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NUCLEAR POLICY
1 [NYTr] US prepares for nuclear stand-off with Pyongyang
2 US: Committee on Energy and Commerce: House Passes Bipartisan Energy
3 US: Capital Times: Dave Zweifel: U.S. takes brakes off nuke arms rac
4 US: RenewableEnergyAccess.com: Free Market in Energy -
5 BBC: Greens go nuclear
NUCLEAR REACTORS
6 US: [NukeNet] Fwd: Smoking Guns at PSEG
7 Chernobyl: Remembering The World's Worst Nuclear Power Accident
8 [NYTr] Remembering Chernobyl
9 NEI: Military reactors not covered by EU treaty
10 Annan Urges UN For Dramatic Growth In Aid To Chernobyl Disaster Vict
11 [NukeNet] Chernobyl: 7 Million In Ex-USSR Believed Suffering
12 US: [epa-impact] Entergy Operations, Inc., Arkansas Nuclear One, Uni
13 NEWS.com.au: Chernobyl needs new help: UN
14 PRAVDA.Ru: Another monstrous ecological disaster possible at Chernob
15 Bellona: Russia and France to deliver uranium and build reactors
16 Bellona: Russian nuclear power industry needs investments
17 RIA Novosti: CHERNOBYL NUCLEAR ACCIDENT - 19 YEARS ON
18 BBC: Belarus marks Chernobyl disaster
19 BBC: Belarus cursed by Chernobyl
20 Moscow Times: Chernobyl Disaster Remembered 19 Years On
21 Mos News: Russian Veterans Mark 19th Chernobyl Anniversary With Hung
22 US: NRC: Entergy Operations, Inc., Arkansas Nuclear One, Unit 2; Not
23 US: NRC: Entergy Operations, Inc.; Arkansas Nuclear One, Unit 2; Exe
24 US: NRC: NRC to Discuss 2004 Performance Assessment for San Onofre N
25 ITAR-TASS: Meetings in memory of Chernobyl disaster held in Russia T
26 ITAR-TASS: Chernobyl nuclear accident still tells on agricultural pr
27 US: NRC: NRC to Discuss 2004 Performance Assessment for South Texas
28 US: NRC: NRC Chairman Stresses Safety While Updating Senate on New R
29 US: NRC: Application for License To Export Major Components for Nucl
NUCLEAR SECURITY
30 [NYTr] Still No WMD in Iraq, or in Syria Either
31 [southnews] 'Nothing': US WMD Inspector Finishes Iraq Work
32 [toeslist] CIA's Final Report: No WMD Found in Iraq
33 US: Nuclear Gauge Missing in Chester County, Recovery of Device is
34 Internet Hankyoreh: [Editorial] North Must Come to 6-Party Talks
35 Guardian Unlimited: Weapons Inspector Ends WMD Search in Iraq
36 Guardian Unlimited: Interrogators 'botched hunt for Iraq's WMD'
37 Korea: Digital Chosunilbo: Kim Dae-jung Calls for More U.S. Flexibil
38 Korea: Digital Chosunilbo: North Korea: a Yawning Gap in Perceptions
39 BBC: US closes book on Iraq WMD hunt
40 Independent: US prepares for nuclear stand-off with Pyongyang
41 AFP: US envoy on NKorea holds talks in Beijing
42 csmonitor.com: New gaps in controlling the spread of nuclear arms
NUCLEAR SAFETY
43 US: [NukeNet] PA Food Irradiator Closes: No Market
44 [du-list] Marshall Islands
45 [southnews] A Global Pact Against Depleted Uranium
46 US: Pennsylvania Hosts 2005 National Radiological Emergency
47 US: [du-list] Appendix A of NRC 10 CFR 2.206 Petition of 3 April
48 US: [CMEP] Irradiation plant to shut down in Pa.
49 NewsTarget.com: Antiwar activists say depleted uranium has led to 11
50 US: Seattle Post-Intelligencer: Hanford health-effects trial opens
51 US: Tri-City Herald: Downwinder opening arguments heard
52 Xinhua: India ratifies Convention on Nuclear Safety
53 US: DesMoinesRegister.com: Munitions workers rail at aid delays
NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE
54 [NukeNet] MOX Plant: another proliferation issue
55 SABCnews.com: Earthlife exposes nuclear dumping site
56 Las Vegas RJ: Pro-Yucca forces regroup for push
57 Las Vegas SUN: Yucca project chief to quit
58 Las Vegas SUN: Task force supporting Yucca dump site forms
59 Mos News: Hungary Detains Russian Activists Over Nuclear Waste Prote
60 US: JOURNAL NEWS: More radioactive debris turning up in garbage
61 Salt Lake Tribune: Manager of Yucca Mountain project is retiring
62 Shoreline Beacon: Nuclear waste storage topic of open house
63 Radio Iowa: Eastern Iowans concerned about stored nuclear waste
64 US: TomPaine.com: Nuclear Waste Of Time
65 US: PE.com: Perchlorate removal offers hope
66 KLAS: Nuclear Industry Groups Seek More Yucca Funding
PEACE
US DEPT. OF ENERGY
67 DOE: Environmental Management Site-Specific Advisory Board, Oak Ridg
68 New Mexican: Bid for LANL contract delayed again
69 KRQE News 13: Former LANL employee sentenced for hacking
70 East Oregonian: Hanford health effects trial begins
71 DOE: Environmental Management Site-Specific Advisory Board, Idaho
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FULL NEWS STORIES
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1 [NYTr] US prepares for nuclear stand-off with Pyongyang
Date: Tue, 26 Apr 2005 12:14:53 -0500 (CDT)
Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit
sent by Simon McGuinness
["The sea, land and air quarantine being considered would be [not]
unlike a similar fence drawn around Cuba by the former American
president John F Kennedy 43 years ago."]
The Independednt - 26 April 2005
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/politics/story.jsp?story=633050
US prepares for nuclear stand-off with Pyongyang
By David Usborne in New York
The United States may soon seek a UN Security Council resolution to
impose a virtual international quarantine on North Korea to pressure its
regime to abandon its nuclear weapons ambitions.
Frustration with North Korea's refusal to return to six-nation talks and
growing alarm at signs that the country may be preparing to conduct an
underground test is giving momentum to hawkish members of the US
administration who want the issue taken to the council as soon as
possible.
There was a bellicose reaction last night from North Korea. A Foreign
Ministry spokesman said: "If the United States wants so much to drag the
nuclear issue to the UN Security Council, it may do so. But we want to
make clear we will regard sanctions as a declaration of war."
The New York Times says Washington is considering a resolution to permit
foreign countries to intercept shipments of goods to North Korea that
may include nuclear materials. This could entail boarding ships in
international waters and the forcing down of aircraft bound for the
country.
A resolution could, in theory, also help efforts by China to police
movements of goods across its border with North Korea, considered a
sieve for drugs, arms and counterfeit currency. But it is unclear
whether China, a permanent member of the council, would support such a
move.
China and South Korea have been anxious to avoid provoking a potentially
dangerous confrontation with Pyongyang and have continued to emphasise
re-starting the six-country talks that also involve Russia and the US.
The talks have been stalled since June.
It was not clear last night how close the US administration may be to
circulating a first draft of such a resolution at the UN. Diplomats in
New York said there was no sign of such a text and nor had the idea been
broached by US officials at UN headquarters with any other nations.
But tensions are rising in the region. Recent intelligence, mostly
gleaned from satellite images, shows North Korea has closed its only
nuclear generating plant, intimating its scientists may mean to remove
materials useful in the making of nuclear arms. There have also been
indications of new activity at a suspected nuclear weapons site, causing
intelligence officials to speculate that an underground test may not be
far away.
In February, the communist regime flatly asserted that it possessed
nuclear weapons and said it would not attend a planned fourth round of
the six-nation talks.
The South Korean government issued a warning of its own to Pyongyang
yesterday. In language that was uncharacteristically terse, Foreign
Minister Ban Ki Moon said that if "North Korea takes such reckless
actions as conducting a nuclear test, it will further deepen its
isolation and take itself on a road where its future will not be
guaranteed".
If the US were to seek a UN resolution it would be likely at the same
time to continue efforts to breathe new life into the six-party talks.
The senior US envoy to the talks, Assistant Secretary of State
Christopher Hill, is in the region now and held talks with counterparts
in Seoul yesterday.
"What we are focusing on is the diplomatic track and the need to get the
talks going, and more importantly, once they get going, to achieve
progress in the talks," he said, and it was "not acceptable" for North
Korea to refuse talks.
The sea, land and air quarantine being considered would be unlike a
similar fence drawn around Cuba by the former American president John F
Kennedy 43 years ago.
*
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2 Committee on Energy and Commerce: House Passes Bipartisan Energy Bill
http://energycommerce.house.gov
"Chairman Joe Barton"
The Committee on Energy and Commerce Joe Barton, Chairman U.S.
House of Representatives
WASHINGTON - The House today passed the bipartisan Energy Policy
Act of 2005 by a vote of 249 to 183, and U.S. Rep. Joe Barton
praised the vote as "a big vote for America's energy future."
"This was a big, bipartisan vote," said Barton, chairman of the
House Energy and Commerce Committee. "We had more than 40
Democrats vote with us."
The energy committee chairman added that the legislation
approved today is not the same as energy legislation OK'd in the
two previous Congresses. "This is a different bill. The
provision on refinery revitalization and, obviously, the
liquefied natural gas provision are new."
The Energy Policy Act of 2005 was a bipartisan effort from its
origination in committee. Forty-nine of the 86 amendments
offered in the Energy and Commerce Committee markup were agreed
to, 29 of which were either sponsored by Democrats.
"Make no mistake - this is a bipartisan bill," said Barton,
R-Texas. "A third of Energy and Commerce Committee Democrats
backed the bill at our markup last week, with four
representatives becoming new supporters." Five Democrats joined
Republicans in supporting the Ways and Means Committee bill and
the Resources Committee legislation passed easily by voice vote.
"I agree with our President - four years is long enough for an
energy bill," Barton said. "Today's passage of the Energy Policy
Act of 2005 will turn the tide and offer relief to both our
economy and our national security. This is a bill about jobs,
growth and opportunity."
In the House and its committees, more than 210 hours of markup
and floor debate have been devoted to energy policy since 2001.
There have been 80 hearings, 16 markups and more than 400
amendments considered. That does not include 72 hours of
House-Senate conference committee meetings. A comprehensive
energy bill has now passed the House five separate times.
Senate Energy and Natural Resources Chairman Pete Domenici,
R-NM, added his congratulations and said he would "continue to
work for similar bipartisan victory in the Senate."
Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman added, "I hope the Senate can
follow the good example of Chairman Barton and his colleagues
and get a bill out of the Congress and to the President this
summer, before the August recess."
To help meet the nation's energy needs, the Energy Policy Act of
2005:
+ Addresses rising gasoline prices. Encourages more domestic
production of oil with incentives such as a streamlined permit
process; promote a greater refining capacity to bring more oil
to market; and increase the gasoline supply by stopping the
proliferation of expensive regional boutique fuels. To scale
back demand for oil, the proposal encourages vehicles powered by
hydrogen fuel cells and increases funding for Department of
Transportation work to improve fuel efficiency standards;
authorizes $200 million for the "Clean Cities" program, which
will provide grants to state and local governments to acquire
alternative-fueled vehicles.
+ Reduces our dangerous dependence on foreign oil by allowing
new domestic oil and gas exploration and development and by
authorizing expansion of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve's
capacity to 1 billion barrels.
+ Improves our nation's electricity transmission capacity and
reliability to stop future blackouts through the adoption of
reliability standards, incentives for transmission grid
improvements and reform of transmission authorization rules.
+ Promotes clean and renewable fuels, by providing incentives
for clean coal technology and renewable energies such as
biomass, wind, solar and hydroelectricity.
+ Requires greater energy conservation by establishing new
mandatory efficiency requirements for federal buildings, and
efficiency standards and product labeling for battery chargers,
commercial refrigerators, freezers, unit heaters, and other
household products.
+ Extends daylight savings time two months to reduce energy
consumption by the equivalent of 100,000 barrels of oil each
day. Studies indicate that the proposal to adopt daylight
savings time from the first Sunday in March to the last Sunday
in November will also lower crime and traffic fatalities and
allow for more recreation time and increased economic activity.
+ Boosts production of clean natural gas to help alleviate
soaring prices for the environmentally friendly fuel.
Specifically, the bill breaks the bureaucratic logjam that has
stymied work on approximately 40 liquefied natural gas (LNG)
facilities nationwide.
+ Encourages more nuclear and hydropower production by
authorizing the Department of Energy to develop accelerated
programs for the production and supply of electricity; setting
the stage for building new nuclear reactors by reauthorizing
Price Anderson; and improving current procedures for
hydroelectric project licensing.
####
The Committee on Energy and Commerce 2125 Rayburn House Office
Building Washington, DC 20515 (202) 225-2927
*****************************************************************
3 Capital Times: Dave Zweifel: U.S. takes brakes off nuke arms race
[Opinion]
April 25, 2005
About Dave
Dave Zweifel has been editor of The Capital Times since 1983. A
native of New Glarus, Wis. and a graduate of the University of
Wisconsin-Madison, his life-long goal was to be the editor of
this newspaper. He has had more luck achieving that than his
other fondest hope — watching the Chicago Cubs win the World
Series. He served for many years as president of the Wisconsin
Freedom of Information Council and served two years as a juror
for the Pulitzer Prizes. Dave is also a veteran, having served
two years on active duty as an artillery officer with the U.S.
Army and a total of 26 years in the Wisconsin Army National
Guard where he retired as full colonel in 1993.
As hard as it might be to believe, the United States is embarked
on a path that's bound to trigger yet another nuclear arms race.
Yet few in this country seem to be paying attention.
It's as if we were lulled to sleep about nuclear weapons when
the Berlin Wall came tumbling down in 1989. All those Cold War
years of worrying whether the United States and the Soviet Union
would start lobbing bombs at each other were finally over.
They should have been, but, unfortunately, the chances of
nuclear devastation are as strong today as they've ever been.
That's the message that an international organization known as
Mayors for Peace wants us all to get when it stages a rally in
New York City this coming Sunday.
Mayors for Peace was founded by the mayors of Hiroshima and
Nagasaki, Japan, the only two cities in the world that have
experienced the destruction of an atomic bomb. Their aim was to
get cities throughout the world to work toward a day when all
nuclear weapons would be destroyed so that innocent people,
particularly children, would never again have to suffer the
consequences of a nuclear explosion.
Some 750 cities have joined that effort, although far too few
from the United States. It's good to see that Madison's mayor,
Dave Cieslewicz, will go to New York to lend our city's support
along with 21 other U.S. mayors. Several other Madisonians will
be there as well, including representatives of our Physicians
for Social Responsibility chapter.
What has been disturbing is the Bush administration's attitude
toward nuclear weapons. Back in 1969, America was instrumental
in getting most of the rest of the world to sign the
much-heralded Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, which was aimed
at eventually eliminating nuclear weapons as instruments of war.
But, rather than reducing the numbers, the administration is in
the process of building more, "modernizing" some of the older
nukes and seeking to build new "mini-nukes" and "nuclear bunker
busters," presumably to work in places like Iraq.
The pity of it all is that if we start building new and better
nuclear weapons, so will other countries with nuclear
capabilities - Russia, China, India, for example. Twenty years
from now, nations will probably be boasting about their bunker
busting A-bombs, rather than celebrating the end of the threat
of nuclear annihilation. In other words, we will have learned
nothing from history.
Yet there's a strange silence among members of Congress and in
the media over these alarming developments.
Sunday's rally is aimed at awakening us all to the perils. It is
timed, incidentally, to precede the May 2-27 meetings in New
York among the 189 countries that signed the Nuclear
Nonproliferation Treaty way back in 1969. They gather every five
years to evaluate the progress of the treaty and to negotiate
further reductions in atomic weapons.
There's a lot of work to be done this year, not the least of
which will be getting the United States back on board.
Dave Zweifel is editor of The Capital Times. E-mail:
Published: 7:26 AM 4/25/05
Copyright 2005 The Capital Times
*****************************************************************
4 RenewableEnergyAccess.com: Free Market in Energy -
A special commentary on the Energy Bill from Scott Sklar
April 26, 2005
policy President George W. Bush talks about his energy during a
visit to Columbus, Ohio. Photo: White House Press Corps: Eric
Draper
Special Commentary [RenewableEnergyAccess.com]
Free market politics in energy? Nope, a "Pork Barrel
Extravaganza" would be a better description. The House of
Representatives just passed the Energy Bill, HR 6, on April 22nd
by a vote of 249 - 183, and even the President of the United
States was quoted earlier that the bill would do little to solve
energy price increases.
Skeptics on renewable energy often use the excuse that
renewables cost more - so why support them? It's important to
remember that the traditional energy industries are subsidized
by billions of dollars each year in today's tax code.
The real "meat" of HR 6 is in the $8.09 billion of energy tax
provisions, and according to the April 12th Congressional Budget
Office (CBO) Tax analysis, the bill is weighted towards
"business as usual."
The glimmer of hope, of course, is the $415 million of clean
energy provisions; including, residential fuel cells for $6
million, residential solar for $18 million, and existing home
energy efficiency improvements for $391 million. Please note
that all these numbers calculated by CBO represents the "loss"
to the US Treasury for ten years, from 2005 - 2015.
So where did the other $7.675 billion go to? To the traditional
energy industries, of course. The United States imported over
$160 billion of oil and natural gas in 2004, and nothing in this
Bill would change that. In fact, the tax provisions dump money
into a set of petroleum and gas industries that have record
profits.
Nuclear energy received a $1.313 billion benefit for
decommissioning costs. The National Academy of Sciences just
released its findings that the nuclear storage of waste in
"pools" was not the safest approach in the post-September 11th
world, and press reports regarding cover-ups on the safety of
the Yucca Mountain Nuclear Test Site are being aired frequently.
Natural Gas and Petroleum received the greatest benefits with
funding for natural gas gathering-pipelines receiving 7-year
treatment and alternative minimum tax (AMT) relief, and
distribution pipelines receiving 15 year tax treatment totaling
$1.610 billion. Independent oil producers, which already receive
AMT relief, now would receive a new depletion definition for
$159 million, a small benefit by comparison. Another $1.662
billion was doled out to assorted fossil industry sectors such
as diesel, marginal wells, and enhanced oil recovery.
Don't forget coal and the electric utility industry, which
received a $1.529 billion, 15-year write off for treatment of
transmission property. And add on $1.402 billion for qualified
air pollution control facilities in post 1975 coal fired
electric power generation plants.
Don't think the Senate will shy away from tilting their Energy
Bill, but some believe it will do so in a more balanced way.
Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Pete
Domenici publicly stated he wants loan guarantees for next
generation nuclear and coal plants - while talk of loan
guarantees for advanced biomass or concentrated solar power
facilities haven't made it on the list. However, several
Republicans and Democrats in the Senate are pushing for an
extended Renewable Energy Production Tax Credit (PTC) for wind
and biomass, and to expand the credit to include to solar,
geothermal, and a broadened definition of biomass. Senator Bill
Alexander (R-TN) has said he plans to re-introduce his Bill to
refine commercial and utility generation for solar and other
renewables.
Skeptics on renewable energy often use the excuse that
renewables cost more - so why support them? It's important to
remember that the traditional energy industries are subsidized
by billions of dollars each year in today's tax code. There are
oil depletion allowances, special treatment on coal royalties,
overseas oil refinery credits, and intangible drilling costs -
to name a few. Now, possibly $7.6 billion more of taxpayers'
money will be added to skew the market even further away from
renewable energy and high value energy efficiency.
The House version of the Energy Bill has no national
interconnection standards, no expanded PTC for renewables, no
Renewable Energy Portfolio Standard, no mandated expansion for
federal procurement, and no mileage standards for automobiles.
So, with the energy bill as it stands America will stay opiated
on imported energy, with its rising costs and the uncertainty
associated with access to and the price of oil and natural gas,
and their effects on the environment. The scenario just
reinforces the comment by columnist Jim Broder, who once wrote,
"Washington is the steering wheel of the nation, not connected
to anything".
By Scott Sklar, President of The Stella Group, Ltd., a strategic
marketing and policy firm based in Washington, D.C. Sklar can be
reached at solarsklar@aol.com or via www.thestellagroupltd.com
Copyright © 1999-2005 RenewableEnergyAccess.com - All rights
*****************************************************************
5 BBC: Greens go nuclear
Last Updated: Tuesday, 26 April, 2005
[Chernobyl nuclear power station]
The Chernobyl plant's number four reactor exploded in 1986
The Scottish Greens are urging voters to make nuclear power an
election issue and oppose any Labour plans to increase the number
of nuclear stations.
Nineteen years after the Chernobyl disaster, Chris Ballance MSP
said nuclear power had proved to be "a dirty, risky and expensive
mistake".
He said renewable energy had not been properly utilised to meet
Scotland's energy needs.
The MSP said a new Labour government would build more nuclear
stations.
The Chernobyl plant was the scene of the world's worst civilian
nuclear accident in April 1986, when its number four reactor
exploded.
Who does what - Westminster or Holyrood?
The blast contaminated vast areas of Belarus, Ukraine and Russia
and sent a radioactive cloud across Europe.
Cleaning up after t radioactive mess that nuclear power makes is
already costing the taxpayer £83bn Chris Ballance Scottish Green
MSP
Mr Ballance said the movement and sale of sheep was still
restricted on 14 Scottish farms as a result of the disaster.
The MSP for South of Scotland went on: "Nuclear power is dirty,
risky and an expensive mistake.
"Ministers have made limited efforts to promote renewables -
there is no strategy for wind farms, no meaningful support for
marine power, no ambitious plan for making Scotland a global
renewable energy leader.
"This can only mean that a nuclear station is on the cards."
Mr Ballance said government sources suggested a Labour general
election win could see nuclear power return to the political
centre stage with a national debate likely to be held.
"Cleaning up after the radioactive mess that nuclear power makes
is already costing the taxpayer £83bn," he added.
*****************************************************************
6 [NukeNet] Fwd: Smoking Guns at PSEG
Date: Tue, 26 Apr 2005 14:31:49 -0700
NukeNet Anti-Nuclear Network (nukenet@energyjustice.net)
DR Harvin authorized me to release the following letter to NRC:
NRC sorta showed some spine, finally, with Davis Besse. Did they save any
for PSEG?
Norm
------- Forwarded message -------
From: Drkymn@aol.com
To: ARB@nrc.gov
Subject: Smoking Guns at PSEG
Date: Mon, 25 Apr 2005 10:24:43 EDT
Mr. Blough
Randy,
Based on our recent dialogue about Exelon's lack of support for genuine
safety culture improvements at Salem and Hope Creek, I am sure you are not
surprised to learn that Vice President Mike Brothers has resigned from
PSEG
Nuclear. As you know, Mike was in charge of the Safety Conscious Work
Environment
initiatives and felt virtually powerless, even though a Vice President.
I understand a three person NRC team will be at Salem/Hope Creek starting
today to follow up on the Executive Review Board procedure violations and
to
interview people. I encourage you to be sure Mike is one of those people.
The NRC needs to face the real reasons behind Mr. Brothers' departure.
It's
not because he has a better job offer somewhere else.
While it is not a resigning utility vice president's responsibility to
"connect the dots" for the NRC, Mike Brothers could clearly do so. Does
the
NRC care enough to elicit the truth from him? And if you do, what will
the
NRC do with all the evidence he gives you?
I believe a cache of "smoking guns" is there for the taking at PSEG
Nuclear.
But I, and countless others, have lost faith that the NRC cares. In
fact,
some think the NRC helps keep evidence "buried" and out of the public eye.
It's like the NRC finds the guns, wipes off all the fingerprints, and
throws
them in a dumpster.
Things are VERY awry at Salem and Hope Creek.
When is the NRC going to realize this and do more than turn a blind eye
and
a deaf ear to the people trying to shed light?
How many more "departures" (inappropriate terminations, firings,
resignations) need to happen for the NRC to realize another Davis-Besse
is evolving
before your very eyes?
Why, when the NRC staff repeatedly said they were looking for a "smoking
gun," does the NRC ignore the facts--forced shutdowns, pipe breaks, safety
systems malfunctioning, training on probation, fraudulent maintenance
records,
managers risking everything to make public the site's nuclear safety
issues,
four Chief Nuclear Officers and four Site Vice Presidents in less than two
years?
When taken together, these facts are compelling evidence of a utility on
the
verge of disaster. Even INPO's own research makes this case. Smaller
issues than this halt Acela runs. Smaller issues than this ground a 747.
Smaller issues than this now cancel a NASA space launch.
Are we really going to wait for an "event" that, according to industry
statistics, is just around the corner?
Do you really want to do that to our country, our industry, the American
people?
Do you, Randy? If you cannot get sufficient support from Region 1, I
urge
you--for the sake of all of us--to go direct to the Commissioners, the
Government Accountability Office, the Inspector General's Office. I am
copying them
on this letter to alert them to this situation and to ask for their
support.
None of us can win this battle alone. A few people, willing to buck the
system, can turn the tide. Public safety must be first.
We're counting on you, Randy.
Sincerely,
Kymn
Nancy Kymn Harvin, Ph.D.
Leaders Worth Following
cell 267 312 1252
--
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.
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7 Chernobyl: Remembering The World's Worst Nuclear Power Accident
Date: Tue, 26 Apr 2005 11:43:59 -0500 (CDT)
> Chernobyl: The World's Worst Nuclear Power Accident -
Background
> The After-Effects
> The Toxic Legacy of Nuclear Power
> Alternatives in Energy Sources Resources
> Take Action
> Resources
"Chernobyl is a word we would all like to erase from our memory. It
[opened] a Pandora's box of invisible enemies and nameless anxieties in
people's minds, but which most of us probably now think of as safely
relegated to the past. Yet there are two compelling reasons why this
tragedy must not be forgotten...First, if we forget Chernobyl, we
increase the risk of more such technological and environmental disasters
in the future. Second, more than seven million of our fellow human
beings do not have the luxury of forgetting. They are still suffering,
every day, as a result of what happened 14 years ago. Indeed, the legacy
of Chernobyl will be with us, and with our descendants, for generations
to come."
- Kofi Annan, United Nations Secretary General
Chernobyl: The World's Worst Nuclear Power Accident - Background | Top
In Spring 1986, the world's worst nuclear power accident occurred at the
Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, 80 miles north of Kiev in Ukraine in the
former Soviet Union. The accident has been described by the United
Nations as "the greatest environmental catastrophe in the history of
humanity."
On 26 April 1986, at 1:23 AM, a core meltdown occurred at Reactor 4 of
the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, creating a chemical explosion and a
fireball which blew off the reactor's 1,000-ton steel and concrete lid.
Some 190 tons of highly radioactive uranium and graphite were expelled,
spewing radioactive substances to a height of more than 1kilometer into
the earth's atmosphere.
It is estimated that the explosion released more than 200 times the
radioactive fallout of the two nuclear weapons used at the end of World
War II, spreading a radioactive cloud over large parts of the former
Soviet Union, including Belarus, Ukraine and Russia, across Europe, and
reaching as far as Greenland and parts of Asia. The radioactive plume
initially traveled in a northwest direction toward Sweden, Finland and
Eastern Europe, exposing the unsuspecting public to levels up to 100
times the normal background radiation.
For maps of the Chernobyl radioactive fall out: see
http://users.owt.com/smsrpm/Chernobyl/glbrad.html and
http://www.worldprocessor.com/53.htm
The After-Effects | Top
The Chernobyl accident killed more than 30 people immediately, and as a
result of the high radiation levels in the surrounding 20-mile radius,
some 135,000 people were evacuated. However, it was not until the third
day after the explosion that the Soviet authorities reported the full
scale of the accident, and the people of Ukraine did not learn the truth
until 3 May 1986. Early reporting of the accident could have enabled the
affected population to escape exposure to some radioactive particles
known to cause thyroid cancer, such as Iodine 131.
As a result of the Chernobyl accident, deadly radioactive material was
widely dispersed, affecting a vast area, practically the whole of the
northern hemisphere. In fact, today in the UK, hundreds of farms in
Wales are still subject to restrictions due to sheep eating radioactive
grass.
Based on the official reports by the United Nations, up to 9 million
people in Belarus, Ukraine and Russia have been affected directly or
indirectly by the radiation fallout. The people of the affected areas
have received the highest known exposure to radiation in the history of
the Nuclear Age, the full consequences of which will not be seen for at
least another 50 years. While there are no definitive figures of deaths
resulting from the Chernobyl accident, reports vary from zero to over
100,000 fatalities. Since 1986, the rate of thyroid cancer in affected
areas has increased ten fold. Specifically, there has been a significant
increase in the number of thyroid cancer cases among patients age 15 or
younger.
About 155,000 sq. km in Belarus, Ukraine and Russia were contaminated,
which is almost half of the size of Italy. Agricultural areas covering
nearly 52,000 sq. km, which is more than the size of Denmark, were
contaminated with Cesium-137 and Strontium-90, with 30-year and 29-year
half-lives respectively. Despite the resettlement of 404,000 people,
millions continue to live in an environment where residual exposure has
created a range of adverse effects.
For first hand accounts by those who experienced the Chernobyl disaster
and now live with the consequences, go to
http://archive.greenpeace.org/comms/nukes/chernob/read13.html
The Toxic Legacy of Nuclear Power | Top
The radioactive byproducts of the Chernobyl plant explosion will remain
in affected areas for some 48,000 years. An official exclusion zone
around the plant remains in place, extending for 18 miles. It is one of
the most dangerous regions on earth.
The Chernobyl accident demonstrated an often overlooked facet of the
Nuclear Age: it is not only our warlike technologies that threaten
humanity, our so-called "peaceful" technologies can also cause
devastation to life and property.
"Inherently safe" nuclear power reactors are a myth. A devastating
accident can occur in any nuclear reactor, causing the release of large
quantities of deadly radioactive products into the environment. In
addition, one of the biggest problems facing the nuclear industry is
what to do with the radioactive waste generated in a nuclear reactor.
Also, any nuclear power plant capable of producing energy has the
capacity to breed weapons-grade materials for nuclear bombs.
For a Nuclear Energy Fact sheet, go to :
http://www.wagingpeace.org/menu/issues/nuclear-energy-&-waste/start/fact
-sheet_ne&w.htm
The causes of the Chernobyl accident have been described as a fateful
combination of human error and imperfect technology. The blast occurred
because of a flawed reactor design and inadequately trained personnel
acting without proper regard for safety. Sadly, although Chernobyl is
the largest civil nuclear disaster to date, it may not be the last.
There are currently 440 nuclear reactors in 31 countries and there are
dozens now under construction. Almost twenty years after the Chernobyl
accident, the world has yet to significantly invest human and financial
resources into developing alternatives to nuclear power, the most
dangerous and unsustainable of all energy sources.
Alternatives in Energy Sources | Top
Sixteen percent of the world's electricity now comes from nuclear
energy, 85 percent of which is concentrated in industrialized countries.
In the US, 21percent of energy sources are derived from nuclear power.
The world must decrease its dependence on nuclear energy and advance a
global shift to clean, sustainable and environmentally benign sources of
energy that do not pose the risks inherent in nuclear energy production.
These sources include:
. Bioenergy: biomass, such as plant matter and animal waste, can yield
power, heat, steam and fuel.
. Geothermal: renewable heat energy can be harnessed from deep within
the earth.
. Wind: turbines turning in the air convert kinetic energy in the wind
into electricity.
. Solar: the sun's energy can be captured and used to produce heat and
electricity.
. Hydrogen: if produced by renewable sources, it can power fuel cells to
convert chemical energy directly into electricity, with useful heat and
water as the only byproducts.
. Tidal: using the movement of the ocean to power turbines and generate
electricity.
For more information on clean and sustainable energy sources, go to
http://www.eere.energy.gov/
Take Action | Top
1. Find out if there is a nuclear plant near you
Go to http://www.insc.anl.gov/pwrmaps/map/world_map.php
More than 25% of California's electricity is derived from nuclear power.
To find out what happens if the Chernobyl nuclear accident is applied to
the Diablo Canyon nuclear plant in California, go to
http://www.mothersforpeace.org/resources/maps/maps/chernobylAppliedToDia
blo
For a table of the world's nuclear power reactors, go to
http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/reactors.htm
2. Ask your government to support clean energy
Many more sustainable energy resources could be found and current
resources improved if better technology were available and if the
government and utilities actively promoted their development.
In his budget request for 2006, President Bush called for increased
funding for nuclear power and significant cuts in renewable energy,
energy efficiency, clean air, and climate change related-programs at the
US Department of Energy, US Department of Agriculture, US Department of
Transportation, US Environmental Protection Agency, and other agencies..
Read an analysis of the 2006 budget request by Ken Bossong at
http://www.energybulletin.net/4545.html .
In the US, call or write to your Congressional representatives and urge
them to support reduced dependence on nuclear power and increased
funding for the promotion of clean energy. To find contact information
for your Congressional representatives, go to
http://capwiz.com/wagingpeace/dbq/officials/
Talking points include:
. Risk of Accident: On April 26, 1986 the No. 4 reactor at the Chernobyl
power plant in the former U.S.S.R., exploded, causing the worst nuclear
accident ever. According to the US House of Representatives,
Subcommittee on Oversight & Investigations, "Calculation of Reactor
Accident Consequences (CRAC2) for US Nuclear Power Plants" (1982, 1997),
an accident at a US nuclear power plant could kill more people than were
killed by the atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki.
. Environmental Degradation: Radioactive isotopes produced by nuclear
reactors are extraordinarily long-lived, remaining toxic for hundreds of
thousands of years. Presently, we are only beginning to observe and
experience the consequences of producing nuclear energy.
. Nuclear Waste: A typical reactor will generate some 20 to 30 tons of
high-level nuclear waste annually. There is no known way to safely
dispose of this waste, which remains dangerously radioactive until it
naturally decays. The hazardous life of a radioactive element (the
length of time that must elapse before the material is considered safe)
is at least 10 half-lives. For example, Plutonium-239 will remain
hazardous for 240,000 years.
. Nuclear Proliferation Risks: Any nuclear power plant is a potential
nuclear bomb factory. Every nuclear reactor capable of producing energy
has the capacity to generate fissile materials that can be processed for
nuclear bombs.
For further information read the Foundation's Nuclear Energy Fact Sheet
http://www.wagingpeace.org/menu/issues/nuclear-energy-&-waste/start/fact
-sheet_ne&w.htm
3. Promote alternative sources of energy in your community
Take initiative to decrease your community's dependence on nuclear power
and find out if there are alternative sources of energy in your
community. Here are some examples:
Solar Power - Solar power is created when light from the sun shines on
solar panels and produces electricity. Solar power is the second fastest
growing source of electricity today and is so abundant that the amount
of sunlight the Earth receives in just 30 minutes is equivalent to all
the power used by humankind in one year.
For more information on solar power, go to
http://www.eere.energy.gov/solar/
Wind Power - A wind turbine uses the wind's energy to generate
electricity. Wind power is the fastest growing energy source in the
world. By the end of 2003, the total capacity for energy generated by
wind sources in the United States was enough to power 1.3 million
American homes.
For more information, go to
http://www.eere.energy.gov/windandhydro/windpoweringamerica/
Wave Power - The ocean is a vast source of energy to be tapped for human
use in the coming years. The pull of the moon and the energy of the wind
create tides and waves that can provide clean renewable energy. The
technologies are still in experimental stages, but have the potential to
provide a significant portion of the world's energy needs in the near
future. There are different ocean technologies that are being developed.
If 0.1% of the energy of the oceans was harnessed for electricity it
could meet the world's demand for energy five times over.
For more information, go to http://www.eere.energy.gov/RE/ocean.html
Resources | Top
For a personal account of the Chernobyl nuclear accident, read "
Chernobyl , the Forbidden Truth" by Alla Yaroshinskaya. The book is
available for purchase from the Foundation. To order a copy, please call
(805) 965-3443.
International Chernobyl Research and Information Network
http://www.chernobyl.info/en
The History of the United Nations and Chernobyl
http://www.un.org/ha/chernobyl/
"Optimizing the International Effort to Study, Mitigate and Minimize the
Consequences of the Chernobyl Disaster: Report of the Secretary-General"
http://www.chernobyl.info/files/doc/UNRepOptimizingIntEff.pdf
Greenpeace "Clean Energy Now!" Campaign http://www.cleanenergynow.org/
*****************************************************************
8 [NYTr] Remembering Chernobyl
Date: Tue, 26 Apr 2005 17:04:45 -0500 (CDT)
Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit
Prensa Latina, Havana
http://www.plenglish.com
Russia, Ukraine, Belarus Recall Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster
Moscow, Apr 26 (Prensa Latina) The largest nuclear accident in history
happened 19 years ago, and the people of Moscow, Kiev and Minsk honored
today the victims of that explosion, including rescue workers and nearly
five million inhabitants who are still suffering the consequences.
On April 26, 1986, only two minutes after an uncontrollable steam
leak, the reactor core was out of control, producing later a fire and
the expulsion of eight tons of radioactive fuel.
According to statistics, the Chernobyl accident left 20,000 people
with fatal radiation afflictions and some 300,000 suffering from cancer.
