***************************************************************** 04/21/05 **** RADIATION BULLETIN(RADBULL) **** VOL 13.91 ***************************************************************** 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: Guardian Unlimited: Energy Bill Glance 2 US: Washington post: Bush Urges Action 'Now' On Energy 3 US: TomPaine.com: Polluter-Friendly Energy 4 US: Public Citizen: It’s Time to Admit Failure; Latest Energy Bill 5 US: TomPaine.com: The Do-Nothing Energy Bill 6 [progchat_action] Belgium Acts Against US Nukes! 7 RIA Novosti: NUCLEAR TALKS GOING ON WELL - ROWHANI 8 UK: FT.com: Ministers dogged by nuclear energy matters 9 The Whitehaven News: BNFL BOSS FUELS POLL BIAS STORM NUCLEAR REACTORS 10 US: [du-list] NRC investigation documents from 2000 petition 11 US: [CMEP] Davis-Besse fine too little too late 12 US: [NukeNet] Fwd: [Know_Nukes] $5, 450, 000 FINE FOR DAVIS-BESSE 13 US: Guardian Unlimited: Ohio Nuclear Operator May Face Record Fine 14 US: Columbia Tribune: NRC cites minor incidents at Callaway 15 US: newsobserver.com: Progress looks at nuclear expansion 16 US: Las Vegas RJ: Senator presses NRC member on repository 17 US: Tufts Daily - Film festival tackles nuclear power's tarnished le 18 US: Las Vegas SUN: Fine Proposed Against Nuke Plant Operator 19 US: toledoblade: NRC proposes $5.45M fine against FirstEnergy for Da 20 US: NRC: NRC Begins Special Inspection at Millstone Unit 3 Nuclear P 21 US: NRC: NRC to Discuss 2004 Performance Assessment for James A. Fit 22 US: NRC: NRC to Discuss 2004 Performance Assessment for Nine Mile Po 23 US: NRC: NRC Finds No Significant Environmental Impacts from Extende 24 US: NRC: $5,450,000 Fine for Davis-Besse Reactor Vessel Head Violati NUCLEAR SECURITY 25 [NYTr] US Threatens Intervention in N.Korea 26 US: Bolton will trigger nuclear war 27 US: DNFSB: FOIA Fee Schedule Update 28 Korea Herald: [EDITORIAL] U.N. sanctions on N.K.? 29 Bellona: Foreign aid for Russian nuclear submarines dismantling reac 30 Xinhua: S. Korea urges North back to talks 31 AFP: SKorea says UN referral of North Korea would be a misstep Messe 32 St. Petersburg Times: Rosatom Sees Cash in Foreign Nuclear Subs - NUCLEAR SAFETY 33 Pravda: Russian consumers destined to buy radioactive vegetables and 34 US: toledoblade.com: Neighbors fear delay in beryllium site cleanup 35 The Whitehaven News: MYSTERY OVER RADIATION SPIKE NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE 36 US: Rocky Mountain News: State studies plan for radioactive waste 37 Las Vegas SUN: Nevada lawmakers claim tide shifting on Yucca Mountai 38 Las Vegas RJ: Nevadans sketch Yucca game plan 39 Las Vegas SUN: Assembly passes bill to toughen ethics rules 40 Las Vegas SUN: Goodman wants state law banning nuke waste transport 41 Wandsworth Guardian: Trains carrying nuclear waste will be tested fo PEACE 42 US: ABC7Chicago.com: Kerr-McGee agrees to cleanup West Chicago Super US DEPT. OF ENERGY 43 DOE: Office of Arms Control and Nonproliferation; Proposed Subsequen 44 Tennessean: Uranium deposits will be recovered - 45 DOE: Health Effects Subcommittee ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** FULL NEWS STORIES ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** 1 Guardian Unlimited: Energy Bill Glance From the Associated Press [UP] Friday April 22, 2005 12:01 AM By The Associated Press Major provisions of the energy bill passed 249-183 by the House on Thursday: -Open the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska to oil drilling. -Provide $8.1 billion in tax breaks over 10 years, mostly for oil, gas, nuclear, coal and electric utilities. -Provide product liability protection for makers of MTBE against lawsuits stemming from the gasoline additive contaminating drinking water. Payment of $2 billion in transition costs over eight years to manufacturers as MTBE is phased out. -Require refiners to use 5 billion gallons of corn-based ethanol by 2012, a 20 percent increase over what the industry is expected to produce this year. -Expand daylight-saving time by two months, so it would start on the first Sunday in March and end on the last Sunday in November. -Require mandatory reliability standards for electric power lines, instead of industry self-regulation. -Give the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission clear authority to override states and local officials in locating liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminals. -Provide $2 billion in royalty relief to oil and gas industry over 10 years for research on ways to recover oil and gas from extremely deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico. -Provide a tax credit of 20 percent up to $2,000 for homeowners who install more efficient windows, doors and improved insulation. Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2005 ***************************************************************** 2 Washington post: Bush Urges Action 'Now' On Energy House Approves Drilling In Arctic Wildlife Refuge By Jim VandeHei and Justin Blum Washington Post Staff Writers Thursday, April 21, 2005; Page A04 President Bush said yesterday that his national energy policy would not lower gasoline prices anytime soon, but called on Congress to pass it by August to begin weaning the nation from imported oil and transitioning to alternative sources of power and fuel. "I wish I could simply wave a magic wand and lower gas prices tomorrow," Bush told the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. "But we must act now to address the fundamental problem. Our supply of energy is not growing fast enough to meet the demands of our growing economy." The average retail gasoline price hit a record $2.28 per gallon last week. With Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales watching, President Bush told the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce that "I wish I could simply wave a magic wand and lower gas prices tomorrow." (Charles Dharapak -- AP) Friday's Question: It was not until the early 20th century that the Senate enacted rules allowing members to end filibusters and unlimited debate. How many votes were required to invoke cloture when the Senate first adopted the rule in 1917? 51 60 64 67 As Bush spoke, the House began debating an energy bill that includes $8.1 billion in tax breaks, mainly for big energy companies; permits oil drilling in part of Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge; and provides legal protections to producers of the gasoline additive MTBE, which is blamed for contaminating drinking water. In a move aides described as a shot at House Republicans, Bush said, "With oil at more than $50 a barrel, by the way, energy companies do not need taxpayers'-funded incentives to explore for oil and gas." Bush supports drilling in Alaska, which the House approved last night, as well as incentives and tax breaks aimed at promoting cleaner-burning coal, nuclear energy, liquefied natural gas, ethanol and other renewable fuels. He does not support the amount of tax breaks for oil and gas exploration proposed by House Republicans. Bush, whose energy plan has been stalled in Congress for four years, is facing increased pressure from Democrats and a coalition of conservatives to do much more to promote alternative energy sources and more efficient vehicles this year. Some say the president should set aside, or scrap, his Social Security plan and dedicate his second term instead to dramatically restructuring the way Americans power their businesses, homes and cars. They cite the confluence of three events as reason to act immediately: the steep rise in oil and gas prices, increased U.S. dependency on the oil-rich Middle East and skyrocketing demand for oil in China and India. Democrats are calling energy prices a "crisis" that is jeopardizing the economic and national security of the nation and are urging Bush to support more generous incentives to businesses to produce alternative fuels and to consumers to use them. "The issue today is not that the president doesn't understand the problem, it's that he has no solutions," said Sen. John F. Kerry (D-Mass.), who lost the presidential election to Bush in 2004. "The energy plan he continues to campaign for will make us more dependent on foreign oil, it will keep gas prices at record highs instead of making them affordable for consumers, and it will make our air and water more polluted instead of investing in a cleaner future." At the same time, several Republican foreign policy experts, political operatives and Christian conservative leaders are quietly lobbying Bush and Congress to do some of the things Kerry and Democrats are advocating, and more. This group includes Frank J. Gaffney Jr., a Reagan administration defense official, R. James Woolsey, a former director of central intelligence, and Gary L. Bauer, president of American Values, a Christian group. They want Bush to spend as much as $12 billion over four years to subsidize efforts by companies to build flexible-fuel vehicles and electric cars, add pumps for alternative fuels to 25 percent of the nation's filling stations and build plants that produce non-petroleum fuels, among other things. "I think presidential leadership is desirable and ought to be forthcoming," said Gaffney, president of Center for Security Policy. "This is not inconsistent with [Bush's] rhetoric, it's just inconsistent with their programmatic direction." "Both parties sooner rather than later are going to have to take this debate to a different level," Bauer said. "This is an area where the president could leave a significant historical contribution before his term is over." A senior White House aide, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said Bush might embrace some additional incentives in coming weeks. While conservatives, including several in Congress, want Bush to build the incentives into the current energy plan, Democrats are calling on the president to dramatically change his approach. During yesterday's House debate, Democratic opponents of the GOP bill assailed the measure as a giveaway to corporate interests that threatens the environment, water supplies and human health. Democrats itemized tax breaks and other programs that would benefit big energy companies such as ExxonMobil Corp., which have earned record profits as a result of high oil prices. "This is an anti-environment, anti-consumer, anti-taxpayer bill," said Rep. Henry A. Waxman (D-Calif.). "This bill lavishes taxpayer subsidies on big energy companies while weakening our environmental laws." House Republican leaders said they expect a vote on the measure today, and both sides acknowledged the GOP has enough votes for passage. The Senate has not taken up its version of the legislation, and lawmakers have said they are trying to forge a bipartisan version of the bill. The legislation pending in the House is similar to a measure approved by a House-Senate conference committee in 2003. That bill failed after a filibuster in the Senate. Of the $8 billion the bill on the House floor would provide in tax breaks, about 6 percent of the benefits would go toward alternative sources of energy and energy efficiency. By contrast, Bush proposed a budget measure that would grant $6.7 billion in tax breaks, 72 percent of which would have gone toward energy efficiency and alternative sources of energy. "Our dependence on foreign energy is like a foreign tax on the American Dream -- the tax our citizens pay every day in higher gas prices, higher cost to heat and cool their homes -- a tax on jobs," Bush said in his speech. "Worst of all, it's a tax increasing every year." In addition to tax breaks, the legislation would provide separate benefits to energy companies, including many of the GOP's biggest donors. One provision would grant funding for research into oil and natural gas drilling in the deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico -- at a cost of up to $2 billion. © 2005 The Washington Post Company ***************************************************************** 3 TomPaine.com: Polluter-Friendly Energy Frank O'Donnell April 20, 2005 Frank O'Donnell is president of  , a 501 (c) 3 non-partisan, non-profit organization aimed at educating the public about clean air and the need for an effective Clean Air Act It seems fitting that an organization called The Annapolis Centeridentified by The Wall Street Journal as a polluter front groupwill give an award next week to Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee. Barton appears to be working diligently to earn their accolades as he tries to shepherd energy legislation through the House of Representatives this week. No matter how Barton and his colleagues try to "spin" the product of their committee deliberations,  the House energy legislation fails one of the key "objectives" set forth by President Bush in his April 16 radio address: "The energy bill must encourage more production at home in environmentally sensitive ways ."  [emphasis added] Indeed, if the legislation became law in its current form, it would prolong smog problems in much of the nation, shift the burden of cleaning up poisoned water supplies from oil companies to cash-strapped public agencies, and even threaten environmental damage from some forms of renewable energy. These are on top of the well-publicized provisions that would permit big oil companies to drill in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for a few months worth of oil that wouldn't reach consumers for a decade. Itemizing the anti-environmental provisions of the House energy bill is a mind-numbing exercise: new loopholes that could reduce gas mileage requirements; weaker protections for coastal communities; tax breaks to promote more coal burning.  And that's just the beginning. But here are several glaring examples that illustrate the potential for environmental harm. Dirty Water The energy bill would shield major oil companies from federal and state product liability lawsuits for the widespread contamination of the nation's drinking water supplies with the gasoline additive MTBE. This chemical leaks out of underground gasoline storage tanks and from gasoline spills, dissolves and spreads readily in groundwater, does not degrade easily and is difficult and expensive to remove.  At least 29 states have reported MTBE contamination, according to Environmental Working Group. The American Water Works Association, representing 4,700 U.S. water systems, estimates nationwide MTBE cleanup and water replacement costs at $29 billion. Under the House energy bill, the public would be stuck with the cost. As has been widely noted, the biggest defenders of MTBEand the proposed legal shieldare Barton and Rep. Tom DeLay, both recipients of MTBE cash. The bill also would give MTBE makers (small companies like ExxonMobil) $1.75 billion for transition costs.  It would also allow the White House to overturn a suggested ban on the chemical's use. No wonder Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich.,  called the MTBE provisions "a direct assault on the nation's safe drinking water supply." If that's not enough potential damage to the water, the bill also would exempt from the Safe Drinking Water Act a process called hydraulic fracturing, in which chemicals are pumped into coal beds in order to coax out methane gas. Many fear this process could harm groundwater. One prominent company that uses hydraulic fracturing: Halliburton, Vice President Cheney's old firm. Dirty-Air Dominoes An industry-backed provision drafted by Barton would weaken the Clean Air Act and threaten to prolong smog problems in much of the nation.  Under current law, states must devise air quality improvement plans which demonstrate they will meet smog standards by a set deadline (in most big-population areas, the deadline is 2010 under the 8-hour smog standard which went into effect last year).  The dirty-air provision would say that if an area is affected by pollution coming from somewhereand virtually every state in the eastern half of the country falls in this categoryit doesn't have to meet the deadlines or adopt stricter local pollution controls until the "upwind" area does. This creates the potential for a dirty-air domino effect, as each state blames another for its pollution problem.   For example, Ohio claims it can't meet the standards due to pollution from Indiana. The dirty-air amendment would absolve Ohio from having to make further cleanupthus passing on the dirty-air problem to states downwind, including Maryland, Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Delaware and  Washington, D.C. Barton, by the way, has not even bothered to explain why this bad-air plan is in the energy bill (since it doesn't appear to involve energy production).  The answer is simple: The committee chairman gets what he wantsin this case, a delay for his Dallas-Fort Worth district. Damming Harm Even when promoting renewable energyand the bill does little enough of this, by the way, as most of the $8 billion in tax subsidies would go for oil, gas and coal productionthe House energy bill threatens environmental harm. That's because the bill includes a provision that would give new advantages to power companies that own dams.  It would give the companies a procedural edge when seeking licenses for hydropowerand would undermine the ability of natural resource agencies to protect fish and wildlife.  A separate section of the bill would put unprecedented new limits on the National Environmental Policy Act, which requires federal review of the environmental aspects of major energy projects.  Under the bill, federal agencies would not be required to identify or analyze the environmental effects of alternative locations or actions to proposed renewable energy projects. The Natural Resources Defense Council notes this could create a bad precedent that could be used later to promote even more environmentally destructive projects. Developers could use this precedent to lobby in the future, for example, for similar exemptions for gas, oil, coal or nuclear energy projects. Rep. Jay Inslee, D-Wash., points out that even alternative energy projects could have negative effects and would benefit from a review of alternativesfor example, the number and type of wind turbines (since some wind projects have become virtual meat grinders for birds and bats).  "This is a major, major change in NEPA," said Inslee. "I don't think it is wise." As in the other energy controversies, he's in the minorityso far. TomPaine.com.] [ / [ /] ***************************************************************** 4 Public Citizen: It’s Time to Admit Failure; Latest Energy Bill Revival Produces Even Worse Legislation April 20, 2005 Statement by Joan Claybrook, President of Public Citizen Note: The U.S. House of Representatives today began debating the energy bill. Like hamsters on a wheel, the U.S. House of Representatives is running in place, proposing to subsidize with more than $22 billion the same 20th century energy technologies that pollute, are costly and crowd out new 21st century opportunities. House members likely will pass yet another  and markedly worse  version of an energy bill that has been debated and decried for more than four years. Last falls corporate tax bill also included another $76 billion in subsidies for electric power, natural gas and oil companies that from 2001 to October 2004 contributed $73 million to federal candidates, 75 percent of which went to Republicans. What is apparent is that our members of Congress arent listening to the public; rather, theyre intent on rewarding the very polluting energy companies that are now making record profits. Everyone but our lawmakers recognizes the need for investment in renewable energy, energy efficiency and conservation. Instead, we are stuck with the same old legislation that caters to special interests, rewards oil and gas giants that already benefit from record-breaking profits, and pushes the United States down an unsustainable and doomed course. We urge the House to vote against a bill that is loaded with taxpayer subsidies for polluting energy sources, repeals a vital electricity consumer protection law (the Public Utility Holding Company Act), lacks any significant fuel economy standards and fails to acknowledge that now is the time to embark on a new path for our energy future. ### Public Citizen ***************************************************************** 5 TomPaine.com: The Do-Nothing Energy Bill Navin Nayak April 20, 2005 Navin Nayak is an environmental advocate with the U.S. Public Interest Research Group (PIRG). For more detail about the energy bill from U.S. PIRG, click here. If insanity is indeed doing the same thing over and over while expecting different results, someone ought to check in on the U.S. Congress.  For the fifth straight year, the House of Representatives is set to debate an energy bill chock-full of corporate welfare for the oil, gas, coal and nuclear industries and woefully short on innovative policy solutions to address our nations energy problems. Despite widespread public and political oppositionand countless analyses documenting the futility of the billCongress returns year after year with a virtual carbon copy of the original energy bill introduced in 2001. While the price tag of the bill has fluctuated over the years between excessive and exorbitant, one thing has remained constant: It will do nothing to solve the nation's energy problems. It will not lower gas prices, not lower electricity prices, not even lower our dependence on oil. Last year, the Energy Information Administration (the analytical arm of President Bushs Department of Energy) concluded that despite spending billions of dollars, the energy bill would result in an 85 percent increase in U.S. imports of oil by 2025.  Just in time for Earth Daywith gasoline prices and oil profits hovering at record levelsand Americas dependence on oil increasing by the day, the House has decided to re-introduce virtually the exact same do-nothing bill as last year.  The latest House bill contains more than $80 billion in authorized spending and another $8 billion in tax breaks, 95 percent of which benefit the oil, gas, coal and nuclear industries.  Dont check your glasses, you read it rightthe House is actually proposing to spend $88 billion dollars on a bill that will neither save a drop of oil, nor help consumers at the pump. (Click here for a cost analysis of the bill from Taxpayers for Common Sense.)  In a year when ExxonMobil reported record profits in excess of $25 billion, Congress wants to give the oil and gas industry another $3.2 billion in tax breaks, equivalent to 40 percent of the total tax package. Among the most egregious provisions is a tax break that will allow the industry to write off the cost of exploring for depositseven in instances when they actually strike oil. In addition to these direct subsidies, the energy bill would cost taxpayers billions more by forcing states and local communities to pay for the cleanup costs associated with decontaminating drinking water polluted with the gasoline additive MTBE. The energy bill would shield the oil industry from any responsibility for the contamination problem; although oil companies are responsible for putting the chemical in our gasoline, taxpayers will be forced to pay to get it out of our water. Who knew that the free market came with so many free lunches? While the energy bill is loaded up with billions of dollars in giveaways to big oil, conspicuously absent from the bill are any provisions that would actually reduce Americas dependence on oil. Requiring an increase in the fuel efficiency of our carscurrently at a 25-year lowto 40 miles per gallon would cost taxpayers nothing but would reduce Americas oil consumption by 5 million barrels a day. As much as Congress has tried, the reality facing this nation is unchanged.  Each day, the United States uses more than 20 million barrels of oil.  In one year, we use in excess of 7 billion barrels of oil, or 25 percent of the worlds oil production.  But the United States only possesses 2-3 percent of all known oil reserves in the world; this is simply not a problem that we can drill our way out of.   If Congress or the president had taken steps five years ago to increase the fuel efficiency of our vehicles, we would already be climbing out of the dependency hole weve fallen into.  Instead, our politicians in Washington continue to dig deeper, hoping to find an answer that doesnt exist.  Call me crazy, but that just doesnt make sense. TomPaine.com.] ***************************************************************** 6 [progchat_action] Belgium Acts Against US Nukes! Date: Thu, 21 Apr 2005 17:50:21 -0500 (CDT) Forwarded with Compliments of Free Voice of America (FVOA): Accurate News and Interesting Commentary for Amerika's Huddled Masses Yearning to Breathe Free. NOTE: Probably there's some degree of cause-and-effect between these 500 arrests (see below) and the Belgian Senate action---and probably one of the reasons the US Senate never does anything this wholesome is because nonviolent direct action is used so rarely in the US. -- kl, pp From: Leuren Moret Date: April 22, 2005 4:27:40 AM GMT+07:00 To: "President, USA Exile Govt." Subject: nuclear showdown in Belgium From: "Dominique Lalanne" Date: Thu, 21 Apr 2005 22:39:00 +0200 (CEST) BRAVO !!! This could be the beginning of a European new posture, hoping the nuclear States will also understand they have to propose a schedule of disarmament in Europe. Dominique ------------------------------------------------------- On Thu, 21 Apr 2005, David Heller FME wrote: Brussels, 21/4: The Belgian Senate has this evening passed a resolution on nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation, calling for the withdrawal of the 480 US nuclear weapons based in Europe. This is the first time that a parliament in Europe has demanded the withdrawal of these nuclear weapons that are currently based in Belgium, Germany, England, Italy, the Netherlands and Turkey. The United States is currently the only country to have nuclear weapons stationed on the territory of other countries. The political momentum for this resolution has been rising within Belgium over the past months. 200 Belgian mayors from all political parties have joined the "Mayors For Peace" network, supporting the emergency appeal of the Mayor of Hiroshima, for the worldwide elimination of nuclear weapons by 2020. 500 activists were arrested on Saturday 16th April during the "Bombspotting XL" nonviolent direct action at four sites in Belgium related to NATO nuclear weapon policy. The resolution was approved by the Senate Commission on Foreign Affairs and Defence on March 22nd this year, and calls on the Belgian government to adopt a balanced approach to nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament. The resolution was submitted by Senators PatrikVankrunkelsven (VLD), Lionel Vandenberghe (Spirit), Pierre Galand (PS), Sabine de Bethune (CD&V), Christian Brotcorne (cdH), Annemie Van de Casteele (VLD) and Philippe Mahoux (PS). The resolution makes reference to the disarmament obligations contained in Article VI of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). It asks the government to contribute to a stronger disarmament agenda at the upcoming NPT Review Conference. The government is also required to pursue this policy in other international fora such as NATO and the EU. "The adoption of this resolution is an important signal for the people who have been demanding clarity around the secret nuclear weapons based at Kleine Brogel in Belgium. A great majority of the population wants to see the complete abolition of nuclear weapons, in Belgium and elsewhere. The demand from the Senate for the complete elimination of nuclear weapons has certainly not fallen out of thin air. We want to see an end to this system of nuclear apartheid. How can we continue to forbid Iran to develop nuclear weapons when we store US nuclear weapons in our own country." said Pol D'Huyvetter, campaigner with For Mother Earth. ---- For Mother Earth, Member of Friends of the Earth International Maria Hendrikaplein 5 9000 Gent Belgium tel: +32 (0)9 242 87 52 fax: +32 (0)9 242 87 51 email: david@motherearth.org http://www.motherearth.org ***************************************************************** 7 RIA Novosti: NUCLEAR TALKS GOING ON WELL - ROWHANI NUCLEAR TALKS GOING ON WELL: ROWHANI TEHRAN, April 21 (RIA Novosti, Nikolai Terekhov) - Hassan Rowhani, Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, said that Iranian-EU talks on the country's nuclear programs were going on well. Iranian specialists and the European Troika (Great Britain, Germany and France) continue to negotiate. They are now mostly discussing technical issues and ways of implementing Iranian proposals, Rowhani's statement that was circulated here today reads in part. According to Rowhani, our assessments are not completely negative; and we are not sure that the European Union wants to delay the negotiating process. Joint working committees, which were established some time ago, and which comprise Iranian representatives and those of the European Troika, have been holding their session in Geneva for more than two days now. First of all, the concerned parties intend to discuss earlier Iranian proposals on providing reliable guarantees as regards peaceful aspects of Tehran's nuclear programs. Neither Iran, nor the EU are saying anything about these ideas. However, it turns out that Iranian proposals stipulate subsequent uranium-enrichment operations (that have now been stopped in Iran). Still it is unclear whether the Troika will agree to this, all the more so as Washington and Tel Aviv suspect Tehran of implementing secret nuclear-weapons programs. According to some reports, the three European countries will not reply to Iranian initiatives in Geneva. The EU is now working on its tactics for the next round of bilateral talks at a higher level, due to begin April 29 in London. © 2005 "RIAN Novosti" ***************************************************************** 8 UK: FT.com: Ministers dogged by nuclear energy matters By Jean Eaglesham Published: April 21 2005 03:00 | Last updated: April 21 2005 03:00 Labour makes no secret of its desire to duck the nuclear question until after the election. But Tony Blair will find it hard to avoid the issue in a third term if he is to meet his manifesto promises. Industry bodies, the Tories and the government's own chief scientific adviser all argue the issue of new nuclear stations needs to be addressed. But Margaret Beckett, the environment secretary, says the election takes priority. "There are people who want to talk about energy policy. But the time for that is when we've looked at the outcome of the climate change review," she said in an interview with the FT. This review was due to report this summer. But Mrs Beckett warned it will "probably take a bit longer" because "obviously at the moment we aren't focused on it". The prime minister has committed Labour to ambitious targets to cut carbon dioxide emissions by 20 per cent by 2010 and 60 per cent by 2050. The targets are intrinsic to the prime minister's manifesto mission "to continue to lead internationally on climate change". But Britain cannot meet its own domestic goals at present, let alone provide global direction. Official figures this year showed that carbon dioxide emissions actually increased in 2003 and 2004. The hastily commissioned climate change review will now recommend policy changes to get the UK "back on track" to meeting the carbon targets. The review could herald a radical shake-up in Labour's attitude to nuclear power. "It's fairly obvious there's going to have to be a rethink of how these targets are met, which inevitably leads to the question of nuclear," Brian Wilson, a Labour former energy minister, said yesterday. "Does it make sense to get rid of our only carbon-free energy source at the same time as trying to cut carbon emissions?" The government has shied away from committing to new nuclear stations, putting the emphasis in a 2003 energy white paper on energy efficiency and renewable sources of energy to meet the carbon targets. But doubts have been raised about the practicability and costs of this approach. A National Audit Office report this year estimated the cost to taxpayers of supporting the renewables industry at £1bn a year by 2010, equivalent to a 5.7 per cent rise in electricity prices. Even with this subsidy, public resistance to wind farms could scupper ministers' target of generating 10 per cent of electricity from renewable sources by 2010. Any shortfall from low-carbon renewable sources will be exacerbated by the fact the no-carbon contribution from nuclear is set to fall considerably, as Britain's 12 nuclear power stations reach the end of their life. Unless new stations are built, the nuclear share of Britain's electricity is forecast to drop from 22 per cent to 7 per cent by 2020. The government may be able to soften the impact of this by keeping at least some of the existing stations open beyond their official closure dates. British Energy will later this year report on whether it can safely extend the life of its Dungeness B advanced gas-cooled reactor. But experts warn that a decision on nuclear cannot be postponed indefinitely, not least as any new plants are likely to take at least five years to build. Sir David King, the government's chief scientific adviser, has said a decision on new stations will need to be made by 2009 - the likely date for the election after this one. He also warned in January that it would be "foolhardy to say we will never have the need for nuclear new build". Industry bodies urge Labour to heed such advice. The CBI's election manifesto recommends that the main parties "keep the nuclear power option open". The Institute of Directors has called for an "early decision, post-election" on the issue and opposed the phasing out of nuclear power. Ministers say they recognise business concerns but do not want investment diverted away from the policy priorities of energy efficiency and renewables. There are serious question marks over whether replacement nuclear stations would be cost-effective to run, even with taxpayers picking up the tab for dealing with Britain's existing nuclear waste legacy. Mrs Beckett said there was no evidence of any private sector demand to build new stations. "There are all sorts of people saying all sorts of things but who is putting their money where their mouths are?" the environment secretary said. [ height=] © Copyright The Financial Times Ltd 2005. "FT" and "Financial Times" are trademarks of the Financial Times. ***************************************************************** 9 The Whitehaven News: BNFL BOSS FUELS POLL BIAS STORM By Jon Colman and David Siddal THE chairman of BNFL has triggered an election row after hinting that the Government would build new nuclear plants if it won a third term. Gordon Campbell’s comments have sparked strong criticism from opposition politicians, who have accused the Government of using him to sneak out the pledge in a bid to sway West Cumbrian voters. And Martin Forwood, from anti-nuclear group Cumbrians Opposed to a Radioactive Environment (CORE), accused Mr Campbell of “blatantly exhorting locals to vote Labour”. Mr Campbell, chairman of state-owned BNFL since June 2004, made the comments at Monday’s Technology 2005 exhibition of engineering and associated services, hosted by the British Nuclear Energy Society. He said he would be “amazed” if, after the election, there was not a review of nuclear energy and nuclear new-build was something all the major political parties would have to look at. Mr Campbell said he had spoken to sources very close to Downing Street and anticipated an announcement within weeks of the poll that new nuclear reactors would be built. “Nuclear power has to form part of the energy policy and I believe it will be grasped after the election,” he said. Mr Forwood said yesterday: “CORE believes it is wholly unacceptable for the chairman of a state-owned nuclear company to be interfering in the election process in this way. “His unwarranted intervention ignores the reality that all major parties believe the case for nuclear power is one for the industry to make – and not the new government.” Mr Campbell’s remarks also drew criticism from Conservative candidate Chris Whiteside, but he pointed the finger at the Government rather than Mr Campbell directly. He said: “I think this is an attempt to influence voters. Certain political parties are very clever at dropping hints to people who they want to get certain messages across. “If people are going to do something after the election, they should be straight with voters before the election. Some people might regard it as a bit sad if they are dropping certain hints to the people of West Cumbria and different hints to the green lobby.” Liberal Democrat candidate, Frank Hollowell, said: “If the government has made this kind of commitment, why don’t they announce it before the election?” “If they think they are losing votes in Copeland, then this kind of commitment to Sellafield would probably be a vote winner but we need to recognise that a new generation of power stations would be significantly smaller than the current stations. They take fewer staff to run them. “To ensure long-term job security round here, it’s certainly not the answer. It can only be part of the answer.” A LATE entry for the Copeland seat has brought health to the top of the agenda. There are now six candidates in the running: and one of the late entrants is former director of nursing for the West Cumberland Hospital, Brian Earley, who joined the battle as an independent candidate fighting to retain the existing West Cumberland Hospital. THE full list of candidates (in alphabetic order) is: Edward Caley Knowles (UK Independent Party), Brian Earley (Independent), Frank Hollowell (Liberal Democrats), Alan Mossop (English Democrats), Jamie Reed (Labour) and Chris Whiteside (Conservative). ***************************************************************** 10 [du-list] NRC investigation documents from 2000 petition Date: Thu, 21 Apr 2005 14:38:38 -0700 I have placed six of the NRC investigation TIFF file documents from the penultimate NRC 10 CFR 2.206 petition concerning depleted uranium munitions in this directory: http://www.bovik.org/du/nrc-2000-petition/ Most people will want to "Save As..." the .tif files, because browsers often refuse to display any more than their first page. vieques.tif is 3.4 megabytes, and you have to turn your head sideways for some of the good parts, but it is very interesting. I am still expecting two additional NRC inspection reports from Vieques Island, Puerto Rico. Sincerely, James Salsman ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> What would our lives be like without music, dance, and theater? Donate or volunteer in the arts today at Network for Good! http://us.click.yahoo.com/TzSHvD/SOnJAA/79vVAA/FGYolB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> To unsubscribe from this groups send a message to du-list-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com. In the body of the message type unsubscribe and send. Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/du-list/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: du-list-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ ***************************************************************** 11 [CMEP] Davis-Besse fine too little too late Date: Thu, 21 Apr 2005 16:30:39 -0500 (CDT) *** P R E S S R E L E A S E *** April 21, 2005 Contact: Michele Boyd (202) 454-5134 NRC's Proposed Fine Against Nuclear Operator FirstEnergy Does Not Absolve Agency of Its Failures; Lax Regulation Led to Serious Safety Violations at Ohio Nuclear Plant STATEMENT of Wenonah Hauter, Director, Public Citizen's Critical Mass Energy and Environment Program: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission's (NRC) proposed $5.45 million fine, announced today, against FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Company for safety violations at its Davis-Besse nuclear plant in Oak Harbor, Ohio, is too little too late, and it does not forgive the NRC for failing to properly enforce its own regulations. Both the NRC and FirstEnergy are at fault in the mismanagement that allowed severe degradation of the nuclear reactor vessel head to go unnoticed for years until it was finally discovered in March 2002 that a mere three-eighths of an inch of metal cladding was all that contained the hot reactor core, a dire situation that could have easily led to a reactor breach and potential meltdown. The fine against FirstEnergy is deserved, to be sure, but it does not correct the NRC's troubling emphasis on plant performance and profitability, which inhibited an earlier shutdown and inspection of the troubled plant. A December 2002 report by the NRC's inspector general (IG) found that the NRC's decision to allow the continued operation of Davis-Besse "was driven in large part by a desire to lessen the financial impact on FENOC [FirstEnergy] that would result from an early shutdown." The IG further concluded that the "NRC appears to have informally established an unreasonably high burden of requiring absolute proof of a safety problem, versus lack of reasonable assurance of maintaining public health and safety, before it will act to shut down a power plant." While the proposed fine is significant -- the largest ever proposed by the NRC -- it does not correct a heavily pro-industry bias that has compromised the agency's capacity for effective regulatory oversight and discipline. The NRC allowed the Davis-Besse plant to restart in March 2004, and it has recently approved a slew of power uprates (increases in power generation) and license renewals for operators of stressed, aging nuclear plants, indicating a preference for performance over robust and thorough regulation. FirstEnergy should be disciplined for its mismanagement, and the fine is deserved, but more stringent oversight by the NRC is the key to preventing the kind of malfeasance that nearly led to disaster in Ohio. ### Public Citizen is a national, nonprofit consumer advocacy organization based in Washington, D.C. ********** 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 ***************************************************************** 12 [NukeNet] Fwd: [Know_Nukes] $5, 450, 000 FINE FOR DAVIS-BESSE Date: Thu, 21 Apr 2005 14:38:40 -0700 NukeNet Anti-Nuclear Network (nukenet@energyjustice.net) of course, closing down the aging rust-bucket would have been better. norm ------- Forwarded message ------- From: Paul To: Know_Nukes@yahoogroups.com Subject: [Know_Nukes] $5,450,000 FINE FOR DAVIS-BESSE REACTOR VESSEL HEAD VIOLATIONS Date: Thu, 21 Apr 2005 17:06:22 -0000 http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/news/2005/05-070.html $5,450,000 FINE FOR DAVIS-BESSE REACTOR VESSEL HEAD VIOLATIONS The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has proposed a $5.45 million fine against FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Company for violations of NRC regulations associated with the significant reactor vessel head damage discovered in March 2002 at the Davis-Besse Nuclear Power Plant. The plant is located at Oak Harbor, Ohio. This is the largest single fine ever proposed by the NRC. The principal violation, assessed a $5 million fine, was that the utility restarted and operated the Davis-Besse plant in May 2000 without fully characterizing and eliminating leakage from the reactor vessel head which led to significant corrosion damage. Additional violations (assessed $450,000) included providing incomplete and inaccurate information to the NRC on the extent of cleaning and inspecting the reactor vessel head in 2000. "This substantial fine emphasizes the very high safety and regulatory significance of FirstEnergy's failure to comply with NRC requirements and the company's willful failure to provide the NRC with complete and accurate information," said Luis Reyes, NRC Executive Director for Operations. In addition to the fine proposed for the utility, the NRC has issued an Order to a system engineer, prohibiting his involvement in NRC- regulated activities for five years. Enforcement action may be taken against additional individuals in the near future. The plant was started up on May 18, 2000, after a refueling and maintenance outage without a complete cleaning and inspection of the reactor vessel head, as required. During operation, leakage through tubes which penetrate the reactor head caused significant corrosion damage to the reactor vessel head. In 2001 the NRC directed Davis-Besse and other plants to inspect by Dec. 3, 2001, the tubes which penetrate the reactor vessel head for possible leakage. FirstEnergy requested that it be permitted to operate an additional three months before shutting down for the inspection, and the NRC staff, based on information submitted by FirstEnergy, permitted the plant to operate until Feb. 16, 2002. "FirstEnergy supported its request with inaccurate and incomplete information about the cleaning and inspection of the reactor vessel head in 2000," said Reyes. "Had the NRC known that the plant was being operated with leakage through the reactor vessel head, the agency would have taken immediate action to shut down the plant." The corrosion damage to the reactor vessel head was discovered about three weeks after the plant shut down. The plant remained shut down for more than two years for replacement of the reactor vessel head and improvements to other safety systems. Significant changes were also made in the plant's management. After extensive inspections by the NRC of improvements to safety systems and the utility's efforts to raise safety consciousness in the plant's management and staff, the NRC determined that Davis-Besse could restart and operate safely. The NRC also required that the utility undertake annual independent assessments of important plant activities for five years. "Since the plant's restart in March 2004, it has operated safely and continues to operate safely," Reyes said. "Davis-Besse's performance has been closely monitored by a dedicated NRC oversight panel and the inspection staff, including three NRC resident inspectors that are assigned to that site." The NRC has issued an Order to Andrew Siemaszko, who was a system engineer at Davis-Besse, which prohibits his involvement in NRC- regulated activities for a five-year period. Siemaszko was responsible for ensuring that the reactor vessel head was cleaned and inspected during the 2000 outage. Records prepared by Siemaszko indicated that the reactor vessel head was cleaned and that no damage to the head was found. The agency found that he had deliberately provided incomplete and inaccurate information in plant documents, which are required by the NRC. Siemaszko no longer works at Davis-Besse. The enforcement actions are available on the NRC's web site for Davis Besse at: http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc- collections/enforcement/actions/reactors/ea05071.html; and for Siemaszko at: http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc- collections/enforcement/actions/individuals/ia05021.html. The utility and Siemaszko are required to respond to the enforcement actions within 90 days. They may request an extension of the response date. In addition to these actions, the NRC has previously referred Davis-Besse issues to the Department of Justice. ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Has someone you know been affected by illness or disease? Network for Good is THE place to support health awareness efforts! http://us.click.yahoo.com/RzSHvD/UOnJAA/79vVAA/JHYolB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Know_Nukes Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Know_Nukes/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: Know_Nukes-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ -- Coalition for Peace and Justice UNPLUG Salem Campaign; 321 Barr Ave, Linwood NJ 08221; 609-601-8583; cell 609-742-0982 ncohen12@comcast.net; http://www.unplugsalem.org http://www.coalitionforpeaceandjustice.org "A time comes when silence is betrayal. Even when pressed by the demands of inner truth, men do not easily assume the task of opposing their government's policy, especially in time of war. Nor does the human spirit move without great difficulty against all the apathy of conformist thought, within one's own bosom and in the surrounding world." - Martin Luther King Jr. -- No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Anti-Virus. Version: 7.0.308 / Virus Database: 266.10.1 - Release Date: 4/20/05 _______________________________________________________________________ Subscribe/Unsubscribe Here: http://www.energyjustice.net/nukenet/ Change your settings or access the archives at: http://energyjustice.net/mailman/listinfo/nukenet_energyjustice.net ***************************************************************** 13 Guardian Unlimited: Ohio Nuclear Operator May Face Record Fine [UP] Thursday April 21, 2005 10:31 PM AP Photo CO501 By JOHN SEEWER Associated Press Writer TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) - The Nuclear Regulatory Commission proposed a record $5.45 million fine Thursday against the operator of a nuclear plant where leaking acid ate nearly all the way through a 6-inch-thick steel cap on the reactor vessel. The NRC said FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Co. restarted the Davis-Besse plant in 2000 without completing a cleaning and inspection of the reactor vessel head, then misled the agency about what it had done. The leaking boric acid was found two years later during a routine inspection - the most extensive corrosion ever seen at a U.S. nuclear reactor. ``This substantial fine emphasizes the very high safety and regulatory significance of FirstEnergy's failure to comply with NRC requirements,'' said Luis Reyes, NRC executive director for operations. The NRC also said it is banning one of the company's former engineers from working in the nuclear industry for five years. The agency said that Andrew Siemaszko was responsible for making sure the reactor vessel head was cleaned and inspected and that he deliberately provided false information. The damage at the plant along the Lake Erie shore, 30 miles east of Toledo, ranks among the nation's worst nuclear problems since the accident at Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania in 1979. It led to a review of 68 similar plants nationwide. The Davis-Besse plant was closed for two years but returned to full power last April. The fine more than doubles the previous record of $2.1 million handed down by the NRC in 1997 against the operators of the Millstone nuclear plant in Connecticut for safety violations. FirstEnergy spokesman Richard Wilkins said the company had no immediate comment. The plant operator and Siemaszko have 90 days to appeal. A federal grand jury is investigating whether the company provided false statements to the NRC, and the utility said in December that it probably would face charges. Siemaszko has said he was wrongly fired and that since 1999 he had told supervisors the reactor needed to be cleaned. ``The allegations made by the NRC reveal the agency's serious misunderstanding of the facts, at best, or deliberate misrepresentation, at worst,'' said Billie Garde, Siemaszko's attorney. NRC spokesman Scott Burnell said Siemaszko was singled out because ``his name was on the paper that said the reactor head had been properly cleaned and no damage had been found.'' He said others who were involved may soon face NRC sanctions. FirstEnergy, based in Akron, spent $600 million making repairs and buying replacement power because of the two-year shutdown. Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2005 ***************************************************************** 14 Columbia Tribune: NRC cites minor incidents at Callaway www.columbiatribune.com By the Tribune’s staff Published Thursday, April 21, 2005 The Callaway Nuclear Plant operated safely last year except for a few minor incidents that did not affect the health and safety of the public, according to a report from the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Tribune file photo An annual federal report on the Callaway Nuclear Plant says there were several unplanned reactor shutdowns early last year but no threats to public safety. "Overall in 2004, the plant operated safely. There are some areas that will be focused on, but that is not unusual," said Victor Dricks, an NRC spokesman. NRC staff members are scheduled to discuss their findings in a meeting at 6:30 p.m. today in Jefferson City with representatives of AmerenUE, which operates the plant. The meeting at the Capitol Plaza Hotel and Convention Center, 415 W. McCarty St., will be open to the public. "Each year, the NRC staff evaluates the performance of each of the nation’s commercial nuclear plants," said Bruce Mallett, administrator of NRC’s Region IV office in Arlington, Texas. "The meeting gives us a chance to discuss our assessment with the company, local officials and residents near the plant. We want to make this information available to the public and answer any questions people may have about the plant." Dricks said one area of concern reviewed were the unplanned reactor shutdowns early in the first quarter of the year, which exceeded a performance threshold. "It’s a protective feature of the plant," Dricks said. "You want to minimize the number of these. … They crossed one of the thresholds on the lower end of the band, which was not safety-significant, but they needed to look at that, and they have." Another area of concern involved "deficiencies in the area of human performance," which Dricks said did not result in conditions that threatened public health and safety. "They weren’t following procedures properly in some instances," he said. Routine inspections are performed by the NRC resident inspectors assigned to the plant and by inspection specialists from the Region IV office and the agency’s headquarters in Maryland. Copyright © 2005 The Columbia Daily Tribune. All Rights ***************************************************************** 15 newsobserver.com: Progress looks at nuclear expansion Published: Apr 21, 2005 The company's CEO says Wake County would be a natural site for a new reactor Progress Energy's Shearon Harris Nuclear Plant, in southern Wake County, began operating in 1987. Staff File Photo by Robert Willett By JOHN MURAWSKI, Staff Writer Progress Energy is exploring the possibility of building a new nuclear plant as the company looks at economical ways to supply North Carolina's future energy needs. The Raleigh-based utility's top executive said he expects company officials will decide within two years what type of energy will best meet anticipated electricity demand. But the cheapest, cleanest and wisest fuel source would be nuclear, and a natural site for a new reactor would be to expand at the company's Shearon Harris Nuclear Plant in southern Wake County, chief executive Robert McGehee said in an interview. The company is well aware of the