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                         NUCLEAR POLICY
 
1 RIA Novosti: Nuclear watchdog IAEA inspects Iran, finds no violation
2 www.presstrust.com: A nuclear Iran
3 Xinhua: Iran halts nuclear activity: IAEA   
4 Xinhua: IAEA confirms peaceful nature of Iran's nuclear activities  
5 Daily Times: EDITORIAL: Iran exonerated from allegations of uranium 
6 Daily Times: Rafsanjani sees nuclear deal with EU 
7 Daily Times: Iran has frozen work at nuclear plant - diplomats 
8 The Peninsula On-line: Tehran backs El Baradei as IAEA chief 
9 STUFF: Iran has frozen work at nuclear site - UN diplomats 
10 Hankyoreh: [Editorial] North Korea Must Now Respond 
11 Korea Herald: [EDITORIALS]Window of dialogue   
12 Korea: Digital Chosunilbo: Korea and U.S. Must Continue to Speak Wit
13 Korea: Digital Chosunilbo: U.S. Hopeful of N.Korean Return to Talks 
14 Guardian Unlimited: Bush Shows Deference to S. Korean Leader
15 Daily Ittefaq: Nuclear Bomb of N. Korea
16 Guardian Unlimited: Bush, S. Korea Try to Bridge Differences
17 Japan Times: NEW U.S. DEFENSE POSTURE
18 Korea Times: US Magazine Hosted NK War Council 
19 US: Portsmouth Herald: Coal is cool again
20 US: WorldNetDaily: A palliative for neo-crazy lies
21 US: Salt Lake Tribune: Ex-watchdog: Huntsman left me in the dark 
22 US: Salt Lake Tribune: Huntsman to meet with Western guvs
23 US: Salt Lake Tribune: Cheap power or big eyesore? Some are fighting
24 US: Salt Lake Tribune: Where our money goes
25 US: LA TIMES: A Shift to Green 
26 US: Junk Science Report: Greens Are the Real Energy Problem
27 US: Free Internet Press: Assault Of Nuclear Whistleblower Latest In 
28 Guardian Unlimited: Britain's special nuclear relationship
29 IAEA: Press Arrangements for the IAEA Board of Governors Meeting
30 IAEA: Belgium´s Underground "Hot" Lab
31 Daily Times VIEW: The Union and the dragon —Bernard Bot 
32 Webindia123.com: Substantial N-fuel breakthrough accomplished
 
                         NUCLEAR REACTORS
 
33 "Free" Press On New Generation Of Nuke Reactors
34 US: AP Wire: Utilities show interest in new nuke plants
35 NEWS.com.au: Nuclear plants vulnerable to attack 
36 BBC: Nuclear plant to close for
37 US: APP.COM: Fuel-tank leak at nuclear plant
38 US: Journal News: Leak of non-radioactive water shuts down IP3
39 US: toledoblade.com: Davis-Besse will get very close scrutiny
40 US: APP.COM: Growing chorus opposes plant
41 CDB: Earley taking key role in discussions of nuclear power 
42 CNW Group: Greenpeace tells McGuinty government: Go Green - No Nukes
43 Japan Times: Light-water reactors find new favor as breeder stalls
44 The Tribune: A world first in N-power programme
45 Border Mail: Labor rejects nuclear power 
46 AU ABC: Campbell urges WA to use nuclear power. 
47 AU ABC: Nuclear power too expensive, dangerous: Garrett. 
48 Webindia123.com: "Pakistan to build 12 new nuclear power plants"
49 US: PRN: PPL's Susquehanna Nuclear Power Plant Restarts Unit 2 
50 asahi.com: Nuclear policy to focus on upgraded light-water reactors
51 Scotsman.com: Leak raises nuclear power doubts
52 Sofia Morning News: Bulgaria's Nuke Unit 3 Decoupled for Repairs
 
                          NUCLEAR SECURITY
 
 
                          NUCLEAR SAFETY
 
53 LEUREN MORET - DU: A Scientific Perspective
54 US: Lahontan Valley News: Local residents remember atom bomb testing
55 US: El Defensor Chieftain: Uranium in well not new, city says
56 Globe and Mail: Report raises potential for nuclear accident
57 MNT: Incidence of childhood cancer around nuclear installations in
58 US: TBO.com: New Rules Extend Federal Help For Illness From Weapons 
59 US: Paducah Sun: National groups say sick-worker rules fall short - 
60 US: South Florida Sun-Sentinel: Cold War radiation didn't cause canc
 
                         NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE
 
61 US: Bradenton Herald: Tallevast workers spur action
62 US: Deseret News: Governors to talk industry 
63 BBC: Legal threat over Sellafield
64 Sunday Herald: Nuclear waste agency selected dumps on the basis of p
65 US: Herald Tribune: Stein pledges fight with Lockheed over Tallevast
66 US: Joplin Globe: Local agencies detail response in event of acciden
67 ITV: Sellafield leak 'missed for months'
68 Scotsman.com: Nuclear Leak Closes Part of Sellafield Site
69 Guardian Unlimited: Sellafield radioactive leak to cost £300m
70 US: CCDR: Cotter clean up start of earning public’s trust
71 REGIONAL FARE: Reprocessing fuel of FBTR 
72 RGJ: Chief of U.S. Geological Survey resigning amid flap over Yucca
73 Scottish National Party: Scotland must not become nuclear dump  SNP 
74 Independent: Nuclear waste: the 1,000-year fudge 
75 US: CCDR: Cotter excavation top choice
76 UK Leeds Today: Power station considered as waste site
 
                           PEACE
 
 
                        US DEPT. OF ENERGY
 
77 The New Mexican: Police unraveling Cheeks beating        
78 The New Mexican: Police: No LANL link in beating        
79 ABQjournal: Beating Victim Stands By Account 
80 ABQjournal: Accounts of Man's Beating Differ 
81 ABQjournal: Beating Not Tied to LANL, Police Say 
82 ABQjournal: UC's Lab Contract Extended to May 2006 
83 ABQjournal: UC's Lab Contract Extended to May 2006 
84 ABQjournal: Retaliation Was 'Not Intentional' 
85 ABQjournal: Police Defend Beating Inquiry 
86 ABQJOURNAL: UC Given 8-month Contract Extension To Manage LANL 
87 APP.COM Inside the Oak Ridge plants
88 APP.COM: Oak Ridge, Tenn.
89 Tri-Valley Herald: Lawyer takes hot seat as weapons lab adviser
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                         FULL NEWS STORIES
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 1 RIA Novosti: Nuclear watchdog IAEA inspects Iran, finds no violations - 
Iranian source
 
TEHRAN, June 12 (RIA Novosti, Nikolai Terekhov) - An unannounced
IAEA inspection of Iranian nuclear sites has failed to find any
banned uranium-enrichment activities in the world's most
inspected country, a source in the Iranian nuclear energy
authority told RIA Novosti. 

"The [International Atomic Energy] Agency inspected some nuclear
sites, including the Isfagan Nuclear Center and the Uranium
Enrichment Center in Natanza, finding no evidence of Iran's
non-compliance with its commitments to suspend uranium
enrichment and development of sensitive nuclear technology,"
said the source in Sazeman-e Energy Atomi (SEA, the Atomic
Energy Organization of Iran). 

Since Iran is a party to an additional protocol to the
Nonproliferation Treaty, the IAEA is entitled to inspect its
nuclear sites without prior notice, which it has done over 1,000
times since Iran joined the protocol, making it world's most
inspected country. 

"We expect IAEA experts will confirm Iran's compliance at the
forthcoming session of the Agency's Council of Governors
scheduled to begin in Vienna on Monday," the source said. 

Earlier this year, the European Troika (the U.K., France, and
Germany) had talked Iran into suspending uranium enrichment.
Late last month, Iran prolonged the self-imposed ban in return
for EU promises to submit a new program next month, which they
say would help resolve controversy around Iran's nuclear
aspirations. 

Although IAEA inspections have failed to find any evidence of a
military drift in Iranian nuclear programs, the United States
still insists that the country might be covertly developing
nuclear weapons and claims Iran should be denied access to any
nuclear technology. 

© 2005 "RIA Novosti"   
*****************************************************************
 2 www.presstrust.com: A nuclear Iran
 
With Iran adamant to move forward with their plan to gain
nuclear capabilities, many reports suggest that Iran would be a
nuclear state by 2007. The reports floated by researchers in the
west apprehend the same. The report published by CIA recently
raised a lot of concern among the US State department and his
close ally Israel over Iran’s nuclear status. Neither Israel nor
US would like Iran to develop nuclear capabilities.
Apprehensions are many, no direct threat to the US but certainly
to its allies like Israel. Above all, Israel will loose regional
supremacy. 

Every effort is being made to persuade Iran to shun its nuclear
plans. Negotiations are on between European Union and Iran to
convince not to produce weapons grade uranium. European union
impresses upon Iran that she should use nuclear energy only for
peaceful purposes. Moreover, EU expects the process to be
transparent and international community and IAEA should be
convinced that Iran has only peaceful nuclear ambitions. 

However, US is growing impatient. Though US feign to resolve the
issue diplomatically, it is not completely relying on it.
Impatience and nervousness can be gauged from Secretary of
State, Condoleezza Rice, who used a very harsh language
recently. She said, “use of force might be an option. Any
country trying to resolve issues will weigh its words carefully
at this juncture.” All US seems concerned about is it’s hegemony
over other nations. 

They do want any strategic shift from West to Islamic nation.
Pakistan was slammed with sanctions when they testified nuclear
weapons. Despite the fact every country has right to have
minimum deterrence to safeguard national interest. Irony is that
it is America that has not only percolated weapons race but
triggers arms race in this part of this continent. Latest
example is sale of F-14 to Pakistan and F-16 promise to India.
In the meantime America has developed F-19 for them and they
will sell it to any nation at exorbitant prices only after they
have higher versions of such planes. They always force other
nations to be second when it come to weapons and strategic
location. 

Now, unnerved by Iran’s dream to be counted in nuclear states,
Pentagon, the US think tank asylum, continues to conduct
surveillance of Iran’s nuclear sites trespassing their air space
without any permission from Iranian authorities. For several
months spacecraft has been moving in and out Iran violating
space pacts. Iran spotted Israeli made DRONES in its airspace
quite frequently. The US from such acts show willingness to try
to resort other methods to stop Iran from acquiring nuclear
weapons. 

Being aware of the fact that whether the clerics are in power or
the reformists both will pursue nuclear goals with zeal, the US
feels helplessness to address the issue by creating political
trouble in the name of regime change as done in other Muslim
nations. Now, Iran is apprehensive of surgical strike, which
could destroy an Iraqi nuclear plant as done in Osirak in 1981
by an Israeli raid.

 Any such attempt, if not opposed by Muslim nations, could rob
Iran from its right to pursue with their minimum deterrent
programme. But, the big question is why non-Muslim nations and
allies of America are not stopped by ‘saviours of humanity’ from
developing weapons of mass destruction? 

The case in point is Israel who openly threatens to use high-end
weapons against Palestine. Important is who has given the right
to US to attack any muslim country against world opinion. Have
ever muslim nations tried to resolve Christian disputes like
Northern Ireland. 

Though Muslim nations have an opinion about the issue concerning
Christian disputes but they do not want to indulge militarily in
those issues. When we respect their concerns why aren’t US
respect our sentiments. Instead, they are on rampage to destroy
muslim relics in Iraq, human rights violation in Afghanistan and
Cuba. When will good sense prevail upon US and they will stop
humiliating muslims in the name of terrorism. It is enough now! 

Bombaybiz.com. 

*****************************************************************
 3 Xinhua: Iran halts nuclear activity: IAEA   

  www.xinhuanet.com

  www.chinaview.cn 2005-06-11 15:30:26   

    Beijing, June 11 -- The UN nuclear watchdog has verified
that Iran has kept its word by freezing all sensitive nuclear
work. 

    Experts from the UN nuclear watchdog have inspected an
underground uranium enrichment plant in Iran and verified that
the country has kept its word by freezing all sensitive nuclear
work there. 

    A team from the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy
Agency (IAEA) visited the uranium enrichment plant at Natanz in
central Iran on Thursday. 

    The agency is expected to inform the IAEA's 35-member board
of governors at next week's quarterly meeting that Iran has kept
its promise about halting sensitive work. 

    Mohammed Saidi, the deputy chief of international and
planning affairs at the Iranian department for atomic energy,
said the IAEA team was not hindered in their inpection of the
facilities. 

    The IAEA is also scheduled to inspect Iran's nuclear
facilities in Isfahan Saturday. 

    (Source: CRIENGLISH.com)   

  Copyright ©2003 Xinhua News Agency. All rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
 4 Xinhua: IAEA confirms peaceful nature of Iran's nuclear activities   

  www.xinhuanet.com

  www.chinaview.cn 2005-06-12 09:05:26   

    TEHRAN, June 11 (Xinhuanet) -- Iran's chief nuclear
negotiator Hassan Rowhani said on Saturday that the UN nuclear
watchdog has confirmed the peaceful nature of Iran's nuclear
activities, the semi-official Mehr news agency reported. 

    "Fortunately, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
has confirmed that Iran's nuclear activities are meant for
peaceful purposes," Rowhani was quoted as saying during a
meeting with Yemeni Foreign Minister Abu Bakr Abdullah al-Kurbi
in the Yemeni capital of Sanaa. 

    Rowhani's comments came one day after a western diplomat
said that IAEA inspectors examined Iran's uranium enrichment
facilities in the central city of Natanz on Thursday and proved
that Iran had frozen all sensitive activities there as it had
pledged. 

    The negotiator reiterated Iran's position that the country's
uranium enrichment suspension is a temporary measure only meant
for confidence-building. 

    Iran, currently under strict inspection of the IAEA, is
trying hard to disprove the US accusation that Iran develops
nuclear weapons secretly. Iran rejects the charge as politically
motivated. 

    Tehran insists that it never give up its legitimate rights
for peaceful nuclear technology. 

    However, the Islamic Republic suspended its uranium
enrichment activities last November to avoid a referral of its
case to the UN Security Council. 

    The suspension also opened the door to continuing nuclear
negotiations with the European trio of Britain, France and
Germany, the broker of the Iranian nuclear issue since 2003. 

    The negotiations reached a deadlock due to uncompromising
positions of the two sides. 

    Iran has sought to keep its uranium enrichment activities,
while providing guarantees of the peaceful nature of its nuclear
program, a non-existent concurrence according to Europe. 

    The two sides resumed a key round of talks on May 25 in
Geneva, during which they agreed to prolong the negotiations
till late July. Enditem   

  Copyright ©2003 Xinhua News Agency. All rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
 5 Daily Times: EDITORIAL: Iran exonerated from allegations of uranium enrichment? 

  Saturday, June 11, 2005

A diplomat at the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna
appears to have leaked the preliminary findings of the tests run
by the IAEA on the centrifuge components Islamabad handed over
to the Agency and about which the Foreign Office revealed some
information on May 27. According to the preliminary IAEA report,
Iran may not be involved in enriching uranium to weapons-grade
since the traces found on parts of Pakistani centrifuges match
those on the centrifuges IAEA found at the Natanz nuclear
facility in 2003 and which Iran claimed to have bought from the
network run by Dr Abdul Qadeer Khan. What does this mean?

These findings, if proved correct — a process which, say
experts, would take another month or so — would strengthen the
Iranian argument that it is not making bomb-grade uranium and is
interested only in low-enriched uranium for the purpose of
generating energy. Tehran has consistently taken this line in
the face of mounting pressure and allegations from the United
States — and Israel — that it (Iran) is walking down the path of
nuclear weapons. These allegations are at least circumstantially
supported by two factors: Iran is rich in natural energy, both
oil and gas. Why should it be so interested in nuclear energy
and keep working that option even in the face of suspicions and
international pressure? Iran has an ambitious missile programme
and its Shahab series is intermediate-range. What is the purpose
of a missile that purports to hit its target at a distance of
1,500 to 2,500 kilometres if it were to only carry a tactical
warhead? To these arguments was added further evidence when Iran
disclosed, after 18 years of dissembling, that it was indeed
enriching uranium and the IAEA found equipment from Natanz that
carried traces of uranium enriched to weapons-grade. Iran took
the plea that the traces came with the equipment when Tehran
bought it from the Dr Khan network.

The argument seemed to drive the point that the equipment,
before Khan stole it from the Pakistan government and sold it to
Iran, was used for enriching weapons-grade uranium. This would
of course be possible and plausible since Pakistan did use its
centrifuges for weapons-grade enrichment and, since 1998, is a
declared nuclear-weapons state.

There is no official comment from Pakistan and it is unlikely
that the government will come up with any reaction until the
IAEA officially presents Islamabad with its final report on the
matter. The IAEA spokesman too has declined any comment on the
leak and said that “testing and analysis are still underway”.
But if the leak is correct, it would serve to absolve Iran of
any wrongdoing without in any way being negative for Pakistan
since Islamabad has already distanced itself from Dr Khan’s
activities and handed over centrifuge parts to the IAEA at the
request of Iran.

Will this mean an end to allegations from the US and Israel?
That is unlikely. The US is already pointing to Iran’s
experimentation with plutonium, its imports of equipment that
can be used for nuclear weapons programme and other long-hidden
Iranian activities. It would very likely continue to do so.
However, such an outcome would definitely give more space to
Euro-3 — the UK, Germany and France — to negotiate with Iran
more purposefully and find a solution to the ongoing crisis. * 

Daily Times - All Rights Reserved
*****************************************************************
 6 Daily Times: Rafsanjani sees nuclear deal with EU 

  Saturday, June 11, 2005

TEHRAN: Leading presidential candidate Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani
has expressed optimism Iran can forge a deal with Europe over
its nuclear programme, but warned against negotiations taking
too much time.

“We can reach an accord, but I cannot predict when that will
happen,” Rafsanjani told AFP in an interview when asked of the
chances of reaching a deal in the talks with Britain, France and
Germany.

Rafsanjani, the hot favourite to win June 17’s presidential
election, reaffirmed Tehran’s position that it wanted to resume
uranium enrichment activities, currently suspended for the talks.

“We are against the negotiations being dragged out for no
reason. The negotiations can continue longer, on the condition
that we can resume our (uranium conversion) activities in
Isfahan.”

The cleric said it would be “positive” for the talks if the
United States joined the Europeans at the negotiating table,
claiming Washington had conceded that Iran should be allowed to
carry out low-level enrichment of uranium.

“I think it would be easier if the Americans continue to act the
way they have. We need an accord on enrichment. (Bush) said,
according to what was reported in the press, that Iran can
enrich to low levels,” he said.

However, the United States has not explicitly said Iran can go
ahead with low-level enrichment, and diplomats have said the
US-EU demand is still for Iran to abandon its sensitive nuclear
fuel cycle work althogether.

Late last month, President George W. Bush just said that Iran
was “not to be trusted when it comes to highly enriched uranium
or highly enriching uranium”, without making any reference to
low-level activities.

Rafsanjani emphasised he had “always been hostile to the
construction of nuclear arms and weapons of mass destruction”,
confirming that supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had issued
a fatwa (religious decree) to that effect.

Iran has pledged to suspend its activities linked to uranium
enrichment, which makes what can be fuel for civilian power
reactors or the explosive core of atom bombs, for the duration
of the negotiations.

But it insists it has the right to carry out enrichment within
the framework of a peaceful nuclear programme. Washington
alleges Iran’s nuclear drive is geared towards producing
weapons, charges firecely denied by Tehran. afp 

*****************************************************************
 7 Daily Times: Iran has frozen work at nuclear plant - diplomats 

  Saturday, June 11, 2005

VIENNA: Experts from the UN nuclear watchdog have inspected an
underground uranium enrichment plant in Iran and verified that
Tehran has kept its word by freezing all sensitive nuclear work
there, diplomats said on Friday. 

A team from the Vienna-based IAEA went to the uranium enrichment
plant at Natanz on Thursday and verified that no activities
related to the production of uranium fuel were taking place.
“The IAEA went to Natanz and, among other things, verified the
suspension,” a Western diplomat familiar with the IAEA’s
investigation of Iran said on condition of anonymity. 

The agency was expected to inform the IAEA’s 35-member board of
governors at next week’s quarterly meeting that Iran had kept
its promise about freezing sensitive work at Natanz and
elswhere, diplomats said. Tehran has frozen its enrichment
programme, which could produce fuel for nuclear power plants or
weapons, under a November deal with European states. reuters 

Daily Times - All Rights Reserved
*****************************************************************
 8 The Peninsula On-line: Tehran backs El Baradei as IAEA chief 

Qatar's leading English Daily 
	 
Web posted at: 6/13/2005 2:18:3

 Source ::: AFP                                 

TEHRAN: Iran has for the first time expressed its support for
the re-election of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
director Mohamed El Baradei, hailing what it said was a
"consensus" against the United States. 		 		 		 		

"We hope that he is elected again because there is a consensus
about him and America has been isolated," foreign ministry
spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi told reporters. 		 		 		 		

Since February 2003, El Baradei has been leading a probe of
Iran's nuclear programme, and Tehran was subsequently forced to
acknowledged it had hidden its sensitive activities from the
UN's nuclear watchdog for close to two decades. 		 		 		 		

El Baradei, 62, has said the "jury is still out" on whether Iran
is secretly developing nuclear weapons, resisting pressure from
the United States which insists the country has been using an
atomic energy drive as a cover for weapons development. 		 		 		
		

Last week the US removed its opposition to the former Egyptian
diplomat and said it was ready to accept a third term for him
despite past policy disagreements over both Iraq's and Iran's
nuclear programmes. 		 		 		 		

Iran says it has since November suspended uranium enrichment
activities towards making fuel for civilian nuclear power
plants. Critics of Iran's nuclear intentions say the suspension
is necessary because the same enrichment process could also lead
to the explosive core of nuclear bombs. 		 		 		 		

At an IAEA meeting this week, El Baradei is due to release a new
report on how Iran is cooperating with the agency. 		 		 		 		

IAEA inspectors who recently visited a uranium conversion
facility in Isfahan and an underground uranium enrichment plant
in Natanz. Natanz is at the centre of international concerns,
because Iran wants to produce nuclear fuel there by using
centrifuges, the same process that can also be used to make
highly enriched uranium for weapons. 		 		 		 		

Iranian officials said the visits allowed the inspectors to see
that Iran is honoring its pledge to suspend of nuclear fuel
activities. 		 		 		 		
    
© 2001 The Peninsula. All
*****************************************************************
 9 STUFF: Iran has frozen work at nuclear site - UN diplomats 

New Zealand's leading news and information website
 
11 June 2005 

VIENNA: Experts from the United Nations nuclear watchdog have
inspected an underground uranium enrichment plant in Iran and
verified that Tehran has kept its word by freezing all sensitive
nuclear work there, diplomats said on Friday. 

A team from the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency
(IAEA) went to the uranium enrichment plant at Natanz in central
Iran on Thursday. Although it was briefly barred from one part
of Natanz, the team eventually got in and was able to verify
that no activities related to enrichment were underway. 

"The IAEA went to Natanz and, among other things, verified the
suspension," a Western diplomat familiar with the IAEA's
investigation of Iran said on condition of anonymity. 

The agency was expected to inform the IAEA's 35-member board of
governors at next week's quarterly meeting that Iran had kept
its promise about halting sensitive work, diplomats said. 

Tehran has temporarily stopped its enrichment programme, which
could produce fuel for power plants or weapons, under a November
deal with France, Britain and Germany, which have offered Iran
incentives to end and dismantle the programme. 

The European trio shares Washington's suspicions that Iran is
trying to develop nuclear weapons and is determined to prevent
Tehran from mastering the science of enriching uranium. 

Iran, which says its nuclear programme is for peaceful purposes
only, has said the freeze at Natanz and elsewhere would last
only until the end of July, when the European Union trio has
promised to give Iran a detailed package of incentives. 

But the EU has said that resuming enrichment at Natanz, which is
still under construction, would make it back US calls to refer
Iran to the UN Security Council for possible sanctions. 

One diplomat with access to Iran's nuclear programme said the
inspection team ran into problems when it tried to visit one
facility at the 450-hectare Natanz site because the Iranians
refused to grant the inspectors access. 

The problem related to one specific facility at the site and,
after a delay of several hours, the situation was resolved and
the team was let in, the diplomats said. 

"It's in Iran's interest to welcome the inspectors at suspicious
sites like Natanz," said former UN arms inspector David
Albright, head of a Washington-based think-tank. "There's no
point in being legalistic. It creates needless suspicions." 

During the IAEA's two-year investigation of Iran's nuclear
programme, the IAEA and members of its board of governors have
repeatedly criticised Iran for not showing full transparency or
granting complete and immediate access to some sites. 

Iran has even rejected IAEA inspection requests, such as the
Parchin military complex. The IAEA was allowed in once and
wanted to return for a follow-up visit but Iran refused. 

An IAEA official said that in general the agency was getting all
the access it needed at Natanz. "There are no problems with
access at Natanz," the official said on condition of anonymity. 

Mohammad Saeedi, deputy head of Iran's Atomic Energy
Organisation, confirmed that IAEA inspectors had visited Natanz
but denied that there were access problems. 

"They have visited wherever they have requested in Natanz
facility and their inspections there are finished," he said. 

Reporters taken on a tour of Natanz by government officials in
March said it was more than 18 metres underground and surrounded
by at least 10 anti-aircraft batteries - ostensibly in case of
US or Israeli air-strikes. 


*****************************************************************
 10 Hankyoreh: [Editorial] North Korea Must Now Respond 

Updated : Jun.13.2005 08:34 KST     [ border=]   

The summit meeting between presidents Roh Moo Hyun and George W.
Bush, watched with interest by the whole country, has ended
"smoothly." The two men reaffirmed the principle that a North
Korea with nuclear arms will not be tolerated and that the issue
is to be resolved diplomatically and peacefully, all while
showing off the strength of the US-Korea alliance, and the
timing makes it particularly significant. 

The meeting sent a clear message about the North Korean nuclear
issue. When North Korea declared it is in possession of nuclear
arms and put off returning to the six-party talks, the
hard-liners in the Bush Administration began asserting
themselves. They made claims such as that the six-party format
was useless and that the matter should be sent to the United
Nations Security Council, and high-ranking US officials said
things that angered the North, causing considerable worry and
disconcertment as a result. It is fortunate that president Bush
made it clear that a peaceful and diplomatic approach would be
taken, and that if North Korea gives up its nuclear plans it
would be possible for there to be a multi-party guarantee of the
North's security and substantial aid such as energy, as well as
that there is the possibility of more normal relations between
the North and the US. 

President Bush appears to have repeated his pledge that he would
not invade North Korea and to have been careful to refer to
North Korea's National Defence Commission chairman Kim Jong Il
as "Mister Kim Jong Il" in order to give North Korea an excuse
to return to the six-party talks. The hopeful message sent by
the North through the "New York channel" a few days ago
suggesting it would return to the six-party talks appears to
have had a positive effect. One official says that the two
leaders did not have concrete discussion about what measures are
to be taken if the North does not return to the talks, and that
makes you hopeful that overall the prospects for a restart of
the talks have become bright again and that the worst of the
North Korean nuclear crisis is over. 

One notes that the two leaders displayed no major differences of
view on the alliance, about which there has been controversy
lately, and pledged strong cooperation. There were worries that
president Bush would pressure president Roh about US troops in
Korea and "strategic flexibility" but it was agreed that the
country's foreign ministers would continue to discuss that, and
there was no mention during their meeting of Korea's "Northeast
Asian balancer" role, looked at with displeasure by the US, all
of which made for desirable meeting results. If Korea gives in
to American pressure and accepts "strategic flexibility" for
United States Forces Korea (USFK), and if there were then to be
conflict between the US and China over Taiwan, Korea could be
sucked into a very dangerous situation and therefore must
absolutely not yield on that issue. In the meantime Korea needed
to win a positive response from the US at this most important
juncture in resolving the nuclear issue and the government did
relatively well in what was a diplomatically difficult position.
The US-Korea alliance directly relates to security on the Korean
peninsula and the future of the Korean nation, so it is
regrettable that it has been politicized in domestic Korean
politics. One hopes that as a result of the summit the
exaggerated rumors about conflict in the alliance will go away
and that it will be treated with cool-headed thinking with the
national interest in mind. 

The summit will turn out to be the most important point in the
course of resolving the North Korean nuclear issue and
restarting the six-party talks. While it did not satisfy what
the North had been hoping for, now that the presidents of the US
and Korea have met and reaffirmed the principle of resolving the
issue peacefully and diplomatically and discussed substantial
aid and even the possibility of formal relations between
Pyongyang and Washington, the North needs to respond.
Fortunately there is a large Southern delegation going to
Pyongyang for the fifth anniversary of the intra-Korean summit,
and after that there is scheduled an intra-Korean ministers'
meeting in Seoul. Just as was recognized at the US-Korea summit
in Washington, intra-Korean dialogue is a useful channel for
demanding a resolution to the nuclear issue and so North and
South must engage in frank dialogue to speed up the
establishment of peace on the peninsula. The sooner North Korea
makes the right choice about returning to the six-party talks
the better. 

The Hankyoreh, 13 June 2005. 


[Translations by Seoul Selection(PMS)] 
Copyright 2005 Hankyoreh Plus inc.   

	 

*****************************************************************
 11 Korea Herald: [EDITORIALS]Window of dialogue   

Editorial/Op-Ed   
    
Presidents Roh Moo-hyun and George W. Bush held an important
summit at the White House on Saturday. The two leaders focused
on two key issues - the long-running North Korean nuclear
problem and the frayed Korea-U.S. alliance. 

Roh and Bush reaffirmed they will not tolerate a nuclear North
Korea and reconfirmed their commitment to resolve the problem
through diplomacy. 

It was expected that the two leaders would reaffirm the
principle of a peaceful approach to the nuclear question.
Nevertheless, it still carries great importance that Seoul and
Washington reconfirmed it, given the growing calls for sanctions
against Pyongyang for boycotting the six-party talks on its
nuclear weapons. 

Stressing South Korea and the United States are of one voice on
the nuclear issue, the two leaders called on Pyongyang to return
to stalled multinational talks without any conditions. We reckon
this unequivocal commitment to dialogue has improved the
environment for Pyongyang to return to the negotiation table.

Furthermore, Bush pledged to establish "more normal relations"
with North Korea if it abandons its nuclear weapons. 

But North Korea sent confusing signals before the summit. On the
one hand, North Korean officials expressed their willingness to
rejoin the six-party talks in a face-to-face meeting with U.S.
officials in New York. But on the other, North Korea's top
negotiator for the six-nation talks said on Wednesday that his
country has "enough nuclear weapons to defend against a U.S.
attack and is building more." 

Despite the belligerent rhetoric, we expect Pyongyang will
ultimately return to the six-party conference which it has
stalled for almost a year. This is because Pyongyang is aware
that Seoul and Washington cannot indefinitely wait for the talks
to resume. 

While Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon denied the summit discussed
any coercive measures, including referral to the U.N. Security
Council, we believe the two sides discussed "further steps" they
would take should North Korea refuse to participate in the
six-nation meeting. 

Indeed, the Washington Post reported prior to the summit that
Seoul will offer assurances that it will support "sharper" U.S.
measures to get the North to return to the stalled talks "if the
diplomatic path becomes clearly exhausted." 

This indicates the window of dialogue will close should the
North continue its boycott of the international disarmament
talks. Seoul should make this point clear to Pyongyang during
the cabinet-level inter-Korean talks which are slated to start
June 21 in Seoul. 

The Roh-Bush summit was also meaningful in that the two sides
reconfirmed their unshakable commitment to strengthen the
half-century-old alliance, quenching concerns about rifts in the
bilateral ties. The two nations showed they can narrow
differences on a number of divisive issues, including the
"balancing role" that Seoul wants to play in Northeast Asia, and
the "strategic flexibility" of U.S. forces in South Korea. 

2005.06.13
 
*****************************************************************
 12 Korea: Digital Chosunilbo: Korea and U.S. Must Continue to Speak With One Voice
 
  >     Updated Jun.12,2005 22:26 KST   
 
U.S. Hopeful of N.Korean Return to Talks 
Korean, U.S. Presidents Back Peaceful N.K. Solution
 Summit Gives N. Korea 'One Last Chance'
   
President Roh Moo-hyun and his U.S. counterpart George W. Bush,
at their summit in Washington over the weekend, affirmed the
principle that North Korea must never be permitted nuclear
weapons and the nuclear dispute resolved peacefully. The two
heads of state also stressed that the Seoul-Washington alliance
is firm and stressed above all cooperation between the two
countries, which Bush said twice will speak with "one voice." 

The summit came as the alliance was said to be so strained that
some said its very foundations were starting to quake, while the
North Korean nuclear dispute had been approaching crisis point.
That the two presidents demonstrated a commitment to speaking
with one voice in both the North Korea issue and the alliance
could in itself be seen as a significant result. 

The task from now on is to manage our post-summit relations with
America successfully. The two countries have thus far exhibited
a pattern of agreeing in general at summits but exposing
differences in particulars once the summit is over. Indeed, some
pundits observe that these summits have in the long run had a
rather damaging effect on trust between the two countries. 

If South Korea and the U.S. are to keep speaking in the "one
voice" it must have cost them some labor to achieve at the
summit, mutual cooperation must be maintained and strengthened
at all levels. 


The two presidents discussed how to cope with the nuclear
standoff on the premise that the North will come back to the
negotiating table, as it seems to have signaled. But Pyongyang
may yet defy their expectations, or may return to the talks only
to filibuster by presenting conditions the international
community cannot possibly accept. If and when situations arise
that the two presidents have not taken into consideration, it is
vital that they coordinate their responses using all channels
available to them. 

Back home, it is equally important that the government and
ruling party rally behind what the president has agreed at the
summit. We cannot have a repeat of past disasters when ruling
party officials make preposterous statement on the outcome of a
summit under the pretext of airing their personal views. That
simply invites the misunderstanding that Seoul is prone to
double dealings and does untold damage to the relationship
between the two countries. What is needed, then, is firm,
responsible leadership from the chief executive and the ruling
party top brass. 

Of course the national interests of South Korea and the U.S.
cannot perfectly coincide all the time, and differences are
occasionally inevitable. But to the outside world, allies cannot
appear to be constantly at each other¡¯s throats. The government
must do everything in its power to manage post-summit relations
with the U.S. so that the one voice gained at the summit does
not once again split into many. 
*****************************************************************
 13 Korea: Digital Chosunilbo: U.S. Hopeful of N.Korean Return to Talks 
 
  Home> National/Politics    Updated Jun.12,2005 20:28 KST   
 
Korean, U.S. Presidents Back Peaceful N.K. Solution
 Summit Gives N. Korea 'One Last Chance'
 Korea and U.S. Must Continue to Speak With One Voice
   
The White House on Friday declared itself ¡°somewhat hopeful¡±
that North Korea will soon return to six-party talks on its
nuclear program. Briefing reporters after a summit between the
South Korean and U.S. presidents, spokesman Scott McClellan said
Washington was grateful for Korea¡¯s support in urging Pyongyang
back to the negotiating table. 

He said the North Koreans must make a ¡°strategic decision that
they're going to get rid of their nuclear weapons and nuclear
weapons program.¡± 

Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon said the two leaders reaffirmed the
offer of multilateral security guarantees and substantive aid,
including energy, if North Korea gives up its atomic weapons
program, with Washington and Pyongyang ultimately enjoying
¡°more normal relations.¡± The term ¡°more normal relations,¡±
coined by U.S. President George W. Bush, seems to refer to
initial steps on the road to establishing full diplomatic ties. 

Asked if Bush and President Roh Moo-hyun discussed joint
military and non-military measures they could take if North
Korea makes matters worse, Ban only said, ¡°If I were to say
that they discussed that, it wouldn¡¯t help the atmosphere for
restarting the six-party talks.¡± He said working-level talks
would continue. 

Bush was quoted as endorsing progress in the inter-Korean
relationship as a potential avenue for pressing for a resolution
to the nuclear dispute ? an indication that he hopes South Korea
will bring up the matter during its talks with the North. 

The Korean National Security Council on Sunday welcomed
¡°President Bush¡¯s expression of a sincere position,¡± which it
said will ¡°ultimately have a positive influence on getting
North Korea to return to the six-party talks.¡± 

Meanwhile, a Korean official said Seoul will brief Pyongyang on
the outcome of the Korea-U.S. summit -- that Washington will
consider multilateral security guarantees and energy aid to the
North if it abandons its nuclear program ? either during
inter-Korean ministerial contacts in Pyongyang from Tuesday to
Thusday, or during ministerial talks in Seoul on June 21-24. 

(Heo Yong-beom, heo@chosun.com ) 

  
*****************************************************************
 14 Guardian Unlimited: Bush Shows Deference to S. Korean Leader
 
From the Associated Press        
	 
[UP] 

Saturday June 11, 2005 10:01 PM

AP Photo WHSW102 

By GEORGE GEDDA 

Associated Press 

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Bush administration's Korea experts were
distressed. A Pentagon official had suggested last weekend that
Washington might take its case against North Korea and its
nuclear weapons program to the U.N. Security Council by the end
of June. 

That was not the message the White House wanted to convey just
ahead of President Bush's meeting with South Korea's president,
Roh Moo-hyun. The Pentagon official's words were quickly
disavowed. 

Bush assured Roh during their meeting Friday that he is
committed to the six-nation talks aimed at achieving North
Korea's nuclear disarmament. 