Since 1990 to date, the Cuban health system has cared for 18,153
children affected by the accident, accompanied by 3,427 adults.
mh/iff/ga/mf
***
Nuclear Age Peace Foundation (activ-l) - Apr 26, 2005
> Chernobyl: The World's Worst Nuclear Power Accident - Background
> The After-Effects
> The Toxic Legacy of Nuclear Power
> Alternatives in Energy Sources Resources
> Take Action
> Resources
"Chernobyl is a word we would all like to erase from our memory. It
[opened] a Pandora's box of invisible enemies and nameless anxieties in
people's minds, but which most of us probably now think of as safely
relegated to the past. Yet there are two compelling reasons why this
tragedy must not be forgotten...First, if we forget Chernobyl, we
increase the risk of more such technological and environmental disasters
in the future. Second, more than seven million of our fellow human
beings do not have the luxury of forgetting. They are still suffering,
every day, as a result of what happened 14 years ago. Indeed, the legacy
of Chernobyl will be with us, and with our descendants, for generations
to come." - Kofi Annan, United Nations Secretary General
Chernobyl: The World's Worst Nuclear Power Accident - Background
In Spring 1986, the world's worst nuclear power accident occurred at the
Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, 80 miles north of Kiev in Ukraine in the
former Soviet Union. The accident has been described by the United
Nations as "the greatest environmental catastrophe in the history of
humanity."
On 26 April 1986, at 1:23 AM, a core meltdown occurred at Reactor 4 of
the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, creating a chemical explosion and a
fireball which blew off the reactor's 1,000-ton steel and concrete lid.
Some 190 tons of highly radioactive uranium and graphite were expelled,
spewing radioactive substances to a height of more than 1kilometer into
the earth's atmosphere.
It is estimated that the explosion released more than 200 times the
radioactive fallout of the two nuclear weapons used at the end of World
War II, spreading a radioactive cloud over large parts of the former
Soviet Union, including Belarus, Ukraine and Russia, across Europe, and
reaching as far as Greenland and parts of Asia. The radioactive plume
initially traveled in a northwest direction toward Sweden, Finland and
Eastern Europe, exposing the unsuspecting public to levels up to 100
times the normal background radiation.
For maps of the Chernobyl radioactive fall out: see
http://users.owt.com/smsrpm/Chernobyl/glbrad.html and
http://www.worldprocessor.com/53.htm
The After-Effects
The Chernobyl accident killed more than 30 people immediately, and as a
result of the high radiation levels in the surrounding 20-mile radius,
some 135,000 people were evacuated. However, it was not until the third
day after the explosion that the Soviet authorities reported the full
scale of the accident, and the people of Ukraine did not learn the truth
until 3 May 1986. Early reporting of the accident could have enabled the
affected population to escape exposure to some radioactive particles
known to cause thyroid cancer, such as Iodine 131.
As a result of the Chernobyl accident, deadly radioactive material was
widely dispersed, affecting a vast area, practically the whole of the
northern hemisphere. In fact, today in the UK, hundreds of farms in
Wales are still subject to restrictions due to sheep eating radioactive
grass.
Based on the official reports by the United Nations, up to 9 million
people in Belarus, Ukraine and Russia have been affected directly or
indirectly by the radiation fallout. The people of the affected areas
have received the highest known exposure to radiation in the history of
the Nuclear Age, the full consequences of which will not be seen for at
least another 50 years. While there are no definitive figures of deaths
resulting from the Chernobyl accident, reports vary from zero to over
100,000 fatalities. Since 1986, the rate of thyroid cancer in affected
areas has increased ten fold. Specifically, there has been a significant
increase in the number of thyroid cancer cases among patients age 15 or
younger.
About 155,000 sq. km in Belarus, Ukraine and Russia were contaminated,
which is almost half of the size of Italy. Agricultural areas covering
nearly 52,000 sq. km, which is more than the size of Denmark, were
contaminated with Cesium-137 and Strontium-90, with 30-year and 29-year
half-lives respectively. Despite the resettlement of 404,000 people,
millions continue to live in an environment where residual exposure has
created a range of adverse effects.
For first hand accounts by those who experienced the Chernobyl disaster
and now live with the consequences, go to
http://archive.greenpeace.org/comms/nukes/chernob/read13.html
The Toxic Legacy of Nuclear Power
The radioactive byproducts of the Chernobyl plant explosion will remain
in affected areas for some 48,000 years. An official exclusion zone
around the plant remains in place, extending for 18 miles. It is one of
the most dangerous regions on earth.
The Chernobyl accident demonstrated an often overlooked facet of the
Nuclear Age: it is not only our warlike technologies that threaten
humanity, our so-called "peaceful" technologies can also cause
devastation to life and property.
"Inherently safe" nuclear power reactors are a myth. A devastating
accident can occur in any nuclear reactor, causing the release of large
quantities of deadly radioactive products into the environment. In
addition, one of the biggest problems facing the nuclear industry is
what to do with the radioactive waste generated in a nuclear reactor.
Also, any nuclear power plant capable of producing energy has the
capacity to breed weapons-grade materials for nuclear bombs.
For a Nuclear Energy Fact sheet, go to :
http://www.wagingpeace.org/menu/issues/nuclear-energy-&-waste/start/fact
-sheet_ne&w.htm
The causes of the Chernobyl accident have been described as a fateful
combination of human error and imperfect technology. The blast occurred
because of a flawed reactor design and inadequately trained personnel
acting without proper regard for safety. Sadly, although Chernobyl is
the largest civil nuclear disaster to date, it may not be the last.
There are currently 440 nuclear reactors in 31 countries and there are
dozens now under construction. Almost twenty years after the Chernobyl
accident, the world has yet to significantly invest human and financial
resources into developing alternatives to nuclear power, the most
dangerous and unsustainable of all energy sources.
Alternatives in Energy Sources
Sixteen percent of the world's electricity now comes from nuclear
energy, 85 percent of which is concentrated in industrialized countries.
In the US, 21percent of energy sources are derived from nuclear power.
The world must decrease its dependence on nuclear energy and advance a
global shift to clean, sustainable and environmentally benign sources of
energy that do not pose the risks inherent in nuclear energy production.
These sources include:
. Bioenergy: biomass, such as plant matter and animal waste, can yield
power, heat, steam and fuel.
. Geothermal: renewable heat energy can be harnessed from deep within
the earth.
. Wind: turbines turning in the air convert kinetic energy in the wind
into electricity.
. Solar: the sun's energy can be captured and used to produce heat and
electricity.
. Hydrogen: if produced by renewable sources, it can power fuel cells to
convert chemical energy directly into electricity, with useful heat and
water as the only byproducts.
. Tidal: using the movement of the ocean to power turbines and generate
electricity.
For more information on clean and sustainable energy sources, go to
http://www.eere.energy.gov/
Take Action
1. Find out if there is a nuclear plant near you
Go to http://www.insc.anl.gov/pwrmaps/map/world_map.php
More than 25% of California's electricity is derived from nuclear power.
To find out what happens if the Chernobyl nuclear accident is applied to
the Diablo Canyon nuclear plant in California, go to
http://www.mothersforpeace.org/resources/maps/maps/chernobylAppliedToDia
blo
For a table of the world's nuclear power reactors, go to
http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/reactors.htm
2. Ask your government to support clean energy
Many more sustainable energy resources could be found and current
resources improved if better technology were available and if the
government and utilities actively promoted their development.
In his budget request for 2006, President Bush called for increased
funding for nuclear power and significant cuts in renewable energy,
energy efficiency, clean air, and climate change related-programs at the
US Department of Energy, US Department of Agriculture, US Department of
Transportation, US Environmental Protection Agency, and other agencies..
Read an analysis of the 2006 budget request by Ken Bossong at
http://www.energybulletin.net/4545.html .
In the US, call or write to your Congressional representatives and urge
them to support reduced dependence on nuclear power and increased
funding for the promotion of clean energy. To find contact information
for your Congressional representatives, go to
http://capwiz.com/wagingpeace/dbq/officials/
Talking points include:
. Risk of Accident: On April 26, 1986 the No. 4 reactor at the Chernobyl
power plant in the former U.S.S.R., exploded, causing the worst nuclear
accident ever. According to the US House of Representatives,
Subcommittee on Oversight & Investigations, "Calculation of Reactor
Accident Consequences (CRAC2) for US Nuclear Power Plants" (1982, 1997),
an accident at a US nuclear power plant could kill more people than were
killed by the atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki.
. Environmental Degradation: Radioactive isotopes produced by nuclear
reactors are extraordinarily long-lived, remaining toxic for hundreds of
thousands of years. Presently, we are only beginning to observe and
experience the consequences of producing nuclear energy.
. Nuclear Waste: A typical reactor will generate some 20 to 30 tons of
high-level nuclear waste annually. There is no known way to safely
dispose of this waste, which remains dangerously radioactive until it
naturally decays. The hazardous life of a radioactive element (the
length of time that must elapse before the material is considered safe)
is at least 10 half-lives. For example, Plutonium-239 will remain
hazardous for 240,000 years.
. Nuclear Proliferation Risks: Any nuclear power plant is a potential
nuclear bomb factory. Every nuclear reactor capable of producing energy
has the capacity to generate fissile materials that can be processed for
nuclear bombs.
For further information read the Foundation's Nuclear Energy Fact Sheet
http://www.wagingpeace.org/menu/issues/nuclear-energy-&-waste/start/fact
-sheet_ne&w.htm
3. Promote alternative sources of energy in your community
Take initiative to decrease your community's dependence on nuclear power
and find out if there are alternative sources of energy in your
community. Here are some examples:
Solar Power - Solar power is created when light from the sun shines on
solar panels and produces electricity. Solar power is the second fastest
growing source of electricity today and is so abundant that the amount
of sunlight the Earth receives in just 30 minutes is equivalent to all
the power used by humankind in one year.
For more information on solar power, go to
http://www.eere.energy.gov/solar/
Wind Power - A wind turbine uses the wind's energy to generate
electricity. Wind power is the fastest growing energy source in the
world. By the end of 2003, the total capacity for energy generated by
wind sources in the United States was enough to power 1.3 million
American homes.
For more information, go to
http://www.eere.energy.gov/windandhydro/windpoweringamerica/
Wave Power - The ocean is a vast source of energy to be tapped for human
use in the coming years. The pull of the moon and the energy of the wind
create tides and waves that can provide clean renewable energy. The
technologies are still in experimental stages, but have the potential to
provide a significant portion of the world's energy needs in the near
future. There are different ocean technologies that are being developed.
If 0.1% of the energy of the oceans was harnessed for electricity it
could meet the world's demand for energy five times over.
For more information, go to http://www.eere.energy.gov/RE/ocean.html
Resources
For a personal account of the Chernobyl nuclear accident, read
"Chernobyl, the Forbidden Truth" by Alla Yaroshinskaya. The book is
available for purchase from the Foundation. To order a copy, please call
(805) 965-3443.
International Chernobyl Research and Information Network
http://www.chernobyl.info/en
The History of the United Nations and Chernobyl
http://www.un.org/ha/chernobyl/
"Optimizing the International Effort to Study, Mitigate and Minimize the
Consequences of the Chernobyl Disaster: Report of the Secretary-General"
http://www.chernobyl.info/files/doc/UNRepOptimizingIntEff.pdf
Greenpeace "Clean Energy Now!" Campaign http://www.cleanenergynow.org/
*
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To subscribe or unsubscribe or change your settings via the web, visit:
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*****************************************************************
9 NEI: Military reactors not covered by EU treaty
Date: Tue, 26 Apr 2005 17:39:44 -0700
"Britain claimed military nuclear reactors were exempt from this duty
[Article 37 of the Treaty on European Union] and the court has now agreed."
Article 37 of the Treaty on European Union. ... says: "Each member state
shall provide the commission with data relating to any plan for the disposal
of radioactive waste to determine whether the implementation of such a plan
is liable to result in the radioactive contamination of the water, soil or
airspace of another member state."
http://www.neimagazine.com/story.asp?sectionCode=132&storyCode=2028311
News
Military reactors not covered by EU treaty
26 April 2005
The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has thrown out an attempt by the
European Commission to force Britain to hand over information about its
shutdown and decommissioning of the Jason reactor, a 10kW Argonaut-design
training unit at the Royal Naval College, Greenwich, London.
It was a surprise ruling, because judges opposed the views of an ECJ
advocate general, who had recommended that the UK was breaking its European
Union (EU) treaty commitments; usually they confirm the advice of these
officials. In this instance, however, the court rejected the commission's
arguments that Britain had a duty to release information under Article 37 of
the Treaty on European Union. It says: "Each member state shall provide the
commission with data relating to any plan for the disposal of radioactive
waste to determine whether the implementation of such a plan is liable to
result in the radioactive contamination of the water, soil or airspace of
another member state."
Britain claimed military nuclear reactors were exempt from this duty and the
court has now agreed. It ruled the article "does not impose on the UK the
obligation to provide the commission with general data associated with the
decommissioning of the Jason reactor." It continued: "The treaty is not
applicable to uses of nuclear energy for military purposes." Judges also
ordered that the commission pay the British government's legal costs. The
court left a chink of light for the commission saying that it could
"possibly" demand again that the UK hands over the information, citing
another treaty power, but it would need support from the EU Council of
Ministers.
Nuclear Engineering International ©2005
Published by Wilmington Publishing Ltd.
*****************************************************************
10 Annan Urges UN For Dramatic Growth In Aid To Chernobyl Disaster Victims
Date: Tue, 26 Apr 2005 12:00:47 -0400
X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.0.2 (2004-11-16) on pascal.ctyme.com
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ANNAN URGES FUNDING FOR DRAMATIC GROWTH IN AID TO CHERNOBYL DISASTER
VICTIMS
New York, Apr 26 2005 12:00PM
On the nineteenth anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant
disaster, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan today <"http://www.un.org/apps/sg/sgstats.asp?nid=1419">appealed
to the world
to provide the necessary funds for a dramatic expansion of aid
to help communities still suffering the effects of what he called
the worst technological catastrophy in history.
“The three most affected countries - Belarus, the Russian Federation,
and Ukraine - continue to grapple with daunting social, economic,
humanitarian and environmental consequences,” he said in a
statement issued by his spokesman.
Nearly 8.4 million people in the three countries were exposed to
radiation when the Chernobyl plant in Ukraine blew up. Beyond cancers
and chronic health problems, especially among children, some
150,000 kilometres – an area half the size of Italy – were contaminated,
while agricultural areas covering nearly 52,000 square kilometres,
more than the size of Denmark, were ruined.
“The challenge posed by Chernobyl has evolved over time,” the statement
said. “In addition to the threat posed by radiation, the no
less potent hazards of poverty, unemployment, and inadequate infrastructure
in the contaminated regions have come to the fore.”
The focus of recovery efforts supported by the UN has shifted from
emergency humanitarian assistance to long-term development aid,
seeking to empower communities and foster new, sustainable livelihoods.
“Early efforts are showing promise, but they need to expand dramatically
in order to meet the needs of the affected populations,”
the statement said. “The Secretary-General urges the international
community to provide the necessary financial support for programs
designed to assist communities traumatized by Chernobyl to regain
self-sufficiency and help families to lead normal, healthy lives
in the affected areas.”
2005-04-26 00:00:00.000
________________
For more details go to UN News Centre at http://www.un.org/news
To change your profile or unsubscribe go to:
http://www.un.org/news/dh/latest/subscribe.shtml
*****************************************************************
11 [NukeNet] Chernobyl: 7 Million In Ex-USSR Believed Suffering
Date: Tue, 26 Apr 2005 14:31:51 -0700
NukeNet Anti-Nuclear Network (nukenet@energyjustice.net)
``We must now worry about the children of the
children of Chernobyl,'' said Gennady Groushevoy,
head of Children of Chernobyl. ``The health danger
is reaching into a second generation ... but the
government has retreated into a Soviet-era
attitude of silence.''
In all, 7 million people in the former Soviet
republics of Belarus, Russia and Ukraine are
believed to have suffered medical problems as a
result of the April 25, 1986, accident. In
Ukraine, more than 2.32 million people, including
452,000 children, have been treated for
radiation-linked illnesses, including thyroid and
blood cancer and cancerous growths, according to
Ukrainian health officials.
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/science/AP-Living-With-Chernobyl.html?oref=login
Activists: Chernobyl Radiation Lingers
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: November 13, 2004
Filed at 8:34 p.m. ET
SVETILOVICHI, Belarus (AP) -- The signs say ``KEEP
OUT'' and warn of radiation contamination, but the
mushroom-pickers trudge right past them carrying
their pails. Eighteen years after the reactor at
Chernobyl in neighboring Ukraine exploded, spewing
a cloud of radiation that blew north and
contaminated 22 percent of this ex-Soviet
republic, activists warn of a new threat facing
Belarusians: the longing to return to normal life.
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The government -- and many Belarusians -- are
eager to put the world's worst nuclear accident
behind them. President Alexander Lukashenko,
branded Europe's last dictator, has made it a
priority to repopulate much of the
Chernobyl-infected region beyond the hardest hit
areas.
But opposition parties and advocacy groups such as
the Belarus-based Children of Chernobyl accuse the
government of overriding warnings that radiation
continues to contaminate this region of pine
forests and mud-splattered farming villages.
Belarusians, many of them poor and ill-informed
about radiation, are returning home to villages
that still require permanent monitoring because of
higher than average radiation levels. Tractors
till farmland, cows graze and residents fill their
yards with vegetable gardens. Others are venturing
into the ``exclusion zones'' -- the worst hit
areas -- to forage in the forests for berries and
wild mushrooms, which are then sold throughout the
region.
The critics claim that the government of this
tightly controlled nation of 10 million is
capitalizing on the plight of desperate jobseekers
to repopulate still dangerous areas and boost
agricultural production.
In the last five years, Belarus has struck 1,000
population centers from the danger list. It has
boosted regional farm production by 30 percent,
cut Chernobyl-related welfare funding from 14
percent of the approximately $3 billion annual
budget to 4 percent, and censored health
statistics of rising death and cancer rates, the
opponents say.
``We must now worry about the children of the
children of Chernobyl,'' said Gennady Groushevoy,
head of Children of Chernobyl. ``The health danger
is reaching into a second generation ... but the
government has retreated into a Soviet-era
attitude of silence.''
In all, 7 million people in the former Soviet
republics of Belarus, Russia and Ukraine are
believed to have suffered medical problems as a
result of the April 25, 1986, accident. In
Ukraine, more than 2.32 million people, including
452,000 children, have been treated for
radiation-linked illnesses, including thyroid and
blood cancer and cancerous growths, according to
Ukrainian health officials.
Most villages around the plant remain off-limits
today, though some Ukrainians are moving back
despite government warnings.
Sixty percent of the fallout landed over Belarus,
contaminating a region that was home to more than
1.5 million people. Some 125,000 families were
evacuated, and large swaths of forest and farmland
were declared ``exclusion zones,'' sealed by
checkpoints.
Many of the evacuees still complain bitterly that
household belongings, left behind during their
hurried retreat, later turned up for sale in
regional markets, while they lived in limbo in
shabbily constructed apartment blocks.
Nikolai Nagorny, director of the International
Committee of the Red Cross' Chernobyl program,
said that cases of thyroid cancer -- one of the
few radiation-related illnesses that has been well
studied around Chernobyl -- have skyrocketed among
children in Belarus' affected regions, from just
two cases of thyroid cancer before the accident to
at least 1,000 in the 10 years after.
``I don't feel any danger, and even if I did --
what would it matter?'' said Raisa Stradayeva, 62,
as she and her grandson, Andrusha, trudged home
through the rain in Svetilovichi, a village just
outside the highly contaminated exclusion zone.
``I have to live somewhere and this is my home,''
she said.
Besides, she said, the health risks can't be that
severe because ``People are returning all the
time.''
Not only Belarusians; foreigners are coming too,
mostly from poorer ex-Soviet republics, seeking
jobs and housing.
Yuri Kuzmich, head of Belarus' Chernobyl exclusion
and monitoring zone, rejects accusations that the
government is intentionally sending anyone into
danger. In his office in Gomel, a city of 500,000
that has suffered increased radiation-related
illnesses, Kuzmich said his staff does all it can
to keep people out of the worst-hit areas and
provide information to those living in the
surrounding region.
But, he admits, not everyone is on the same page.
State-run farms ``have plans to fulfill ... and
they want to fulfill these no matter what,'' he
said. Those farms need workers, and farm workers
come.
``The passage of time and economic necessity take
their toll,'' he said, sitting beneath a portrait
of Lukashenko. ``Human memory is short. Eighteen
years might as well be 100.''
Kuzmich's team oversees the exclusion zone,
manning checkpoints, escorting visitors into the
region and collecting scientific and medical data.
Some employees are also assigned to oversee the
villages under radiation monitoring.
However, a reporter visiting recently was never
questioned when entering the exclusion zone,
checkpoints appeared deserted and the mushroom-
and berry-pickers walk through on the main road,
via forest paths or on buses that still pass
through the zone.
Margarita Artemyeva, who moved here from
Kazakhstan, was helping her 25-year-old daughter,
Natasha, wallpaper her new home -- a damp bungalow
identical to its neighbors.
``I don't even think about it. I'm not scared at
all. If there was a real danger, we'd know it,
wouldn't we?'' said Artemyeva, 44. She rejected
the claim that the poor are being used to
repopulate the area.
Critics claim vegetables, milk and meat from
Chernobyl-contaminated regions such as
Svetilovichi are being sold throughout Belarus.
But in a nation where the average monthly salary
is about $150, few have the option of putting
health concerns first and buying imports.
Besides, the berries and wild mushrooms supplement
meager diets and also sell well.
After Artemyeva mentioned she loved mushrooms, one
of Kuzmich's employees took her aside and gently
warned her against collecting them in the
exclusion zone.
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12 [epa-impact] Entergy Operations, Inc., Arkansas Nuclear One, Unit
Date: Tue, 26 Apr 2005 11:46:56 -0400 (EDT)
http://epa.gov/EPA-IMPACT/2005/April/Day-26/
=======================================================================
[Federal Register: April 26, 2005 (Volume 70, Number 79)]
[Notices]
[Page 21449]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:fr26ap05-91]
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
[Docket No. 50-368]
Entergy Operations, Inc., Arkansas Nuclear One, Unit 2; Notice of
Availability of the Final Supplement 19 to the Generic Environmental
Impact Statement for the License Renewal of Arkansas Nuclear One, Unit 2
Notice is hereby given that the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission
(Commission) has published a final plant-specific supplement to the
Generic Environmental Impact Statement (GEIS), NUREG-1437, regarding
the renewal of operating license NPF-6 for an additional 20 years of
operation at Arkansas Nuclear One, Unit 2 (ANO-2). ANO-2 is located in
Pope County, Arkansas, approximately 6 miles west-northwest of
Russellville, Arkansas. Possible alternatives to the proposed action
(license renewal) include no action and reasonable alternative energy
sources.
In Section 9.3 of the final Supplement 19 to the GEIS, the staff
concludes that based on: (1) The analysis and findings in the GEIS; (2)
the environmental report submitted by Entergy; (3) consultation with
Federal, State, and local agencies; (4) the staff's own independent
review; and (5) the staff's consideration of public comments received
during the environmental review, the staff recommends that the
Commission determine that the adverse environmental impacts of license
renewal for ANO-2, are not so great that preserving the option of
license renewal for energy-planning decisionmakers would be unreasonable.
The final Supplement 19 to the GEIS is available for public
inspection in the NRC Public Document Room (PDR) located at One White
Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland, or from the
Publicly Available Records (PARS) component of NRC's Agencywide
Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS). ADAMS is accessible
from the NRC Web site at http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html
(the Public Electronic Reading Room). Persons who do not have access to
ADAMS, or who encounter problems in accessing the documents located in
ADAMS, should contact the PDR reference staff at 1-800-397-4209, 301-
415-4737, or by e-mail to pdr@nrc.gov. In addition, the Ross
Pendergraft Library at Arkansas Tech University, 305 West Q Street,
Russellville, Arkansas 72801, has agreed to make the final plant-
specific supplement to the GEIS available for public inspection.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Thomas Kenyon, License Renewal and
Environmental Impacts Program, Division of Regulatory Improvement
Programs, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555. Mr.
Kenyon may be contacted at 301-415-1120 or TJK@nrc.gov.
Dated in Rockville, Maryland, this 7th day of April, 2005.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Pao-Tsin Kuo,
Program Director, License Renewal and Environmental Impacts Program,
Division of Regulatory Improvement Programs, Office of Nuclear Reactor
Regulation.
[FR Doc. E5-1967 Filed 4-25-05; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 7590-01-P
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13 NEWS.com.au: Chernobyl needs new help: UN
(27-04-2005)
From correspondents in the United Nations
From: Agence France-Presse
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan today made an anniversary plea
for greater international help for Ukraine, Russia and Belarus to
recover and rebuild after the 1986 Chernobyl disaster, the
world's worst nuclear accident. Mr Annan said that almost two
decades after "the worst technological catastrophe in history",
the three countries "continue to grapple with daunting social,
economic and environmental consequences".
Chernobyl's number-four reactor, in what was then the Soviet
Union and is now Ukraine, exploded on April 26, 1986, sending a
radioactive cloud across Europe.
According to UN figures, between 15,000 and 30,000 people have
died since. Nearly six million people still live in contaminated
zones.
The Ukrainian health ministry says that about 2.3 million
Ukrainians, including 450,000 children, suffer today from
radiation-related illnesses, including many with cancer of the
thyroid.
According to a UN spokesman, Mr Annan said "the challenge posed
by Chernobyl has evolved over time. In addition to the threat
posed by radiation, the no less potent hazards of poverty,
unemployment and inadequate infrastructure in the contaminated
regions have come to the fore".
He said communities need help to rebuild new, sustainable
livelihoods.
Mr Annan "urges the international community to provide the
necessary financial support for programmes designed to assist
communities traumatised by Chernobyl to regain self-sufficiency
and help families to lead normal, healthy lives in the affected
areas".
The Chernobyl Forum, a UN-sponsored effort with Belarus, Russia
and Ukraine, is to release a report in September on the
environmental and health impact of the disaster.
Belarus and Ukraine will stage an international conference for
the 20th anniversary.
Chernobyl was finally shut down in December 2000 under a $US2.3
billion ($2.95 billion) deal between Ukraine and the world's
richest nations, only part of which has been paid out.
News Limited. All times AEST
*****************************************************************
14 PRAVDA.Ru: Another monstrous ecological disaster possible at Chernobyl -
04/26/2005 16:01
The explosion of the nuclear reactor of the Chernobyl power
plant contaminated a vast territory of the European continent
A serious catastrophe is likely to occur on the Chernobyl
nuclear power plant in 2006. The disaster may become even more
serious than the world-known blast of the station, which
occurred on April 26th 1986. Specialists installed a sarcophagus
around the nuclear reactor that year - the sarcophagus was
supposed to protect the world from the harmful influence of
radiation coming from the remnants of the hazardous production
for 20 years. The warranty period has already elapsed: Chernobyl
might become the center of another ecological disaster next
year. Experts say that the protective housing of the reactor may
collapse - the destruction of the nuclear storage might lead to
lamentable consequences.
The fourth reactor of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant was
hidden from the whole world 20 years ago under the dome-like
sarcophagus, which was officially called "Shelter." No one knows
what is happening with 20 tons of nuclear fuel inside the
construction. According to the Versia newspaper, the technical
condition of the sarcophagus has worsened considerably according
to the results of a recent external examination, which
specialists of the nuclear power plant conduct on a regular
basis.
They particularly said that cracks appeared in the walls,
whereas the ceiling of the construction slumped.
The personnel of the Chernobyl nuclear station was conducting a
test at night of April 26, 1986, with a view to find out if
turbines could generate the necessary amount of residual energy
for the system of cooling pumps under the condition of electric
power interruption. Specialists deliberately deactivated alarm
protection systems not to impede the process. The safety
shutdown system did not work and the reactor went out of
control. The reactor started spewing out poisonous combustion
products in the atmosphere. A huge cloud of radioactive dust
contaminated the territory of the European part of the USSR and
several foreign states - Bulgaria, Romania, Czechoslovakia and
reached even Sweden.
People did not realize the danger during the first several days
after the nuclear breakdown. It turned out that human beings and
even technical equipment were unable to work under the condition
of such a high radiation level. The radioactive background
reached 2,000 Roentgens per hour between the third and the
fourth power-generating units. The Soviet Union was keeping
silence for several days after the blast at Chernobyl - the
government issued the decision to start the urgent evacuation of
people from the contaminated area only 24 hours afterwards.
When consequences of the tragedy became obvious, specialists
started building the "Shelter" sarcophagus above the 4th reactor
of the station. The works on Shelter-2 are currently underway:
the protection will be raised near the 4th unit and then placed
above it. The new sarcophagus will have to be replaced again in
a hundred, not in twenty years as it happened with the
present-day concrete cap.
The project was originally evaluated at $750 million: $50
million of the sum was provided by the government of Ukraine,
the rest of the money was assigned by the coalition of 28
countries. It became clear later that such a sum would not be
enough. It currently goes about one billion dollars. The
mounting of the sarcophagus is to take place in February of
2008.
In the meantime, the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine
has already filed 63 criminal cases in connection with the
embezzlement of the funds at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant.
The state has already suffered the damage of $14 million. The
use of the funds assigned for the construction of the Shelter-2
complex will be controlled at the maximum capacity.
Read the original in Russian: (Translated by: Dmitry Sudakov)
PRAVDA.Ru doesn't recommend to use Xerox products
*****************************************************************
15 Bellona: Russia and France to deliver uranium and build reactors
Russia and France intend to broaden co-operation in the field of
uranium product deliveries and construction of the reactor units
in the third countries.
2005-04-26 18:23
A Federal Nuclear Power Agency representative stated that to the
ITAR-TASS news agency in the end of March. ”Russian companies
and enterprises are already co-operating with the biggest in
Europe International Corporation –AREVA group – on construction
of the power units in China” the representative said. At the
moment, France mostly delivers uranium to Russia for enrichment
and then the enriched uranium is used in the French or third
countries’ reactors, he added.
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
*****************************************************************
16 Bellona: Russian nuclear power industry needs investments
Russia has 10 nuclear power plants (NPPs) in operation. The
safety standards of the Soviet designed reactors have been
highly questioned by international experts. During the last
decade, the social is Jump to section [Site Map - Nuclear
Russia]
The Rosenergoatom concern’s general director believes an
investment program is necessary for the Russian nuclear power
industry.
2005-04-26 19:00
The Russia’s state-owned nuclear generation company
Rosenergoatom launched two million kW of new capacities from
2001 to 2004, said the Rosenergoatom concern’s general director
Oleg Sarayev at the Russian Energy Forum on March 21,
RIA-Novosti reported. He said the nuclear industry needs
investment programs as the current investment sources do not
provide regeneration and development of the nuclear power
plants. He said 1.26 billion roubles (about $45m) are needed for
nuclear energy development.
If by 2020 the Russian nuclear power plants reach 270 million kW
electricity production then investment deficit can be 350
million roubles (about $12.6m). Sarayev believes the nuclear
power industry should develop in the following directions:
construction of new reactor units, development of the design
base and infrastructure, prolongation of the existing units for
10-20 years more.
Publisher: , President:
Information: , Technical contact:
Telephone: +47 23 23 46 00 Telefax: +47 22 38 38 62 * P.O.Box
2141 Grunerlokka, 0505 Oslo, Norway
*****************************************************************
17 RIA Novosti: CHERNOBYL NUCLEAR ACCIDENT - 19 YEARS ON
MOSCOW, April 26, (RIA Novosti) - The accident that occurred
nineteen years ago today at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant
was a major 20th century radiation disaster that affected the
lives of millions of people in Russia, Belarus and Ukraine, RIA
Novosti was told at the press-service of Russia's Emergencies
Ministry.
In Russia, the radioactive pollution spread to more than 56,000
square kilometers of territory, including about two million
hectares of farmlands and about a million hectares of forests.
The Bryansk, Kaluga, Orel and Tula regions were worst-hit.
According to the ministry, at the moment of the disaster about
three million people lived in the radiation-contaminated
territories. Over the years that have passed more than 52,000
people have been relocated or moved away themselves.
"It is obvious that the consequences of the Chernobyl disaster
might have been far greater if it had not been for the courage
of those who eliminated them. There were more than 200,000
clean-up workers," it was noted at the ministry.
According to the Russian State Medical Dosimetric Register
(RGMDR), in which are entered more than 600,000 people, the
percentage of clean-up workers having a clean bill of health has
been steadily decreasing over the period of observation and
towards the end of 2003 totaled about 2.5%. In 1986-1987, it was
as high as 95%. At present 78.4% of them are suffering from
chronic diseases and have the third health rating.
The total number of the disabled registered among clean-up
workers in 2003 was more than 66,000 people, i.e. about
one-third of the overall figure of such registered workers.
Currently, first-category invalids make up 2.7% of the clean-up
workers, and second- and third-group invalids 51.9% and 45.4%,
respectively.
The overall number of clean-up workers in the main RGMDR data
base who died towards the end of 2003 was 22,998. That is about
12.3% of the total number of clean-up workers registered in the
RGMDR.
Speaking of health of the population living in the polluted
areas, the ministry said that over the past five years the
proportion of apparently healthy residents kept diminishing all
the time and by the end of 2003 amounted to 17.8%. This compares
with 27.5% of those with first-health rating in 1999. At present
59.1% of inhabitants of the polluted territories registered in
the RGMDR are suffering from chronic diseases, while in 1999 the
percentage was 43.3%.
© 2005 "RIAN Novosti"
*****************************************************************
18 BBC: Belarus marks Chernobyl disaster
Last Updated: Tuesday, 26 April, 2005
By Sarah Rainsford BBC News, Minsk
[Chernobyl nuclear plant]
Fallout from Chernobyl displaced thousands in Belarus
Nineteen years after the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in Ukraine,
Belarus is still suffering the consequences.
In Minsk, opposition activists will join residents of the
contaminated regions in a march to mark the anniversary.
President Alexander Lukashenko is marking the Chernobyl
anniversary according to tradition.
He is heading to the south of Belarus, to one of the areas worst
affected by radiation from the Ukrainian plant.
Belarus suffered the worst of the radioactive fall-out, but the
toxic cloud also spread across a large swathe of Europe.
State television has been trailing the trip as yet another sign
that life in the Chernobyl disaster zone is returning to normal.
Opposition pressure
The authorities here are promoting the development of the area,
investing in agriculture in particular.
As more than 1.5 million people still live there, that is largely
a product of necessity.
But opposition activists and local scientists are concerned about
the safety of such a policy.
They point to high levels of child sickness in the region as
proof it is still far from safe.
As the president demonstrates the opposite, they will use a
protest meeting in Minsk to deliver a petition to his office.
They are calling for an honest approach.
They will also protest against new regulations that make it more
difficult for children from the contaminated zones to travel
abroad.
Last year President Lukashenko declared such trips were
corrupting Belarussian children by exposing them to capitalism.
*****************************************************************
19 BBC: Belarus cursed by Chernobyl
Last Updated: Tuesday, 26 April, 2005
By Sarah Rainsford BBC News, Gomel, Belarus
[A radiation warning sign]
One-fifth of Belarus' farming land is contaminated
Komarin state farm is just 18km (11 miles) from the crippled
Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine.
When reactor number four exploded on 26 April 1986, this land
across the border in Belarus was directly in the danger path.
Almost two decades on, the Belarussian authorities are investing
heavily in the region, saying it needs to be exploited.
The farm's sheds are now filled with rows of rust-red coloured
cattle. Producing radiation free-milk was too costly to turn a
profit, so state funding helped buy this elite breed of cow that
is ideal for meat.
"Of course the radiation makes life complicated, and farming
here is more expensive. That's why the state compensates us,"
farm director Grigory explains.
"But we can't just abandon this land. People have always lived
here and they plan to stay, radiation or no."
Grigory insists regular checks mean his meat is safe to eat -
even though one-fifth of his land lies inside the exclusion zone
that surrounds Chernobyl.
Devastating blow
Belarus took 70% of the fallout from the power plant; one fifth
of the country's agricultural land was contaminated.
[Anastasia checking radiation levels in a cow shed]
These days the authorities here are keen for normal life to
resume where possible.
But living safely in the Chernobyl-affected regions requires
considerable effort.
In and around Komarin it is Anastasia's job to ensure the food
people eat does not contain dangerous doses of radiation.
At the local radiation control centre, she checks samples on an
ancient-looking apparatus.
"If food is contaminated we tell people how they can make it
safer - by boiling it, or sometimes soaking in salt water,"
Anastasia explains.
"Of course it's better if they throw it out. We try to give
people information."
Anastasia runs around 600 tests a year, but she admits it is
getting harder to persuade people to keep bringing their food in.
The fear level is falling; and in many areas the test centres
have been closed.
Sickness
Three hours' drive north of Komarin, Doctor Valentina Smolnikova
has to deal with the consequences.
Baby Christina was born with a serious heart defect her family
blame on the after-effects of Chernobyl. It cannot be proven -
but the radioactive fallout reached this area too.
[An abandoned house]
Many houses in Belarus were abandoned after the accident
It is not only 10-month-old Christina who is sick.
Her grandmother's neck is badly disfigured by a tumour on her
thyroid; her two teenage aunts have the same condition; two other
close relatives have cancer.
Like most people in the affected zone, grandmother Valia keeps
her own cow for milk, and grows most of the family's food on
their allotment.
