Rocketdyne to a Connecticut-based firm but that the field lab would stay with Boeing.) Home builders and other developers have been attracted to the area, but environmentalists say the property isn’t fit for development because the soil and ground water hold several known cancer-causing contaminates. They claim the Department of Energy isn’t doing enough to clean it up. Dan Hirsch, a retired professor and president of the environmental watchdog group Committee to Bridge the Gap, released a two-year study last week that compared the clean-up standards used by the Department of Energy, which is charged with cleaning up radiation contamination at testing sites around the country, including the Santa Susana Field Lab, with those of the Environmental Protection Agency. "The Department of Energy is permitting doses almost 100 times higher," said Hirsch. Department officials were sent a copy of the study last year, but they have yet to respond, Hirsch said. GreenPark Management LLC said it wants to build more than 300 homes and perhaps an 18-hole golf course in Runkle Canyon, situated about a mile or so from the field lab. The Simi Valley City Council approved an environmental impact report on the project last April. Mike Sedell, Simi Valley city manager, received a copy of Hirsch’s study. He said the city council will want to be involved if it’s shown there truly is an environmental concern with the property. However, the city must depend on the expertise of federal and state agencies in situations such as this. The city will want to know "what is the bottom line for safety for the public?" Sedell said, adding that the city will closely monitor the situation and watch for a response from the Department of Energy, the EPA and from elected state and federal representatives. ***************************************************************** 57 Rocky Mountain News: CH2M to continue work on Idaho nuke cleanup Thursday, Mar 24 $2.9 billion contract for ex-weapons site By Gargi Chakrabarty, Rocky Mountain News Denver's CH2M HILL and its partner, the Washington Group, have bagged a $2.9 billion federal contract to continue to clean up the Idaho National Laboratory's former nuclear weapons site in eastern Idaho. The U.S. Department of Energy awarded the contract this week to CH2M-WG Idaho LLC, a joint venture between the two companies. The seven-year cleanup project, spread over an 890-square-mile site, will employ more than 2,600 workers. CH2M-WG will begin the cleanup work May 1. The contract runs through Sept. 20, 2012. "We are pleased to announce this selection to ensure a seamless transition and continued excellence in our cleanup effort," said Samuel Bodman, the newly appointed U.S. energy secretary, referring to the companies' previous cleanup efforts at the site. "By awarding this project, we are one step closer to achieving the vision laid out by Idaho's 2012 plan." Stephen Hanks, president and CEO of the Boise-based Washington Group, said: "Washington Group has been a contractor at the site for more than a half-century, during which time we either designed, built or operated many of the primary facilities on the site." The 2012 plan involves cleaning up the former nuclear weapons development site and preparing it for the research and development of advanced nuclear reactors to generate electricity. CH2M-HILL joined Kaiser Group Holdings Inc. to clean up Rocky Flats, which formerly made triggers for nuclear weapons at a plant 16 miles northwest of Denver. That partnership, Kaiser-Hill Co., is on track to complete the Rocky Flats cleanup in 2005, nearly one year ahead of schedule. It hopes to complete the project for millions of dollars less than the budgeted amount. "We have done an outstanding job at Rocky Flats because we have an outstanding work force here. We also have an outstanding work force in Idaho," said CH2M HILL spokesman John Corsi. "We are honored to have the Idaho cleanup contract." Corsi said many workers involved with the Rocky Flats cleanup would be transferred to Idaho. The contract calls for CH2M-WG Idaho to treat and dispose of radioactive waste. It will dig up buried waste and transfer it to licensed disposal sites across the country. It also will safely store spent nuclear fuel rods and reclaim the environment. chakrabartyg@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-892-2976 SITE MAP PHOTO REPRINTS CORRECTIONS 2005 © The E.W. Scripps ***************************************************************** 58 ENS: Nuclear Cleanup Team for Hanford's River Corridor Chosen Environment News Service (ENS) WASHINGTON, DC, March 25, 2005 (ENS) – A new contract has been awarded for cleanup and remediation of radioactive contamination along the Columbia River Corridor on the Hanford Nuclear Reservation in southeastern Washington. The contract calls for cleaning up and taking down hundreds of obsolete facilities, remediating nuclear waste sites and burial grounds and placing deactivated plutonium production reactors into stable condition at the Department of Energy (DOE) facility. Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman said Wednesday that Washington Closure, LLC, a new limited liability corporation, has been selected to do this work. The five member team includes the Washington Group International Inc., Bechtel National Inc., CH2M Hill Inc., Eberline Services Inc., and Integrated Logistics Services Inc. The Washington Closure team is expected to be at work at the end of June after a 90 day ramp up period. But several components of the new team are the same as those of the group that has been in place since 1994. The current holder of the Environmental Restoration Contract (ERC) is Bechtel Hanford Inc. and its preselected subcontractors - CH2M Hill Hanford Inc. and Eberline Services Hanford Inc. The Columbia River Corridor encompasses 210 square miles along the outer edge of the 586 square mile Hanford Nuclear Site. The contract does not cover Hanford's central plateau where 177 underground storage tanks containing more than 50 million gallons of high-level liquid waste are located. [demolition] An obsolete building at Hanford is demolished. (Photo courtesy DOE Hanford) Work will include projects in Hanford’s 100 Area, where nine plutonium production reactors created material for nuclear weapons; the 300 Area, where uranium fuel was fabricated and laboratory facilities are located; facilities in the 400 Area, except the Fast Flux Test Facility; and two complex and highly radioactive burial grounds in the 600 Area. In November 2004, Washington voters approved Initiative 297, mandating cleanup of the massive contamination at Hanford, considered the most polluted site in the Western Hemisphere by the environmental groups that campaigned for passage of the measure. Congress has given states the legal authority to stop the DOE from adding more waste where ground water already is contaminated and hazardous wastes are not stored in compliance with applicable laws. This is the authority that I-297 utilizes. Nevada, New Mexico and other states have made use of this authority to stop additional dumping at contaminated sites in their states. Betty Means served as the campaign manager for Yes On I-297. She wrote in 2004, "The initiative requires that Hanford be cleaned up before any new waste is brought to the site. In the process, it protects the cleanup from budget cuts of nearly $1 billion between next year and 2011 - cuts already approved by the Department of Energy and the federal Office of Management and Budget. It will stop efforts to leave waste in the soil or at the bottom of leaking tanks." The DOE said in a statement Thursday, "We will prioritize demolition of facilities based on the hazard they present to workers, the public and the environment." From 1943 to 1987 Hanford produced plutonium for nuclear weapons, using nuclear reactors built along the Columbia river. Since the production of plutonium ceased, Hanford’s only mission has been cleanup. The DOE's Richland Operations Offices has set goals for the River Corridor Closure project. By December 31, 2005, the DOE wants the contractor to move all spent nuclear fuel into safe storage on Hanford’s Central Plateau. In addition, the contractor is tasked with remediation of 436 waste disposal sites, and the cocooning of five of eight nuclear reactors. The contractor will have to deactivate the 300 Area’s two radiological laboratories and demolish at least 30 percent of the buildings in the 300 Area. And the contractor must establish "a scientifically-sound, comprehensive strategy" to control 100 Area groundwater contamination sources. The goal of these activities is to clean up and make available for other uses 65 percent of the Hanford Site. “Awarding this important and high-profile contract is a major step forward in the Hanford cleanup,” Bodman said. “It will get us the best of what both large and small businesses have to offer – experience, innovation, and performance – to ensure we meet our commitment of safe, protective cleanup of this key area within the Hanford Site.” [map] This map of the Hanford Nuclear Reservation near Richland, Washington shows the areas covered by the Columbia River Corridor contract. (Map courtesy DOE) The “cost-plus-incentive-fee” contract is valued at approximately $1.9 billion over seven years, a savings of $2 billion to $3 billion over prior Hanford Site cleanup estimates. For every dollar the work comes in under Washington Closure’s “target cost,” the company will receive $.20 in additional fee; for every dollar in increased expense, it will lose $.20 in fee. There are also enforceable