Bush said the negotiation was ``essential,'' that Washington and
Seoul were ``strategic partners and allies and friends.'' 

Said Roh after the White House session: ``We are in full and
perfect agreement on the basic principles.'' 

Aside from some hints of differences, it was a decorous
exchange, fitting nicely with Roh's penchant for negotiation and
his aversion for saber rattling and provocative rhetoric. 

Bush appeared to show deference to his guest when he referred to
North Korean leader Kim Jong Il as ``Mr.'' - a sign of respect
that Bush does not always show. 

Just a month ago, Bush described Kim as a ``tyrant.'' 

Bush made no reference to the Security Council option. 

Roh's visit was timely. It gave him the chance to compare notes
with Bush on North Korea's recent expression of interest in
resuming the international discussions, which it has boycotted
for a year. 

Even if a new round takes place, it is unclear whether the
communist state is interested in serious engagement with the
other negotiating partners - the U.S., South Korea, Japan, China
and Russia. 

In a recent commentary, Brent Scowcroft, national security
adviser for Presidents Ford and George H.W. Bush, and former
National Security Council official Daniel Poneman said they were
not surprised that North Korea has stayed away from the talks
this long. 

``From the North Korean perspective, why hurry back to
negotiations that will only bring increased diplomatic
pressure?'' they asked. 

``Each day they advance their nuclear options, enhancing their
military capability and increasing the price they can demand at
the negotiating table,'' they said in late May in The Wall
Street Journal. 

Selig Harrison, a U.S. expert on North Korea who has visited the
country nine times, says hard-liners in North Korea are
ascendant because of the ``Bush administration's ideologically
driven'' policy. 

The only solution is for the U.S. to make ``a fresh start
attuned to the conciliatory engagement approach'' of Roh,
Harrison wrote in Friday's Washington Post. 

For both Washington and Seoul, the ideal outcome would be an
agreement for North Korea to verifiably dismantle its nuclear
program in exchange for economic benefits from the U.S., South
Korea and other prosperous countries. 

North Korea could emerge from its international isolation. The
Korean Peninsula would cease to be one of the world's scariest
places. 

Bush and Roh agree on long-term goals. Tactics are another
matter. Geography is widening the gap. Mighty North Korea sits
within artillery range of South Korea. The United States is an
ocean away. 

South Korea gets rattled when the U.S. tries to coerce North
Korea into behaving better. But without an element of
strong-arming, Washington believes North Korea has no incentive
to negotiate away its nuclear arsenal. 

With North Korea apparently at least on its ways to possessing
several nuclear armaments, the administration worries that the
North will export weapons or technology, not to mention the
missiles needed to launch bombs. 

North Korea would keep in reserve enough bombs to deal with
contingencies at home - or so the administration fears. 

Roh does not discount this scenario. But he believes the best
way out of the dilemma is engagement with North Korea. He feels
most comfortable when its Washington ally speaks softly and
stresses the need for peace - precisely what Bush did on Friday. 

--- 

EDITOR'S NOTE: George Gedda has covered foreign affairs for The
Associated Press since 1968. 
		 	 	   

      Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2005
*****************************************************************
 15 Daily Ittefaq: Nuclear Bomb of N. Korea
 
 Last Updated: Jun 12th, 2005 - 12:47:46 
   
nation.ittefaq.com   

 By Syed Emdadul Haque
 Jun 12, 2005, 12:46

North Korea has again declared that it has Nuclear Bombs to face
aggression. It has also said through its responsible quarters
that it will go on with its plan to make more bombs.
 
Side by side, it has expressed its willingness to sit again in
the 6- Nation dialogue. The dialogue, we can think, may not be
fruitful as the viewpoint of its counterpart may lead it to
failure.
 
However, the world has to observe what the greatest superpower
does at this stage, when a country goes on expressing its
'audacity' by saying that it has Nuclear bomb and it will make
more!
 
And think also, what would be the fate of a Muslim country on
such a stage!
 
Rampura, Dhaka
 

© Copyright 2003 by The New Nation

*****************************************************************
 16 Guardian Unlimited: Bush, S. Korea Try to Bridge Differences
 
From the Associated Press        

[UP] 

Saturday June 11, 2005 6:31 AM

AP Photo WHCD108 

By JENNIFER LOVEN 

Associated Press Writer 

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Bush and South Korean President Roh
Moo-hyun pressed North Korea to rejoin deadlocked talks on its
nuclear weapons program on Friday and tried to minimize their
own differences over how hard to push the reclusive communist
regime. 

``South Korea and the United States share the same goal, and
that is a Korean peninsula without a nuclear weapon,'' Bush said
with Roh at his side in the Oval Office. 

Roh, whose government has resisted the tougher approach
advocated by the Bush administration toward ending the impasse,
said he agreed that six-nation talks remain the best way to
persuade Pyongyang to abandon its nuclear ambitions. 

While Bush emphasized that the two allies ``are of one voice''
on the issue, Roh, who is presiding over a South Korea newly
assertive about its role in the region, raised the issue of
remaining differences. 

``There are, admittedly, many people who worry about potential
discord or cacophony between the two powers of the alliance,''
he said through a translator. 

Roh opposes military action if diplomacy with North Korea fails.
South Korea also is cool to the idea of taking the North Korean
standoff to the U.N. Security Council for possible sanctions.
South Korea instead is pursuing a policy of engagement with the
communist North and supports a security guarantee or economic
incentives to entice North Korea to return to six-nation talks
it has boycotted for nearly a year. 

Bush, however, wants South Korea - as well as China - to take a
more aggressive stance. The president said Friday he had no new
inducements for North Korea beyond those offered last June, when
the North was told it could get economic and diplomatic benefits
once it had verifiably disarmed. Anything else, in the U.S.
view, would amount to a reward for nuclear blackmail. 

While insisting the U.S. has no intention of launching a
military strike, Bush also has steadfastly refused to take that
option off the table. And the administration is increasingly
hinting it is closer to pursuing U.N. sanctions. 

North Korea, widely believed to have enough weapons-grade
plutonium for a half-dozen nuclear bombs, has sent mixed signals
on whether it will return to negotiations with the United
States, South Korea, China, Japan and Russia. North Korean
diplomats indicated earlier this week they were willing to come
back, but they set no date. A North Korean official later
boasted his country was adding to its nuclear stockpile. 

With a unified stand the goal of the Bush-Roh meeting,
diplomatic language ruled the day. 

Bush said five times that Seoul and Washington either ``share
the same goal'' or are speaking with ``one voice.'' Roh said
that the ``one or two minor issues'' between the longtime allies
could be worked out ``very smoothly.'' 

The South Korean indicated he and Bush were on the same page on
``the basic principles.'' 

Roh campaigned in 2002 promising to put South Korea on a more
equal footing with the United States, using language some viewed
as anti-American. 

On North Korea, Roh's moves to engage - by coming out against
government change in Pyongyang and sending energy and food aid
north - contrast with the U.S. approach. 

Bush administration officials have recently aimed harsh rhetoric
at Pyongyang, with Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld saying
North Korea is ``a living hell'' for all but its elite and Vice
President Dick Cheney calling North Korean leader Kim Jong Il
``one of the world's most irresponsible leaders.'' 

The South Korean position reflects its strategic interests. A
collapse of its communist neighbor could send millions of
refugees streaming southward and ravage the South Korean
economy. The country also fears a military strike could lead to
a devastating second Korean War. 

Washington believes the North should be feared, not trusted, as
a potential supplier of dangerous weapons worldwide. 

South Korea also has talked of boosting military exchanges with
China, at a time when Washington has shown concern about
Beijing's military buildup. Seoul has joined China in opposing a
permanent seat for Japan on the U.N. Security Council -
something Washington supports. 

And there are skirmishes over the 50-year-old U.S. military
presence in South Korea, due to fall by a quarter to about
24,500 troops. 

The two countries also just signed an agreement for Seoul to
shoulder less of the cost of U.S. military personnel on its
soil. 

In April, South Korea vetoed plans to grant American command of
forces on the Korean Peninsula if the North's government falls. 

None of those issues came up publicly. 

``How do you feel, Mr. President? Wouldn't you agree that the
alliance is strong?'' Roh said at the end of his opening
statement, apparently startling his host. 

``I would say the alliance is very strong, Mr. President,'' Bush
quickly replied. 

South Korea's Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon noted that Bush had
reiterated that the U.S. has no intention of invading Pyongyang.
He urged North Korea to respond by giving up its nuclear
weapons, which he said would be ``a wise decision.'' 

``The two leaders reaffirmed ... if North Korea gives up its
nuclear weapons program not only it would be possible to receive
substantial aid, including security guarantee and energy, but
also to have more normal relations with the United States,'' Ban
told reporters. 
		 	 	   

Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2005
*****************************************************************
 17 Japan Times: NEW U.S. DEFENSE POSTURE

  Sunday, June 12, 2005   

 Checking the threat that could be China

 By RICHARD HALLORAN
 Special to The Japan Times

HONOLULU -- When U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld
addressed the Shangri-la Security Dialogue in Singapore last
weekend, most of the attention in the meeting and later in the
press focused on his candid comments about China's military
strategy, spending and modernization.

 The secretary barely touched on the fundamental revision in the
U.S. defense posture that is intended to counter a potential
threat from China or to respond swiftly to contingencies
elsewhere, pointing only to "a repositioning of U.S. forces
worldwide that will significantly increase our capabilities in
support of our friends and allies in this region."

 American defense officials in Washington, at the Pacific
Command here in Hawaii, and in Asia have spent many months
seeking to bring Rumsfeld's policy to reality. They have
fashioned a plan intended to strengthen the operational control
of the Pacific Command, enhance forces in the U.S. territory of
Guam, tighten the alliance with Japan and streamline the U.S.
stance in South Korea.

 As pieced together from American and Japanese officials, who
cautioned that no firm decisions have been made, the realignment
shapes up like this:

 ARMY: The U.S. Army headquarters in Hawaii will become a
war-fighting command to devise and execute operations rather
than one that trains and provides troops to other commands as it
does now. The U.S. four-star general's post in Korea will be
transferred to Hawaii.

 The 1st Corps at Fort Lewis, Washington, will move to Camp
Zama, Japan, to forge ties with Japan's ground force. Japan will
organize a similar unit, perhaps called the Central Readiness
Command, to prepare and conduct operations with the U.S. Army.

 Japanese officials are considering elevating the Self-Defense
Agency to a ministry and renaming Japan's Ground Self-Defense
Force as the Japanese Army; same for the navy and air force.
Shedding those postwar names would reflect Japan's emergence
from its pacifist cocoon.

 In South Korea, the U.S. plans to disband the 8th Army, which
has been there since the Korean War of 1950-53, to relinquish
command of Korean troops to the Koreans and to minimize or
eliminate the United Nations Command set up during the Korean
War.

 A smaller tactical command will oversee U.S. forces that remain
in Korea, which will be down to 25,000 from 37,000 in 2008. That
may be cut further since Seoul has denied the U.S. the
"strategic flexibility" to dispatch U.S. forces from Korea to
contingencies elsewhere.

 MARINE CORPS: The Marines, who have a war-fighting center in
Hawaii, will move the headquarters of the 3rd Marine
Expeditionary Force (III MEF) to Guam from Okinawa to reduce the
friction caused by the U.S. "footprint" on that Japanese island.
How many Marines would move was not clear, but combat battalions
will continue to rotate to Okinawa from the United States.

 Some U.S. officers are displeased because local politics rather
than military necessity dictated the move. They asserted that
the Tokyo government, despite its desire to "reduce the burden"
on Okinawans, has blocked U.S. attempts to move forces to other
bases in Japan.

 Other officers saw an advantage to having III MEF in Guam. If a
Japanese government sought to restrict the movement of U.S.
forces, III MEF would be able to operate without reference to
Tokyo.

 AIR FORCE: The 13th Air Force moved to Hawaii from Guam in May
to give that service a war-fighting headquarters like those of
the other services. General Paul V. Hester, commander of the
Pacific Air Forces, was quoted in press reports: "We're building
an air operations center and war-fighting headquarters that
serves the entire Pacific region."

 The Air Force plans to establish a strike force on Guam that
will include six bombers and 48 fighters rotating there from
U.S. bases. In addition, 12 refueling aircraft essential to
long-range projection of air power will be stationed at Guam's
Andersen Air Force Base.

 Further, three Global Hawk unmanned reconnaissance aircraft
will be based on Guam. Global Hawks can range more than 19,000
kilometers, at altitudes up to 21,000 meters, for 35 hours,
which means they can cover Asia from Bangkok to Beijing with
sensors making images of more than 100,000 sq. kilometers a day.

 In Japan, the Air Force is willing to share Yokota Air Force
Base, west of Tokyo, with Japan's Air Self-Defense Force but has
resisted opening the base to civilian aircraft, citing security
concerns. Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara has demanded such rights.

 NAVY: Kitty Hawk, the conventionally powered aircraft carrier
based at Yokosuka, Japan, is scheduled to be replaced by 2008.
The U.S. wants to station a nuclear-powered carrier there,
although some Japanese politicians would prefer the last of the
conventionally powered carriers, John F. Kennedy.

 The Pacific fleet at Pearl Harbor, whose war-fighting element
is Joint Task Force 519, has moved three attack submarines to
Guam to put it closer to the Western Pacific and will probably
be assigned an additional carrier from the Atlantic to be based
at Pearl Harbor.

 All in all, these changes will take upwards of three years to
complete during which time Beijing can be expected to object in
no uncertain terms.

 Richard Halloran, formerly a correspondent for Business Week,
The Washington Post and The New York Times, is a freelance
journalist. 

The Japan Times: June 12, 2005
(C) All rights reserved 

*****************************************************************
 18 Korea Times: US Magazine Hosted NK War Council 

Hankooki.com > The Korea Times   

By Reuben Staines Staff Reporter

 Former U.S. officials and military officers gathered in
Washington in late March to debate military options for dealing
with North Korea¡¯s nuclear weapons programs in a simulated war
council, a U.S. monthly magazine has reported.

 In an article in its July-August edition, The Atlantic Monthly
said it invited a panel of Washington insiders for a war game in
which each played the role of a top military or security
official advising the president on how to contend with
Pyongyang¡¯s nuclear threat.

 The mock-up national security committee discussed a possible
preemptive strike on the North¡¯s nuclear facilities but was
split on whether the strategy was viable, the report said.

 Colonel Sam Gardiner, a longserving military strategist who
played the role of U.S. Pacific Command chief in the simulation,
argued that Washington should execute a preemptive attack with
12 to 18 months to prevent the Pyongyang acquiring more nuclear
bombs.

 ¡°From a military perspective, to kick this can down the street
doesn¡¯t make sense,¡± he was quoted as saying. 

However, Jessica Mathews, a former State Department
undersecretary who acted as director of national intelligence,
said it was unlikely the military could protect Seoul against a
likely counterattack and opposed the proposal.

 The council concluded that North Korea would pose as a much
tougher adversary than Iraq. 
06-11-2005 13:36         
  

*****************************************************************
 19 Portsmouth Herald: Coal is cool again

Sat. June 11, 2005

[PHOTO]                                                 
 GE's dancing elephant ad is aimed at children as a way to market 
its new "ecoimagination" line of green products. Courtesy photo                                                   


By Michael McCord mmccord@seacoastonline.com 

If only my life was a GE commercial. 

Like many Americans, I don’t give coal much thought, and, on
those rare occasions when I do, sex doesn’t usually enter into
my consciousness. After all, coal is so 19th century, as quaint
as a Charles Dickens novel. 

At least it didn’t until I saw the recent General Electric
30-second television commercial about mining coal, aboutloving
coal, aboutembracing my inner coal child and, drumroll please,
making coal as cool as Viagra. The spot gives new meaning to
GE’s old corporate branding line of "We bring good things to
life." 

In case you haven’t seen it, the commercial is populated by a
squad of buff dudes and glistening females, happily slaving away
in a coal mine. 

It’s clear the dudes and babes took a wrong turn off the nearest
fashion show runway. One of the sweaty tank-topped female
workers wields a mean jackhammer, and the dark coal mine is
reduced to a Disney Worldexhibit. 

The kicker? In case I didn’t get the point, a voice over tells
me, "Harnessing the power of coal is looking more beautiful very
day." 

Wow. It’s enough to send me directly to the cognitive dissonance
couch. I always thought coal mining was one of the most
dangerous occupations around, and that coal was the dirtiest
fossil fuel you could burn. And those threats from parents about
putting a lump of coal in their children’s Christmas stocking
seem pretty empty when put in GE’s soft-porn context. 

Where there’s black coal smoke, there’s usually some kind of
fire, and in the case of GE, they are becoming environmentally
hip with a massive re-branding campaign highlighting GE’s
"ecoimagination" line of green products and engaging propaganda
to attack issues such as global warming. This is intriguing
given the current political climate dominated by the Bush
administration’s inability to admit that, for example, global
warming even exists as an issue. 

GE is going all out to make a demographic sweep. In addition to
their babes in a coal-mine revue, for the kiddies GE transforms
a jungle elephant into Gene Kelly, dancing in the acid-free
rain. 

What’s it all mean? 

Well, GE is not alone in this rush to greener corporate
sensibilities. Most notably among the mega-comglomerate set,
British Petroleum has led the way in developing a reputation as
mutinational friend of the planet. 

Douglas Patch, the former chair of the N.H. Public Utilities
Commission, told me that GE is like many large corporations,
dancing to a tune of image consciousness. "They don’t want to
offend environmental sensibilities," Patch said. 

	
[PHOTO]                                                 

GE's take on coal is part of a plan to market it as eco-friendly. 
Courtesy photo                                                   

Which explains why GE enlisted the support of the World
Resources Institute as an "ecoimagination" collaborator. Despite
their ham-handed quest to sell coal mining as foreplay, GE may
prove worthy of its catchy "ecoimagination" promise because they
are on to something, if you dig a little deeper. 

At least in the power-generating marketplace, coal is a sexy
commodity. It’s relatively cheap compared to oil and natural
gas, it’s more abundant and far less a hostage to shifting
geopolitical winds. 

"Coal prices have been fairly stable," said Martin Murray, a
spokesman for Public Service Company of New Hampshire, the
state’s largest energy provider, serving more than 400,000 homes
and businesses. Murray told me that coal is indeed making a
comeback, in part because it’s cheaper to burn and coal plants
are less expensive to build. 

So it’s no surprise that, according to the energy industry think
tank UtiliPoint, more than 100 new coal plants are being planned
across the country. This may surprise some of you, because it
seemed like only yesterday that natural gas was the real deal,
the cheaper, sexy alternative, and all power plants built in New
England over the past decade were of the natural gas variety. 

But natural gas proved to be quite the expensive fad du jour -
not unlike nuclear power in the 1960s - for many energy
companies when prices began to skyrocket. Oops. The shiny and
mostly idle natural gas plant in Londonderry is a testament to
that market miscalculation. 

Because it has proven to be a faithful energy source, coal keeps
hanging around. 

"People are generally surprised and unaware," Murray told me,
that coal provides so much of the energy to power their laptops,
plasma televisions and microwave ovens. 

How much? Last year, PSNH used 1.5 million tons of the black
stuff at their power plants in Bow and Newington. More than half
of the coal came from South America and the rest, Murray
explained, came from the coal mining centers of Appalachia. 

Despite its dark reputation, cleaner burning coal has been one
of the most significant technological advances of the past
couple of decades. The old coal-burning plants are truly
belching dinosaurs and are being replaced by newer plants or
being refitted with the latest "scrubbing" technology which
acts, Murray told me, "like the catalytic converter" in your
car. 

The energy industry also has gotten smarter about the coal they
burn. Murray said the South American coal PSNH uses has a much
lower sulfur content, and PSNH mixes it with the Appalachian
coal (higher sulfur content) to bring down sulfur dioxide
emissions. According to Murray, PSNH has reduced sulfur dioxide
emissions by 40 percent, compared to 1990 levels. 

And then there’s coal gasification which is the hot technology
sweeping the coal universe. Gasification doesn’t come cheap, but
it does hold the promise of using coal on a much broader scale
and reducing greenhouse gases significantly. Alas, according to
a recent story in The New York Times, almost all the new coal
plants currently being planned won’t have gasification
technology because it’s perceived to be a cost-risky investment. 

But the penny-pinching energy companies may be missing an
opportunity, Douglas Patch told me, because more than ever, the
public is willing to pay more for green power. 

Which brings us back to the babes and dudes sweating away in the
coal mine. It’s no surprise to find out that GE is one of the
leading developers of the technologically-advanced gasification
process. 

So if we give GE the benefit of the ecoimagination doubt,
perhaps they are using sex to really sell turbines, while
raising public awareness and nudging the energy companies to
pony up for gasification. 

Gee, they can’t be that calculating, can they? 

Michael McCord is the Herald business editor. Despite reports to
the contrary, he did not receive lumps of coal in his Christmas
stockings. 


You can view the commercials on GE’s Web site at:
www.ge.com/en/company/companyinfo/advertising/eco_ads.htm. 

  Copyright © 2005 Seacoast Online. All rights reserved. Please
*****************************************************************
 20 WorldNetDaily: A palliative for neo-crazy lies
 
  SATURDAY JUNE 11 2005           
                            
© 2005 WorldNetDaily.com 

Because Bush-Bolton and the neo-crazies have legions of
sycophants ensconced at all major media outlets, feeding you a
daily diet of lies, misrepresentations and false innuendo about
– among other things – Iran's nuclear programs, you're probably
in need of this palliative. 

Recall that Iran: 


  + has been a "Member State" of the International Atomic Energy
Agency since 1958, 


  + has been a signatory to the Treaty on Non-Proliferation of
Nuclear Weapons since 1968, and 


  + has had an IAEA Safeguards Agreement "in force" since 1974. 

In 2003, Iran signed an Additional Protocol to its existing
Safeguards Agreement and has since voluntarily "cooperated" with
the IAEA as though the protocol were actually in force – which
it is not. 

Furthermore, in order to "build further confidence" that Iran's
nuclear programs are strictly peaceful, Iran voluntarily
suspended all uranium-conversion, uranium-enrichment and
plutonium-separation activities. 



Since Iran had already voluntarily made these activities subject
to IAEA Safeguards, the IAEA was notified of this voluntarily
suspension and invited to verify and monitor it. 

OK? 

Now, for the last decade, the neo-crazies and their media
sycophants have been charging that Iran has been pursuing a
"nuclear weapons" program – right under the multiple sensors of
IAEA inspectors – in "violation" of the NPT. 

Recently, Bush-Rice-Bolton have been demanding that Iran's
"violation of the NPT" be brought before the U.N. Security
Council for punitive action. 

If that is not done, the neo-crazies have been threatening to
pre-emptively "take out" all facilities they suspect of being
associated with that alleged "nuclear weapons" program,
including the IAEA Safeguarded nuclear power plant at Bushehr
now nearing completion by the Russians. 

Bear in mind that IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei and
his inspectors have been conducting highly intrusive –
go-anywhere, see-anything – inspections in Iran for the past two
years and have yet to find any "indication" that Iran now has,
ever had, or intends to have a "nuclear weapons program." 

Nor, for that matter, has ElBaradei found any indication that
Iran has violated its voluntary suspension of its Safeguarded
uranium-conversion, uranium-enrichment and plutonium-separation
activities. 

Now, contrary to Bush-Rice-Bolton misrepresentations – if not
lies – the NPT has no enforcement provision or mechanism. 

For example, suppose Libya sought – or accepted – assistance
from Pakistan on how to design or produce a nuclear weapon.
Libya would have been, thereby, in "violation" of Article II of
the NPT. 

But, the NPT doesn't even suggest what other NPT-signatories
could have done about it under the NPT. 

Ah, but there's Article III of the NPT, which required Libya and
other no-nuke NPT signatories to subject themselves to bilateral
IAEA Safeguards agreements "with a view to preventing diversion
of nuclear energy from peaceful uses to nuclear weapons." 

If Libya had refused to "conclude" an IAEA Safeguards agreement,
that would have been a "violation" of Article III of the NPT. 

But Libya didn't refuse. 

So, Libya hasn't "violated" Article III. 

But, Article III goes on to say, "Procedures for the Safeguards
required by this article shall be followed." 

Aha! 

But, who decides whether or not those procedures are followed? 

And who decides what action to take if they aren't? 

Well, according to Article XII of the IAEA Statute, IAEA's staff
of inspectors will "determine whether there is compliance with
the [statutory] undertaking against use in furtherance of any
military purpose." 

The IAEA inspectors "shall report any [statutory] non-compliance
to the Director General who shall thereupon transmit the report
to the Board of Governors." 

The IAEA Board "shall report the [statutory] non-compliance to
all members and to the Security Council and General Assembly of
the United Nations." 

So, by requiring no-nuke NPT-signatories – such as Libya and
Iran – to conclude a bilateral Safeguards agreement with the
IAEA, the NPT incorporates the already existing IAEA inspection
and verification system, as well as its statutory enforcement
mechanism. 

In 2003, Libya also signed an Additional Protocol and IAEA
inspectors soon discovered that IAEA-proscribed materials and
facilities were being "used in furtherance of" a "military
purpose," in violation of the IAEA Statute. 

Not the NPT. The IAEA Statute. 

But even then, because Libya remedied its statutory
"non-compliance" forthwith, the IAEA Board did not even ask the
Security Council to invoke sanctions for violations of the IAEA
Statute. 

So, even if Condi-baby succeeds this week in seducing or
blackmailing ElBaradei into reporting to the IAEA Board exactly
what the neo-crazies dictate, they are unlikely to get U.N.
authorization to "take out" Bushehr and other IAEA Safeguarded
facilities in Iran. 

Don't you feel better, already?
 

Physicist James Gordon Prather has served as a policy
implementing official for national security-related technical
matters in the Federal Energy Agency, the Energy Research and
Development Administration, the Department of Energy, the Office
of the Secretary of Defense and the Department of the Army. Dr.
Prather also served as legislative assistant for national
security affairs to U.S. Sen. Henry Bellmon, R-Okla. -- ranking
member of the Senate Budget Committee and member of the Senate
Energy Committee and Appropriations Committee. Dr. Prather had
earlier worked as a nuclear weapons physicist at Lawrence
Livermore National Laboratory in California and Sandia National
Laboratory in New Mexico. 

© 2005 WorldNetDaily.com, Inc. 
*****************************************************************
 21 Salt Lake Tribune: Ex-watchdog: Huntsman left me in the dark 

Article Last Updated: 06/12/2005 02:48:06 AM 

He's one of many who doubt the governor's claims of openness 

By Rebecca Walsh The Salt Lake Tribune 

Roger Ball, Wants some answers 

Roger Ball would like to know the real story of why he was fired 
as Utah's utility gatekeeper - whether he had done something 
wrong or just offended the state's political power structure. 

Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. will say only that it was his 
prerogative to replace a political appointee. Behind closed 
doors, speaking with members of the Committee of Consumer 
Services, the governor apparently has said more. 

And Huntsman's chief of staff insists reports from the 
governor's transition team detail legitimate reasons for Ball's 
abrupt release from state government. 

"I'd certainly love to see them," Ball said. 

But the Governor's Office refuses to release the documents, 
claiming they are working drafts - or, in the alternative, a 
personnel evaluation of Ball. Both could be protected under 
Utah's open-records law. 

And so, Ball still wonders. 

The official silence surrounding Ball's March 9 firing is the 
most glaring example of restrictions on public access, 
government records and open meetings under Huntsman. He is just 
six months into a four-year term and many are willing to excuse 
decisions that have limited public access as the missteps of a 
new governor finding his way. Others see something more sinister 
in Huntsman's decisions. 

"I never thought I'd yearn for the days of the Leavitt 
administration," said government watchdog Claire Geddes. "And I 
had my problems with [former Gov.] Mike Leavitt." 

When he ran for office, Huntsman touted his accessibility, 
scheduling numerous news conferences, working Utah's 
neighborhoods on foot. And the governor continues to promote his 
administration as more open than those of any of his 
predecessors. 

"I've tried to be as open and transparent as I know how to 
be," he said. "If anything, I'm always going to err on the side 
of openness. That's the way we were during the campaign. And 
it's the way we're operating today." 

There are exceptions. In Ball's case, Huntsman's staff 
scheduled two separate meetings with members of the Committee of 
Consumer Services in what some speculated was an effort to avoid 
the state's open meetings law, then canceled the meetings 
entirely. Every entry on Huntsman's official schedule lists 
whether the event is open or closed to the media - a departure 
from the more relaxed practice of previous governors. A meeting 
to discuss education with the Ibapah Indians on their remote 
reservation was closed to the public. 

Other state agencies seem to have changed their policies for 
handling public records. The Administrative Services Department 
released copies of statements submitted during a public comment 
period on the governor's idea to move the prison, but first 
marked out the names. Officials then changed their minds and 
re-released the comments with the names visible. 

At the Department of Community and the Arts, detailed 
contact information for the governor's Hispanic Advisory Council 
and budgets for the state's ethnic offices were not released 
without a written request. Those researching Department of 
Commerce records about Utah businesses can only request 
information for three companies at a time and copies are 30 
cents a page - information the public could peruse on their own 
for free under previous administrations. 

Earlier this month, the governor's economic development 
adviser requested an attorney general's opinion about whether the
state could keep secret the number of taxpayer dollars promised 
to companies that bring jobs to Utah. A week later, the Huntsman 
administration backed away from the idea. 

The governor says he has not ordered any change in public 
records policies. He says his change of heart on the economic 
development records came after he had time to consider "the 
different sides of the debate." Noting his experience in the 
federal government - he was a deputy U.S. trade ambassador - he 
says he is always conscious of his accountability to the public. 

"We've been answering any [records] request," he said. "I 
always use past practices as a guidepost. Our practice isn't 
going to be any different from other administrations'." 

Huntsman gets mixed reviews for public access to him and his 
staff. He is the first governor in years to meet with some 
minority groups - including the Ibapah. And while Leavitt would 
not meet with Equality Utah, a gay rights advocacy group, 
Huntsman did. 

Legislative leaders from both political parties give the 
governor and his staff high marks. "I know my experience isn't 
the same as everybody else's," said House Minority Leader Ralph 
Becker, "but I have found them very accessible and communicative 
and open to discussion." 

Some grass-roots organizations and citizen activists have had 
a more difficult time. The governor only met with directors of 
the Utah Public Employees Association after the group 
representing 25,000 state workers sued the state for cutting 
into a retirement benefit. 

And Geddes has been unable to contact Huntsman since she 
questioned whether he would sign an executive order blocking the 
shipment of nuclear waste across Utah. He and his staff warned 
her not to criticize the state's top executive in the press late 
last year. She calls Huntsman's lip service to government 
openness "a lot of nonsense." 

"I've been critical of many leaders. That's what watchdogs 
are," Geddes said. "This should be Civics 101. It's not hard to 
understand my role. But there's a very vindictive attitude with 
the governor's office." 

University of Utah political science professor Matt Burbank 
believes the about-faces and secrecy are evidence of an 
inexperienced governor - Huntsman is still finding his feet. 
Trained in his father's company and as an ambassador under the 
first President Bush, Huntsman may not be fully aware of the 
public scrutiny a governor faces, Burbank said. 

"There's a sense that processes don't really need to be open, 
decision-making doesn't really need to be explained in public," 
Burbank said. "This is the process of adjustment. These are the 
basics of the process." 

Jeff Hunt, an attorney for the Society of Professional 
Journalists, hopes Huntsman's policies start to match his words. 

"He talks about transparency and accountability. If he puts 
those words into policy, then it will be good for the public and 
for public access," Hunt said. "Hopefully, we will begin seeing 
the policy matching the rhetoric. We're kind of in a 
wait-and-see mode." 

walsh@sltrib.com 

Â© Copyright 2005, The Salt Lake Tribune. 
*****************************************************************
 22 Salt Lake Tribune: Huntsman to meet with Western guvs

Article Last Updated: 06/11/2005 01:11:19 AM                              
                   
  Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. will join eight U.S. counterparts and
three Canadian premiers Sunday for the three-day annual Western
Governors' Association (WGA) meeting in Breckenridge, Colo. Bush
administration officials and economic experts will discuss
Western leadership in global economic growth, trade and energy.
The governors expected to attend are Bill Owens of Colorado,
Janet Napolitano of Arizona, Frank Murkowski of Alaska, Dirk
Kempthorne of Idaho, Brian Schweitzer of Montana, Bill
Richardson of New Mexico, Mike Rounds of South Dakota and Dave
Freudenthal of Wyoming. Joining the governors will be Premiers
Gary Doer of Manitoba, Ralph Klein of Alberta and Lorne Calvert,
Saskatchewan. Speakers and panelists include Energy Secretary
Samuel Bodman, Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns and
Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Stephen Johnson.
Huntsman said having the Bush administration officials present
will give participants a chance to "hear the issues we feel
strongly about." 	 	 	 	 	 		 		 		 		 		 		 		 		 		 			 				
				 				 				 				 				 				 			 	 	 	 	 	 	 		
In Utah's case, he said, that means making sure plans remain on 
track to move 12 million tons of radioactive tailings away from 
the Colorado River near Moab and to reiterate the state's 
opposition to transporting nuclear waste into or across the 
state. The WGA is an alliance of 18 states and three Pacific 
Island governments. Each year, the organization approves an 
agenda of issues to pursue. For 2004-05, those issues include 
protecting threatened and endangered species; energy policy; 
drought preparedness and ensuring the West's water supply and 
quality; and restoring and maintaining healthy forests and 
rangelands. - Patty Henetz   
                  
Â© Copyright 2005, The Salt Lake Tribune. 
*****************************************************************
 23 Salt Lake Tribune: Cheap power or big eyesore? Some are fighting
windmills 

Article Last Updated: 06/11/2005 09:16:10 AM 

By Todd Hollingshead The Salt Lake Tribune 

Massive wind turbines are officially blowing into Spanish 
Fork, bringing a welcome breeze to some city residents and a few 
gusts of discord from others. 

The City Council voted this week to amend city zoning laws to 
allow the 350-foot-tall windmills in an industrial area just 
outside Spanish Fork Canyon, a site touted as the best wind 
resource in the state. 

Heber City-based Wasatch Wind is now churning through the 
details of the project's first phase to get an initial turbine 
in the industrial area by next spring. 

"When they actually see the wind farm up, the aesthetics are 
somewhat unappealing to some folks," said project manager 
Christine Watson Mikell. "But the people that are opposed to it 
in the beginning tend to put their arms around them once the 
project is up." 

The plan is to install a second phase of the wind farm, with 
as many as seven 1.5-megawatt turbines, in a gravel pit area 
near the canyon mouth by fall 2006. 

If Wasatch Wind is able to purchase larger 3-megawatt 
machines, there could be only five towers at the site. 

That's good news to a few Spanish Fork residents, who worry 
the tall blades could be an eyesore to the scenic area. 

"My first concern was that it's going to detract from our 
mountains - you just can't improve on Mother Nature," said 
resident Diana Butler, who supports the project. 

"But I have great hope that it won't detract from our 
mountains. It will definitely be very visual." 

For most locals, however, the windmills are no problem. City 
Councilman Seth Sorenson, who lives near the site, said most 
neighbors don't care about the proposed towers. 

"That big substation up there is more of an eyesore than what 
the windmills are going to be," Sorenson said. "I don't know that
it's going to be an eyesore at all." 

Spanish Fork's wind farm could be the first of its kind in 
the state. Another company, Tasco Engineering, is working to put 
one up in Stockton, in Tooele County. 

And even more Utah wind farms may be in the works if members 
of the state Public Service Commission decide this summer to 
keep wind-energy prices comparable to other forms of power. 

"If the outcome is not pricing wind with other forms of 
energy, it will be difficult for other [wind] projects to 
develop," said Tracy Livingston, CEO of Wasatch Wind. "If they 
use the pricing methodologies developed by neighboring states, 
more . . . will be built." 

No matter what the commission decides, Livingston said the 
powerful winds coming out of Spanish Fork Canyon will make the 
wind farm there a success. 

Wasatch Wind estimates each 1.5-megawatt turbine has the 
capacity to produce power for more than 600 homes. The turbines 
could also save up to 40 million gallons of water per year that 
are now wasted through the burning of fossil fuel. 

Wasatch Wind is negotiating a contract with Pacificorp to 
send the energy generated by the windmills into the power grid. 

thollingshead@sltrib.com 

Â© Copyright 2005, The Salt Lake Tribune. 
*****************************************************************
 24 Salt Lake Tribune: Where our money goes

Opinion                     
 			 			 			 			 				 			 			 			 				 				 				
Last Updated: 06/10/2005 11:28:39 PM                              
                   
  Do you want to be a millionaire? Sometimes I dream of what I
would do if I won millions in Las Vegas. I would make a great
philanthropist. I could help tsunami victims and African
children, not to mention my next door neighbor. 

   Well, there is a way you can do that, just by making sure
your tax dollars are well used. 

   The government is planning to spend more than $30 million on
nuclear programs that could lead to renewed nuclear testing.
(Think of what you could do with that money!) 

   Twenty-five million dollars to make the Nevada Test Site
ready to test nuclear weapons in a shorter period of time, and
$8.5 million to study “bunker busters” - nukes designed to
destroy underground bunkers containing biological weapons.
Imagine the mess. 

   So talk to your friends and tell them we do not need more 
nuclear weapons.

Sen. Robert Bennett is our chance to do the right thing. Call him 
and remind him to vote no on any appropriations for future 
nuclear weapons testing. 
    