She knows there is a risk of contamination, but confesses she has
never checked.
"I think the less you know the better," Valia whispers, her
breathing shallow, obstructed by the tumour.
"Even if we found out our food was contaminated, we'd still eat
it, we'd have no alternative.
"But the fear will always remain. It's not fair, but there are so
many sick people here, and you can't evacuate them all."
Doctor Smolnikova checks baby Christina's heart through her
stethoscope, and advises Valia on the chances of an operation.
She has a long list of other patients like them.
"Those who say there is no link with Chernobyl should open their
eyes and look at the medical statistics," Doctor Smolnikova says.
She has been the village doctor here since long before the
nuclear disaster.
"Before Chernobyl I'd never seen a child with cancer. Now it's
common.
"I treat many more children now with heart defects and kidney
damage. To say it's nothing to do with Chernobyl just isn't
honest."
Travel restricted
The children of Chernobyl have always had a temporary escape
route through international charity.
[Doctor Valentina Smolnikova]
Dr Smolnikova blames Chernobyl for the increase in cancer
Eight-year-old Katya went to Germany last year for a month of
fresh food and fresh air.
But now Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko has threatened
to ban such trips, saying children are being corrupted by
capitalism.
He has already tightened the rules and because Katya has a heart
murmur, she is not eligible anymore.
Her father Ivan cannot understand why she has to miss out.
"I think the president believes there are clean places in Belarus
the kids should go to. But if people are inviting them abroad,
why refuse?
"It's not right. Chernobyl was not the children's fault. We have
to help them."
But Ivan doubts President Lukashenko will change his mind.
Katya's host family is coming to visit them from Germany next
week instead, so her friends have been preparing a performance to
greet them.
As well as national songs and dance, they are practising a
candle-lit mime that tells the story of the Chernobyl disaster.
Nineteen years on, they say the most important thing is that no
one should forget.
*****************************************************************
20 Moscow Times: Chernobyl Disaster Remembered 19 Years On
Wednesday, April 27, 2005. Issue 3155. Page 4.
By Aleksandar Vasovic
The Associated Press
Gleb Garanich / Reuters
A Ukrainian woman weeping at a Chernobyl memorial in the city of
Slavutich, which is near the plant, early Tuesday.
KIEV -- Hundreds of mourners laid flowers and lit candles early
Tuesday before a monument in Kiev to commemorate the 19th
anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, which spewed
radiation over much of northern Europe and claimed thousands of
lives.
As the country slept on April 26, 1986, a test at the Chernobyl
nuclear power station went horribly wrong, causing Reactor No. 4
to explode and catch fire.
"The Chernobyl plant that was regarded as Ukraine's pride has
become a symbol of the biggest ever man-made disaster," the
plant's management said in a statement Tuesday, a day that is
now observed worldwide as a memorial to victims of radiation
catastrophes.
Hundreds of thousands of people were resettled from contaminated
areas, and some of Europe's most fertile farmland was ruined.
Ukraine has registered 4,400 deaths. In all, 7 million people in
Belarus, Russia and Ukraine are believed to have suffered health
problems. Many were the firefighters, cleanup workers, soldiers
and scientists sent in to help deal with the tragedy.
"They protected us like heroes of war," said Ganna Romanova, 75,
a survivor of the disaster. "We must not forget them and we must
tell our children about their feat."
In Kiev, some 128 kilometers south of the Chernobyl plant,
hundreds of Ukrainians filled a small chapel dedicated to the
disaster's victims at 1:23 a.m. as bells tolled 19 times to mark
the exact time of the explosion.
Many victims have complained that their governments are doing
too little to help them. In the Russian city of Novovoronezh,
some 500 kilometers south of Moscow, a group of Chernobyl
victims started a new hunger strike, saying that recent social
reforms stripped them of some necessary benefits, NTV television
reported. Specialists from Novovoronezh's nuclear power plant
were dispatched to Chernobyl to help after the accident.
The most frequent Chernobyl-related diseases include thyroid,
blood and other cancers.
Yury Andreyev, the head of the Chernobyl Union, an action group
that represents victims said that the Ukrainian government has
decreased funds for victims every year.
"In 1992, we were receiving 12 percent of [national] budget
expenses, in 2000 -- 3.3 percent and in 2005 only 2.3 percent,"
he said.
Similar complaints have been made in Belarus, whose
authoritarian leader has even encouraged farming to resume in
areas near contamination zones.
Ukraine shut down Chernobyl's last working reactor in December
2000, but the decommissioning works continue. A
Russian-Ukrainian consortium has recently started reinforcing
the crumbling concrete-and-steel shelter hastily constructed
over the damaged reactor. Meanwhile, the price tag for building
a new shelter has increased by hundreds of millions of dollars.
Cash shortages continue to raise concern. Last week, the
state-run company responsible for maintaining the site and
decommissioning the plant warned it is facing a dangerous cutoff
of energy supplies due to a debt of $6 million in unpaid bills
for gas, electricity and overdue wages.
Also Tuesday, Deputy Prime Minister Mykola Tomenko urged
investigators to scrutinize "enormously big sums" paid to
consultants and experts for environmental safety work at
Chernobyl.
Prosecutors have already launched a criminal case against an
unidentified person for alleged misappropriation of funds.
© Copyright 2005 The Moscow Times. All rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
21 Mos News: Russian Veterans Mark 19th Chernobyl Anniversary With Hunger Strikes -
NEWS - MOSNEWS.COM
Created: 26.04.2005 13:01 MSK (GMT +3), Updated: 13:01 MSK
Russia’s Chernobyl veterans are marking the 19th anniversary of
the explosion at the No. 4 reactor with hunger strikes, local
media report.
30 former Chernobyl relief workers have gone on hunger strike in
the Voronezh region for a second time. They are demanding that
compensation for damage to their health, cancelled by the
benefit reforms that came into force in January 2005, be paid to
them. They started their protest at the beginning of April, but
agreed to stop after a court ruled that the authorities pay the
financial arrears by April, 25. However, the invalids have still
not received their money.
Veterans from the town of Tula, who gave up a hunger strike in
February at the request of doctors, are also considering whether
it would be worth repeating their protest. Over four days 220
people went without food demanding that the same amount of free
medicine, free transportation to health resorts and compensation
should be provided as before the adoption of the
cash-for-benefits law. However, their demands were not met.
“Per se at the moment Chernobyl veterans are only paid
compensation for the damage done to their health, but they also
need welfare,” the head of the Chernobyl of Russia union,
Vyacheslav Kitaev, stresses.
19 Russian regions were exposed to radioactive pollution after
the Chernobyl tragedy. “If there had been no 260,000 relief
workers, the catastrophe would have been much worse,” Kitaev
said. He added that in the late 1980s 95 percent of the rescue
workers were healthy. At the moment 78.4 percent of them suffer
from chronic illnesses.
Greenpeace activists are also marking the anniversary. They have
gathered in Moscow near the Russian Federal Atomic Energy Agency
(Rosatom) headquarters. A group of youths dressed in orange
overalls with the organization’s logo unfurled a banner saying
“Chernobyl is burial ground number 1, Russia is second”, in
front of the agency.
The catastrophe at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine
is widely regarded as the worst in the history of nuclear power
generation. 30 people were killed immediately after the fourth
reactor of the plant suffered a catastrophic steam explosion
that resulted in a fire, a series of additional explosions, and
nuclear meltdown. Most of the workers who went inside the
reactor after the accident had no protective equipment which led
to fatal radiation burns.
The explosion produced a plume of radioactive debris that
drifted over parts of the western USSR, Eastern Europe, and
Scandinavia. Large areas of the Ukrainian, Belarusian, and
Russian republics of the USSR were contaminated, resulting in
the evacuation and resettlement of roughly 200,000 people.
At the moment the plant is facing the threat of an energy
blockade because of a critical shortage of financing. Its debts
amount to $6 million. Moreover, a sarcophagus above the
destroyed power-generating unit is leaking and needs immediate
replacement.
Write us: info@mosnews.com
Copyright © 2004 MOSNEWS.COM
*****************************************************************
22 NRC: Entergy Operations, Inc., Arkansas Nuclear One, Unit 2; Notice
FR Doc E5-1967
[Federal Register: April 26, 2005 (Volume 70, Number 79)]
[Notices] [Page 21449] From the Federal Register Online via GPO
Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr26ap05-91] [[Page 21449]]
of Availability of the Final Supplement 19 to the Generic
Environmental Impact Statement for the License Renewal of
Arkansas Nuclear One, Unit 2 Notice is hereby given that the U.S.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission (Commission) has published a final
plant-specific supplement to the Generic Environmental Impact
Statement (GEIS), NUREG-1437, regarding the renewal of operating
license NPF-6 for an additional 20 years of operation at Arkansas
Nuclear One, Unit 2 (ANO-2). ANO-2 is located in Pope County,
Arkansas, approximately 6 miles west-northwest of Russellville,
Arkansas. Possible alternatives to the proposed action (license
renewal) include no action and reasonable alternative energy
sources.
In Section 9.3 of the final Supplement 19 to the GEIS, the staff
concludes that based on: (1) The analysis and findings in the
GEIS; (2) the environmental report submitted by Entergy; (3)
consultation with Federal, State, and local agencies; (4) the
staff's own independent review; and (5) the staff's consideration
of public comments received during the environmental review, the
staff recommends that the Commission determine that the adverse
environmental impacts of license renewal for ANO-2, are not so
great that preserving the option of license renewal for
energy-planning decisionmakers would be unreasonable.
The final Supplement 19 to the GEIS is available for public
inspection in the NRC Public Document Room (PDR) located at One
White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland, or
from the Publicly Available Records (PARS) component of NRC's
Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS). ADAMS
is accessible from the NRC Web site at
http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html (the Public Electronic
Reading Room). Persons who do not have access to ADAMS, or who
encounter problems in accessing the documents located in ADAMS,
should contact the PDR reference staff at 1-800-397-4209, 301-
415-4737, or by e-mail to pdr@nrc.gov. In addition, the Ross
Pendergraft Library at Arkansas Tech University, 305 West Q
Street, Russellville, Arkansas 72801, has agreed to make the
final plant- specific supplement to the GEIS available for public
inspection.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Mr. Thomas Kenyon, License
Renewal and Environmental Impacts Program, Division of Regulatory
Improvement Programs, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
Washington, DC 20555. Mr. Kenyon may be contacted at 301-415-1120
or TJK@nrc.gov. Dated in Rockville, Maryland, this 7th day of
April, 2005.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Pao-Tsin Kuo, Program Director, License Renewal and Environmental
Impacts Program, Division of Regulatory Improvement Programs,
Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. E5-1967 Filed 4-25-05; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590-01-P
*****************************************************************
23 NRC: Entergy Operations, Inc.; Arkansas Nuclear One, Unit 2; Exemption
FR Doc E5-1968
[Federal Register: April 26, 2005 (Volume 70, Number 79)]
[Notices] [Page 21447-21448] From the Federal Register Online via
GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr26ap05-90]
1.0 Background Entergy Operations, Inc. (the licensee) is the
holder of Facility Operating License No. NPF-6 which authorizes
operation of the Arkansas Nuclear One, Unit 2 (ANO-2) nuclear
power plant. The license provides, among other things, that the
facility is subject to all rules, regulations, and orders of the
Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC, the Commission) now or
hereafter in effect.
The facility consists of a pressurized water reactor located in
Pope County, Arkansas.
2.0 Request/Action Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations
(10 CFR), part 50, appendix A, General Design Criterion (GDC) 57,
regarding closed system containment isolation valves (CIVs),
states: Each line that penetrates primary reactor containment and
is neither part of the reactor coolant pressure boundary nor
connected directly to the containment atmosphere shall have at
least one containment isolation valve which shall be either
automatic, or locked closed, or capable of remote manual
operation. This valve shall be outside containment and located as
close to the containment as practical. A simple check valve may
not be used as the automatic isolation valve.
By application dated October 30, 2003, and supplemented by a
letters dated July 1, November 15, and December 3, 2004, and
March 3, 2005, the licensee requested a permanent exemption from
10 CFR part 50, appendix A, GDC 57 for certain CIVs at ANO-2.
Specifically, the licensee requests an exemption for the
applicable manual upstream CIV associated with the emergency
feedwater (EFW) system steam trap and the applicable manual
upstream CIV associated with the atmospheric dump valve (ADV)
drain steam trap. This will allow the plant to operate at power
with these CIVs open, rather than locked closed.
The CIVs under review are located on main steam lines outside
containment, but upstream of the main steam isolation valves
(MSIVs). The main steam and feedwater lines inside containment,
in combination with the secondary side of the steam generators,
constitute closed systems inside containment, so GDC 57 applies.
The CIVs are not automatic or capable of remote manual operation,
and the licensee does not wish to keep them locked closed.
3.0 Discussion Pursuant to 10 CFR 50.12, the Commission may, upon
application by any interested person or upon its own initiative,
grant exemptions from the requirements of 10 CFR part 50 when (1)
the exemptions are authorized by law, will not present an undue
risk to public health or safety, and are consistent with the
common defense and security; and (2) when special circumstances
are present.
Special circumstances, in accordance with 10 CFR 50.12(a)(2)(ii),
are present in that plant operation with the applicable manual
upstream CIV associated with the EFW system steam trap and the
applicable manual upstream CIV associated with the ADV drain
steam trap in the closed position is not necessary to achieve the
underlying purpose of 10 CFR part 50, appendix A, GDC 57. The
staff's rationale is as follows. Operation With the EFW Steam
Trap CIVs and the ADV Drain Steam Trap CIVs Open The steam supply
lines for the ANO-2 EFW pump and the ADVs tap off of the ``A''
and ``B'' main steam headers outside containment and upstream of
the MSIVs. The steam supply from the ``B'' main steam header has
a steam trap upstream of the EFW pump turbine isolation valve,
which is a GDC 57 boundary valve. Therefore, the upstream CIV for
this steam trap is subject to GDC 57. The manual isolation valves
for this steam trap (which include the upstream CIV) are normally
open during power operation. Keeping the EFW steam trap isolation
valves closed during operation potentially threatens the
operability of the steam-driven EFW pump. It is noted that the
EFW steam trap for the ``A'' EFW pump turbine is located
downstream of the turbine isolation valve. The ADV associated
with the ``A'' main steam header has a drain steam trap whose
isolation valves are also maintained open during power operation.
The upstream CIV for this steam trap is also subject to GDC 57.
Keeping the ADV drain steam trap isolation valves closed during
operation could cause the potential for waterhammer when an ADV
line is opened and damage the piping associated with the ADV, due
to condensate buildup. Since these applicable CIVs (associated
with the EFW and ADV drain steam traps) are manual CIVs and do
not have remote closure capability, GDC 57 requires that they be
locked closed.
Therefore, the licensee requests an exemption from the
requirements of GDC 57 to keep these CIVs open during operation.
Operating with the ANO-2 EFW steam trap and ADV drain steam trap
CIVs open results in the secondary system pressure boundary
inside containment providing the only barrier against the release
of radioactivity to the environment through the steam trap
piping. However, the licensee has evaluated the effects of these
valves being open during power operation (provided below) and has
shown this to have no impact on the consequences of any of the
events evaluated in the Safety Analysis Report (SAR). Operating
with the EFW steam trap CIVs closed and the ADV drain steam trap
CIV closed could compromise the operability of the EFW pump
turbine and damage the piping associated with the ADV, due to
condensate buildup.
Of the 36 events listed in Chapter 15 of the ANO-2 SAR, only ten
involve a radiation dose evaluation. The waste gas decay tank
rupture and the fuel handling accident need not be evaluated
since they cannot physically involve the EFW and ADV steam trap
CIVs.
Additionally, the malfunction of the turbine gland sealing system
can also be eliminated from evaluation since it is bounded by the
turbine trip event, which will be discussed below. The remaining
seven events are turbine trip, loss of alternating current (AC)
power, excess heat removal, main steam/feed line break, loss of
reactor coolant system (RCS) forced flow, loss-of-coolant
accident (LOCA), and steam generator tube rupture.
For the turbine trip, loss of AC power, excess heat removal, and
main steam/feed line break, no post-event RCS activity is
involved in the dose estimate since the RCS integrity is not
compromised.
Having the EFW and ADV steam trap CIVs open would not impact this
event since the containment isolation function is not a factor.
For the loss of RCS forced flow, only the reactor coolant pump
shaft seizure has a dose estimate, and that dose estimate is
based on a normal cool down to shutdown cooling with no secondary
isolations assumed. Therefore, having
[[Page 21448]] the EFW and ADV steam trap CIVs open would not
impact this event.
For the LOCA, activity in the secondary system is not considered
in the dose estimate because of the massive radioisotope
inventories that are conservatively and deterministically
considered to be in the containment building. No credit for the
closure of the MSIVs or other secondary system flowpaths is taken
for this analysis unless a passive failure of the secondary
system pressure boundary inside containment is assumed. Since the
design and quality of the secondary system process and drain
lines inside containment is equivalent to that of the containment
liner, a passive failure of this piping is not considered in the
SAR analysis. Also, pertinent regulations (e.g., 10 CFR part 50,
appendix J, Option A, section II.H.4) assume that the closed
system inside containment remains intact during the accident.
Therefore, having the EFW and ADV steam trap CIVs open would not
impact this event.
For the steam generator tube rupture, no containment isolation
signal or main steam isolation signal would be generated. Manual
isolation of the affected steam generator is assumed to occur 60
minutes following a steam generator tube rupture, followed by
cool down to shutdown cooling conditions using the unaffected
steam generator. The isolation of the affected steam generator
includes the local manual isolation of the EFW and ADV steam
traps. Therefore, the fact that they are not equipped to be
operated remotely has no effect on analyzed dose consequences.
The staff has evaluated the licensee's analyses and makes the
following findings: (a) Only 7 of the 36 Chapter 15 events need
to be evaluated, for the reasons given above.
(b) For the turbine trip, loss of AC power, excess heat removal,
and main steam/feed line break, the containment isolation
function is not a factor, so the position of the subject steam
trap CIVs has no effect on the consequences of the accidents.
(c) The loss of RCS forced flow event analysis does not assume
secondary system isolation (which includes the subject steam trap
CIVs), so the position of these CIVs has no effect on the
analyzed dose consequences.
(d) For the LOCA, secondary system isolation is not assumed in
the analyses, and pre-existing secondary system radioactivity is
insignificant compared to the analyzed releases, so the position
of the subject steam trap CIVs has no effect on the analyzed dose
consequences.
(e) For the steam generator tube rupture event, no containment
isolation signal or main steam isolation signal would be
generated. The analysis assumes the local manual isolation of the
subject steam trap CIVs. Therefore, the licensee's proposal, to
allow the subject steam trap CIVs to remain open during power
operation, with only local manual closure capability, is
consistent with the event analysis.
Based on the above discussion, leaving the EFW and ADV steam trap
CIVs open during power operation would have no impact on the
consequences of any of the accidents evaluated in the SAR.
Alternate Solutions The licensee has stated that operating with
the EFW steam trap CIV closed and the ADV drain steam trap CIV
closed could compromise the operability of the EFW pump turbine
and damage the piping associated with the ADV, due to condensate
buildup. However, in its October 30, 2003, letter, the licensee
did not explicitly address another possible alternative to the
requested exemption; that being, to bring the CIVs (associated
with EFW and ADV drain steam traps) into compliance with GDC 57
by installing remote manual operators on the CIVs. The CIVs could
then be left open during plant operation. In its supplemental
letter dated July 1, 2004, the licensee stated again that leaving
the CIVs open during power operation would have no impact on the
consequences of any of the accidents evaluated in the SAR.
Considering this, the licensee believes that any potential
benefit derived from implementing a modification to install
remote manual operators on the subject CIVs would not be
commensurate with the cost and resource burden associated with
preparing and implementing the modification. Therefore, the
licensee believes that the most expeditious, efficient, and cost
effective resolution of the nonconformance with GDC 57 is the
subject exemption request.
Although the staff considers there to be significant safety value
to the dual, redundant barrier concept of containment isolation,
the staff finds that, in this case, given the SAR analyses and
the assumption of an intact closed system inside containment
during a LOCA, it is not necessary to require compliance with the
explicit requirements of the regulation in order to achieve the
underlying purpose of the regulation, which is to ensure that the
primary containment serves as an essentially leak-tight barrier
against the uncontrolled release of radioactivity to the
environment, because leaving the EFW and ADV steam trap CIVs open
during power operation would have no impact on the consequences
of any of the accidents evaluated in the SAR. Thus, the staff
finds that the safety benefits of the modification are not
commensurate with the cost.
Summary The staff finds that, based on the above, it is not
necessary, in this case, for the subject CIVs to be locked
closed, automatic, or remote manual, as required by GDC 57, in
order to achieve the underlying purpose of GDC 57. Therefore,
pursant to 10 CFR 50.12(a)(2), the staff concludes that the
operation of ANO-2 with the subject CIVs open is acceptable, and
that the requested exemption from GDC 57 is justified.
4.0 Conclusion Accordingly, the Commission has determined that,
pursuant to 10 CFR 50.12(a), the exemption is authorized by law,
will not present an undue risk to the public health and safety,
and is consistent with the common defense and security. Also,
special circumstances are present. Therefore, the Commission
hereby grants Entergy Operations, Inc.
an exemption from the requirements of 10 CFR part 50, appendix A,
GDC 57, to allow ANO-2 to operate with the applicable manual
upstream CIV associated with the EFW system steam trap and the
applicable manual upstream CIV associated with the ADV drain
steam trap in the open position.
Pursuant to 10 CFR 51.32, the Commission has determined that the
granting of this exemption will not have a significant effect on
the quality of the human environment (70 FR 19106).
This exemption is effective upon issuance.
Dated in Rockville, Maryland, this 15th day of April 2005.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Ledyard B. Marsh, Director, Division of Licensing Project
Management, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. E5-1968 Filed 4-25-05; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590-01-P
*****************************************************************
24 NRC: NRC to Discuss 2004 Performance Assessment for San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station
News Release - Region IV - 2005-01 U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY
COMMISSION
Office of Public Affairs, Region IV No. IV-05-014 April
26, 2005 CONTACT: Victor Dricks Phone: 817-860-8128 E-mail:
opa4@nrc.gov
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff will meet with
representatives of Southern California Edison Co. on May 3 to
discuss the results of the agencys assessment of safety
performance at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station. The
plant is located near San Clemente, Calif.
The meeting will be held at 6 p.m. at the Country Plaza Inn, 35
Via Pico Plaza, San Clemente. 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.
Each year the NRC staff evaluates the performance of each of the
nations commercial nuclear plants, said Region IV Administrator
Bruce S. Mallett. 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.
Overall, San Onofre operated safely during 2004. However, the
number of unplanned reactor shutdowns exceeded a performance
threshold during the second, third and fourth quarters of 2004.
A supplemental inspection concluded that the company had
successfully evaluated deficiencies contributing to the problems
and taken corrective action. NRC plans to conduct routine
inspections during 2005.
Routine inspections are performed by the NRC Resident Inspectors
assigned to the plant and by inspection specialists from the
Region IV office in Arlington, Texas, and the agencys
headquarters in Rockville, Md.
A letter from the Region IV office to plant officials will serve
as the basis for the meeting. It is available on the NRC web
site at:
http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/LETTERS/sano_2004q4.pdf
[PDF Icon] .
Current information for San Onofre is available on the NRC web
site at:
http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/SANO2/sano2_chart.html
and
http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/SANO3/sano3_chart.html.
Last revised Tuesday, April 26, 2005
*****************************************************************
25 ITAR-TASS: Meetings in memory of Chernobyl disaster held in Russia Tue
26.04.2005, 07.41
MOSCOW, April 26 (Itar-Tass) - Memorial meetings are to take
place all over Russia on Tuesday in commemoration of the victims
of the breakdown at the Chernobyl nuclear power station of 19
years ago.
A mourning ceremony is to take place at Moscow's Mitino Cemetery
near the memorial chapel at the name of the Icon of the
Consolation of All the Afflicted in memory of all Chernobyl
disaster victims. The chapel was set up within five months at
the site of the burial of 28 firemenin September 1999.
Just as was the case this day every year since the tragedy,
prayers are to be raised at the chapel in commemoration of all
the firemen, who were the first to help people in distress. This
temple in commemoration of all victims of the Chernobyl disaster
and other emergencies was consecrated by Patriarch Alexiy II of
Moscow and All Russia.
A tribute of memory is to be paid to the dead firemen by the
leading officials of the Ministry for Emergencies, members of
the Chernobyl Russia Union, cleanup workers, and the victims'
relatives who will arrived here from various cities of Russia,
Belarus, and Ukraine.
Participants in the ceremony are to lay wreaths at the memorial
to the firemen. The memorial represents a nuclear "mushroom"
shut off by a man's body, and three bells of sorrow dedicated to
the dead firemen from Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus. The memory
of those who died in radiological breakdowns and disasters will
be also honoured in the other cities of Russia.
People from all the 15 republics of the former Soviet Union took
part in the efforts to eliminate the aftermath of the Chernobyl
disaster. Nowadays, almost every third of them is disabled.
© ITAR-TASS. All rights reserved. You undertake not to copy,
*****************************************************************
26 ITAR-TASS: Chernobyl nuclear accident still tells on agricultural produce
26.04.2005, 13.56
KIEV, April 26 (Itar-Tass) - An increased content of
radionuclides is still registered in agricultural produce in
Ukraine’s Volyn, Zhitomir, Kiev, Rovno and Chernigov regions
that were affected by the Chernobyl nuclear accident that
happened on April 26,1986.
A Health Ministry spokesman told Itar-Tass on Tuesday that
radionuclide accumulation had been found out in the timber,
mushrooms, berries, medicinal plants and the meat of wild
animals.
The regular use of plants, berries or meat can increase the
level of cesium in the human body by 40 percent.
The environment radiation monitoring in Ukraine on the whole
suggests that radionuclide levels remain within a permissible
range, in particular in reservoirs of the Dnepr basin.
A total of 2,405,890 people, including 428,058 children,
remained under flollow-up in Ukraine’s medical centres at the
beginning of 2005.
In 2004, medical commissions defined 5,171 adults and 252
children as disabled by the Chernobyl nuclear accident.
The mortality rate of adults affected by radiation has decreased
from 19.42 in 2003 to 19.33 in 2004.
The mortality of children affected in 1986 has not changed and
is in the range of 0.62-0.68 per 1,000.
© ITAR-TASS. All rights reserved. You undertake not to copy,
*****************************************************************
27 NRC: NRC to Discuss 2004 Performance Assessment for South Texas Project Nuclear Plant
News Release - Region IV - 2005-01 U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY
COMMISSION
Office of Public Affairs, Region IV No. IV-05-015 April
26, 2005 CONTACT: Victor Dricks Phone: 817-860-8128 E-mail:
opa4@nrc.gov
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff will meet with
representatives of South Texas Project Nuclear Operating Co. on
May 3 to discuss the results of the agencys assessment of safety
performance at the South Texas Project nuclear plant during
2004. The plant is located near Bay City, Texas.
The meeting will be held at 6 p.m. at the Bay City Civic Center,
201 Seventh Street, Bay City. 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.
Each year the NRC staff evaluates the performance of each of the
nations commercial nuclear plants, said Region IV Administrator
Bruce S. Mallett. 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.
Overall, South Texas Project operated safely during 2004. The
plant will receive routine inspections during 2005.
Routine inspections are performed by the NRC Resident Inspectors
assigned to the plant and by inspection specialists from the
Region IV office in Arlington, Texas, and the agencys
headquarters in Rockville, Md.
A letter from the Region IV office to plant officials will serve
as the basis for the meeting. It is available on the NRC web
site at:
http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/LETTERS/stp_2004q4.pdf
[PDF Icon] .
Current information for South Texas Project Unit 1 is available
on the NRC web site at:
http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/STP1/stp1_chart.html.
Current information for Unit 2 is available at:
http://www.nrc.gov/NRR/OVERSIGHT/ASSESS/STP2/stp2_chart.html.
Last revised Tuesday, April 26, 2005
*****************************************************************
28 NRC: NRC Chairman Stresses Safety While Updating Senate on New Reactor Licensing Issues and
Challenges
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. 05-072 April 26, 2005
Nuclear Regulatory Commission, told a Senate committee Tuesday
the agency has a solid process in place to license new nuclear
power plants in the United States, but could face challenges in
assigning resources to handle a possible influx of license
applications.
Available components of the NRCs licensing structure for new
reactors design certification, early site permits and the
combined construction/operating license are providing a means
to enhance safety for nuclear power generation in the future,
Diaz told the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.
The agency expects industry demand for such activity to grow
more rapidly than previously planned. The NRC may be faced with
a significant increase in its workload for new reactor
licensing, including receipt of up to five combined license
applications in the next few years.
The NRCs regulations should provide a stable, efficient and
predictable framework for licensing and overseeing reactors,
Diaz added. The committees hearing concerned the Energy
Departments Nuclear Power 2010" initiative for new U.S. nuclear
power generation.
The NRCs Part 52 licensing process is designed to resolve safety
and environmental issues, including emergency preparedness and
siting issues, early in the process, for utilities that might
wish to pursue a new reactor license.
The NRCs reactor design certification process has already
approved three designs, is in the process of certifying a
fourth, and expects to start reviewing a fifth design this
summer. The agency could see several more design applications in
the near future. The NRC is also reviewing three early site
permit applications.
U.S. utilities have yet to submit applications under the agencys
combined construction/operating license process, which if
completed would allow a new reactor to be built. This process
allows applicants to seek, in a single application, a license
authorizing both construction and operation prior to
construction.
Last revised Tuesday, April 26, 2005
*****************************************************************
29 NRC: Application for License To Export Major Components for Nuclear
FR Doc 05-8266
[Federal Register: April 26, 2005 (Volume 70, Number 79)]
[Notices] [Page 21446-21447] From the Federal Register Online via
GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr26ap05-89]
Reactors Pursuant to 10 CFR 110.70(b)(1) ``Public notice of
receipt of an application,'' please take notice that the Nuclear
Regulatory Commission has received the following request for an
export license. Copies of the request are available
electronically through ADAMS and can be accessed through the
Public Electronic Reading Room (PERR) link
http://www.nrc.gov/NRC/ADAMS/index.html at the NRC home page. A
request for a hearing or petition for leave to intervene may be
filed within 30 days after publication of this notice in the
Federal Register. Any request for hearing or petition for leave
to intervene shall be served by the requestor or petitioner upon
the applicant, the Office of the General Counsel, U.S. Nuclear
Regulatory Commission, Washington DC 20555; the Secretary, U.S.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555; and the
Executive Secretary, U.S. Department of State, Washington, DC
20520.
In its review of an application for a license to export major
components of a utilization facility as defined in 10 CFR part
110 and noticed herein, the Commission does not evaluate the
health, safety or environmental effects in the recipient nation
of the facility to be exported. The information concerning the
application follows. NRC Export License Application for Major
Components for Nuclear Reactors
-----------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------- Name of applicant
Date of application Date received Description
End use Country of destination Application No.,
Docket No.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------- Curtiss-Wright
Electro- Five (5) complete Qinshan Phase 2,
People's Republic of China.
Mechanical Corporation. reactor coolant Units 1,
2, 3, March 18, 2005................ pumps, including
and 4 Nuclear motors, related Power Reactors.
equipment and spare parts as specified in 10 CFR Part 110
Appendix A item (4).
March 21, 2005................ Approximate Dollar
XR170......................... Value: Proprietary.
11005552......................
-----------------------------------------------------------------
-----------------------------------------------
[[Page 21447]] Dated this 12th day of April 2005 at Rockville,
Maryland.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Margaret M. Doane, Deputy Director, Office of International
Programs.
[FR Doc. 05-8266 Filed 4-25-05; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590-01-P
*****************************************************************
30 [NYTr] Still No WMD in Iraq, or in Syria Either
Date: Tue, 26 Apr 2005 17:05:36 -0500 (CDT)
Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit
[For at least the third time, a "final" report has been issued
by US expert investigators telling us what we already know -- Iraq
had no active WMD program. Now we're told that therfe's no Irfaqi WMD
in Syria, either. Big surprise.-NY Transfer]
Prensa Latina, Havana
http://www.plenglish.com
Panel Denies Presence of Iraqi WMD in Syria
Washington, Apr 26(Prensa Latina) Despite White House insistence for
months on the presence of Iraqi illegal arsenals in Syria, a US
committee ruled out this hypothesis, The Washington Post reports on
Tuesday.
A panel report quoted by the daily said there was no evidence that
the ousted Iraqi regime had transferred alleged weapons of mass
destruction before the invasion. Those weapons were never found, it
added.
"Based on available evidence, an official transfer of weapons of mass
destruction from Iraq to Syria is improbable," the text added.
After the Pentagon invasion of Iraq, the US government stepped up its
verbal attacks against Damascus, accusing it of supporting Iraqi
insurgency.
As part of its strategy, the US pressed to have Syria withdrawn from
Lebanon, where Damascus had thousands of soldiers in accordance with a
bilateral agreement.
mh/rma/rob/mf
***
US Arms Inspectors: There Were No Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq
Washington, Apr 26 (Prensa Latina) Two years after the US launched a
costly war against Iraq, Washington's arms inspectors say now there
were no weapons of mass destruction in Saddam Hussein's alleged arsenal.
In wrapping up his search, the CIA's top weapons hunter in Iraq,
Charles Duelfer, wrote in his final report that "as matters now stand,
the WMD investigation has gone as far as feasible..." and "debriefing of
the WMD-related detainees has been exhausted."
Besides finding none of the weapons the Bush Administration accused
Hussein of having -Washington's excuse for the war-, the head of the
Iraq Survey Group stressed they found no evidence that such weapons were
shipped from Iraq to Syria to conceal them from the US before the
invasion.
The investigation, at its peak, involved more than 1,000 weapons
specialists, military and civilian translators, and other experts.
According to an AP report, a government official said a small team
still operates under the U.S.-led multinational force in Iraq, although
the survey group officially disbanded earlier this month.
mh
*
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
=================================================================
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*****************************************************************
31 [southnews] 'Nothing': US WMD Inspector Finishes Iraq Work
Date: Tue, 26 Apr 2005 23:38:35 -0500 (CDT)
------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~-->
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often lacking in public schools. Fund a student project in NYC/NC today!
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--------------------------------------------------------------------~->
The claim that Saddam Hussein may have shipped an arsenal of weapons of
mass destruction to Syria just weeks before the American-led invasion
has been dismissed in a final CIA report that said the search had "been
exhausted" without result.
Weapons Inspector Ends WMD Search in Iraq
Tue Apr 26, 9:01 AM ET
By KATHERINE SHRADER, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON - Wrapping up his investigation into Saddam Hussein's
purported arsenal, the CIA's top weapons hunter in Iraq said his search
for weapons of mass destruction "has been exhausted" without finding any.
Nor did Charles Duelfer, head of the Iraq Survey Group, find any
evidence that such weapons were shipped officially from Iraq to Syria to
be hidden before the U.S. invasion, but he couldn't rule out some
unofficial transfer of limited WMD-related materials.
He closed his effort with words of caution about potential future
threats and careful assessment of this and other unanswered questions.
The Bush administration justified its 2003 invasion of Iraq as necessary
to eliminate Hussein's purported stockpile of WMD.
"As matters now stand, the WMD investigation has gone as far as
feasible," Duelfer wrote in an an addendum to the report he issued last
fall. "After more than 18 months, the WMD investigation and debriefing
of the WMD-related detainees has been exhausted."
In 92 pages posted online Monday evening, Duelfer provided a final look
at an investigation that, at its peak, occupied more than 1,000 military
and civilian translators, weapons specialists and other experts. His
latest addenda conclude a roughly 1,500-page report released last fall.
Among warnings sprinkled throughout the new documents, one concludes
that Saddam's programs created a pool of weapons experts, many of whom
will be seeking work. While most will probably turn to the "benign civil
sector," the danger remains that "hostile foreign governments,
terrorists or insurgents may seek Iraqi expertise."
"Because a single individual can advance certain WMD activities, it
remains an important concern," one addendum said.
Another addendum noted that military forces in Iraq may continue to find
small numbers of degraded chemical weapons most likely misplaced or
improperly destroyed before 1991. In an insurgent's hands, "the use of a
single even ineffectual chemical weapon would likely cause more terror
than deadlier conventional explosives," the addendum said.
And still another said the survey group found some potential
nuclear-related equipment was "missing from heavily damaged and looted
sites." Yet, because of deteriorating security in Iraq, the survey group
was unable to determine what happened to the equipment, which also had
alternate civilian uses.
"Some of it probably has been sold for its scrap value. Other pieces
might have been disassembled" and converted into motors or condensers,
an addendum said. "Still others could have been taken intact to preserve
their function."
Leaving the door to the investigation open just a crack, a U.S.
official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said a small team still
operates under the U.S.-led multinational force in Iraq, although the
survey group officially disbanded earlier this month. Those staying on
continue to examine documents and follow up any reports of weapons of
mass destruction.
In a statement accompanying the final installment, Duelfer said any
surprise discovery would be most likely in the biological weapons area
because facilities and other clues would be comparatively small.
Among unanswered questions, Duelfer said a group formed to investigate
whether WMD-related material was shipped out of Iraq before the invasion
wasn't able to reach firm conclusions because the security situation
halted its work. Investigators were focusing on transfers from Iraq to
Syria.