contractual requirements for small business participation. Sixty percent of the work must be subcontracted – with 50 percent of that subcontracted work going to small business. A minimum of three of every 10 contract dollars will flow to small business. The goal is to clean up this area of the Hanford Site by 2015, with incentives for Washington Closure to accelerate completion to 2012. Regulatory cleanup agreements will be met and Bodman said that early cleanup priorities will focus on those projects that pose the greatest risk to the environment. “Three qualified teams with the capability to perform this project each submitted a proposal,” said Paul Golan, principal deputy assistant secretary for environmental management. The Washington Closure proposal was "an obvious best value" he said. Earlier this week the DOE announced another nuclear cleanup contract to be completed by 2012, this one for the Idaho National Laboratory, where many tons of highly radioactive waste are situated. Read the full ENS report by clicking here. Copyright Environment News Service (ENS) 2005. All Rights ***************************************************************** 59 Tri-City Herald: Centenarian celebrates a life tied to Hanford This story was published Friday, March 25th, 2005 By Annette Cary, Herald staff writer Nicholas A. Speed Jr. still can tell you the day he started work at Hanford during the race to produce plutonium for the nuclear bomb that helped end World War II: June 19, 1944. He'd left his family in Arkansas to earn a better living at Hanford. At the time, the average length of employment was 10 days, he said. Workers quickly became discouraged with the bleak environment and fierce dust storms. But Speed stuck it out. Today, he'll celebrate his 100th birthday, still living in the same government-built duplex he was assigned within months of beginning work. He's the patriarch of a large extended family that would make its way from Arkansas to build a better life in the Tri-Cities. It was just one of many extended families to arrive in the Tri-Cities the same way from the South, a trend that often seems to be overlooked as the history of the area is retold, say his two sons. "That was a hard, hard period," said one of those sons, Nicholas Speed III of Hermiston. The South was still trying to recover from the Depression, and years of cotton crops had depleted the farmland. The younger Speed's father, known as Nick to co-workers and Allen to family, had made a deal with a brother-in-law, who wanted Allen Speed's help to get his sons out of small-farm poverty. The brother-in-law would take care of the Speed homestead in Heber Springs, Ark., if Speed would take his nephews one at a time, help them get jobs and train them in a craft. Speed worked construction jobs, lending tools to his nephews and vouching for them to the hiring boss. One of Speed's jobs was helping build the Oak Ridge, Tenn., plant, the first research and manufacturing site for the Manhattan Project, which developed the atomic bomb. As that job was finishing, he heard that workers were needed for a government project in Washington. "They gave me $50, and I drove my own car out," Allen Speed said. One of the nephews he'd helped was already working at Hanford, and Allen Speed came out with a brother-in-law. As soon as they found apartments in Prosser, their families joined them. "You got housing where you found it," as thousands of people came to the desert to build Hanford, said Nicholas Speed III. "People were living in tents and barracks. People were living a lot farther than Prosser." The family had lived in a vacant chicken coop during a previous construction job, and Allen Speed's wife, Ollie, had used a tent to cook for the family and other construction workers. By fall 1944, the family was assigned a B House in Richland, then a government-owned town. "She was so happy to have a nice place," Nicholas Speed III said about his mother. That was despite the sand that drifted in around the window sills, driven by what workers called the "termination winds." They knew many of their co-workers would resign after each storm. "Sometimes you minded it," Allen Speed said. "It got so thick you couldn't see." Allen Speed liked the work. "I helped build those reactors out there, from digging and pouring the foundations to laying the lead bricks on the roofs," he said. The project was top secret until newspapers announced that two atomic bombs had been dropped on Japan, and Hanford had made the plutonium for one of them. "Didn't anybody know what we was doing or what we was amaking," Allen Speed said. For him, "It was just another construction job." He spent much of his career as a machinist at the H Reactor site, enjoying the precise work. He never thought seriously of returning to Arkansas. And many of