   Anny Lefebvre 
   Salt Lake City 
      
Â© Copyright 2005, The Salt Lake Tribune. 
*****************************************************************
 25 LA TIMES: A Shift to Green 

June 12, 2005          latimes.com

   
+ Driven by profit and the opportunity to shape regulations,
major corporations are backing stronger measures to reduce
global warming

        By Miguel Bustillo, Times Staff Writer

 	 American corporations are increasingly calling for action on
global warming, sensing a business opportunity in cutting
greenhouse gases while hoping to shape regulations they believe
are inevitable. 

Bucking the Bush administration's position that tougher rules
would harm the U.S. economy, Fortune 500 companies including
General Electric Co., Duke Energy Corp. and JPMorgan Chase & Co.
in recent months have championed stronger government measures to
reduce industrial releases of carbon dioxide, the main
heat-trapping gas that scientists have linked to rising
temperatures and sea levels.

This shift in corporate thinking was on display at a
congressional hearing last week, where executives from large
companies including DuPont Co., United Technologies Corp. and
Baxter International Inc. described how they were getting an
early start on reducing greenhouse gas emissions  something
they believe they would be required to do sooner or later.

 "People increasingly will believe that greenhouse gas emissions
should be reduced and that actions should begin today to prepare
for that eventuality," James Rogers, the chairman of power
generator Cinergy Corp., told the House Science Committee on
Wednesday. Rogers now advocates a national program to reduce
greenhouse gas emissions.

 The number of companies involved remains small, but it is
growing, particularly in the energy sector, and is emerging as a
new dynamic in the debate over the future of America's global
warming policies. The U.S., the world's largest emitter of
greenhouse gases, was the only major developed nation other than
Australia to reject the Kyoto Protocol, an international pact to
cut emissions to about 5% below 1990 levels by 2012.

 Although their rhetoric is rife with references to protecting
planet Earth, some of the corporations acknowledge that their
newfound focus on global warming is driven by opportunity for
profit. Duke Energy would like to build a new nuclear power
plant, a type of electricity generation that does not emit
greenhouse gases, for instance, while GE wants to expand sales
of wind power turbines and pollution-control equipment.

 "We believe we can help improve the environment and make money
doing it," GE Chairman Jeffrey Immelt said last month in a
speech at George Washington University that attracted widespread
notice. "We see that green is green."

 Many multinational companies, which already deal with carbon
reduction regulations in other parts of the world, believe it's
only a matter of time before they will be required in the U.S.
Rather than resist the inevitable, they want to help shape new
regulations in a way that will give them a competitive advantage.

 In addition, some companies fear that in the absence of federal
action, many cities and states, which already are proposing
their own regulations, will create a hodgepodge of compliance
standards across the country. 

Those concerns were amplified this month, when California Gov.
Arnold Schwarzenegger signed an executive order that pledges to
reduce the state's emissions by more than 80% in the next
half-century.

 "We don't need a patchwork of inconsistent state or local
regulations to complicate and increase the cost of compliance,"
Duke Energy Chairman Paul Anderson said in an April speech to
Charlotte, N.C., business leaders in which he surprised the
electric power industry by advocating a federal tax on the
carbon content of fossil fuels. "Yet a patchwork is exactly what
we are getting, due to federal inaction."

 Duke, which has announced plans to acquire Cinergy, formally
proposed the levy to President Bush's tax reform panel in April
 an approach that critics noted would penalize Duke far less
than some competitors in the electricity business that depend
more on coal power. 

Anderson later said that he did not think such a tax would be
approved while Bush was in office.

 As more businesses express an openness to greenhouse gas
regulations, some politicians are attempting to seize the
momentum. That is reflected in a number of amendments to the
sweeping energy bill being considered by Congress that offers
incentives to business.

 Revised legislation by Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Joe
Lieberman (D-Conn.) to establish firm limits on carbon dioxide
exhaust has added hundreds of millions of dollars in subsidies
for nuclear power and other types of cleaner electricity
sources. More companies have expressed interest in the
legislation since the subsidies were added, but have stopped
short of supporting it.

 An amendment by Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) seeks to enact the
recommendations of the National Commission on Energy Policy, a
bipartisan panel of experts from business, government,
environmental groups and academia that recommended a less
restrictive cap on greenhouse gas emissions than the one
proposed in the McCain-Lieberman bill.

 "Businesses don't like taxes, and they don't like uncertainty.
Right now, they face a future where they will be hit with some
kind of regulation on carbon, and a growing number of them are
saying, if we take some actions now perhaps we can avoid
stronger actions later," said Sen. Thomas R. Carper (D-Del.) who
has proposed legislation to reduce carbon dioxide along with
traditional smog-forming pollutants. 

"There is more support for doing something than there was a year
ago," Carper said. "Will there be enough to pass one of them?
Anybody's guess right now."

 The Bush administration, which has pursued an energy policy
that heavily promotes fossil fuels, has shown few signs of
altering its position on climate change, however.

 "Our position is very straightforward: We need to take all
aggressive actions within our capabilities, as long as they
further our economic growth," said Jim Connaughton, Bush's chief
environmental advisor. 

Most oil and gas companies, among the president's biggest
political benefactors, remain firmly opposed to toughening the
administration's existing policies, which promote only voluntary
reductions of greenhouse gases.

 The American Petroleum Institute has been lobbying against the
recommendations of the National Commission on Energy Policy,
which also suggested a moderated "cap and trade" system in which
companies that reduced more than their share of greenhouse gases
would obtain credits they could sell to others. 

A similar, less restricted market is already underway in Europe,
where a ton of carbon credits was recently valued at $25.

 There is also far less momentum for global warming regulations
in the House than in the Senate, backers acknowledge, making
passage of any legislation unlikely.

 "We're not there yet in the House, quite frankly. These
businesses are way ahead of us," said Rep. Sherwood L. Boehlert
(R-N.Y.), who supports a federal program to reduce greenhouse
gases. The Bush administration stance "happens to be wrong," he
added, but he expressed optimism that it could change as
dissenting businesses become more vocal.

 Advisor Connaughton said that the Bush administration opposed
hard limits on greenhouse gas emissions because it believed that
they would drive up energy prices, forcing manufacturers out of
the country and costing hundreds of thousands of Americans their
jobs. 

He noted that more than 100 companies had pledged to reduce
their greenhouse gases under the administration's voluntary
Climate Leaders program, including IBM Corp., General Motors
Corp. and Johnson & Johnson.

 To more and more companies, however, the status quo is not
enough. 

"American industry leaders are not calling for us to adopt
Kyoto, but they are growing increasingly impatient with the
voluntary approach," said William K. Reilly, who served as head
of the Environmental Protection Agency under President George
H.W. Bush and is co-chairman of the National Commission on
Energy Policy. 

At the heart of the increase in corporate advocacy on global
warming is a belief that the U.S. is missing a golden
opportunity to cash in on the burgeoning worldwide response to
the threat.

 Some companies are concerned that the Bush administration's
voluntary programs are too weak to encourage expanded use of
cleaner technologies such as solar, wind and even nuclear power,
compared with the market-based regulations now required nearly
everywhere else in the developed world. Japan now leads the
world in the development of solar power cells, and Europe is the
top producer of wind-power machinery.

 Some companies are also concerned that by failing to assert
leadership on global warming, the U.S. is allowing the European
Union  and a number of states around the country  to dictate
how industries are expected to conduct themselves around the
world.

 California has already passed a law to reduce car and truck
emissions of greenhouse gases, and a group of Northeastern
states has begun creating its own carbon trading market to cut
smokestack exhaust. 

The European Union has passed rules to produce 22% of its
electricity from renewable energy sources by 2010. Similar laws
have been approved by 18 American states, including California.

 Other companies are concerned that global warming could affect
long-term supplies of natural resources they depend on.

 "We think the science is pretty compelling, and it is
appropriate to take action now" to reduce global warming, said
Helen Howes, vice president for environment, health and safety
at Exelon Corp., one of the nation's largest utilities, which
participated in the National Commission on Energy Policy. "You
have seen thawing in the Arctic, issues of potential rising
water levels. For us, because we have a lot of nuclear plants
that use a lot of cooling water, we are worried that water
supplies may not be as reliable in the future."

 Though some corporations are willingly stepping forward with
proposals to tackle global warming, others are being dragged
into the debate by socially conscious shareholders.

 Evangelical and environmental investor groups, as well as state
pension fund officials who together control more than $3
trillion in assets, are pushing resolutions at shareholder
meetings that seek to compel companies to disclose their
financial exposure to global warming regulations.

 The resolutions almost never win majority support. But in
response to the pressure, many companies are choosing to develop
global warming policies to head off continuing confrontations. 

Some are even putting pressure on their corporate peers.
JPMorgan Chase recently announced that it would ask clients that
are large emitters of greenhouse gases to develop reduction
plans, following similar commitments by Citigroup Inc. and Bank
of America Corp. .

 "Two years ago, the concept of climate risk was something alien
to investors. That's certainly not the case today," said Mindy
S. Lubber, the president of Ceres, an organization that compels
companies to embrace environmental responsibility. "Investors
are raising these issues because they feel that they are
affecting the value of companies, and they are raising the
issues en masse. It is a good thing because it is promoting a
dialogue and discussion." 

	 
Copyright 2005 Los Angeles Times | Privacy Policy | Terms of
*****************************************************************
 26 Junk Science Report: Greens Are the Real Energy Problem
 
Op-ed     U.S. op-ed    

 by Steven Milloy, www.junkscience.com
Thursday, June 9, 2005 

It goes without saying that the global economy depends on the
availability of affordable energy. Many place their hopes for
abundant energy supplies in yet-to-be-imagined technologies. 

But while researchers tinker with far-off possibilities, theres
something we should do right now to keep the energy flowing:
break the radical environmentalists chokehold on national
energy policy. 

Regardless of form  whether oil, gas, coal or nuclear  the
Green movement is blocking efforts to harness our accustomed
energy sources while leading us down the primrose path of
so-called renewable energy. 

First, were not running out of oil. 	 

Notwithstanding the recent paucity of discoveries of new major
oil fields, innovation has proved adequate to meet ever-rising
demands for oil, wrote Alan Greenspan last October in "Middle
East Economic Survey." 

Gross additions to reserves have significantly exceeded the
extraction of oil the reserves replaced, added Greenspan. These
new reserves dont include unconventional oil sources, including
the vast Canadian tar sands and Venezuelan heavy oil. 

Nevertheless environmentalists are hindering efforts to obtain
that oil  witness, for example, their fight against drilling in
the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). Environmentalists
currently are whipping up Floridians against the offshore
drilling provisions in the current energy bill in Congress,
forcing Republican Sen. Mel Martinez to defy Senate leadership
and kowtow to the activists. 

Any weakening of protections currently in place off Florida's
coasts is unacceptable, says Martinez, echoing the
anti-drilling position of environmental groups. 

Green opposition to increased oil production is international in
scope. Acting through such diverse groups as Amnesty
International and Christian Brothers Investment Services,
activists are harassing oil company BP about its $3.2 billion
Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline from the Caspian Sea to the
Mediterranean Sea. 

The recent increase in gasoline prices is only partially due to
higher demand from developing countries like China and India.
Price spikes have also been fueled by the failure of U.S.
refining capability to keep pace with demand. No new gasoline
refinery has opened since 1976  thanks to unnecessarily strict
government regulations and community opposition, both of which
have been tirelessly orchestrated by the environmental movement. 

Theres also plenty of natural gas to be had  if the Greens
would let us have it. 

As spotlighted recently by the Wall Street Journal editorial
page, environmentalists have successfully pushed moratoriums
for most new offshore drilling of the fuel, have fought to keep
the most gas-rich federal lands off-limits to exploration, and
have used lawsuits to tie up those pieces that are accessible. 

The Greens are also obstructing the importation of liquefied
natural gas by blocking the construction of new port facilities
based on fears that they would be terrorist targets. 

Coal is a cheap and abundant source of energy, but
environmentalists are making its use more difficult with
hysterical claims that coal burning releases poisons like
mercury into the air. Environmentalists also oppose so-called
clean coal technology on the grounds that, although less
nitrogen oxide and sulfur dioxide are emitted, mercury emissions
remain. 

The reality of the matter is that the vast majority of mercury
in the environment comes from natural sources; mercury emitted
from coal burning power plants is not linked with detectable
harm to human health or the environment.

As to nuclear power, environmentalist fear-mongering has ensured
theres been no new nuclear power plant construction since the
1970s. Theyre trying to shut down nuke plants in operation by
blocking the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste storage facility in
the Nevada desert, forcing nuclear plants to temporarily store
waste in limited, politically unpopular on-site facilities.

General Electric, producer of nuclear power technology, is
hoping fears about global warming and energy supplies will
interest the public and environmentalists in nuclear energy. No
doubt GE hoped it was getting a Green ally in jointly announcing
its recent Ecomagination initiative with the eco-activist
World Resources Institute (WRI). Such hope is pretty naïve,
however. 

WRI has worked more closely and a lot longer with the likes of
anti-nuke groups like Environmental Defense and Greenpeace,
which, by the way, is currently trying to block the construction
of a new nuclear power plant in Southern Maryland. 

The energy crisis has arisen not because theres a lack of
sufficiently clean and affordable energy supplies  our problem
is that weve allowed the Greens to have too much power.
 			 
                                
Steven J. Milloy is the publisher of  JunkScience.com, an adjunct 
scholar at the Cato Institute, and a columnist for FoxNews.com. 
                                
Copyright © 2005 Canada Free Press
*****************************************************************
 27 Free Internet Press: Assault Of Nuclear Whistleblower Latest In Series Of Attacks 

Posted by Intellpuke on Sunday, June 12 @ 05:20:56 PDT (113

[News] --> It had been the worst of blind dates; the no-show. 
Eventually, just before 2 a.m., Tommy Hook conceded defeat and 
slunk away from the gaudy strip bar. As he traipsed across the 
neon-bathed parking lot of Cheeks nightclub, he would have 
wondered what became of his non-committal partner.

Hours earlier Hook, 52, had received a call from a fellow 
employee at the Los Alamos National Laboratory imploring him to 
head to the Santa Fe nightspot and hover by the bar. An excited, 
hushed voice had promised to corroborate Hook's explosive 
findings into massive financial irregularities at the birthplace 
of the nuclear bomb and proposed site for the Bush 
administration's new generation of atomic weapons.

Instead it is the brutal events that followed Hook's short walk 
that have plunged the top secret home of the U.S. weapons project 
into fresh controversy.

The attack was ferocious; a group of up to six men stomped on the 
head of Hook, a former internal auditor at Los Alamos, with such 
intensity that footprint marks were still visible on his swollen 
face days later. A witness claimed that without the intervention 
of the club's bouncer, Hook would have been murdered. His wife 
Susan later alleged that the assailants told her husband during 
the beating that "if you know what's good for you, you'll keep 
your mouth shut".

The attack last week came 48 hours before U.S. government 
investigators were scheduled to arrive at Hook's home and 
scrutinize audits detailing financial irregularities amounting to 
millions of taxpayer dollars at the New Texas laboratory. Now he 
has been silenced.

  Original materials on this site © Free Internet Press.
*****************************************************************
 28 Guardian Unlimited: Britain's special nuclear relationship
 
Special report: foreign affairs                         

Mark Townsend
Sunday June 12, 2005
 		
The level of collaboration between US and British nuclear weapons 
scientists is revealed in new figures that have raised concern 
over the direction of each country's atomic defence programmes.

The figures reveal that British scientists visited key US nuclear 
laboratories on 180 occasions last year. In the same period US 
nuclear experts made 128 separate visits to Aldermaston, the 
Berkshire base where Britain's nuclear weapons are stored. 
Parliamentary answers also confirm UK and US nuclear scientists 
are currently on 16 joint working groups, including 'nuclear 
weapons engineering' and 'nuclear weapon code development'. A 
major meeting between scientists on both sides of the Atlantic is 
thought to be scheduled this year and is likely to be held in 
England. 

An article leaked to The Observer in the NNSA's internal 
newsletter confirms that the Ministry of Defence's chief 
scientific adviser and its director of strategic technologies 
were present at last year's corresponding meeting at America's 
Lawrence Livermore laboratory. An accompanying note explains that 
the meeting 'focused on the special relationship between both 
nations on nuclear weapons matter, including collaborative work 
on a variety of topics'. 

The US and UK government maintain that the level of contact is
essential for safely maintaining the existing stockpile of
nuclear warheads. Critics, however, believe research is
discussed on the design and potential of new nuclear devices. 

'We believe that British scientists are aiding the development
of a new generation of nuclear weapons', said Nigel Chamberlain
of the British American Security Information Council, an
independent think tank in Washington and London. 
	
[UP] 

Guardian Unlimited ¿ Guardian Newspapers Limited 2005
*****************************************************************
 29 IAEA: Press Arrangements for the IAEA Board of Governors Meeting
 
+ [IAEA.ORG :: Atoms for Peace] 

Media Advisory 2005/15

 7 June 2005 | A meeting of the IAEA Board of Governors will
commence on Monday, 13 June 2005, at 10.30 a.m. IAEA Director
General Mohamed ElBaradei will open the meeting with an
introductory statement. The Board will discuss, among other
issues: the Annual Report for 2004; the Technical Cooperation
Report for 2004; measures to strengthen international
co-operation in nuclear; radiation and transport safety and
waste management; and the appointment of the Director General.

Under the Nuclear Verification item on the agenda there will be
a discussion of the Safeguards Implementation Report for 2004, a
report by the Director General on the implementation of
safeguards in the Democratic People´s Republic of Korea, other
safeguards implementations issues and the creation of a special
committee on safeguards and verification.

The meeting is closed to the press.

The introductory statement by Dr. ElBaradei will be available to
the media and will be placed on the IAEA website after delivery
at about 11:00 a.m. on Monday 13 June 2005.

Photo-Op:
 
There will be a photo opportunity at the beginning of each
morning and afternoon session. Please sign up by sending your
e-mail to Peter Rickwood ( P.Rickwood@iaea.org). Camera crews
should arrive at IAEA headquarters by 10:00 a.m. and proceed to
the Boardroom on C04. Positions in the Boardroom must be taken
by 10:15 a.m. or 2:45 p.m. for afternoon photo-ops.

Press Working Area:
 
There will be a press working area on C03 (for print press,
radio and TV) starting from Monday morning, June 13, at 9:00 a.m.

Telephone Lines:

There are telephone lines installed in the press area on C03.
Please note that journalists requiring the use of telephones are
advised to buy calling cards at the VIC Post Office or
alternatively make use of a toll-free 0800-number for long
distance calls. You can find information on toll-free numbers at
www.telediscount.at<a>.<br /><br
/><strong>Accreditation:</strong><br /> <br />Please fill out
the <a href="/NewsCenter/accreditation_bog.pdf">accreditation
form[pdf] and return it by fax to Ms. Brenda Blann at
+43-1-2600-29610 (email:  B.Blann@iaea.org, tel.:
+43-1-2600-26383) or register on-line. 

You are required to bring a valid press I.D. TV Crews arriving
by car should enter through Gate 3 and inform Mr. Peter Rickwood
(P.Rickwood@iaea.org, tel.: +43-1-2600-22047, mobile:
+43-664-203-0899), in advance, of your names, affiliations and
license plate numbers. Advance notice of satellite trucks is
also required.
Press Contacts
 

Mark Gwozdecky
 Director and Spokesperson
 Division of Public Information
 [43-1] 2600-21270
 [43] 699-165-21270 (mobile)
 m.gwozdecky@iaea.org

Melissa Fleming
 Head, Media & Outreach Section 
Spokesperson
 Division of Public Information
 [43-1] 2600-21275
 [43] 699-165-21275 (mobile)
 m.fleming@iaea.org

Peter Rickwood
 Public Information Officer
 Media and Outreach Section
 Division of Public Information
 [43-1] 2600-22047
 [43] 699-165-22047 (mobile)
 p.rickwood@iaea.org
About the IAEA


The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) serves as the
world's foremost intergovernmental forum for scientific and
technical co-operation in the peaceful use of nuclear
technology. Established as an autonomous organization under the
United Nations (UN) in 1957, the IAEA carries out programmes to
maximize the useful contribution of nuclear technology to
society while verifying its peaceful use. 

NOTE TO EDITORS: For additional information visit the Press
Section of the IAEA's website
(http://www.iaea.org/Resources/Journalists/), or call the IAEA's
Division of Public Information at (431) 2600-21270. 
Copyright 2003-2004, International Atomic Energy Agency, P.O.
Box 100, Wagramer Strasse 5, A-1400 Vienna, Austria 
Telephone (+431) 2600-0; Facsimilie (+431) 2600-7; E-mail:
Official.Mail@iaea.org
Disclaimer 
*****************************************************************
 30 IAEA: Belgium´s Underground "Hot" Lab
 
+ [IAEA.ORG :: Atoms for Peace] 
 
Finding Solutions for Radioactive Waste
 
Staff Report
 8 June 2005 [Mol Underground Laboratory, Belgium] 
Underground laboratory at Mol, Belgium. (Photo credit: Mol
(HADES)) 
  + Story Resources 
  + Back to Main Page » 
  + The Promise of Underground Geological Repositories 
  + The Grimsel Geological Test Site, Switzerland 
  + EURIDICE
  + IAEA Waste Technology Section 

In a laboratory 230 meters beneath the earth in Belgium,
scientists are studying ways to safely dispose of highly
radioactive waste. Some of the experiments they monitor have run
for two decades in an underground rock laboratory at Mol
(HADES), in the country´s North. 

What scientists are investigating is how to isolate extremely
hot, hazardous radioactive waste by burying it deep under the
ground. Experts call it a "geological repository". The idea is
to isolate the waste from humans and their environment while it
loses its radioactivity. That process takes tens of thousands of
years. A geological repository works by cocooning the high level
waste in man-made barriers like steel casing, concrete and
sealing materials, then using the earth´s rock as the final
leak-tight vault. 

"We want to know if is it feasible, both technically and
financially, to design and build a geological disposal
repository on Belgium territory that is safe," says Mr. Marc
Demarche, Director of EURIDICE, which operates the underground
lab at Mol. Indications from the rock lab, which started in
1980, look promising. 

Mol is part of an IAEA "centre of excellence" network that links
seven other underground rock labs dotted across globe. The
programme effectively unites the worlds´s best minds focused on
finding safe solutions to dispose of high-level waste in
geological repositories. 

For now Belgium´s high level nuclear waste is stored at
"Building 136" - a facility designed to withstand earthquakes,
external explosions, extreme winds and airplane crashes. Part of
the thinking behind disposal of the waste deep underground is
the security it provides against terrorist attack. 

Belgium has relied on nuclear power for 30 over years. It meets
half of the country´s energy needs. Each year the world produces
about 10 500 tonnes of high level waste, to generate 16% of the
world´s electricity. 

Research to study the long-term management of Belgium´s
high-level waste started in the 1970s. Today some 3.5 million
Euro is spent each year on investigative experiments at
Belgium´s underground laboratory. Mr. Demarche says that the
underground laboratory enables the experiments to be conducted
in conditions close to those encountered in a real repository.
The experiments focus on worst-case scenarios and how to prevent
them - like the possibility of radioactive gases seeping into a
water supply. 

One experiment is investigating the performance of a glass
material - in which radionuclides are embedded - under close to
real radiation and temperature conditions. The information helps
scientist around the globe learn about the best-engineered
materials and rock types to contain the waste. 

Building a repository in clay induces damage to the clay host
rock, says Mr. Demarche. So experiments at the Mol lab examine
the impact of the induced damage over time. Investigations show
that the fractures in Boom Clay close very quickly. "It is now
clearly stated that in clay formations, the impact of the
excavation on the performance of the repository system is not a
critical issue," says Mr. Demarche. "Such experiments constitute
strong scientific foundations for the performance assessment of
a geological repository. They take into account the complex
combination of changing environmental conditions," he said. 

At Mol, and other rock laboratories scattered across the globe,
scientists continue to gather information about the geological,
hydro-geological, geochemical and geotechnical characteristics
of rock types suitable for geological repositories. The
information and lessons learnt are shared through the IAEA´s
centre of excellence network. Now the decades of research is
starting to pay off, as conclusions are steadily drawn. Global
scientific consensus holds that disposal of radioactive waste in
these deep underground repositories is the best and safest
option. Copyright 2003-2004, International Atomic Energy Agency,
P.O. Box 100, Wagramer Strasse 5, A-1400 Vienna, Austria 
Telephone (+431) 2600-0; Facsimilie (+431) 2600-7; E-mail:
Official.Mail@iaea.org
Disclaimer 
*****************************************************************
 31 Daily Times VIEW: The Union and the dragon —Bernard Bot 

Saturday, December 30, 1899   
	     
China will undoubtedly find the EU a tough negotiating partner.
The EU sets all kinds of conditions for cooperation with other
countries. Some issues are non-negotiable... These include
democracy and the rule of law, respect for human rights and the
environment, non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction
and their means of delivery, and the campaign against terrorism

This month, China and the European Union mark 30 years of
official relations. During that period, changes within China,
and in the nature of those relations, have been dramatic. But
how will relations evolve over the next thirty years? Will China
and the EU be competitors or partners? 

Many challenges face both China and the EU. The first are
economic. China’s development in recent years has been
magnificent. But speedy growth always incites turbulence, which
China will have to minimise and manage. As it integrates into
the world economy, it must seek to sustain growth while
protecting the environment and reducing poverty and inequality.
These are daunting tasks, and China cannot address them alone. 

Indeed, sustainable development is a challenge for both China
and Europe. After all, by far the most important factor
determining whether our children and grandchildren will enjoy
secure, healthy, and productive lives is whether the world’s
natural ecosystems survive the pressures put on them by modern
civilisation. A recent UN report warned that we have already
entered the danger zone. Numerous land and sea ecosystems are in
danger of being destroyed forever, with effects that are hard to
predict. 

One downside to China’s rapid growth is its rising demand for
energy and the increased CO2 emissions that accompany it. China
is quickly turning into one of the world’s largest importers of
oil and gas. The International Energy Agency’s World Energy
Outlook 2004 predicts that, between now and 2030, global demand
for energy will rise by roughly 60 percent, with China and India
accounting for nearly two-thirds of that increase. 

Huge investments — worth trillions of euros — will be needed to
meet global energy requirements. The same report warns that, if
we do not change our ways, worldwide CO2 emissions will rise
exponentially. So a new phase in international environmental
cooperation is needed, with China’s active contribution. 

Of course, China clearly has a right — like any country — to
seek the energy, minerals, and other resources it needs. But a
lack of cooperation could result in higher-than-necessary oil
and gas prices and perhaps defeat in the battle against climate
change. This means that China must treat climate change and
intelligent energy use as priorities in its national policies. 

Beyond economics, China must reassure others that its awakening
will not make the world tremble. Thus, in formulating its
policies, China must also sell those policies to a global
audience. Most Europeans believe that China wants to be a shaper
of — not a challenger to — a balanced world order, a strong
United Nations, and an effective multilateral system. But, in a
global village, misperceptions can arise all too easily — and
can do great damage. 

China’s important role concerning North Korea’s nuclear
ambitions is a good example of exercising responsibility for
international security and stability. The international
community counts on China to pursue that role with vigour. If
necessary, it must use its influence even more assertively to
bring Pyongyang back to the negotiating table. Obviously, that
solution must be in line with Chinese proposals and interests: a
denuclearised Korean peninsula, which has the support of the EU. 

Opportunities exist for a constructive Chinese role elsewhere.
Having concluded a 10-year energy agreement with Iran, China is
in a position to support the EU’s efforts to prevent nuclear
proliferation, as the Union supports China’s efforts concerning
North Korea. This is not just about Iran, but also about the
threat of a nuclear arms race across the entire Middle East.
Chinese interests are served by a Middle East marked by regional
cooperation. We count on China’s continued support for European
and American efforts in making sure that Iran’s nuclear
programme remains limited to purely civilian purposes. 

Europe and the world are also watching China’s handling of
domestic human rights issues. The EU welcomed the inclusion last
year of the following clause in the Chinese Constitution: “The
government respects and protects the human rights of the
people.” But it is deeds that matter. At the EU-China Summit, we
discussed the Chinese government’s plans for ratification of the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. 

One subject China should address is freedom of belief. The
obligation of prior registration of religious communities is
discriminatory. Ratification of the International Covenant on
Civil and Political Rights — and the resulting changes in
Chinese laws and practice — would help to secure social and
political stability in China, boost dialogue between China and
the EU, and increase China’s moral authority. 

It is time to replace the old cooperation agreement between the
Union and China, dating from 1985. Our relationship has evolved
from a predominantly economic one into one that includes
fighting terrorism, piracy, and organised crime, as well as many
other issues. A structured dialogue — including the private
sector, which is so intimately involved in China’s development —
is needed on energy, sustainable development, and the
environment. We must see environmental problems and energy
scarcity for what they are: threats to mankind as a whole. 

China will undoubtedly find the EU a tough negotiating partner.
The EU sets all kinds of conditions for cooperation with other
countries. Some issues are non-negotiable, because they are
pillars of the European model that we seek to share with the
world. These include democracy and the rule of law, respect for
human rights and the environment, non-proliferation of weapons
of mass destruction and their means of delivery, and the
campaign against terrorism. 

The EU’s political standards are high, but the fruits of
cooperation are sweet. If we tackle our common problems
together, China and Europe can be instrumental in turning the
21st century into a century of hope. —DT-PS

Bernard Bot is foreign affairs minister of the Kingdom of the
Netherlands 
*****************************************************************
 32 Webindia123.com: Substantial N-fuel breakthrough accomplished

Kalpakkam (Tamil Nadu) | June 11, 2005 9:40:38 PM IST
 
Kalpakkam (Tamil Nadu), June 11 : A breakthrough in nuclear fuel
processing was registered when a test fast breeder reactor used
a carbide fuel instead of the usual oxide fuel, to produce 147.8
Giga Watt of power, here Saturday, reported the Department of
Atomic Energy (DAE).

One gram of an enriched nuclear fuel like plutonium provides
sufficient energy to keep a 40- watt bulb lit continuously for
three to four years.

Chairman Atomic Energy Commission, and Secretary, DAE Anil
Kakodkar said: "The indigenously-developed technology, using
plutonium mono-carbide in a breeder reactor, is an international
technology landmark."

No other country in the world has achieved such success in using
carbide fuel instead of the mixed oxide fuel (MOX), a fuel made
of plutonium and uranium oxides, he said. 

The experiment to use plutonium-rich carbide core for the test
reactor began "because of non-availability of uranium for MOX
fuel", a DAE official said.
 
(IANS)

 
 Quick Links - Webindia123.com  
© 2000-2005 Suni System (P) Ltd. 
*****************************************************************
 33 "Free" Press On New Generation Of Nuke Reactors
 
Date: Sun, 12 Jun 2005 01:21:22 -0400

 


  Throughout this piece there's not a single
critical statement about, next to nuclear weapons,
probably the single most dangerous technology
humanity has developed.  In effect they[NPPs] are
nuclear weapons- stationary radiological nuclear
weapons. Why not[any critical/objective
statements]? AP should be phoned and asked about
this. They should be asked to point out the
immense dangers inherent with any nuclear
technology. The industry has admitted to the
immense danger openly as in the immensely  watered
down version that NRC mandated and Sandia Labs
carried out, CRAC-2:
http://www.mothersalert.org/crac.html   This
sounds like AP acting as a stenogropher for a
nuclear industry press release not an objective
piece of journalism.

 >the EPR has a number of design improvements,
including a double-wall concrete containment dome
for >greater protection against an aircraft crash.

  Meaning that there's less protection right now.
With no mention being made of "double- walling"
all other reactors. Or "triple-walling" them. Off
the wall sounds more like it.

  As usual no mention is made as to whom is going
to pay for this- the taxpayer, not the people that
stand to make $$ and endanger and lie to all of
us.


http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/science/AP-Future-Reactors.html?

Few Differences for New Nuclear Plants
  a..              E-Mail This
  b.. Printer-Friendly



By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: June 11, 2005
Filed at 6:05 p.m. ET

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The new-generation nuclear
reactors being talked about after a pause of three
decades are not much different from those of the
past, though the designs should make them safer,
more efficient and easier to build.

Two designs likely to be pursued adopt a passive
safety system requiring less involvement by
operators to shut the system down and ensure that
the reactor core doesn't overheat. A third design
would have more redundant and isolated safety
systems than current reactors plus a double-walled
concrete containment dome better able to withstand
an airplane crash.

Still awaiting Nuclear Regulatory Commission
approval, all three designs are ''evolutionary''
advancements from the ''light-water'' reactors in
use in the United States and Europe today. These
reactors use ordinary water to slow, or moderate,
the fission process as well as for emergency
cooling if needed. A Generation IV gas-cooled
reactor would be the next step in design
advancements, probably after 2030, in the United
States.

The three reactor designs attracting the most
interest are being developed by Westinghouse, a
subsidiary of the British company BNFL; General
Electric; and the French conglomerate AREVA, whose
Framatome subsidiary designed France's reactors.
All three manufacturers say their new designs have
been simplified to increase safety and have fewer
moving parts, valves and pumps.

Here are some characteristics of each of the top
three light-water reactor designs and a
next-generation gas-cooled reactor:

--The Westinghouse AP1000:

This would have one-third fewer pumps, half as
many valves, and more than 80 percent fewer pipes
than current reactors. It can be built using
modular units manufactured in a factory and
transported to the reactor site, cutting
construction time to three years.

It relies on a largely passive safety system. The
cooling water for use in event of a buildup of
excess heat is above the reactor core and uses
gravity and natural circulation for emergency
cooling if needed. In current reactors, cooling
water must be pumped into the core.

--General Electric's ESBWR:

This has a 1,500 megawatt boiling water design,
meaning the cooling water is not under pressure
and is allowed to boil with steam passing over the
top of the reactor into the turbines.

ESBWR stands for ''Economic Simplified Boiling
Water Reactor,'' reflecting that its design
removes many complexities of current reactors. It
has 25 percent fewer pumps, valves, motors, piping
and cabling and is designed to respond more
quickly to a loss of coolant situation. Modular
construction and a smaller plant size allow for
faster construction.

--AREVA's EPR:

A 1,500 megawatt pressurized water reactor that's
an evolutionary design based on the French and
German reactors designed by Framatome and Siemans.
It is a simplified design using existing
technologies, with fewer parts.

While it maintains an active rather than passive
safety system, the EPR has a number of design
improvements, including a double-wall concrete
containment dome for greater protection against an
aircraft crash. The design also extends the dome
over the spent fuel pool and two of the four
safety buildings.

If there is a severe accident and meltdown, the
reactor vessel is designed to capture the core
melt in a cavity below the containment building.

--Generation IV reactors:

These reactor technologies reflect a
''revolutionary'' step from the ''Generation III''
and earlier design light-water reactors.
Development for commercial use won't occur until
2030.

They produce more heat and less waste with
different cooling mechanisms than the light water
reactors, and would be able to produce hydrogen as
a replacement for fossil fuels to power everything
from cars to electric lamps. An international
effort has been under way since 2000 to examine
various technologies, using a gas such as carbon
dioxide, water, liquid metal or even molten salt
for cooling.

A gas-cooled reactor known as the pebble bed is
being developed in South Africa and was touted for
the U.S. market until Exelon, the Chicago-based
utility, pulled out of the project. Instead of
fuel rods, the pebble bed uses coated graphite
pebbles filled with uranium fuel. The decay heat
is transferred to helium, an inert gas, that
eventually moves to a gas turbine to produce
electricity.

The Energy Department is planning a $1.25 billion
program to build a gas-cooled Generation IV
experimental reactor in Idaho. It would produce
both hydrogen and electricity and could become a
prototype for future commercial reactors.

*****************************************************************
 34 AP Wire: Utilities show interest in new nuke plants

| 06/11/2005 | 

H. JOSEF HEBERT

 Associated Press

WASHINGTON - For two months, Ray Ganthner took to the road,
visiting a dozen power companies to find out if his bosses
should take a $100 million gamble. Asking executives
"eyeball-to-eyeball" about their future generating capacity
needs, he wanted to know just how serious utilities were about
building a new nuclear power plant in the United States for the
first time in three decades. 

"I was surprised at the consistency of the answers," Ganthner, a
Lynchburg, Va.-based senior executive for the French reactor
manufacturer, Framatome, said in an interview. 

Based on what he found, AREVA, Framatome's parent company, is
now investing $100 million on U.S. marketing and to get a design
certificate from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for its
newest reactor, one already being built in Finland. 

It may be a long shot. Two other manufacturers, Westinghouse and
General Electric, have a head start. But the French company's
decision to make it a three-way race demonstrates the resurgent
interest in nuclear power in the United States, where no new
reactor has been ordered since 1973. 

The 1979 partial meltdown at the Three Mile Island nuclear plant
in Pennsylvania, followed by the 1986 explosion at the Chernobyl
plant in the Ukraine ended any U.S. interest in more reactors
beyond those already under construction. 

Recently a consortium of eight U.S. utilities, called NuStart,
announced potential sites where one or more of its members might
put a new reactor. Two other American utilities are pursuing
separate licensing efforts. 

While no one has yet committed to construction, Energy Secretary
Samuel Bodman recently told an industry group, "If all goes
well, we could see new plants on line by 2014." 

Westinghouse Electric Co., a subsidiary of the British company
BNFL, already has approval from the NRC for its new 1,000
megawatt AP1000 reactor design and General Electric will submit
an application for its 1,500 megawatt ESBWR reactor later this
year. 