The questioning of Iraqis did not produce any information to support the
transfer possibility, one addendum said. The Iraq Survey Group believes
"it was unlikely that an official transfer of WMD material from Iraq to
Syria took place. However, ISG was unable to rule out unofficial
movement of limited WMD-related materials."
________________________________________
Blair branded a liar as poll rivals blaze away at Iraq invasion
Reuters April 26, 2005
The Prime Minister, Tony Blair, faces demands to hold an inquiry into
Britain's case for war in Iraq as his rivals in the general election
next week home in on his support for the US-led invasion.
The Liberal Democrat Party, which opposed the war, placed advertisements
in newspapers showing a smiling Mr Blair beside the US President, George
Bush, under the headline "Never again".
"Britain's international reputation has been damaged by the way Tony
Blair took us to war," the party's leader, Charles Kennedy, said
yesterday. "Tony Blair says history will be his judge. He is wrong. The
British people will be his judge."
Mr Kennedy was due to call later in the day for a public inquiry into
Britain's decision to go to war.
Iraq rose to the top of the election agenda at the weekend, with the
Conservatives accusing Mr Blair of lying over the 2003 war.
A Sunday newspaper reported that before the invasion the
Attorney-General gave six reasons why Mr Blair might breach
international law if he went to war without a second United Nations
resolution. The Attorney-General later ruled the invasion was legal,
leading opponents to claim he had been put under pressure.
The Foreign Secretary, Jack Straw, fell short of denying the report.
"I'm not confirming what is alleged to have been in a leaked document,"
he told the BBC. "I'm simply not confirming it."
The Tory leader, Michael Howard, said Mr Blair had overstated the
"sporadic and patchy" material gathered by Britain's intelligence
services on whether Iraq had banned weapons.
"He has told lies to win elections. On the one thing on which he has
taken a stand in the eight years he has been Prime Minister, which is
taking us to war, he didn't even tell the truth on that," Mr Howard told
the BBC.
Asked if he was calling Mr Blair a liar, he said: "Yes."
Mr Blair tried to refocus debate on the eight years of economic growth
Britain has enjoyed under his government, with a joint news conference
with the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown.
His case was bolstered by a letter to the Financial Times signed by 63
business leaders, praising Labour for delivering "unprecedented"
economic growth and stability.
The archives of South News can be found at
http://southmovement.alphalink.com.au/southnews/
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*****************************************************************
32 [toeslist] CIA's Final Report: No WMD Found in Iraq
Date: Tue, 26 Apr 2005 11:28:23 -0500 (CDT)
*CIA's Final Report: No WMD Found in Iraq*
The Associated Press
Tuesday 25 April 2005
/*Recommends freeing detainees held for weapons knowledge.*/
Washington - In his final word, the CIA's top weapons inspector in
Iraq said Monday that the hunt for weapons of mass destruction has "gone
as far as feasible" and has found nothing, closing an investigation into
the purported programs of Saddam Hussein that were used to justify the
2003 invasion.
"After more than 18 months, the WMD investigation and debriefing of
the WMD-related detainees has been exhausted," wrote Charles Duelfer,
head of the Iraq Survey Group, in an addendum to the final report he
issued last fall.
"As matters now stand, the WMD investigation has gone as far as
feasible."
In 92 pages posted online Monday evening, Duelfer provides a final
look at an investigation that occupied over 1,000 military and civilian
translators, weapons specialists and other experts at its peak. His
latest addenda conclude a roughly 1,500-page report released last fall.
On Monday, Duelfer said there is no purpose in keeping many of the
detainees who are in custody because of their knowledge on Iraq's
weapons, although he did not provide any details about the current
number. A U.S. official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the
ultimate decision on their release will be made by the Iraqi authorities.
Warnings about Saddam's experts The survey group also provided warnings.
The addenda conclude that Saddam's programs created a pool of
experts now available to develop and produce weapons and many will be
seeking work. While most will probably turn to the "benign civil
sector," the danger remains that "hostile foreign governments,
terrorists or insurgents may seek Iraqi expertise."
"Because a single individual can advance certain WMD activities, it
remains an important concern," one addendum said.
Another addendum also noted that military forces in Iraq may
continue to find small numbers of degraded chemical weapons - most
likely misplaced or improperly destroyed before the 1991 Gulf War. In an
insurgent's hands, "the use of a single even ineffectual chemical weapon
would likely cause more terror than deadlier conventional explosives,"
another addendum said.
And still another said the survey group found some potential
nuclear-related equipment was "missing from heavily damaged and looted
sites." Yet, because of the deteriorating security situation in Iraq,
the survey group was unable to determine what happened to the equipment,
which also had alternate civilian uses.
"Some of it probably has been sold for its scrap value. Other pieces
might have been disassembled" and converted into motors or condensers,
an addendum said. "Still others could have been taken intact to preserve
their function."
Small team still in place Leaving the door to the investigation open
just a crack, the U.S. official said a small team still operates under
the U.S.-led multinational force in Iraq, although the survey group
officially disbanded earlier this month. Those staying on continue to
examine documents and follow up on any reports of weapons of mass
destruction.
In a statement accompanying the final installment, Duelfer said a
surprise discovery would most likely be in the biological weapons area
because clues, such as the size of the facilities used to develop them,
would be comparatively small.
Among unanswered questions, Duelfer said a group formed to
investigate whether WMD-related material was shipped out of Iraq before
the invasion wasn't able to reach firm conclusions because the security
situation limited and later halted their work. Investigators were
focusing on transfers from Iraq to Syria.
No information gleaned from questioning Iraqis supported the
possibility, one addendum said. The Iraq Survey Group believes "it was
unlikely that an official transfer of WMD material from Iraq to Syria
took place. However, ISG was unable to rule out unofficial movement of
limited WMD-related materials."
*****************************************************************
33 Nuclear Gauge Missing in Chester County, Recovery of Device is
Date: Tue, 26 Apr 2005 17:39:55 -0700
Tuesday, April 26, 2005
DEP
Nuclear Gauge Missing in Chester County, Recovery of Device is Sought
HARRISBURG (April 26) -- A New Jersey company has notified the Nuclear
Regulatory Commission (NRC) that a portable moisture-density gauge
containing sealed sources of radioactive material has been lost in Chester
County.
Craig Testing based in New Jersey reported to the NRC today that one of its
employees acknowledged the loss of a Troxler Model 3430 nuclear gauge that
may have fallen off a work truck near SR 52 and US route 1 in Chester
County.
According to the company, a technician loaded the gauge into the truck near
the Chester County Prison about 3 p.m. today. He realized the gauge was
missing after driving for a short distance and noticed it was not in the
back of the truck. At that time he notified the Pennsylvania State Police
that the device was missing.
³We are asking anyone in the area that may have witnessed the device fall
from the vehicle or if they picked up the device to call the NRC Operations
Center immediately,² said Adrian R. King, Jr., director of the PA Emergency
Management Agency. ³As long as the device is not tampered with or damaged,
the gauge would present no hazard to the public.²
The gauge was in its transportation container. According to the company, the
container was secured to the vehicle, as required by NRC regulations. The
NRC will review the loss of the gauge and determine whether enforcement
action is warranted.
The device contains approximately 8 millicuries of Cesium-137 and 40
millicuries of Americium-241. The gauge makes its measurements by projecting
the radiation from the two radioactive sources into the ground and then
displaying the reflected radiation on a dial on its top. The device consists
of a shielding container with a plunger-type handle protruding from the top.
The handle is used to extend and then retract the radioactive sources from
the shielded position. When not in use, the handle is normally locked, with
the sources in the retracted, safely shielded position. The rectangular base
of the gauge is yellow.
Any attempt to tamper with the radioactive sources in the device could
subject the person to radiation exposure. Handling of the unshielded sources
outside their container would carry a risk of potentially dangerous
radiation exposure.
Anyone seeing the gauge should leave it alone and report its location to the
NRC¹s Operations Center at 301-816-5100 or the PA Emergency Management
Agency Operations Center number at 717-651-2001. Both centers are staffed 24
hours a day. In the event of an emergency please dial 911.
For more information about PEMA, please visit our Web site at
www.pema.state.pa.us.
News Briefs || News by Subject || Week in Review || DEP Home || PA Home
Copyright © 2004
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Department of Environmental Protection
DEP Press Office Contact: Susan Rickens, Editor
P.O. Box 2063, Harrisburg, PA 17105-2063
(717) 787-1323
All Rights Reserved
*****************************************************************
34 Internet Hankyoreh: [Editorial] North Must Come to 6-Party Talks
Updated : Apr.27.2005 01:21 KST [ border=]
The North Korean nuclear issue is approaching a climax. Doubts
about the six-party format are spreading fast within the US
administration with hard-liners there openly talking about taking
the issue to the UN Security Council, while North Korea is
confronting that talk straight-on, saying referring the issue to
the UNSC and sanctions against it will be considered an act of
war. The Korean government is caught between this muscle flexing
and is increasingly in a difficult position. Dark clouds are
gathering over the Korean peninsula as China's efforts to
persuade the North are not producing concrete results. Reports in
the US media that the North might soon engage in a nuclear test
and the talk about a so-called "June crisis" are the result of
the stubborn stances of the North and the US as they remain
engrossed with the muscle flexing and show no sign of
compromising.
US Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific
affairs Christopher Hill, the top US delegate to the six-party
talks, has met with deputy foreign minister Song Min Soon and
later also with President Roh Moo Hyun, foreign minister Ban Ki
Moon, and Lee Jong Seok, deputy head of the National Security
Council. Reportedly they discussed what to do if the six-party
talks fail to open because of the North's refusal to participate.
Korean government officials used to try to express hope about the
issue as much as possible. Hearing voices of concern is a
reflection on the situation.
The fact of the matter is that with Korea, China, and Russia
opposed to submitting the issue to the UNSC and sanctions, it
would be hard for that approach to be effective. But if things
escalate that way the nuclear situation will go from bad to worse
and it be hard to turn back. That is why we on the one hand cite
the problems with the US's policy of pressuring North Korea to
submit unilaterally while calling on the North to be more
flexible. "Brinkmanship tactics" sometimes produces the desired
effect but it must realize that over the long run it loses more
than it gains that way. We again call on it to participate in the
six-party talks, and ask the government to do all it can until
the very end.
The Hankyoreh, 27 April 2005.
Copyright 2005 Hankyoreh Plus inc.
*****************************************************************
35 Guardian Unlimited: Weapons Inspector Ends WMD Search in Iraq
From the Associated Press
[UP]
Tuesday April 26, 2005 1:31 PM
AP Photo BAG106
By KATHERINE SHRADER
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) - Wrapping up his investigation into Saddam
Hussein's purported arsenal, the CIA's top weapons hunter in
Iraq said his search for weapons of mass destruction ``has been
exhausted'' without finding any.
Nor did Charles Duelfer, head of the Iraq Survey Group, find any
evidence that such weapons were shipped officially from Iraq to
Syria to be hidden before the U.S. invasion, but he couldn't
rule out some unofficial transfer of limited WMD-related
materials.
He closed his effort with words of caution about potential
future threats and careful assessment of this and other
unanswered questions.
The Bush administration justified its 2003 invasion of Iraq as
necessary to eliminate Hussein's purported stockpile of WMD.
``As matters now stand, the WMD investigation has gone as far as
feasible,'' Duelfer wrote in an an addendum to the report he
issued last fall. ``After more than 18 months, the WMD
investigation and debriefing of the WMD-related detainees has
been exhausted.''
In 92 pages posted online Monday evening, Duelfer provided a
final look at an investigation that, at its peak, occupied more
than 1,000 military and civilian translators, weapons
specialists and other experts. His latest addenda conclude a
roughly 1,500-page report released last fall.
Among warnings sprinkled throughout the new documents, one
concludes that Saddam's programs created a pool of weapons
experts, many of whom will be seeking work. While most will
probably turn to the ``benign civil sector,'' the danger remains
that ``hostile foreign governments, terrorists or insurgents may
seek Iraqi expertise.''
``Because a single individual can advance certain WMD
activities, it remains an important concern,'' one addendum
said.
Another addendum noted that military forces in Iraq may continue
to find small numbers of degraded chemical weapons - most likely
misplaced or improperly destroyed before 1991. In an insurgent's
hands, ``the use of a single even ineffectual chemical weapon
would likely cause more terror than deadlier conventional
explosives,'' the addendum said.
And still another said the survey group found some potential
nuclear-related equipment was ``missing from heavily damaged and
looted sites.'' Yet, because of deteriorating security in Iraq,
the survey group was unable to determine what happened to the
equipment, which also had alternate civilian uses.
``Some of it probably has been sold for its scrap value. Other
pieces might have been disassembled'' and converted into motors
or condensers, an addendum said. ``Still others could have been
taken intact to preserve their function.''
Leaving the door to the investigation open just a crack, a U.S.
official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said a small team
still operates under the U.S.-led multinational force in Iraq,
although the survey group officially disbanded earlier this
month. Those staying on continue to examine documents and follow
up any reports of weapons of mass destruction.
In a statement accompanying the final installment, Duelfer said
any surprise discovery would be most likely in the biological
weapons area because facilities and other clues would be
comparatively small.
Among unanswered questions, Duelfer said a group formed to
investigate whether WMD-related material was shipped out of Iraq
before the invasion wasn't able to reach firm conclusions
because the security situation halted its work. Investigators
were focusing on transfers from Iraq to Syria.
The questioning of Iraqis did not produce any information to
support the transfer possibility, one addendum said. The Iraq
Survey Group believes ``it was unlikely that an official
transfer of WMD material from Iraq to Syria took place. However,
ISG was unable to rule out unofficial movement of limited
WMD-related materials.''
Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2005
*****************************************************************
36 Guardian Unlimited: Interrogators 'botched hunt for Iraq's WMD'
[UP]
US arrested innocent scientists, says CIA report
Julian Borger in Washington
Wednesday April 27, 2005
The Guardian
US military interrogators botched the questioning of Iraqi
scientists in the search for weapons of mass destruction and
their detention "serves no further purpose", a new CIA report has
found.
The report says that in many cases the wrong people were
detained, and subjected to questioning by "inexperienced and
uninformed" interrogators. It estimates that 105 scientists and
officials suspected of involvement in WMD programmes are still in
detention.
"Others may have reasons for not letting them go. I wanted to be
on the record that, in respect to the WMD inquiry, we're done,"
the report's author, Charles Duelfer, head of the Iraq Survey
Group (ISG), told the Guardian.
The report is an addendum to a more comprehensive document
published last September, which concluded that Iraq had abandoned
almost all of its WMD programmes over 10 years before the 2003
invasion.
The addendum finds no evidence to support a theory raised by the
vice-president, Dick Cheney, and still circulating in rightwing
circles, that Iraqi WMD were smuggled to Syria before the
invasion. Mr Duelfer adds that the deteriorating security
situation made it impossible for the ISG to carry out further
investigation.
The report suggests the threat to coalition forces from
explosives looted from unguarded sites after the invasion was
probably far greater. It also found that dual-use equipment,
which could be used to build chemical, biological and even
nuclear weapons, had gone missing.
The report reserves its most scathing remarks for the manner in
which military intelligence went looking for weapons immediately
after the war.
First, the US "black list" of scientists wanted for questioning
was full of holes. "Some very despicable individuals who should
have been listed were not, while many technocrats and even
opponents of the Saddam regime made the list and hence found
themselves either in jail or on the run." Mr Duelfer wrote,
adding that some of the former had been released in the first few
months after the war.
He found that military interrogation techniques, designed to
acquire quick tactical battlefield intelligence, were ill-suited
to gaining a broad understanding of complex weapons programmes.
"It was like trying to use a spanner for a hammer," Mr Duelfer
said. "This investigation was a cross between a homicide
investigation and a doctoral dissertation.
"Many detainees had as many as four different debriefers and were
debriefed dozens of times, often by new, inexperienced and
uninformed debriefers," the report says. Consequently, the
detained scientists could easily work out the answers their
interrogators wanted.
Standard military intelligence reports on interrogations were
also inadequate, Mr Duelfer found. They were often late, and were
narrowly focused, providing little context. He gives the example
of a report of favourable remarks one detainee made about
another, but omitted to mention the two were married.
A US military spokesman was contacted in Baghdad and asked for
comment on the ISG findings and its recommendation that many of
the detainees be released, but had not responded last night.
Iraqi scientists who had been involved in WMD research before the
first Gulf war constituted a small but real threat if they
cooperated with insurgents, terrorists or rogue states, the
report finds.
It says the ISG was "aware of only one scientist associated with
Iraq's pre-1991 WMD programme assisting terrorists or
insurgents". It gives no further details, but adds: "There are
multiple reports of Iraqis with general chemical or biological
expertise helping insurgents to produce chemical and biological
agents."
However, it concludes that Iraqi scientists would be of little
use to other states pursuing WMD programmes because their
expertise would have eroded over the long years of sanctions.
The ISG report finds that Saddam Hussein was frequently deceived
by impoverished academics seeking funds for far-fetched weapons
schemes, such as an air defence system using sound waves, and a
"centrifugal force gun", and officials pretending the Iraqi
arsenal was stronger than it was.
To add to the confusion, Saddam encouraged ambiguity about Iraqi
weapons, in the hope of keeping his most feared enemy, Iran, at
bay.
"Saddam told us he was most concerned about the Iranian threat,
with good cause," Mr Duelfer said yesterday.
Special reports Iraq The anti-war movement Iraq and the
media International aid and development Politics and Iraq
The issue explained 27.01.2005: Iraq's elections 27.01.2005: The
key parties
Chronology January 1 2005 - present Feb 1 2004 - 31 Dec 2004 July
16 1979 - Jan 31 2004
Interactive guides The siege of Falluja More click-through
graphics on Iraq
Key documents Full text of speeches and documents
Audio reports Audio reports on Iraq
Useful links Provisional authority: rebuilding Iraq
Iraqi-American chamber of commerce
[UP]
Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2005
*****************************************************************
37 Korea: Digital Chosunilbo: Kim Dae-jung Calls for More U.S. Flexibility
Updated Apr.26,2005 17:52 KST
Former president Kim Dae-jung on Monday said the U.S. has to
show more flexibility if it wants North Korea to give up its
nuclear program, including assuring the Stalinist country of
compensation. Kim, who is visiting the U.S. at the invitation of
the Asia Foundation, made the remarks during a lecture in San
Francisco.
In the lecture with the timely title, "Korea and its Strategic
Role in the Peace, Security and Prosperity of Northeast Asia",
Kim called for more quid pro quo, saying Pyongyang needs to give
up its nuclear arms and accept inspections, and Washington
should guarantee the North's security and relax economic
sanctions.
Koreans ¡°are greatly indebted to the U.S. for our national
security since the Korean War, and we are still full of
gratitude,¡± the former president said. ¡°Now, we hope the U.S.
firmly cooperates with us in maintaining peace on the Korean
Peninsula and makes a great contribution to bringing about
peacefully the unification we ardently desire."
The former president will speak at the University of San
Francisco on Tuesday and Stanford on Wednesday. He returns to
Korea on Saturday.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
*****************************************************************
38 Korea: Digital Chosunilbo: North Korea: a Yawning Gap in Perceptions
Home> Editorials/Columns Updated Apr.26,2005 22:11 KST
On Monday U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill,
while visiting Seoul on the first leg of his three-country tour
of Korea, China and Japan, met with senior Korean government
officials. On that day Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon said, "If
North Korea goes through with a nuclear test, it will start
along a road where the future cannot be guaranteed."
The New York Times reported the U.S. government was considering
a UN resolution empowering nations to intercept shipments in or
out of a particular country that may contain nuclear materials
or components -- a measure clearly aimed at North Korea, the
daily added. "If the U.S. wants to drag the nuclear issue before
the UN Security Council, let it go ahead," a North Korean
Foreign Ministry spokesman responded. "We'll consider (U.S.)
sanction a declaration of war."
Since all this was happening on a single day, we have to
conclude that the North Korean nuclear dispute is entering a
very serious stage. How different from when President Roh
Moo-hyun declared only a fortnight ago, "North Korea is ready to
abandon its nuclear development program. This problem will be
resolved so long as the U.S. or North Korea don¡¯t entertain
other schemes or tell a lie."
That the foreign minister has come out expressing concern about
a possible nuclear test is extraordinary, given that his
government¡¯s official position is that any nuclear devices
Pyongyang may have are primitive and the country is nowhere near
a stage where it can conduct a test. But that has changed
abruptly with Hill's visit here. Nonetheless, pressure on the
North is undesirable: that has been the clear message from the
president and his people, who pride themselves on their
dexterous management of the Korea-U.S. alliance. Despite that,
Washington takes it as a fait accompli that it will refer the
matter to the UN Security Council, and is even mulling what in
effect would be a blockade of North Korea.
There is, then, too great a gap between the government¡¯s
easy-going attitude and the tense reality. No wonder the public
feels confused. To what extent, it asks, has North Korea
developed nuclear devices? Is there any possibility the North
will return to the six-party talks? If it does not, how does the
international community including the U.S. plan to pressure it?
Will South Korea take part in these efforts, or will it shield
the North and take sides with China?
The fate of the nation and its people is staked on the issue.
The government therefore has the duty to give the public a
realistic picture, even if it is unable to reveal specific
details. Blithe optimism, which is bound to turn out
unwarranted, only fosters distrust.
*****************************************************************
39 BBC: US closes book on Iraq WMD hunt
Last Updated: Tuesday, 26 April, 2005
[Charles Duelfer]
Duelfer said Saddam Hussein had created a pool of weapons experts
The US chief weapons inspector, Charles Duelfer, has said
inquiries into weapons of mass destruction in Iraq have "gone as
far as feasible".
Mr Duelfer also said an official transfer of WMDs to Syria ahead
of the Iraq war was not likely.
The CIA adviser reported last year that neither expected
stockpiles of chemical or biological weapons, nor evidence of
recent production had been found.
However, he did say Saddam Hussein had wanted to restart WMD
programmes.
Terror risk
"After more than 18 months, the WMD investigation and debriefing
of the WMD-related detainees has been exhausted," Mr Duelfer,
head of the Iraq Survey Group (ISG), wrote in a 92-page addendum
to the report issued in October.
IRAQ SURVEY GROUP
Set up in May 2003 Firs leader, David Kay, quit in Jan 2004
stating WMD would not be found in Iraq New head, Charles Duelfer
appointed by CIA 1,200 experts from the US, Britain and Australia
HQ in Washington, offices in Baghdad and Qatar
However, Mr Duelfer warned that Iraq's original weapons
programme had created a pool of experts whose skills could be
sought by other countries or terrorist groups, and that while
this risk was presently very small, it should not be ignored.
"The use of a single even an ineffectual chemical weapon would
likely cause more terror than deadlier conventional explosives,"
the supplementary report warned.
Mr Duelfer said that while the ISG believed that it was unlikely
that WMD material had been officially moved to Syria in the run
up to the war, it was "unable to rule out unofficial movement of
limited WMD-related materials".
The US and Britain used allegations that Iraq possessed WMDs as
the primary justification for invading Iraq in 2003.
*****************************************************************
40 Independent: US prepares for nuclear stand-off with Pyongyang
www.independent.co.uk
By David Usborne in New York
26 April 2005
The United States may soon seek a UN Security Council resolution
to impose a virtual international quarantine on North Korea to
pressure its regime to abandon its nuclear weapons ambitions.
Frustration with North Korea's refusal to return to six-nation
talks and growing alarm at signs that the country may be
preparing to conduct an underground test is giving momentum to
hawkish members of the US administration who want the issue
taken to the council as soon as possible.
There was a bellicose reaction last night from North Korea. A
Foreign Ministry spokesman said: "If the United States wants so
much to drag the nuclear issue to the UN Security Council, it
may do so. But we want to make clear we will regard sanctions as
a declaration of war."
The New York Times says Washington is considering a resolution
to permit foreign countries to intercept shipments of goods to
North Korea that may include nuclear materials. This could
entail boarding ships in international waters and the forcing
down of aircraft bound for the country.
A resolution could, in theory, also help efforts by China to
police movements of goods across its border with North Korea,
considered a sieve for drugs, arms and counterfeit currency. But
it is unclear whether China, a permanent member of the council,
would support such a move.
China and South Korea have been anxious to avoid provoking a
potentially dangerous confrontation with Pyongyang and have
continued to emphasise re-starting the six-country talks that
also involve Russia and the US. The talks have been stalled
since June.
It was not clear last night how close the US administration may
be to circulating a first draft of such a resolution at the UN.
Diplomats in New York said there was no sign of such a text and
nor had the idea been broached by US officials at UN
headquarters with any other nations.
But tensions are rising in the region. Recent intelligence,
mostly gleaned from satellite images, shows North Korea has
closed its only nuclear generating plant, intimating its
scientists may mean to remove materials useful in the making of
nuclear arms. There have also been indications of new activity
at a suspected nuclear weapons site, causing intelligence
officials to speculate that an underground test may not be far
away.
In February, the communist regime flatly asserted that it
possessed nuclear weapons and said it would not attend a planned
fourth round of the six-nation talks.
The South Korean government issued a warning of its own to
Pyongyang yesterday. In language that was uncharacteristically
terse, Foreign Minister Ban Ki Moon said that if "North Korea
takes such reckless actions as conducting a nuclear test, it
will further deepen its isolation and take itself on a road
where its future will not be guaranteed".
If the US were to seek a UN resolution it would be likely at the
same time to continue efforts to breathe new life into the
six-party talks. The senior US envoy to the talks, Assistant
Secretary of State Christopher Hill, is in the region now and
held talks with counterparts in Seoul yesterday.
"What we are focusing on is the diplomatic track and the need to
get the talks going, and more importantly, once they get going,
to achieve progress in the talks," he said, and it was "not
acceptable" for North Korea to refuse talks.
The sea, land and air quarantine being considered would be
unlike a similar fence drawn around Cuba by the former American
president John F Kennedy 43 years ago.
©2005 Independent News &Media (UK) Ltd.
*****************************************************************
41 AFP: US envoy on NKorea holds talks in Beijing
Tuesday April 26, 10:35 AM
BEIJING (AFX) - US envoy Christopher Hill is in China for talks
on getting North Korea to resume six-party talks amid reports
Pyongyang is planning a nuclear test.
The assistant secretary of state for East Asia and the Pacific
was expected to discuss ways to restart stalled multilateral
talks on North Korea's nuclear weapons ambitions, a US embassy
spokeswoman said.
Hill came straight from talks in Seoul and heads to Japan
tomorrow before returning to South Korea for more discussions,
US officials said.
Chinese officials said Hill would meet with three vice foreign
ministers, including Dai Bingguo, Wu Dawei and former Chinese
ambassador to the United States Yang Jiechi.
Three rounds of the talks that include North Korea, the US,
China, Russia, Japan and South Korea have been held but the
process stalled last June.
Copyright © 2005 AFP AFX. All rights reserved. Republication or
*****************************************************************
42 csmonitor.com: New gaps in controlling the spread of nuclear arms
from the April 27, 2005 edition
IN SEOUL:
South Koreans rushed into the street during a biochemical and
radiological terror exercise last week. LEE JIN-MAN/AP
New gaps in controlling the spread of nuclear arms
Moves in N. Korea and developing countries coincide with global
review of a nuclear treaty.
By Howard LaFranchi | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor
WASHINGTON While in Pakistan to help break ground for a
nuclear reactor, China's premier talks about enhancing bilateral
nuclear cooperation by selling the country two more nuclear
power plants.
The United States, as part of a stepped-up energy dialogue with
India, suggests it could eventually sell India nuclear reactors
- in part to keep it from going into the natural gas pipeline
business with Iran.
And North Korea shuts down its nuclear reactor, which could mean
it is planning to ramp up nuclear arms production - or just
using routine maintenance to scare others about its nuclear
ambitions.
All these events, spread over the past month, occur in a global
context of "erosion of the nonproliferation regime [that] could
become irreversible," a high-level United Nations panel recently
concluded.
With the world community set to take up a five-year review of
the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) next week, experts point both
to advances and to worrying signs to bolster a preponderant view
that more must be done if a dangerous wave of proliferation is
to be stopped.
"Right now there's a mixed picture," says Leonard Spector of the
Monterey Institute's Center for Nonproliferation Studies.
He puts North Korea, which last year withdrew from the treaty
and boasted of nuclear weapons, and Iran, an NPT signatory
suspected of pursuing weapons development, as two black marks on
the nonproliferation ledger. But he counts Libya's renunciation
of its nuclear program, a recent UN resolution binding members
to strict laws on nuclear-materials exports, and other added
international safeguards as positive signs.
"Fundamentally the international community is rallying to the
cause," Mr. Spector says, "so I'd imagine that if anything, [the
treaty, after the May review] will be a little stronger."
Yet for others, the picture is darker - for reasons stretching
beyond North Korea and Iran and ranging from developing
countries' drive for cheaper, abundant, and nonpetroleum energy
sources, to US moves to build replacement nuclear weapons.
"There's a lot of bad news," says Daryl Kimball, executive
director of the Arms Control Association in Washington. His
organization and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
earlier this month issued a statement, signed by prominent
former officials and nuclear-weapons experts, warning that the
world is on the "threshold" of a new round of proliferation that
next month's NPT review must address.
The review will be buffeted by events in Iran and North Korea.
Iran is expressing growing impatience in its talks with three
European countries over its uranium-enrichment program. And by
the time the review begins May 2, North Korea's intentions may
be clearer. North Korean officials have said their intent is to
obtain plutonium to fuel nuclear bombs, but whether that is mere
rhetoric to focus world attention is unclear.
Existing global stockpiles of highly enriched uranium and
plutonium - the fissile materials that fuel nuclear bombs -
probably constitute the biggest threat to nonproliferation,
experts say. And that is one reason the developing world's
heightened interest in nuclear power is so worrisome, they add:
In a decade or so, more reactors could result in a larger - and
potentially less controllable - stockpile of raw materials.
That is why some find China's talk of supplying Pakistan with
more nuclear reactors so alarming - especially given Pakistan's
history as a supplier of the world's clandestine nuclear bazaar.
In recent Senate testimony, Robert Joseph, the administration's
nominee for undersecretary of state for arms control and
international security, said that the China-Pakistan nuclear
cooperation under way is under international safeguards. He
downplayed the likelihood of China pursuing additional projects
with Pakistan.
But at the same time, another State Department official
acknowledges that discussions between the two countries about
additional nuclear reactors are "worrisome."
Others are still more categoric.
"This is a big concern," says Henry Sokolski, executive director
of the Nonproliferation Policy Education Center. He points to
Pakistan's refusal to sign on to an additional protocol to the
NPT that calls for countries receiving new facilities to accept
international safeguards, and cites Pakistan's history in
supplying parts to international nuclear markets.
But the US has weakened its ability to object because of its own
participation in the nuclear reactor marketplace, he says.
Pointing to a $5 billion deal for the Westinghouse Electric Co.
to supply China with nuclear power plants, and to recent
discussion by US officials of selling reactors to India, Mr.
Sokolski says, "Either President Bush wasn't serious when he
said [in 2004] that the additional protocol should be the
condition for these sales, or we need to rethink what we are
proposing to sell to China and to India."
Developing nations' insistence that they have a right to obtain
nuclear technology as a source of energy is one issue the NPT
review must confront. But some say that just as contentious is
the US drive to build a new arsenal of replacement nuclear
warheads.
"One of the key issues of the conference will be how the nuclear
states are doing at fulfilling their own nuclear disarmament
commitments," says the Arms Control Association's Mr. Kimball.
The administration wants to go ahead with feasibility studies
that could result in a new generation of replacement warheads
within a decade. But that runs contrary to disarmament
commitments the US made at NPT reviews in 1995 and 2000, Kimball
says. "For the US to ask others to take on additional
commitments while disregarding its own commitments to the NPT is
a recipe for division," he says. "You're basically assuring a
lack of progress towards the very goals the US says it
supports."
www.csmonitor.com | Copyright © 2005 The Christian Science
Monitor. All rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
43 [NukeNet] PA Food Irradiator Closes: No Market
Date: Tue, 26 Apr 2005 14:32:45 -0700
NukeNet Anti-Nuclear Network (nukenet@energyjustice.net)
VICTORY!!
A meat irradiator in southeastern Pennsylvania opened a couple of years ago
and just announced that they're closing the irradiator part of their
operation due to the lack of a market for irradiated meat.
See the article below.
The group that organized the grassroots opposition to this facility can be
found here: http://nocobalt.org
[NOTE: this isn't the same group mentioned in the article, which is run by
a couple who bitterly divided the community and took a compromise position,
enabling the project to go through in the first place.]
Mike Ewall
Energy Justice Network
215-743-4884
catalyst@actionpa.org
http://www.energyjustice.net
====================================
http://www.mcall.com/news/local/all-a1_2cfcapr26,0,3947069.story
From The Morning Call -- April 26, 2005
CFC Logistics closes cobalt irradiator in Bucks County
It's 'poetic justice' for foes. The market was weak, company says.
By Steve Wartenberg
Of The Morning Call
While they may have lost the battle, several legal battles in fact, the
opponents of the controversial cobalt 60 irradiator in Milford Township
have finally won their anti-nuclear war.
''We have made a decision to shut down the irradiator,'' said Jim Wood,
president of CFC Logistics, which has operated the nuclear irradiator at
its 250,000-square-foot AM Drive cold storage warehouse since October 2003.
On Monday, Wood said the company ceased irradiating products last week.
''The market for irradiating meat never materialized and the cold storage
business has exploded and is a much more profitable business for us to be
in,'' he said, adding the elimination of the irradiator would increase cold
storage capacity by about 10 percent.
''For those who opposed it, this is poetic justice,'' Milford Supervisor
Robert Mansfield said.
Wood declined to say how much CFC Logistics, a division of the
Hatfield-based Clemens Family Corp., spent on the irradiator. However,
during a September 2003 hearing in Bucks County Court, Wood testified the
company had spent about $1.5 million to buy and install the irradiator and
purchase the initial batch of cobalt 60 rods.
''I am so thrilled,'' said Kim Haymans-Geisler, a member of Concerned
Citizens of Milford, a grass-roots group formed to fight the irradiator.
''We've worked so long and so hard and so many people have cared about this
issue for so long.''
Since word began to spread in February 2003 that CFC Logistics sought a
license from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission to build an irradiator,
local residents, and later Milford Township officials, fought the facility,
initiating — and losing — a string of license challenges and lawsuits.
They lost each one, the last on Jan. 11 when Judge Michael Farrar of the
Atomic Safety and Licensing Board issued an order officially ending the
agency's hearing, which reviewed the license the NRC granted CFC Logistics
on Aug. 27, 2003.
''This is wonderful news,'' said Brenda McCardle, a former board member of
Concerned Citizens. ''We felt like we couldn't win against big business,
but we were kind of hoping the demand [for irradiated products] wouldn't be
out there.''
According to Martin Stein, chief executive officer of GrayStar, the New
Jersey company that built the Milford irradiator, the facility currently
contains more than 900,000 curies of cobalt ''pencils,'' metallic rods that
resemble thick car antennas.
The facility is licensed for 1million curies.
The pencils — which emit a bluish glow — are at the bottom of a 20-foot,
water-filled well. A computer-operated hoist system lowered casks filled
with food or nonfood products into the well, where they were then irradiated.
During its operations, CFC Logistics irradiated nonfood products such as
medical supplies, botanicals and spices.
''They called last week and said they were shutting down and wanted us to
know,'' Stein said, adding that an improved irradiator has been developed
that sells for $1.6 million.
''That doesn't count the cobalt, which could double the cost,'' he said.
Neil Sheehan, an NRC spokesman, said CFC Logistics has had informal talks
with the NRC, ''but they haven't formally submitted anything'' about
decommissioning the irradiator.
Sheehan said the NRC has a lengthy set of requirements, and the first step
is the removal of the rods. This will be done by Revis, the British company
that sold and delivered the rods to CFC Logistics.
''Then they would have to come to us with a decommissioning plan,'' Sheehan
said. ''If we approve it, they would dismantle the irradiator and we would
conduct final surveys to make sure there is no residual radioactivity. Then
there is an independent survey, then the termination of their license.''
Stein said the well will be filled with concrete.
There were no hazardous incidents at the Milford facility during its 19
months of operation, according to Sheehan, and Stein and Wood said it
worked perfectly.
In 2003, the U.S. Department of Agriculture approved the use of irradiated
meat in school lunch programs, claiming it would protect children from
food-borne illnesses such as E. coli and salmonella.
However, a large market for irradiated meat has not developed, because of
the increased cost and the fears irradiated meat could be harmful. No
schools in the Lehigh Valley currently use irradiated meat.
Although Concerned Citizens lost their many legal battles with CFC
Logistics, Haymans-Geisler believes the work of her group, and others
opposed to irradiators and the consumption of irradiated food, has helped
their cause and prevented the growth of the market for irradiated beef.
''We did put a cloud over their business,'' she said.
Throughout the past two years, Wood has maintained CFC Logistics followed
NRC regulations, the irradiator was not a threat to local residents, and
irradiated products are not harmful. The court victories and safe operation
of the irradiator, he often stated, helped prove his point.