his relatives had moved to the Tri-Cities by the early '50s. Workers who brought their families tended to stay, said Nicholas Speed III. Allen Speed's widowed mother came out and took a job in a Hanford cafeteria. And many of the nephews he helped learn a trade, his wife's four sisters and two of his sisters and their families came to the Tri-Cities. Not all the people he helped get settled were family. One was Curtis Snow of Richland, who'd lived on a farm near the Speeds in Arkansas. "If I needed to talk to someone, needed fatherly advice or a friend, I'd go see him," Snow said. Allen Speed had a good reputation with his co-workers, too, for being honest and fair, Snow said. Allen Speed made a good life for himself in Richland. After Ollie died, he met his present wife, Leola, playing cards at the Pasco senior center. They've been married for 33 years. He grew up on a farm with horses and rode a mule as a young boy to make deliveries from his father's grocery and butcher shop. The horses he kept on pasture in West Richland were a reminder of home, Snow believes. He's particularly fond of Tennessee walkers. He cared for the horses and rode them until his early 90s and drove a car until a few years ago. Now he cares for his yard, although he thinks he'll find someone to mow it for him this summer. "He still walks and stands straight as a string," Snow said. Allen Speed said maybe having a wonderful wife is part of why he's lived so long. But Snow said it's because "of his kind disposition and caring about everyone." * Reporter Annette Cary can be reached at 582-1533 or via e-mail at acary@tri-cityherald.com. © 2005 Tri-City Herald, Associated Press &Other Wire Services ***************************************************************** 60 lamonitor.com: UC, LANL team joined by state Universities The Online News Source for Los Alamos ROGER SNODGRASS, roger@lamonitor.com, Monitor Assistant Editor A trio of New Mexico Universities will participate in a new Institute for Advanced Studies in affiliation with Los Alamos National Laboratory. The announcement by the University of California Thursday named the University of New Mexico, New Mexico State University and New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology as potential partners should the UC Board of Regents decide to compete for the contract to manage LANL. The arrangement recognizes the universities, to be known as the New Mexico Consortium, as the first academic partners UC intends to include on its management team. The partnership is contingent upon UC winning the contract award. Gov. Bill Richardson said in a release the collaboration was something he has encouraged. "(F)or too long academic institutions in New Mexico were on the outside looking in at educational partnerships and opportunities at Los Alamos National Laboratory," he said in an announcement Thursday. "I applaud the University of California for recognizing the research potential that these fine institutions have to offer the lab and the nation." Sen. Pete Domenici, R-NM, also praised the arrangement. "Our New Mexico universities have evolved into reputable research institutions and have plenty to offer to advance LANL research missions," Domenici said in a statement. "I see their collaboration with the University of California as evidence that UC is actively working to present a reconfigured and competitive bid to remain the contractor at LANL. I only wish UC didn't tie this sort of effort to winning the contract and would, instead, pursue them as a matter of course." Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-NM, also agreed. "UNM, NMSU, and New Mexico Tech are top-notch scientific research institutions, and together they would be a tremendous asset to Los Alamos National Laboratory," Bingaman said in a statement. "I applaud their efforts to join forces to assist the lab." The selection of the next manager of the laboratory is expected by the end of September this year, for a contract that would begin next April. The three institutions of higher learning have all signed Memoranda of Understanding with the University of California and LANL in the last year. The Institute for Advanced Studies would become a research and education center where New Mexico students could take part in fundamental and applied research activities in association with the laboratory. Fields of collaboration could include astronomy, biology, computational science, environmental science, energetic materials, materials science, optics, quantum computing, water and radioisotopes, among others to be considered. © 2003 Los Alamos Monitor All Rights Reserved. ***************************************************************** 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: *****************************************************************