Both companies are working hard to line up customers, convinced
that electricity demand a decade from now will require more
large power plants, and that some will be nuclear. 

"We think everything is heading in absolutely the right
direction," says Vaughn Gilbert, a Westinghouse spokesman.
"Nuclear has to be part of the energy picture. We expect the
U.S. market will come back and eventually be robust." 

The new reactors are described as "evolutionary" advancements
over the 103 now in operation in 31 states. They basically use
the same technology, but with fewer valves, pipes and pumps, and
- in the case of Westinghouse and GE - passive safety systems
that, if needed, can shut the reactor down and pour in cooling
water without human intervention. Other modifications such as
setting the radioactive fuel lower into the ground were added in
response to post-Sept. 11 worries about terrorism. 

President Bush has pushed nuclear power as a way to take the
pressure off fossil fuels - oil, natural gas and coal. While the
United States gets 20 percent of its electricity from nuclear
reactors, France meets 78 percent of its electricity needs with
nuclear power. 

Even some environmentalists have abandoned their opposition to
nuclear power, arguing it is needed to address climate change
because reactors do not produce so-called "greenhouse" gases as
do fossil fuels. Other environmentalists are not convinced,
citing worries about reactor waste and safety. 

At the heart of the resurgent interest in nuclear power are the
high cost of competing energy sources and improved reactor
efficiency. A University of Chicago study concluded that a new
fleet of reactors can be expected to produce power as cheaply as
coal and natural gas, given's today's prices. 

"People are getting comfortable with nuclear," Paul Dabber, a
vice president for mergers and acquisitions at J.P. Morgan, told
a conference on new reactor technology in February. One reason
is that existing nuclear power plants have been making profits,
he said. 

Wall Street has long been skeptical about committing $2 billion
or more to a new nuclear reactor and investors still consider
such a venture risky unless the government provides tax breaks
or other incentives to get the first group of reactors started. 

Without some government help, no new reactors are likely to be
built before 2025, says the Energy Information Agency, the
government's energy statistical agency. 

Congress is considering loan guarantees for new-design reactors,
and lawmakers are expected to come up with other tax breaks to
stoke investor interest. But a Bush proposal to provide "risk
insurance" to protect the industry against licensing or legal
delays has attracted little interest on Capitol Hill. 

No one has yet committed to building a new reactor and despite
the optimistic rhetoric, utilities are moving toward that
decision cautiously. 

A premature pronouncement about a new reactor could rattle
investors and depress a utility's stock, industry experts say.
Utilities and investors still remember the pitfalls of long
licensing delays that doubled and tripled the cost of many
reactors in the 1980s. In one of the biggest cost overruns, the
proposed twin-reactor Seabrook plant in New Hampshire was
projected to cost $850 million in 1976 and be finished in six
years, but ended up costing $7 billion when completed in 1990
even though the second reactor was canceled. 

"My company lost $5 billion to $10 billion on the last round of
nuclear construction," Exelon chairman John Rowe said in a
recent speech, explaining why he is approaching new reactor
investments with caution. 

Rowe, whose Chicago-based utility company owns 17 nuclear
reactors, more plants than any other utility, also says his
company won't invest in a new plant until there is more progress
in dealing with reactor waste. A proposed waste repository at
Yucca Mountain in Nevada has had a string of setbacks and the
date for its completion is optimistically put at 2012. 

Still, Exelon and two other utilities, Dominion and Entergy,
have separately applied to the NRC for early site permits for
reactors with the idea of shortening the licensing process if a
decision is made to go ahead with one. 

"There is a growing recognition that if we are going to meet our
future need for electric energy and also reduce our emissions of
greenhouse gases ... we simply must build the next generation of
advanced nuclear energy plants," said Marilyn Kray, an Exelon
vice president and head of the NuStart consortium. 

In an interview, she said the goal is to preserve the nuclear
option by testing the NRC's streamlined licensing process. 

Also testing the water is Duke Energy, based in Charlotte, N.C.,
which, moving on its own, is talking about possibly having a new
reactor operating by 2014. Dominion, based in Virginia, also is
making plans to seek an NRC reactor construction permit. Neither
company has made a final decision. 

The Energy Department is paying half the cost of the various
initial licensing efforts, including an expected $46 million
next year. 

"Adding nuclear capacity ... makes a lot of sense," says Henry
"Brew" Barron, in charge of nuclear operations at Duke Power, a
subsidiary of Duke Energy that serves 2 million customers in the
Carolinas. By 2014, Duke will need at least one more large power
plant to meet demand in one of the country's fastest growing
regions. Many other utilities around the country are facing
similar electricity demands. 

Once the logjam is broken with the first orders, the U.S.
reactor market could become the world's second largest, after
China, given expected growth in U.S. electricity demand and
environmental and cost concerns about rival fossil fuels, says
Andy White, president of GE Energy's nuclear business. 

"We've probably never had a better situation," White said in an
interview, predicting that 60 or more new reactors may be built
in the United States over the next 20 to 30 years with several
designs finding customers. 

*****************************************************************
 35 NEWS.com.au: Nuclear plants vulnerable to attack 

(13-06-2005)
 
From: Agence France-Presse                                             

THE US government may have set its security standards for
nuclear power plants too low, and guards say they may not be
ready to stop a terrorist attack of September 11 magnitude, a US
magazine has reported. A Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC)
document "raises serious questions about whether the government
has set security requirements for nuclear plants too low and
allowed nuclear plant operators to provide security on the
cheap," Time reported.

 Even plant guards worry they would be unable to thwart a big
terrorist operation, saying they lack the necessary training and
weapons, the magazine said. The plants could also be vulnerable
to an attack on foot, it said.

 "Our training has increased, but I don't think it's increased
enough to deal with that," a veteran guard, who was not named,
told Time. Another guard said: "We don't have the weapons or
training to stop an attack of that magnitude. ... Everyone feels
that way. It's a consensus of opinion."

 "I don't think they could handle a 9/11-size attack," David
Orrik, a senior NRC official who retired in February after a
20-year career probing power-plant vulnerabilities, was quoted
as saying.

 Since the September 11, 2001, attacks, the government has spent
one billion dollars to boost nuclear power plant security,
compared to 20 billion for aviation security, Time reported.

 "The NRC and the nuclear power industry are today where the FAA
sfr1/8 Federal Aviation Administrationsfr3/8 and airlines were
on Sept. 10, 2001," a senior US anti-terrorism official was
quoted as saying by the magazine.

 NRC-commissioned studies say a plant's concrete and steel
infrastructure could withstand a suicide airplane attack, making
the risks of a major release of radioactivity low.

 But other experts, including a recent National Academy of
Sciences panel, say the particular design and vulnerabilities of
each plant make such blanket assurances meaningless, Time said.
*****************************************************************
 36 BBC: Nuclear plant to close for
 
Last Updated: Sunday, 12 June, 2005
 
[Thorp reprocessing plant]                              
The leak is thought to have began last August                                                               

Part of the nuclear reprocessing plant at Sellafield in Cumbria 
may be closed for months following a leak of highly radioactive 
material. 

The Thermal Oxide Reprocessing Plant (Thorp) stopped production 
in April when the leak, which went undetected for up to eight 
months, was discovered. 

Sellafield's managing director, Barry Snelson, admitted to the 
BBC that the plant may remain closed for months. 

Safety regulators claim the discharge could result in criminal 
charges. 

Mr Snelson described the incident as "a stumble, not a fall". 

The accident happened when a narrow pipe fractured, spewing 
nitric acid onto the floor of a concrete-lined cell in the Thorp 
reprocessing complex. 

The acid contained 20 tonnes of uranium and 160kg of plutonium. 

It is thought the pipe may have fractured in August, but the leak 
was not discovered until eight months later due to a combination 
of a faulty gauge and human error. 

No staff were contaminated. 

Last week, Sellafield was told to improve the way it discharged 
low level radioactive waste water into the Irish Sea. 

Environment Agency inspectors issued an enforcement notice after 
finding its filtering system needed to be improved. 

Operators British Nuclear Group said no discharge limits had been 
breached and it was "committed" to improvements. 

		 	 		 	 	 



*****************************************************************
 37 APP.COM: Fuel-tank leak at nuclear plant
 	 	 	 		 	 	 	 	
Asbury Park Press 
	 	
Park Press 06/12/05 		 		 		 

 LACEY: About 100 gallons of fuel oil seeped from a storage tank
into a lined containment area Friday at the Oyster Creek
nuclear-power plant on Route 9, police said.

The leaking tank, used to fuel a combustion turbine, was
situated away from the plant's nuclear generating operation and
posed no danger to the public, township police Sgt. Edward
Olbrys said in a news release.

Olbrys said the fuel oil apparently expanded because of the
day's high temperatures and seeped through the tank's vent
holes. Oyster Creek personnel immediately began pumping out the
fuel beneath the vent holes when the leak was detected, the
release said.

Forked River Fire Department and the Berkeley
hazardous-materials unit responded to the scene. The state
Department of Environmental Protection was notified, but did not
respond, Olbrys said, because the spill was contained.

Bill Bowman 


  Copyright © 2005 Asbury Park Press. All rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
 38 Journal News: Leak of non-radioactive water shuts down IP3

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
 
(Original publication: June 10, 2005)
 
BUCHANAN, N.Y. (AP) — A leaking gasket forced the shutdown today
of the Indian Point 3 nuclear power plant, its owner said.

No radioactivity was released, no workers were injured and there
was no danger to the public, said Jim Steets, spokesman for
Entergy Nuclear Northeast.

The plant went down as a hot and muggy weekend loomed, but D.
Joy Faber, a Con Edison spokeswoman, said the outage "should not
have any impact on Con Edison operations. Load levels are
typically reduced on the weekend."

Steets said the problem should be fixed before the weekend is
out.

Indian Point 2, which adjoins Indian Point 3 on the Hudson River
in Buchanan, was running at full power, Steets said.

He said operators shut down the IP3 reactor manually at about
9:30 a.m. after a worker noticed water on the floor near a heat
exchanger that cools the plant's exciter. The exciter provides
the electrical current for the main electrical generator, Steets
said.

A closer look revealed water spraying from the gasket that
attaches piping to the exchanger.

"It's a simple repair," Steets said. "We shut the plant simply
because you have to shut it down to repair it."

                                
  - - - - - - - -914-694-9300 - - 		- 		- 		- 		 

  Copyright 2005 The Journal News, . Inc. newspaper serving
Westchester, Rockland and Putnam Counties in New York.
*****************************************************************
 39 toledoblade.com: Davis-Besse will get very close scrutiny
 
Article published Sunday, June 12, 2005
 
The Blade's story about a change in the oversight mechanism for
the Davis-Besse nuclear plant misconstrued a comment last year
by Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chairman Nils Diaz to suggest
that the plant would be under scrutiny by a special oversight
panel for three to five years.

 The chairman's comment related to the NRC's intention to
subject the plant to substantial additional oversight over a
three- to five-year period. To be clear, dissolution of the
special oversight panel - a coordinating body - does not mean
the plant will no longer be subject to additional attention by
the NRC.

In fact, under NRC orders the plant is being evaluated this year
in the areas of operations performance, safety culture,
corrective action implementation, safety-conscious work,
environment, and engineering.

The NRC will also monitor the licensee's performance in the
areas of self assessment, problem identification, trending, and
progress toward reducing the backlog of maintenance and
corrective action items. Even though problem identification and
resolution inspections are biennial and the NRC has one
scheduled for 2006, we will conduct an additional such
inspection in 2005.

Additional oversight for 2006 will be determined at the end of
2005 and will address key problem areas identified in the course
of the year. The NRC will be watching Davis-Besse's performance
closely, with more scrutiny than normal, for quite some time.

ELIOT BRENNER
Director
Office of Public Affairs
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Rockville, Md.

U.S. has had several nuclear accidents
 In regard to The Blade's May 26 "Besse's sirens lack power
backup," your article stated "[t]he most high-profile evacuation
occurred in March, 1979, as Three Mile Island's Unit 2 reactor
was in the process of a partial meltdown, the only such accident
in the nation's history."

Actually, there have been other partial meltdowns of nuclear
reactors in the United States in addition to Three Mile Island.
For example, on Oct. 5, 1966, the Enrico Fermi Atomic Power
Plant (also known as Fermi One) near Monroe suffered a partial
core meltdown.

This accident is well-documented in John G. Fuller's We Almost
Lost Detroit, published in 1975.

His book also documents the nuclear fuel explosion in the core
and resultant high-level radiation contamination in the plant
that killed three workers at the SL-1 experimental reactor in
Idaho on Jan. 3, 1961, as well as another reactor in Idaho that
was intentionally exploded by the government in November, 1962,
as an experiment. That spewed fallout 20 miles downwind.

Although not in the United States, the 1952 meltdown at the
Chalk River nuclear laboratory near Ottawa, Canada - the first
known reactor meltdown in history - should also be mentioned.
After all, given the nature of the winds and rains, radioactive
fallout doesn't respect national borders.

A meltdown anywhere in North America could prove catastrophic
for both countries.

KEVIN KAMPS
Nuclear Information and Resource Service
Washington, D.C.

Who in Congress will speak for retirees?
 United Airlines has been the first of many companies to file
bankruptcy and request relief from their costly pension
programs. Some speculate that General Motors will be the next
company to exercise this option. Because GM has more retirees on
pension than any other American company, the impact on seniors
would be far-reaching.

Not only would this scenario drain the reserves in the pension
guarantee fund, the logical follow-up would be for an avalanche
of industries to file for bankruptcy to gain an even corporate
playing field. The federal pension guarantee fund cannot
withstand such a blow without major overhaul.

Why are elected representatives spending precious time on things
such as "nuclear options" related to Senate rules when far more
critical economic issues need their attention?

Who in Congress is speaking for retirees?

MARY DRUSBACKY
Port Clinton

Why do we overlook Bush's 'white lies'?
 Recently, I heard Dr. Helen Caldicott, president of the Nuclear
Policy Research Institute, whose objective is to create
consensus for a nuclear-free future, speak about the horrors of
nuclear war. Yet a powerful country like ours not only furthers
a national nuclear missile program but also desires to
militarize outer space.

There is no doubt that President Bush, goaded by the equally
war-minded Vice President Dick Cheney, strongly wants both
programs.

They should be speaking strongly for treaties and policies that
outlaw such programs and support only nuclear research for
peaceful purposes.

Apparently, they see themselves as supermen potentially able to
push buttons from outer space as they, surpassing their
"peaceful" intentions, watch the world and its people blow up.

Such thinking is so dangerous that one can forecast an
increasingly immoral sounding world; this superpowerful thinking
belies these leaders' humanity.

When I read Dr. Caldicott's analytical summary of impeachments,
I agreed:

"President Nixon was almost impeached for a burglary at the
Democratic Headquarters; President Clinton was impeached for
having sex with an intern. But George W. Bush lied to the
Congress and the nation, instigated an illegitimate war that
killed thousands of people, invaded a sovereign nation, and
violated international law. No president has ever provided such
indisputable grounds for impeachment."

I wonder why this nation's apparently majority thinking (which
seems to be shrinking) overlooks this President's lying, pushing
aside his lying as "white lying" believed to be good, when, in
essence, it has created the unnecessary deaths of more than
1,600 Americans in combat, plus some American civilians and many
thousands of Iraqi civilians and soldiers. It also resulted in
much destruction, including radioactive areas, in Iraq, harming
its people for years to come.

WALLACE L. PRETZER
Bowling Green

Right-wing ideology leaving us bankrupt
 Republican Sens. George Voinovich, John McCain, Lindsey Graham,
and the Senate Democrats are not turncoats or obstructionists,
they are realists doing the job they were elected to do. There
is justified concern for the long-term effects of appointing
right-wing activist judges and John Bolton.

The conservative movement currently under way in America is
social conservatism and bears little resemblance to a country
where everyone has the constitutionally protected right of
individual liberties.

Science and reason are under attack by religious and far-right
ideologues who do not represent moderate or mainstream
Christians and Americans.

So far the short-term repercussions of far-right ideology have
left America morally, financially, and intellectually bankrupt.
Dissent has become treason, schools are failing, we're in an
unjustified, costly, and bloody war, girls and women are rapidly
losing access to birth control and abortion, workers are losing
rights, college professors are being silenced, science is being
replaced by mythology, and government is being supported by
religion.

This is hardly the "Age of Enlightenment" envisioned by the
writers of the Constitution.

The legislators who have the foresight to know that the
Constitution exists for all of us and that combining politics
with religion weakens a society are only doing their duty to
protect the diversity of mainstream America from politicians
supported by religious intolerance, bigotry, and hate.

SALLY J. KELLER
Sabra Road

Colson and Liddy? Who are they to talk?
 I got a kick out of convicted felons Chuck Colson and G. Gordon
Liddy making comments on how disgraceful W. Mark Felt's actions
were as "Deep Throat." Have these two stellar Americans been out
of jail long enough to have a fair and balanced opinion about
Watergate?

HAL SIMON
Maumee

 The Toledo Blade Company, 541 N. Superior St., Toledo, OH 43660
, (419) 724-6000 
*****************************************************************
 40 APP.COM: Growing chorus opposes plant
         
Asbury Park Press Online

But experts see no issue that would close reactor

 Published in the Asbury Park Press 06/12/05 BY LEDYARD KING
GANNETT NEWS SERVICE

WASHINGTON — When the Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station 
first hummed to life in 1969, it provided hundreds of jobs in 
Ocean County and the promise of a reliable source of energy.

But as the nation's oldest commercial operating reactor prepares
to seek permission to run until 2029, it isn't finding much of a
cheering section.

Communities near the plant in Lacey, then rural but now much
more populous, want it closed. Scientists are raising safety
questions about its design. And the local congressman is asking
the government to take a thoroughlook before extending its life.

Even the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, long derided by critics
as an industry lapdog, has questioned whether the plant can
properly respond to emergencies. And the NRC has suspended
review of a license extension application of a similarly aging
plant in upstate New York: Nine Mile Point near Oswego.

Still, industry experts said they're not aware of any issues
that would prevent the NRC from granting Oyster Creek the
20-year license extension its owner, AmerGen Energy Inc., is
seeking.

"Just because they say it's an old plant, that's not an adequate
enough reason unless they can demonstrate something about an
older plant that is no longer safe," said Forrest Remick, a
former NRC commissioner who has toured Oyster Creek. "A lot of
components can be replaced, just like a car if a battery goes
wrong."

NRC inspectors said the plant, overall, operated safely last
year despite concerns that employees did not respond properly to
relatively minor malfunctions. And NRC spokesman Neil Sheehan
said the delay of Nine Mile Point's application review had more
to do with insufficient details than the plant's operation.

Many active reactors were approved more than 30 years ago and
are now coming up for renewal. The NRC already has approved 15
extensions and rejected none since 2000, though it has asked for
more information from Nine Mile Point and Beaver Valley near
Pittsburgh.

Oyster Creek, which supplies about 9 percent of New Jersey's
power needs, is one of 24 plants that have either applied for an
extension or announced they will. Among those in line are the
Salem and Hope Creek plants, both in Salem County, and Three
Mile Island in Pennsylvania, site of the 1979 accident that
stoked widespread fear about the safety of nuclear power.

Concerns over safety have prompted Rep. H. James Saxton, R-N.J.,
to introduce a bill that would require the National Academy of
Sciences to assess Oyster Creek's performance. It also would
require the NRC to evaluate facilities requesting license
extensions on some factors now reviewed periodically, including
evacuation plans, security and the impact of a nuclear accident.

"I want to make sure in this relicensing process that we take
every possible precaution to make sure the citizens of Ocean
County and South Jersey are as absolutely safe as possible
relative to any threat that may be posed by a nuclear power
plant," he said.

Saxton, who represents part of Ocean County, said he's waiting
for more information before deciding whether to support or
oppose the license extension.

Gina Scala, a spokeswoman for Oyster Creek, said $1.2 billion
has been spent over the past 35 years modernizing the plant.
Last year, NRC inspectors logged some 6,600 hours examining the
plant, she said.

"We meet all the federal safety regulations," she said. "If we
didn't meet those regulations, we wouldn't be operating today."

David Lochbaum, a nuclear safety engineer with the Union of
Concerned Scientists, said Oyster Creek would have to meet
tougher design standards if it were built today. Still, it rates
in the "middle of the pack" compared with other nuclear plants
when it comes to operating safely, and Lochbaum believes it will
get its extension.

"You have to make a strong technical case on why (any) safety
issue, if left unresolved, poses an undue hazard," Lochbaum
said. "If the NRC agrees with you, they'll make the company
address it. They won't allow a bona fide safety problem to go
unresolved."

Saxton is concerned about security as well as safety.

Nuclear plants have spent fuel pools that help cool reactors. If
terrorists can damage the pools, an intense fire could result in
the release of radiation, according to the National Academy of
Sciences. The academy in a recent report said the 32 reactors,
including Oyster Creek, that elevate their pools in the
structure housing the reactor are particularly vulnerable to
airborne attack.

Saxton has asked that Oyster Creek be one of the five plants
that the NRC inspects as part of a congressionally mandated
review of the spent fuel pools issue.

Citing security reasons, Sheehan said the NRC would not disclose
which plants it will inspect.

But he said that in general the pools "are robust structures
equipped with a stainless-steel liner and walls (and a bottom)
consisting of several feet of steel-reinforced concrete." He
also noted that the report mentions there would be "ample time"
to inject additional water into a pool in the event of a rupture.

Rep. Frank J. Pallone Jr., D-N.J., has expressed similar
concerns about the spent fuel pools at Oyster Creek. And many of
the plant's neighbors — 17 of Ocean County's 33 towns — have
passed resolutions either opposing relicensing or seeking an
immediate shutdown of Oyster Creek.

Pallone spokesman Andrew Souvall said the congressman opposes a
license renewal for Oyster Creek.

Neither of the state's two U.S. senators, Democrats Frank R.
Lautenberg and Jon S. Corzine, said they have a position on
whether Oyster Creek should be relicensed.

  Copyright © 2005 Asbury Park Press. All rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
 41 CDB: Earley taking key role in discussions of nuclear power 

Crain's Detroit Business

By Amy Lane  

June 13, 2005 


LANSING — Michigan has a new seat at the table in the national
nuclear power debate.

 DTE Energy Co. Chairman and CEO Anthony Earley Jr. has become
chairman of the Nuclear Energy Institute, the Washington-based
trade association for the nuclear industry.

  Earley stepped into his new post May 16, leading for at least
two years a group that includes nuclear plant operators, design
and engineering firms, fuel suppliers and service firms, and
others involved in nuclear applications and research. 

He’ll be involved in federal deliberations over what’s needed to
spur building the next generation of U.S. nuclear plants, and he
hopes to give Michigan a voice.

 “As I talk to the regulators here in the state, I’m able to
integrate what the state needs to do, and what the federal
government needs to do, to at least set the conditions for
having a nuclear plant,” Earley said.

 New nuclear plants may not be an immediate part of Michigan’s
future. But they are being examined as state regulators,
businesses and energy officials look at whether Michigan needs
to build more power plants to meet growing electricity demand.

 DTE Energy’s site that houses its Fermi 2 nuclear plant was
designed as a two-unit location, although only one unit was
built. Earley said DTE could consider another unit on the site,
but the near-term needs Michigan has for more power are more
likely to be filled by coal-fired generating units that serve
the customer base. Such base-load plants differ from those that
supply power only at peak-demand times.

 “Our problem is timing. We think we will probably need a new
base-load plant in the 2010 time frame,” Earley said. “You could
never get a nuclear plant built by then, so (the) reality is
that next plant would be a coal plant.”

 As chair of the institute, Earley will be spending more time in
Washington. He’s resigned from the board of New York City-based
Mutual of America Capital Management Corp. and is looking at
stepping down from others. His term as chairman of Detroit
Renaissance Inc. ends Dec. 31, when Comerica Inc. Chairman and
CEO Ralph Babb Jr. will become chairman, Earley said.

 DTE’s appointment last year of Gerard Anderson as president
freed Earley from many of the company’s day-to-day operating
responsibilities. DTE promoted Anderson before Earley was
approached to chair the institute, but Earley said DTE’s
division of responsibilities made it easier for him to accept
the new role.

 He said he expects to be much more active in the national
debate over energy sources.

 That includes the Bush administration’s effort to encourage
more nuclear plants, through proposals such as federal risk
insurance designed to protect the nuclear industry from
regulatory delays in the licensing process.

 Earley said one possibility to provide such insurance would be
to create a partnership to build plants. Such a new entity might
be owned by several companies but financed initially by the
federal government, so that government would bear some of the
risk until a plant gets licensed.

 The institute’s agenda includes helping current nuclear plants
extend their licenses, reauthorizing federal law that provides
liability limits and claims payment in the event of a nuclear
accident, and supporting funding and federal licensing for
Nevada’s Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository.

 Nuclear proponents say that given natural-gas and oil price
increases and concerns over climate changes caused by carbon
emissions, more nuclear plants must be considered in the mix of
future power sources.

 Nonetheless, some environmental advocates say subsidies aren’t
the answer. 

In a statement, Jonathan Lash, president of the Washington-based
World Resources Institute, said: “Subsidizing a mature
technology like nuclear power makes about as much sense as
subsidizing Mr. Trump to build another tower.”

 Earley said nuclear plants need subsidies because the
regulations and safety requirements they face make them more
expensive than other energy forms, particularly coal plants.

 David Gard, energy policy specialist with the Michigan
Environmental Council, said that in addition to nuclear’s cost
and waste issues, it also consumes a lot of energy.

 “Energy that goes into mining comes from burning fossil fuels;
it reduces a lot of energy that we produce and put on the grid,”
Gard said.

 He said that in terms of Michigan’s future power sources,
“philosophically, you’d want to put everything on the table. But
as soon as you start to put nuclear on the table, you start to
see shortcomings right away.

 “We have to do things that are the most cost-effective … take
away subsidies, supports, nuclear is a clear loser,
economically.” 


  Entire contents © 2005 Crain Communications, Inc.
*****************************************************************
 42 CNW Group: Greenpeace tells McGuinty government: Go Green - No Nukes 

Canada NewsWire Group
 	
June 13, 2005                                                                                                                                                           QUICK

    Disconnect between public opinion & government direction on
electricity

    OTTAWA, June 10 /CNW Telbec/ - Greenpeace activists picketed 
in front of the Ottawa Congress Centre today as Ontario Premier 
Dalton McGuinty gave the keynote speech to the Ontario Liberal 
Party Annual General Meeting. The activists held a banner stating 
Nuclear Power: Dirty Dangerous Expensive. At the same time, a 
plane circled over downtown Ottawa trailing the message McGuinty 
- No Nukes.

    A poll released by Greenpeace yesterday showed an 
overwhelming majority of Ontarians want the province to meet its 
electricity needs with green power and conservation programmes, 
91% of Ontarians support the increased use of solar and wind 
power to meet the province's needs, and 92% support the use of 
energy conservation and efficiency programmes.

    "The McGuinty government is spending a billion dollars to 
restart one reactor at the Pickering nuclear station. That same 
money could have created twice as much capacity in conservation 
and renewable energy - the solutions that Ontarians want" said 
Shawn-Patrick Stensil, Greenpeace Energy Campaigner.

    A majority of Ontarians (51%) think that nuclear power is 
dangerous, are concerned about radioactive waste and believe that 
it should be phased out. Even Liberal Party supporters reflect 
this anti-nuclear trend amongst Ontarians.

    Meanwhile, the McGuinty government is pushing ahead with the 
restart of the scandal-ridden Pickering A reactors and continues 
secret negotiations with Bruce Power to restart two mothballed 
reactors at the Bruce A nuclear station. In May, Energy Minister 
Dwight Duncan announced that the province will also consider 
building new nuclear plants in Ontario.

    "There's a disconnect between public opinion and the 
government's direction. The McGuinty government is going nuclear 
while giving lip service to green energy." said Stensil. "As they 
plan their 2007 provincial election campaign, the Liberal Party 
should remember that Ontarians want green power not nuclear 
power. It's time to go green before voters get mean".

    The McGuinty government's much-touted targets for 
conservation and renewable energy are minimal compared to 
Ontario's green power potential and other jurisdictions in the 
world. The government has contracted for only 395 MW of green 
energy (including 355 MW of wind capacity), with tenders 
announced for a further 1200 MW.

    Germany, which is phasing out nuclear power, has installed at 
least 2,000 megawatts of wind power a year since 2000, making it 
the world's leader in wind power with 17,000 megawatts of wind 
turbines. Ontario currently has only 15 megawatts of wind power.
 
For further information: Shawn-Patrick Stensil, Greenpeace Energy 
Campaigner, (French/English) (in Ottawa June 10), cell: (416) 
884-7053; Dave Martin, Greenpeace Energy Coordinator, (416) 
597-8408 X 3050, cell: (416) 627-5004
 	
© 2005 CNW Group Ltd.                                                                           
PRIVACY &TERMS
*****************************************************************
 43 Japan Times: Light-water reactors find new favor as breeder stalls

  Saturday, June 11, 2005   

Japan plans to develop a next-generation light-water nuclear
reactor to pursue the highest economic efficiency possible in
the business, government sources said Friday.

 Under the government's first nuclear reactor development
program in 20 years, the agency will try to cut construction
costs, operating costs and radioactive waste by 20 percent from
present levels to achieve the highest economic efficiency for
such reactors in the world, they said.

 The agency asked the Institute of Applied Energy to consider
the development in January. It has concluded that the public and
private sectors should aim for replacing its existing reactors
sometime in the 2020s, the sources said.

 The agency plans to base the next-generation nuclear reactor on
the existing light-water type, because a program to develop a
fast-breeder reactor that can generate electricity while
producing more fuel than it consumes has effectively been
stalled by accidents, misdeeds and litigation.

 The Japan Times: June 11, 2005
(C) All rights reserved 


*****************************************************************
 44 The Tribune: A world first in N-power programme

 Chandigarh, India - Main News
 
 Arup Chanda Tribune News Service 

Kalpakkam (Tamil Nadu), June 11

 India has made a big leap forward in its nuclear power
programme by achieving reprocessing of nuclear fuel with high
plutonium content with a high burn-up mark for the first time in
the world.

Addressing a press conference here today at the Indira Gandhi
Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR), about 70 km from Chennai, Dr
Anil Kakodkar, Chairman, Atomic Energy Commission and Secretary
of Department of Atomic Energy, said for the first time the
plutonium and uranium-rich carbide fuel with a high burn-up mark
of 147.8 giga watts day per tonne had been achieved.

He said: “The fast breed test reactor here is unique because it
is using carbide fuel. It was a bold step and as a part of
cautious approach the target for burnup was fixed at 25,000 mega
watts day per tonne. But what has been achieved is six times of
the target.”

Dr Baldev Raj, Director, IGCAR, said: “The department is
committed to efficiently closing the fast reactor fuel cycle by
safely reprocessing future discharges of spent fuels with
increasing burnups and in achieving the energy security for the
country”. 

He said while the fast breed reactors (FBR) had been using oxide
and carbide fuel the facility had decided to “ leapfrog into
using metallic fuel in specially designed FBRs”.

Dr Kakodkar said: “The IGCAR is focused on developing metallic
fuel for specially designed FBRs. We have been using oxide and
carbide fuel but we will leapfrog into using metallic fuel in
the next 10 years.”

He said scientists at the IGCAR had been working on reprocessing
of nuclear fuel and had been successful.

Explaining the scientific process of reprocessing of nuclear
fuel and how much energy it can generate he said: “To put it for
a layman I would say 100,000 mega watts day per tonne mean that
just one gram of fuel can keep a 50 watt bulb lighted for three
to four years.”

He said the country was going to be living with energy shortage
as 50 years from now the demand would be 1300 to 1400 giga watts
day per tonne in India. “We have to extract maximum energy from
the minerals and hence reprocessing is very important,” he
added. 

Asked how much plutonium was extracted, Mr Kakodkar said: “I
have no answer for such questions and you should know which
questions not to ask”.

The extraction of plutonium or uranium is one of the country’s
top secrets as it will give away the stocks and also indicate
how much of it was being diverted for manufacturing nuclear
weapons.

He said: “We have a plan to rapidly go on to the second phase of
our nuclear power plan which will consist of more FBRs. They
will be designed to meet India’s request which is different from
rest of the world. The modest quantity of uranium in our soil
was enough to meet the requirement”.

“Our nuclear programme is unique dictated by our own conditions.
We are placing very high emphasis on research. 

We will take more steps to strengthen domestic research and
technology,” he added. 

*****************************************************************
 45 Border Mail: Labor rejects nuclear power 
 
Mon, Jun 13, 2005
 
  lMr Beattie: no to nuclear power.   


THE NSW Labor Party yesterday hosed down Premier Bob Carrs
interest in nuclear energy, voting to oppose the construction of
nuclear power plants. 

Queensland Premier Peter Beattie joined in the rebuff while
speaking at his own states Labor conference, stepping up his
opposition. 

Following a recent call by Mr Carr for a national debate on the
merits of nuclear energy, federal MPs Peter Garrett and Anthony
Albanese yesterday moved a motion at the NSW Labor conference
opposing construction of domestic nuclear power plants. 

At Labors Queensland branch conference in Cairns, Mr Beattie
said environmentally friendly options such as geothermal power
should be favoured over nuclear plants, while putting forward
commercial reasons to reject them. 

I want to make it clear that I do not support nuclear power and
nor does my government, he said. 


  All content copyright © The Border Mail and its respective
contributors, 2000. All rights reserved.
 Contact: webmaster@bordermail.com.au  

*****************************************************************
 46 AU ABC: Campbell urges WA to use nuclear power. 

11/06/2005. ABC News Online
 	
"Australian Broadcasting Corporation Online">   

Federal Environment Minister Ian Campbell says Western Australia
needs to consider using nuclear power.

 The State Government recently approved a new coal power
station, but Senator Campbell says nuclear power would be much
better for the environment.

 He says using nuclear power would help reduce greenhouse gas
emissions.

 "We have got to find a way of meeting Australia's power demand
but doing it in a world where we know we have to reduce
emissions by 50 or 60 per cent in the next 100 years," he said.

 "Many nations are looking very closely at nuclear. You have to
analyse whether its environmentally and economically the best
solution." 


*****************************************************************
 47 AU ABC: Nuclear power too expensive, dangerous: Garrett. 

12/06/2005. ABC News Online
 	
"Australian Broadcasting Corporation Online">   

Peter Garrett says nuclear power is too expensive and is too
dangerous (file photo). (ABC TV)   		  [ border=]    	 

Nuclear power too expensive, dangerous: Garrett
 
Federal Labor MPs have shouted down New South Wales Premier Bob
Carr's call for a debate on the merits of nuclear power at the
ALP's state conference in Sydney.

 The option has been described as a no-brainer by federal
backbencher Peter Garrett.

 The high-profile environmentalist spoke at what was his first
Labor Party conference since being elected to the party late
last year. 

While Mr Carr suggested it was time for a debate on the merits
or otherwise of nuclear power as an alternative to coal-fired
power, Mr Garrett says it is an option not worth considering. 

"The issues that bedevilled it in the 70s and 80s still bedevil
it today," he said.

 He says it is too expensive and is too dangerous, with
radiation risks and problems of waste disposal. 

"But delegates, nuclear offers the worst value whatsoever for
employment and job creation," he said. 

The conference moved to reaffirm Labor's opposition to a
domestic nuclear power industry in Australia. 

*****************************************************************
 48 Webindia123.com: "Pakistan to build 12 new nuclear power plants"

Islamabad | June 12, 2005 12:22:36 PM IST
 
Pakistan will build 10-12 new nuclear power plants in the next
few years to meet the country's energy requirements, Pakistan's
Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) Chairman Pervez Butt has said.

"In the present era, each nation has to carve out its own
destiny from available resources and the PAEC has followed this
self-reliance path to evolve successes in the domain of national
security, agriculture, cancer treatment, nuclear energy and
industrial support services," the Online News quoted Butt as
saying.

He said the PAEC has, on self-help basis, done research in
different fields and proved its worth in self-reliance and
proficiency. 

"We have adopted the path of self reliance for our survival in
this high speed and competitive era," Butt said adding that the
government has planned to produce 8800 megawatts of electricity
in the next 25 years. (ANI)

 
© 2000-2005 Suni System (P) Ltd. 
All rights reserved   
*****************************************************************
 49 PRN: PPL's Susquehanna Nuclear Power Plant Restarts Unit 2 

[PR Newswire - A United Business Media Company] 

"http://www.pplweb.com"> 

BERWICK, Pa., June 11 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Unit 2 at the 
Susquehanna nuclear power plant resumed generating electricity 
Saturday (6/11). The unit shut down automatically Monday (6/6) 
after an electrical generator component - a voltage regulator - 
failed. Plant crews have replaced the regulator and have 
completed thorough inspections to ensure that the unit's 
electrical systems are operating properly. 

"The component is on the non-nuclear side of the power plant," 
said Lou Ramos, PPL spokesman. "The unit shut down safely, 
exactly as it is designed to do under such circumstances." 

Unit 1 was not affected and continued to operate at 100 percent 
power. 

The dual-unit Susquehanna plant, located in Luzerne County about 
seven miles north of Berwick, Pa., is owned jointly by PPL 
Susquehanna LLC and Allegheny Electric Cooperative Inc. and is 
operated by PPL Susquehanna. 

PPL Corporation (NYSE: PPL), headquartered in Allentown, Pa., 
controls about 12,000 megawatts of generating capacity in the 
United States, sells energy in key U.S. markets and delivers 
electricity to nearly 5 million customers in Pennsylvania, the 
United Kingdom and Latin America. More information is available 
at http://www.pplweb.com. 