''You can always look at things in hindsight,'' he said. ''But at the time
we thought we made the best decision we could. If you're not willing to
take a risk you shouldn't be in business, and now we're making a good
decision to stop and not drag this out for another two years.''
steve.wartenberg@mcall.com
215-529-2607
_______________________________________________________________________
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44 [du-list] Marshall Islands
Date: Tue, 26 Apr 2005 14:35:23 -0700
The following article was taken from the yokwe.com website for our
information; please see:
Nuclear : NUCLEAR FALLOUT: New NCI Study Estimates 500 More Cancer Cases
from Testing |
500 More Cancer Cases for Marshallese Exposed during US Nuclear-Weapons
Testing, States Report
A National Cancer Institute (NCI) study, requested by the US Senate,
estimates that the nuclear testing program in the Republic of the Marshall
Islands (RMI) will cause about 500 additional cancer cases among Marshallese
exposed during the years 1946-1958.
This will be about a 9% increase over the number of cancers expected in the
absence of exposure to regional fallout. More than 85% of those
radiation-related cases would likely occur among those exposed in 1954 on
the atolls of Rongelap, Ailinginae, Ailuk, Mejit, Likiep, Wotho, Wotje, and
possibly Ujelang. Doses to the thyroid, colon and stomach of persons on
Rongelap, Alinginae, and (to a lesser extent) Utrik at the time of the BRAVO
test in 1954 were extremely high. Based on this analysis, a high proportion
of cancers of those organs that develop among members of those population
groups are likely to be radiation-related. About 40% of the thyroid cancers
and more than one-half of cancers to the other organs (at all atolls) are
yet to develop or to be diagnosed. According to the September 2004 report,
most of the radiation excess is projected to occur in the coming years.
The study was requested by US Senators Domenici and Bingaman on behalf of
the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. The Committee is to hold
hearings on the Marshall Islands Changed Circumstances Petition in the next
few months.
There were 67 nuclear weapons tests, in seven series, carried out by the
United States at Bikini and Enewetak Atolls in the Marshall Islands during
this period. The total explosive yield of the tests was approximately 100 Mt
(equivalent to 100 million tons of TNT).
According to the RMI's Changed Circumstances Petition submitted first in
2000, new information about the effects of the nuclear tests and cites
awards of the claims tribunal created under U.S. and RMI law. Much of the
nuclear testing data was not released under mid-1990's, after the original
compact agreement for full and final compensation was signed.
The Bush Administration has already released its own evaluation of the
Marshall's request for additional compensation for health issues resulting
from the Cold War Testing.
In its review released in January 2005, the Administration said,"There is no
"changed circumstance" on which an additional funding request can
legitimately be made under Article IX of the Section 177 Settlement
Agreement."
The US Congress, during hearings for the reauthorization of the Compact of
Free Association between the Marshall Islands and US, had promised the
Marshall Islands to review its petition following the conclusion of Compact
negotiations and the US Executive Branch's evaluation of the Petition.
The Committee asked the NCI to describe the scientific consensus regarding
the maximum limit of the latency period for the radiogenic illnesses.
The report states that radiation-related leukemia risk increases shortly
after exposure, reaching its peak within 5-10 years, and then declines
gradually thereafter. In contrast, risks of most radiation-related solid
cancers (including thyroid, stomach, and colon estimated for this
evaluation) increase gradually and continue to rise as the background cancer
rate increases with age, and may remain elevated throughout life.
Using 1958 census statistics from the RMI to estimate a population size of
13,940 at the time of the 1954 BRAVO test, the total number of cancers
expected to occur in the absence of fallout exposure (i.e., the baseline
number) during the lifetimes of those exposed to the tests will be about
5600.
About one-half of those baseline cancers are yet to develop, reflecting the
predominantly young age distribution (35 percent under 10) of the population
at the time of exposure.
Compiled by Aenet Rowa, Yokwe Online, April 17, 2005
DOWNLOAD ENTIRE REPORT - Estimation of the Baseline Number of Cancers Among
Marshallese and the Number of Cancers Attributable to Exposure to Fallout
from Nuclear Weapons Testing Conducted in the Marshall Islands - PDF format
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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45 [southnews] A Global Pact Against Depleted Uranium
Date: Tue, 26 Apr 2005 23:38:09 -0500 (CDT)
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During September of 2004 Francis Boyle launched an international
campaign to conclude a global pact against depleted uranium (DU)
munitions by having every state in the world officially and publicly
take the position that the Geneva Protocol of 1925 already includes
within itself a flat-out prohibition on the use of DU in wartime, which
they have no yet done. So far the United States is the only government
in the world that uses DU munitions during wartime..
A Global Pact Against Depleted Uranium
From Francis Boyle, www.rense.com
April 24, 2005
During September of 2004 I launched an international campaign to
conclude a global pact against depleted uranium (DU) munitions by having
every state in the world officially and publicly take the position that
the Geneva Protocol of 1925 already includes within itself a flat-out
prohibition on the use of DU in wartime, which they have no yet done. So
far the United States is the only government in the world that uses DU
munitions during wartime. In addition to prohibiting "the use of
bacteriological methods of warfare," the 1925 Geneva Protocol also
prohibits "the use in war of asphyxiating, poisonous or other gases, and
of all analogous liquids, materials, or devices." Clearly DU is
"analogous" to poison gas.[i] But we need every government in the world
to legally and openly take that position. Then the entire world can
pressure the United States to remove DU munitions from its arsenal.
Politically, the easiest way to accomplish that objective is not the
conclusion of a new international treaty prohibiting the use of DU, but
rather simply having every state in the world submit an interpretative
Letter to that effect to the Government of France, which is the official
depositary for the 1925 Geneva Protocol. This latter approach would also
avoid the need to have the respective national legislatures of every
state in the world to approve a new anti-DU treaty and thus complicate
and prolong the process. All that needs to be done is for anti-DU
citizens, activists and NGOs in each country of the world to pressure
and convince their respective Foreign Ministers to sign, date, and then
file this model Letter with the French Foreign Minister as indicated
below. That task is eminently feasible.
As the Land Mines Treaty has already demonstrated, it is possible for a
coalition of determined activists and NGOs, acting in concert with at
least one sympathetic state, such as Canada, to actually bring into
being an international treaty to address humanitarian concerns. This
template Letter is for the use of concerned citizens, activists and NGOs
worldwide, to pursue through universal governmental participation the
complete and final elimination of DU munitions from the face of the earth:
His Excellency Michel Barnier
Foreign Minister
French Republic
37, Quai d'Orsay
75351 Paris
FRANCE
FAX: 33-1-43-17-4275
Dear Excellency:
The Republic of X presents its compliments to the French Republic. I
have the honor to draw to your attention the Protocol for the
Prohibition of the Use in War of Asphyxiating, Poisonous or Other Gases,
and of Bacteriological Methods of Warfare of 17 June 1925, for which the
Government of the French Republic serves as the depositary. The Geneva
Protocol of 1925 prohibits the use in war of asphyxiating, poisonous or
other gases, and of all analogous liquids, materials or devices, as well
as the use of bacteriological methods of warfare. The government of X
believes that the Geneva Protocol of 1925 already prohibits the use in
war of depleted uranium, uranium ammunition, uranium armor-plate and all
other uranium weapons. We respectfully request your Excellency to
circulate this communication to the other High Contracting Parties to
the Geneva Protocol of 1925.
Please accept, Excellency, the assurance of our highest consideration.
Foreign Minister
Republic of X
Day, Month, Year
---------------------------
[i] International Action Center, Metal of Dishonor:
Depleted Uranium (2d ed. 1999).
Francis A. Boyle
Law Building
504 E. Pennsylvania Ave.
Champaign, IL 61820 USA
217-333-7954 (voice)
217-244-1478 (fax)
email: fboyle@law.uiuc.edu
(personal comments only)
:: The incoming address of this article is :
www.rense.com/general64/ddi.htm
The archives of South News can be found at
http://southmovement.alphalink.com.au/southnews/
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46 Pennsylvania Hosts 2005 National Radiological Emergency
Date: Tue, 26 Apr 2005 14:31:45 -0700
Monday, April 25, 2005
DEP Daily Update ... PA Department of Environmental Protection Newsletter
Pennsylvania Hosts 2005 National Radiological Emergency Preparedness
Conference in Harrisburg
HARRISBURG (April 18) -- The 15th annual National Radiological Emergency
Preparedness Conference, hosted by the PA Emergency Management Agency (PEMA)
attracted more than 350 professionals and vendors to Harrisburg for an
intensive four-day examination of radiological emergency preparedness,
especially involving nuclear power generating plants.
³This conference showcased Pennsylvania¹s national leadership role in
radiological emergency preparedness as well as providing an excellent
opportunity for dialogue among individuals who are professionally involved
in off-site radiological emergency preparedness programs,² said Adrian R.
King, Jr., director of the PA Emergency Management Agency.
Experts from emergency management, radiological health, nuclear utilities
and other organizations involved with radiological emergency preparedness or
response had more than a dozen workshops from which to choose, covering such
topics as Emergency Preparedness Communications, National Incident
Management System and the Department of Energy Modular Emergency Response
Radiological Transportation Training.
Department of Environmental Protection, Bureau of Radiation Protection Chief
Marty Vyenielo has been named as the FEMA Region III representative to the
Annual Conference Planning Committee. Mr. Vyenielo replaces PEMA Planning
Supervisor Eldon Beachley who served on the committee for six years.
For more information about PEMA, visit www.pema.state.pa.us.
*****************************************************************
47 [du-list] Appendix A of NRC 10 CFR 2.206 Petition of 3 April
Date: Tue, 26 Apr 2005 14:32:13 -0700
Below is an appendix to my NRC 2.206 petition on the issues involved
with depleted uranium munitions. It corrects a few serious problems.
It is written in the style of a legal brief, and may be much easier
to fully understand than the earlier version of the petition. Also,
it asks for the maximum fines allowed by law, and for the NRC to
establish findings which might enable civil and criminal proceedings.
It is almost 90 kilobytes. I have appended it to my copy of the
initial petition at: http://www.bovik.org/du/du-petition.html
Sincerely,
James Salsman
Appendix A of NRC 10 CFR 2.206 Petition of 3 April 2005, as Amended
26 April 2005
(1.0.) Introduction
This Appendix is part of a presentation intended for the Nuclear
Regulatory Commission Petition Review Board concerning the petition to
which it is appended, and as a guide to the NRC staff investigating
allegation number RI-2005-A-0035, which is incorporated within the
petition.
(1.1.) Terms
The following terms are used in this Appendix:
"AEA" and "Atomic Energy Act" are both used to mean Title 42, Chapter
23 of the United States Code, sections 2011, et seq.
"Board" is used to mean the Petition Review Board of the Nuclear
Regulatory Commission, coordinated by the NRC Office of Nuclear Material
Safety and Safeguards, with decision-making authority concerning this
petition.
"CFR" is used to mean the Code of Federal Regulations.
"Commission" and "NRC" are both used to mean the United States Nuclear
Regulatory Commission.
"Gross negligence" is used to mean willful and reckless negligence,
including a willful and reckless disregard for due care of health
or safety.
"Hexavalent uranium" is used to mean uranium trioxide (UO3; also known
as uranyl oxide) in monomolecular (monomer) gas, solid particulate fume,
or in other condensed or solid form, uranyl nitrate in gaseous vapor,
mist, liquid, or other condensed or solid form, free uranyl ion, or
any other form or compound of the uranium(VI) ion.
"Uranium munitions licensees" is used to mean the Department of the Army,
other branches of the U.S. Department of Defense, Department of Homeland
Security, intelligence agencies, all as applicable, and all persons and
organizations, jointly and separately, who hold or have held, or include
with in their organization other individuals or organizations who hold
or have held any NRC license for the use, storage, transportation,
or possession of pyrophoric uranium munitions.
"Uranium munitions licenses" is used to mean the NRC licenses for the
possession, storage, transport, or use of pyrophoric uranium munitions
held by uranium munitions licensees.
"USC" is used to mean the United States Code.
(1.2.) Purpose
This Appendix is intended as part of a presentation to the NRC Office
of Nuclear Materials Safety and Safeguards, the Petition Review Board
assigned to this petition, and the uranium munitions licensees. It is
intended to support, clarify, correct, and extend petitioner's 10 CFR
2.206 petition of 3 April 2005, concerning gross negligence on the part
of uranium munitions licensees, requested corrections in the form of
immediate orders and license modifications imposing requirements with
provisions intended to enforce them.
This Appendix is also meant to serve as a guide to Commission staff
investigating allegation number RI-2005-A-0035, which is incorporated
within the petition.
(1.3.) Scope
This petition requests immediate action to correct the alleged misconduct
on the part of uranium munitions licensees, for the protection of
the heath and safety of people, including United States citizens and
personnel, and the environment. This petition alleges gross negligence
and other serious misconduct including fraud, willful wrongdoing,
and a serious breach of the public trust, on the part of uranium
munitions licensees and their officers, employees, contractors, and
agents. This petition requests specific and identical modifications to
all NRC licenses for the use, storage, transportation, or possession
of pyrophoric uranium munitions, intended to correct uranium munitions
licensees' misconduct. This petition requests that all the provisions
modifying said licenses be constructed with strict enforcement provisions,
imposing substantial fines to fullest extent allowed by law, and immediate
license suspensions or revocations if the uranium munitions licensees
do not conform to the requirements of the corrective modifications
to their licenses within short lengths of time. This petition also
requests the suspension of uranium munitions licenses as modified
until licensees become compliant with the provisions of the modified
licenses. Furthermore, this petition requests immediate and sustained
remediation and mitigation of conditions resulting from warfare and
peacetime activities. Finally, this petition requests optionally any
other corrective action as the Commission may deem proper.
(1.4.) Authorities
The Atomic Energy Act gives the Commission the power and discretion
to impose any terms and conditions as necessary to protect public
health and safety and the environment, upon any Commission licensee,
in accordance with 43 USC 2233. The AEA also gives the Commission the
authority and full discretion to modify license terms and conditions upon
any petitioner's request, in accordance with 43 USC 2237, 10 CFR 2.206,
and 10 CFR 2.202.
The AEA also gives the Commission the authority and full discretion to
revoke or suspend any license due to any false statement that would
warrant the Commission to refuse to grant a license on an original
application, or due to any violation of, or failure to observe the
provisions of, the AEA, including the mandatory protection of public
health and safety and the environment, in accordance with 43 USC
2336(a). Moreover, the courts have held that section of the AEA providing
that the Commission has the power to revoke any type of license it has
issued when there is a violation or a failure to observe any of the terms
or provision of the AEA, invests the Commission with a continuing "police"
power over the activity of its licensees (Cities of Statesville, et
al. v. Atomic Energy Commission (1969) 441 F.2d 962, 974.) The courts have
also held that the Commission's stringent interpretation that knowledge
of falsity is not necessary for liability for making material false
statements, that materiality should be judged by whether a reasonable
staff member should consider the information in question in doing his
job, and that "material false statement" may appropriately be read to
insure that the Commission has access to true and full information,
was consistent with the legislative history and with the Commission's
statutory mandate to insure that the utilization of nuclear material
will provide adequate protection to the health and safety of the public
(Virginia Electric and Power Co. v. U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission
(1978) 571 F.2d 1289, 1291.)
The AEA also gives the Commission the authority and full discretion
to impose civil penalties against any "person" who violates any
licensing rule or order of the Commission, including fines of up to
$100,000 per violation or $100,000 per day for continuing violations,
in accordance with 43 USC 2282(a). Moreover, the AEA defines the term
"person" to include any public institution, every Government agency
other than the Commission, and any of their representatives or agents,
at 43 USC 2014(s). The AEA also gives the Commission the authority and
full discretion to require any licensee of byproduct material such as
depleted uranium, including any Federal agency, to undertake monitoring,
maintenance, and emergency measures as are necessary to protect public
health and safety and such other actions as the Commission deems necessary
to comply with standards to protect public health and safety and the
environment from radiological and non-radiological hazards associated
with byproduct material, in accordance with 43 USC 2113(b)(5). The AEA
also gives the Commission the authority and full discretion to apply for
injunction of violations or potential violations, including violations
of Commission orders, license modifications, and license suspensions or
revocations, in accordance with 43 USC 2280.
As of 1995, only one Federal Government NRC licensee had chosen to
contest a civil penalty imposed by the Commission. During 1989, in
a case involving a spill of americium-241, the Air Force appealed the
Commission's imposition a $102,500 fine to the Department of Justice. The
Air Force claimed that the authorization of civil penalties against
Federal Government NRC licensees by the AEA was unconstitutional. The
Department of Justice resolved the dispute in an unpublished memorandum,
and the Air Force paid the full fine.
Uranium munitions licensees have, in the past, attempted to claim
exemptions from regulation requiring remediation or mitigation of
contamination and injuries resulting from wartime activities. There is
no such exemption afforded by law or regulation. Even if exemptions
from regulation requiring remediation of contamination and injuries
resulting from wartime activities are afforded by law, regulation,
or the discretion of the Commission, all of the misconduct alleged in
this petition took place in part during peacetime and in part within the
United States ad U.S. territory within the jurisdiction of the Commission,
where environmental remediation is still necessary. Moreover, United
States Federal Government agencies are liable for the medical treatment
of many if not most of the uranium inhalation poisoning victims resulting
from uranium munitions licensees' negligence, gross negligence, willful
misconduct, and other wrongdoing.
(1.5.) Construction of Petitioner's Intent
This Appendix is intended by petitioner to be given priority over the
remainder of the petition without superseding it. In that, if the
Commission finds any discrepancy between the remainder of the petition
and this Appendix, then the provisions of this Appendix should be
construed as petitioner's actual intent. If, however, the Commission
finds any assertion, request, or other construction in the remainder of
the petition, which is not found, contradicted, specified, or otherwise
included in this Appendix, then that portion of the remainder of the
petition should be construed as petitioner's actual intent.
(1.6.) Severability
If any provision of this petition is found to be invalid or otherwise
insufficiently supported by fact, regulation, or law, then the remainder
of the petition without the invalid or insufficiently supported provision
or provisions should be construed as petitioner's actual intent, as if
the petitioner had not included the invalid or insufficiently supported
provision or provisions, and in light of any context that the invalid
or insufficiently supported provision or provisions provide.
(1.7.) Disclaimer
Petitioner is not an attorney and this petition is not legal advice. If
the Commission or licensees require legal advice concerning this petition,
then they should consult an attorney in coordination with an expert
or experts having sufficient knowledge of the scientific and technical
topics involved in this petition.
(1.8.) Historical Note
In recognition of the provisions of 22 USC 2778a, petitioner's
single-paragraph petition amendment of 22 April 2005, concerning the de
facto battlefield export of depleted uranium, was withdrawn on 24 April
2005, and is replaced with this Appendix.
(2.0.) Evidence
Petitioner requests that the Commission find and take formal notice of the
following evidence drawn from the peer-reviewed and expository scientific
and medical literature, news event reporting, and other sources, and
determine independently its accuracy, relevance, and resulting authority
over the matters of this petition:
(2.1.) Aerial Combustion of Metallic Uranium Produces Hexavalent Uranium,
Including About 20% of the Initial Uranium as Monomeric Uranium Trioxide
The <gt;>gt; 8th edition,
including
its English translation, the "Gmelin Handbook of Inorganic Chemistry,"
in its various sub-volumes of volume U (<gt;>gt;/"Uranium"), including
those pertaining to the general chemistry of uranium and the specific
chemistry of the uranium-oxygen system, provides several phase diagrams
suggesting that about one-fifth of metallic uranium oxidized in air
or molecular oxygen gas becomes hexavalent uranium trioxide (UO3),
also known as uranyl oxide, or uranium(VI) trioxide. The different
phase diagrams provided in the Gmelin handbooks and other authoritative
actinide chemistry reference books suggest substantially different
amounts of the original metallic uranium becomes UO3 when burned in air,
but petitioner's best recollection is that they all were within a range
from 10% to 30%. Petitioner is of the firm opinion that the extent of
production of uranium trioxide and other forms of hexavalent uranium,
if any, from aerial uranium ignition, must be determined empirically,
for reasons which will become apparent in this Appendix.
R.J. Ackermann, R.J. Thorn, C. Alexander, and M. Tetenbaum, in "Free
Energies of Formation of Gaseous Uranium, Molybdenum, and Tungsten
Trioxides," Journal of Physical Chemistry, vol. 64 (1960) pp. 350-5
state within their abstract, "gaseous monomeric uranium trioxide is
the principal species produced by the reaction of U3O8 with oxygen."
They indicate that this occurs at about 1000 degrees Celsius and above,
below the temperatures reported elsewhere for pyrophoric uranium ordnance
fires. By "monomeric," the authors clearly mean "monomolecular," and
indicate that almost all such UO3 produced is in the gaseous state and
comprised of single molecules. Alexander was shown as affiliated with
Battelle Memorial Institute in Columbus, OH, while Ackermann and Thorn
were with Argonne National Laboratory in Lemont, IL.
The 1960 Ackermann et al. study is still considered authoritative, in
that the following recent peer-reviewed scientific publications cite
it as an authority: K. Nakajima and Y. Arai, in "Mass-spectrometric
investigation of UO{sub 3}(g)," J. Nucl. Mater., vol. 294, no. 3 (2001)
pp. 250-255, which has been cited by other scientific publications at
least once. D.W. Green, "Relationship between spectroscopic data and
thermodynamic functions; application to uranium, plutonium, and thorium
oxide vapor species," J. Nucl. Mater., vol. 88, no. 1 (1980) pp. 51-63,
which has been cited by other scientific publications at least six
times. R.J. Ackermann and A.T. Chang, "Thermodynamic Characterization of
U3O8-Z Phase," J. Chem. Thermodyn., vol. 5, no. 6 (1973) pp. 873-890,
which has been cited by other scientific publications at least thirty
times. Four earlier peer-reviewed publications which cite the Ackermann
et al. (1960) paper, which together have been cited at least 98 times,
are provided with their full bibliographies on the internet at:
http://www.bovik.org/du/2bibs.html
Simon Cotton, in his scholarly expository monograph entitled "Lanthanides
and Actinides," (New York: Oxford University Press, 1991) on page 127
writes, "Aerial oxidation of any uranium compound eventually results in
the formation of a uranyl compound."
B. Salbu, et al., in "Oxidation states of uranium in depleted uranium
particles from Kuwait," Journal of Environmental Radioactivity, vol. 78,
no. 2 (October 2004) pp. 125-135, found spectrographic evidence of
hexavalent uranium ions and UO3 particles in an enclosed pyrophoric
uranium munitions burn.
Petitioner believes but has not direct evidence that trace quantities of
hexavalent uranyl nitrate will form from rapidly cooled uranium combustion
products, especially in the presence of nitrogen-based explosive or
propellant combustion and limited ventilation, for example inside a
gun tube. For reference, according to the U.K. Ministry of Defense,
the raw material in depleted uranium munitions is about 99% uranium-238.
The U.K. Ministry of Defense also discusses the production of UO3 (citing
"Health and Environmental Consequences of Depleted Uranium Use in the US
Army," Technical Report, US Army Environmental Policy Institute, 1995)
and gun barrel contamination at:
http://www.mod.uk/issues/depleted_uranium/du_research/health_source.htm
(2.2.) Licensee Uranium Munitions Tests Have Never Detected Hexavalent
Uranium, Including Uranium Trioxide (UO3)
Petitioner has been unable to find any documentation from U.S. sources
directly confirming the detection of UO3 or any other form of hexavalent
uranium.
According to the earliest report describing the composition of
pyrophoric uranium munitions combustion products obtained by petitioner,
R.L. Gilchrist, J.A. Glissmyer, and J. Mishima, "Characterization of
Airborne Uranium from Test Firings of XM774 Ammunition," PNL-2944,
Richland, WA: Battelle Pacific Northwest Laboratory, November 1979. In
its summary (page ix), the resulting products were roughly estimated
as "2.4 kg of airborne DU" per firing of each 105-mm, APFSDS-T XM774
tank penetrator round. The combustion products were described thusly,
"About 75% of the airborne DU was U3O8, and 25% was UO2." Please note
that this proportion is consistent with the expected metallic aerial
uranium combustion products of 20% UO2, 60% U3O8, and 20% UO3, except
that the uranium trioxide is missing.
The same proportion is repeated in subsequent publications, according
to their unclassified summaries at:
http://www.gulflink.osd.mil/du_ii/du_ii_tabl1.htm
and:
http://www.gulflink.osd.mil/du_ii/du_ii_tabl2.htm
No mention of "uranium trioxide" or "UO3" is made on either of those
summary compilation pages.
The summary for M.A. Parkhurst, J.R. Johnson, J. Mishima, and J.L. Pierce,
"Evaluation of DU Aerosol Data: Its Adequacy for Inhalation Modeling,"
PNL-10903, Richland, WA: Battelle Pacific Northwest Laboratory,
December 1995, states: "this study evaluated existing research data on
the characteristics of DU aerosols generated under various conditions,
focusing on chemical composition, particle size, and solubility in lung
fluid. The report summarizes more than 20 of Battelle's own studies and
20 more studies conducted by other researchers. Although the researchers
cited several areas as needing further research (e.g., resuspension
and particle size distribution), the researchers deemed the data's
overall quality adequate to conservatively estimate dispersion and
health effects." No mention is made of the missing expected uranium
trioxide. From February, 2005, through April, petitioner has been
corresponding through a series of about a dozen email messages with the
authors Drs. Mishima, Parkhurst, and Johnson. During that time none has
ever claimed that any of their studies has ever detected the UO3 oxide
species or any other form of hexavalent uranium.
The "Gmelin Handbook," vol. U-C1 (1977), page 98, states that the taking
up of oxygen by U3O8, "is not infrequently ignored."
(2.3.) Licensee Uranium Munitions Tests Have Never Been Able To Detect
Monomolecular Uranium Trioxide Gas, and Licensees Have Never Attempted
to Detect It
The reason that the uranium munitions licensees have never been able to
detect UO3 is that it is almost entirely monomolecular (i.e., monomeric:
Ackermann et al., 1960) but they have only been using particulate samplers
(using HEPA-type filters) and cascade impactors (dust separators.) No
consideration has apparently ever been made by uranium munitions licensees
of the existence of UO3 particles less than 0.003 microns in size.
Indeed, in J.A. Glissmeyer, J. Mishima, and J.A. Bamberger, "Prototype
Firing Range Air Cleaming System," 18th DoE Nuclear Airborne Waste
Management and Air Cleaning Conference Proceedings, August, 1984,
pp. 846-872, on page 855 describes what they believed at the time to be,
"the distribution with the largest fractions of small particles," listing
the smallest two categories as (1) particles less than 0.18 microns in
size, 31% by mass, and (2) particles from 0.18 to 0.56 microns in size,
14% by weight.
Clearly the uranium munitions licensees were never able to detect,
and have never been able to detect monomolecular UO3.
According to the CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics, Section F,
"Characteristics of Particles and Particle Dispersoids," (from
C.E. Lapple, Stanford Research Institute Journal, vol.5 (1961) page
95) the terminal gravitational settling velocity of particles less
than 10 Angstroms in diameter such as monomeric UO3 (monomolecular
uranium trioxide particle) in air at 25 degrees C. is less than 0.02
microns/second, while the diffusion coefficient for such molecules
is between 0.2 and 0.05 cm^2/second, implying that few such particles
would have ever reached collectors placed at the base of fires, from
which updrafts from the heat of combustion would have removed them, and
most would have escaped any form of filtration collection. In contrast,
a particle of 0.2 microns in diameter, which would be typical for the UO2
and U3O8 oxide fumes, settles much faster, at about 4 microns/second,
and diffuses much more slowly, at about 2x10^-6 cm^2/second (== 200
microns^2/second.) These dispersion characteristics seem to provide
an adequate basis for the unexpectedly large exposure rates and the
corresponding symptoms seen in exposed populations.
Other reports in the peer-reviewed scientific literature have also
ignored the existence of monomolecular UO3 gas, e.g., . Mitsakou, et al.,
"Modeling the Dispersion of Depleted Uranium Aerosol," Health Physics,
vol. 84, no. 4 (2003) pp. 538-544, and R.E.J. Mitchel and S. Sunder,
"Depleted Uranium Dust from Fired Munitions: Physical, Chemical and
Biological Properties," Health Physics, vol. 87, no. 1 (2004), pp. 57-67;
both indicate they measured no combustion products smaller than 0.5
microns, and neither consider any form of hexavalent uranium at all.
(2.4.) Hexavalent Uranium, Including Uranium Trioxide, Poses a Substantial
Non-Radiological Hazard to Public Health, Safety, and the Environment
U.K. Materials Safety Data Sheets list all hexavalent compounds of
uranium, including uranium trioxide, as "very toxic by inhalation," "very
toxic by ingestion," and "with cumulative effects." That is the greatest
category of toxicity (U.S. M.S.D.S. have fewer toxicity categories.)
The abstract of P.E. Morrow, et al., "Inhalation Studies of Uranium
Trioxide," Health Physics, vol. 23 (1972), pp. 273-280, states:
"inhalation studies with uranium trioxide (UO3) indicated that the
material was more similar to soluble uranyl salts than to the so-called
insoluble oxides ... UO3 is rapidly removed from the lungs, with most
following a 4.7 day biological half time." This indicates that uranium
trioxide is is as non-radiologically toxic as the most hazardous uranium
compounds.
"Normal functioning of the kidney, brain, liver, and heart can be
affected by DU exposure" (E.S. Craft, et al., "Depleted and natural
uranium: chemistry and toxicological effects," Journal of Toxicology
and Environmental Health Part B, Critical Reviews, vol. 7, no. 4 (2004)
pp. 297-317.)
The non-radiological heavy metal toxicity of uranium is a million times
worse than its radioactivity, with regard to certain aspects of biological
poisoning, including genetic damage. The abstract of A.C. Miller,
et al., of the U.S. Armed Forces Radiobiology Research Institute,
"Depleted uranium-catalyzed oxidative DNA damage: absence of significant
alpha particle decay," Journal of Inorganic Biochemistry, vol. 91, no. 1
(2002) pp. 246-252, states: "Depleted uranium ... is both neoplastically
transforming and genotoxic.... DU can generate oxidative DNA damage and
can also catalyze reactions that induce hydroxyl radicals.... chemical
generation of hydroxyl radicals was calculated to exceed the radiolytic
generation by one million-fold."
"There is strong evidence of DU accumulation in tissues including
testes, bone, kidneys, and brain." (T.C. Pellmar, et al., "Distribution
of uranium in rats implanted with depleted uranium pellets," Toxicol
Sci, vol. 49 (1999) pp. 29-39.) "Degenerative changes in the testes
resulting in aspermia in the testes and epididymis ... apparently a
result of uranyl nitrate" (E.A. Maynard, et al., "Oral toxicity of
uranium compounds," in Voegtlin and Hodge, editors, Pharmacology
and Toxicology of Uranium, vol. 3 (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1953)
pp. 1221-1369.) "Uranium exposure causes morphologic changes in the
rat testes.... Titers of testicular autoantibodies were described
as fairly high for rats with chronic exposure to uranium.... Four
other references are cited ... as evidence of an interaction between
uranium and the testes or thyroid" (A.F. Malenchenko, et al., "Effect
of uranium on the induction and course of experimental autoimmune
orchitis and hyroiditis," J. Hyg. Epidemiol. Microbiol. Immunol.,
vol. 22 (1978) pp. 268-277.) "The number of female mice impregnated
successfully was significantly reduced at all levels of uranium exposure"
(Q. Hu and S. Zhu, "Induction of chromosomal aberrations in male mouse
germ cells by uranyl fluoride containing enriched uranium," Mutation
Research, vol. 244 (1990) pp. 209-214.) "Existing data indicate that
implanted DU translocates to the rodent testes and ovary, the placenta,
and fetus.... DU has been shown to be genotoxic...." (Benson, K.A.,
"Evaluation of the health risks of embedded depleted uranium (DU) shrapnel
on pregnancy and offspring development," Annual Report No. 19981118065.)
H. Schröder, et al., "Chromosome aberration analysis in peripheral
lymphocytes of Gulf war and Balkans war veterans," Radiation Protection
Dosimetry, vol. 103 (2003) pp. 211-220, indicates more than a 500%
increase in chromosome damage among veterans who have served in wars
where pyrophoric uranium munitions were used.
"Overall, the risk of any malformation among pregnancies reported by
men was 50% higher in Gulf War Veterans (GWV) compared with Non-GWVs"
(P. Doyle, et al., "Miscarriage, stillbirth and congenital malformation
in the offspring of UK veterans of the first Gulf war," International
Journal of Epidemiology, vol. 33, no. 1 (2004) pp. 74-86.) "Infants
conceived postwar to male GWVs had significantly higher prevalence
of tricuspid valve insufficicieny (relative risk [RR], 2.7....) and
aortic valve stenosis (RR, 6.0...) compared to infants conceived
postwar to nondeployed veteran males. Among infants of male GWVs,
aortic valve stenosis (RR, 163....) and renal agenesis or hypoplasia
(RR, 16.3...) were significantly higher among infants conceived postwar
than prewar" (M.R. Araneta, et al., "Prevalence of birth defects among
infants of Gulf War veterans in Arkansas, Arizona, California, Georgia,
Hawaii, and Iowa, 1989-1993," Birth Defects Research, Part A, Clinical
and Molecular Teratology, vol. 67, no. 4 (2003) pp. 246-260)
"DU is a toxin that crosses the blood-brain barrier, producing behavioral
changes in male rats and lipid oxidation regardless of gender in as little
as 2 weeks in the rat." (W. Briner and J. Murray, "Effects of short-term
and long-term depleted uranium exposure on open-field behavior and brain
lipid oxidation in rats," Neurotoxicology and Teratololgy, vol. 27,
no. 1 (2005) pp. 135-144.
The catalytic production of free radicals by uranium attacks protein
in addition to DNA. (H. Huang, et al., "Uranyl-peptide interactions
in carbonate solution with DAHK and derivatives," Inorganic Chemistry,
vol. 44, no. 4 (2005) pp. 813-815.)
Uranium is known to accumulate in groundwater, streams, the food chain,
and the ecosystem (S.C. Shepard, et al., "Derivation of ecotoxicity
thresholds for uranium," Journal of Environmental Radioactivity, vol. 79,
no. 1 (2005) pp. 55-83.)
Environmental uranium contamination is difficult to mitigate or remediate
(B.P. Jackson, et al., "Application of Flow Field Flow Fractionation-ICPMS
for the Study of Uranium Binding in Bacterial Cell Suspensions,"
Analytical Chemistry, vol. 77 (2005) pp. 1393-1397.)
(2.5.) Chelator Sequestration Therapy Is The Only Known Form of
Therapeutic Medical Treatment for Uranium Poisoning Victims
After an extensive literature search of the available medical means
of treating uranium poisoning, the only pertinent therapies of which
petitioner was able to learn involved chelator sequestration. Chelator
sequestration is not always safe, and it is only effective if started soon
after heavy metal exposure and if sustained for a considerable length
of time. Petitioner has collected a number of peer-reviewed scientific
and medical publications concerning chelator sequestration therapy,
and temporarily placed them, for critical and educational "fair use"
purposes, in the directory located on the internet at:
http://www.bovik.org/du
(2.6.) Antioxidant Production Stimulation Therapy Is New
Preparations intended to stimulate the production of a chordate's cellular
antioxidant substances, intended for therapeutic defense against free
radical compounds including the hydroxyl ion, have recently been (over the
past two years) announced by at least two manufacturers. "Protandim,"
a botanical product from Lifeline Therapeutics, Inc., of Denver,
includes extracts of milk thistle (silybum marianum) seed, ashwagandha
(withania somnifera) root, bacopa monnieri aerial part, and turmeric
(curcuma longa) rhizome (www.protandim.com.) "CMX-1152," and related
peptides of the ependymin protein, are available from CereMedix, Inc.,
of Boston (www.ceremedix.com.)
(2.7.) Incorporation by Reference of Uranium Munitions Licensees'
Officer's Claim Concerning An Asserted Scientific Consensus Pertaining
to Environmental Remediation
In a letter of 27 January 2005 to Ms. Sandy Silver, a representative
of an international open membership organization, licensee General
Richard B. Myers, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, enclosed an
Information Paper intended for the recipient's entire organization with
this statement: "scientific consensus is that remediation of sites
where DU munitions were used is generally unnecessary." The letter and
information paper were transcribed and are available on the internet here:
http://radlab.nl/pipermail/radsafe/2005-April/001280.html
(3.0.) Requested Findings of Fact
Petitioner requests that the Commission find the following factual
conclusions based on the evidence cited above:
(3.1.) Hexavalent Uranium Is a Product of Aerial Uranium Combustion
Petitioner requests that the Commission find the fact that hexavalent
forms of uranium, including monomolecular uranium trioxide gas, are
produced when uranium metal is burned in air, and that the fact is
supported by multiple publications from the peer-reviewed scientific
literature cited above, and that those publications are considered
accurate and authoritative by recent peer-reviewed scientific
publications, and that the fact is not contradicted by any known
publications.