controversy such a decision would generate, and that many people associate nuclear plants with accidents at Three Mile Island and Chernobyl. But McGehee said public opinion could be swayed if the federal government adopted a national energy policy favoring nuclear power. "The only long-term solution is to do what they're doing in Europe: It is to have some kind of renaissance of nuclear power in this country," McGehee said. "I think it's just a perfect environmental solution, but I know there are other opinions on this." Four utilities, including Duke Energy in Charlotte, have taken preliminary steps toward getting approval from federal regulators to build a nuclear plant. Duke, whose service area includes Durham, will decide possibly next month whether to build a nuclear plant, and would choose a site by year's end. Progress Energy anticipates it will need a new power plant by 2017, and it will finish plans in time to give itself a decade to undertake the project. The utility, which serves 2.9 million customers in the Carolinas and Florida, might decide to build another natural-gas plant, the most common fuel source used in the past decade. But officials are evaluating new nuclear-plant technology that could be added at the company's 18-year-old Shearon Harris site, about 25 miles south of Raleigh. "Talking just hypothetically -- and I know there are a lot of issues here in Wake County -- here's where our load is and here's where growth is," McGehee said. "Here's where we need electricity -- we need it in the Triangle area. Now, I know there are hundreds of other issues that may outweigh that, but it's a very good site, it's built for multiple reactors, and it's where the load is." Progress Energy operates two nuclear plants in North Carolina -- the Harris plant and the 30-year-old Brunswick Nuclear Plant near Southport. The Harris plant, which began operating in 1987, was the last operating nuclear plant to receive a construction permit in this country. Some environmental analysts predict pitched battles if Duke or Progress pursue the nuclear option in North Carolina. "There would be a wide range of opposition tactics -- everything from scientific arguments to street protests," said Jim Warren, executive director of N.C. Waste Awareness Reduction Network, or WARN. Disposing of radioactive nuclear waste remains an impediment to a revival of nuclear power. In Europe, nuclear fuel rods are recycled and reused, but that process is illegal in the United States. Nuclear plants are temporarily storing spent fuel rods, and a controversial plan to create a permanent underground storage facility at Yucca Mountain in Nevada has been stalled for years. McGehee said the Yucca Mountain project could be revived with offers of financial incentives to Nevada, but a permanent storage site will go nowhere without federal intervention. "Something has to change to get this thing moving," McGehee said. Additionally, McGehee said the future of nuclear power depends on state regulators allowing utilities to recover nuclear construction costs by raising rates. Progress Energy is lobbying state and federal lawmakers to promote nuclear power. "It's necessary to get people really building again," McGehee said. Staff writer John Murawski can be reached at 829-8932 or murawski@nando.com. © Copyright 2005, The News &Observer Publishing Company A subsidiary of The McClatchy Company ***************************************************************** 16 Las Vegas RJ: Senator presses NRC member on repository Thursday, April 21, 2005 By STEVE TETREAULT STEPHENS WASHINGTON BUREAU WASHINGTON -- A former Senate adviser who was critical of the Yucca Mountain Project was pressed Wednesday to abstain from all activity on the Nevada repository until his term expires on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., said he was not satisfied with a one-year recusal that Gregory Jaczko pledged when President Bush appointed him to the NRC in January. Inhofe pressed Jaczko, a physicist, to abstain from Yucca Mountain activity for the remainder of a two-year term on the five-member NRC board, which regulates nuclear power plants and the handling of nuclear materials and waste. Jaczko's appointment was controversial because he had been nuclear waste adviser to Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., a leading critic of the Yucca Mountain Project. Republicans, including Inhofe, and nuclear industry executives opposed Jaczko, saying they feared he would be biased. Inhofe, chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, said he did not believe it was unusual to request a full recusal. He said former NRC Commissioner James Curtiss pledged not to take part in activities affecting emergency planning for the Seabrook Nuclear Power Plant during his term, which ran from 1988 to 1993. "The only tough question you will get today is, will you continue to recuse yourself for the rest of your service on items dealing with Yucca Mountain?" Inhofe asked Jaczko at a committee hearing. Jaczko, 34, did not answer directly, saying he would review his recusal pledge with NRC lawyers in January when it expires. Copyright Las Vegas Review-Journal ***************************************************************** 17 Tufts Daily - Film festival tackles nuclear power's tarnished legacy Thursday, April 21, 2005 E-updates Receive the Daily's headlines tuftsdaily.com by Julie Schindall Daily Staff Writer To commemorate the 60th anniversary of the use of nuclear weapons at Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Tufts University and MIT are offering Boston its first comprehensive look at the impact of nuclear power. The Global Hibakusha Film Festival, which began last Thursday and concludes on Sunday, appears in conjunction with the "Hiroshima/Nagasaki 2005: Memories and Vision Symposium on Nuclear Issues." The symposium, held this weekend at the Fletcher School, encompasses films from Japanese, American, Indian and Canadian directors and looks at nuclear issues as seen on film from the 1945 Japan bombings to the Gulf War. With the symposium providing a forum for the academic community, the Hibakusha Film Festival - hibakusha is the Japanese word for survivors of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings - attempts to foster understanding about nuclear power outside of the context of academia. "Sometimes the academic symposium tends to be too technical. [These films] are much easier to connect to, to access nuclear issues," said Sato Asaoka, a Tufts research associate who first conceived of the film festival. Films are, according to Asaoka, "one of the best measures for general people to reach, or access, or commit to social problems." The festival's nine films are largely aimed at "people from local communities, and younger people like teenagers. That kind of audience is our ideal audience," she said. With this diverse audience in mind, Asaoka selected films with varying subject matters and styles. "I didn't want to show [films] just about the past," she said. She looked for films about current nuclear issues, including the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear reactor accident and the suspected use of depleted uranium ammunition during the Gulf War. Ultimately, Asaoka ended up with a group of films whose topics range from the nuclear threat between India and Pakistan ("War and Peace" by Anand Patwardhan), to a satire of the Eisenhower administration's plans for winning the enigmatic World War III ("Atomic Café" by Jayne Loader.) Many of the films depict nuclear issues as an ongoing factor in peoples' lives. As Asaoka said, "[Nuclear power] is not just today's problem or the past's problem." In the eyes of many of the films' directors, the impact of nuclear power can be seen most powerfully in the stories of individuals. At last Saturday's screening of Seiichi Motohashi's "Nadya's Village," about the life of the residents in a small village in Belarus affected by the Chernobyl accident, the director, speaking through an interpreter, explained that "The horror of nuclear [power] is real, but I wanted people to see those people who preserve their real lives even after the nuclear [event.]" Also present at Saturday's screening were four elderly hibakusha, who flew in from Japan to attend the film festival and symposium. The hibakusha extended their thanks to Mr. Motohashi for his uplifting film, and also cautioned the audience about the dangers of nuclear weapons. "We have to seriously understand the implications of having such weapons in the world," said Takahiko Murata, a survivor from Hiroshima, speaking through an interpreter. His voice strengthened with passion as he added that "human beings and nuclear weapons are not made to live in unison." That is precisely the message the film festival hopes to transmit. According to Tufts senior Kei Okamura, the public relations director of the film festival and symposium, "In order to avoid making past mistakes and to stop the proliferation of nuclear weapons, we must confront the ugly past, and apply what we have learned to our present situation." Okamura noted that many of the films screened at the festival are not films well-known in the United States. He added, "We have also invited the filmmakers and hibakusha to attend our screenings for Q. Because the hibakusha are aging and dying each year, this may be one of the last times people will be able to hear first-hand accounts of what happened in Hiroshima and Nagasaki." "We are not expecting the audience to become nuclear specialists. However, if they can come out of the theater and reconsider the threat of nuclear weapons, that would be a great reward for us," Okamura said. Film festival tackles nuclear power's tarnished legacy Post your feedback on this topic here © 2005 The Tufts Daily ***************************************************************** 18 Las Vegas SUN: Fine Proposed Against Nuke Plant Operator Today: April 21, 2005 at 11:55:51 PDT ASSOCIATED PRESS TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) - The Nuclear Regulatory Commission proposed a record $5.45 million fine Thursday against the operator of a nuclear plant where leaking acid nearly ate through a steel cap on the reactor vessel. The agency that oversees the nation's nuclear plants said FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Co. restarted and operated the Davis-Besse plant in May 2000 without repairing a leak from the reactor vessel head. The leaking boric acid was found two years later during a routine inspection. The corrosion had eaten almost through a 6-inch-thick steel cap that covers the reactor vessel. It was the most extensive corrosion ever at a U.S. nuclear reactor. The damage led to a review of 68 similar plants nationwide. The plant was closed for two years but returned to full power last April. All contents copyright 2005 Las Vegas SUN, Inc. ***************************************************************** 19 toledoblade: NRC proposes $5.45M fine against FirstEnergy for Davis-Besse reactor Article published Thursday, April 21, 2005 The Nuclear Regulatory Commission today announced a proposed $5.45 million fine against FirstEnergy Corp — the largest in U.S. nuclear history — for jeopardizing public safety in northern Ohio. The proposed fine, subject to review, was levied against the utility for Davis-Besse’s old reactor head to become so thinned by corrosion that it nearly burst open in 2002. The corrosion resulted in a football-sized cavity in the reactor head, which was eventually replaced with a reactor head from a Michigan plant that was under construction but never opened. The NRC said $450,000 of the proposed fine is because the government agency believes it believes FirstEnergy provided “incomplete and inaccurate information” about the condition of the reactor head and the plant. Read more in later editions of The Blade and toledoblade.com. © 2005 The Blade. The Toledo Blade Company, 541 N. Superior St., Toledo, OH 43660 , (419) 724-6000 ***************************************************************** 20 NRC: NRC Begins Special Inspection at Millstone Unit 3 Nuclear Power Plant News Release - Region I - 2005-02 U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Office of Public Affairs, Region I 475 Allendale Road, King of Prussia, Pa. 19406 No. I-05-022 April 20, 2005 CONTACT: Diane Screnci (610) 337-5330 Neil A. Sheehan (610) 337-5331 E-mail: opa1@nrc.gov The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has begun a special inspection into an April 17th shutdown of the Millstone Unit 3 nuclear power plant that led to the declaration of an Alert, the second-lowest of four levels of emergency classification. The inspection was initiated today at the plant, which is located in Waterford, Conn., and operated by Dominion Resources. Consisting of four full-time and three part-time inspectors, the NRC team will be tasked with evaluating the circumstances surrounding the event. The review will, among other things: independently review the initiating cause(s), including any relation to previous maintenance, equipment issues or precursor events; independently evaluate equipment performance deficiencies and operator response during the event; and assess compliance with the plants technical specifications and emergency action level entry conditions. Dominions root cause analysis report will also be reviewed by the NRC team once it becomes available. An inspector from the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection is expected to participate in the inspection as an observer. At 8:29 a.m. on April 17, the Millstone Unit 3 reactor experienced an automatic shutdown from full power. The event also involved the activation of one of two safety subsystems. As the reactor was shutting down, multiple steam line safety valves lifted and at least one main steam safety valve appeared to remain open. It was the failure of the valve to reclose that resulted in the declaration of an Alert at 8:42 a.m. Initial NRC response to the event involved headquarters and regional staff, including the agencys on-site inspectors for Millstone, who monitored the shutdown of the plant. Regional staff and the on-site inspectors continued to monitor activities to place the reactor in its current cold shutdown condition. No injuries resulted from the event and preliminary evaluations indicate there were no releases of radioactivity above allowable levels. The team will document its findings and conclusions in a report to be issued within 45 days after an exit meeting with company officials at the end of the inspection. Last revised Thursday, April 21, 2005 ***************************************************************** 21 NRC: NRC to Discuss 2004 Performance Assessment for James A. FitzPatrick Point Nuclear Power Plant News Release - Region I - 2005-02 U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Office of Public Affairs, Region I 475 Allendale Road, King of Prussia, Pa. 19406 No. I-05-023 April 21, 2005 CONTACT: Diane Screnci (610) 337-5330 Neil A. Sheehan (610) 337-5331 E-mail: opa1@nrc.gov Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff will meet with representatives of Entergy Nuclear Northeast on Thursday, April 28, to discuss the agencys annual assessment of safety performance at the James A. FitzPatrick nuclear power plant. The period of performance to be discussed is Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, 2004. Entergy operates the plant in Scriba, N.Y. The meeting, which will be open to the public for observation, is scheduled to begin at noon in the Joint News Center for the plant, located at the Oswego County Airport, on County Route 176 in Fulton, N.Y. Before the session is adjourned, NRC staff will be available to answer questions from the public on the plants safety performance, as well as the agencys role in ensuring safe operation of the facility. In addition to the noon meeting, the NRC will conduct a separate discussion with the public on the performance of both the Nine Mile Point and James A. FitzPatrick nuclear power plants that evening. That meeting is scheduled for 7 to 8 p.m. in the Town of Scribas Assembly Hall, 42 Creamery Road in Oswego, N.Y. The NRC continually reviews the performance of the FitzPatrick plant and the nations other commercial nuclear power facilities, NRC Region I Administrator Samuel J. Collins said. This meeting will provide an opportunity for a discussion of our annual assessment of safety performance with the company and with local officials and residents who live near the plant. Our goal is to explain the NRC oversight process and make as much information as possible available to the public regarding our regulation of these facilities. Overall, the FitzPatrick plant operated safely during the period. The NRC uses color-coded inspection findings and performance indicators to assess nuclear power plant performance. The colors start with green and then increase to white, yellow or red, commensurate with the safety significance of the issues involved. During 2004, all of the inspection findings and performance indicators for the FitzPatrick plant were determined to be green. Therefore, the plant will receive a baseline level of inspections during the upcoming assessment period. Routine inspections are performed by two NRC Resident Inspectors assigned to the plant and by inspection specialists from the Region I Office in King of Prussia, Pa., and the agencys headquarters in Rockville, Md. Among the areas of plant operations to be inspected this year are radiological safety, maintenance effectiveness and safety system design and performance capability. A letter sent from the NRC Region I Office to plant officials addresses the performance of the plant during the period and will serve as the basis for the meeting discussion. It is available on the NRC web site at: http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/LETTERS/fitz_2004q4.pdf [PDF Icon] . The notice and slides for the noon meeting are available in the NRCs Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS) under accession numbers ML050880041 and ML050910183, respectively. The notice and agenda for the evening meeting can be found under accession number ML050880106. ADAMS is accessible via the agencys web site at: http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. Help in using ADAMS is available by contacting the NRCs Public Document Room at 1-800-397-4209 or 