SOURCE PPL Corporation 

Web Site: http://www.pplweb.com 

Copyright © 1996- PR Newswire Association LLC. All Rights 
Reserved. 
*****************************************************************
 50 asahi.com: Nuclear policy to focus on upgraded light-water reactors

06/11/2005 The Asahi Shimbun

In a policy shift, the government will upgrade existing
light-water nuclear reactors and shelve its fast-breeder reactor
plans for the nation's power needs over the next few decades,
officials said Thursday. 

The light-water reactors, which use enriched uranium as fuel,
will be designed to reduce costs for construction and power
generation by 20 percent-and will have much higher safety
standards, officials said. 

The next-generation reactors will be able to operate for longer
periods without regular inspections, they said. Currently,
nuclear power reactors are inspected once every 13 months. The
newer reactors will require safety checks once in every 24
months, they said. 

The new reactors will also produce 20 percent less waste. 

"It is necessary to develop new nuclear power reactors that are
safe and economical," said an official of the Nuclear Energy
Policy Planning Division. "We want to start the new development
project under the government's initiative so that development
will not be too late." 

The division is part of the government's Agency for Natural
Resources and Energy. 

The agency made the decision because many of the nuclear
reactors now operating in Japan are expected to reach their
operating span in 20 to 30 years, officials said. 

In addition, rapidly growing China and India plan to depend on
nuclear power. Japan is trying to position itself to obtain
contracts for the dozens of light-water reactors the two
countries plan to build. 

It will be the first time in 20 years for the agency, an
affiliate of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, to
start a development project for new reactors. 

The government had been pushing fast-breeder reactors, which use
plutonium as fuel, as the future for Japan's energy needs. 

The technology so far has not proven to be practical. 

In addition, the government's prototype Monju fast-breeder
reactor in Fukui Prefecture has been plagued with problems,
including a sodium leak, heavy costs and local protests. 

The agency will seek funds for research on the upgraded
light-water reactors in next fiscal year's budget. 

The agency's Nuclear Energy Policy Planning Division has
examined the development of next-generation reactors since
January this year with researchers of electric power companies
and reactor makers, as well as other experts. 

Based on the studies, the group of the experts was to compile a
report on Friday. 

"As a state project, the government should develop
next-generation nuclear power reactors, which can be put into
practical use in 20 years," said an official of the group. 

The government's development plans will be based on the report. 

Japan has been engaged in similar development projects. From
1981 to 1986, the government, along with experts from the
private sector, developed an improved version of nuclear power
reactors operated by utilities at that time. The upgraded
version was the advanced boiling water reactor.(IHT/Asahi: June
11,2005) 
  
[Copyright Asahi Shimbun. All rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
 51 Scotsman.com: Leak raises nuclear power doubts
 
Mon 13 Jun 2005   			 			

  Sellafield nuclear power plant in Cumbria where a major leak
of spent radioactive fuel went undetected for eight months.
 Picture: Phil Noble/PA  

GERRI PEEV POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT 

A LEAK of nuclear fluid at the Sellafield plant has cast
uncertainty over the future direction of nuclear power, a senior
Cabinet minister has said. 

The disclosure comes as Sellafield's managing director, Barry
Snelson, yesterday admitted that the leak of 83,000 litres of
spent radioactive fuel at the site's Thermal Oxide Reprocessing
Plant (Thorp) could close that part of the Cumbria complex for
up to eight months. 

Alan Johnson, the new Secretary of State for Trade and Industry,
said the investigation into the leak - caused by a fractured
pipe - will be "very important" in ministers' decisions over
what might replace the nation's ageing nuclear reactors. While
Tony Blair has called for a debate on nuclear energy as part of
a policy review over climate change, Mr Johnson warned that
pushing the nuclear power option could prove a "diversion" from
renewable and efficient energy. 

"We have to wait for the report [on the Sellafield leak] but
it's one of the issues that militates against rushing too far
down the road," Mr Johnson said. 

He also dismissed speculation that the government would publish
a White Paper on nuclear energy which could pave the way for new
plants, and said the questions that must be asked in any
decision were: "What do you do with the waste, is it affordable
and who is actually going to build these new nuclear power
stations?" 

It would be "extraordinary" if he were to rush into a decision a
month into his new job "which is why the priorities must still
be renewables", he said. 

Nuclear power currently provides just over 20 per cent of UK
electricity requirements. Scotland produces 40 per cent of its
power from nuclear plants. The Hunterston B plant in Ayrshire
comes to the end of its life in 2011 and several other UK plants
are due for closure. 

The Executive has a target of producing 18 per cent of power
from renewable sources by 2010. Nuclear power is seen by Tony
Blair as a way of cutting Britain's carbon emissions. 

New nuclear stations are required to avoid Britain becoming
reliant on imported power, the pro-nuclear lobby has said. New
stations take about a decade to build and come on line. Scotland
would be seen as a possible location for any such new station. 

Ministers are expecting the details of a report within weeks
from the Nuclear Inspections Directorate into the leak at the
Thorp plant, which occurred over nine months and was discovered
in April. 

Mr Snelson said the incident was a "stumble, not a fall" and no
staff were contaminated. However, safety regulators could bring
charges over the failure to pick up the discharge.   		  [

*****************************************************************
 52 Sofia Morning News: Bulgaria's Nuke Unit 3 Decoupled for Repairs

[Sofia News Agency]                                                           

Politics: 11 June 2005, Saturday.

Unit three at Bulgaria's nuclear power plant Kozloduy, 200
kilometres north of Sofia, was switched off the energy grid
shortly after midnight for conducting regular annual repairs and
refuelling. 

The repair works, scheduled to be completed in the middle of
July, will increase the security and resource of the unit's main
equipment. 

The first of the two oldest units at Kozloduy nuclear power
station was decoupled from Bulgaria's energy grid at 8 p.m. on
December 31, 2002. The closure of Unit 2 started at midnight
December 30. 

The decision for the final and complete closure of Kozloduy
Units 1 and 2 was under the act, which provided for releasing
credits for the upgrade of Units 5 and 6. 

It came after many years of concern over their safety, strong
pressure from the European Union, protests from the nuclear
lobby and opposition parties that the reactors are economically
necessary.[ width=] 

  novinite.com  

  The Team | Link to us | Partners | Top 100-->Top 100
 All Rights Reserved © Novinite Ltd., 2001-2005 - Copyright
&Disclaimer - Privacy Policy
ISO 9001:2000 Certified
   

Bulgaria news Novinite.com (Sofia News Agency -
www.sofianewsagency.com) is unique with being a real time news
provider in English that informs its readers about the latest
Bulgarian news. The editorial staff also publishes a daily
*****************************************************************
 53 LEUREN MORET - DU: A Scientific Perspective
 
Date: Sun, 12 Jun 2005 15:45:17 +0100

 

--------------------------------------------------------
From: Jim Macregor (Scotland)
Date: Sun, 12 Jun 2005 04:23:24 EDT
Subject: Fwd: Permanent brain damage of George W. Bush?
To: richard@cyberjournal.org

Richard,

If this info on depleted uranium is correct, we are in deep shit!

jim

---<downloaded>---

http://www.axisoflogic.com/artman/publish/printer_17578.shtml

United States 
DU: A Scientific Perspective/ An Interview With LEUREN MORET, Geoscientist 
By W. Leon Smith/Nathan Diebenow 
May 13, 2005, 07:20 


Interview Conducted 
By W. Leon Smith 
and Nathan Diebenow 

Leuren Moret is a geoscientist who works almost around the
clock educating citizens, the media, members of parliaments
and Congress and other officials on radiation issues. She
became a whistleblower in 1991 at the Livermore Nuclear
Weapons Lab after witnessing fraud on the Yucca Mountain
Project. She is currently working as an independent citizen
scientist and radiation specialist in communities around the
world, and contributed to the U.N. subcommission investigating
depleted uranium. According to Wikipedia online encyclopedia,
Moret testified at the International Criminal Tribunal for
Afghanistan in Japan in 2003, presented at the World Depleted
Uranium Weapons Conference in Hamburg, Germany, and spoke at
the World Court of Women at the World Social Forum in Bombay,
India, in January 2004.

THE INTERVIEW

ICONOCLAST: What are the latest developments with reducing
depleted uranium exposures on U.S. troops?

MORET: A young veteran named Melissa Sterry of Connecticut has
introduced a bill into the Connecticut Legislature requiring
independent testing of returning Afghan and Gulf War veterans
going back to 2001. She said that she did it because she's
sick, and her friends are dead, and that's from serving in the
2003 conflict. I have been following the bill and talking to
her. Yesterday, she testified twice at the United Nations. I
said, "Why don't we get this bill all over the U.S. in state
legislatures because it informs the public and get the local
media to cover it."

The U.S. has blocked any accountability at international and
national levels. There's a total cover-up just like with Agent
Orange, the atomic veterans, MKULTRA, the mind control
experiments the CIA did. This is more of the same, but the
issue is much, much worse because the genetic future of all
those contaminated is effected. Now vast regions around our
world, as well as our atmosphere, are contaminated with the
depleted uranium. They've used so much. It's the equivalent
number of atoms, as the Japanese professor calculated it, to
over 400,000 Nagasaki bombs that has been released into the
atmosphere. That's really an underestimate.

I went to Louisiana in April. I was invited to speak at the
University of New Orleans for three days. One of the veterans
asked me to be in their April 19 protest and rally through the
City of New Orleans. He took the Connecticut bill straight to
the Legislature, and he got two legislators to sponsor it, and
he said, "Just whiteout the name 'Connecticut' and write in
'Louisiana' on the bill." You're not going to believe it. It
passed 101 to 0 yesterday inthe Louisiana House.

I want you to write about it because we want it (the DU
testing bill) in Texas. Nevada is going to introduce it.
Congressman Jim McDermott is going to put it into the
Washington legislature. We want to get the governor of Montana
to do it because he's the first governor to demand his
National Guard be returned. I think half of them are back. He
said, "I need them in the state."

The DU issue is just really, really, really, really so awful.
I don't think there's any greater tragedy in the history of
the world in what they've done.

ICONOCLAST: Is there a danger of depleted uranium, being used
in weaponry over there, spreading by air over here?

MORET: The atmosphere globally is contaminated with it. It's
completely mixed in one year. I'm an expert on atmospheric
dust. I'm a geoscientist, a geologist, and that's what I
studied and did my research on. It's really a fascinating
subject. We have huge dust storms that are a million square
miles and transport millions of tons of dust and sand every
year around the world.

The main centers of these dust storms are the Gobi Desert in
China, which is where the Chinese did atmospheric testing, so
that's all contaminated with radiation, and it gets
transported right over Japan, and it comes straight across the
Pacific and dumps all its sand and dust on the U.S., North
America. It's loaded with radioactive isotopes, soot,
pesticides, chemicals, pollution - everything is in it -
fungi, bacteria, viruses.

The Sahara Desert is another huge dust center, and it goes up
all over Europe and straight across the Atlantic, to the
Caribbean, and up the East Coast. Of course, you get it in
Texas with those hurricanes. They all originate in the Sahara
Desert.

The third region is the Western United States, which is where
the Nevada test site is located. We did 1,200 nuclear weapons
tests there, so all this radiation that is already there,
which is bad enough, has caused a global cancer epidemic since
1945. All of that radiation was the equivalent of 40,000
Nagasaki bombs. We're talking about 10 times more.

In April of 2003, the World Health Organization said they
expect global cancer rates to increase 50 percent by the year
2020.

Infant mortality is going up again all over the world. This is
an indicator of the level of radioactive pollution.

When the U.S. and Russia signed the partial test ban treaty in
1963, the infant mortality rate started dropping again, which
is normal. Now they are going up again. It's the global
pollution with this radiation.

ICONOCLAST: I had one of our correspondents send me a series
of photographs of the Al-Asad dust storm in Iraq on April 28.

MORET: That dust is what I'm talking about.

ICONOCLAST: In the picture you can see a gigantic wall of
sand.

MORET: I have 16 pictures of that storm. They're posted with
photos from Iraqi doctors of the children of people with
cancer and leukemia. So what did you think of that dust storm?

ICONOCLAST: I thought it was really dramatic.

MORET: It remobilizes all the radiation, but those are the
larger chunks. The DU burns at such high temperatures. It's a
pyroforic metal which means it burns. The bullets and big
caliber shells are actually on fire when they come out of the
gun barrel because they are ignited by the friction in the gun
barrel. Seventy percent of the DU metal becomes a metal vapor.
It's actually a radioactive gas weapon and a terrain
contaminant.

I'll email you the URL of the 1943 memo to General Leslie
Grove under the Manhattan Project. It's the blueprint for
depleted uranium. They dropped the atomic bombs, but they did
not use the DU weapons because they thought they were too
horrific.

I've toured and gone all over Japan with a pediatrician in
Basra and an oncologist, a cancer specialist. These poor
doctors - their whole families are dying of cancer. He has 10
members of his family with cancer now that he's treating, and
this is just from Gulf War I. They've used much, much, much
more in 2003. All over the whole country.

ICONOCLAST: What can soldiers expect when they come home?

MORET: If they were in Bradley Fighting Vehicles, they're
coming home with rectal cancer from sitting on ammunition
boxes. The young women are reporting terrible problems with
endometriosis. That's the lining of the uterus malfunctioning,
and they just bleed and bleed and bleed. Some of them have
uterine cancer - 18 and 19 and 20 year olds.

The Army will not even diagnose it. They send them back to the
battlefields. They won't treat them or diagnose them. A group
of 20 soldiers pushed from Kuwait to Baghdad in 2003 in all
the fighting. Eight of those 20 soldiers have malignancies.

ICONOCLAST: Does exposure to depleted uranium effect their
psychological background when they come home?

MORET: Depleted uranium are these particles that form at very
high temperatures. They are uranium oxides that are insoluble.
They are at least 100 times smaller than a white blood cell,
so when the soldiers breathe, they inhale them. The particles
go through the nose, go through the olfactory and into the
brain, and it messes up their cognitive abilities, thought
processes. It damages their mood-control mechanism in the
brain. Four soldiers at Fort Bragg came back from Afghanistan,
and within two months, those four had murdered their wives.
This is part of the damage to the brain from the radiation and
the particles.

The soldiers from Gulf War I in a group of 67 soldiers who
came back, they had DU in their equipment, in their clothes,
in their bodies, in their semen, and they had normal babies
before they went over there to war. They came back, and the VA
did a study. Of 251 Gulf War I veterans in Mississippi, in 67
percent of them, thier babies born after the war were deemed
to have severe birth defects. They had brains missing, arms
and legs missing, organs missing. They were born without eyes.
They had horrible blood diseases. It's horrific. If you want
to look at something, Life magazine did a photo essay which is
still on the Internet. It's called "The Tiny Victims of Desert
Storm." You should look at that - oh, my God, the post-Gulf
War babies playing with their brothers and sisters who are
normal.

Basically, it's like smoking crack, only you're smoking
radioactive crack. It goes straight into the blood stream.
It's carried all throughout the body into the bones, the bone
marrow, the brain. It goes into the fetus. It's a systemic
poison and a radiological poison.

ICONOCLAST: What about the people in the United States that
are here? You say that DU is being mixed and spread globally?

MORET: Yes, it's being mixed globally. We're getting secondary
smoke. It's the secondary smoke effect. You know the people
who inhabit a room with smokers? They are getting that
secondary smoke, and so are we.

ICONOCLAST: Is that secondary smoke getting thicker as we
speak?

MORET: Yeah, the concentration of the depleted uranium
particles in the atmosphere all around the globe is
increasing. There are indications that the U.S. will go in
June and bomb the heck out of Iran. We're monitoring the U.S.
Army ammunition factories. They have very large orders for
those huge bunker buster bombs that have 5,000 lbs. of DU in
the warhead.

ICONOCLAST: So the prognosis for America isn't really good?

MORET: No, it's really bad.

ICONOCLAST: And if this continues then?

MORET: It's going to kill off the world's population. It
already is, and it doesn't just effect people. It effects all
living systems. The plants, the animals, the bacteria. It
effects everything.

ICONOCLAST: So the things that we eat for instance, if they
have DU in them, then we'll just get it in our systems, and so
we're polluting the oceans, so that could effect all marine
life?

MORET: Yes, it's in the air, water, and soil. The half-life of
DU, Uranium 238, is 4.5 billion years the age of the Earth.

ICONOCLAST: With the damage that's been done to this point,
can we turn back? We can't clean it up?

MORET: There's no way to clean it up. What happens is these
tiny particles float around the Earth. There are still
plutonium and uranium floating around the Earth from bomb
testing. These particles are so tiny that molecules bumping
into them keep them lofted in the air, and so the only way for
them to get out of the atmosphere is rain, snow, fog,
pollution, which will clear them out of the air and deposit
them in the environment. What happens is the surface of these
particles gets wetted by the moisture in the air. They come
down and land on stuff and stick to it like a glue. You can't
ever get the particles off whatever they're sticking to
because have you ever put a drop of water on a microscope
slide and then put another one on top of it? Can you pull
those apart?

ICONOCLAST: No.

MORET: Okay, that's the same effect that happens to
radioactive particles. Once they are removed from the
atmosphere, they stick to any surfaces they land on. In a way
they are removed from circulation from the atmosphere. You
can't wash them off. If it keeps raining or they're in a
creek, you know, if they're on rocks or stones or something in
a creek, they won't even wash off. You didn't know it was this
bad, did you?

ICONOCLAST: No, I knew it was bad, but I thought it was fairly
isolated.

MORET: No. What is over there (in Iraq) is over here in about
four days. I don't know if you followed Chernobyl. That big
bubble of radiation went around and around the world, but this
is dust. It becomes a part of atmospheric dust. Like the dust
storm you saw in that photo, it goes everywhere.

ICONOCLAST: Is it in the upper levels of the atmosphere or the
lower levels?

MORET: It's in lower orbital space. They brought the Mir
spacecraft back down to Earth when they got done using it, and
there was something called a space midge which covered the
electronics on the outside of the spacecraft and protected it
from radiation that comes from the sun because electronics are
real vulnerable to radiation. They analyzed the surface of
that space net and found uranium and uranium decayed products
which they said came from atmospheric testing or burned up
spacecraft with nuclear materials or nuclear reactors on
board. Uranium can also come from supernovas, but they thought
that the most likely sources were atmospheric testing and the
nuclear materials we put in space.

ICONOCLAST: Essentially then, you're saying that we're
conducting a nuclear war.

MORET: Yes, and that's exactly what it is. We've conducted
four nuclear wars since 1991. Yeah, these are nuclear wars. DU
is a nuclear weapon.

ICONOCLAST: From the point of view of a scientist, what needs
to happen to correct this?

MORET: Well, we need to stop the use of it. We've built an
international movement to stop the use, the manufacture, the
storage, the sales, and the deployment of depleted uranium
weapons.

ICONOCLAST: Are the munitions we sell to other countries
contained with depleted uranium?

MORET: We have. In 1968 the first depleted uranium weapons
systems that we found a patent for suddenly appeared in the
U.S. patent office. It was for the Navy. It was sort of a
Gatling gun style weapon system that you mounted on ships. It
rapidly fires like 2,500 bullets a minute. It's over 3,000
now. They've improved the design. Then in 1973, we gave
depleted uranium weapons systems to the Israelis and
supervised their use. They used them in the Arab-Israeli war
and completely wiped out the Arabs in five days. Then the show
was on the road. That was the first actual battlefield
demonstration of this new weapon system.

Hughes Aircraft developed the full-length system which is for
the Navy. That's the Gatling gun system. They still use it.
That was produced in 1974 and tested. Within six months the
U.S. government had sold the DU weapons system to 12 entities
which included many branches of the U.S. military and other
counties. We've sold DU weapons systems to about - we don't
know exactly for sure - it's been about 12 or 17 countries.
The good news is that normally such a weapons system that
effective would have been sold to 80, 100, or 120 countries by
now. But because of the radiological, biological, and
environmental hazard, countries were not only afraid to buy
it, the ones who did buy it are afraid to use it. The only
countries we know that have used DU are Britain, the U.S., and
Israel.

The United Nations in 1996 passed a resolution that depleted
uranium weapons are weapons of mass destruction, and they are
illegal under all international laws and treaties.

In 2001, the European Parliament passed a resolution on DU.
What happened is that the NATO forces went into Yugoslavia in
1998 and '99 and flew 39,000 bombing runs and completely
bombed Yugoslavia into radioactive rubble.

Germany and the U.S. made the most money on the destruction of
Yugoslavia, and they made sure that countries that didn't know
about the DU, that the peacekeepers from those countries like
from Italy and Portugal, were sent to the most contaminated
regions in Yugoslavia. Germans and Americans didn't send their
own troops into those areas. They were in the least
contaminated areas. These poor soldiers from other countries
came back and died within weeks or in a couple of days or
months. The parents in Portugal and Italy are furious and went
to the Parliament and media, and there was just a huge media
storm of articles about DU.

The cat was out of the bag because of the 1998 NATO invasion
of Yugoslavia. The cat was out of the bag, but Japanese troops
have been sent into Somawa. They're self-defense forces. It
was the most contaminated area where the heaviest fighting
happened in Iraq. We can expect those soldiers to be really,
really sick.

ICONOCLAST: What about Iraq itself? What's been done thus far?

MORET: It's uninhabitable. The whole country. Yugoslavia,
Iraq, and Afghanistan are completely uninhabitable.

ICONOCLAST: But people live there, so they're going to live
there suffering?

MORET: Well, you can see from the birth defects and the
illnesses that it is pretty severe. Each year the number of
birth defects and illnesses will rise because of the total
contamination levels in all living things will increase
because they are breathing that air and drinking water and
eating the food from contaminated soils. It's just a slow
death sentence. The same with Yugoslavia and Afghanistan.

Depleted uranium is a very, very, very effective biological
weapon. This is the primary purpose for using it. Marion Falk
(a retired chemical physicist who built nuclear bombs for more
than 20 years at Lawrence Livermore lab), who is the Manhattan
Project scientist I work with, taught me pretty much
everything about radiation and particles and DU. He said the
purpose of weapons used by the military is not only to injure
and kill the enemy soldiers, but the purpose is to kill, maim,
and disease the civilian population because it reduces the
productivity of a country and pretty soon a lot of their
resources are going to be used for taking care of sick people.
They will have fewer and fewer healthy workers.

Of course, once you cause mutation in the DNA, that damage is
passed on to future generations of that affected person or
animal or plant. DNA does not repair itself.

ICONOCLAST: So the mutations would be probably destructive
moreso than constructive.

MORET: Oh, the mutations are causing those birth defects.

ICONOCLAST: They're not evolutionary diseases?

MORET: No, they are evolutionary. They are inherited by all
future generations and passed on. It's like if you have red
hair and all of your future generations will have that gene.

ICONOCLAST: So if I had a precondition to heart disease
because of the radiation, then the generation that would come
after me would have the same problem?

MORET: Well, if you damage the cell or parts of the cell or
functioning of cells, that doesn't necessarily damage the DNA.
There are two kinds of damage: one damages the cells of the
living organism, and that may not be passed on, but if you
damage the DNA in the egg or the sperm, that is passed on to
all future generations.

ICONOCLAST: So the guys coming back from the war, their sperm
is probably going to be -

MORET: Damaged. Yes. They also have depleted uranium in their
semen. When they're intimate with their partners, they
internally contaminate them with depleted uranium. The women
become sick themselves. They have depleted uranium in their
bodies, and there is something called burning syndrome. Just
absolutely horrible. You can read about it in an article by
David Rose in the December Vanity Fair. It's on the Internet.

A friend of mine is the widow of a Canadian Gulf War veteran.
David Rose interviewed her, and she griped about the burning
semen. She said, "I had 20 condoms full of frozen peas in my
freezer at all times, and after we were intimate, I would
insert one into my vagina, and that is the only way I could
bear the pain from the burning semen." And it goes through
condoms, too.

ICONOCLAST: Gosh, durn!

MORET: Yeah, you should see the high school classes when I
talk about the burning semen and the internal contamination.
The girls' mouths go into little round Os, and the boys start
panicking because they're like, "I'll never get sick!"
(laughs) The name of this article is "Weapons of
Self-Destruction."

ICONOCLAST: How much DU will it take to kill off all known
life on this planet?

MORET: The amount of radiation released is certainly going to
have a very, very profound global impact, and we're already
seeing infant mortality increasing globally. The fetus is the
most susceptible to radiation damage because all the cells are
rapidly dividing, the limbs and the bodies developing, so when
you start introducing toxic chemicals and radiation, it really
damages the natural process of fetal development.

The reason they were able to convince the Senate to sign the
partial test ban treaty in 1963 was because of the increase in
infant mortality. It had been dropping and declining two or
three percent for quite a long time each year because of
better prenatal care and educating mothers.

Infant mortality started going up after the bombs were dropped
on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, especially in the '50s when the big
bomb testing started. By 1963, it was really obvious that the
bomb testing globally was having a real impact on the unborn.
They signed the partial test ban treaty. Russia and the U.S.
stopped atmospheric testing, and the infant mortality rate
started going down right away. They're going up again now.
This is global radioactive pollution, and how long it would
take to eliminate all life is something nobody knows, but the
depleted uranium is a very, very effective biological weapon.
There are two purposes for the military use of weapons. One is
to destroy the enemy soldiers, and the other, which is just as
important, is to destroy the enemy civilian population. By
causing illnesses and disease, long lingering illnesses really
impact the productivity and the economy of a country. It was
Chernobyl and other nuclear disasters that actually destroyed
the Soviet Union because the former Soviet Union is very, very
sick from all the radiation that was released. They were much
more sloppier than we were.

I have a World Health Organization world health survey which
they published in the Journal of American Medical Association
last June. The impact of atmospheric testing is very, very
apparent by the percentage of population in each country they
investigated for some form of mental illness. For instance,
Japan is 8.8 percent. Nigeria is very low - 4.7 percent. They
have almost no radiation in Nigeria. In the Ukraine where they
had the Chernobyl accident, it is 20.4 percent. Spain is at
9.2 percent. Italy is 8.2 percent. It's pretty low because
they don't have nuke plants. France is 75 percent reliant on
nuclear power, so you have mental illness in 18.4 percent of
the population. Mexico is at 12.2 percent, and the United
States is at 26.3 percent - the highest rate of mental illness
in the world.

And George Bush and his siblings were all exposed in utero to
bomb testing fallout in the United States. He had a toddler
sister who died of leukemia when she was about three.

I worked with a group called the Radiation And Public Health
Project. Their website is <www.radiation.org>. We are all
radiation specialists, well-known scientists, and independent
scientists. We've collected 6,000 baby teeth around nuclear
power plants and measured the radiation in them, and one of
our members is the neighbor of the women who worked with all
of the Bush children, including President Bush himself,
because they had severe learning disabilities.

ICONOCLAST: How do we know that the Bush children were
exposed?

MORET: By the year of their birth. The year they were carried
by their mother. You have to look at how much bomb testing
material was released into the atmosphere, and there's a
direct correlation to the decline in SAT scores for all
teenagers in the U.S. to the amount of radiation that was
released into the atmosphere the year their mother was
carrying them. These are delayed effects of radiation exposure
in utero.

ICONOCLAST: So they were living in Connecticut, but they were
still feeling the effects of the radiation in Nevada?

MORET: Two years ago the U.S. government admitted that every
single person living in the United States between 1957 and
1963 was internally exposed to radiation. So for any pregnant
woman during those years, her fetus was exposed.

ICONOCLAST: What type of radiation levels are we talking
about?

MORET: It's low levels, and the main pathways are drinking
water and dairy products. It even killed the baby fish in the
Atlantic. Strontium-90 is a man-made isotope that comes out of
nuclear bombs and nuclear reactors. They measured the levels
of strontium-90 in milk in Norway from the 1950s up until the
1970s, and they measured the decline in the fishing catch in
that same period, and as the strontium-90 increased in the
milk in Norway, fishing catches declined.

By 1963, when the U.S. tested a nuclear bomb almost every day
(they did 250 tests in one year because the treaty was going
to be signed), the fishing catch declined by 50 percent. In
the Pacific, it declined 60 percent because there was Russian,
Chinese, French, and U.S. testing in the Pacific.

ICONOCLAST: So we're still eating those contaminated fish
today. Has the genetic code been changed?

MORET: The oceans are getting whatever is getting rained down,
snowed down, or fogged down from the atmosphere. It's getting
into the oceans. This big frog die-off, which is global, is
certainly related to the radiation in the rainwater. It's a
global nuclear holocaust. It effects all living things. That's
why they call it "omnicide," which means it kills all living
things - the plants, the animals, the bacteria. Everything.

ICONOCLAST: You think we ought to have the Weather Channel
report on the current sand storm conditions in Iraq so we can
prepare four days in advance for the radiation?

MORET: I'll tell you what I did when 9/11 happened. I called
all the doctors with Radiation And Public Health Project, and
I said, "Get out of town, and don't come back until it has
rained three times." One lived 12 miles downwind from the
Pentagon. She went out on her balcony with her geiger counter.
I said, "Get that geiger counter out of your purse." We had
just done a press conference in San Francisco, and I knew she
had it in her purse. Well, the radiation levels were 8-10
times higher than background.

We called the EPA, HAZMAT, FBI, and said, "Get all those
emergency response workers suited up. They need to be
protected." Two days after 9/11, the EPA radiation expert for
that region called back and said, "Yup, the Pentagon crash
rubble was radioactive, and we believe it's depleted uranium,
but we're not worried about that. It's only harmful if it's
inhaled." He said, "We're worried about the lead solder in the
plane." Well, you know what's in Tomahawk missiles? They have
depleted uranium warheads. The radioactive crash rubble
contaminated with DU is evidence of a DU warhead.

ICONOCLAST: I did not think about that, but going back to my
original question: Should the Weather Channel report for us on
the toxic dust storms in Iraq?

MORET: But how could people get away from them? These dust
storms are a million square miles. They're huge, and they come
right across the Atlantic, the Caribbean, and Texas coast
line, and right up the East Coast. There are people who are
going to leave the state every time there's a hurricane It's
in the food, drinking water, dairy products, and then the
problem with Uranium 238, which is 99.39 percent DU, is that
it decays in over 20 steps into other radioactive isotopes.

That's why I call it the "Trojan Horse." It's the weapon that
keeps giving. It keeps killing. This is like smoking
radioactive crack. It goes right in your nose. It crosses the
olfactory bulb into your brain. It's a systemic poison. It
goes everywhere. These particles that form at very high
temperatures - 5,000-10,000 degrees C - are nanoparticles.
They are a 10th of a micron or smaller. A 10th of a micron is
100 times smaller than a white blood cell. They get picked up
in the lipids and probably the cholesterol and go right
through the cell membranes of the cell. They screw up the cell
processes. They screw up the signaling between the cells
because the cells all talk to each other and coordinate what
they're doing. It messes up brain function.

ICONOCLAST: Do you know what Iraq was like before the first
Gulf War?

MORET: Iraq prior to the 1991 Gulf War was the most advanced
in the entire Middle East. They had scrupulous databases of
the health problems and disease rates, which is why the U.S.
bombed all of the offices in the Ministry of Health. We
destroyed all those records so that a pre-Gulf War health base
could not be established to show how much these diseases have
increased. This would concern the U.S. in terms of
compensation for war crimes.

In these horrible U.N. sanctions, they (the Iraqis) could
never get all of the protocol medicine for the treatment of
leukemia. They (the U.N.) would say, "These steps of the
leukemia treatment were components in weapons, so you can't
have that." They never gave the people the full proper
protocols in the areas of treatment they needed to get rid of
the leukemia. It hid the effects of the depleted uranium
because the children were starving. They had malnutrition.
They had the healthiest population in the Middle East (prior
to Gulf War I).

ICONOCLAST: Let's talk about the children of Iraq.

MORET: After the Gulf War, they had maybe one baby a week born
with birth defects in the hospitals in Basra. Now they are
having 10-12 a day. The levels of uranium are increasing in
the population every year. Every day, people are eating and
drinking while the whole environment is contaminated. Just
what you'd expect. There are more babies born with birth
defects, and the birth defects are getting more and more
severe.

An Iraqi doctor told me that babies are being born now that
are lumps of flesh. She said that they don't have heads or
legs or arms. It's just a lump of flesh. This also happened to
populations that were not removed from islands in the Pacific
when the bomb tests occurred. Basically, governments were
using them as guinea pigs.

ICONOCLAST: So all the countries that were equipped with
nuclear weapons are guilty of those atrocities.

MORET: They were all doing it. France, Russia. China, and the
U.S. And I'm not sure if Britain did bomb testing. They were
real low key about it.

ICONOCLAST: Where are the radiation hot spots in the United
States?

MORET: In the United States, it would be within a 100 miles of
nuclear power plants. We have 110 nuclear power plants in the
U.S. We have the most of any country in the world, but only a
103 are operating. Almost all of the entire East Coast.

What we did was we took government data from the Centers of
Disease Control on breast cancer deaths between 1985 and 1989.
Anywhere from within a 100 miles of a nuclear power plant is
where two-thirds of all breast cancer deaths occurred in the
U.S. between 1985 and 1989. It's also around the nuclear
weapons laboratories. That would be Los Alamos in New Mexico,
the Idaho Nuclear Engineering Lab in Idaho, and Hanford in
Washington State, which is where they got the plutonium for
all the bombs. They contaminated the entire Columbia River
watershed and almost the whole state of Washington.

It gets into the water and into the plants and into the
vegetation. If you eat clams or mussels or crabs or things
like that, even certain kinds of fish that eat off of the mud
at the bottom of the river, you have much higher levels of
radiation in your tissues. It depends on each person and on
how healthy they are, but this man from Washington State died
suddenly. He was in his late 40s. They did an autopsy, and he
was full of radioactive zinc. They went, "Where in the world
did he get this? It only comes from nuclear bombs and nuclear
reactors." They studied his diet and discovered he loved to
eat oysters. They found out where he bought his oysters and
found the oyster beds. They were 200 miles off shore, from
Washington State. The radiation was being carried off out to
sea from the coastline. It was passing over this oyster bed.
The oysters were just gobbling them up.

ICONOCLAST: What are the symptoms of DU poisoning?

MORET: Soldiers on the battlefield have reported a metallic
taste in their mouth. That's the actual taste of the uranium
metal. Then within 24-48 hours, soldiers on the battlefield
have reported that they felt sick. They start getting muscle
aches, and they lose energy. Some of them came back
incontinent. In other words, in adult diapers.

One woman reported that the first night home, she wanted to be
intimate with her husband, but she had absolutely no feeling.
She couldn't feel anything from the waist down. This
particulate matter damages the neuromuscular system, the
nerves; it just goes everywhere. And there's no treatment for
it. These particles are very, very insoluble, so they can't
even dissolve in body fluids, so they can be excreted from the
body. Then they keep releasing. Even when uranium decays, it
turns into another radioactive isotope. So it's a particle
that just sits there shooting bullets until you die.

Another problem is that soldiers have crumbling teeth. Teeth
just start falling apart. The uranium replaces calcium in the
calcium-phosphate structure of the teeth. Some have complained
about grand mal seizures, cerebral palsy. Some diseases
reported at very high rates in Air Force and Army soldiers are
Parkinson's disease, Lou Gehrig's disease, and Hodgkin's
disease. This is damage to the mitochondria in the cells and
the nerves. The mitochondria make all the energy for the body,
so when you damage mitochondria, another symptom is chronic
fatigue syndrome. There's just not enough energy produced by
the body to function normally.

I found a study in the SanDia Nuclear Weapons Laboratory
employee newsletter in September 2003. They are doing major
studies in mitochondrial disfunction related to Lou Gehrig's,
Hodgkin's, and Parkinson's diseases for veterans. Since it's
at a nuclear weapon's lab, they are fully aware of the health
damage.

ICONOCLAST: Tell me about the tests that detect for DU in the
body.

MORET: The chromosome test in the best indicator. It's $5,000.
The urine test is a $1,000. If you test positive with the
urine test, you know you're contaminated. If you test
negative, it does not mean that you're not contaminated. It
just means that you may or may not be contaminated but enough
hasn't dissolved in your blood stream to go through your
kidneys to be excreted in your urine. Anyone who goes now
cannot avoid being contaminated. Anyone. Anyone. Anyone.
Everyone who goes to the Middle East and Afghanistan will be
contaminated.

The DU issue affects every single living thing on this planet.
What else has that impact? They have altered the genome for
the entire planet forever with this DU. The Pentagon people
say, "You're exaggerating or you use the uranium word to scare
people." I don't care if people believe me or not. All I can
say is that over time what I am saying will actually be an
underestimation of the long term effects.
-- 

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 54 Lahontan Valley News: Local residents remember atom bomb testing

The skies over Fallon were illuminated by atomic bomb tests 
during this nighttime exposure.
 												 											   										 									
June 11, 2005
 						
 By JOSH JOHNSON

Staff Writer

Though Navy jets have streaked over the skies of Fallon for the
better part of five decades, one unforgettable sight of military
power has not been seen around Fallon for decades.

Long-time Churchill County resident Hal Newman recalls seeing
the glow of nuclear testing from Fallon in his youth.

"Sometimes you could hear the sonic boom," Newman said. "We
watched a lot of them."

A haunting moment of atomic testing from Fallon is captured in a
photo Newman owns. Taken in the dead of night sometime in the
early 1950s, the silhouette of a few trees is lit up by a bright
flash to the south, presumably at the Nevada Test Site northwest
of Las Vegas.