(3.2.) Uranium Munitions Licensees Knew, or Should Have Known, that
Hexavalent Uranium Is a Product of Aerial Uranium Combustion
Petitioner requests that the Commission find the fact that uranium
munitions licensees knew, or beyond any reasonable doubt should have
known, that hexavalent uranium, including monomolecular uranium trioxide
gas, is produced by the combustion of metallic uranium in air. In
determining the accuracy of this fact, petitioner requests that the
Commission consider the number of researchers who contributed to safety
studies of pyrophoric uranium munitions, their education, credentials,
training, and responsibilities, the dates that the safety studies were
performed, the dates that the underlying fact was published, the number
of publications available to the researchers which cited the underlying
fact, the number of science indexes available at the time which would
have assisted in learning the underlying fact, the access that the
researchers had by telephone and written communication to experts in
the field, and related factors.
(3.3.) Uranium Munitions Licensees Never Attempted to Detect or Were
Able to Detect Hexavalent Uranium in Safety Studies of Pyrophoric
Uranium Munitions
Petitioner requests that the Commission find the fact that uranium
munitions licensees to date have never attempted to detect, and were
never able to detect hexavalent uranium in the safety studies they
have performed concerning pyrophoric uranium munitions. Petitioner
notes that sworn testimony and/or subpoena of obscure documents may be
necessary to fully determine the accuracy of this fact. In any case,
petitioner requests that the Commission consider the relatively slow
terminal gravitational settling velocity, and the relatively rapid
diffusion coefficient, of monomeric UO3 particles, implying that few
such particles would ever reach collectors placed at the base of fires,
from which updrafts from the heat of combustion would have removed them,
and most would escaped any form of filtration collection.
(3.4.) Hexavalent Uranium Is Hazardous
Petitioner requests that the Commission find the fact that hexavalent
forms of uranium including uranium trioxide gas, present a serious hazard
to health, safety, and the environment, and that those hazards include
poisoning by ingestion and inhalation, contamination of groundwater,
contamination of the food chain, and contamination of the ecosystem,
and that the fact is supported by multiple publications from the
peer-reviewed scientific literature cited above, and that those
publications are considered accurate and authoritative by recent
peer-reviewed scientific publications, and that the fact is not
contradicted by any known publications.
(3.5.) Uranium Munitions Licensees Knew, or Should Have Known, that
Hexavalent Uranium Is Hazardous
Petitioner requests that the Commission find the fact that uranium
munitions licensees knew, or beyond any reasonable doubt should
have known, that hexavalent uranium, including uranium trioxide,
presents a substantial danger to the health and safety of humans and
the environment. In determining the accuracy of this fact, petitioner
requests that the Commission consider the number of researchers who
contributed to safety studies of pyrophoric uranium munitions, their
education, credentials, training, and responsibilities, the dates that
the safety studies were performed, the dates that the underlying fact
was published, the number of publications available to the researchers
which cited the underlying fact, the number of science indexes available
at the time which would have assisted in learning the underlying fact,
the access that the researchers had by telephone and written communication
to experts in the field, and related factors.
(3.6.) The Extent of the Risk Posed from Hexavalent Uranium from
Pyrophoric Uranium Munitions Is Presently Unknown
Petitioner requests that the Commission find the fact that the extent of
the risk posed from hexavalent uranium, including uranium trioxide gas,
from pyrophoric uranium munitions is presently unknown, because there
have been no known studies of aerial uranium combustion to date which
have considered the safety of any of its hexavalent uranium products.
(3.7.) Because Uranium Munitions Licensees Have Not Considered Effects
of Hexavalent Uranium, The Extent and Methods of Remediation Necessary
to Mitigate the Environmental Toxicity Resulting from Use of Pyrophoric
Uranium Munitions Is Presently Unknown
Petitioner requests that the Commission find the fact that the
extent required for remediation and the best methods for mitigating
environmental hexavalent uranium contamination from pyrophoric uranium
ordnance combustion products are at present unknown because there have
been no studies by uranium munitions licensees or anyone else considering
such methods or the extent of remediation required.
(3.8.) Uranium Munitions Licensees Have Asserted a Scientific Consensus
Exists That Remediation of Sites Where Pyrophoric Uranium Munitions Were
Used Is Generally Unnecessary
Petitioner requests that the Commission find the fact that Joint
Chiefs of Staff Chair General Richard Myers is an executive officer of,
and therefore a representative of, most if not all uranium munitions
licensees, and on 27 January 2005 asserted, "scientific consensus is
that remediation of sites where DU munitions were used is generally
unnecessary," and therefore uranium munitions licensees have asserted
that a scientific consensus exists that remediation of sites where
pyrophoric uranium munitions were used is generally unnecessary.
(3.9.) Known Safe and Effective Therapies for Uranium Poisoning Presently
Exclude Antioxidant Production Stimulation Therapy
Petitioner requests that the Commission find the fact that medical
therapies as described in the peer-reviewed and expository medical
literature as safe and effective for uranium poisoning (e.g., chelator
sequestration therapy) do not at present include treatment to stimulate
an organism's cellular production of antioxidant substances.
(4.0.) Rules and Inferences from Definitions
Petitioner requests that the Commission notice and agree to the following
rules and inferences based on promulgated regulations, statutes, and
definitions drawn from regulatory, legal, and reference authorities:
(4.1.) NRC Severity Level I Violations Include Those Which Cause Immediate
Risk or Danger to Safety or Health, or Release to the Environment
Substantial Amounts of Toxic Materials Regulated by the Commission
According to the Commission's Enforcement Manual and Inspection Manual,
severity level I violations include those which cause immediate risk
to safety, or immediate danger to safety, or immediate risk to health,
or immediate danger to health, or release to the environment substantial
amounts of materials regulated by the commission which pose a radiological
or non-radiological hazard.
(4.2.) Failing to Detect a Hazardous Substance in a Safety Study,
Resulting in Multiple NRC Severity Level I Violations, Constitutes
Negligence
Ballentine's Law Dictionary, citing Fort Smith Gas Co. v. Cloud, 75 F2d
413, defines "negligence" as the violation of a duty to use care. Because
care is required to study safety accurately, a lack of care in a safety
study resulting in the failure to detect a hazardous substance, which
in turn results in multiple severity level I violations, constitutes
negligence.
(4.3.) Failing to Attempt to Detect a Substance Known, or Which Should
Have Been Known, to be Hazardous, in a Safety Study when the Hazardous
Substance is Known, or Should Have Been Known, to be a Product of the
Subject of Study, Constitutes Willful Negligence
Ballentine's Law Dictionary, citing Spies v. United States, 317 US
492, defines "willful" as voluntary instead of accidental. Therefore,
voluntarily omitting any attempt to detect a substance known, or which
should have been known, to be both hazardous and a product of the subject
of a safety study, constitutes willful negligence.
(4.4.) Failing to Detect a Substance Known, or Which Should Have Been
Known, to be Hazardous in a Safety Study when the Hazardous Substance
is Known, or Should Have Been Known, to be a Product of the Subject of
Study, Resulting in Multiple NRC Severity Level I Violations, Constitutes
Reckless Negligence
Ballentine's Law Dictionary, citing State v. Custer, 129 Kan 381, defines
"reckless" as a disregard for consequences under circumstances involving
danger to life or safety of others. A failure to detect a substance known,
or which should have been known, to be both hazardous and a product of
the subject of a safety study causes that substance and its danger to
be disregarded.
(4.5.) Safety Studies Failing to Attempt to Detect Hazardous Products
of the Subject of Study Are Invalid
Ballentine's Law Dictionary, citing State ex rel. MacKenzie v. Casteel,
110 Ind 174, defines "invalid" as having no efficacy. Because a safety
study failing to attempt to detect, and thus failing to detect,
a hazardous product of the subject of study is not effective for
evaluating the actual safety of the subject of study, such studies are
therefore invalid.
(4.6.) Statements Based in Whole or in Part on Invalid Studies Are Invalid
As a basic matter of logical reasoning, any representation of, or
inferences drawn from, an ineffective assertion of any kind is in turn
ineffective and thus invalid. Therefore, statements based in whole or
in part on invalid studies are in turn invalid.
(4.7.) Licensees' Liabilities Can Not Be Determined Without Valid Studies
of the Safety of Hazardous Regulated Material to Which People Have Been
Exposed, or Which Has Been Released to the Environment
Ballentine's Law Dictionary, citing Feil v. Coeur D'Alene, 23 Idaho
32, defines "liability" as a legal responsibility to discharge some
obligation. Because the extent of the responsibility to provide
potential legal obligations including government claims for medical
treatment of victims exposed to hazardous regulated material due to
licensee misconduct, and environmental remediation of regulated material
contamination due to licensee misconduct, the extent of licensees'
liabilities in cases of personnel exposure to hazardous regulated
material or release of such material to the environment can not be
determined without effective knowledge of the safety of such material,
so valid safety studies are required to know the true extent of licensee
liabilities in such cases.
Please note here also that military licensees have no way to determine
whether the short-term tactical benefit of pyrophoric uranium munitions
outweighs their long-term strategic drawbacks without accurate knowledge
of their safety. This has significant liability implications regarding
the conduct of warfare, which is beyond the scope of this petition.
(4.8.) Commission Liabilities Can Not Be Determined Without Valid Studies
of the Safety of Hazardous Regulated Material to Which People Have Been
Exposed, or Which Has Been Released to the Environment
When it becomes incumbent upon the Commission to reevaluate the terms and
conditions of licenses for hazardous regulated material to which people
have been exposed or which has been released into the environment, and for
which it is apparent that no valid safety studies exist at present, the
definition of "liability" given above implies that the Commission's legal
responsibility to discharge its regulatory obligations to protect public
health and safety and the environment, as codified in the provisions
of the AEA, depends upon the extent of the danger posed by the released
regulated substance. Therefore, valid safety studies are also required
to evaluate Commission liabilities in such cases.
(4.9.) Licensees' Liabilities Can Not Be Determined Without Determination
of the Best Safe and Effective Medical Therapies for Treatment of
Poisoning by Hazardous Released Regulated Material
Because the extent of the expenditures required for medical treatment
of victims exposed to hazardous regulated material due to licensee
misconduct depends upon the safety, effectiveness, and availability
of the best such treatments, the definition of "liability" given above
implies that licensees' legal responsibility to discharge compensatory
obligations depends upon the knowledge of the best available safe and
effective treatments for such victims. Therefore, the extent of licensee
liability for medical therapies for victims poisoned by such released
regulated hazardous material can not be known without knowledge of the
best such safe and effective therapies.
(4.10.) Licensees' Liabilities Can Not Be Determined Without Determination
of the Best Means of Environmental Remediation of Hazardous Released
Regulated Material
Because the extent of the expenditures required for environmental
remediation of regulated material contamination due to licensee
misconduct depends upon knowledge of the best means of such remediation,
the definition of "liability" given above implies that licensees' legal
responsibility to discharge compensatory obligations depends upon the
knowledge of the best means of such environmental remediation. Therefore,
the extent of licensee liability for environmental remediation can not
be known without knowledge of the best means of environmental remediation
of released regulated hazardous material.
(4.11.) A False Assertion May Serve to Protect against Allegations of
Liability and Potential Liabilities
The definition of "liability" above, as a legal responsibility to
discharge some obligation, implies that if some entity liable or
potentially liable for some obligation is able to convince a person,
who might make a claim upon the obligation, that no such obligation
exists, then a false assertion made by the entity which convinces the
person that the obligation does not exist serves to protect the entity
against allegations that the obligation exists and serves to protect
against potential legal enforcement of the obligation. Therefore, a
false assertion may serve to protect against allegations of liability
or potential liabilities.
(4.12.) An Intentionally False Assertion Serving to Protect Against
Allegations of Liability or Potential Liabilities Is Fraudulent
Ballentine's Law Dictionary, citing 23 Am J2d Fraud Section 2, defines
fraud as deception operating prejudicially on the rights of another,
and so intended, by inducing him to part with some legal right. Because
a false assertion may serve to protect against enforcement of a legally
required obligation, that deceptive assertion operates prejudicially
against anyone owed the obligation. And so if the assertion is intended
to induce them to part with their legal rights to obtain the benefits of
the obligation and enforcement of the obligation, then the assertion is
fraudulent. Therefore, such a false assertion serving to protect against
allegations of liability or potential liabilities, if intentionally made,
is fraudulent.
(4.13.) A False Assertion Intentionally Made to Misrepresent the Safety
of Licensed Hazardous Material Is Willful Misconduct for Which a License
May Be Revoked
Commission enforcement guidelines as specified in the NRC Enforcement
Manual define willful misconduct as intentional wrongdoing on the part
of a licensee or its officers or agents, in violation of the AEA or
a license provision. The AEA, at 43 USC 2336(a), specifies that if a
licensee makes a false statement that would warrant the Commission to
refuse to grant a license on an original application, then the license
may be revoked. Because an intentional false misrepresentation of the
safety of licensed hazardous materials might warrant the commission
to refuse to grant a license on an original application, and because
it constitutes a violation of the licensee's mandatory duty to protect
public health and safety and the environment in accordance with the AEA,
such an intentional misrepresentation is willful misconduct for which
a license may be revoked. In Cities of Statesville, et al. v. Atomic
Energy Commission (1969) 441 F.2d 962, at page 974, the Court held that
the AEA at 43 USC 2336(a), providing that the Commission has the power
to revoke any type of license it has issued when there is a violation or
a failure to observe any of the terms or provision of the AEA, invests
the Commission with a continuing "police" power over the activity of
its licensees. In Virginia Electric and Power Co. v. U. S. Nuclear
Regulatory Commission (1978) 571 F.2d 1289, at page 1291, the Court held
that the Commission's stringent interpretation that knowledge of falsity
is not necessary for liability for making material false statements,
that materiality should be judged by whether a reasonable staff member
should consider the information in question in doing his job, and that
"material false statement" may appropriately be read to insure that the
Commission has access to true and full information, was consistent with
the legislative history and with the Commission's statutory mandate to
insure that the utilization of nuclear material will provide adequate
protection to the health and safety of the public.
(4.14.) A False Assertion Concerning a Licensee's Duty to Protect Public
Health and Safety and the Environment Made for Fraudulent Purposes
Represents a Serious Breach of the Public Trust
Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of Law defines a "breach of trust"
as a failure, by a trustee, to perform an obligation created by
the promise, duty, or law comprising the terms of a trust, without
justification. Agencies holding Commission licenses are entrusted with
a public duty to perform the obligations created by their promise
to comply with the terms and conditions of their licenses, and the
provisions of the AEA law. That public duty includes refraining from
false statements that would warrant the Commission to refuse to grant
a license on an original application, and protection of public health
and safety and the environment. Willful failure of that public duty,
such as intentional fraud on the part of a licensee, is considered
serious misconduct according to the NRC Enforcement Manual. Therefore,
a false assertion concerning a licensee's duty to protect public health
and safety and the environment made for fraudulent purposes represents
a serious breach of their public trust.
(4.15.) Negligence by Licensee Concerning the Safety of Hazardous Material
Regulated by the Commission Allows the Commission to Order Corrective
Action and Make Corrective Modifications to Licenses
The provisions of 43 USC 2113(b)(5), 43 USC 2233, 43 USC 2237, 10 CFR
2.202, and 10 CFR 2.339(a), provide the Commission with the discretionary
authority to order corrective action and make corrective modifications
to licenses in response to negligence by a licensee concerning the safety
of hazardous material regulated by the Commission.
(4.16.) Submission of Invalid Safety Studies by Licensee Supporting
Licensee Positions in Response to Requests for Information from The
Commission Allows the Commission to Order Corrective Action and Make
Corrective Modifications to Licenses
The provisions of 43 USC 2113(b)(5), 43 USC 2233, 43 USC 2237, 10 CFR
2.202, and 10 CFR 2.339(a), provide the Commission with the discretionary
authority to order corrective action and make corrective modifications to
licenses in response to submission of invalid safety studies by licensees
in support of their positions in response to Commission queries. Please
see Virginia Electric and Power Co. v. U. S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission (1978) 571 F.2d 1289, at page 1291, as excerpted above.
(4.17.) Publication of Invalid Statements by Licensee Concerning the
Safety of Hazardous Material Regulated by the Commission Allows the
Commission to Order Corrective Action and Make Corrective Modifications
to Licenses
The provisions of 43 USC 2113(b)(5), 43 USC 2233, 43 USC 2237,
10 CFR 2.202, and 10 CFR 2.339(a), provide the Commission with the
discretionary authority to order corrective action and make corrective
modifications to licenses in response to licensee publication of
invalid statements concerning the safety of hazardous material
regulated by the Commission. Please see also Virginia Electric and
Power Co. v. U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (1978) 571 F.2d 1289,
at page 1291, as excerpted above.
(4.18.) The Necessity of Valid Safety Studies Required by Licensees to
Avoid Commission and Licensee Liability, Allows the Commission to Order
Corrective Action and Make Corrective Modifications to Licenses
The provisions of 43 USC 2113(b)(5), 43 USC 2233, 43 USC 2237, 10 CFR
2.202, and 10 CFR 2.339(a), provide the Commission with the discretionary
authority to order corrective action and make corrective modifications
to licenses in response to the need for valid safety studies required
to avoid additional Commission and licensee liabilities.
(4.19.) A False Assertion, Whether Fraudulent or Not, or Willful
Misconduct, or a Serious Breach of Public Trust, Concerning Hazardous
Materials Regulated by The Commission, Allows the Commission to Order
Corrective Action and Make Corrective Modifications to Licenses
The provisions of 43 USC 2113(b)(5), 43 USC 2233, 43 USC 2237, 10 CFR
2.202, and 10 CFR 2.339(a), provide the Commission with the discretionary
authority to order corrective action and make corrective modifications to
licenses in response to a fraudulent assertion, willful misconduct, or a
serious breach of the public trust on the part of a licensee concerning
the safety of hazardous material regulated by the Commission. Please see
Virginia Electric and Power Co. v. U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission
(1978) 571 F.2d 1289, at page 1291, and Cities of Statesville, et
al. v. Atomic Energy Commission (1969) 441 F.2d 962, at page 974, as
excerpted above.
(4.20.) Any Severity Level I Violation on the Part of a Licensee Allows
the Commission to Impose Strict Enforcement Measures Including Substantial
Fines and Conditions Under Which Licenses Will Be Suspended or Revoked
The provisions of 43 USC 2233, 43 USC 2237, 43 USC 2282(a), 43 USC
2336(a), and 10 CFR 2.202, provide the Commission with the discretionary
authority to impose strict enforcement measures and civil penalties
including fines of up to $100,000 per violation or $100,000 per day in
the case of a continuing violation, in response to a severity level I
violations on the part of a licensee. Please see Cities of Statesville,
et al. v. Atomic Energy Commission (1969) 441 F.2d 962, at page 974,
as excerpted above.
(4.21.) Any Gross Negligence or Willful Misconduct on the Part of a
Licensee Allows the Commission to Impose Strict Enforcement Measures
Including Substantial Fines and Conditions Under Which Licenses Will Be
Suspended or Revoked
The provisions of 43 USC 2233, 43 USC 2237, 43 USC 2282(a), 43 USC
2336(a), and 10 CFR 2.202, provide the Commission with the discretionary
authority to impose strict enforcement measures and civil penalties
including fines of up to $100,000 per violation or $100,000 per day in the
case of a continuing violation, in response to gross negligence or willful
misconduct on the part of a licensee. Please see Cities of Statesville,
et al. v. Atomic Energy Commission (1969) 441 F.2d 962, at page 974, and
Virginia Electric and Power Co. v. U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission
(1978) 571 F.2d 1289, at page 1291, as excerpted above.
(5.0.) Requested Conclusions
Petitioner requests that the Commission find the following conclusions
in accordance with the facts, rules, and definitions from authorities
as cited above:
(5.1.) Each Incident of Human Inhalation or Ingestion of Significant
Quantities of Hexavalent Uranium Constitutes a NRC Severity Level
I Violation
Petitioner requests that uranium munitions licensees be required to
document each incident when and where significant quantities of hexavalent
uranium was or may have been ingested or inhaled, and that each such
incident be recognized as a severity level I violation by the Commission.
(5.2.) Each Incident of Release to the Environment of Significant
Quantities of Hexavalent Uranium Constitutes a NRC Severity Level
I Violation
Petitioner requests that uranium munitions licensees be required
to document each incident when and where significant quantities of
hexavalent uranium was or may have been released to the environment,
and that each such incident be recognized as a severity level I violation
by the Commission.
(5.3.) Because Uranium Munitions Licensees Never Detected Hexavalent
Uranium, and Because Hexavalent Uranium Is Hazardous, and Because
Licensees Failure to Recognize the Danger Resulted in Multiple NRC
Severity Level I Violations, Uranium Munitions Licensees Were Negligent
Petitioner requests that the Commission find the uranium munitions
licensees, individually and jointly negligent for their multiple severity
level I violations involving hexavalent uranium, because the licensees
never detected it or recognized its danger.
(5.4.) Because Uranium Munitions Licensees Knew, or Should Have Known,
that Hexavalent Uranium Is Hazardous, and Because They Knew, or Should
Have Known, that Hexavalent Uranium Is a Product of Aerial Uranium
Combustion, and Because They Never Attempted to Detect Hexavalent Uranium
in Safety Studies of Pyrophoric Uranium Munitions, Their Negligence
Was Willful
Petitioner requests that the Commission find the uranium munitions
licensees willfully negligent for their multiple severity level I
violations involving hexavalent uranium, because the licensees never
attempted to detect it, even though they knew, or should have known,
that it was both hazardous and a product of uranium combustion.
(5.5.) Because Uranium Munitions Licensees Knew, or Should Have Known,
that Hexavalent Uranium Is Hazardous, and Because They Knew, or Should
Have Known, that Hexavalent Uranium Is a Product of Aerial Uranium
Combustion, and Because Their Failure to Detect Hexavalent Uranium in
Safety Studies of Pyrophoric Uranium Munitions Resulted in Multiple
NRC Severity Level I Violations, Uranium Munitions Licensees' Willful
Negligence Was Reckless
Petitioner requests that the Commission find the uranium munitions
licensees recklessly and willfully negligent for their multiple severity
level I violations involving hexavalent uranium, because the licensees
failed to detect it, even though they knew, or should have known, that
it was both hazardous and a product of uranium combustion.
(5.6.) All Studies Performed by Uranium Munitions Licensees Concerning
the Safety of Pyrophoric Uranium Munitions to Date Are Invalid
There have been no safety studies performed by uranium munitions licensees
which detected, attempted to detect, or were able to detect hexavalent
uranium. Even if there have been such studies performed, they have
not been cited, quoted, or described in any publications or published
summaries of unpublished studies of uranium munitions licensees. Even if
such studies have been performed and referenced by uranium munitions
licensees, other studies which did not detect, attempt to detect, or
were able to detect, hexavalent uranium have been referenced by uranium
munitions licensees as authoritative in most if not all of their pertinent
publications and summaries of pertinent unpublished material. Moreover,
hexavalent uranium is of very serious if not paramount importance in
the evaluation of the safety of any aerial uranium fire.
Therefore, petitioner requests that the Commission find that all the
studies performed by uranium munitions licensees concerning the safety
of pyrophoric uranium munitions to date are invalid.
(5.7.) All Statements Concerning the Safety of Pyrophoric Uranium
Munitions Based in Whole or in Part on Safety Studies Performed by Uranium
Munitions Licensees, Which They Presently Publish Willfully, Are Invalid
Uranium munitions licensees have publish and continue to publish, in
print, on CD-ROM, and on the internet, hundreds of documents citing their
invalid safety studies of pyrophoric uranium munitions. Uranium munitions
licensees have produced more than a dozen such publications in the past
year alone, and regularly refer to them as if they were authoritative,
accurate, and valid studies.
As a basic matter of logical reasoning, any representation of, or
inferences drawn from, an invalid assertion of any kind is in turn
invalid. Therefore, petitioner requests that the Commission find invalid
all statements concerning the safety of pyrophoric uranium munitions
based in whole or in part on any invalid safety studies, including all
those performed by uranium munitions licensees to date.
(5.8.) The Hazard Posed by Hexavalent Uranium from Pyrophoric Uranium
Munitions Combustion Is Exceptionally Grave Issue Involving Significant
Safety and Environmental Issues.
Petitioner requests that the Commission find that due of the toxicity,
solubility, dispersion, and slow settling of hexavalent uranium produced
by pyrophoric uranium munitions, its hazard is an exceptionally grave
issue involving significant safety and environmental issues.
(5.9.) A Result Materially Different from the Issuance of Existing
Uranium Munitions Licenses Would Have Been Likely Had Hexavalent Uranium
Emissions Been Considered Upon the Initial Applications for Uranium
Munitions Licenses
Petitioner requests that the Commission find that, because uranium
munitions licensees have thus far substantially misrepresented the safety
of pyrophoric uranium munitions, it is reasonable to conclude that had
the Commission known the true risks of pyrophoric uranium munitions upon
the original application for licenses, the Commission likely would have
not issued the existing uranium munitions licenses without substantial
and restrictive modification, if at all.
(5.10.) Valid Studies of the Safety of Pyrophoric Uranium Munitions
Must Be Performed As Soon As Possible to Avoid Commission and Additional
Licensee Liabilities
Petitioner requests that the Commission find that valid studies of the
safety of pyrophoric uranium munitions must be accurately performed as
soon as possible, so that additional licensee and commission liabilities
might be avoided.
(5.11.) The Best Safe and Effective Medical Therapies for Uranium
Poisoning Must Be Determined As Soon As Possible to Avoid Additional
Licensee Liabilities
Petitioner requests that the Commission find that determination of the
best safe and effective therapies be made as soon as possible, so that
additional licensee liabilities might be avoided.
(5.12.) The Best Means of Remediation for Hexavalent Uranium and Related
Environmental Contamination Must Be Determined As Soon As Possible to
Additional Licensee Liabilities
Petitioner requests that the Commission find that determination of
the best means of environmental remediation for hexavalent uranium and
related contamination be made as soon as possible, so that additional
licensee liabilities might be avoided.
(5.13.) Remediation for Hexavalent Uranium and Related Environmental
Contamination Must Be Performed As Soon As Possible to Additional
Licensee Liabilities
Petitioner requests that the Commission find that environmental hexavalent
uranium and related contamination be mitigated and remediated as soon
as possible, so that additional licensee liabilities might be avoided.
(5.14.) Uranium Munitions Licensees' Assertion of a Scientific Consensus,
That Remediation of Sites Where Pyrophoric Uranium Munitions Were Used
Is Generally Unnecessary, Is False
Petitioner requests that the Commission find that uranium munitions
licensees' officer was incorrect when, on 27 January 2005, he asserted
that, "scientific consensus is that remediation of sites where DU
munitions were used is generally unnecessary."
(5.15.) Uranium Munitions Licensees' False Assertion of a Scientific
Consensus Concerning Site Remediation Served To Protect Licensees from
Allegations of Liability and Potential Liabilities
Petitioner requests that the Commission find that uranium munitions
licensees' officer served to protect licensees from allegations of
liability and potential liability with his false assertion of a scientific
consensus concerning site remediation of 27 January 2005.
(5.16.) Because Uranium Munitions Licensees' False Assertion of a
Scientific Consensus Concerning Site Remediation Was Intentional, It
Was Fraudulent
Petitioner requests that the Commission find that uranium munitions
licensees' officer's false assertion of a scientific consensus concerning
site remediation of 27 January 2005 serving to protect against allegations
of liability or potential liabilities was made intentionally and therefore
fraudulently.
(5.17.) Uranium Munitions Licensees' False Assertion of a Scientific
Consensus Concerning Site Remediation Was Made During Licensee and
Commission Deliberations on Remediation Actions Required for Jefferson
Proving Ground and Other Sites, and Was Therefore Willful Misconduct
For Which a License May Be Revoked
Petitioner requests that the Commission find that uranium munitions
licensees' officer's false and fraudulent assertion of a scientific
consensus concerning site remediation of 27 January 2005 was made
during the present time of continuing uranium munitions licensee and
Commission deliberations concerning the remediation actions required
at Jefferson Proving Ground and other contaminated sites, and was made
to willfully misrepresent the safety of Commission-licensed hazardous
material contamination, and was therefore willful misconduct for which
a license may be revoked in accordance with 43 USC 2336(a).
(5.18.) Uranium Munitions Licensees' False Assertion of a Scientific
Consensus Concerning Site Remediation Is a Serious Breach of Their
Public Trust
Petitioner requests that the Commission find that uranium munitions
licensees' officer's false and fraudulent assertion of a scientific
consensus concerning site remediation of 27 January 2005 concerned
uranium munitions licensees' duty to protect public health and safety,
and therefore represented a serious breach of their public trust.
(5.19.) Uranium Munitions Licensees' Negligence Requires Corrective
Action and Corrective Modifications to Uranium Munitions Licenses.
Petitioner requests that the Commission find that the uranium munitions
licensees' negligence concerning the safety of pyrophoric uranium
munitions requires corrective action, and the imposition of modifications
to their licenses, in order to correct their negligence.
(5.20.) Uranium Munitions Licensees' Gross Negligence Requires Corrective
Action, and Allows the Imposition of Corrective Modifications to Uranium
Munitions Licenses, With Strict Enforcement Measures
Petitioner requests that the Commission find that uranium munitions
licensees' gross negligence requires corrective action, and the imposition
of modifications to their licenses, in order to correct their negligence,
in addition to the imposition of substantial fines and conditions
suspending or revoking the licenses in case of delay or insufficient
compliance with the corrective requirements on the part of the licensees.
(5.21.) Uranium Munitions Licensees' Submission of Invalid Safety
Studies in Response to NRC Requests for Information Requires Corrective
Action, and Allows the Imposition of Corrective Modifications to Uranium
Munitions Licenses
Petitioner requests that the Commission find that the uranium munitions
licensees' submission of invalid studies concerning the safety of
pyrophoric uranium munitions, provided in response to the Commission's
queries regarding D. Rokke's 2.206 petition in October and November,
2000, requires corrective action, and the imposition of corrective
modifications to uranium munitions licenses.
(5.22.) Uranium Munitions Licensees' Continued Willful Publication of
Invalid Statements Concerning the Safety of Pyrophoric Uranium Munitions
Requires Corrective Action, and Allows the Imposition of Corrective
Modifications to Uranium Munitions Licenses, With Strict Enforcement
Measures
Petitioner requests that the Commission find that uranium munitions
licensees' continued willful publication of invalid statements and
assertions concerning the safety of pyrophoric uranium munitions
requires corrective action, imposition of corrective modifications
to their licenses, and imposition of substantial fines and conditions
suspending or revoking the licenses in case of delay or insufficient
compliance with the corrective modifications on the part of the licensees.
(5.23.) The Necessity of Valid Studies of the Safety of Pyrophoric
Uranium Munitions to Be Performed As Soon As Possible Requires Immediate
Corrective Action, and Allows the Imposition of Corrective Modifications
to Uranium Munitions Licenses
Petitioner requests that the Commission find that the necessity for
immediate production of valid studies concerning the safety of pyrophoric
uranium munitions, requires immediate corrective action and the imposition
of corrective modifications to uranium munitions licenses.
(5.24.) Uranium Munitions Licensees' Severity Level I Violations Require
Immediate Corrective Action, and Allows the Imposition of Corrective
Modifications to Uranium Munitions Licenses, With Strict Enforcement
Measures
Petitioner requests that the Commission find that uranium munitions
licensees' severity level I violations require corrective action,
imposition of corrective modifications to their licenses, and imposition
of substantial fines and conditions suspending or revoking the licenses in
case of delay or insufficient compliance with the corrective modifications
on the part of the licensees.
(5.25.) Uranium Munitions Licensees' Willful Misconduct Requires Immediate
Corrective Action, and Allows the Imposition of Corrective Modifications
to Uranium Munitions Licenses, With Strict Enforcement Measures
Petitioner requests that the Commission find that uranium munitions
licensees' willful misconduct requires corrective action, imposition of
corrective modifications to their licenses, and imposition of substantial
fines and conditions suspending or revoking the licenses in case of delay
or insufficient compliance with the corrective requirement modifications
on the part of the licensees.
(6.0.) Requested Immediate Actions
Petitioner requests that the Commission issue orders for immediate action
as follows:
(6.1.) In Accordance with 10 CFR 2.339(a), Petitioner Requests that the
Commission Order Immediate Valid Studies of the Safety of Pyrophoric
Uranium Munitions by Uranium Munitions Licensees, Imposing Substantial
Fines and License Suspension or Revocation Contingent Upon Insufficient
Licensee Action or Delay
Petitioner requests that the Commission, in accordance with 10 CFR
2.339(a), order uranium munitions licensees to immediately, and without
delay, accurately determine the risk to health and safety of any and
all known forms of inhalation and ingestion exposure to pyrophoric
uranium munitions' combustion products, including hexavalent uranium,
and all risks associated with the release of hexavalent uranium into
the environment.
Petitioner further requests that uranium munitions licensees be ordered
to quantify the expected risk ratios and their confidence intervals under
several sets of circumstances involving different distances and exposure
patterns which would be expected for military personnel and civilians
in and around the areas where uranium munitions may be used, for each
expected ailment including nephrotoxicity, lung cancer, particulate lung
damage, bone cancer, brain cancer, leukocyte chromosome damage, gonad,
sperm, and egg chromosome damage, and resulting congenital malformations
in children of the exposed, and all other known ailments resulting from
uranium poisoning, assuming exposures from direct inhalation, incidental
ingestion, and groundwater contamination ingestion.
Petitioner further requests that the Commission include within its
immediate order provisions imposing a fine of $100,000 per day contingent
upon any delay on the part of uranium munitions licensees in complying
with this order, and upon the Commission's determination of insufficient
action on the part of the licensees to comply with this order.
(6.2.) In Accordance with 10 CFR 2.339(a), Petitioner Requests that the
Commission Order Immediate Determination of the Best Safe and Effective
Medical Therapies for Uranium Poisoning by Uranium Munitions Licensees,
Imposing Substantial Fines and License Suspension or Revocation Contingent
Upon Insufficient Licensee Action or Delay
Petitioner requests that the Commission, in accordance with 10 CFR
2.339(a), order uranium munitions licensees to immediately, and without
delay, accurately determine the best safe and effective medical therapies
for uranium poisoning victims.
Because the U.S. Armed Forces Radiobiology Research Institute has
described the toxicity of uranium poisoning apart from its nephrotoxicity
as including genotoxicity resulting in oxidative DNA damage from
the catalytic production of hydroxyl radicals (A.C. Miller, et al.,
J. Inorg. Biochem. vol. 91 (2002) pp. 246-52), petitioner further requests
that uranium munitions licensees be ordered to immediately determine the
safety and effectiveness of antioxidant production stimulation therapy,
in addition to, or instead of, chelator sequestration therapy, for the
treatment of uranium poisoning. (Antioxidant production stimulation
preparations currently available for study include "Protandim," a
botanical product from Lifeline Therapeutics, Inc., of Denver (which
contains extracts of milk thistle (silybum marianum) seed, ashwagandha
(withania somnifera) root, bacopa monnieri aerial part, and turmeric
(curcuma longa) rhizome), and "CMX-1152," and related peptides of the
ependymin protein, from CereMedix, Inc., of Boston.)
Petitioner further requests that the Commission include within its
immediate order provisions imposing a fine of $100,000 per day contingent
upon any delay on the part of uranium munitions licensees in complying
with this order, and upon the Commission's determination of insufficient
action on the part of the licensees to comply with this order.
(6.3.) In Accordance with 10 CFR 2.339(a), Petitioner Requests that the
Commission Order Immediate Determination of the Best Means for Remediation
of Sites Where Pyrophoric Uranium Munitions Were Used by Uranium Munitions
Licensees, Imposing Substantial Fines and License Suspension or Revocation
Contingent Upon Insufficient Licensee Action or Delay
Petitioner requests that the Commission, in accordance with 10 CFR
2.339(a), order uranium munitions licensees to immediately, and without
delay, accurately determine the best means for environmental remediation
of sites where pyrophoric uranium munitions were burned, or where their
combustion products could have reached groundwater, plant, or animal
life. Petitioner further requests that uranium munitions licensees
be ordered to immediately determine the extent and best methods of
remediation necessary to mitigate the environmental toxicity resulting
from the use of pyrophoric uranium munitions, including contaminations
of soil, groundwater, streams and rivers, flora and fauna, metallic
or ceramic uranium dust including hexavalent uranium accumulation
near fauna and human habitats, and food chain components. Petitioner
further requests that the Commission include within its immediate order
provisions imposing a fine of $100,000 per day contingent upon any delay
on the part of uranium munitions licensees in complying with this order,
and upon the Commission's determination of insufficient action on the
part of the licensees to comply with this order.
(6.4.) In Accordance with 10 CFR 2.339(a), Petitioner Requests that the
Commission Order Immediate Remediation of Sites Where Pyrophoric Uranium
Munitions Were Used by Uranium Munitions Licensees, Imposing Substantial
Fines and License Suspension or Revocation Contingent Upon Insufficient
Licensee Action or Delay
Petitioner requests that the Commission, in accordance with 10 CFR
2.339(a), order uranium munitions licensees to immediately, and
without delay, mitigate and remediate the environmental contamination
of sites where pyrophoric uranium munitions were burned, or where
their combustion products could have reached groundwater, plant, or
animal life. Petitioner further requests that licensees be ordered to
immediately and fully remediate all environmental toxicity resulting from
the use of pyrophoric uranium munitions. Petitioner further requests that
the Commission include within its immediate order provisions imposing
a fine of $100,000 per day contingent upon any delay on the part of
uranium munitions licensees in complying with this order, and upon the
Commission's determination of insufficient action on the part of the
licensees to comply with this order.