301-415-4737 or by e-mail at PDR@nrc.gov. Current performance information for the FitzPatrick plant is available on the NRC web site at: http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/FITZ/fitz_chart.html. Last revised Thursday, April 21, 2005 ***************************************************************** 22 NRC: NRC to Discuss 2004 Performance Assessment for Nine Mile Point Nuclear Power Plant News Release - Region I - 2005-02 U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Office of Public Affairs, Region I 475 Allendale Road, King of Prussia, Pa. 19406 No. I-05-024 April 21, 2005 CONTACT: Diane Screnci (610) 337-5330 Neil A. Sheehan (610) 337-5331 E-mail: opa1@nrc.gov Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff will meet with representatives of Nine Mile Point Nuclear Station, LLC, on Thursday, April 28, to discuss the agency's annual assessment of safety performance at the Nine Mile Point nuclear power plant. The period of performance to be discussed is Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, 2004. Nine Mile Point Nuclear Station, LLC, operates the two-reactor plant in Scriba, N.Y. The meeting, which will be open to the public for observation, is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. in the Joint News Center for the plant, located at the Oswego County Airport, on County Route 176 in Fulton, N.Y. Before the session is adjourned, NRC staff will be available to answer questions from the public on the plant's safety performance, as well as the agency's role in ensuring safe operation of the facility. In addition to the afternoon meeting, the NRC will conduct a separate discussion with the public that evening on the performance of both the Nine Mile Point and James A. FitzPatrick nuclear power plants. That meeting is scheduled for 7 to 8 p.m. in the Town of Scriba's Assembly Hall, 42 Creamery Road in Oswego, N.Y. "The NRC continually reviews the performance of the Nine Mile Point plant and the nation's other commercial nuclear power facilities," NRC Region I Administrator Samuel J. Collins said. "This meeting will provide an opportunity for a discussion of our annual assessment of safety performance with the company and with local officials and residents who live near the plant. Our goal is to explain the NRC oversight process and make as much information as possible available to the public regarding our regulation of these facilities." Overall, the Nine Mile Point plant operated safely during the period. The NRC uses color-coded inspection findings and performance indicators to assess nuclear power plant performance. The colors start with "green" and then increase to "white," "yellow" or "red," commensurate with the safety significance of the issues involved. During 2004, all of the inspection findings and performance indicators for Nine Mile Point were determined to be "green." Therefore, the plant will receive a baseline level of inspections during the upcoming assessment period. Besides routine inspections performed at the plant in 2004, the NRC conducted a supplemental inspection last September in response to a "white" performance indicator for Unit 2 in the third quarter of 2003. The indicator tracks the number of unplanned scrams, or shutdowns, per 7,000 hours of critical operation. At the conclusion of the inspection, the NRC determined the company's corrective actions were sufficient to address the causes of the problem and to prevent a recurrence. Routine inspections are performed by three NRC Resident Inspectors assigned to the plant and by inspection specialists from the Region I Office in King of Prussia, Pa., and the agency's headquarters in Rockville, Md. Among the areas of plant operations to be inspected this year are radiological safety, emergency preparedness and problem identification and resolution. A letter sent from the NRC Region I Office to plant officials addresses the performance of the plant during the period and will serve as the basis for the meeting discussion. It is available on the NRC web site at: http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/LETTERS/nmp_2004q4.pdf [PDF Icon] . The notice and slides for the afternoon meeting are available in the NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS) under accession numbers ML050880025 and ML050880029, respectively. The notice and agenda for the evening meeting can be found under accession number ML050880106. ADAMS is accessible via the agency's web site at: http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. Help in using ADAMS is available by contacting the NRC's Public Document Room at 1-800-397-4209 or 301-415-4737 or by e-mail at PDR@nrc.gov. Current performance information for Nine Mile Point Unit 1 is available on the NRC web site at: http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/NMP1/nmp1_chart.html. Current performance information for Nine Mile Point Unit 2 is available on the NRC web site at: http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/NMP2/nmp2_chart.html. Last revised Thursday, April 21, 2005 ***************************************************************** 23 NRC: NRC Finds No Significant Environmental Impacts from Extended Operation of Arkansas Nuclear One, Unit 2 News Release - 2005-06 U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Office of Public Affairs Telephone: 301/415-8200 Washington, DC 20555-0001 E-mail: opa@nrc.gov No. 05-069 April 20, 2005 The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has issued its final environmental impact statement on the proposed renewal of the operating license for the Arkansas Nuclear One power plant, Unit 2 (ANO-2). The report contains the NRCs finding that there are no environmental impacts that would preclude license renewal for an additional 20 years of operation. The ANO-2 plant is located in Pope County, about 6 miles west-northwest of Russellville, Ark. The current operating license expires on July 17, 2018. Entergy Nuclear, the licensee, submitted an application for renewal of the license on Oct. 15, 2003. The license for Unit 1 was previously renewed and will expire on May 20, 2034. As part of its environmental review of the application, the NRC held public meetings near the plant to discuss the scope of the review and the draft version of the environmental impact statement. Comments were received from members of the public, local officials and representatives of state and federal agencies. The ANO-2 Final Environmental Impact Statement is available on the NRCs Web site at: http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/nuregs/staff/sr1437 /supplement19/index.html. Copies are also available for inspection at the NRCs Public Document Room at One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Md.; and the Ross Pendergraft Library at Arkansas Tech University, 305 West Q St., Russellville, Ark. Last revised Thursday, April 21, 2005 ***************************************************************** 24 NRC: $5,450,000 Fine for Davis-Besse Reactor Vessel Head Violations News Release - 2005-07 U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Office of Public Affairs Telephone: 301/415-8200 Washington, DC 20555-0001 E-mail: opa@nrc.gov No. 05-070 April 21, 2005 The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has proposed a $5.45 million fine against FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Company for violations of NRC regulations associated with the significant reactor vessel head damage discovered in March 2002 at the Davis-Besse Nuclear Power Plant. The plant is located at Oak Harbor, Ohio. This is the largest single fine ever proposed by the NRC. The principal violation, assessed a $5 million fine, was that the utility restarted and operated the Davis-Besse plant in May 2000 without fully characterizing and eliminating leakage from the reactor vessel head which led to significant corrosion damage. Additional violations (assessed $450,000) included providing incomplete and inaccurate information to the NRC on the extent of cleaning and inspecting the reactor vessel head in 2000. This substantial fine emphasizes the very high safety and regulatory significance of FirstEnergys failure to comply with NRC requirements and the companys willful failure to provide the NRC with complete and accurate information, said Luis Reyes, NRC Executive Director for Operations. In addition to the fine proposed for the utility, the NRC has issued an Order to a system engineer, prohibiting his involvement in NRC-regulated activities for five years. Enforcement action may be taken against additional individuals in the near future. The plant was started up on May 18, 2000, after a refueling and maintenance outage without a complete cleaning and inspection of the reactor vessel head, as required. During operation, leakage through tubes which penetrate the reactor head caused significant corrosion damage to the reactor vessel head. In 2001 the NRC directed Davis-Besse and other plants to inspect by Dec. 3, 2001, the tubes which penetrate the reactor vessel head for possible leakage. FirstEnergy requested that it be permitted to operate an additional three months before shutting down for the inspection, and the NRC staff, based on information submitted by FirstEnergy, permitted the plant to operate until Feb. 16, 2002. FirstEnergy supported its request with inaccurate and incomplete information about the cleaning and inspection of the reactor vessel head in 2000, said Reyes. Had the NRC known that the plant was being operated with leakage through the reactor vessel head, the agency would have taken immediate action to shut down the plant. The corrosion damage to the reactor vessel head was discovered about three weeks after the plant shut down. The plant remained shut down for more than two years for replacement of the reactor vessel head and improvements to other safety systems. Significant changes were also made in the plants management. After extensive inspections by the NRC of improvements to safety systems and the utilitys efforts to raise safety consciousness in the plants management and staff, the NRC determined that Davis-Besse could restart and operate safely. The NRC also required that the utility undertake annual independent assessments of important plant activities for five years. Since the plants restart in March 2004, it has operated safely and continues to operate safely, Reyes said. Davis-Besses performance has been closely monitored by a dedicated NRC oversight panel and the inspection staff, including three NRC resident inspectors that are assigned to that site. The NRC has issued an Order to Andrew Siemaszko, who was a system engineer at Davis-Besse, which prohibits his involvement in NRC-regulated activities for a five-year period. Siemaszko was responsible for ensuring that the reactor vessel head was cleaned and inspected during the 2000 outage. Records prepared by Siemaszko indicated that the reactor vessel head was cleaned and that no damage to the head was found. The agency found that he had deliberately provided incomplete and inaccurate information in plant documents, which are required by the NRC. Siemaszko no longer works at Davis-Besse. The enforcement actions are available on the NRC's web site for Davis Besse at: http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/enforcement/actions /reactors/ea05071.html; and for Siemaszko at: http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/enforcement/actions /individuals/ia05021.html. The utility and Siemaszko are required to respond to the enforcement actions within 90 days. They may request an extension of the response date. In addition to these actions, the NRC has previously referred Davis-Besse issues to the Department of Justice. Last revised Thursday, April 21, 2005 ***************************************************************** 25 [NYTr] US Threatens Intervention in N.Korea Date: Thu, 21 Apr 2005 17:40:28 -0500 (CDT) Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit sent by mart 1) War Threat! U.S. Military "Willing to Intervene In Case of 'Internal Turmoil' In N. Korea". U.S. 7th fleet ready to move on Korea at a moments notice in case of "crisis". [Now if they can just find a way to provoke some "internal turmoil" - mart] 2) U.S. Waves 'Security Council' Stick at N. Korea. U.S. demands return to six party talks, refuses 'one on one' disarmament talks with Korea. Rove threatens "World will 'find ways' to make Korea change it's ways". *** The Chosun Ilbo, Seoul S. Korea - Apr 19, 2005 http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200504/200504190006.html The U.S. military has hinted its willingness to intervene in case of an emergency in North Korea resulting from internal turmoil including the collapse of the communist regime. Officials say it will dispatch the U.S. 7th Fleet, the biggest naval force stationed in Japan, in case of emergency. The possible U.S. action is likely to spark controversy because it implies that Washington is planning its own military strategies regardless of Seoul's plan. U.S. military officials say a crisis in North Korea, such as mass defections or revolt will also have a destructive impact on the U.S., and therefore, they need to intervene to restore order. *** The Chosun Ilbo, Seoul S. Korea - Apr 19, 2005 http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200504/200504190020.html U.S. Waves Security Council Stick at N.Korea The U.S. on Monday (local time) for the first time directly threatened to drag North Korea before the U.N. Security Council if it keeps refusing to come back to six-party nuclear disarmament talks. "If North Korea refuses to come back to the six-party talks, then I fully expect we would consult with our partners in the region about the next steps," White House spokesman Scott McClellan said during a regular briefing. Asked whether that could mean referring the matter to the Security Council, he said, "That's certainly one possibility." U.S. officials like Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice have so far only hinted at the possibility that the Stalinist Country's nuclear program could once again become a matter for the council, where it was referred by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in February 2003. But McClellan stressed the by-now standard position that the six-party framework is the best way of dealing with Pyongyang's atomic ambitions. He urged the reclusive country back to the negotiating table, warning its "failure to follow through on that commitment and its provocative words and actions" could only isolate it further. In an interview with CNN on Monday, White House deputy chief of staff Karl Rove also warned North Korea would "hear the opinion of the greater world" if it didn't listen to what its neighbors were telling it. He said that if North Korea remained stubborn to the end, there were other means the world could adopt to get the regime to change direction. He said close discussion with other participants in the talks - besides the U.S. they are South Korea, Japan, China and Russia ? on the question were underway. Comparison of two satellite pictures indicates that North Korea has shut down its 3 MW nuclear reactor in Yongbyon. The picture on the right, taken on January 7, shows steam rising from the cooling tower, but there is no steam in the other picture, taken on April 7. The photos were made public by the U.S. Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS) on Monday. Meanwhile, North Korea's U.N. deputy ambassador confirmed his country has shut down its Yongbyon reactor and plans to reprocess the spent fuel rods to make nuclear warheads, USA Today reported in its online edition Tuesday. "The ball is in the U.S. court," Han told the daily. "We asked the United States to change its hostile policy. Then we can believe the United States and enter the disarmament process." U.S. State Department spokesperson Richard Boucher on Tuesday said the matter could be discussed once Pyongyang comes back to the talks. "You know, running reactors or not running reactors, reprocessing or not reprocessing, is not going to get North Korea a solution to its troubles," he said. "It's not going to get them, as [Rice] has said, the respect they desire, the assistance that they need." He added, "I can't get into the details" of the reactor shutdown, "but I do say we follow develops at Yongbyon very closely." * 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 ================================================================= ***************************************************************** 26 Bolton will trigger nuclear war Date: Thu, 21 Apr 2005 01:31:44 -0500 (CDT) HE MEANS A NUCLEAR WAR The underlying intent of the submission of John Bolton as U.N. ambassador is to PROVOKE a militant conflict with Iran, to guarantee that all diplomatic solutions fail. The same diplomatic "talents" he has shown in abusing every dedicated underling who ever tried to tell him the truth will be employed to destroy any possibility for making peace. All this is now coming to light IN SPITE OF the extreme strictures of silence with which our intelligence community usually function. If you believe the endless Iraq occupation is a disaster party you're going to JUST LOVE our war with the whole remainder of the Muslim world. In the long term there is really nothing that we can do militarily to stop other nations, even unfriendly ones, from getting decades old nuclear technology. These components are pretty much on the loose even now. But do we have to COMPEL other agents to use them for military ends? And there's just one power on this earth that will prevent it . . . your voices to speak out to our Congress on the Bolton nomination. (1) Constituent info: Email: First Name: Last Name: Addr: Apt/Ste: City: State: Zip: Phone: (2) Next add your own personal message to your Congress: The question is "Should John Bolton be U.N. Ambassador?" This petition will submit your "No" vote. If you want to compose a long message, please make a copy of the text for yourself before submitting form, or paste in from a text editor (3) Submit the email addresses of friends to invite to vote: (4) Now send your messages If you need help with the form or to email in your comments directly This email is a one click page that sends your personal message to all of your members of Congress at one time. It's easy, it's fast and it costs nothing. Isn't this THE SAME John Bolton who had such a key part in cooking up the very "intelligence" that lied us into the debacle in Iraq in the first place? Isn't there even one more qualified, shrewd diplomat that could be proposed for this post who IS NOT objected to in written statement by sixty of their most prominent peers? Won't you take action NOW about this and forward this email everywhere you can and to everybody you can. Or if you want to stop future, use our No More function Powered by The People's Email Network ) 2005, Patent pending, All rights reserved ***************************************************************** 27 DNFSB: FOIA Fee Schedule Update FR Doc 05-8010 [Federal Register: April 21, 2005 (Volume 70, Number 76)] [Notices] [Page 20739] From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr21ap05-27] DEFENSE NUCLEAR FACILITIES SAFETY BOARD AGENCY: Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board. ACTION: Notice. SUMMARY: The Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board is publishing its annual update to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Fee Schedule pursuant to 10 CFR 1703.107(b)(6) of the Board's regulations. DATES: Effective Date: May 1, 2005. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Kenneth M. Pusateri, General Manager, Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board, 625 Indiana Avenue, NW., Suite 700, Washington, DC 20004-2901, (202) 694-7060. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The FOIA requires each Federal agency covered by the Act to specify a schedule of fees applicable to processing of requests for agency records. 5 U.S.C. 552(a)(4)(i). On March 15, 1991, the Board published for comment in the Federal Register its proposed FOIA Fee Schedule. 56 FR 11114. No comments were received in response to that notice and the Board issued a final Fee Schedule on May 6, 1991. Pursuant to 10 CFR 1703.107(b)(6) of the Board's regulations, the Board's General Manager will update the FOIA Fee Schedule once every 12 months. Previous Fee Schedule updates were published in the Federal Register and went into effect, most recently, on May 5, 2004, 69 FR 25072. Board Action Accordingly, the Board issues the following schedule of updated fees for services performed in response to FOIA requests: Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board Schedule of Fees for FOIA Services [Implementing 10 CFR 1703.107(b)(6)] ----------------------------------------------------------------- Search or Review Charge...... $60.00 per hour. Copy Charge (paper).......... $.05 per page, if done in-house, or generally available commercial rate (approximately $.09 per page). Electronic Media............. $5.00. Copy Charge (audio cassette). $3.00 per cassette. Duplication of Video......... $25.00 for each individual videotape; $16.50 for each additional individual videotape. Copy Charge for large Actual commercial rates. documents (e.g., maps, diagrams). Dated: April 13, 2005. Kenneth M. Pusateri, General Manager. [FR Doc. 05-8010 Filed 4-20-05; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 3670-01-P ***************************************************************** 28 Korea Herald: [EDITORIAL] U.N. sanctions on N.K.? 2005.04.22 It is foolish of North Korea to keep provoking the United States since it said on Feb. 10 that it possesses nuclear weapons. Still, South Korea has good reason to caution against a U.S. option of bringing North Korea before the U.N. Security Council for sanctions against its nuclear program. Any U.S.-initiated U.N. action against North Korea will build up tensions on the Korean Peninsula and make it all the more difficult to resolve the nuclear standoff by peaceful means. Should the United States launch a military attack on the North Korean nuclear facilities, it will be South Korea that will have to bear the brunt of any devastating North Korean retaliation. With this potentially dire situation in mind, top policymakers from the administration and the ruling Uri Party agreed on Wednesday that South Korea cannot endorse any proposal to refer the North Korean case to the U.N. Security Council, not to mention U.N. sanctions against Pyongyang. True, Washington has made no formal proposal to that effect since the White House spokesman referred to the possibility of taking Pyongyang to the Security Council on Monday. But it may find it difficult to wait indefinitely for the North Koreans to return to the six-nation talks on their nuclear program. Indeed, the White House spokesman was quoted as saying, "I don't know that we've set a timetable but if they refuse to come back to the talks, then we would have to consult with our partners and look at the next steps." Soon after North Korea declared it possesses nuclear weapons, its leader, Kim Jong-il, told China's special envoy that it would return to the nuclear talks if the conditions were right. But it became provocative again when it said it would expand its nuclear arsenal. Then, it recently shut down its nuclear plant in Yongbyon, probably a signal that it was taking out spent fuel rods to extract weapons-grade plutonium. Against this backdrop, the United States is apparently considering the next steps, which the White House spokesman said will include the possibility of taking North Korea to the Security Council. Once a decision is made in this regard, the United States will seek to have the council adopt a resolution calling on Pyongyang to give up its nuclear ambitions and on U.N. members to take punitive action if it refuses to comply. It is difficult to predict whether or not the United States will be able to have its own way, given the veto power accorded to the five permanent council members, including China, North Korea's main supporter. Should Washington succeed in marshaling U.N. sanctions, they will have only a limited impact on North Korea, which is already isolated from the international community. But all these handicaps should not give any false hope to the North Koreans, who are mistakenly testing the limits to American patience. They should remember that the United States was working on a plan to strike the North Korean nuclear facilities before bilateral negotiations on an Agreed Framework were wrapped up back in 1994. In addition, the United States went ahead with its plan to invade Iraq though the Security Council did not endorse it in the face of opposition from the French. What the North Koreans should be concerned about is the possibility that the United States may seek U.N. sanctions against all odds to show the world that it has exhausted all diplomatic resources at its disposal and that the only option left is the use of military force. This possibility should be a cause of great concern to the South Koreans and the Chinese, who are opposed to any military action from the United States. ***************************************************************** 29 Bellona: Foreign aid for Russian nuclear submarines dismantling reached highest level in 2004 The total share of the Global Partnership program members in the Russian submarine dismantling became equal to the sum provided by the Russian state budget for this purpose in 2004. 2005-04-21 18:46 Sergey Antipov said that to the Interfax agency in March. Before 2004, Russia allocated more money for the submarines’ dismantling, but last year the shares became equal. Russia did not reduce financing and continues to allocate about $72m annually, while the foreign partners have significantly increased financial assistance. He said it had taken three years for the paper work and now more and more contracts are being signed what shows the results. All the retired nuclear submarines should be scrapped by 2010. Today 84 nuclear submarines have to be decommissioned. The G8 "Global Partnership against the Spread of Weapons and Materials of Mass Destruction [WMD]" issued by the world's eight leading industrial nations – Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Russia Federation, the UK and the US–at the G8 Summit on 27 June 2002, is an initiative aimed at accounting, securing and clearing up Russia's nuclear legacy. 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 ***************************************************************** 30 Xinhua: S. Korea urges North back to talks www.xinhuanet.com www.chinaview.cn 2005-04-21 09:58:57 BEIJING, April 21 -- South Korean Foreign Affairs and Trade Minister, Ban Ki-moon, has expressed serious concern about the suggestions that North Korea is reprocessing spent fuel rods from its nuclear reactor. Ban Ki-moon told a press conference in Seoul that South Korea is closely watching activities at the North's Yongbyon nuclear reactor. He says, if the stories are true, reprocessing the nuclear material is not in the interests of North Korea or the international community. North Korea's Deputy Ambassador to the United Nations, Han Song-ryol, recently declared that North Korea has shut down its nuclear reactor and plans to transfer the fuel to boost its "deterrence" against possible attacks. The South Korean Foreign Minister also urged North Korea to return to the six-party talks. (Source: CRIENGLISH.com) Copyright ©2003 Xinhua News Agency. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 31 AFP: SKorea says UN referral of North Korea would be a misstep Messenger Thursday April 21, 09:14 AM SEOUL (AFX) - South Korea has stepped up its opposition to referral of North Korea to the UN Security Council, saying the move would worsen the nuclear standoff. Seoul's top nuclear negotiator Song Min-Soon said the United Nations should not be involved at this stage and that six-way talks were the only viable option for an end to the standoff over North Korea's nuclear weapons program. 'Keeping in mind that the referral to the UN Security Council is not a panacea and can be burdensome, the government is working out countermeasures,' Deputy Foreign Minister Song said in an interview with South Korea's domestic radio station CBS (Brussels: WXts.BR- news) . Washington has not made a proposal to South Korea concerning the UN Security Council, he said. 'The United Sates has never made such an offer. We have never considered it either,' he said North Korea maintains that UN referral is tantamount to a declaration of war. Copyright © 2005 AFP AFX. All rights reserved. Republication or ***************************************************************** 32 St. Petersburg Times: Rosatom Sees Cash in Foreign Nuclear Subs - General news from St.Petersburg and Russia #1063, Friday, April 22, 2005 By Vladimir Kovalev STAFF WRITER Russia could earn several hundred million dollars if the United States, Britain and France agreed to let it dispose of their old nuclear submarines, says Alexander Rumyantsev, head of the Federal Nuclear Power Agency, or Rosatom. His proposal made on Monday alarmed international environmental organizations, which described Rosatom's announcement as "silly" and stressed that Russia could gain from such projects only with the assent of the other countries. "So far this is a political message," RIA Novosti quoted Rumyantsev as saying Monday. "The disposal of submarines using Russia's facilities would let our foreign partners save significant expenses because they would not have to build the necessary infrastructure in their countries." Russia receives $100 million a year from other countries to finance the breaking up of its own nuclear submarines and the storage of their radioactive reactors and spent fuel rods. This work is done in harbors on the Barents Sea and in the Far East, he added. The technologies Russia uses allow it to dismantle a submarine for the relatively low cost of between $2 million and $10 million, depending on the type of submarine. The total value of potential contracts could be up to $300 million, the agency estimates. "For now, 120 submarines have been dismantled and about 80 remain," Rumyantsev said. "We process 15 submarines a year. In five or six years we can finish everything," he said. To allay fears that Russia would acquire secret technologies used in foreign submarines, Rumyantsev said the subs could be delivered "with only general and traditional mechanisms left on board." "If we reach an agreement, in the first stage the spent fuel would be removed in the countries that own the submarines," he said. But environmentalists said Rumyantsev had not given enough consideration to his proposal before publicizing it. "Rumyantsev's business initiative sounds silly because there is still plenty to be done to domestic nuclear submarines in the next 10 years," Alexander Nikitin, a member of Norwegian environmental organization Bellona, said Wednesday in a telephone interview. "There shouldn't be talk about transporting foreign submarines here until all Russian stuff is cleaned up," Nikitin said. "They didn't even think through such matters as transportation, storage and safety. And the process of removing all the secret things from [foreign] submarines is also quite expensive. Nobody would give Russia equipment with some secret technical elements." "Rumyantsev doesn't care whether his proposal means bringing nuclear waste or nuclear parts of some sort to Russia. His main goal is to earn money and create working places for Rosatom," he said. Analysts at the Center for Environmental Policy said it is unlikely that the United States would go along with Rumyantsev's idea. Britain, France and the U.S. are capable of solving the problem on their own. "The United States resolved this matter long ago," Interfax quoted Alexei Yablokov, president of the center, as saying Monday. "They cut up a submarine, weld the reactor section and store it in special zone in a desert." "For developed countries it would be no problem to create [the necessary technologies], especially taking into account that France has only seven nuclear submarines and Britain has slightly more than 20," he said. The Russian branch of Greenpeace released an open letter to the governments of foreign countries that called Rumyantsev's proposal "another shady venture." "The Russian nuclear sector is ridden with all imaginable problems starting from simple cases of theft and finishing with a lack of physical safety systems at nuclear sites," Greenpeace wrote in the letter. As an example, the environmentalists named Mayak, a plant that reprocesses nuclear waste, including that removed from nuclear submarines. "In the half century of its activity it has continuously dumped liquid nuclear waste in the Techa river [of the Chelyabinsk region], along which people live," the letter says. "This was the reason that the General Prosecutor's Office at the beginning of April initiated a criminal case against Mayak for polluting the environment. Accidents that have occurred at the plant are comparable in scale to the Chernobyl disaster," the letter said. "The authorities keep forgetting that there are tens of thousands of metric tons of nuclear waste accumulated in the country from nuclear power plants as well as from nuclear submarines. "In fact, it is not being reprocessed by anyone. Besides, there is nuclear waste in Russia taken from nuclear power plants in Hungary, Bulgaria and Ukraine, which was at some point said to have been transported to Russia for reprocessing but was simply buried on Russian soil," the letter said. www.sptimes.ru ***************************************************************** 33 Pravda: Russian consumers destined to buy radioactive vegetables and meat from Chernobyl - PRAVDA.Ru 04/21/2005 18:05 Strontium does not contaminate meat, although the substance penetrates into animals' bones The volume of agricultural deliveries from Belarus to Russia has experienced a significant increase lately. The range of imported products will include the ones manufactured in the region of Belarus, which suffered from the Chernobyl nuclear catastrophe in 1986. The total volume of commodity turnover between Russia and Belarus made up almost $6 billion in 2004; agricultural products traditionally make up the biggest part of the export from Belarus, the Nezavisimaya Gazeta wrote. Moscow is the first city on the list to receive Belarussian food stuffs - 42 percent. The growth of the Belarussian export to Moscow is said to add 25-30 percent in 2005. There are 670 agricultural farms in Belarus situated on the territories, which the Chernobyl nuclear power plant contaminated 19 years ago. Only 19 of 670 farms are to complete the so-called "re-specialization" program, which will let them manufacture "normatively pure" products, according to affirmations from the Belarussian authorities. All the rest agricultural farms are to be re-specialized during the forthcoming five years. Belarussian officials believe that agricultural technologies will not allow strontium and caesium (two most radioactive elements) penetrate into products. That is why, officials say, the production will conform to sanitary requirements of the Belarussian Healthcare Ministry. Local scientists say that Belarus makes clean products, which correspond with requirements of numerous supervising agencies, and can be classified as conventional meat and vegetables. There can be a lot of details found on the matter, though. Strontium does not contaminate meat, although the substance penetrates into animals' bones. If such a bone is used for cooking soup, the dish will be rather hazardous. In addition, agricultural products grown on the Chernobyl-polluted areas do not receive any special marks, which deprives a buyer of an opportunity to decline a purchase. Belarus is going to commemorate the 19th anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster on April 26th. Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko is to visit the Chernobyl area - Mr. Lukashenko spends a week of his vacation in the area every year. Alexander Lukashenko says that the radiation level in the disaster-stricken region is even lower than in Belarus's capital, Minsk. Read the original in Russian: (Translated by: Dmitry Sudakov) Pravda.Ru L1999-2002 "PRAVDA.Ru". ***************************************************************** 34 toledoblade.com: Neighbors fear delay in beryllium site cleanup Article published Thursday, April 21, 2005 Some worry Luckey plant to change hands [Photo] Luckey’s former beryllium production site is to have cleanup guidelines set by September. ( THE BLADE/JEREMY WADSWORTH ) By JENNIFER FEEHAN BLADE STAFF WRITER LUCKEY - Like many Luckey-area residents, Steve Shaffer has waited years for the Army Corps of Engineers to begin its long-promised cleanup of a former beryllium production plant on the edge of this Wood County village. Now, he and local officials fear time may be running out. They are concerned about rumors the property may change hands and a scrap steel recycling facility may begin operating there. "If this site becomes another commercial industry, there would be no need for such an extensive cleanup," Mr. Shaffer wrote in a recent letter to his neighbors. "The Corps of Engineers could easily justify the less costly proposal to do little to nothing on the site since the new owners would more than likely contaminate the area again." He is encouraging residents to contact local, state, and federal officials about their concerns for the site. While the property has not been sold, Brad Espen, director of environmental services for the Wood County health department, said the prospect makes him nervous. He said the proposed cleanup isn't happening soon enough, and he would hate to see a new owner come in and disturb the 47-acre site. "My big concern is this company is going to go in there and stir up the waste lagoon. If they demolish the buildings, there's beryllium dust still in the buildings," he said. "I'm concerned they'll disturb the contamination there and create a larger health and environmental problem than what's already existing." The Atomic Energy Commission built the beryllium plant at Gilbert and Luckey roads in 1949, and it was operated by Brush Beryllium, the forerunner to the Cleveland-based Brush Wellman Inc. until 1958. The government agency shipped the beryllium pebbles to plants that made nuclear weapons. Studies conducted by the Corps of Engineers since it became responsible for the cleanup in 1997 have shown the site is contaminated with radiological and chemical waste, including beryllium and lead. Graham Mitchell, chief of the Office of Federal Facilities Oversight for the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, said the current owner of the property, Hayes Lemmerz International Inc., has made the site accessible to the EPA and the Corps. "Because the Corps does not own the site, this access issue is always a factor," Mr. Mitchell said, adding that the EPA has not been notified of any pending sale of the property. "It's hard to imagine a current owner or a future owner of property that has contamination on it and the federal government is planning to spend their money to clean it up, why a property owner wouldn't want that to happen," he said. Patrick Jones, a spokesman for the Corps' Buffalo district office, said the Corps plans to complete its recommendations for the cleanup of the Luckey site by the end of September, although the cleanup would not begin before 2007 because the Corps is focused on completing work at other former federal sites where cleanup is under way. To date, the Corps has spent $14.16 million on the feasibility study and other costs related to the Luckey site, he said. The actual cleanup, which would include excavating contaminated soil and disposing of it off-site, has been estimated to cost between $136.1 million and $181.5 million. Marika Diamond, spokesman for Hayes Lemmerz, a Northville, Mich.-based automotive wheel producer, said the company has had inquiries about the Luckey property, although it is not formally listed for sale. She said she did not understand why residents would fear that a future owner wouldn't want to cooperate with the Corps since the government is footing the bill for the cleanup. "If the Corps of Engineers is cleaning it up, that's a good thing for the environment at large," she said. "I don't understand why people have that concern." Lloyd Fahle, a neighbor who worked at the beryllium plant in the 1950s, recalls burying lead filters from the plant's furnaces in the ground down to the underlying bedrock. While he too has waited patiently for the Corps of Engineers to clean up the site, he fears the contaminated material will seep into a nearby quarry that could feed into water wells. "I'm hoping that nothing is done to it," Mr. Fahle said, referring to the possibility of a new company taking over the site. "If we've got to wait for the government to do something, then so be it. But at least nobody else is going to be in there doing anything until the contamination is taken care of." Contact Jennifer Feehan at: jfeehan@theblade.com or 419-353-5972. © 2005 The Blade. The Toledo Blade Company, 541 N. Superior St., Toledo, OH 43660 , (419) 724-6000 ***************************************************************** 35 The Whitehaven News: MYSTERY OVER RADIATION SPIKE EXPERTS still seem to be baffled over why radiation levels suddenly “spiked” in one of the highly radioactive waste tanks at Sellafield last November. The issue was raised by the Nuclear Installations site Inspectorate at Sellafield, Peter Watson, to the final meeting of the Sellafield Liaison meeting. BNFL has been tasked to reduce the volumes of highly active liquid waste stored in cooled and agitated silos at Sellafield. But the meeting also heard that work in turning the waste into a safer solid glass form was being slowed by the fact that only one of three evaporators was working this year. He said radioactivity levels in one cooling jacket had “spiked” but had cleared after flushing through. But he added: “BNFL need to see a way forward for that tank.” The tanks hold a mixture of wastes. They have to be kept cooled and stirred to prevent any risks of criticalities (sudden spikes in activity) if too much plutonium settles together. He said an improvement notice had been served on BNF over how plutonium nitrate was allowed to build up inside a glove box. THE 1st Battalion of the Border Regiment is holding its annual reunion at the Shepherd’s Inn, Carlisle, on Friday, May 13, at 8pm. For tickets (£15), contact John Mallinson on 01228 520877. 55 jobs lost WORKINGTON factory Enesco, where Lilliput Lane models are painted, looks set to close with the loss of 55 jobs. Enesco blames the likely closure on declining sales. Notice periods for job losses are due to begin on May 12. STEPHEN Moore, 19, of Basket Road, Kells, has denied causing £235 damage to a Ford Focus on March 13. Whitehaven magistrates adjourned the case to May 6 for a pre-trial review. WHITEHAVEN magistrates proved in his absence the case against Peter Dunn, 30, of High Street, Cleator Moor, charged with driving a vehicle with a defective tyre. He was fined £100 with £35 costs. Threats shouted A WHITEHAVEN man has received 60 hours of a community punishment order after admitting a public order offence. Magistrates were told Darren Moore, 31, of Gill Close, shouted threats at a man while at a Mirehouse shop. Moore said he had been warning off the man who had threatened his nephew. ***************************************************************** 36 Rocky Mountain News: State studies plan for radioactive waste Group fears dump in Adams Co. would be a 'stepping stone' By Todd Hartman, Rocky Mountain News April 21, 2005 Adams County soon may be home to an unusual waste dump, one permitted to take a largely benign type of radioactive material that few places in the country accept. State health officials are preparing to decide whether Deer Trail landfill in southeastern Adams County can accept the material, which poses a low risk for people but has still sparked scattered opposition in a region where cattle, buffalo and rattlesnakes far outnumber residents. Chief among opponents is a competing company with waste sites in Idaho, Washington and Texas. That firm, American Ecology, has hired a local lobbyist to scrutinize the plan. The Deer Trail landfill has accepted various hazardous wastes since 1991. Now its corporate owner is asking the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment for permission to accept a kind of radioactive material that is common here, but sometimes has to be shipped out of state for legal disposal at higher costs. Opponents fear that Deer Trail's owner, Massachusetts-based Clean Harbors Environmental Services, Inc. simply wants to use the radioactive material as a "stepping stone" for more dangerous, and lucrative, radioactive wastes. "They want to get their foot in the door so they can go after bigger and better things," said Pam Whelden, a nearby resident and chairwoman of Concerned Citizens of Eastern Colorado, an activist group that organized to oppose the landfill in the 1980s. Phillip Retallick, a senior vice president for Clean Harbors, said that isn't the case. To prove it, he said, Clean Harbors officials have pledged to enter into a legally binding agreement - called an environmental covenant - with state health regulators that would restrict the type of radioactive waste allowed at the site. The agreement would run with the site and encumber any future operators as well. "Clean Harbors has committed not to apply for higher limits," Retallick said. "The environmental covenant gives participating local governments control over future changes in the licensing of this site." Fewer options for disposal At issue is a type of radioactive waste classified as "naturally occurring" and "technologically enhanced naturally occurring" radioactive material. Sources of such material include leftover sludge from drinking water treatment, road excavations, and residue from oil and gas drilling. Abbreviated as NORM and TENORM, the material is distinctive from man-made radioactive waste, such as at Rocky Flats or other Department of Energy facilities. Nor does it include radioactive wastes associated with nuclear power, medical uses or mill tailings from uranium processing. "All materials proposed for disposal at the facility . . . are literally a trillion times less 'radioactive' than other wastes routinely shipped from Colorado to other states," according to a statement issued by Clean Harbors. Historically, health department officials have allowed some disposal of NORM and TENORM in certain municipal landfills. But regulators say that federal rule changes to drinking water treatment have created more situations where disposal of the wastes in typical landfills could be more difficult. That makes the Deer Trail site, and all of its already built-in environmental protections, an important consideration, said Doug Benevento, executive director of the state health department. He said that many cities and utilities that end up with NORM and TENORM waste after treating drinking water need more options for disposal. "This is going to give a central location for all municipalities, and it's going to be pretty inexpensive, relative to what they're paying now," Benevento said. Benevento also cited an ongoing Superfund cleanup in Denver requiring disposal of radium-tainted materials that were laid down as fill for decades under several Denver streets. That material now goes to a waste site in Idaho, one owned by American Ecology. But it could be disposed of at Deer Trail, if the state determines that the site is suitable. The lower transportation costs would save the state money, Benevento said. But that argument hasn't convinced some opponents, including Adams County commissioners, who say that state approval of the plan would break a promise made in 1983, when the county OK'd the project on the condition that the facility wouldn't accept radioactive wastes. But Retallick said that the company wouldn't have sought state permission to accept the new wastes unless they had been in conformance with earlier agreements with Adams County. He said the company has sought a meeting with commissioners and will renew that request in coming days, in hopes of resolving any differences. Comments sought The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment will host a community meeting about the proposal to accept certain radioactive wastes at the Deer Trail landfill. • When: 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. today • Where: Woodlin School, 15400 County Road L, Woodrow • Topics: Update on application review process; recent develop- ments and comments from local government and community hartmant@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-892-5048 2005 © The E.W. Scripps Co. ***************************************************************** 37 Las Vegas SUN: Nevada lawmakers claim tide shifting on Yucca Mountain By ERICA WERNER ASSOCIATED PRESS WASHINGTON (AP) - Meeting for the first time since a controversy broke out over document falsification at Yucca Mountain, the five members of Nevada's congressional delegation said Wednesday that they're detecting increasing skepticism about the project on Capitol Hill. "There isn't anything that ever has in the past compared to this even remotely," Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., told home-state reporters in his Capitol office. "This is the most substantive evidence we've had that the program is bad and not based on science. There's not even anything close." Reid, Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., and Reps. Jon Porter, Jim Gibbons and Shelley Berkley said their conversations with colleagues about the proposed national nuclear waste dump have changed markedly since the Energy Department last month disclosed the controversial e-mails. Written by U.S. Geological Survey workers studying how water moves through the proposed dump site 90 miles from Las Vegas, the e-mails show the workers discussing making up data and keeping two sets of figures, one for themselves and one for quality assurance officers. "Everybody's hearing the same feedback from our colleagues that we're sensing a sea change here," Ensign said. "When we talked about sound science before, most of our colleagues just thought we were trying to protect Nevada's, our constituents', interests, but they didn't really believe it." The Nevadans said they planned to meet with Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman next month to discuss the issue. A spokeswoman said the Energy Department remains committed to Yucca Mountain. "The department is taking this matter very seriously. We've undertaken a thorough review of the allegations, the underlying science and the processes involved," spokeswoman Anne Womack Kolton said. "But the fact remains that America needs a permanent geologic repository and we will continue to prepare the license application for Yucca Mountain to meet that critical goal." Porter, R-Nev., who chairs a congressional panel that oversees the federal work force, said he also is seeking meetings with the inspectors general of the Interior and Energy departments, who have launched criminal investigations. Porter said his subcommittee is hiring a full-time investigator to focus on Yucca Mountain. He has held one hearing but the Interior Department declined to make the three workers who were the principle authors of the e-mails available to testify. "I'm ready, willing and prepared to use subpoenas, whether it be for documents or individuals, and I suspect that the three individuals in question are just the tip of the iceberg," he said. "But what we want to do is get as much voluntary information as possible, because as soon as you use a subpoena you close a lot of other avenues." The lawmakers said the e-mail controversy also is renewing interest in alternatives to Yucca Mountain, such as finding ways to recycle waste or leave it stored in dry cask storage containers at nuclear reactors around the nation. Reid and Ensign plan to introduce legislation next month that would maintain the waste onsite, and the revelations could give the bill a better chance, Reid spokeswoman Tessa Hafen said. All contents copyright 2005 Las Vegas SUN, Inc. ***************************************************************** 38 Las Vegas RJ: Nevadans sketch Yucca game plan Thursday, April 21, 2005 Lawmakers work to take advantage of latest controversy By STEVE TETREAULT STEPHENS WASHINGTON BUREAU WASHINGTON -- Believing they might have a winning hand at last, Nevada lawmakers on Wednesday outlined a strategy they said will keep pressure on the Energy Department over controversial e-mails at Yucca Mountain. State leaders said they plan to seek a meeting next month with Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman while continuing to use a House subcommittee led by Rep. Jon Porter, R-Nev., to seek out flaws in the nuclear waste program. Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said he also will use his influence to seek a new round of Yucca Mountain budget reductions to further undercut the project. "We feel comfortable and confident that Yucca Mountain is staggering now," Reid said. Reid convened a rare meeting of Nevada's five congressional lawmakers to plot a course following disclosures in March that scientists studying water flow and climate for the U.S. Geological Survey wrote e-mails between 1998 and 2000 that discussed using "fudge factors" and making up names and dates to satisfy quality assurance rules. The disclosures prompted inspectors general at the Energy Department and the Department of Interior to initiate an investigation with assistance from the FBI. At the same time, the Energy Department began to trace the work in question to determine whether any science was compromised. Internal documents released earlier this month show DOE officials initially believed that work performed by the scientists would have been substantiated later and the e-mails would have no "meaningful effect." Rod McCullum, a senior project manager with the Nuclear Energy Institute, said former Yucca director Margaret Chu initiated quality assurance reforms in 2002 and the project has undergone "a cultural shift in five years" since the e-mails were written. The e-mails are only the latest blow to Yucca Mountain. The controversy came on top of a court ruling last summer that invalidated a key radiation health standard, and an order from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission forcing the Energy Department to review several million e-mails and documents for posting to an electronic database. Now, Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., contended, "The water is spilling over the dam." Setbacks have forced the Energy Department to postpone a Yucca Mountain license application and abandon a timetable for accepting waste at the repository. Nevada leaders customarily are quick to seize on news about Yucca Mountain and attempt to capitalize on it in their long-held opposition. But Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., maintained the latest controversy is different because the e-mails indicate problems within the project, rather than complaints from outside auditors and critics. Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., said, "I believe the e-mails are the smoking gun that will ultimately put an end to this project and leave the nail in the coffin." Copyright Las Vegas Review-Journal ***************************************************************** 39 Las Vegas SUN: Assembly passes bill to toughen ethics rules April 20, 2005 SUN CAPITAL BUREAU A public official who admits to three ethical violations would automatically be kicked out of office under a bill approved by the Assembly on Tuesday. Assembly Joint Resolution 9 would amend the state Constitution to crack down on unethical behavior. "It's very, very simple: Three strikes and you're out," said Assembly Speaker Richard Perkins, D-Henderson. Perkins alluded to the recent case of state Controller Kathy Augustine, who admitted to several ethical violations. Augustine was impeached, but the Senate did not remove her from office. The lone dissenter was Assemblywoman Sharron Angle, R-Reno, who said the bill should better define what type of violation would qualify toward the three strikes and whether there would be a statute of limitation on the strikes. Since the bill entails a constitutional amendment, the Legislature would have to pass the measure twice and then get voters to approve it before it could become law. Among other measures sent to the Senate: + Assembly Bill 216 would give a price break to low-income seniors renting spots in mobile home parks. Sponsored by Assemblywoman Genie Ohrenschall, D-Las Vegas, it would require landlords to give rent reductions to tenants once they are 55 years old as long as they have resided in the park for 5 years and have a household adjusted gross income of $40,000 or less. Under the bill, their rent could not exceed $300 if the household income is less than $20,000, $350 if the income is between $20,000 and $30,000, and $400 if the income is between $30,000 and $40,000. Fourteen Republicans voted against the measure, along with Democratic Assemblyman William Horne of Las Vegas. + Assembly Joint Resolution 4 urges the federal government not to proceed with the planned nuclear waste dump at Yucca Mountain. The resolution cites many issues, including last summer's ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit that the radiation standards set by the Environmental Protection Agency were inadequate. "In this era where terrorism is everywhere, we really shouldn't be moving this stuff anywhere, let alone to Nevada," said Assemblywoman Genie Ohrenschall, D-Las Vegas, who sponsored the measure. Four Republican members of the Assembly voted against the measure: Rod Sherer of Pahrump, John Marvel of Battle Mountain, John Carpenter of Elko and Lynn Hettrick of Gardnerville. + Assembly Bill 527 would change the name of the University and Community College System of Nevada to the Nevada System of Higher Education. Assemblywoman Bonnie Parnell, D-Carson City, said the Board of Regents asked for the name change because the old name doesn't reflect the Nevada State College at Henderson. + Assembly Bill 507 would change state statutes to say "firefighter" instead of "fireman." Assemblyman John Oceguera, D-Las Vegas, who also works for the North Las Vegas Fire Department, said, "More and more women are becoming firefighters every year, and they put their lives on the line every day just like we do." Assembly Minority Leader Lynn Hettrick, R-Gardnerville, said he had been contacted by a volunteer firefighter upset that she had to sign paperwork designating her as a "fireman." + Assembly Joint Resolution 6 urges Congress to change the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003. Assembly Majority Leader Barbara Buckley, D-Las Vegas, complained that the federal legislation is difficult to understand and too expensive for many seniors. The federal act penalizes seniors if they don't sign up during a certain time period and saddles them with co-payments, deductibles and other major expenses, Buckley said. She said the state's Senior Rx program was originally complicated, but a bipartisan effort in the state clarified the measure. "We changed the program so it made sense, so it was affordable and easy to understand," Buckley said. All contents copyright 2005 Las Vegas SUN, Inc. ***************************************************************** 40 Las Vegas SUN: Goodman wants state law banning nuke waste transport By Dan Kulin LAS VEGAS SUN Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman said Wednesday that he wants a state law banning the transportation of radioactive waste through Nevada, a law similar to the city's ordinance. During the Wednesday City Council meeting, Goodman asked Deputy City Manager Betsy Fretwell to look into getting the Legislature to consider such legislation this year. Goodman also said he would want the law to require transporters of other dangerous cargo to be required to alert local governments before they travel through an area. The mayor's comments came on the heels of a Monday ruling in federal court that upheld a Washington, D.C., ban on hazardous rail shipments, which the mayor said was a wonderful development for local governments including Las Vegas. In 2000, Las Vegas adopted an ordinance banning nuclear waste shipments through the city in an effort to keep waste bound for the proposed Yucca Mountain waste repository out of the city. The Clark County District Attorney's office questioned if it were constitutional, but Goodman has noted that the ordinance has never been tested in court. Goodman has said he would have drivers hauling high-level nuclear waste through Las Vegas arrested. On Tuesday, Goodman said that in light of the ruling he would ask the city attorney to draft a new ordinance that would expand the city's ban to include other dangerous cargo. All contents copyright 2005 Las Vegas SUN, Inc. ***************************************************************** 41 Wandsworth Guardian: Trains carrying nuclear waste will be tested for danger levels A risk assessment of trains carrying nuclear waste through Clapham Junction and Battersea will go ahead in the light of fears over a terrorist attack or catastrophic derailment. London Mayor Ken Livingstone will organise a study of the risks involved, which should put fresh pressure on the Government to change its policy. Nuclear waste is currently taken by train from three power stations in south-east England through London and up to Sellafield in west Cumbria for reprocessing. Campaigners fear disaster could strike if there was a derailment followed by spillage or, at worst, if terrorists hijacked a train and used high-power explosives to shatter the outside train container to gain access to nuclear waste inside. The mayor's office could not comment specifically on the risk review, but it is likely to look at the risk of a terrorist attack, protection against derailment and danger of a fire or explosion. Mr Livingstone said: "I am deeply concerned about trains carrying nuclear waste passing through such a densely populated area." Direct Rail Service (DRS) which transports the fuel for British Nuclear Fuels said since 1962 over eight million miles have been covered without incident. The DRS said stringent safety measures were in place and the forged steel containers, known as flasks, used to hold the waste, were 30cm thick and weighed more than 50 tonnes. Green party assembly member Darren Johnson, who chaired an inquiry into nuclear train waste, welcomed the review and said: "There are no trains like this running through New York." David Leal, a member of Nuclear Trains Action Group, called for greater transparency. A Department of Trade and Industry spokesman said no plans were in place to change the arrangements as it was confident of existing security. 1:24pm Thursday 21st April 2005 (c) Copyright 2001-2005 Newsquest Media Group - A Gannett Company ***************************************************************** 42 ABC7Chicago.com: Kerr-McGee agrees to cleanup West Chicago Superfund sites last updated: 4/20/2005[ align=] Kerr-McGee agrees to cleanup West Chicago Superfund sites April 20, 2005 — Kerr-McGee Chemical, LLP, agreed Wednesday to a settlement with government officials that is expected to result in the $74 million cleanup of radioactive waste and the restoration of natural resources at two Superfund sites near West Chicago. A consent decree, filed Wednesday in federal court in Chicago, requires Kerr-McGee to excavate about 77,000 cubic yards of radioactive contamination in the West Branch of the DuPage River and Kress Creek, and ship the contaminated soil to a facility licensed to handle such waste. The Oklahoma City-based company also will be required to repair any damage caused to vegetation, riverbanks and waterways because of the cleanup. Kerr-McGee also will pay $6 million into the Superfund for past costs that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency incurred working on the sites; reimburse up to $1.675 million in future EPA oversight costs; and pay the state of Illinois $100,000 and the U.S. Department of the Interior $75,000 for costs relating to overseeing natural resources work. "This agreement is truly the result of federal, state and local governments and entities working together to ensure that these sites that once were contaminated are going to become safe as neighborhoods and a park," Attorney General Lisa Madigan said. Kerr-McGee spokesman John Christiansen said the company, "Kerr-McGee Chemical places high priority on environmental responsibility, and we are working to safely complete the remediation efforts under way in West Chicago." The cleanup project is expected to take four years to complete and will extend for about eight miles from West Chicago to the McDowell Dam, which is south of Warrenville. The sites were contaminated with thorium residue from the 1930s through the early 1970s as a result of the production of thorium materials at the Rare Earths Facility, operated by Kerr-McGee and its predecessors. The materials were used for federal defense and other programs. Exposure to thorium has been linked to accelerated cancer rates. The West Branch of the DuPage River and Kress Creek are the last areas of radioactive contamination near the Rare Earths Facility that remain to be cleaned up. Under prior EPA orders, Kerr-McGee cleaned up radioactive contamination in residential areas in West Chicago, Reed-Keppler Park in West Chicago and the West Chicago Sewage Treatment Plant. (Copyright 2005 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.) Thursday, April 21, 2005 ABCNEWS.com| ABC.com| Movies.com| ESPN.com| FamilyFun.com Copyright ©2005 ABC Inc., WLS Television, Inc. ***************************************************************** 43 DOE: Office of Arms Control and Nonproliferation; Proposed Subsequent FR Doc 05-8009 [Federal Register: April 21, 2005 (Volume 70, Number 76)] [Notices] [Page 20743] From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr21ap05-30] Arrangement AGENCY: Department of Energy. ACTION: Notice of subsequent arrangement. SUMMARY: This notice is being issued under the authority of Section 131 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended (42 U.S.C. 2160). The Department is providing notice of a proposed ``subsequent arrangement'' under Article 5 Paragraph 2 of the Agreement for Cooperation Between the Government of the United States of America and the People's Republic of Bangladesh Concerning Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Energy and the Government of the United States of America and the Government of the Republic of Korea Concerning Civil Uses of Atomic Energy. This subsequent arrangement concerns the retransfer of U.S.-origin reactor parts to the Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission's TRIGA Mark II research reactor from the Ministry of Science and Technology of the Republic of Korea. The items to be transferred are: Eight control rod drive motors; one servo motor; eight magnets; twenty-one limit switches; eight mounting barriers; three electro-mechanical choppers; six instruments and indicators for period, fuel and water temperature, and percent power; six rod position indicators; two mode switch assemblies; three potentiometers; five relays; ten magnetic-craft relays; five mercury wetted contact relays; three AC relays; twenty-one control panel circuit boards; 150 pilot lamps; and two fuel handling tools. The Government of Bangladesh has provided formal assurances that the replacement parts will be subject to the U.S.-Bangladesh Agreement for Cooperation Concerning Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Energy upon entry in Bangladesh and will not be re-transferred to a third party without prior approval of the United States. In accordance with Section 131 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, we have determined that this subsequent arrangement will not be inimical to the common defense and security. This subsequent arrangement will take effect no sooner than fifteen days after the date of publication of this notice. For the Department of Energy. Kurt Siemon, Acting Director, Office of Nonproliferation Policy. [FR Doc. 05-8009 Filed 4-20-05; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 6450-01-P ***************************************************************** 44 Tennessean: Uranium deposits will be recovered - Thursday, 04/21/05 Associated Press OAK RIDGE — Contractors tearing down the long-shuttered K-25 uranium enrichment building are planning to recover highly enriched uranium deposits left in miles of equipment and piping as part of the four-year cleanup project. The U.S. Department of Energy and its environmental contractor Bechtel Jacobs Co. refuse to say how much uranium remains in the mile-long U-shaped building or how many atomic bombs could be fashioned from the high-security material. The highly enriched material will be shipped to the Y-12 nuclear weapons plant about 10 miles away. Besides making parts for every nuclear warhead in the U.S. arsenal, the DOE installation also is the nation's principal storehouse for bomb-grade uranium. The material ultimately will be ''downblended'' to reduce its weapons capability and converted to low-enriched fuel for nuclear reactors, Y-12 spokesman Steve Wyatt said. The World War II-era K-25 plant enriched uranium for bombs using gaseous diffusion processing until the 1960s. -- PHOTO 3 -- -- // PHOTO 3 -- -- PHOTO GUTTER -- -- // PHOTO GUTTER -- -- PHOTO 2 -- // PHOTO 2 -- Copyright © 2005, tennessean.com. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 45 DOE: Health Effects Subcommittee FR Doc 05-7994 [Federal Register: April 21, 2005 (Volume 70, Number 76)] [Notices] [Page 20756-20757] From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr21ap05-58] Name: Public meeting of the Citizens Advisory Committee on PHS Activities and Research at DOE Sites: Oak Ridge Reservation Health Effects Subcommittee (ORRHES). Time and Date: 12 p.m.-2 p.m., May 3, 2005. Place: ATSDR/Oak Ridge Field Office, 197 South Tulane, Oak Ridge, TN. Telephone: (865) 220-0295. Participants may participate via phone. [[Page 20757]] Status: Open to the public, limited only by the space available. The meeting room accommodates approximately 15 people. Call the ATSDR/ ORR field office for the conference bridge line and access code. Background: A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed in October 1990 and renewed in September 2000 between ATSDR and DOE. The MOU delineates the responsibilities and procedures for ATSDR's public health activities at DOE sites required under sections 104, 105, 107, and 120 of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA or ASuperfund@). These activities include health consultations and public health assessments at DOE sites listed on, or proposed for, the Superfund National Priorities List and at sites that are the subject of petitions from the public; and other health-related activities such as epidemiologic studies, health surveillance, exposure and disease registries, health education, substance-specific applied research, emergency response, and preparation of toxicological profiles. In addition, under an MOU signed in December 1990 with DOE and replaced by an MOU signed in 2000, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has been given the responsibility and resources for conducting analytic epidemiologic investigations of residents of communities in the vicinity of DOE facilities, workers at DOE facilities, and other persons potentially exposed to radiation or to potential hazards from non-nuclear energy production and use. HHS has delegated program responsibility to CDC. Community involvement is a critical part of ATSDR's and CDC's energy-related research and activities, and input from members of the ORRHES is part of these efforts. Purpose: The purpose of this meeting is to address issues that are unique to community involvement with the ORRHES, and agency updates. Matters To Be Discussed: Agenda item will include a discussion on the draft TSCA Public Health Assessment, comments from the Exposure Investigation Workgroup, and updates from the Agency. Agenda items are subject to change as priorities dictate. For Further Information Contact: Marilyn (Palmer) Horton, Designated Federal Official and Health Communications Specialist, Division of Health Assessment and Consultation, ATSDR, 1600 Clifton Road, NE M/S E-32 Atlanta, Georgia 30333, telephone 1-888-42-ATSDR (28737), fax 404/498-1744. The Director, Management Analysis and Services Office, has been delegated the authority to sign Federal Register notices pertaining to announcements of meetings and other committee management activities for both CDC and ATDSR. Dated: April 15, 2005. Alvin Hall, Director, Management Analysis and Services Office, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. [FR Doc. 05-7994 Filed 4-20-05; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 4163-18-P ***************************************************************** 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: *****************************************************************