Newman described the scene as a bright flash, which mushroomed
to fill the horizon before quickly dissipating back to the site
of origin.

 The government usually announced the date and time of nuclear
tests to alert the public, he said. While others slept, Newman
said he was fascinated with the powerful demonstrations of the
nation's military might.

"They had a lot of above-ground blasts," he said.

Between July 16, 1945 and Sept. 23, 1992, the United States
conducted 1,054 official nuclear tests, most of them at the
Nevada Test Site.

Fallon itself is no stranger to nuclear testing. The underground
Shoal test site, now inactive, was located 30 miles southeast of
Fallon on the northern edge of the Sand Springs range, according
to the Desert Research Institute Web site. 

The detonation took place Oct. 26, 1963 in a shaft 1,204 feet
below the surface. The test produced a yield of 12.5 kilotons
and was designed to analyze seismic detection of underground
nuclear tests in active earthquake areas.

The veiled purpose of the experiment may have been to discern
the difference between Russian earthquakes and Russian nuclear
testing.

Newman's fascination with nuclear testing led to a career with
the Navy during the Korean War, where he worked with the U.S.
Atomic Energy Commission.

 While working in Albuquerque, he had the chance to witness the
power of the atomic bomb up close. He was scheduled to fly on a
P-2 Neptune, which was to descend under the fireball immediately
after detonation to gather dust samples, but was passed over. 

Instead, he had the unseemly task of steam cleaning the plane
for seven days straight in an attempt to remove the radiation.
Water from the washing was flushed into the Albuquerque city
sewer, he said.

"It was better than going to Korea," Newman said.

Fallon resident and former mayor and city councilman Mert
Domonoske was on a platform one-quarter of a mile away from the
Shoal test site when the bomb was detonated.

"It shook, but there wasn't a big bang," he remembered. "It felt
like an earthquake."

The atomic glow from the southern horizon was a semi-regular
occurrence, though the event was never considered normal, he
said.

"They tested many atomic weapons in the south," Domonoske said.
"You could see that in Fallon. It looked like sheet lightning in
the horizon. It was kind of exciting to think of the explosive
power."

 Some of the tests at the Nevada Test Site exceeded 50 kilotons
and were easily visible from Fallon, said longtime Fallon
resident Michon Mackedon, chairwoman of the Nevada Commission on
Nuclear Projects and professor of English at Western Nevada
Community College.

Mackedon's father helped build roads to the Nevada Test Site, so
the family was tipped off to when a test was scheduled, she said.

She remembers a blue-green glow that outlined trees and lit up
the sky as clear as day.

"I just remember a 'southern sunrise,'" Mackedon said. "It was a
pitch black night, and we were looking out our plate glass
window. It filled the whole horizon with an instantaneous glow.
It was a very artificial light, but it was as bright as the sun."

Mackedon said the nuclear testing of the late 1940s and 1950s
was viewed by the public as an example of progress rather than a
test of lethal force. 

Fear became associated with nuclear weapons during the 1960s
after long-range missiles were developed and the Cold War
atmosphere was at its height of tension, she said.

"A lot of the backdrop to atomic testing has to be linked to the
Cold War," Mackedon said. 

"There was no doubt that was a relatively unique time and place.
That bomb, in a lot of people's minds, meant the end of World
War II. I think watching the bomb didn't bring as much fear as
excitement."

All contents © Copyright 2005 lahontanvalleynews.com
Lahontan Valley News and Fallon Eagle Standard - 562 North
Maine Street - Fallon, NV 89406 			 		   	 
*****************************************************************
 55 El Defensor Chieftain: Uranium in well not new, city says
 
Saturday, June 11, 2005 
 
Lower standards, not higher levels, cited as reason for legal
notice
 
Dana Bowley El Defensor Chieftain Editor 
News that a Socorro water well is in violation of federal
drinking-water standards for uranium levels does not represent
an increased health risk for residents, a city official says.

 In fact, said city Utilities Director Jay Santillanes, the
level of uranium contamination at the Olson Well has been about
the same since it went online more than 30 years ago.

 The difference now, and the reason the city was required to
publish a legal notice to inform residents of the violation, is
that the federal standard for maximum uranium contamination in
drinking water has been lowered, he said.

 "The federal government lowered the standard, just like they
did with the arsenic standards that go into effect next year,"
Santillanes said. "There's been no increase in the level in the
well. It's been that way since the well went into service in the
early '70s."

 Santillanes said the uranium found in the well water is
naturally occurring and is not related to testing done at EMRTC
on the New Mexico Tech campus in which depleted man-made uranium
was used. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency confirmed
that the uranium is natural, and says natural uranium in
drinking water is not uncommon in the West.

 According to test results from monitoring that ended Jan. 10 at
the Olson Well, the uranium level at the well is 31 parts per
billion, while the federal standard is now 30 parts per billion.

 Parts per billion, or ppb, indicates the ratio of the mass of
the contaminant to the mass of the water. Thus, in this case,
the level indicates that if you isolated a billion grams of
water from the Olson Well, you would find 31 grams of uranium in
it.

 Santillanes said the Olson Well is only used as a backup, being
brought online only at peak times, such as the summer. Water
from the well mixes with water from two other wells before it is
distributed in the city, so the concentration is diluted.

 "It's only a small percentage from that well," he said. "By the
time it mixes in, it's well below the standard."

 Santillanes also said the Olson Well will not be in use much
longer.

 "It will be taken out of service completely when the new well
comes online," he said.

 Drilling on the new well near the end of Evergreen Street,
which has been delayed almost a year while a federal agency
investigated whether it would impact an endangered species, is
scheduled to begin in about two weeks, Santillanes said, and the
well is expected to come online in late summer or early fall,
barring any further delays.

 Once the new well is in service, the Olson Well will be shut
down and the School of Mines Well will be taken out of service
except as a backup, he said.

 "Once the new well is in operation, (the uranium) won't be a
concern anymore," Santillanes said.

 In the meantime, he said, the city will take what steps it can
to try and bring the level below the federal standard, including
installing a treatment unit.

 According to information on the EPA Web site, the reduction in
acceptable uranium levels to 30 ppb was approved and published
in December 2000, but did not take effect until December 2003,
which also marked the start of the phase-in of monitoring
standards. That phase-in continues until Dec. 31, 2007.

 This is the first time the well has been monitored under the
new standards. Because it now violates the standards, the city
is required to notify the public.

 While both the city and the EPA say there is no immediate
health risk, long-term exposure to excessive uranium in water
can have adverse health effects for some people, especially
those with compromised immune systems.

 Excess uranium consumed in water over many years has been
linked to an increased risk of cancer and kidney damage.
Although the risk at the levels here are considered small, it is
recommended that anyone with concerns consult with their doctor.

 editorial@dchieftain.com

  Copyright © 1999-2004 El Defensor Chieftain. All rights
reserved.   
*****************************************************************
 56 Globe and Mail: Report raises potential for nuclear accident
 	
Saturday, June 11, 2005 Page 		 	 		 		

Moscow -- The abandoned nuclear submarines and waste sites of
Russia's northern fleet are in such a poor state that a nuclear
accident cannot be ruled out, a British nuclear consultancy said
yesterday in a report that breaks new ground on a touchy subject
for Russia. 

The report from Britain's National Nuclear Corporation is
notable for having been written with the co-operation of
Russia's Nuclear Energy Ministry, after years in which the
Russian state tried to squelch discussion of the abandoned
nuclear submarines and waste sites littering the shores of
Russia's Barents Sea. 

It identifies two sites near northwestern Murmansk province that
continue to discharge combustible nuclear waste. AFP 

Saturday, June 11, 2005 		 		 		 		 				 					 		 		 				 			 	
		 			
  + © Copyright 2005 Bell Globemedia Publishing Inc. All Rights
Reserved. 	 	 	
Globeandmail.com:
*****************************************************************
 57 MNT: Incidence of childhood cancer around nuclear installations in
Great Britain

Medical News Today
 
Medical Abbreviations   
  	
www.medilexicon.com</font>              

11 Jun 2005

The Health Protection Agency (HPA) welcomes the Committee on
Medical Aspects of Radiation in the Environment (COMARE)'s Tenth
Report, an investigation into the incidence of childhood cancer
around nuclear installations in Great Britain. The report uses
advanced statistical techniques to see whether there are unusual
aggregations (usually called clusters) of childhood cancer
around these sites. 

There have been several reports of clusters of childhood cancer
around nuclear installations and HPA is concerned to understand
the reasons for these. Attention has often concentrated on
leukaemia, the most common childhood cancer, and sometimes on
both leukaemia and the related disease, non-Hodgkin lymphoma
(collectively referred to as “LNHL”). 

The average number of cases of childhood cancer to be expected
in an area over a specified time period can be calculated based
on the size of the population. If many areas are examined, then
in certain localities the number of cases observed will be
somewhat greater than the number expected on average simply by
chance, and the frequency with which this will happen can also
be calculated. However, earlier research (Draper et al, 1991)
has indicated that more clusters of LNHL are found than would be
expected on the basis of chance alone. These clusters are found
all over the country, not only near certain nuclear
installations. A future COMARE report will examine the
geographical distribution of childhood cancer in detail. 

The way that the extra clusters (those over and above those that
would occur by chance) are distributed is complicated.
Clustering can occur over a particular scale of distance or time
- for example over a few miles rather than tens of miles or over
a few years rather than tens of years. Moreover, there may be
different types of clusters in different regions (e.g.
counties). The new report uses sophisticated ways of
investigating whether such clusters arise around nuclear
installations. These statistical tests are sensitive both to a
general increase in cancer in the area studied and to any
tendency for rates to increase with proximity to the
installation itself. Different statistical tests were selected
as the most appropriate for different sites, based on their
statistical power to detect trends in risks. 

Using these techniques, the new report found no evidence for
raised rates of LNHL or of other childhood cancer within 25 km
of nuclear power stations. 

For other nuclear installations, increased rates of LNHL were
confirmed around Burghfield, Dounreay and Sellafield. There was
evidence which reached statistical significance of a tendency
for LNHL rates to increase with increasing proximity to Rosyth,
with borderline suggestions of a similar trend around
Capenhurst. In both instances there was no evidence of an
increased incidence in the general locality. COMARE noted that
another published study (Sharp et al, 1996) using similar
methods had not found an increase of LNHL near Rosyth and
recommended that the reasons for the discrepancy should be
investigated. 

So far as other childhood cancers are concerned, there were
raised incidence rates around the neighbouring sites
Aldermaston, Burghfield and Harwell and also around Rosyth.
COMARE suggests that the findings may largely reflect raised
rates of solid cancers in these general areas. 

It is impossible for statistical tests to distinguish those
clusters which arise solely because of the play of chance from
the clusters which arise because of some specific cause.
Extensive investigations have suggested that radiation doses
from nuclear discharges are much too low to account for the
extra cases of childhood cancer in the observed clusters (COMARE
Fourth Report, 1996; Darby and Doll, 1987). Some investigations
have provided support for a mechanism involving population
mixing. A recent publication (Gilham et al, 2005) has provided
support for the idea that lack of early exposure to infections
may increase the risk of childhood leukaemia. However, it is
likely that a number of factors are important. 

The HPA supports further investigations around Rosyth and looks
forward to the COMARE Eleventh Report which will investigate
clustering of childhood cancer across the whole of Great Britain
rather than specifically around nuclear installations. This will
allow a better understanding of this complex question. 

References

 Committee on the Medical Aspects of Radiation in the
Environment (COMARE) (2005). Tenth Report. The incidence of
childhood cancer around nuclear installations in Great Britain.
Downloads available from www.comare.org.uk and hard copies are
available from the Information Office at the Health Protection
Agency at Chilton. ISBN: 0-85951-561-3 (£13.50). 

Committee on the Medical Aspects of Radiation in the Environment
(COMARE) (1996). Fourth Report. The incidence of cancer and
leukaemia in young people in the vicinity of the Sellafield
site, West Cumbria: further studies and an update of the
situation since the publication of the Black Advisory Group in
1984. Department of Health, London. 

Darby S C and Doll R (1987). Fallout, radiation doses near
Dounreay, and childhood leukaemia. BMJ, 294, 603-7. 

Draper G J (ed) (1991). The geographical epidemiology of
childhood leukaemia and non-Hodgkin lymphomas in Great Britain,
1966-83, Studies on Medical and Population Subjects No.53, OPCS,
HMSO, London. 

Gilham C, Peto J, Simpson J, et al. (2005). Day care in infancy
and risk of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukaemia: findings
from UK case-control study. BMJ, 330, 1294. This paper is
available at
http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/330/7503/1294?ehom

 Sharp L, Black R J, Harkness E F and McKinney P A (1996).
Incidence of childhood leukaemia and non-Hodgkin lymphoma in the
vicinity of nuclear sites in Scotland, 1968-93. Occup Environ
Med, 53, 823-831. 

Health Protection Agency, UK


© 2003-2005 Medical News Today   


*****************************************************************
 58 TBO.com: New Rules Extend Federal Help For Illness From Weapons Plant -
                          
from TBO.com
 	 
By JENNY LEE ALLEN Sarasota Herald-Tribune 
Published: Jun 11, 2005 

BRADENTON - Help may be on the way for hundreds of former
workers of a defunct weapons plant in Tallevast who were exposed
to hazardous material. 

The federal government is expanding its program to pay medical
expenses and up to $150,000 to people who got sick from working
at the American Beryllium Co. plant. 

``I think that's a justice well- deserved,'' said Wanda
Washington, a Tallevast resident and activist. 

The plant, which operated for nearly 40 years before closing in
1996, produced weapons parts made of beryllium. Breathing in
dust from the metal can cause berylliosis, an incurable, often
deadly lung disease. 

The compensation program only covers workers who were at the
plant while American Beryllium did contract work for the federal
government. Government officials initially said that limited the
program to those who worked there in 1967, 1968 and the 1980s,
but after studying old records, the Department of Energy learned
it had worked with the plant from 1967 through 1992. 

The government announced this week that people who worked at the
plant during that 25-year period may qualify for help if they
have berylliosis. Up to 2,000 people worked at the plant, and
about 170 of them had filed claims under the initial program. 

``This should help a lot of workers who might be wondering
whether they're going to get help if they get sick,'' U.S. Sen.
Bill Nelson, D-Tallahassee, said in a prepared statement. Nelson
asked the Department of Energy for the records review that led
to the change. 

The new standards won't help two Tallevast residents who did not
work at the plant yet tested positive for susceptibility to
berylliosis. The two were exposed to beryllium dust from
relatives who worked at the plant and took it home on their
clothes, health officials said. 

A spokesman for Nelson said the program only applies to workers
and cannot be expanded to include relatives. 

``As much as we would like to, we can't'' change the guidelines,
Bryan Gulley said. 

Nor will the expanded program help residents dealing with
pollution left behind by the plant. 

Tests in 2000, showed chemicals, including beryllium, lead and
arsenic, had contaminated soil and groundwater. 

A plume of groundwater pollution from the plant covers at least
130 acres, nearly 30 times larger than initial estimates.
Residents say pollution is responsible for a high rate of cancer
and other illnesses in the community of about 85 homes.

TBO.com Is Tampa Bay Online
 ©, Media General Inc. All rights reserved
*****************************************************************
 59 Paducah Sun: National groups say sick-worker rules fall short - 

The two watchdog groups indicate that the Department of Labor
rules don't measure up to Congress' intent. 

By Joe Walker
 jwalker@paducahsun.com
 270.575.8656 

Friday, June 10, 2005 

New U.S. Department of Labor rules fall well short of lawmakers'
intent to compensate families of nuclear workers sickened by
toxic exposure, two national watchdog groups say. 

The Washington, D.C.-based Government Accountability Project and
the Alliance of Nuclear Worker Advocacy Groups, based in Oak
Ridge, Tenn., have responded strongly to interim final rules
issued May 27. The Labor Department is expected to start paying
the bulk of the money this summer, and thousands of nuclear
workers — including those at the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant
— have claims pending. 

In a press release and interview, Richard Miller, senior policy
analyst for the Accountability Project, said the rules conflict
in two primary ways with federal law passed last fall: 

For radiation-related cancers, the rules require that for
compensation to be granted, it must be "at least as likely as
not that exposure to radiation caused the illness." Miller, who
formerly represented the nuclear workers' union and has spent
years working on sick-worker legislation, said Congress intended
that proof of causation be roughly 20 to 50 percent, rather than
at least 50 percent. 

"Raising the bar will eliminate compensation for thousands of
workers and their survivors, and violates the plain language of
the law," he said. 

Congress directed the Labor Department to pay workers $2,500 for
each percentage point of impairment caused by their job
illnesses, up to $250,000, as determined by the American Medical
Association guides. The rules deny impairment benefits for
illnesses not listed in the guides, even though lawmakers want
those claims reviewed case by case, Miller said. 

In particular, workers with neurotoxic effects from exposure to
heavy metals such as mercury, lead or solvents will receive no
impairment benefits, he said. 

"I talked to the Labor Department about that, and they said it
was their lawyers' position," Miller said. "That's not a good
answer, it's not good policy, it's not reasonable, and it
deviates from what Congress wanted them to do." 

Shelby Hallmark, director of the Office of Worker´s Compensation
Programs for the Labor Department, said in a prepared statement
that public concerns are welcome and will be considered in
developing the final rule. But some recent claims about the
interim rule are based on misinformation that could hurt workers
and their families by discouraging eligible people from applying
for benefits, he said. 

"We have always gone the extra mile to ensure that people get
the benefits they deserve under the law, and we will do so again
in assisting people in developing their claims" under the new
program, he said. 

Hallmark said the department will hold more town hall meetings
and conduct other programs starting this month to educate
workers and families. 

In previous meetings, many workers have said they doubt that
tainted, incomplete or nonexistent plant records can support
their claims. Miller said the rules don't say how exhaustive
records searches must be or if lack of records will present "an
insurmountable bar" for workers. 

In a press release, the workers' alliance expressed concern that
the majority of sick workers and families won't get paid. The
group said problems range from how the Labor Department will
determine impairment ratings to claimants' having to submit
burdensome documents to prove their cases. 

"I'm disgusted," said Harry Williams of the Coalition for a
Healthy Environment in Knoxville, Tenn., one of four groups in
the alliance. "We knew the regulations would not be perfect, but
what they wrote is riddled with obstacles for the claimants." 
Janine Anderson of the coalition said the rules put the burden
of proof on claimants and make it impossible to prove cases for
illnesses that are secondary or related to treatment of a
primary disease. 

The alliance said it is issuing a white paper on the rules and
demanding they be changed. Miller said he will talk with
legislative staff once they are briefed by Labor Department
officials, starting today. 

Groups of adult survivors, who have criticized the law for
excluding them from compensation, picketed Tuesday and again
Thursday at the Paducah Energy Employees Compensation Resource
Center. Organizer Gena Baker of Livingston County said about 70
people signed a petition demanding that the law be changed. 
The rules are available at

www.dol.gov/esa/regs/compliance/owcp/eeoicp/law/thelaw.htm.

Detailed analysis is available at www. whistleblower.org. 
Claims may be filed or reviewed at the resource center, 125
Memorial Drive, next to Milner & Orr Funeral Home off Blandville
Road. Phone: 534-0599 or toll-free 866-534-0599. 
*****************************************************************
 60 South Florida Sun-Sentinel: Cold War radiation didn't cause cancer, VA rules

[Sun-Sentinel.com]

Ex-Marine suffers from terminal disease

        By Amie Parnes The Stuart News Posted  June 11 2005            
   

WASHINGTON · The Department of Veterans' Affairs Friday denied 
the appeal of an ailing Stuart man, concluding there was "no 
objective evidence" to prove the bone disease that cripples him 
was caused by radiation exposure during the Cold War.

Despite a rare, emotional plea from U.S. Rep. Mark Foley, 
R-Jupiter, last month and hundreds of pages of compiled evidence, 
a three-judge panel on the Board of Veterans' Appeals wrote in 
the decision that Almon Scott, a former lance corporal in the 
Marines who suffers from terminal multiple myeloma, did not 
acquire the bone disease while he was stationed at the Argentia 
Naval Base in Newfoundland more than 40 years ago. 

"Multiple Myeloma was not incurred as a result of exposure to 
ionizing radiation during active service, nor may multiple 
myeloma be presumed to have been incurred as a result of 
service," the panel wrote in the 15-page decision. "Multiple 
Myeloma began many years after service and was not caused by an 
incident of service, including exposure to radiation or toxic 
chemicals." 

Scott, 64, contends that he contracted the disease while he
guarded a top-secret nuclear weapons facility used by the U.S.
Navy for highly classified research and development work
involving underwater weapons and systems that included elements
of ionizing radiation and toxic chemicals. 

But the U.S. government, which Foley argues might have violated
international law by storing such weapons there without
permission from the Canadian government, will not confirm what
Scott was guarding specifically. 

The case received attention across Canada in recent weeks after
Canadian news organizations picked up an Internet version of an
article published in The Stuart News. 

Prior to the ruling this week, the Department of Veterans
Affairs had repeatedly denied that the condition is connected to
Scott's service, even though no one has been able to locate
Scott's medical record -- one of the most critical pieces of
evidence in the case -- to date. 

In the latest decision, the panel wrote: 

"While the veteran is obviously sincere in his belief that
nuclear material was present while he was at Argentia, there is
no evidence corroborating his belief but more importantly, there
is no actual evidence showing that the veteran was exposed to
ionizing radiation while there." 

The board also confirmed that Scott's medical records are
"unavailable." 

Meanwhile, Scott has been suffering from complications related
to the disease at the VA hospital in West Palm Beach. The
cancer, which started in his back and chest, has spread to his
lungs and his liver. He plans to take the case to the U.S. Court
of Appeals for Veterans Claims next week. 

 Copyright 2005, Sun-Sentinel Co. & South Florida Interactive,
*****************************************************************
 61 Bradenton Herald: Tallevast workers spur action

Posted on Sat, Jun. 11, 2005  
   
DONNA WRIGHT Herald Staff Writer

Once again former Loral American Beryllium Co. employees have
prompted federal government action. 

And once again their efforts may aid beryllium workers
nationwide. 

The Department of Energy has expanded a health care benefits
program to cover all employees who worked at the Tallevast plant
from 1967 to 1992, Sen. Bill Nelson announced Friday. The
expansion increased the covered years for the benefits program
from 12 to 25 years. 

"I am proud that we were able to put together the staff with the
unique skills needed to make this a success," said John Shaw,
DOE's assistant secretary for environment, safety and health. 

"They spent more than 200 hours reviewing and interpreting
classified documents located in facilities across the nation and
helped achieve President Bush's goal of providing the Cold War
veterans the benefits they deserve." 

The expansion is the result of an exhaustive records search
demanded by former Tallevast workers, Nelson's office said in a
news release. 

Terry Owen and Ray Stephens, former union officials at American
Beryllium, petitioned Nelson in February to expand benefit
eligibility years. 

Until now, DOE said it could find just a handful of documents
that show the Tallevast plant worked on nuclear energy projects.
Exposure to beryllium dust can lead to a chronic and often fatal
lung disease. DOE's handful of documents limited eligibility for
the government's medical benefits program to only those
employees who worked at American Beryllium between 1967 and 1969
and from 1980 to 1989. 

The American Beryllium plant operated from 1961 to 1996, Owen
and Stephens told Nelson on Feb. 23. The two union officials
said they had personal knowledge of DOE work done in years not
covered by the compensation program. On behalf of the workers
not covered, Owens and Stephens demanded DOE search for
contracts for the missing years. 

Nelson took the workers' concerns to Shaw at DOE. 

Rep. Katherine Harris, R-Sarasota, also contacted Shaw on the
workers' behalf. 

Owens and Stephens had already enlisted Nelson and Harris' help
in getting DOE to extend a free beryllium screening program for
government employees to include American Beryllium workers. 

That effort opened the free beryllium screening program to all
employees of beryllium vendor companies nationwide who had
contracted with the Department of Energy. 

In April, Harris announced that DOE had assigned two full-time
staff members to do an exhaustive search for additional
paperwork linking American Beryllium to DOE projects for the
years not covered by the benefit plan. 

Richard Miller, senior policy analyst for the Government
Accountability Project, a whistle-blower advocacy group in
Washington, D.C., said DOE left no stone unturned in looking for
the lost paperwork. 

DOE employees traveled to nuclear sites across the country,
including Los Alamos, Miller said, looking for documentation. In
all, the DOE employees logged more than 200 hours searching
through dusty boxes and digging out long-forgotten files that
established the link between American Beryllium in Tallevast and
the DOE. 

That search, Miller said, likely turned up more lost
documentation about other contracts with other plants that may
benefit workers from beryllium vendor companies elsewhere in the
nation. 

Miller credited Shaw for acting in the workers' interests. 

"The case of American Beryllium proves that if you actually
engage in good faith due diligence, you can find an awfully lot
of documents buried under rocks and in classified filing areas,"
Miller said. 

"John Shaw deserves a lot of credit," Miller said. "He freed up
a lot of his staff. He could have taken a perfunctory
bureaucratic approach and just sent a letter, but instead he
sent out his staff to look for a needle in the haystack." 

Credit, Miller said, also goes to Nelson, for pushing Shaw to
action. 

Owen was ecstatic when she heard the eligibility period had been
expanded from 12 to 25 years. 

"I am very grateful to Sen. Nelson's office for putting the
pressure on the DOE to research the records," Owen said.
"Certainly the people who worked alongside of us for years and
years had the same deadly exposure to beryllium and the coverage
should have always been there. We certainly hope the former
employees who fall in those years will take advantage of the
free testing program offered through DOE." 

Garrison Courtney, spokesman for Harris, said she will continue
to advocate for American Beryllium workers. 

"The congresswoman's office will be reaching out to those
workers we know this time period covers," Courtney said. "We
will be working with the Department of Labor and the Department
of Energy to make sure they will be afforded the same privileges
as accorded to those that the program previously and recently
covered." 

Courtney lauded Shaw and his staff for their willingness to work
on this issue. 

"This should help a lot of workers who might be wondering
whether they're going to get help if they get sick," said Nelson
in his news release. 

Workers who develop chronic beryllium disease, an illness that
scars the lungs and causes breathing problems, may be eligible
for $150,000 in compensation and lifetime medical benefits for
treatment of beryllium disease. 

The benefits program is administered by the U.S. Department of
Labor. 

The free beryllium testing program is available through the Oak
Ridge Institute for Science and Education in Oak Ridge, Tenn. An
ORISE spokeswoman said Friday that another free screening clinic
may be held in Bradenton if enough workers request the test.
Testing kits can be sent to former employees, regardless of
where they live in the United States. 

Donna Wright, health and social services reporter, can be
reached at 745-7049 or at dwright@HeraldToday.com. 

• View the Tallevast contamination plume map. 

• Read the new law on contamination disclosure. 

• Review past coverage. 

The Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education through the
U.S. Department of Energy now offers free beryllium exposure
tests for former Loral American Beryllium workers employed
between 1967-92. Those who test positive may be eligible for a
government benefit/compensation program. For more information
contact ORISE toll free at (866) 219-3442, from 8 a.m. to 4
p.m., Monday through Friday.   


*****************************************************************
 62 Deseret News: Governors to talk industry 

[deseretnews.com] 

Sunday, June 12, 2005 

Huntsman's WGA debut is on issue vital to him 

By Lisa Riley Roche Deseret Morning News 

Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. will make his debut at the Western 
Governors' Association this week at a conference devoted to his 
chief campaign issue — economic development. 

The three-day session, set in the Colorado ski resort of 
Breckenridge, begins today and features several members of 
President Bush's Cabinet as well as experts on economic growth, 
energy and other issues key to development in the Western states.

The governors "would like to make sure the West is a 
player in the global economy," said Pam Inmann, executive 
director of the Denver-based association. "They'd like to find 
out what are some of the impediments and what are some of the 
opportunities." 

The 18 states that make up the WGA — a group that 
includes economic powerhouses California and Texas — represent 
the fifth-largest economy in the world, Inmann said. "We should 
be able to leverage that." 

Huntsman, a former U.S. ambassador to Singapore and a 
government trade representative to Asia, has been tapped to 
serve as a moderator of a conference panel on international 
trade and the region. 

He said the panel will focus on "the growing awareness 
about the level of engagement we as Western states have with key 
emerging economies of the world and what we're doing about it." 

Utah, of course, hopes to take advantage of those trade 
opportunities. Under Huntsman, the state is in the midst of 
overhauling its economic development efforts. Since he took 
office in January, the governor brought the former state 
department into his office. 

Other changes will include privatizing the recruitment of 
new businesses to Utah. Later this month, Huntsman will ask for 
feedback from the chief executive officers of some of the 
state's largest companies at his first economic development 
seminar. 

The state, though, faces plenty of competition from its 
neighbors. 

"You can do business anywhere these days, and I think all 
the governors are mindful of that," Huntsman said. "You have to 
remember that even though we're competitors, we're also each 
other's best friends." 

Best friends, he said, "in the sense that you're always 
looking to pick best practices from somebody who might be next 
door. We're not all direct competitors. I think regionally, we 
do share a common economy, but we also have different niches we 
fill." 

Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano, vice chairwoman of WGA, 
said that "states may compete, but they work together, too. If 
we are wise and cooperative about the way we think — in terms of 
growth, development and sustainable resources — the whole region 
does better as a result." 

Nine governors are expected to attend the conference — 
Huntsman, Napolitano and their counterparts from Alaska, 
Colorado, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, South Dakota and Wyoming 
plus the premiers of several Canadian provinces. 

Other Western state leaders, including California Gov. 
Arnold Schwarzenegger, are sending staff to collect information. 
Huntsman will be accompanied by his chief of staff, Jason 
Chaffetz, and his economic development adviser, Chris Roybal. 

Much of what Huntsman hopes to accomplish at the meeting 
isn't on the agenda — lobbying Cabinet members. That is the main 
reason he decided to attend the conference, he said. 

Huntsman intends to raise issues including the hazards of 
transporting and storing nuclear waste in Utah as well as the 
need for federal assistance for the ranchers and others in the 
agriculture industry hurt by recent flooding. 

The governor has already been to Washington, D.C., to 
pitch his opposition to a nuclear waste storage facility on the 
Goshute Indian reservation in Tooele County. He expects the 
conference's informal setting should be even better for building 
administration support. 

The same should be true for federal help with flood 
related problems, including the increased fire danger resulting 
from the growth generated by this year's extremely wet weather. 

"So much of it is keeping some of these issues on the 
front burner so key members of the administration can follow 
them," Huntsman said. "That takes some massaging and its takes 
some repetition. That means, at every opportunity, you need to 
raise them." 

Napolitano, who will become chairwoman of the 
organization at the close of the meeting, said Huntsman's 
participation in WGA will benefit Utah. 

"We share the need to be able to express Western issues 
clearly, especially to the federal government," the Arizona 
governor said. "By working together on these issues, we can all 
have a stronger voice." 

E-mail: lisa@desnews.com 

© 2005 Deseret News Publishing Company 
*****************************************************************
 63 BBC: Legal threat over Sellafield
 
Last Updated: Sunday, 12 June, 2005
 
[Thorp reprocessing plant]                              
The leak is thought to have began last August                                                               

Investigators are continuing to examine the cause of a leak of 
highly radioactive material at part of the Sellafield nuclear 
reprocessing plant. 

The Thermal Oxide Reprocessing Plant (Thorp) stopped production 
in April when the leak was discovered. 

The Nuclear Installations Inspectorate is compiling a report 
before a decision on any prosecutions is taken. 

Investigations are focusing in part on how long the leak had lay 
undetected and reliability of monitoring systems. 

A clean-up operation is continuing and similar pipework elsewhere 
in the plant has been checked. 

Sellafield's managing director, Barry Snelson, admitted to the 
BBC that the plant may remain closed for months. 

Waste warning 

Safety regulators have claimed that the discharge could result in 
criminal charges. 

The accident happened when a narrow pipe fractured, spewing 
nitric acid onto the floor of a concrete-lined cell in the Thorp 
reprocessing complex. 

The acid contained 20 tonnes of uranium and 160kg of plutonium. 

It is thought the pipe may have fractured in August, but the leak 
was not discovered until eight months later due to a combination 
of a faulty gauge and human error. 

No staff were contaminated. 

Last week, Sellafield was told to improve the way it discharged 
low level radioactive waste water into the Irish Sea. 

Environment Agency inspectors issued an enforcement notice after 
finding its filtering system needed to be improved. 

Operators British Nuclear Group said no discharge limits had been 
breached and it was "committed" to improvements. 

		 	 		 	 	 



*****************************************************************
 64 Sunday Herald: Nuclear waste agency selected dumps on the basis of political
expediency - 

  By Rob Edwards, Environment Editor 
 
 FROM the window of his home on Barra, Donald Manford can see
the small island of Fuday across the water. On Friday evening,
he said, it was looking peaceful and unperturbed  quite unaware
of all the controversy that has been going on about it.

Fuday, just 250 hectares of rough grazing land, shot into the
headlines last week after it was outed as one of five sites in
Scotland shortlisted as a potential dump for all Britains
nuclear waste. Unknown to anyone, the UK radioactive waste
agency, Nirex, had planned to dig 26 huge caverns 500 metres
under the island, along with a new harbour and causeway.

Unluckily for Barra and its 1000-plus inhabitants, Nirex also
had similar, secret plans for the island of Sandray just to the
south, costing £1.8 billion over 50 years. People are appalled
that such things were considered, said Manford, who is the local
councillor. 

That this organisation could talk about these things,
organising, planning and plotting with peoples lives without
telling them  I think it is obscene. 

At six oclock on Friday morning, Nirex released the sins of its
past onto its website for all to see. In belated response to a
freedom of information request lodged by the Sunday Herald and
others in January, it published comprehensive details of all the
potential nuclear waste sites kept secret by the government for
more than 15 years.

On the shortlist, as well as Fuday and Sandray, there was the
Dounreay nuclear plant and Altnabreac in Caithness and a site
somewhere under the sea off Hunterston in North Ayrshire. In
England, there were another seven potential dump sites: two in
Essex, two at the Sellafield nuclear plant in Cumbria, one in
Norfolk, one in South Humberside and one under the sea off
Redcar in Yorkshire.

At all these sites, Nirex had made advanced plans in the 1980s
for constructing underground waste repositories without telling
anyone locally. The idea was to leave the large volumes of waste
created by half a century of nuclear power and nuclear weapons
deep in a geologically stable rock formation.

The latest official inventory of UK nuclear waste stocks in 2001
showed that there were more than 92,000 cubic metres stored at
34 locations around the UK. This is set to rise five times in
volume over the next 100 years, even assuming no new nuclear
power stations are built.

The waste contains a massive amount of radioactivity  many times
more than was released by the worlds worst nuclear accident at
Chernobyl in Ukraine in 1986. It includes some very long-lived
radioisotopes, such as plutonium, and will remain lethal for
maybe a quarter of a million years.

The information released by Nirex shows that the shortlist of 12
sites was selected from a long list of 537 sites, of which 159
were in Scotland. Most of the Scottish sites were in Highland
region (45) and Strathclyde (40), followed by Western Isles
(21), Shetland (17) and Orkney (15).

Much of the list reads like a roll call of Scotlands famous
islands. It included Iona, Islay, Jura, Canna, Eigg, Muck, Coll,
Gigha, Colonsay, Tiree, Ulva, Raasay, Rhum, St Kilda, Foula,
Ailsa Craig, the Summer Isles and the Isle of May in the Firth
of Forth. 

There were also plenty of military bases and training areas,
such as Lossiemouth, Kinloss, Leuchars, Rosyth, Machrihanish,
Barry Buddon and Cape Wrath. Even Redford Barracks in Edinburgh
was regarded by Nirex as a potential waste dump. As many as 33
sites in Scotland made it past the third stage of Nirexs
six-stage sorting process (see map, right).

Just as fascinating as the long list of sites is the process
that was used to sift them. On Friday, Nirex also published a
report which for the first time lays bare the nakedly political
criteria that were adopted, alongside geological considerations.

First, places where lots of people lived were ruled out. Using
guidance from the governments Health and Safety Executive on the
siting of nuclear power stations, Nirex devised a population
density criterion which excluded more highly populated parts of
the country.

Then it restricted sites to those that were owned by the
government or the nuclear industry, or where private landowners
had offered their land (as happened at Altnabreac in Caithness).
Next, it entirely omitted Northern Ireland because of the
political situation.

Finally, Nirex excluded a large proportion of the potential
sites in Wales, particularly those owned by the Forestry
Commission. This was because, in previous site selection
exercises, personal threats were received by staff involved in
the consideration of such sites.

The list shows that site selection in the past has been done on
purely political grounds  where they think they can get away
with it, said the Green MSP, Chris Ballance.

He pointed out that nearly a third of the 537 sites in the UK
were in Scotland. They seem to have chosen every uninhabited
Scottish island they could find a name for on the map. Low
population and low public opposition was a more important factor
than geological and scientific suitability.

The only sites to which Nirex has previously admitted were at
Sellafield and Dounreay in Caithness, which were both
investigated with test bores in 1989. A farm near Sellafield was
chosen as the preferred site, but this was rejected by the
government as scientifically flawed in 1997.

If the full list had been published at the time, Sellafield
would never have been catapulted into the winning place, argued
Stuart Haszeldine , a geology professor at Edinburgh University.
The technical and social merits of the different sites could
have been compared, and we may well have saved the country a lot
of time and expense, he said.