(6.5.) In Accordance with 10 CFR 2.339(a), Petitioner Requests that
the Commission Order Immediate Publication of Corrections to Invalid
Statements Concerning the Safety of Pyrophoric Uranium Munitions by
Uranium Munitions Licensees, Imposing Substantial Fines and License
Suspension or Revocation Contingent Upon Insufficient Licensee Action
or Delay
Petitioner requests that the Commission, in accordance with 10 CFR
2.339(a), order uranium munitions licensees to immediately, and without
delay, publish corrections to all invalid statements concerning the safety
of pyrophoric uranium munitions, and the environmental contamination
from hexavalent uranium and other products of such munitions, published
or asserted by uranium munitions licensees. Petitioner further requests
that the Commission include within its immediate order provisions
imposing a fine of $100,000 per day contingent upon any delay on the
part of uranium munitions licensees in complying with this order, and
upon the Commission's determination of insufficient action on the part
of the licensees to comply with this order.
(6.6.) In Accordance with 10 CFR 2.339(a), Petitioner Requests that the
Commission Order Immediate Publication of Corrections to the Assertion of
a Scientific Consensus Exists That Remediation of Sites Where Pyrophoric
Uranium Munitions Were Used Is Generally Unnecessary, Imposing Substantial
Fines and License Suspension or Revocation Contingent Upon Insufficient
Licensee Action or Delay
Petitioner requests that the Commission, in accordance with 10 CFR
2.339(a), order uranium munitions licensees to immediately, and
without delay, publish corrections to their officer's false, willful,
and fraudulent assertion of 27 January 2005 that, "scientific consensus
is that remediation of sites where DU munitions were used is generally
unnecessary." Petitioner further requests that the Commission include
within its immediate order provisions imposing a fine of $100,000 per
day contingent upon any delay on the part of uranium munitions licensees
in complying with this order, and upon the Commission's determination
of insufficient action on the part of the licensees to comply with
this order.
(7.0.) Requested Modifications to Licenses
Petitioner requests the following corrective modifications to all uranium
munitions licenses:
(7.1.) Petitioner Requests that the Commission Modify All Licenses
for the Possession, Storage, Transport, or Use of Pyrophoric Uranium
Munitions to Require Valid Studies of the Safety of Pyrophoric Uranium
Munitions by Uranium Munitions Licensees, Imposing Substantial Fines and
License Suspension or Revocation Contingent Upon Insufficient Licensee
Compliance or Delay
Petitioner requests that the Commission modify all uranium munitions
licenses to require continuing up-to-date determination of the risk
to health and safety of any and all known forms of inhalation and
ingestion exposure to pyrophoric uranium munitions' combustion products,
including hexavalent uranium, and all risks associated with the release of
hexavalent uranium into the environment, including quantification of the
expected risk ratios and their confidence intervals under several sets
of circumstances involving different distances and exposure patterns
which would be expected for military personnel and civilians in and
around the areas where uranium munitions may be used, for each expected
ailment including nephrotoxicity, lung cancer, particulate lung damage,
bone cancer, brain cancer, leukocyte chromosome damage, gonad, sperm, and
egg chromosome damage, and resulting congenital malformations in children
of the exposed, and all other presently known or subsequently discovered
ailments resulting from uranium poisoning, assuming exposures from direct
inhalation, incidental ingestion, and groundwater contamination ingestion.
Petitioner further requests that the Commission include provisions within
those corrective license modifications imposing a fine of $100,000 per
day contingent upon any delay on the part of uranium munitions licensees
in complying with any part of their licenses, and upon the Commission's
determination of insufficient action on the part of the licensees to
comply with this order.
(7.2.) Petitioner Requests that the Commission Modify All Licenses
for the Possession, Storage, Transport, or Use of Pyrophoric Uranium
Munitions to Require Determination of the Best Safe and Effective Medical
Therapies for Uranium Poisoning by Uranium Munitions Licensees, Imposing
Substantial Fines and License Suspension or Revocation Contingent Upon
Insufficient Licensee Compliance or Delay
Petitioner requests that the Commission modify all uranium munitions
licenses to require continuing up-to-date determination of the best safe
and effective medical therapies for uranium poisoning victims. Petitioner
further requests that the Commission include provisions within those
corrective license modifications imposing a fine of $100,000 per day
contingent upon any delay on the part of uranium munitions licensees in
complying with any part of their licenses, and upon the Commission's
determination of insufficient action on the part of the licensees to
comply with any part of their licenses.
(7.3.) Petitioner Requests that the Commission Modify All Licenses for the
Possession, Storage, Transport, or Use of Pyrophoric Uranium Munitions to
Require Determination of the Best Means for Remediation of Sites Where
Pyrophoric Uranium Munitions Were Used by Uranium Munitions Licensees,
Imposing Substantial Fines and License Suspension or Revocation Contingent
Upon Insufficient Licensee Compliance or Delay
Petitioner requests that the Commission modify all uranium munitions
licenses to require continuing up-to-date determination of the best
means for environmental remediation of sites where pyrophoric uranium
munitions were burned, or where their combustion products could have
reached groundwater, plant, or animal life, including the extent and best
methods of remediation necessary to mitigate the environmental toxicity
resulting from the use of pyrophoric uranium munitions, such as the
contamination of soil, groundwater, streams and rivers, flora and fauna,
hexavalent uranium and other uranium metal or ceramic dust accumulation
near fauna and human habitats, and food chain components. Petitioner
further requests that the Commission include provisions within those
corrective license modifications imposing a fine of $100,000 per day
contingent upon any delay on the part of uranium munitions licensees in
complying with any part of their licenses, and upon the Commission's
determination of insufficient action on the part of the licensees to
comply with any part of their licenses.
(7.4.) Petitioner Requests that the Commission Modify All Licenses for the
Possession, Storage, Transport, or Use of Pyrophoric Uranium Munitions
to Require Remediation of Sites Where Pyrophoric Uranium Munitions Were
Used by Uranium Munitions Licensees, Imposing Substantial Fines and
License Suspension or Revocation Contingent Upon Insufficient Licensee
Compliance or Delay
Petitioner requests that the Commission modify all uranium munitions
licenses to require continuing up-to-date mitigation and remediation
of the environmental contamination of sites where pyrophoric uranium
munitions were burned, or where their combustion products could
have reached groundwater, plant, or animal life, including full and
immediate remediation of all environmental toxicity resulting from
the use of pyrophoric uranium munitions. Petitioner further requests
that the Commission include provisions within those corrective license
modifications imposing a fine of $100,000 per day contingent upon any
delay on the part of uranium munitions licensees in complying with
any part of their licenses, and upon the Commission's determination of
insufficient action on the part of the licensees to comply with any part
of their licenses.
(7.5.) Petitioner Requests that the Commission Modify All Licenses for the
Possession, Storage, Transport, or Use of Pyrophoric Uranium Munitions to
Require Publication of Valid Studies Concerning the Safety of Pyrophoric
Uranium Munitions by Uranium Munitions Licensees, Imposing Substantial
Fines and License Suspension or Revocation Contingent Upon Insufficient
Licensee Compliance or Delay
Petitioner requests that the Commission modify all uranium munitions
licenses to require publication of accurate and valid studies of the
safety of pyrophoric uranium munitions, including all health, safety, and
environmental implications of their use, storage, accidental combustion,
and transport. Petitioner further requests that the Commission include
provisions within those corrective license modifications imposing a fine
of $100,000 per day contingent upon any delay on the part of uranium
munitions licensees in complying with any part of their licenses, and
upon the Commission's determination of insufficient action on the part
of the licensees to comply with any part of their licenses.
(7.6.) Petitioner Requests that the Commission Modify All Licenses for the
Possession, Storage, Transport, or Use of Pyrophoric Uranium Munitions to
Require Licensees to Refrain From Making Any Willful False or Fraudulent
Statements Concerning Pyrophoric Uranium Munitions, Imposing Substantial
Fines and License Suspension or Revocation Contingent Upon Insufficient
Licensee Compliance
Petitioner requests that the Commission modify all uranium munitions
licenses to require that uranium munitions licensees, and all of their
officers, agents, personnel, and contractors refrain from making any
willful false or fraudulent statements concerning pyrophoric uranium
munitions or their health, safety, or environmental impact. Petitioner
further requests that the Commission include provisions within those
corrective license modifications imposing a fine of $100,000 per day
contingent upon any delay on the part of uranium munitions licensees in
complying with any part of their licenses, and upon the Commission's
determination of insufficient action on the part of the licensees to
comply with any part of their licenses.
(8.0.) Requested Penalties and Optional Other Action
Petitioner requests the imposition of substantial penalties and fines
and other action as the Commission may deem proper, as corrective actions
and as a deterrent to future misconduct:
(8.1.) Petitioner Requests the Commission Impose Substantial Fines Upon
Uranium Munitions Licensees Because of Their Multiple Severity Level I
Violations, Gross Negligence, Willful Misconduct, Fraudulent Assertions
Petitioner requests that the Commission fine uranium munitions licensees
$100,000 per each identified incident of all severity level I violations,
each incident of gross negligence, each incident of willful misconduct,
and each identified fraudulent assertion concerning the safety of
depleted uranium munitions or related environmental contamination,
or $100,000 per day for any such identified continuing violation(s).
(8.2.) Petitioner Requests the Commission Immediately Suspend the Licenses
of Uranium Munitions Licensees Because of Their Multiple Severity Level
I Violations, Negligence, Gross Negligence, Willful Misconduct and False
Publications, Fraudulent Assertions, Until Such Time as They Become in
Compliant with Licenses as Modified
Petitioner requests all uranium munitions licenses be suspended
immediately until such time as the licensees become compliant with the
provisions of their correctively modified licenses, due to their multiple
severity level I violations, their negligence, their gross negligence,
their willful misconduct, their false statements and publications
concerning the safety of pyrophoric uranium munitions and fraudulent
assertions involving safety or contamination.
(8.3.) Petitioner Requests that the Commission Impose Substantial
Fines and Suspend or Revoke the Licenses of Uranium Munitions Licensees
Immediately If in the Future They Become Noncompliant with Their Licenses
as Modified After The Licenses Have Been Suspended Once
Petitioner requests that every corrective modification to all uranium
munitions licenses include provisions effecting the immediate imposition
of a fine of $100,000 per each violation, or $100,000 per day for any
continuing violation, and immediate license suspension or revocation for
any violation, if in the future the licensees become out of compliance
with any provision of their modified licenses after any license has been
suspended one or more times.
(8.4.) Requests for Any Other Corrective Action as the Board or
Commission May Deem Proper
Because petitioner is not privy to the details of each licensee's
situation, each license, each safety study of pyrophoric uranium
munitions, each human inhalation and ingestion exposure, each release of
hexavalent uranium into the environment, or the response of the uranium
munitions licensees to this petition, etc., petitioner further requests
any other corrective action deemed proper by the Board or Commission, as
the Board or Commission sees fit.
(9.) Request for Alternative Procedure
Because this request involves the conduct of military functions, in
accordance with 10 CFR 2.301, petitioner requests that the Commission
provide an alternative procedure for adjudication allowing the immediate
issuance of orders to protect the public health and safety and the
environment, including the health and safety of those currently at risk
of exposure to hexavalent uranium. This request for an alternative
procedure includes but is not limited to: foreshortening of the
Commission's customary time limits in accordance with 10 CFR 2.307(a),
expedited issuance of initial orders in accordance with 10 CFR 2.339(a),
and/or the use of expedited proceedings such as those specified in 10
CFR sections 2.1400 through 2.1407, and any other adjudication procedure
that the Commission may deem proper.
(10.) Questions and Certification
Petitioner would be happy to answer questions concerning this petition,
and may be reached by telephone at 650.793.0162 or by email to
james@bovik.org.
I, James Salsman, petitioner, certify under penalty of perjury that the
forgoing is true and correct.
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48 [CMEP] Irradiation plant to shut down in Pa.
Date: Tue, 26 Apr 2005 19:06:07 -0500 (CDT)
[Editor's note: Check out the Critical Mass Watchdog Blog (
http://www.citizen.org/cmep/blog/ ) for an update on the federal
government's push for new nuclear industry development.]
==========
*** P R E S S R E L E A S E ***
April 26, 2005
Contact: Patty Lovera (202) 454-5132; Erica Hartman (202) 454-5174
Closure of Irradiation Plant Is a Victory for Community, Consumers
STATEMENT of Wenonah Hauter, Director, Public Citizen's Food Program:
The announcement by CFC Logistics that it plans to shut down its
controversial Milford Township, Pa., food irradiation facility is great
news, not only for the community surrounding this facility but also for
consumers who do not want their food to be irradiated. The closure
serves as an example of how empowered citizens can triumph in the end.
This facility, which used radioactive cobalt 60 to irradiate food,
brought unwanted risk to its neighbors so that a company could cash in
on a questionable and unnecessary "treatment" for food. Residents were
rightly concerned about the highly radioactive material being
transported through the community and raised questions as to whether it
was adequately secured.
CFC Logistics joins SureBeam, formerly the largest irradiation company
in the United States that went bankrupt and closed its facilities in
2003, in demonstrating that despite aggressive promotion by both
industry and government, there is no consumer demand for irradiated
food. CFC was planning to provide the irradiation for ground beef
purchased by the U.S. Department of Agriculture for the National School
Lunch Program -- a plan that did not materialize because schools
questioned health impacts on children and did not want to pay for the
higher-priced irradiated meat. Irradiation exposes food to a high dose
of ionizing radiation, which results in the formation of chemical
byproducts, some of which have been found to promote cancer development
and cause cellular damage in rats, and cause genetic and cellular damage
to human cells.
Instead, school systems across the country have adopted policies
banning irradiated food from their cafeterias, and school administrators
in countless other districts have decided that proper cooking of ground
beef is a better alternative to serving children irradiated food whose
long-term health impacts are not yet known.
Despite this plant's closure, CFC still must live up to the
responsibility it took on when the company opened this plant and safely
remove the radioactive cobalt inside this facility. It is also vital
that the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which licensed this plant
in the face of overwhelming community opposition in 2003, fully disclose
to the public how much radioactive material is present at the site and
work with the public to develop an adequate removal and cleanup plan.
###
Public Citizen is a national, nonprofit consumer advocacy organization
based in Washington, D.C. For more information, please visit
www.citizen.org.
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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
*****************************************************************
49 NewsTarget.com: Antiwar activists say depleted uranium has led to 11,000
American deaths
Tuesday, April 26, 2005 Commentary | Home
Arthur Bernklau, an advocate with the Veterans for Constitutional
Law, an antiwar group, says that depleted uranium weapons used in
the first Gulf War have caused the deaths of 11,000 soldiers.
Bernklau says that 584,000 soldiers served in Gulf War I and
11,000 of them are now dead. 325,000 are on permanent medical
disability.
Bernklau stated that the long-term effect of depleted uranium
weapons are a "virtual death sentence", and that the departure of
Anthony Principi as secretary of the Veterans Affairs Department
was triggered by the scandal of the deaths. Bernklau says that
over half of those who served in Gulf War I have permanent
medical problems.
See more articles like this one at www.Newstarget.com
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Original news summary:
(http://www.americanfreepress.net/html/du_death_toll.html)
+ The death toll from the highly toxic weapons component known
as depleted uranium (DU) has reached 11,000 soldiers and the
growing scandal may be the reason behind Anthony Principi's
departure as secretary of the Veterans Affairs Department.
+ This view was expressed by Arthur Bernklau, executive
director of Veterans for Constitutional Law in New York, writing
in Preventive Psychiatry E-Newsletter.
+ "The real reason for Mr. Principi's departure was really
never given," Bernklau said.
+ "However, a special report published by eminent scientist
Leuren Moret naming depleted uranium as the definitive cause of
'Gulf War Syndrome' has fed a growing scandal about the
continued use of uranium munitions by the U.S. military."
+ Of the 580,400 soldiers who served in Gulf War I, 11,000 are
now dead, he said.
+ The disability rate for veterans of the world wars of the
last century was 5 percent, rising to 10 percent in Vietnam.
+ "He and the Bush administration have been hiding these
facts, but now, thanks to Moret's report, it is far too big to
hide or to cover up."
+ Terry Johnson, public affairs specialist at the VA, recently
reported that veterans of both Persian Gulf wars now on
disability total 518,739, Bernklau said.
+ "The long-term effect of DU is a virtual death sentence,"
Bernklau said.
+ "Marion Fulk, a nuclear chemist, who retired from the
Lawrence Livermore Nuclear Weapons Lab, and was also involved in
the Manhattan Project, interprets the new and rapid malignancies
in the soldiers [from the second war] as 'spectacular'---and a
matter of concern.'
+ While this important story appeared in a Washington
newspaper and the wire services, it did not receive national
exposure---a compelling sign that the American public is being
kept in the dark about the terrible effects of this toxic weapon.
*****************************************************************
50 Seattle Post-Intelligencer: Hanford health-effects trial opens
[seattlepi.com]
Tuesday, April 26, 2005
Radiation releases at center of trial in Spokane
By JOHN K. WILEY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
SPOKANE -- It may have made the plutonium used in the nation's
Cold War atomic weapons, but the Hanford Nuclear Reservation "is
no atomic bomb" that harmed the health of people who lived
downwind, a lawyer for former government contractors said
yesterday.
"We believe the evidence is going to show that Hanford is no
atomic bomb; it's apples and oranges," lawyer Kevin Van Wart
told federal court jurors as the Hanford health effects trial
began. "Hanford is no Chernobyl."
Van Wart represents E.I. DuPont de Nemours and General Electric,
which operated Hanford's plutonium-making plants for the
government from 1944 to 1967.
The corporations will present scientific studies to show that
Hanford releases did not cause the thyroid conditions of six
"downwinders" who sued, alleging the contamination harmed their
health, he said.
"There is no evidence that, without Hanford, these plaintiffs
would not have their thyroid conditions," Van Wart said.
But Richard Eymann, who represents the six plaintiffs, said he
intends to call cancer experts who will link releases of
radioactive iodine from Hanford to his clients' illnesses.
"We believe we have proof to show you their cancers and other
diseases were caused by Hanford releases," Eymann told the jury.
"This is the first trial where the story of Hanford's effects
will finally be shared with a jury."
U.S. District Judge Frem Nielsen read a brief history of
plutonium-making operations, then told the jury the only
question it will be asked is whether iodine-131 caused the
plaintiffs' ailments and, if so, what damages they are due. The
trial is expected to last five weeks.
The six plaintiffs are the first of nearly 2,300 people who sued
former Hanford contractors, alleging that accidental and
intentional releases of radioactive iodine-131 from bomb-making
operations made them ill.
Iodine-131 concentrates in the thyroid gland, which regulates
the body's metabolism.
Both sides in the case agree that at least 740,000 curies of
radioactivity were released from Hanford during the years in
question. A curie is a measurement of radiation. The plaintiffs
contend that no amount of radiation is safe; the defense
contends that amount is equivalent in damage to about a dozen
chest X-rays.
The plaintiffs -- five women and one man in their late 50s and
early 60s -- were infants and children living near Hanford,
Walla Walla and Colfax, where wind carried contamination from
Hanford Cold War operations.
Three were diagnosed with thyroid cancer and three were treated
for hypothyroidism, or deficient thyroid gland activity.
Lawyers for both sides said they will concentrate on thyroid
studies from Hanford, Japan after World War II, the Nevada Test
Site and the Chernobyl reactor accident 19 years ago in Ukraine.
Van Wart encouraged the jurors to pay close attention to the
Hanford Thyroid Dose Study, which concluded in 2002 that there
was no link between Hanford releases and increased thyroid
conditions in the downwind area.
"You are going to have to judge whether there is a study that is
more important to this case," Van Wart told jurors. "Very few
studies can match this in the thoroughness of the medical
workups."
Eymann's co-counsel, Louise Roselle, said the Hanford dose study
had "serious limitations" and added that scientists will be
called to testify that radioactive iodine from Hanford caused
the plaintiffs' disorders.
The 13-year, $19.5 million Hanford Thyroid Dose Study, conducted
by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and
the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, studied
nearly 5,200 people who lived in seven Eastern Washington
counties from 1944 to 1957.
The trial is taking place more than 14 years after the first
lawsuit was filed against federal contractors by a Hanford
downwinder: a resident of Eastern Washington who lived in the
path of contamination plumes.
The contractors are indemnified by the Price-Anderson Act,
meaning that any potential damage awards would be paid by the
government. Jurors will not be told that the government, not the
corporations, would be on the hook for damages, which could be
tens of millions of dollars.
Despite the plaintiffs' claims, there is no evidence that
releases of radioactivity from Hanford led to higher incidents
of thyroid cancer or disease, Van Wart said.
[Seattle Post-Intelligencer] 101 Elliott Ave. W. Seattle, WA
98119 (206) 448-8000
©1996-2005 Seattle Post-Intelligencer
*****************************************************************
51 Tri-City Herald: Downwinder opening arguments heard
This story was published Tuesday, April 26th, 2005
By Annette Cary, Herald staff writer
SPOKANE -- Shannon Rhodes, her feet dangling off her chair as a
5-year-old, drank from a big bottle of milk in an old black and
white photo, one of the first images shown Monday to 12 jurors
in the start of a trial to decide whether Hanford emissions
damaged the health of those who lived downwind.
Other plaintiffs were shown playing on the grass as babies and
toddlers and marching in Richland's Atomic Pioneer Day parade,
all during the years when Hanford was releasing radioactive
iodine to drift downwind and settle to the ground. It
contaminated the grass they played on and the milk they drank.
"These children gave something very precious to the war effort:
their health," said plaintiff attorney Richard Eymann in opening
arguments of the long-awaited Hanford downwinder trial Monday in
federal court in Spokane.
The children shown in photos, and who sat in the front row of
the courtroom Monday as adults, would later develop thyroid
cancer or other thyroid disease. They believe their illnesses
were caused by radiation that their attorneys described as
raining down out of the sky.
But the best scientific studies show otherwise, countered
defense attorney Kevin Van Wart.
"There is no evidence that without Hanford these plaintiffs
would not have their thyroid conditions," he said. Millions of
people across the country are diagnosed with thyroid disease
every year, he said.
It's the plaintiffs' burden to show that more likely than not
radioactive releases from the Hanford nuclear reservation caused
their illnesses.
The jury picked Monday morning will decide the cases of six
plaintiffs out of about 2,200 in the lawsuit that's dragged on
through delays and appeals since 1990. Federal Judge William
Fremming Nielsen hopes that by hearing a few bellwether claims,
defense and plaintiff attorneys may be able to settle other
claims out of court.
The plaintiff attorneys and defense attorneys, representing
early Hanford contractors DuPont and General Electric, each
picked six plaintiffs for the trial, but the defense picks have
all withdrawn or been removed because of insufficient evidence
to support their claims.
The six who remain were born in the 1940s and were children
during 1945-47, the years of the most radioactive emissions from
200-foot tall stacks above Hanford processing plants.
Hanford produced the plutonium used in the bomb dropped on
Nagasaki, Japan, to help end World War II and continued making
plutonium during the Cold War for the nation's nuclear weapons
program.
When fuel irradiated in Hanford reactors was processed to remove
plutonium, radioactive iodine was released into the air. As it
settled out downwind, children breathed it and ate it on fresh
fruits and vegetables. But likely the most exposure came from
milk produced by cows that grazed on contaminated grass.
Ingested by the children, it concentrated in their thyroids and
caused damage that became evident years later, say plaintiff
attorneys.
"The radiation became a different type of bomb -- in their
thyroids," Eymann said.
Rhodes, who grew up in Colfax, developed thyroid cancer that
spread to her lungs. Steve Stanton, born in Walla Walla, and
Gloria Wise, born in Pasco, also developed thyroid cancer.
Kathryn Van Campen Goldbloom, who lived in Richland; Shirley
Carlisle, born in Richland; and Wanda Buckner, born in Pasco,
all developed hypothyroidism, or underactive thyroids.
Defense and plaintiffs are expected to turn to scientific
studies and testimony from scientists and doctors to prove their
cases.
But the jury needs to consider which study is most relevant to
the case, Van Wart said.
Plaintiffs are expected to rely on studies of people harmed by
radiation from atom bomb tests in the Nevada desert and atomic
bombs dropped on Japan in World War II to prove the radioactive
iodine caused downwinders' thyroid disease.
"Hanford is no atomic bomb," Van Wart said.
It's also no Chernobyl, where a nuclear plant accident exposed
residents of the former Soviet Union to radiation.
In all those cases, people were exposed to different types of
radiation and received doses all at once rather than spread
across many years, he said.
But the Hanford Thyroid Disease Study, a 13-year, $20 million
study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, found
no evidence that those most likely to develop thyroid disease
from 1940s Hanford exposures were any more likely to develop
disease than those with little or no exposure, Van Wart said.
Plaintiffs said the study found disease rates much higher than
expected. But the defense said rates were comparable to what
could be expected in a study that used a battery of physical
exams, sophisticated blood tests and ultrasound imaging to find
any thyroid disease.
"This study has very serious limitations," said plaintiff
attorney Louise Roselle. Plaintiff experts are expected to
attack how doses of radioactive iodine were estimated for the
study and the design of the study.
But the defense countered that until the study results were
released, the plaintiff attorneys and experts were the study's
biggest boosters.
"The results of the Hanford Thyroid Disease Study undermined
their claims, and since that time they've launched a frontal
attack to the best study," Van Wart said.
The trial is expected to continue four to five weeks, with
testimony expected today from a biologist for the plaintiffs to
show that any amount of radiation can harm a cell, leading to
disease.
Although the Hanford contractors who operated Hanford for the
federal government in the 1940s and 1950s are named in the suit,
any claims are expected to be paid by the government which
indemnified the contractors.
© 2005 Tri-City Herald, Associated Press &Other Wire Services
*****************************************************************
52 Xinhua: India ratifies Convention on Nuclear Safety
www.xinhuanet.com
www.chinaview.cn 2005-04-26 18:18:35
NEW DELHI, April 26 (Xinhuanet) -- India has ratified the
Convention on Nuclear Safety that commits participating states
to maintain a high level of safety in the operation and
regulation of nuclear power plants, an UN statement issued here
said on Tuesday.
"The 10-year-old treaty, ratified by 56 states, is an
international agreement that commits participating states to
maintain a high level of safety in the operation and regulation
ofnuclear power plants," the statement said.
India was among the 51 of 56 contracting nations that
attended the latest two-week peer review meeting at the UN
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) headquarters in Vienna
last week.
"With India's ratification of the convention, all states
with nuclear power plants are now participating in the
convention," it added.
India has 14 nuclear reactors under operation and the
state-owned Nuclear Power Corporation of India (NPCIL) is
constructing eight more reactors. Enditem
Copyright ©2003 Xinhua News Agency. All rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
53 DesMoinesRegister.com: Munitions workers rail at aid delays
State Govt.
By REGISTER IOWA CITY BUREAU
April 26, 2005
Cedar Rapids, Ia. - Anita Loving promised her father she would
keep fighting for government compensation for the cancer that
killed him April 3.
But Loving became angry Monday as she listened to hours of
statistics about how much radiation exposure former workers at
the Iowa Army Ammunition Plant in Middletown received as they
built Cold War-era weapons.
"You're dealing with human lives and families involved, not
numbers," Loving said. "Look me in the eye and tell me that you
would do any of the jobs that those people did."
Loving was among more than a dozen former plant workers and
relatives of ex-workers who encouraged a federal advisory board
in Cedar Rapids to speed up medical care and compensation for
employees, many of whom have cancer or have died of it. Loving's
parents, Wendell and Mary Frances Pirtle, worked at the plant
and later died of cancer that she said was caused by their
radiation exposure.
The board in February recommended providing compensation for
some former workers, but the momentum stalled when the group
decided to review additional information provided by the
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.
That review, presented Monday, was criticized by some as being
based on incomplete information.
"I get a little perturbed at some of the information being
thrown at you people," said Ed Webb, 78, of Burlington. Webb,
who worked at the plant from 1950 to 1975, has had cancer of the
prostate and kidney and has difficulty breathing.
He and other former workers disputed claims that some workers
were around radioactive materials for only one hour a day. Webb
said he was also upset that the board did not meet closer to
Middletown, where many former workers live.
"A lot of the people couldn't come up here because they are ill
or because of the cost of their ailments," Webb said.
Gary Greene, whose parents worked at the plant and later died of
cancer, told the board about a comment he overheard as a boy,
made by a plant employee who was talking to a co-worker. "Boy,
our watches are really going to glow tonight," the woman said,
according to Greene.
Greene said he was pleased that both U.S. Sens. Chuck Grassley
and Tom Harkin came to Monday's meeting to chide the board to
stop delays in compensation. Rep. Jim Leach also spoke at the
meeting, which lasts through Wednesday at the Crowne Plaza Five
Seasons Hotel.
"Congress did not intend to create a program plagued by delays,"
Grassley said. "I encourage you to make a decision before you
leave Cedar Rapids."
Grassley lambasted a Justice Department opinion issued late last
week stating that workers could not be declared eligible for
benefits, as the board did in February, based on the fact that
government documents relating to their exposure were classified.
"I see this being about bureaucracy and withholding information,
all leading to delay and denial," Grassley said.
The board said in February that because some information
remained classified, it was impossible to estimate the amount
and likelihood of radiation exposure for each claim. Aides to
Grassley said Monday that the highly unusual, last-minute legal
opinion essentially said that the secretary of health and human
services would not have the legal authority to carry out the
advisory board's decision.
But the aides said that Grassley was highly suspicious of the
opinion, which was not made in the usual written format but was
expressed verbally by telephone in the last hours of the
business day on Friday, and that he didn't understand why the
Justice Department suddenly decided to get involved.
Advisory board member Mark Griffon said the board would discuss
the new government report today and could make a decision about
compensation.
Under legislation approved by Congress, people found to have
been made ill by their work with nuclear weapon components are
to receive $150,000 in compensation and medical care. From 1947
to the mid-1970s, about 4,000 workers assembled and tested
nuclear weapons at the Middletown plant. Hundreds of claims have
languished for years.
Register Staff Writer Jane Norman contributed to this article.
Copyright © 2004, The Des Moines Register.
*****************************************************************
54 [NukeNet] MOX Plant: another proliferation issue
Date: Tue, 26 Apr 2005 14:32:01 -0700
NukeNet Anti-Nuclear Network (nukenet@energyjustice.net)
The agreement referred to in the statement below is a step towards building
yet another facility with nuclear proliferation potential. Hardly what one
would call setting a good example in the lead up to the NPT Review Conference.
Philip White
-----------------------------------------------------------------
MOX Fuel Fabrication Plant Site Agreement
CNIC statement of protest, 19 April 2005
A basic cooperative site agreement has been signed between Aomori
Prefecture, Rokkasho Village, Japan Nuclear Fuel Ltd (JNFL) and the
Federation of Electric Power Companies (FEPCO) for a MOX Fuel Fabrication
Plant. The Citizens' Nuclear Information Center protests Aomori
Prefecture's decision to sign this agreement for another nuclear facility
and demands that it rescind the agreement.
It is planned that the Rokkasho MOX Fuel Fabrication Plant will be built
within the precincts of the Rokkasho Reprocessing Plant. It will fabricate
MOX fuel using the plutonium separated at the reprocessing plant. However,
plans for the use of this fuel are still at the drawing board stage. Ten
years have passed since the MOX use plan (pluthermal) was established in
1995, but it has not been implemented anywhere. Furthermore, due to a
series of accidents and scandals, the trust of the local people around
nuclear power plants has been completely lost. Tokyo Electric Power Company
forged inspection data and concealed problems at its nuclear power plants.
An accident involving a burst pipe at Kansai Electric Power Company's
Mihama-3 reactor resulted in the deaths of five people. There has been one
problem after another involving Chubu Electric Power Company. As a result
of these incidents there is no reason to believe that the pluthermal plan
can be implemented. With the pluthermal plan for the 35 tons of plutonium
held in France and the UK deadlocked, even though FEPCO wants to announce a
new MOX use plan before active trials begin at the Rokkasho Reprocessing
Plant, it is clear that this can only be an exercise on paper.
Public distrust is directed towards the pluthermal plan, the nuclear fuel
cycle and nuclear power in general. In Aomori Prefecture, 83% of the
citizens feel anxiety regarding the safety of nuclear facilities. This is a
very serious state of affairs. It speaks volumes for the situation where
nuclear plans are foisted on the public. Nuclear facilities are built first
then explanations and attempts to gain public understanding come later.
There has been insufficient debate within the Aomori Prefectural Assembly
and among the general public. The New Long-term Nuclear Plan is now being
debated. There is no doubt that the debate will continue in regard to the
nuclear fuel cycle policy. A debate involving the general public regarding
Japan's use of nuclear energy, including the pros and cons of the nuclear
fuel cycle, is necessary. Aomori Prefecture's rough and ready approach to
the site agreement for the MOX Fuel Fabrication Plant narrows its future
options and makes Japan's nuclear power policy even more rigid. We at the
Citizens' Nuclear Information Center once again strongly demand that the
site agreement for the MOX Fuel Fabrication Plant be rescinded.
Citizens' Nuclear Information Center
3F Kotobuki Bdg, 1-58-15, Higashi-Nakano, Nakano-ku, Tokyo 164-0003
Phone: 81-3-5330-9520
Fax: 81-3-5330-9530
http://cnic.jp/english/
cnic@nifty.com
_______________________________________________________________________
Subscribe/Unsubscribe Here: http://www.energyjustice.net/nukenet/
Change your settings or access the archives at:
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*****************************************************************
55 SABCnews.com: Earthlife exposes nuclear dumping site
April 26, 2005, 13:15
South African Broadcasting Corporation Copyright ©
Earthlife Africa, an environmental group, has exposed what it
says is an illegal nuclear dumping site west of Pretoria.
Earthlife says at the site, close to Pelindaba, radioactive ore
is deliberately buried in shallow concrete containers.
The site is apparently unguarded and easily accessible.
Earthlife Africa also says the site does not have warning
signboards.
Mashile Palane, the coordinator of Nuclear Energy Costs the
Earth Campaign, says they have already notified environmental
authorities on the matter. They have promised to send a
delegation to look at the discovery.
Palane says they will take an environmental study to measure the
air, the water and the soil from the area and then investigate
who is responsible. He says the tests will be done as soon as
they find resources.
*****************************************************************
56 Las Vegas RJ: Pro-Yucca forces regroup for push
Tuesday, April 26, 2005
New task force shows desperation, Nevada officials say
By STEVE TETREAULT STEPHENS WASHINGTON BUREAU
Charles Pray of the Nuclear Waste Strategy Coalition of the Yucca
Mountain Task Force speaks Monday in Washington. Photo by THE
ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON -- Seeking to rebuild momentum for Yucca Mountain,
interests that favor a Nevada nuclear waste repository regrouped
into a new lobbying team Monday to rejuvenate political support
for the project.
Organizers said a new grass-roots campaign will attempt to
"re-energize" governors, legislators and community groups in 41
states where utility customers are paying into a fund to
relocate highly radioactive spent fuel stored at operating or
mothballed nuclear reactors.
In 2002, a similar coalition won big votes in Congress to
formalize the Yucca site for nuclear waste burial.
But the project has fallen behind since then, shaken by
persistent budget shortfalls, setbacks in court and questions
about science and quality controls raised anew by controversial
e-mails disclosed last month.
"When (Yucca Mountain) was ratified, everyone went home, and we
want to get everybody back to the table," said Martez Norris,
one of the organizers of the new Yucca Mountain Task Force.
Formation of a new lobbying group ratchets up debate over the
repository's future.
"Are we going to let a small group of people focused on the
state of Nevada decides what happens?" said Jack Edlow,
president of Edlow International, a nuclear waste shipping firm.
Task force co-chairman Charles Pray said critics have dominated
headlines recently and that those opinions need to be balanced
with a view that "national security interests support
consolidation of spent fuel and high-level waste in one federal
facility."
"It's always been Nevada's perspective, and not the alternative
states' perspective," said Pray, a Maine nuclear safety official
who is co-chairman with David Wright, a South Carolina utility
commissioner.
Organizers did not say how much money might be spent on the
effort.
Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., said the new campaign is a sign that
pro-repository interests are scrambling.
"The very fact that pro-Yucca Mountain groups are holding press
conferences and attempting to generate publicity proves what I,
and the other members of our delegation, have been saying for
the past few weeks: that support for the Yucca project is
dwindling fast in the wake of the recent e-mail revelations,"
Ensign said.
"I didn't know they were still in business," Rep. Shelley
Berkley, D-Nev., said of the Yucca supporters. "It's difficult
to take them seriously given the situation on the ground. Yucca
Mountain is falling apart all around them."
Nevada lawmakers contend the Yucca project is staggering after
the disclosure of e-mails from 1998 to 2000 in which geologists
wrote of "fudging" documentation of water flow research to
satisfy quality assurance requirements. The Energy Department
and inspectors general from DOE and the Interior Department are
investigating.
But Terry Freese, legislative program director for the Nuclear
Energy Institute, said Nevada leaders have overstated the
effects of the e-mail messages.
"We are talking about a relatively small focus area in a broad,
20-year site study," Freese said. "There are a large number of
issues involved with Yucca Mountain that are not touched by the
investigation and should continue."