The list has only been forced into the open by the Freedom of
Information Act and the Environmental Information Regulations.
The Sunday Herald, along with nuclear-free local authorities and
other media organisations, lodged a formal request for it when
the new legislation came into force at the start of January.

Since then, Nirex  instructed, it says, by government ministers 
has twice refused to provide the list. It was very anxious not
to release it in the run-up to the general election for fear of
the political controversy it could generate around the selected
sites.

Nevertheless, some time after Nirex changed its shareholding to
become a creature of government rather than of the nuclear
industry in April, a decision was taken in favour of a managed
release of the information. The release was originally planned
for this coming Wednesday, but it was hurriedly brought forward
last week following rumours of a leak to a Sunday newspaper.

Nirex admits that it made many mistakes in the past. It shouldnt
have been secretive, its process shouldnt have been so political
and it should have involved local communities. It promises it
wont make the same mistakes again.

Chris Murray, Nirexs managing director, has also been stressing
that the list is historic. This old list will not form the
starting point of any new site selection process, he said,
pointing out that geological understanding has greatly improved
over the past 20 years.

Unfortunately, this has been spun further by the environment
minister, Ross Finnie, in a letter to every MSP last week. He
said the list was purely of historic interest and was of little
relevance to current UK policy.

This is not the whole truth, however. Nirexs own briefing to
MSPs concludes by pointing out that the geology of the selected
sites has not changed. Sites that were considered to be
potentially suitable previously, on geological grounds, could be
considered suitable in a future site selection process, it
states.

Most experts agree. It is possible that some of the areas that
they identified could appear again in the future, but the local
communities must be involved this time, said Phil Richardson, a
nuclear waste specialist with Enviros Consulting.

The government is expecting recommendations on the best methods
for disposing of the waste from its Committee on Radioactive
Waste Management in July 2006. The committee is currently
considering four main options, involving various combinations of
deep, shallow and surface stores.

The next stage will be for the government to launch a new site
selection exercise. Nobody can predict for certain what
locations it will consider, but it is a good bet that Sellafield
will be included, as it is still regarded as a prime site by
Nirex.

If Scotland is to take responsibility for its own waste, some
people assume that Dounreay would be the favoured location.
Nirex insiders, however, suggest that previous geological
investigations showed the underground rocks there to be too
cracked and leaky to be safe.

That would mean that the other places on Nirexs old shortlist
could come back into the frame  like Sandray and Fuday around
Barra. If this happened, promises Donald Manford, all hell would
break loose. We would resist it in every possible way, he said. 
12 June 2005 

  © newsquest (sunday herald) limited. all rights reserved   
*****************************************************************
 65 Herald Tribune: Stein pledges fight with Lockheed over Tallevast
 	 	 	 	 	
By CORY SCHOUTEN
 
cory.schouten@heraldtribune.com

MANATEE COUNTY — It’s been years since Amy Stein took on a fight
like this.

A battle that required late nights pouring over documents,
weekends writing to the governor and months of hounding a big
corporation.

Stein made a political name for herself in the mid-1990s by
fighting plans to burn the fuel Orimulsion at Florida Power
&Light’s plant in Parrish. Her concern was air quality.

She parlayed the fight into a seat on the County Commission in
1996, beating a retired FPL official.

Now, Stein is taking on another giant corporation over
environmental issues.

She wants defense giant Lockheed Martin to move families out of
the polluted Tallevast neighborhood in south Manatee County.

This time Stein, a retired attorney, plans to get inside the
corporation. Stein has already consulted a broker about buying
stock in the company so she can attend shareholder meetings. And
since the next meeting is several months away, she’s working on
an application to join Lockheed’s board.

Over the weekend, Stein drafted letters to the governor and the
Florida Department of Environmental Protection asking them for
help in relocating the community of about 85 homes near the
Sarasota-Bradenton airport.

“This absolutely pierces my sense of justice and infuriates me,”
said Stein, 46.

Lockheed is responsible for cleaning up a plume of groundwater
contamination around the former American Beryllium Co. plant on
Tallevast Road.

The 130-acre plume contains several toxic chemicals, including a
cleaning solvent that can cause liver and kidney cancer and
other ailments when ingested.

The company has agreed to clean up the pollution but says it
poses no risk to residents who live in Tallevast since they’re
no longer using wells. The cleanup could take a decade, Lockheed
officials have said.

“Lockheed Martin does not have a responsibility to relocate
residents,” said company spokeswoman Meredith Rouse Davis. “We
can sympathize with them, but there is no health risk.”

Sarasota Herald-Tribune. All rights reserved. Starting first
*****************************************************************
 66 Joplin Globe: Local agencies detail response in event of accident involving
radioactive waste 

   The Joplin Globe • 117 E. Fourth St. • Joplin, MO 64801 •
417.623.3480 • 800.444.8514 • Fax 417.623.8450   
  
Wally Kennedy more Globe Staff Writer 6/12/05 
 
What would happen if a truck transporting nuclear waste were to
crash at Interstate 44 and Range Line Road ?

The answer might be surprising in that local emergency
responders would only do two things: Cordon off the area, then
dial a special 24-hour emergency-response telephone number.

Though the Joplin Fire Department, the primary responder to such
incidents, has training in the containment of hazardous and
radiological materials, the department would simply isolate the
truck and wait for a team of radiological specialists to arrive.

Last week, the first of 2,000 shipments of radioactive waste
rolled through Joplin on Interstate 44 on its way to temporary
storage in Andrews County, Texas. As many as 15 tractor-trailers
will pass through Joplin each day. The waste is from the site of
a Cold War uranium refinery in Fernald, Ohio.

The concern, of course, is what might happen if one of the
tractor-trailers were to be involved in an accident. Accidents
involving big trucks do happen.

In 2003, there were 17,923 accidents involving tractor-trailers
on Missouri highways. On Missouri's interstate highways in 2003,
there were 4,214 accidents alone, according to the Missouri
State Highway Patrol.

Lt. Tim Hull, spokesman for the patrol at Jefferson City, said
the steel canisters of waste being transported from Ohio have
low levels of radiation.

"It's not even comparable to the material hauled away from
nuclear power plants, which are highly radioactive," he said.
"These shipments won't even come close to that."

Contingency plans

Each of the flatbed trucks will carry two steel canisters, each
weighing 21,950 pounds. 

The canisters contain uranium residues, fly ash and portland
cement. When combined, they form a solid concrete monolith.
About 70 to 83 percent of the material in each container is
non-radioactive, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. The
department is overseeing the shipments. 

Still, the waste is of some concern because it is radioactive.
Standing close to one of the containers during shipment might be
equivalent to getting a medical X-ray, according to the Nuclear
Information and Resource Service in Washington, D.C. 

Keith Stammer, the new emergency coordinator of Joplin-Jasper
County Emergency Management, said the public should use what he
calls the "thumb rule" with regard to the shipments.

"If you stick your arm out and hold up your thumb and if your
thumb does not cover (the view of it), you are too close - just
back up."

He said that the primary responsibility for a hazardous-material
response belongs to the Joplin Fire Department.

"As the local agency, their job is protection of the populace,"
Stammer said. "Their main job would be to cordon off the area.
No one goes in and no one goes out."

He said state environmental officials would be notified, along
with the carrier and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).

"We have a number to call them. They have the primary
responsibility for response. They have the contingency plans for
cleanup and recovery," he said. "By and large, our main task
would be to contact the appropriate people upstream."

Stammer said he was contacted late last week by the state
Emergency Management Agency that the radioactive shipments from
the former uranium refinery in Ohio would pass through Joplin.
When he received word of that, he notified the
emergency-response agencies along "the prescribed path, which is
Interstate 44, in the county."

Also getting notification from the state agency was Gary Roark,
director of Newton County Emergency Management.

 "I notified the Redings Mill Fire Protection District. It is
our only fire department along Interstate 44 in that area of the
county," he said. "They would cordon off the area. They are not
trained to do anything with it. They would wait for a
hazardous-materials response unit to respond."

Roark said none of the emergency-response units along the route
would be able to handle the costs associated with an appropriate
response.

"The cost would be fantastic," he said. When it comes hazardous
material shipments, it is the transporter's responsibility for
costs incurred in a cleanup. That's state law."

A physical hazard

Jeff Wagner, spokesman for Fluor Fernald, the contractor
responsible for the cleanup of the uranium refinery in Ohio,
said the Fernald Closure Project provides a detailed briefing to
the driver before the shipment departs the plant. 

The briefing stresses response actions to take in the event of
an accident or severe weather, and the requirements for
remaining on the designated route.

The project also requires the carriers to utilize a
satellite-tracking system for each shipment and has made
arrangements with the carriers to access the system to randomly
verify that the carrier is adhering to the assigned route.

All drivers are provided with a 24-hour, toll-free number to
call in the event of an incident. In addition, a DOE
radiological response team is also available. Such teams must be
deployed within four hours of notification.

The Fernald site has radioactive waste stored in four
75,000-gallon tanks. The plant began operating in 1952,
producing high-purity uranium for national defense programs. It
closed in 1989.

The waste is being shipped under contract with Visionary
Solutions, based in Oak Ridge, Tenn. 

Tri-State Motor Transit Co., based in Joplin and one of the
leading carriers of hazardous and nuclear wastes in the nation,
has hauled for the company in the past and could be called
again, said David Bennett, a vice president at Tri-State.

"They have approved us, but we don't have a contract with
Visionary Solutions, which is acting as a third-party
contractor," he said. "We could certainly do the job."

If the company is planning to make up to 15 shipments a day,
that would mean there could be 45 to 60 tractor-trailers on the
job each day. Some would be returning to Ohio empty. Some would
be loading and offloading, while others would be in transit with
the radioactive material.

"The worst-case scenario would be for one of the trucks to roll
over," Bennett said. "It's the physical hazard, not the
radioactive hazard, that is the concern. Because of the weight
and shape of the material, the concern is center of gravity for
turning over.

"Since it's a solid material, it cannot become wind borne and it
cannot affect water."

Bennett said Tri-State, which started carrying radioactive
materials for the federal government in 1945 for the Manhattan
Project, has had only two accidents involving radioactive
materials.

"We have never had a release of radioactive material," he said.
"But we have had two wrecks that I am aware of. In one, a truck
rolled over on a snow bank. The other involved an accident with
a car." 

Bennett said Tri-State's experience with radioactive material
helped "write the book on how to handle spent nuclear fuel." 

  © 2005 The Joplin Globe Publishing Company   
*****************************************************************
 67 ITV: Sellafield leak 'missed for months'
 
"itv.com">

  Regulators have indicated the discharge could result in
criminal charges   

Sellafield leak 'missed for months' 7.05PM, Sun Jun 12 2005 

A leak which caused the Sellafield nuclear plant to close has
gone undetected for months, a report says. 

And inspectors repeatedly failed to spot the leak despite safety
checks, British Nuclear Group said. 

An investigation last month found a pipe may have begun to leak
acid as early as August 2004, and that opportunities were missed
between January 2005 and April 19 that would have shown material
was leaking. 

The report also said the leak could not have been prevented, but
the amount of liquid released could have been reduced. 

And safety regulators have indicated the discharge could result
in criminal charges, it has been reported. 

Sellafield's managing director, Barry Snelson, described the
incident as "a stumble, not a fall" and said the plant may close
for weeks. 

Content © ITV Network Limited. All Rights Reserved   

*****************************************************************
 68 Scotsman.com: Nuclear Leak Closes Part of Sellafield Site
 
Sun 12 Jun 2005   			 			

By Kim Pilling, PA 

A recent leak at Sellafield nuclear engineering plant could
close part of the site for months, it was reported today. 

Production stopped at the siteâ€™s Thermal Oxide Reprocessing
Plant (Thorp) in April after the discovery of a leak from a
pipe, which went undetected for up to eight months. 

Sellafieldâ€™s managing director, Barry Snelson, told the BBC
the plant may remain closed for months. 

He described the incident as â€œa stumble, not a fallâ€. 

Safety regulators have indicated the discharge could result in
criminal charges, the BBC reported. 

An investigation by British Nuclear Group last month found the
pipe may have begun to fail as early as August 2004, and that
opportunities were missed between January 2005 and April 19 that
would have shown material was leaking. 

The pipe fractured and discharged nitric acid onto the floor of
a concrete-lined cell in the Thorp complex. 

A secondary containment cell ensured there was no release of
radioactivity to the environment. The leak could not have been
prevented, but the amount of liquid released could have been
reduced, the report found. 

No staff at the Cumbrian plant were contaminated. 

The Scotsman
*****************************************************************
 69 Guardian Unlimited: Sellafield radioactive leak to cost £300m
 
UK nuclear industry in turmoil after closure of vital plant           
 		
Paul Brown, environment correspondent
Monday June 13, 2005
 		
The massive leak at the nuclear reprocessing plant at Sellafield 
in Cumbria will keep it closed for several more months and cost 
Britain's clean-up programme at least £300m in lost revenue this 
year alone, it emerged yesterday. 

The crippled £1.8bn flagship of the nuclear industry was supposed 
to make £2.5bn over five years to help fund the clean-up of past 
wastes but cannot contribute anything while closed. 

In the meantime it is costing millions more, also potentially 
coming out of the clean-up budget, to make the Thermal Oxide 
Reprocessing Plant (Thorp) safe. 

The subsequent repair, if it proves viable at all, will cost even 
more, forcing its new owners, the Nuclear Decommissioning 
Authority (NDA), set up by the government to take over 
Sellafield's assets on April 1, to consider whether Thorp should 
ever reopen. The NDA has confirmed that it is already reviewing 
the future of the plant. 

Estimates of how long the plant would take to repair have
lengthened considerably since the Guardian first revealed in May
that 83 cubic metres of nitric acid containing 22 tonnes of
dissolved uranium and plutonium from irradiated fuel had leaked
from a fractured pipe into the internal workings of the plant. 

The highly dangerous liquid is currently being pumped out of the
plant in small batches into storage tanks. The company said this
will take another two weeks to complete and then it will have to
devise a way of repairing the damaged pipework. This can only be
done using robots because the area is so radioactive that any
human being entering it would die.

The British Nuclear Group, the company formed from the
state-owned British Nuclear Fuels to manage the plant on behalf
of the NDA from April 1, has admitted that the leak begun as
early as last August but operatives failed to notice it until
April 18, when enough liquid to fill half an Olympic swimming
pool had already gone missing. 

The company blamed a faulty gauge but also conceded that workers
at the plant missed opportunities to notice that something had
gone badly wrong. 

The Nuclear Installations Inspectorate, the government's safety
watchdog, has not yet completed its own investigation, which
could lead to prosecution. It has to approve any repair plan on
safety grounds both to prevent any danger to workers and to make
sure a similar problem does not arise again. 

Barry Snelson, managing director of the British Nuclear Group,
said last week he regarded the Thorp leak as "a stumble not a
fall" and reassured workers fearing job losses that he was sure
the plant would reopen. 

"I am confident that Thorp will re-open but the decision is not
ours, it rests with the NDA and the government," he said. 

"Our role is as operators rather than owners is to show that we
have the capability to restore Thorp to service safely and also
to demonstrate what the economic benefits are." 

This is a significant change since the April 1 takeover by the
NDA. Even though Sellafield is still effectively
government-owned and what happens there is ultimately decided by
ministers, the British Nuclear Group cannot spend money without
first justifying it to the NDA. 

Previously BNFL spent the money and even the most dedicated
nuclear watchers were unable to untangle where it had gone from
studying the accounts. 

Martin Forwood, of Cumbrians Opposed to Radioactive Environment
has written to Ian Roxbrough, the chief executive of the NDA,
asking that Thorp be closed immediately and saying further delay
would only add to costs to the taxpayer and delay clean-up. 

Dr Roxbrough replied that the NDA was actively reviewing Thorp's
future. 

Mr Forwood said: "All that Thorp does is produce more and more
uranium and plutonium. British Energy, which has the bulk of
fuel waiting to be reprocessed, says it has no possible use for
this material, There us no logic to this and common sense says
Thorp should be shut down now." 
	
[UP] 

      Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2005
*****************************************************************
 70 CCDR: Cotter clean up start of earning public’s trust
 
Canon City Daily Record- 

The Daily Record 701 S. Ninth St. Cañon City, CO 81212 Telephone 
719-275-7565 Circulation 719-275-7568 Fax 719-275-1353 
Publisher's Comment Line 1-800-796-8201, Ext. 417 

Edward Lehman, Publisher Dean G. Lehman, Editor & President 
Lauren R. Lehman, Vice President Terry G. Cochran, General Mnager 
Michael Alcala, City Editor Anita Kroh, Advertising Manager Sue 
McCulloch, Pre-Press/Systems Manager Glenna Philips, Business 
Office Manager Alan Polk, Production Manager Melissa Woolsey, 
Circulation Manager   
    
  Opinion 
  		 		 
Publish Date: 6/11/2005 

We commend Cotter Corp. for compiling a sensible list of options
to deal with the uranium and molybdenum contamination resulting
from the operations of its old containment ponds. In the ongoing
attempts to remediate toxicity in the soil and groundwater,
Cotter has tried several tactics. None has worked to anyone’s
satisfaction. 

This idea of determining exactly where and at what depth the
elevated levels of toxicity are, then unearthing the soil in
those areas has merit. Not only is it relatively cheap and easy,
it can be continually evaluated as it’s being done. And if more
toxicity is found while crews dig, then that soil can be removed
along with the rest. 

After the process, what we’ll have in that acreage, where
impoundment ponds held hazardous by-products of Cotter
operations from 1958 to 1979, is soil that does not pose a risk
to the groundwater below and thus to the neighborhoods north of
the property. 

The problem is where to put the contaminated soil. Cotter and
the health department are content to put it in newer,
plastic-lined ponds at the mill, but residents in nearby
neighborhoods want it moved somewhere far, far away. The
integrity of the lined ponds is a subject of great controversy,
and their viability is being evaluated. 

The ball now is in the court of the health department. It is the
equalizer in this debate. It must act as an effective mediator
to satisfy the public and hold Cotter accountable. 

Too many times the health department has reprimanded Cotter with
harsh language in official violation documents, calling for
immediate action and threatening the company with punitive
action — then followed up with concessions and compromises. 

The public has seen it enough that its trust in the department’s
ability to control Cotter is damaged. 

In the case of the excavation, the health department can gain
back the public’s trust first by seriously looking into the
possibility of shipping this contaminated soil to another
facility. That is what the public is asking for, loud and clear.
The health department must earnestly research facilities where
the uranium and molybdenum-laced soil can be sent and inquire
about the possibility of actually shipping it there. 

Then, it should come back to the public with reasons why the
soil can or cannot be viably removed and placed somewhere else. 

When excavation begins — if it is ultimately approved by the
health department — the health department must take its
responsibility as Cotter’s only regulating agency seriously. By
that we mean it must oversee the excavation on a daily basis,
making sure such things as dust mitigation and air monitoring
are a part of the operation. 

Perhaps, then it can earn the public’s trust.   
      
Publish Date: 6/11/2005

All contents Copyright © 2005 The Cañon City Daily Record. All
rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
 71 REGIONAL FARE: Reprocessing fuel of FBTR 
               
             Atomic centre upbeat after breakthrough
 
NT Bureau 
Chennai, June 12: 
  
Anil Kakodkar, chairman of Atomic Energy Commission, announced a 
technical breakthrough by scientists at Kalpakkam. Photo: R 
Krishnamurthy   


        Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research (IGCAR) at
Kalpakkam has made a breakthrough in reprocessing the
indigenously developed uranium - plutonium mixed carbide driver
fuel of the fast breeder test reactor (FBTR) by achieving the
peak burn up of 147.8 GW d/t (giga watt day per tonne), say
scientists. 

        A driver fuel reaching such high burn up levels is an
international landmark considering the unique nature of the
fuel, Anil kakodkar, Chairman, Atomic Energy Commission told a
press conference yesterday. 

        Congratulating scientist and engineers of IGCAR, he
said, 'we are now moving closer to the set target value of 150
GW d/t in burn up of carbide fuels.' Terming it as a bold step
for their decision to use carbide fuels in the FBTR, Kakodkar
said, reprocessing of carbide fuel is more complex comparing to
that of mixed oxide (MOX) fuel. 

        Countries like United States, Russia, Japan, France and
the United kingdom has reprocessed MOX fuel, but not the carbide
fuel, he noted. India is the first country to reprocess the
spent carbide fuel, he said. 

        Advanced PUREX (plutonium - uranium extraction) process
is developed in the reprocessing development laboratory at the
IGCAR for reprocessing of spent mixed carbide fuels, the
Chairman said. 

        For reprocessing FBTR spent fuels and also to establish
process and equipment for high burn up plutonium rich fuels, a
compact hot cell facility was constructed and commissioned in
2003, Baldev Raj, Director, IGCAR said. 

        Research and development at IGCAR is set to focus on
developing of FBR that can run on oxide and carbide fuels,
Kakodkar said. 

        'Our ultimate goal is to develop reactors which can run
on metallic fuel that would provide the much needed energy
security to the country, he noted. At present the cooling period
for reprocessing of spent carbide fuel is 16 months which we
like to reduce to eight months, he said. 

        He added, Homi Bhabha National Institute will be a
deemed varsity and department of atomic energy will administer
it. 

*****************************************************************
 72 RGJ: Chief of U.S. Geological Survey resigning amid flap over Yucca
Mtn. documents
 
Reno Gazette-Journal]  June 12, 2005 Reno, Nevada, USA  
775-788-6200  

Posted: 6/10/2005 11:13 am 

LAS VEGAS — The U.S. Geological Survey director criticized since
the disclosure that several agency scientists might have
falsified documents about a planned Nevada nuclear waste
repository is stepping down. 

Charles G. Groat’s resignation, announced Thursday in
Washington, D.C., was not connected with the Yucca Mountain
project, survey spokeswoman A.B. Wade said. 

Groat will return effective June 17 to the University of Texas
at Austin, where he once served as an associate geology
professor and acting director of the Bureau of Economic Geology. 

Interior Gale A. Norton praised Groat, who has headed the USGS
since November 1998, for applying USGS science “to supporting
important decisions regarding resource and environmental
management and policy.” 

Groat has been under fire since he and Energy Secretary Samuel
Bodman announced in March the discovery of e-mail messages
written by USGS hydrologists between 1998 and 2000 discussing
possible falsification of quality assurance documents on water
infiltration research they did for the Yucca Mountain project. 

The disclosures sparked ongoing investigations by Energy
Department and Interior Department inspectors general, aided by
the FBI, and by a U.S. House subcommittee headed by Rep. Jon
Porter, R-Nev. 

Nevada lawmakers have criticized Groat for not taking immediate
disciplinary action against the hydrologists, who remain at the
agency, and for not turning over requested documents. 

Groat expressed support for investigations to clear the USGS,
which he said had a 125-year reputation for sound, unbiased
science. 

The Energy Department plans to seek a license from the Nuclear
Regulatory Commission to entomb 77,000 tons of the nation’s most
radioactive waste at Yucca Mountain. Congress in 2002 approved
putting the repository at the site 90 miles northwest of Las
Vegas. 

A date for opening the repository has been pushed back from 2010
to 2012 or later following a federal court ruling that an
Environmental Protection Agency radiation standard was
insufficient, congressional budget cuts and the e-mail
revelations. 

John Arthur, a top Yucca Mountain project official, reported
this week that the Energy Department has tentatively concluded
that repository science was not compromised by the USGS
scientists. 

Groat will be the Jackson Chair in Energy and Mineral Resources
in the School of Geosciences at the University of Texas, the
Interior Department said. He also will direct the school’s new
Center for International Energy and Environmental Policy. 

align="right">© Copyright Reno Gazette-Journal, a Gannett Co.
Inc.Newspaper.
*****************************************************************
 73 Scottish National Party: Scotland must not become nuclear dump  SNP - 

http://www.snp.org

 The SNP today demanded that First Minister Jack McConnell
get behind Scotland and rule out using Scotland as a dump for
the UK's radioactive waste. SNP Environment Spokesperson Richard
Lochhead MSP said the fact that a secret list with five Scottish
sites earmarked as radioactive nuclear waste dumps had been
secretly drawn up by the UK Government should "horrify every
Scot".


The SNP has vowed to join Scotland's communities across the
country in resisting any attempt to turn the country into a
nuclear waste dump.

 The only available and safe option for dealing with waste
produced in Scotland is widely believed to be continuing to
store it at existing sites.

 The Party said today that McConnell faced one of his biggest
tests since becoming First Minister. Created by bob bob 
Contributors : Mary 

--> Published 11/06/2005 04:00 PM     [ title=] More News 

  ©Copyright 2005 Scottish National Party. All Rights Reserved.
 Promoted by Peter Murrell on behalf of the Scottish National
Party, both at 107 McDonald Road, Edinburgh EH7 4NW.     Privacy
*****************************************************************
 74 Independent: Nuclear waste: the 1,000-year fudge 

By Geoffrey Lean,

www.independent.co.uk

Environment Editor 12 June 2005

Secret plans to postpone solving Britain's nuclear waste crisis
for up to 1,000 years are being drawn up by the nuclear
industry, The Independent on Sunday can reveal. 

The government-owned British Nuclear Fuels is developing a
scheme for indefinitely storing the intensely dangerous material
in giant "millennium domes" around Britain, leaving it for
generations far into the future to work out what to do with it. 

The scheme - to be floated at a closed meeting of nuclear
experts and local authority officials in London this week - runs
counter to conventional wisdom. Most experts insist that the
safest way of dealing with highly radioactive wastes is to bury
them at least 900 feet underground. Storing them increases the
chances that they will leak out, leading to health risks and
making them vulnerable to terrorists. 

But the idea is gaining support in Whitehall, following 30 years
of failure to find a disposal site in Britain. Ministers insist
that plans for dealing with the waste must be agreed before any
more nuclear power stations are built. 

Last week, Nirex, Britain's independent nuclear waste agency,
published a shortlist of 12 locations drawn up for the last
attempt to solve the problem, which ended in failure in 1997
when the then Secretary of State for the Environment, John
Gummer, rejected the favoured site near the Sellafield nuclear
complex. Ministers are due to launch a new search next year. 

The BNFL scheme is likely to prove even more controversial. It
envisages building several concrete domes in different regions
of the country for so-called "interim long-term storage" of the
wastes. The domes would be designed to last up to 1,000 years
and would be buried just under the surface of the ground under a
layer of rubble or earth. They could be built almost anywhere,
though would most likely be sited at existing nuclear power
plants. 

"They look exactly like the Millennium Dome," said one top
official who has seen the plans. "And they seem just as bad an
idea." 

Proponents of storing waste say that we do not yet know enough
about how to dispose of it safely deep in the ground, and that
future generations are likely to be able to do it better. 

France, Finland, Sweden, Switzerland and Belgium are all
following the traditional strategy by investigating sites for
deep burial. 

British Nuclear Fuels said that the scheme was the result of
"looking at new, innovative ways of doing things" as part of
drawing up "a broad range of options". 

Sellafield leak casts doubt on nuclear expansion, says minister 

The leak of tens of thousands of litres of spent fuel at
Sellafield is preventing ministers from making the case for new
nuclear power stations, Alan Johnson has told The Independent on
Sunday. 

The new Trade Secretary says the official investigation into the
incident, in which nuclear liquid gushed unnoticed from a broken
pipe for nine months, will be "very important" in deciding
whether to press ahead with plans for up to 20 new plants. 

In an interview with this newspaper, Mr Johnson gave a clear
signal that he is increasingly reluctant to make the case for
nuclear power, preferring instead to stress the potential of
renewable energy sources. 

"The Prime Minister has said we will make a decision within the
lifetime of this Parliament on whether we go any further down
the nuclear road." 

The Nuclear Installations Inspectorate is expected to decide
this week whether to press for a criminal prosecution after
completing a preliminary investigation into the Sellafield
incident. 

Mr Johnson also has a tough message for those who are pressing
for carbon-free energy sources but object to new wind farms.
"These aesthetic issues are very proper considerations, but
people can't both want to head down the renewable track and then
oppose its results." 

Francis Elliott 	           


©2005 Independent News &Media (UK) Ltd.   
*****************************************************************
 75 CCDR: Cotter excavation top choice

Cañon City Daily Record - 

  Publish Date: 6/10/2005 			 

Citizens Against ToxicWaste co-chairwoman Jeri Fry shows a slide
representing that a newer impoundment pond was built over an old
pond at Cotter Corp. during a meeting Thursday at the Quality
Inn.

 Daily Record photo by Tamara McCumber

Jason Starr Daily Record Staff Writer                                                                              
Cañon City residents are

behind a proposal to excavate contaminated soil on Cotter Corp.
property with one major caveat. They want the soil shipped off
Cotter property, not stored indefinitely in lined impoundment
ponds of questionable integrity. 

The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment
recorded more than 90 minutes of public comments during a
meeting Thursday night at the Quality Inn. 

It will take the comments into consideration when deciding which
of five proposals to pursue in cleaning up the contaminated
soil. The soil, which contains elevated levels of uranium and
molybdenum, is blamed for contaminating groundwater that has
flowed into neighborhoods to the north. 

Cotter, the health department and the Environmental Protection
Agency are recommending the excavation proposal over the other
alternatives — which include flushing the soil with water or
chemicals or containing the soil with an artificial cap —
because it is simple, permanent and can be implemented soon. 

It also happens to be the cheapest option at an estimated cost
of $2.2 million. 

Paul Rosasco, a Cotter consultant, and Edgar Ethington, a
geophysicist with the health department, presented their case to
the 60 or so residents who attended the meeting, going through
each alternative with slides and a power point outline. 

“Personally, I lean toward the excavation,” Rosasco told the
crowd. “It’s something concrete. It’s certain. We can take the
stuff out and take it away.” 

But taking it away is the point of contention, which became
apparent when the public comment period began. 

The integrity of the ponds that are to hold the contaminated
soil, which are lined with plastic and were built in 1978, has
been challenged by reports commissioned by the health
department. 

The health department has said it is working to address the
problems, but residents would like to see the issues resolved
before agreeing to a plan that would permanently store toxic
soil there. 

“It makes no sense whatsoever to move radioactive material from
one area only to dump it in another,” said Zita Broyles, Pueblo,
who said she worked at Cotter in 1979. 

Cañon City resident Shirley Squier invoked a loud roar of
approval with these words: “You do not solve a problem by
creating another one. You only compound it. We as a community
are sick and tired of attending these meetings and still faced
with the same problems, while Cotter continues to receive
violation after violation. How much is too much?” 

Health department manager of remedial programs Jeff Deckler said
the proposals are not set in stone and that the possibility of
unearthing the contaminated soil and shipping it off-site still
is an option. 

“We can still consider it,” he said. 

During the next 20 days, Deckler and other health department
officials will be reading over the public’s comments, which were
recorded electronically Thursday night. Citizens can continue to
comment by contacting Ethington at 4300 Cherry Creek Drive S.
Denver CO 80246 or by e-mail at edgar.ethington@state.co.us. 

After the public comment period ends June 30, the health
department, with further input from the EPA, will make a
decision and publish it in a Decision Document. After that,
specific work plans will be drafted, again with public input. 

Another reason the excavation option gained momentum with
officials is that the flushing and chemical treatment options
already have been tried, with limited success. Also, excavation
has fewer risks than mobilizing the toxins and trying to
retrieve them downstream, as is the process with flushing. 

Rosasco estimates that up to 400,000 cubic yards of soil will
need to be excavated in order to remove all of the soil that is
contaminated above state limits. Crews took soil samples at
incremental depths of five feet apiece and 200 feet apart to
determine where the elevated levels are. 

They were looking for concentrations of uranium more than 30
parts per million and concentrations of molybdenum more than 100
parts per million. 

Some residents questioned the techniques used to gather the soil
samples and whether samples were taken closely enough to
accurately represent the contamination. That speaks to
residents’ concerns that the clean up work be thorough. 

“I would like to see us set our standards high and make this
clean up the best it can be,” said Jeri Fry, a representative of
Colorado Citizens Against Toxicwaste. 

Fellow CCAT member Sharyn Cunningham echoed those sentiments. 

“I’m glad you are going to dig it up,” she told officials. “I
hope you clean it up to the very best level you can. That’s what
will give you our trust back.” 

Health department representative Marion Gallant, who facilitates
several such public meetings throughout Colorado, praised Cañon
City residents for their interest in the process. 

“This is a very well-informed and actively involved audience,”
she said. “People do their homework and ask well-informed
questions.” 				   

All contents Copyright © 2005 The Cañon City Daily Record. All
*****************************************************************
 76 UK Leeds Today: Power station considered as waste site

Plans to dump tons of radioactive waste on a site within yards
of houses in West Yorkshire have been revealed.

by Anne Alexander

Political Editor                                                                        Secret files from the 1980s, unveiled

under the Freedom of Information Act, show that officials
considered burying the waste at Ferrybridge close to Wakefield.
The plan to use the huge power station site to dump the
dangerous material was dropped, but only after serious
consideration by officials who went as far as the third stage in
a seven stage selection process.

Secret notes reveal that the site was described as "land held
for future development close to urban areas".

It indicates that the location and ownership of the site were
acceptable, but the notes reveal that the 313 acre size was not
suitable for dumping.

Abandoned

Officials dropped the site, alongside the A1, as a possible
dumping ground in December 1987.

The whole programme to dispose of the country's growing
radioactive waste by burial was eventually abandoned in 1997.

Chris Murray, managing director of Nirex, said: "Radioactive
waste exists and needs to be dealt with whether or not there is
any programme of new build in the UK.

"Dealing with the waste is as much an ethical and social issue
as a scientific and technical one. This is the key lesson we
have learned from the past."

He said the sites considered in the selection process, other
than Dounreay and Sellafield, had not been published prior to
the introduction of information freedom laws as a result of
earlier Government policy to keep the details confidential.

The existing waste is currently being held at 34 temporary sites
while the Government decides what to do with it.

anne.alexander@ypn.co.uk                                                                        12 June 2005                                                                    
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*****************************************************************
 77 The New Mexican: Police unraveling Cheeks beating        
 	
June 9, 2005                                            

WHITE ROCK  By the end of the week, police detectives and FBI
agents might be able to unravel the mystery behind the brutal
beating of Tommy Hook in the parking lot of a Santa Fe topless
bar early Sunday morning. 

Hook, 52, is a Los Alamos National Laboratory auditor who told
his wife he went to Cheeks bar late Saturday night to meet a
secret source who knew about fraud at the lab, but the person
never showed up. He left in an ambulance with a broken jaw, a
back injury, damage to his teeth and a concussion. He spent two
nights at St. Vincent Regional Medical Center. 

No arrests had been made as of Wednesday evening. And
investigators came to the conclusion it was premature to release
details about the incident. 

It has made it a little bit hard on the investigators, being
that this case has attracted so much media attention , not only
on the local level but the national level, Santa Fe Police
Deputy Chief Eric Johnson said. That has created a situation
where a lot of information is coming in, and we have to follow
up and verify the information. Thats why its taking a little
bit longer than usual before we can release a lot of
information. 

Johnson said by the end of the week he hopes to have enough solid 
information to clarify what happened. The investigation is 
progressing very well at this point, he said. 

The wait is hard on everyone. After two doorbell rings around
noon Wednesday, Susan Hook, wearing a pink terry-cloth robe,
opened the door of her White Rock house. Fed up with the
conflicting reports in the media, she politely declined an
interview and her eyes welled up with tears as she returned
inside to her husband, who was released from the hospital
Tuesday evening. 

A sprinkler was watering the immaculate front lawn of the Hooks
two-level frame house marked with a prominent, green H above
the front door. Their red Subaru Legacy GT, the vehicle Hook
reportedly drove to the bar, was parked in the driveway. 

Hooks wife, his attorney and a co-worker theorize he was beaten
because he is a whistleblower and someone wanted to silence him
before he met with congressional investigators this week to talk
about problems at the lab and prepare for a testimony in
Washington, D.C. In March, he and co-worker Chuck Montaño filed
a case against the lab for alleged retaliation for speaking out
on such matters. It likely wont go before a federal judge for
another year. 

As an auditor at the lab, Hook has been in high-level positions
where he fielded reports of fraud and waste. Recently, he
focused on what he considered irregularities in business
functions, such as procurement. 

He still plans to testify before the U.S. House Energy and
Commerce Committee, his wife has said. 

The sooner police get to the bottom of what happened at Cheeks
this past weekend, the better, said Terry Hawkins, as he
untangled an American flag outside his garage across the street
from the Hooks residence. When all the facts are out, well be
able to make a decision, he said. 

The climate in town has grown tense, Hawkins said, because the
laboratory has been going through tough times. The federal
government is holding a competition for management of the lab,
and this case has added more tension. 

The community is really tighter than a drum right now, said
Hawkins, a senior fellow at the lab. 

Hawkins couldnt believe the original story he heard about his
neighbors attack  that it happened on his street at the Hook
house. He never heard sirens or commotion Saturday night. 

Now that the story has gotten more complicated  a clandestine
meeting on lab fraud at a strip club  he isnt sure what to
think. He knows Hook has had issues with lab business practices
for quite a while, but, he added, the primary issues had been
aired out before. 

Hawkins described the Hooks as an all-American family. They
take care of their house and their yard, he said. 

The last time Hawkins saw Tommy Hook, he was wearing an
apparatus to keep his shoulder immobile after surgery. That was
before Hook was beaten. 

Even for Cheeks attorney Roger Prucino, there are some loose
ends in this case. Already, inconsistencies are existing or
being created, he said. 