Most members of the new coalition belong to other groups that
have lobbied in support of Yucca Mountain, such as the Nuclear
Energy Institute, the Nuclear Waste Strategy Coalition of
selected state officials and utility executives, and the U.S.
Transport Council, representing nuclear waste shipping firms.
They said joining together will give them more clout.
The organization will renew lobbying to reclassify the $750
million that ratepayers contribute to a waste fund each year so
Congress can allow the Energy Department to spend larger sums
for repository construction.
It also plans to work against proposed legislation by Ensign,
Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., and Berkley, to require the government
to take ownership of the nuclear waste and keep it stored in
concrete and steel casks at power plants.
"We do not believe that is a good idea" to leave nuclear waste
in communities, said Robert Garvin, a member of the Wisconsin
Public Service Commission.
Reid said that onsite storage "would be the safest and most
efficient way to store nuclear waste. The end is near for the
ill-conceived Yucca Mountain project, and it's time we start
looking at other alternatives."
Copyright Las Vegas Review-Journal
*****************************************************************
57 Las Vegas SUN: Yucca project chief to quit
Today: April 26, 2005 at 9:43:19 PDT
By Benjamin Grove SUN WASHINGTON BUREAU
WASHINGTON -- Acting Yucca Mountain project chief Theodore
Garrish will retire May 13, the second leader of the program to
depart this year.
The Energy Department has been searching for a permanent
replacement for Margaret Chu, who resigned her position Feb. 25
as director of the Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste
Management, which manages Yucca. Garrish, a Yucca deputy
director, assumed her duties.
Department spokeswoman Anne Womack Kolton declined to say when
a permanent Yucca chief would be named. The department is still
conducting a search, she said.
Through Kolton, Garrish declined comment.
Kolton said next month will mark a "long-planned retirement"
for Garrish, 62. She said his departure was not prompted by
controversy that erupted March 16, when Yucca scientist e-mails
surfaced that suggest project documents were falsified.
Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman said Garrish will be "greatly
missed." Bodman praised the "effectiveness" of Paul Golan,
currently principal deputy assistant secretary for environmental
management, who will take over Garrish's deputy director duties
beginning May 8.
Garrish, a former executive with the Nuclear Energy Institute,
the leading pro-Yucca lobby group in Washington, inherited a
troubled Yucca program from Chu.
The top priority of Yucca project leaders has been to submit an
application for a license from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission
to construct a repository for the nation's high-level nuclear
waste. But long beset by budget cuts and delays, the department
failed to meet its own deadline of submitting the application by
the end of 2004; officials hope to submit it by the end of this
year.
The department announced Chu's resignation on Feb. 11, four
days after she told reporters Yucca would not open until at
least 2012, contradicting a long-held department assertion that
it could open by 2010. Chu said she had been planning to leave
the job for months.
Yucca faces another hurdle in that a federal court last year
threw out a key radiation health standard for the proposed
repository, a standard now under revision by the Environmental
Protection Agency.
Garrish has worked in the Energy Department's Yucca office
since July 2003. During the 1980s, he worked for the department
for six years in three jobs: department general counsel;
assistant secretary of energy for congressional,
intergovernmental and public affairs; and assistant secretary
for nuclear energy.
*****************************************************************
58 Las Vegas SUN: Task force supporting Yucca dump site forms
Today: April 26, 2005 at 9:43:19 PDT
By Suzanne Struglinski SUN WASHINGTON
BUREAU
WASHINGTON -- Yucca Mountain advocates created a task force
Monday to try to convince the public that the nation needs to
open the proposed federal nuclear waste repository in Nevada.
Yucca Mountain Task Force members want the site to open "within
the shortest time frame possible --consistent with public health
and safety." They will work on a grassroots effort to get
Congress to fully fund the program, encourage the Energy
Department to submit a license application and want a new
radiation standard to be created by the Environmental Protection
Agency or Congress.
The push for the project comes at the same time that Nevada's
congressional delegation is calling for an independent
investigation into the alleged falsifications of scientific
research that supported the nuclear dump. The Energy Department
discovered the problems while reviewing e-mail messages.
In the e-mails U.S. Geological Survey scientists talk about
making things up and about how they "fudge" data in the
messages. Nevada's congressional delegation expects the
investigations into the e-mails will produce information
significant enough to stop the program.
But Terry Freese, director of legislative programs for the
Nuclear Energy Institute, the industry's lobbying organization
said Nevada has "overstated" the effects of the recently
discovered e-mails that suggest scientific data was falsified.
Freese said the department, so far, has not found anything that
affected long-term science or the site's suitability to serve as
a repository. The Interior and Energy Departments and the FBI
are investigating what happened.
"The industry believes it is important to keep this
investigation in context," Freese said."We are taking about a
relatively small, focused area in a broad, 20 years of research."
Yucca Mountain Task Force Co-Chairman David Wright, a South
Carolina Public Service Commissioner said this new effort was
"totally unrelated" and not a counterattack.
Martez Norris, the coalition's executive director, said the
Task Force grew out of "continued frustration" about the
project's failure to move forward. Yucca supporters wanted a
united voice again, as they had when working on Congress to
approve the site in 2002.
"Once the resolution was rectified, it was like everybody went
home. and what we are trying to do is to bring everybody back to
the table," Norris said. "Part of it is to educate Congress and
keep it in the forefront."
Charles Pray, Task Force Co-Chairman and Maine's State Nuclear
Safety Advisor, said the goal is to spread the word that nuclear
ratepayers have put $24 billion toward a final storage solution
they have not seen yet.
"It's been a one-sided conversation as of recent weeks,
months," Pray said. " I don't think there has really been an
overall discussion about the alternatives. Nobody seems to put
that information out to the public."
Pray emphasized that without Yucca, nuclear waste would stay
stored at nuclear power plants, which is not part of the
industry's agreement with the government. The plants' storage
containers are not designed to hold waste forever.
Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., plans to introduce a bill that would
allow money from the Nuclear Waste Fund to be used to keep waste
at the nuclear power plants. The bill would allow the government
to take responsibility for the waste on-site, eliminating the
need having to ship the waste across the country, spokeswoman
Tessa Hafen said.
But Pray objects to Reid's idea of keeping waste at the plants,
saying the government has spent billions doing environmental
studies and tests at Yucca.
"I am not sure the federal government has the money to do that
same evaluation for those 35 states," Pray said.
The Task Force want to recruit members in all 41 states where
nuclear power users pay into the Nuclear Waste Fund, the account
earmarked to fund the repository. Ratepayers have put $24
billion into the fund but Congress has shortchanged the
department's budget requests for the project by $1 billion
during the past decade.
The group wants Congress to change the budget rules so the $750
million paid annually into the fund can go straight to the
project without affecting other federal project in the energy
spending bill.
"It's a question of whether or not all these states, and all
these counties, and all these cities and all these indian
nations and all these other people who have material sitting
there, who have spent the money, are going to let a small group
of people focused on the state of Nevada decide what's going to
happen," said Jack Edlow, president of Edlow International Co. a
waste shipping company. Edlow is also in charge of the U.S.
Transport Council.
*****************************************************************
59 Mos News: Hungary Detains Russian Activists Over Nuclear Waste Protest -
NEWS - MOSNEWS.COM
Photo from www.picture-newsletter.com
Created: 26.04.2005 16:13 MSK (GMT +3), Updated: 16:23 MSK
Three Russian environmental activists were arrested in Budapest
after attempting to meet Hungary’s prime minister to discuss
nuclear waste problems, the Ekho Moskvy radio station reported
Tuesday.
The activists were trying to make Hungarian prime minister break
the contract with Russia on the handover of nuclear waste.
Among those detained were the co-chairman of the EcoDefense
environmental group Vladimir Slivyak and two victims of the
Mayak Nuclear Plant’s unlawful activities.
Mayak, the site of several accidents in the past, accepts
nuclear waste from Hungary. It has recently been accused of
polluting the environment, although no proof was found of any
unlawful activities.
The three environmentalists were waiting for the prime minister
at the Hungarian parliament when they were detained. With them
they had samples of radioactive soil, water and cattle horns
from the Chelyabinsk district where the Mayak plant is situated,
the radio station reported.
Earlier this year EcoDefense sent the Hungarian PM a letter
against the import of nuclear waste to Russia, Lenta.Ru adds.
Copyright © 2004 MOSNEWS.COM
*****************************************************************
60 JOURNAL NEWS: More radioactive debris turning up in garbage
www.thejournalnews.com
By ROB RYSER
Disposal guidelines
Westchester County has launched a program called "Don't
Contaminate — Keep It 'til the Safe Date" to encourage patients
to seal soiled personal-care products after radioactive iodine
treatment. The Westchester County Health Department offers the
following guidelines for patients who have undergone I-131
treatment.
1. Put each soiled product in a sealed plastic container
(sealable food-storage bags work well) and then place them in a
covered container (again, plastic food-storage containers work
well). Your health-care provider will have informed you of how
long your fluids will contain a trace amount of I-131. Use this
storage method for the entire time identified by your
health-care provider.
2. Deliver the sealed container of soiled products to the
hospital or health-care facility where you received the I-131
treatment. The facility will store and monitor the products
until the I-131 is deemed safe for disposal into the garbage.
3. Do not put your soiled products into your household trash.
For details, contact your health-care provider or visit the
Westchester County Health Department Web site,
www.westchestergov.com/health/Rad.htm.
(Original publication: April 26, 2005)
Low levels of a radioactive substance used to treat thyroid
cancer, known as iodine-131, are tripping alarms at garbage
collection plants in Westchester County about twice as often as
they did last year, officials said yesterday.
There have been 11 cases in 2005, compared to 10 cases in all of
2004, according to County Executive Andrew Spano, who is calling
on physicians to leave better instructions with patients about
throwing out personal-care products once they go home.
It was not clear yesterday precisely where the radioactive
garbage was coming from, although a county spokeswoman said it
was almost entirely personal products used by patients.
"These products include soiled tissue paper, sanitary napkins,
adult diapers and other products used to absorb body fluids that
are still radioactive," said spokeswoman Wasi Talib in a
prepared statement.
She added that federal law prohibits medical facilities from
throwing out medical waste in household garbage.
The iodine-131 in question is being found in such small traces
that it does not pose a public danger, the county Health
Department said.
Officials speculate that the increased discovery of radioactive
waste in household garbage is due to sophisticated sensors and
patients coming home early after treatment, not realizing that
iodine-131 can still pass through body fluids and be a hazard.
The solution, officials said, is simple enough: Contain the
soiled waste products in a sealed container until the half life
of the radioactive substance expires, often within days. It can
then be disposed of without concern, according to the county
guidelines, known as "Don't Contaminate — Keep 'til the Safe
Date."
The problem arises if the radioactive iodine gets into household
garbage bags and is trucked to a waste-transfer station where it
sets off a radiation alarm. Then the truck is sidelined, the
county Health Department is called in, and a hazardous-waste
removal specialist is usually hired at a cost of $5,000 per job.
That bill gets paid by the garbage truck owner, which in some
cases is a municipality. Pelham Manor was hit with a bill to
remove iodine-131 from a truck in late 2003 at the Westchester
County transfer station in Mount Vernon, for example.
The county picks up the bill when it cannot prove where the
waste came from. That was the case a year ago at the
Wheelabrator Westchester site in Peekskill. A load from a
Yorktown municipal truck had already been dumped on the tipping
floor when the radiation alarm went off.
"We didn't get charged, but we got a call from the county," said
Patrick Lofaro, Yorktown's superintendent of environmental
conservation, who said the county traced its origin from a piece
of mail that was in the garbage. "If it happens again, it is a
cost we are going to have to pay, because we are not going to
fine anybody."
Lofaro planned to ask Yorktown officials tonight to install
radiation sensors on the town's garbage trucks, at a cost of
about $4,000 each, he said.
The larger solution, according to the county, is for the 60
physicians and veterinarians licensed to handle radiation in
Westchester to hand out containers to patients for disposal of
personal care products at home.
The county is extending its message to hospitals in Connecticut,
Manhattan and the Bronx where Westchester residents receive
radiation services.
"We have seen more of these incidents than we would like to
see," said James Hogan, the county director of environmental
management.
Copyright 2005 The Journal News, a Gannett Co. Inc. newspaper
serving Westchester, Rockland and Putnam Counties in New York.
*****************************************************************
61 Salt Lake Tribune: Manager of Yucca Mountain project is retiring
Article Last Updated: 04/26/2005 12:57:37 AM
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON - Management of the troubled Yucca Mountain nuclear
waste dump project is changing hands for the second time in
several months, the Energy Department announced Monday.
Theodore Garrish, who has been in charge of Yucca since
February, is retiring May 13, the department said in a news
release. He will be replaced by Paul Golan, who is currently
principal deputy assistant secretary for environmental
management at the Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste
Management, the DOE office that handles Yucca.
Garrish's retirement is unrelated to recent problems with the
government's plans for the underground nuclear waste dump in
Nevada, including criminal investigations of whether workers on
the project falsified data, said Energy Department spokeswoman
Anne Womack Kolton.
''This is a long-planned retirement and we are sorry to be
losing him,'' Womack Kolton said.
Garrish has been acting director of the Office of Civilian
Radioactive Waste Management since Margaret Chu resigned in
February.
The department is still looking for a permanent replacement,
Womack Kolton said.
Golan will assume management of the Yucca project and
Garrish's title of deputy director for strategy and program
development but has not been named acting director, Womack
Kolton said.
Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman said in a statement that
Garrish's ''dedication to DOE and his leadership on the Yucca
Mountain project will be greatly missed.''
Also on Monday, several state officials, nuclear industry
groups and others that support Yucca Mountain announced
formation of a new task force to promote the project.
© Copyright 2005, The Salt Lake Tribune.
*****************************************************************
62 Shoreline Beacon: Nuclear waste storage topic of open house
Port Elgin, ON
April 27, 2005
N0H 2C0 Phone: (519) 832-9001 Fax: (519) 389-4793
Those wanting to know more about the Deep Geologic Repository
being proposed by Ontario Power Generation can visit one of
three open houses starting Thursday in Saugeen Shores.
By Tracey Cassidy
Wednesday April 27, 2005Shoreline Beacon — Those wanting to know
more about the Deep Geologic Repository being proposed by
Ontario Power Generation can visit one of three open houses
starting Thursday in Saugeen Shores.
The sessions are being held to introduce the public to the
research that has gone into the proposal that would see low and
intermediate level waste buried at the Bruce site.
Terry Squire, director of public affairs for the nuclear waste
management division, hopes the sessions will clear up some of
the misconceptions surrounding the controversial topic,
including the one that high level waste will someday be buried
there. That won’t happen, he said, “ever.”
the Shoreline Beacon.
© 2005 Shoreline Beacon
*****************************************************************
63 Radio Iowa: Eastern Iowans concerned about stored nuclear waste
Monday, April 25, 2005
by Matt Kelley
Eastern Iowans might want to pay closer attention to the debate
over storage of nuclear waste in the proposed Yucca Mountain
site in Nevada. It turns out, there's a large deposit of spent
nuclear fuel sitting on an island in the Mississippi River just
north of the Iowa border -- and it's in a flood plain. Doreen
Hagen, president of the Prairie Island Tribal Council in
Minnesota, says the waste needs to go to Nevada. Hagen says
"Because right now we have 17 nuclear waste storage casks
sitting 600 yards from our community and it's above ground on
the Mississippi River and Yucca Mountain is a better place to be
because it's in a desert, about 90 miles from anywhere."
The state of Nevada is fighting the proposal, citing health and
safety concerns with a nuclear waste dump. Hagen says her Native
American community is closer to a nuclear power plant than any
other in the nation. She says "Highly radioactive nuclear waste
is something that we do not want in our backyard and sitting in a
desert in the mountain is much better than sitting above ground
on the Mississippi River, in a flood plain." Hagen was among the
speakers Monday in Washington D.C., asking Congress to fully fund
the Yucca Mountain project. The plan is opposed by Nevada
officials, some of whom say it appears federal energy officials
falsified data used to establish the safety of the site.
Tel: 515.282.1984; Fax: 515.282.1879; - ©2004
*****************************************************************
64 TomPaine.com: Nuclear Waste Of Time
Beyond the slimy but pedestrian observation that the Washington
Post is further over to industry shills, today's piece by
Ambassador John Ritch, " ," is just short-sighted and wrong.
Ritch wants us to believe that the only path to reducing carbon
emissions is one where nuclear power generation is increased 10
times:
To avert climate catastrophe, greenhouse emissions must be
reduced over the next 50 years by 60 percent -- even as
population growth and economic development are combining to
double or triple world energy consumption.
Every authoritative energy analysis points to an inescapable
imperative: Humankind cannot conceivably achieve a global
clean-energy revolution without a rapid expansion of nuclear
power to generate electricity, produce hydrogen for tomorrow's
vehicles and drive seawater-desalination plants to meet a
fast-emerging world water crisis.
This reality requires a tenfold increase in nuclear energy
during the 21st century...
The good ambassador apparently thinks there is a conceivable
future in which energy consumption doubles or triples. There is
none. On top of that false foundation, he then proposes a
brute-force approach to our energy problems: If you don't have
enough, you need to build more.
Let's unravel. Climate change is only one of facing the planet.
If the only issue we were worried about was climate change,
maybe it would be worth considering nuclear power. But the
problem is much bigger. The problem is embedded in the
inefficiency and overconsumption built into the American
economy, and by extension, the rest of the developed world. The
pathway toward a sustainable future lies in the developed world
becoming more energy efficient, while the developing world
leapfrogs over the excesses of our present economic order.
Investing heavily in nuclear energy will actually slow down the
process of transitioning the American economy. Nuclear power is
inherently a centralized energy source, and much of the
inefficiency within the American energy grid is from
transmission losses. Instead of nuclear, we need to invest in
clean micro-generation of renewable energy distributed
throughout well-deisgned communities that encourage light rail
over cars. Reducing losses to transmission and reducing vehicle
miles travelled during commuting times will save more energy
than nuclear power generates today. It will also create a lot
more jobs as America eliminates unhealthy sprawl and replaces it
with attractive, friendly and safe communities.
Or, we can just build a nuclear plant next to a poor minority
suburb, sit in longer and longer traffic jams, pay higher and
higher costs for distant housing, drive up the price of auto
fuel, and encourage nuclear proliferation. All paid for with
more industry subsidies financed by China.
Thanks, but I'll pass. --Patrick Doherty | Tuesday
+ April 26, 2005
TomPaine.com.] [ /]
[ /]
*****************************************************************
65 PE.com: Perchlorate removal offers hope
Inland Southern California
INLAND: A carbon filter being tested is seen as a breakthrough
in removing the pollutant from water.
11:28 PM PDT on Monday, April 25, 2005
By ROBERTO HERNANDEZ / The Press-Enterprise
Rocket-fuel science
Final testing of a new way of removing perchlorate from drinking
water is scheduled in Redlands.
Perchlorate can impair thyroid function and stunt development,
particularly in newborns and fetuses.
The new method costs roughly $100 to treat more than 325,000
gallons, compared with $1,000 for the same amount of water using
other means.
If approved, it can help create a backup supply of water equal
to 8 millions gallons per day.
Source: Redlands Municipal Utilities Department
The latest way to remove a rocket-fuel chemical that has
contaminated Inland water supplies could soon be up for state
approval.
If approved, the new method will help create a substantial
backup water supply for Redlands and a way to clean up pollution
that has become the latest threat to drinking water in
California and other states.
"The treatment technology works and it removes it down to almost
nothing," Doug Headrick, Redlands chief of water resources, said
this month. Such a treatment would exceed state guidelines. "We
can't even detect it."
Soon, researchers from Pennsylvania State University will resume
final testing at a Redlands treatment plant tucked behind
Texonia Park. The work will cap a roughly five-year effort to
help the city tackle contamination that had seeped into local
groundwater and led to the closure of several wells.
Perchlorate has contaminated hundreds of water supplies
nationwide. Pollution that turned up in Redlands, Loma Linda and
Riverside is believed to have leaked from a former Lockheed
rocket factory in Mentone.
New Filtration
Greg Vojtko / The Press-Enterprise
Doug Headrick, Redlands chief of water resources, left, and
Tom Jurgens, water production maintenance supervisor, meet at a
water treatment plant in Redlands where the city has been
working with researchers to find an effective way to remove
perchlorate from the water.
The method being tested in Redlands involves modifying a proven
method of filtering water with granular activated carbon, or
GAC. Carbon is commonly used to remove chlorine, pesticides,
benzene, solvents and other chemicals. When water flows past the
porous surface of carbon, the chemicals stick to the carbon
while the water passes on.
But, until now, GAC has not been an efficient way of removing
perchlorate from water. Headrick said the Penn State researchers
have specially treated carbon so that it can remove a
significant amount of perchlorate from water.
While state officials have yet to adopt drinking-water standards
for perchlorate, six parts per billion is the current guideline.
The goal in Redlands is to remove it down to less than four
parts per billion, Headrick said.
He said the Penn State research is expected to resume in a month
or two. By the end of the year, the city expects to secure
approval from state health officials to use the new method to
treat well water at the Texas Street site, Headrick said. The
facility was shut down in 1997 after contamination was
discovered.
'Things Actually Work'
The new method could help resolve some Inland contamination
problems.
Officials with the East Valley Water District and the American
Water Works Association Research Foundation -- the water
industry's research arm -- said the new method, if proven, could
offer a new way to remove the pollutant.
"It's kind of a remarkable story," Robert Martin, district
general manager, said. "Once in a while, things actually work
and this is one of them." This district covers Highland and
parts of San Bernardino.
Other methods of removing perchlorate from water exist, each
with its own pros and cons. The modified GAC method will work
well in Redlands because the city already has the Texas Street
plant to put it to use, Headrick said. The method is also less
expensive than standard carbon treatment, he said.
Lockheed is donating $50,000, enough to cover the current batch
of research. The firm has previously paid to dig new wells for
Redlands to replace the contaminated ones.
If all goes well, Redlands plans to start up the Texas Street
plant to create a backup supply of water, up to 8 million
gallons per day.
"When it comes to water supply, more is better," Headrick said.
"Our customers demand water 365 days a year and they're not
happy when it stops -- even for a day."
Reach Roberto Hernandez at (909) 806-3060 or
rhernandez@pe.comMore headlines...
*****************************************************************
66 KLAS: Nuclear Industry Groups Seek More Yucca Funding
April 26, 2005
There's been a lot of talk about the opposition to Yucca
Mountain. Now, nuclear industry groups and others that support
the repository announced Monday they have formed a new task
force to promote the project.
The Yucca Mountain Task Force is going to push for more funding
to keep the project on track. And they intend to remind leaders
in 39 states where nuclear waste now sits that if it doesn't
come to Nevada, it will stay in their backyards.
Charles Pray, with the Yucca Mountain Task Force, says, "Given
the economic record for escalating prices for gasoline, and
growing dependency on short supplies of foreign oil, Yucca
Mountain is imperative to a continued operation of the current
fleet of domestic nuclear power plants..."
The task force says Yucca Mountain is also needed to improve
national security by putting nuclear waste at one site instead
of 125 across the country.
Opponents say that argument is contradictory.
Copyright 2000 - 2005 WorldNow and KLAS. All Rights Reserved.
*****************************************************************
67 DOE: Environmental Management Site-Specific Advisory Board, Oak Ridge
FR Doc 05-8291
[Federal Register: April 26, 2005 (Volume 70, Number 79)]
[Notices] [Page 21405] From the Federal Register Online via GPO
Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr26ap05-55]
Reservation AGENCY: Department of Energy.
ACTION: Notice of open meeting.
SUMMARY: This notice announces a meeting of the Environmental
Management Site-Specific Advisory Board (EMSSAB), Oak Ridge
Reservation. The Federal Advisory Committee Act (Pub. L. 92-463,
86 Stat. 770) requires that public notice of this meeting be
announced in the Federal Register.
DATES: Wednesday, May 11, 2005, 6 p.m.
ADDRESSES: DOE Information Center, 475 Oak Ridge Turnpike, Oak
Ridge, Tennessee.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Pat Halsey, Federal Coordinator,
Department of Energy Oak Ridge Operations Office, P.O. Box 2001,
EM-90, Oak Ridge, TN 37831. Phone (865) 576-4025; Fax (865)
576-5333 or e- mail: halseypj@oro.doe.gov or check the Web site
at http://www.oakridge.doe.gov/em/ssab .
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Purpose of the Board: The purpose of
the Board is to make recommendations to DOE in the areas of
environmental restoration, waste management, and related
activities.
Tentative Agenda: Stewardship Education Resource Kit.
Public Participation: The meeting is open to the public.
Written statements may be filed with the Board either before or
after the meeting. Individuals who wish to make oral statements
pertaining to the agenda item should contact Pat Halsey at the
address or telephone number listed above. Requests must be
received five days prior to the meeting and reasonable provision
will be made to include the presentation in the agenda. The
Deputy Designated Federal Officer is empowered to conduct the
meeting in a fashion that will facilitate the orderly conduct of
business. Individuals wishing to make public comment will be
provided a maximum of five minutes to present their comments.
Minutes: Minutes of this meeting will be available for public
review and copying at the Department of Energy's Information
Center at 475 Oak Ridge Turnpike, Oak Ridge, TN between 8 a.m.
and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, or by writing to Pat Halsey,
Department of Energy Oak Ridge Operations Office, P.O. Box 2001,
EM-90, Oak Ridge, TN 37831, or by calling her at (865) 576-4025.
Issued at Washington, DC, on April 20, 2005.
Rachel M. Samuel, Deputy Advisory Committee Management Officer.
[FR Doc. 05-8291 Filed 4-25-05; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 6450-01-P
*****************************************************************
68 New Mexican: Bid for LANL contract delayed again
Tue Apr 26, 2005 10:27 pm
Those keeping track of the competition for the job of managing
Los Alamos National Laboratory might want to write everything in
pencil.
The date for the bidding war to begin has slipped again, from
late April until mid-May.
That's when the U.S. Department of Energy plans to issue its
final request for proposals, Albuquerque office spokeswoman Tracy
Loughead said Monday.
Since December, a draft version of the contract terms and
conditions to take on management of the weapons lab has gone
through a process of public review and revision. How much to pay
the contractor and how to preserve benefits for thousands of
existing University of California employees at Los Alamos have
been major issues.
The university's current management contract expires Sept. 30.
The Energy Department intends to select a contractor this summer,
with the next manager taking over by Oct. 1. But with delays,
those dates could slip.
Once the final request for proposals is released, bidders have 90
days to submit an elaborate proposal for running the birthplace
of the atomic bomb and its ongoing weapons program.
"We're anxious to see this RFP because we want to ensure it has a
strong focus on science and technology," UC spokesman Chris
Harrington said. "That's our strength."
University regents said they won't decide whether to
enter the competition until that time. Likely partners for UC are
Bechtel National (an engineering firm); Washington Group
International (an engineering and construction company) and The
University of New Mexico.
Meanwhile, both Lockheed Martin Corp., which runs Sandia National
Laboratories in Albuquerque, and Northrop Grumman, have declared
their intentions to compete. The two defense companies are
well-acquainted with each other, having gone head-to-head for
jobs and collaborated on work over the years.
In a formal statement Monday, Northrop Grumman firmed up its
intention to bid for the Los Alamos management contract.
"Our ability to manage large-scale operations will allow the lab
staff to concentrate on their primary mission: science," said
James O'Neill, corporate vice president, in a news release.
The company runs such operations as the Cape Canaveral
Spaceport, the U.S. Missile Defense Agency's Joint National
Integration Center and the Joint Forces Command's Cyber Warfare
Integration Network.
With offices in Los Alamos and Albuquerque, Northrop Grumman
already has 445 employees in New Mexico. A branch of the company
that deals with space technology has a relationship with LANL.
Bidders will be scored, in part, on the senior laboratory
leadership they propose, and Northrop Grumman has been
advertising five top positions at LANL, including the deputy
director's seat. Juli Ballesteros, a company spokeswoman, said
officials are in discussion with a New Mexico resident for the
top position, though further details were withheld.
Northrop Grumman is keeping quiet on many other points, as well.
Last month, David Amerine of CH2M Hill, said his Denver-based
company will partner with Northrop Grumman and Teledyne Brown
Engineering for the bid. But Ballesteros did not confirm that
Monday.
"We're still talking to a lot of companies, as well as
universities, to get them signed up to the team," she said.
C. Paul Robinson, who has headed Sandia National Laboratories
since 1995 and once worked at Los Alamos, will step down Friday
to help Lockheed Martin prepare its bid. If Lockheed Martin wins
the contract, the company has said he would become Los Alamos'
next director.
Team members are being recruited. "We're still talking with the
University of Texas and others," Lockheed Martin spokesman Don
Carson said Monday.
The board of regents of The University of Texas system will meet
Thursday to discuss and hear public comments on a possible bid
for the Los Alamos management contract, but no action on this
agenda item is expected to occur at this meeting. Texas regents
voted in February to withdraw from the bidding.
Nuclear Watch of New Mexico -- in connection with other
disarmament groups -- also is gearing up for the competition.
The University of California has operated the lab since its
creation during World War II. In recent years, security, safety
and business management lapses at the lab prompted
then-Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham and the Congress to put
the management contract out to bid for the first time.
The seven-year contract is potentially worth $2.2 billion per
year. Extensions of the contract could raise the total value to
$44 billion over
20 years.
U.S. Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., on Monday reiterated his
preference for the University of California to retain the
contract. Noting the contract competitors may offer some
surprises in their bids, he encouraged LANL workers to delay
judgment until the new contract is let.
Privacy Policy | ©2005, Santa Fe New Mexican, all rights
reserved.
*****************************************************************
69 KRQE News 13: Former LANL employee sentenced for hacking
Posted: 4/26/2005 5:41:00 PM
Source: AP
SAN JOSE, Calif. -- A former Los Alamos National Laboratory
computer specialist has been sentenced to eight months in prison
in a computer hacking case.
Jerome Heckenkamp, 25, of Santa Monica, California, was sentenced
yesterday in San Jose, California.
US District Judge James Ware also has ordered him repay $268,291.
Heckenkamp also cannot use a computer with Internet access for
three years without approval from a probation officer.
He pleaded guilty in January 2004 to two charges of hacking into
and damaging the computers of several high-tech companies --
including online auction giant eBay Incorporated.
The attacks took place when he was a graduate student at the
University of Wisconsin, before he worked at the lab.
News 13 | KBIM News 10 | KREZ News 6 | KRQE.com| KBIMtv.com|
KREZtv.com -
*****************************************************************
70 East Oregonian: Hanford health effects trial begins
Tuesday, April 26, 2005
This photo released by the U.S. Department of Energy shows the
Hanford nuclear reservation’s B Reactor in this aerial file
photo taken in the mid-1940s near Richland. AP file photo
SPOKANE (AP) — It may have made the plutonium used in the
nation’s Cold War atomic weapons, but the Hanford nuclear
reservation “is no atomic bomb” that harmed the health of people
who lived downwind, a lawyer for former government contractors
says.
“We believe the evidence is going to show that Hanford is no
atomic bomb; it’s apples and oranges,” lawyer Kevin Van Wart
told federal court jurors on Monday as the Hanford health
effects trial began. “Hanford is no Chernobyl.”
Van Wart represents E.I. DuPont de Nemours and General Electric
companies, which operated Hanford’s plutonium-making plants for
the government from 1944 to 1967.
The corporations will present scientific studies to show Hanford
releases did not cause the thyroid conditions of six
“downwinders” who sued, alleging the contamination harmed their
health, he said.
“There is no evidence that, without Hanford, these plaintiffs
would not have their thyroid conditions,” Van Wart said.
But Richard Eymann, who represents the six plaintiffs, said he
intends to call cancer experts who will link releases of
radioactive iodine from Hanford to his clients’ illnesses.
“We believe we have proof to show you their cancers and other
diseases were caused by Hanford releases,” Eymann told the jury.
“This is the first trial where the story of Hanford’s effects
will finally be shared with a jury.”
U.S. District Judge Frem Nielsen read a brief history of
plutonium-making operations, then told the jury the only
question it will be asked is whether iodine 131 caused the
plaintiffs’ injuries and, if so, what damages they are due. The
trial is expected to last five weeks.
The six plaintiffs are the first of nearly 2,300 people who sued
former Hanford contractors, alleging that accidental and
intentional releases of radioactive iodine-131 from bomb-making
operations made them ill.
Iodine-131 concentrates in the thyroid gland, which regulates
the body’s metabolism.
Both sides in the case agree that at least 740,000 curies of
radioactivity were released from Hanford during the years in
question. A curie is a measurement of radiation. The plaintiffs
contend that no amount of radiation is safe; the defense
contends that amount is equivalent in damage to about 12 chest
X-rays.
The plaintiffs — five women and one man in their late 50s and
early 60s — were infants and children living near Hanford, Walla
Walla and Colfax, where wind carried contamination from Hanford
Cold War operations.
Three were diagnosed with thyroid cancer and three were treated
for hypothyroidism, or deficient thyroid gland activity.
Lawyers for both sides said they will concentrate on thyroid
studies from Hanford, Japan after World War II, the Nevada Test
Site and the Chernobyl reactor accident 19 years ago in Ukraine.
Van Wart encouraged the jurors to pay close attention to the
Hanford Thyroid Dose Study, which concluded in 2002 that there
was no link between Hanford releases and increased thyroid
conditions in the downwind area.
“You are going to have to judge whether there is a study that is
more important to this case,” Van Wart told jurors. “Very few
studies can match this in the thoroughness of the medical
workups.”
Eymann’s co-counsel, Louise Roselle, said that Hanford dose
study had “serious limitations” and added that scientists will
be called to testify that radioactive iodine from Hanford caused
the plaintiffs’ disorders.
The 13-year, $19.5 million Hanford Thyroid Dose Study, conducted
by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Fred
Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, studied nearly
5,200 people who lived in seven Eastern Washington counties from
1944 to 1957.
Entire contents © Copyright, 2005 by The East Oregonian, All
Rights Reserved
*****************************************************************
71 DOE: Environmental Management Site-Specific Advisory Board, Idaho
FR Doc 05-8290
[Federal Register: April 26, 2005 (Volume 70, Number 79)]
[Notices] [Page 21405] From the Federal Register Online via GPO
Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr26ap05-54]
National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory AGENCY:
Department of Energy.
ACTION: Notice of open meeting.
SUMMARY: This notice announces a meeting of the Environmental
Management Site-Specific Advisory Board (EMSSAB), Idaho National
Engineering and Environmental Laboratory. The Federal Advisory
Committee Act (Pub. L. No. 92-463, 86 Stat. 770) requires that
public notice of this meeting be announced in the Federal
Register.
DATES: Tuesday, May 17, 2005, 8 a.m.-6 p.m.; Wednesday, May 18,
2005, 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Opportunities for public participation will
be held Tuesday, May 17, from 12:15 to 12:30 p.m. and 5:45 to 6
p.m.; and on Wednesday, May 18, from 11:45 a.m. to 12 noon and 4
to 4:15 p.m. Additional time may be made available for public
comment during the presentations.
These times are subject to change as the meeting progresses,
depending on the extent of comment offered. Please check with the
meeting facilitator to confirm these times.
ADDRESSES: Hampton Inn and Suites at the Idaho Center, 5750 East
Franklin Road, Nampa, ID 83687.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Shannon A. Brennan, Federal
Coordinator, Department of Energy, NE-ID Idaho Operations Office,
1955 Fremont Avenue, MS-1216, Idaho Falls, ID 83401. Phone (208)
526-3993; Fax (208) 526-1926 or e-mail:
Shannon.Brennan@nuclear.energy.gov or visit the Board's Internet
home page at: http://www.ida.net/users/cab.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Purpose of the Board: The purpose of
the Board is to make recommendations to DOE in the areas of
environmental restoration, waste management, and related
activities.
Tentative Topics (Agenda topics may change up to the day of the
meeting; please contact Shannon A. Brennan for the most current
agenda or visit the Board's Internet site at
http://www.ida.net/users/cab/): Receive presentations on the
potential impacts of Idaho National Laboratory missions on the
environment and on the cleanup program.
Receive presentations related to the award of the new contract
for the Idaho Cleanup Program.
Develop recommendations addressing the approach to cleanup and
closure of the Subsurface Disposal Area and the Idaho Nuclear
Technology Engineering Center.
Public Participation: The meeting is open to the public.
Written statements may be filed with the Board either before or
after the meeting. Individuals who wish to make oral
presentations pertaining to agenda items should contact Shannon
A. Brennan at the address or telephone number listed above. The
request must be received five days prior to the meeting and
reasonable provision will be made to include the presentation in
the agenda. The Deputy Designated Federal Officer is empowered to
conduct the meeting in a fashion that will facilitate the orderly
conduct of business. Individuals wishing to make public comment
will be provided equal time to present their comments.
Minutes: The minutes of this meeting will be available for public
review and copying at the Department of Energy's Freedom of
Information Public Reading Room, 1E-190, Forrestal Building, 1000
Independence Avenue, SW., Washington, DC 20585 between 9 a.m. and
4 p.m., Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays. Minutes
will also be available by writing to Shannon A. Brennan, Federal
Coordinator, at the address and phone number listed above.
Issued at Washington, DC, on April 20, 2005.
Rachel Samuel, Deputy Advisory Committee Management Officer.
[FR Doc. 05-8290 Filed 4-25-05; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 6450-01-P
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