After the club closed Wednesday, Prucino planned to meet with as
many employees as possible to gather more facts. 		 	   	 	 	 			
 		   			 		   	 	
Copyright 2004 Santa Fe New Mexican                                                                                             

*****************************************************************
 78 The New Mexican: Police: No LANL link in beating        
 	
JASON AUSLANDER | 

June 10, 2005                                           

The weekend beating of a whistle-blower apparently had nothing
to do with lap dances or laboratory troubles, Santa Fe police
said Thursday.

After investigating Tommy Hook's claim that he was lured
Saturday to a local topless club to meet a fellow Los Alamos
National Laboratory auditor, police found no reason to believe
it, according to a news release.

"The altercation involving Mr. Hook is an isolated incident and
is in no way related to Mr. Hook's whistle-blower status at the
Los Alamos National Laboratories," the release said.

Instead, the brutal beating was the result of an altercation in
the parking lot of Cheeks topless bar, in which Hook allegedly
backed his red Subaru sedan into a pedestrian while trying to
leave.

"A verbal exchange of words occurred after Mr. Hook exited his
vehicle at which time the confrontation escalated into a
physical attack," the police department release states.

Santa Fe Deputy Police Chief Eric Johnson said three men were
involved in the attack, but declined to release further details.
Police were led to the men by a license plate number, he said.

The results of the investigation will be forwarded to the
district attorney's office, which will make a determination on
who, if anyone, will be charged in connection with the incident. 

All four men, including Hook, may be charged, Johnson said. He
refused to release further details of the investigation,
including who the aggressor in the altercation was.

In a phone interview Thursday, Hook, who is recovering from
multiple injuries at his White Rock home after three days in the
hospital, seemed surprised by the turn of events. 

"I just met with them (police) for three hours, and that's not
the impression I came away with," he said. "They told me they
were going to arrest four guys."

Hook said he recalls starting the car but has no recollection of
driving it or striking anyone in the parking lot. He has told
his attorney he was dragged out of the sedan before it began
moving.

"We stand by Tommy's original contention that he was lured to
Cheeks by a phone call," said Bob Rothstein, his attorney. "We
want to know who beat him up, why they beat him up and why
they're not in custody."

Rothstein said his office will continue to conduct its own
investigation.

Doug Couleur, a local attorney, said he is representing one of
the men involved in the incident, though he refused to identify
him. 

"This was an altercation in the parking lot of a topless bar,"
he said. "It had nothing to do with whistle-blowers or LANL or
this guy being a witness."

Hook refuted that, saying this wasn't an ordinary rumble. "This
is beat this guy to an inch of his life or further," he said. 

The FBI, which has shadowed police detectives during the
investigation, plans to conduct more interviews today. 

"It appears we do not have federal violations, but we want to
clarify that with the U.S. Attorney's Office and have them
review all the evidence and all the statements," said Bill
Elwell, an FBI spokesman in Albuquerque.

On Monday, Rothstein called a news conference to present his
client's side of the story. He said Hook, 52, received a
late-night call from a man he thought was another
whistle-blower. Rothstein and Hook's wife, Susan, said Hook had
tried to meet with this unnamed person the previous day, but the
person didn't show up. They said Hook had been put in touch with
this person through a friend. Late Saturday evening, someone who
might have been posing as that person called Hook and asked to
meet with him at Cheeks, they said. 

Hook's wife said the couple doesn't frequent bars, and her
husband probably didn't even know Cheeks was a strip club.

After waiting at Cheeks, Hook climbed into his car and started
the engine sometime after 1:30 a.m. Sunday, the wife and lawyer
said. A group of assailants dragged him out of the car, told him
he better keep his mouth shut and punched him and kicked him
until he was nearly unconscious. After a bouncer broke up the
attack, Hook was hospitalized with severe trauma to his head and
an injured back.

In sharp contrast, employees at Cheeks have painted a picture of
Hook as a newcomer to the bar who had just won $500 at a casino
and was looking for some fun. He drank six light beers, tipped
generously, bought drinks and dances for two female patrons who
sat on either side of him and paid $50 for a lap dance for
himself with a waitress in the VIP room, according to Cheeks
attorney Roger Prucino

No violence seemed to be brewing inside the club, Prucino said,
and club employees didn't see what precipitated the attack
outside. 

"The car was running. It had been backed completely out of the
parking space and was in the line of traffic," he said. "So he
had come all the way out of the parking space and then, for
whatever reason, stopped the vehicle, put it in park, got out."

District Attorney Henry Valdez said Thursday that he doesn't
expect to receive the results of the police investigation until
next week.

"They claim they didn't find any evidence of any connection to
Los Alamos. The question is: Did they actually look for any
evidence?" said Pete Stockton, a senior investigator with the
Project on Government Oversight, a watchdog group in Washington,
D.C. 

As planned, both Hook and his co-worker, Chuck Montaño, met with
investigators from the U.S. House Committee on Energy and
Commerce this week to prepare for their testimony in Washington,
D.C. Early this year, both men appeared on CBS Evening News to
talk about alleged patterns of financial irregularities in the
lab's procurement division.

In March, they filed a lawsuit against the lab for alleged
retaliation against them for whistle-blowing.

After Sunday's beating, Hook had his wife call Montaño
immediately to warn him he also might not be safe. Montaño said
he still believes it was no coincidence that Hook was attacked
on the eve of the day he was supposed to meet with a
congressional investigator.

"There's a lot of logic from where I sit in what Tommy has
said," he said.		 	   	 	 	 	 
    				
Hook-Cheeks
			   		
Copyright 2004 Santa Fe New Mexican                                                                                             
*****************************************************************
 79 ABQjournal: Beating Victim Stands By Account 

the Albuquerque Journal newspaper. 

Thursday, June 9, 2005 

Albuquerque Journal--> By Adam Rankin and Jeremy Pawloski 
Journal Staff Writers 

A lawyer representing a man involved in last weekend's 
beating that left Los Alamos National Laboratory whistle-blower 
Tommy Hook severely injured says the fight had nothing to do 
with LANL. 

"This was an altercation in the parking lot of a topless 
bar, nothing more," lawyer Doug Couleur said. "This has 
absolutely nothing to do with Hook's employment, his witness 
status, his employment status, or any of that." 

Hook, who has said he was attacked after being lured to 
Cheeks on Cerrillos Road by a caller who promised information 
about alleged fraud at the lab, reiterated Wednesday that his 
attackers told him to keep his mouth shut. 

"I am going to testify in court that as they (his 
attackers) were beating me they told me I had better keep my 
goddamn mouth shut if I knew what was good for me," he said in a 
telephone interview from his home, where he is recuperating. "It 
is going to get down to who is telling the truth." 

"I was trying to do something that I thought was right at 
the lab and I almost get killed over it," Hook said. 

Hook was scheduled to meet with a congressional 
investigator this week to discuss whistle-blower issues at LANL 
in preparation for an anticipated hearing later this month. 

He said Wednesday that he still intended to meet with the 
investigator and that the meeting would take place Wednesday 
night. 

Hook also denied a Cheeks dancer's account that he got a 
lap dance at the club before he was beaten in the parking lot 
about 2 a.m. Sunday, leaving him hospitalized for three days. 

"I got no lap dance from any dancers," Hook said. 

Hook said that he had no interactions at the bar with 
dancers, but that while he was at the bar, people were dancing 
around him. He said he sat at the bar and watched the front 
door. Hook left the bar near closing time after no one showed 
up, according to his account. 

"I pride myself on trying to be a good, honest person," he 
said. "To have your character torn apart when you are almost 
killed, I was almost killed ... I am kind of upset about that." 

As a result of the beating, Hook has a broken jaw, a 
herniated disc in his back and broken teeth. He also received 
several blows to his shoulder, where he recently had rotator 
cuff surgery. 

Couleur, a Santa Fe defense attorney, said Wednesday that 
he is representing an individual who was at Cheeks the night of 
Cook's beating and who witnessed the fight. 

When asked to elaborate, Couleur said only that his client 
"had some involvement in the altercation." 

Couleur said he would not discuss details of what happened 
during the fight because "I don't want to interfere with police 
getting to the bottom of this." 

However, Couleur said that according to information from 
his client, the fight "had nothing to do with" Cook's role as a 
whistle-blower for LANL, which is operated by the University of 
California. 

Hook and co-worker Chuck Montaño, also a U.S. Department of 
Energy whistle-blower, filed a lawsuit in March alleging the 
university, LANL and several of its top managers retaliated 
against the two for their efforts in trying to expose financial 
problems at the lab that the lab and UC contend were fixed. 

Regarding the beating, Hook repeated the story recounted by 
his wife and attorney on Monday and says his bosses and 
officials at the university knew he was trying to meet last week 
with an auditor trying to expose alleged fraud at the lab. 

Susan Hook and Hook's lawyer, Bob Rothstein, said earlier 
that Hook received a late-night call Saturday from the auditor, 
who insisted on meeting at Cheeks to avoid being recognized. 

Hook told them the man never showed and that when he 
returned to his car, four to six men pulled him from his vehicle 
and beat him while telling him to keep his mouth shut. 

Employee statements 

Santa Fe attorney Roger Prucino, who represents Cheeks 
owner Elmo Montoya, told The Associated Press he interviewed 
Montoya and a manager who was at the bar Saturday and early 
Sunday when Hook was beaten. 

There was no fight or exchange of heated words in the bar 
that night that would have precipitated an assault on Hook after 
he left, the attorney said. 

Hook "was not a regular at the club," Prucino said. "He was 
in there for a while and he was well behaved." 

Prucino said a doorman watching as patrons left for the 
night saw the fight and called other employees for help. The 
attackers left in a vehicle when the employees headed toward 
them. The manager gave the license plate number and a 
description of the vehicle to investigators, Prucino said. 

Prucino confirmed that a dancer at the club, Jeanette 
McCalip, reported that she recognized Hook as the same man who 
got a lap dance from a waitress earlier that night. 

Prucino also said Wednesday night that he has spoken with 
that waitress and she told him that she gave Hook a $50 lap 
dance in Cheeks' VIP room between midnight and 1 a.m. 

By all accounts, Hook was pleasant and generous while in 
the club, Prucino said. Hook consumed about six light beers over 
an extended period of time in the club, Prucino said. Hook got 
to the club at about 9:30 p.m., he added. 

Prucino also said Wednesday night that another waitress who 
was working at the club Saturday night said that she approached 
Hook that night and asked him if he wanted a dance, and he said 
that he was waiting for somebody. 

Prucino said a security guard who witnessed the end of 
Hook's beating got between him and two people who were kicking 
and stomping him. Those two individuals fled with a group that 
left the scene in two cars, a gold Nissan Maxima and a 2005 
black Chrysler, he said. 

Hook, a 16-year LANL employee once in charge of reviewing 
lab whistle-blower complaints, also said the altercation at the 
club is being sensationalized. 

"All this gets off on a tangent," he said. 

Beth Daley, a representative for the Project on Government 
Oversight in Washington, D.C., which is working with Hook, told 
The Associated Press the organization stands behind his version 
of events. 

Even if Hook had gotten a lap dance in the bar, "it doesn't 
have anything to do with the question of why he was lured to 
this bar and savagely beaten," she said. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report. 

Copyright Albuquerque Journal 

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*****************************************************************
 80 ABQjournal: Accounts of Man's Beating Differ 

the Albuquerque Journal newspaper. 

Friday, June 10, 2005 

Albuquerque Journal--> Journal Staff Report 

Since Los Alamos whistleblower Tommy Hook was beaten 
outside the Cheeks strip club on Cerrillos Road early Sunday 
morning, Hook, the police and employees and representatives of 
Cheeks have given differing accounts and theories about what 
happened. Here are key points where the stories diverge: 

+ When did Hook arrive at Cheeks? Hook's wife and lawyer said 
Monday that Hook told them he didn't make the 35-mile drive from 
White Rock to Cheeks until after 10:15 p.m. Saturday, after Hook 
received a phone call from an unnamed tipster claiming to have 
information on LANL who asked for a meeting at the Santa Fe 
topless bar. Hook's wife wasn't home and was in Albuquerque 
Saturday night. 

Roger Prucino, attorney for Cheeks owner Elmo Montoya, said 
Wednesday that Hook got to the club about 9:30 p.m. 

By all accounts, Hook was beaten in the parking lot about 
the same time Cheeks closed at 2 a.m. Sunday. 

+ Did Hook get a lap dance at Cheeks? "I got no lap dance from 
any dancers," Hook said Wednesday. Bob Rothstein, Hook's lawyer, 
said Tuesday that a private investigator interviewed Cheeks' 
manager, the bartender and two security guards and they all 
confirmed that Hook "didn't have any interaction with the girls 
who were dancing there." 

Jeanette McCalip, a dancer at Cheeks, said Tuesday that she 
saw Hook get a lap dance from a waitress. Prucino, the club's 
lawyer, Wednesday night confirmed that McCalip reported that she 
recognized Hook as the same man who got the lap dance. Prucino 
also said he had spoken to the waitress and she told him that 
she gave Hook a $50 lap dance in Cheeks' VIP room between 
midnight and 1 a.m. 

+ What happened in the parking lot? Rothstein said Monday that 
as Hook was leaving Cheeks in his red Suburu sedan, which was 
parked near the front door, he started the engine and that's 
when a large man pulled him from the driver's seat. Hook was 
beaten and stomped on his face, head and shoulder, leaving him 
with a broken jaw and other injuries. 

In a news release Thursday, the Santa Fe police said 
evidence uncovered in the investigation "leads investigators to 
believe that this incident was the result of an altercation in 
the parking lot of Cheeks nightclub after Mr. Hook struck a 
pedestrian with his vehicle while leaving the establishment. 

"A verbal exchange of words occurred after Mr. Hook exited 
his vehicle, at which time the confrontation escalated into a 
physical attack," the police statement said. 

Rothstein acknowledged earlier this week that he'd heard 
allegations that the beating was over an altercation that took 
place after Hook backed his car into someone, but Rothstein said 
the account hadn't been confirmed. 

+ Why did the beating take place? Hook and his supporters have 
suggested that the beating was related to his status as a LANL 
whistleblower. "I was trying to do something that I thought was 
right at the lab and I almost got killed," Hook said. The men 
who beat him told him to keep his mouth shut, Hook said. Hook 
had been preparing to meet with a congressional investigator 
this week. 

Lawyer Doug Couleur, attorney for a man Couleur says was 
involved in the fight at Cheeks, said Wednesday the fight was 
"an altercation in the parking lot of a topless bar, nothing 
more." 

The police said Thursday they believe based on "facts, 
evidence and information" obtained in the investigation that the 
beating at Cheeks "is an isolated incident and is in no way 
related to Mr. Hook's whistleblower status" at LANL. 

Copyright Albuquerque Journal 

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*****************************************************************
 81 ABQjournal: Beating Not Tied to LANL, Police Say 

Albuquerque Journal newspaper. 

Friday, June 10, 2005 

Albuquerque Journal--> By Adam Rankin And Jeremy Pawloski 

Journal Staff Writer 

The early Sunday morning beating of Los Alamos National 
Laboratory auditor Tommy Hook wasn't related to his status as a 
federal whistle-blower or the fact that he was scheduled to meet 
with a congressional investigator this week, police said 
Thursday. 

"Nothing in this investigation points to the fact that this 
was retaliation," said Santa Fe deputy police chief Eric Johnson.

Police said a fight between Hook and three men occurred 
after Hook struck a pedestrian with his car while leaving the 
Cheeks topless bar on Cerrillos Road. The beating, which left 
Hook with a broken jaw, a herniated disk and missing teeth, 
occurred about 2 a.m. Sunday. 

"A verbal exchange of words occurred after Mr. Hook exited 
his vehicle, at which time the confrontation escalated into a 
physical attack," according to a prepared statement released by 
the Santa Fe police. The FBI also participated in the 
investigation. 

Hook has maintained that he was pulled from the car as he 
tried to leave Cheeks after an informant he thought he was going 
to meet at the strip club failed to show up. 

In a telephone interview on Wednesday, Hook stood by his 
account and said, "It is going to come down to who is telling 
the truth." His wife said Thursday evening that Hook had no 
comment on the police statement. 

A call to Hook's lawyer was not returned. 

Pete Stockton, an investigator with the Project on 
Government Oversight, which helps to represent government 
whistle-blowers, said police didn't look for evidence that could 
link Hook's beating to his whistle-blower status. 

"The bigger issue is was there a connection? We are not 
arguing there was a connection, but did they look for one?" 
Stockton said. He maintained that there is more information, 
such as phone records and the backgrounds of the assailants, 
that police did not review. 

Santa Fe defense lawyer Doug Couleur, who represents a man 
Couleur says was involved in the altercation in which Hook was 
injured, said earlier this week that the beating was "an 
altercation in the parking lot of a topless bar, nothing more." 

After hearing of Thursday's police statement that the 
beating had nothing to do with LANL, Couleur said: "I'm glad 
they got that out of the way." 

No arrests have been made in the case. Police say they are 
turning all information obtained through the investigation over 
to the Santa Fe District Attorney's Office for review and 
determination of what charges might apply. 

Asked whether any charges are being considered against 
Hook, District Attorney Henry Valdez said once all the 
information and evidence are forwarded to his office, "we'll 
look at the potential criminal involvement of all the parties." 

Hook has said he was lured from his White Rock home to 
Cheeks by a late-night phone call from a supposed informant with 
information about LANL. He told his wife, who was out of town 
Saturday night, that while the attackers were beating him, they 
told him that he had better keep his mouth shut, according to 
Susan Hook. 

Hook was scheduled to meet with a congressional 
investigator this week in preparation for a pending hearing 
later this month on whistle-blowers and employee retaliation at 
LANL. Hook went ahead with meeting with the investigator 
Wednesday night. 

Allegations that Hook, who has a pending lawsuit against 
the University of California-run laboratory, was severely beaten 
in a possible attempt to prevent him from talking to 
congressional investigators made national news this week. CNN, 
CBS, The New York Times, USA Today and other national news 
outlets all carried stories on Hook's beating. 

Susan Hook told reporters during a Monday news conference 
that her husband had been in bed at home in White Rock on 
Saturday night when he received a call around 10:15 p.m. urging 
him to drive 50 minutes to Cheeks in Santa Fe. She said Hook had 
thought the caller was, like Hook himself, an unnamed LANL 
auditor who had information on lab financial fraud. 

In an interview Wednesday, Hook said he had tried to meet 
with the same auditor on June 3. Susan Hook said that according 
to her husband the Saturday night caller apologized to Hook for 
failing to make the June 3 date before suggesting they meet at 
Cheeks, where neither would likely be recognized. 

Roger Prucino, the lawyer for Cheeks, said Wednesday that 
Hook arrived at Cheeks about 9:30 p.m., not the much later time 
in Hook's account. Prucino also supported a dancer's statement 
that Hook received a $50 lap dance from a waitress while at the 
club. Hook has denied receiving a lap dance. 

Prucino also said a Cheeks waitress asked Hook, who was 
drinking light beer, if he wanted a dance, but that Hook 
declined and said he was waiting for somebody. 

POGO's Stockton said he would like to see the suspects 
arrested and asked to undergo lie detector tests on whether the 
beating was over Hook's whistle-blower status or just a bar 
fight. 

Stockton said he also wants to see a review of telephone 
records, which could substantiate Hook's story that he was 
called late Saturday night and that he tried to reach the 
auditor the day before, leaving him a message. 

Copyright Albuquerque Journal 

Steve@abqjournal.com 
*****************************************************************
 82 ABQjournal: UC's Lab Contract Extended to May 2006 

the Albuquerque Journal newspaper. 

Saturday, June 11, 2005 

UC's Lab Contract Extended to May 2006 

Albuquerque Journal--> By Adam Rankin 
Journal Staff Writer 

The University of California's contract to manage Los 
Alamos National Laboratory has officially been extended eight 
months. 

The university's contract, which had been scheduled to 
terminate at the end of September, will run to the end of May 
2006 in order to accommodate the pending competition over who 
will run the weapons lab in the future and to provide a 
transition period for a possible new contractor. 

Linton Brooks, head of the National Nuclear Security 
Administration, made the announcement to Los Alamos laboratory 
employees Friday during an all-hands meeting. 

"That was the first order of business," said LANL spokesman 
Kevin Roark. 

Roark said the contract extension includes language that 
would allow a further extension of the existing contract, but 
NNSA officials didn't anticipate that would be necessary. 

UC has run the weapons lab for the government since 1943. 
Following a series of management failures, DOE decided to put 
the $2.2 billion LANL contract up for competitive bids. UC has 
teamed with Bechtel National for the bidding, while Lockheed 
Martin has teamed with the University of Texas to try for the 
contract. 

LANL employees had been concerned the UC contract had not 
been extended even though NNSA and Energy Department officials 
had laid out a time line indicating the new contract would start 
June 1, after a six-month transition period, beginning Dec. 1. 

Earlier this week, Rep. Tom Udall, D-N.M., wrote DOE 
Secretary Samuel Bodman to request the contract extension. 

Udall wrote that not having a contract extension in writing 
had been generating anxiety among LANL employees that might 
contribute to their decision to retire, rather than consider 
transitioning to the new contractor. 

"A signed, transparent contract extension will undoubtedly 
alleviate much of this anxiety," Udall wrote. 

Roark said Brooks showed the employees a signed copy of the 
contract extension. 

He said Brooks told LANL employees that a decision on the 
new contractor would be made in November and that the six-month 
transition to the new contractor would begin Dec. 1. During that 
time, employees can evaluate the new manager's benefits and 
retirement plan. 

Employees will have until May 31 to decide among three 
employment options: whether to become an employee under the new 
contractor and roll their existing benefits into the new plan, 
to retire and try to seek employment from the new contractor, or 
freeze their UC benefits and roll their vacation time and sick 
leave into the new plan. 

"I think the bottom line for everybody was there is going 
to be this six-month period of time," during which employees can 
evaluate their options, Roark said. 

Roark also said that Tyler Przybylek, head of the NNSA 
board that is managing the LANL competition, said the new 
benefits will have to be "substantially equivalent" to UC's 
benefits, which to him, means the new plan will have to be close 
in value to the old one. 

Copyright Albuquerque Journal 

Steve@abqjournal.com 
*****************************************************************
 83 ABQjournal: UC's Lab Contract Extended to May 2006 

Albuquerque Journal newspaper. 

Saturday, June 11, 2005 

Albuquerque Journal--> By Adam Rankin 
Journal Staff Writer 

The University of California's contract to manage Los 
Alamos National Laboratory has officially been extended eight 
months. 

The university's contract, which had been scheduled to 
terminate at the end of September, will run to the end of May 
2006 in order to accommodate the pending competition over who 
will run the weapons lab in the future and to provide a 
transition period for a possible new contractor. 

Linton Brooks, head of the National Nuclear Security 
Administration, made the announcement to Los Alamos laboratory 
employees Friday during an all-hands meeting. 

"That was the first order of business," said LANL spokesman 
Kevin Roark. 

Roark said the contract extension includes language that 
would allow a further extension of the existing contract, but 
NNSA officials didn't anticipate that would be necessary. 

UC has run the weapons lab for the government since 1943. 
Following a series of management failures, DOE decided to put 
the $2.2 billion LANL contract up for competitive bids. UC has 
teamed with Bechtel National for the bidding, while Lockheed 
Martin has teamed with the University of Texas to try for the 
contract. 

LANL employees had been concerned the UC contract had not 
been extended even though NNSA and Energy Department officials 
had laid out a time line indicating the new contract would start 
June 1, after a six-month transition period, beginning Dec. 1. 

Earlier this week, Rep. Tom Udall, D-N.M., wrote DOE 
Secretary Samuel Bodman to request the contract extension. 

Udall wrote that not having a contract extension in writing 
had been generating anxiety among LANL employees that might 
contribute to their decision to retire, rather than consider 
transitioning to the new contractor. 

"A signed, transparent contract extension will undoubtedly 
alleviate much of this anxiety," Udall wrote. 

Roark said Brooks showed the employees a signed copy of the 
contract extension. 

He said Brooks told LANL employees that a decision on the 
new contractor would be made in November and that the six-month 
transition to the new contractor would begin Dec. 1. During that 
time, employees can evaluate the new manager's benefits and 
retirement plan. 

Employees will have until May 31 to decide among three 
employment options: whether to become an employee under the new 
contractor and roll their existing benefits into the new plan, 
to retire and try to seek employment from the new contractor, or 
freeze their UC benefits and roll their vacation time and sick 
leave into the new plan. 

"I think the bottom line for everybody was there is going 
to be this six-month period of time," during which employees can 
evaluate their options, Roark said. 

Roark also said that Tyler Przybylek, head of the NNSA 
board that is managing the LANL competition, said the new 
benefits will have to be "substantially equivalent" to UC's 
benefits, which to him, means the new plan will have to be close 
in value to the old one. 

Copyright Albuquerque Journal 

Steve@abqjournal.com 
*****************************************************************
 84 ABQjournal: Retaliation Was 'Not Intentional' 

the Albuquerque Journal newspaper. 

Saturday, June 11, 2005 

Albuquerque Journal--> By Adam Rankin 
Journal Staff Writer 

University of California officials say an independent 
investigator found a single instance of retaliation against 
federal whistle-blower Tommy Hook, the Los Alamos National 
Laboratory auditor who was severely beaten at a Santa Fe strip 
club last weekend. 

But UC officials say the retaliation was unintentional. 

"It was determined to be not intentional, and did not 
adversely affect Mr. Hook's employment," said UC spokesman Chris 
Harrington. He would not elaborate on what form the retaliation 
took or who was deemed responsible. 

Harrington also said the university would not release the 
review, which included retaliation complaints from Hook's 
co-worker Chuck Montaño, due to privacy concerns. 

"The whistle-blower policies and procedures are designed to 
ensure the safety, security and privacy of our employees 
throughout the entire process," he explained. 

Hook and Montaño said the UC review was a whitewash of what 
they say was a concerted effort by LANL officials to stifle 
their attempts at reporting a dozen self-assessment reviews 
showing continued financial irregularities at the lab, despite 
public assertions by lab and university officials that such 
issues had been addressed. 

Among the alleged problems uncovered in their reviews are 
nearly $730,000 in shipping charges from March 2000 to February 
2003 that Hook and Montaño say the lab never should have paid. 
They also say LANL may have over-paid its vendors on at least 
1,000 purchases and made improper gifts totalling $180,000 to 
Purdue University that are not allowed under Department of 
Energy's rules. 

LANL officials have said subsequent financial reviews have 
failed to substantiate Hook and Montaño's claims. 

Hook's beating and his status as a whistle-blower made 
national news this week. He has said that his attackers in the 
Cheeks topless bar parking lot told him that he had better keep 
his mouth shut if he knew what was good for him. 

Hook was scheduled to meet with a congressional 
investigator on whistle-blower issues at LANL and to discuss 
anticipated testimony at a congressional hearing later this 
month. 

But Santa Fe police, after a joint investigation with the 
FBI, say Hook's beating had nothing to do with his 
whistle-blower status and started because Hook struck someone 
with his car while leaving the bar's parking lot near closing 
time. 

Both men say the UC investigator did not seek corroborating 
evidence the two were willing to provide to substantiate their 
retaliation claims. 

"I was interviewed once, and that was it," Montaño said. "I 
have binders full of supporting documentation and yet not one 
lick of paper was sought from me by this so-called investigator."

A lawsuit filed by Hook and Montaño in March against the 
university, LANL and several top lab officials over the alleged 
retaliation is still pending. Hook and Montaño were also 
unwilling to release the review due to the pending litigation 
and privacy concerns. 

Hook and Montaño, who is also a Department of Energy 
whistle-blower, said the UC report attributes the unintentional 
retaliation against Hook to a top-level LANL official. They also 
say Hook was offered $15,000 to acknowledge and compensate him 
for the act of unintentional retaliation, a resolution which 
Harrington confirmed. 

"I think basically it was a whitewash, and they just threw 
me some crumbs," Hook said in a recent telephone interview. 

Hook has said he was removed from his position and given a 
job below his experience level in which he was forced to remain 
idle for about five months in retribution for his efforts. 

Harrington would not confirm the identity of the official 
or what, if any, corrective actions were being taken. But 
Harrington argued the university's fact-finding report on the 
retaliation complaints was comprehensive. 

"The investigation was exhaustive and included a review of 
over 8,000 documents, many of them provided by Mr. Hook and Mr. 
Montaño," he said. The investigation included more than 40 
interviews, he said, seeking input on several allegations of 
retaliation over a period of a decade. 

"As far as we know UC has never investigated the 
allegations that Tommy and Chuck made," said Beth Daley, a 
spokeswoman for the Washington, D.C.,-based Project on 
Government Oversight, which represents government 
whistle-blowers. 

"The report is just on retaliation and not the substantive 
issues they are raising," she said. 

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*****************************************************************
 85 ABQjournal: Police Defend Beating Inquiry 

Albuquerque Journal newspaper. 

Saturday, June 11, 2005 

Albuquerque Journal--> Journal Staff Report 

Santa Fe Deputy Police Chief Eric Johnson said Friday that 
police are still "tying up a few loose ends" in the 
investigation of last weekend's beating of Los Alamos National 
Laboratory whistle-blower Tommy Hook. 

Johnson reacted to criticism of the police investigation by 
supporters of Hook who believe he was assaulted in an effort to 
squelch his criticism of the lab. 

"They can speculate on what we've done or what we haven't 
done," Johnson said. "We haven't made public everything that 
we've done in this investigation." 

On Thursday, the Santa Fe police issued a statement saying 
the beating of Hook at the Cheeks topless bar about 2 a.m. 
Sunday— which left Hook with a broken jaw, a herniated disc and 
missing teeth— was unrelated to Hook's status as a federal 
whistle-blower. Hook was scheduled to meet a congressional 
investigator this week. 

The police said Hook was beaten after he backed his car 
into a pedestrian in the Cheeks parking lot and a "verbal 
exchange" with three others escalated into a physical attack. 

Peter Stockton, an investigator with Washington, D.C.-based 
Project on Government Oversight, said Thursday that police 
didn't look for evidence that could link Hook's beating to his 
whistle-blower status and that officers didn't review phone 
records and the backgrounds of Hook's assailants. 

Hook maintains he was lured to Cheeks from his White Rock 
home 35 miles away by a phone call he received about 10:15 p.m. 
Saturday from an unnamed tipster with information about LANL. 
Cheeks employees say he arrived much earlier. 

Santa Fe District Attorney Henry Valdez said Friday: 
"Anybody that's criticizing the investigation, it's premature." 

"Obviously, Mr. Stockton doesn't know what they've done," 
Valdez said of the police. "I don't even know everything they've 
done at this point. They're still investigating." 

The police haven't arrested anyone in the case and have 
turned information from the investigation over to Valdez. 

Johnson added that, at a future date, the results of the 
investigation will become part of the public record, and, "when 
that happens, there are going to be people that are going to be 
surprised at the findings." 

Johnson encouraged anyone with credible information about 
Hook's beating to come forward. 

Hook contends that he was pulled from his car and beaten by 
men who told him to keep his mouth shut and that he believes he 
was almost killed because he was trying to do what was right 
regarding LANL. 

Hook's wife and his lawyer have said Hook told them that 
the caller who asked Hook to meet at Cheeks for an exchange of 
information wanted to use the topless bar for the meeting 
because neither would be recognized there. Hook's wife was in 
Albuquerque on the night of the beating. 

Also Friday, Cheeks lawyer Roger Prucino provided 
additional details of what the bar's employees say Hook did 
during his stay at the club on Saturday night and early Sunday 
before the parking lot beating. 

Prucino said Hook told a waitress who gave him a lap dance 
that he had just won $500 at a casino. 

"I don't think he was really bragging about it but was just 
letting her know he had some cash in his pocket," he said. 

Prucino said he could not say whether Hook intended to say 
he visited the casino earlier Saturday night or whether it was a 
recent night, though he said the waitress' impression was that 
Hook came to Cheeks after visiting a casino. 

Hook has denied getting a lap dance at the club. 

Prucino said Hook bought drinks for himself and two women 
who sat on either side of him at the bar "for a good part of the 
evening." Club employees described the women as "pretty 
attractive" and said that, when they entered the club, they 
walked directly to where Hook was sitting, Prucino said. 

Prucino has said previously that Hook bought a lap dance 
from a waitress for $50 in the Cheeks VIP room for one and a 
half songs. All waitresses dance with their clothes on, Prucino 
said. "It is not even a topless dance," Prucino said. 

Copyright Albuquerque Journal 

Steve@abqjournal.com 
*****************************************************************
 86 ABQJOURNAL: UC Given 8-month Contract Extension To Manage LANL 

the Albuquerque Journal newspaper. 

Saturday, June 11, 2005 

Albuquerque Journal--> 
Associated Press 

LOS ALAMOS — The University of California has been given 
an eight-month contract extension to run Los Alamos National 
Laboratory for the federal government. 

The National Nuclear Security Administration said Friday the 
contract was extended to next May 31 allow more time to pick the 
next lab manager and to give lab workers more time to examine 
their employment options. 

The UC contract was to have expired Sept. 30. 

The NNSA has an option to extend the contract until Sept. 
30, 2006, but NNSA officials do not think that will be 
necessary, said Kevin Roark, a lab spokesman. 

Linton Brooks, the head of the NNSA, told lab employees that 
a decision on a new lab manager will be made in November, and 
the six-month transition to the new contractor will begin Dec. 
1, Roark said. 

The university has run the nuclear weapons lab since the lab 
was founded in 1943. 

A series of fiscal and security lapses at the lab in recent 
years has drawn criticism of the university's performance as lab 
manager. 

The U.S. Department of Energy announced in April 2003 that 
it would seek bids for a new lab manager. The deadline for bids 
is July 19. 

The impact of the potential switch in lab managers on 
employee benefits and pensions has generated concern within the 
lab and among state leaders and the state's congressional 
delegation. 

Rep. Tom Udall, D-N.M., whose district includes the lab, had 
pressed the federal government to extend the UC contract as soon 
as possible to help alleviate employee angst. 

Lab employees will have until May 31 to decide among three 
employment options: 

_To become an employee under the new contractor and roll 
their existing benefits into the new plan. 

_To retire and try to seek employment from the new 
contractor. 

_To freeze their UC benefits and roll their vacation time 
and sick leave into the new plan. 

The university has teamed with Bechtel Corp., Washington 
Group International and BWX Technologies Inc. to try to keep the 
contract. 

Also vying for the contract is Lockheed Martin Corp. which 
is leading a team including the University of Texas System, 
Fluor Corp. and CH2M Hill. 

The Los Alamos lab, with about 8,000 UC employees and 3,000 
contract workers, is one of the nation's three chief 
installations responsible for maintaining the nation's nuclear 
arsenal. 

Copyright Albuquerque Journal 

Steve@abqjournal.com 
*****************************************************************
 87 APP.COM Inside the Oak Ridge plants
        
Asbury Park Press Online

Park Press 06/12/05 		 		 		 

The business end of Oak Ridge — the wartime plants — is not easy 
to explore. But where there's a will, there's sometimes a way.

The Oak Ridge National Laboratory housed in the old X-10 plant, 
offers weekday tours.

X-10 was the prototype for the Manhattan Project's plutonium
processing plant in Hanford, Wash., where controlled chain
reactions produced the plutonium that fueled the second atomic
bomb, Fat Man, dropped on Nagasaki three days after Hiroshima
was bombed.

X-10's original graphite pile that controlled nuclear reactions
now sits alongside some of the world's fastest computers that do
heavy-haul work like climate modeling and nano-scale chemistry.

K-25, where uranium gas was forced through membranes to separate
out the uranium needed for bombs, was closed to the public after
Sept. 11, 2001.

You can't get in, but you can get near. The Secret City
Excursion Train chugs along 14 miles of track through the K-25
compound.

"K-25 was the world's largest building," said Bart Jennings, a
University of Tennessee professor who narrated the 90-minute
journey. "It was a half-mile long and a quarter-mile wide.
Managers used bikes to get around."

The third plant, Y-12, is closed up like a clam. Its 1152
calutrons once produced uranium that was carried by thimblefuls
in briefcases to Los Alamos, N.M., another Manhattan Project
site, where they were used to build the bomb. Today, Y-12 is a
massive national defense facility operated by the U. S.
Department of Energy. The complex of 500 buildings occupies an
area the size of 736 football fields.

Y-12 is the country's storehouse for highly enriched uranium,
like Fort Knox is for gold. It's also where nuclear weapons,
including those recently surrendered by Libya, are dismantled.

Ann Witmer 

  Copyright © 2005 Asbury Park Press. All rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
 88 APP.COM: Oak Ridge, Tenn.
         
Asbury Park Press Online

A one-time secret city welcomes visitors to uncover its story
 Published in the Asbury Park Press 06/12/05 BY ANN WITMER
CORRESPONDENT

  Children learn about atoms in the American Museum of Science
and Energy in Oak Ridge, Tenn.   

"I've seen it, it's coming," muttered John Hendrix, an eccentric 
mystic now regarded as a prophet, as he wandered out of the East 
Tennessee woods in the early 1900s.

"Bear Creek Valley will be filled with great buildings and
factories. They will help toward winning the greatest war that
ever will be. Big engines will dig big ditches and thousands of
people will be running to and fro."

For 40 years, that seemed like malarkey to a lot of people. But
in the fall of 1942, with America at war, 1,000 East Tennessee
families were given two weeks to vacate their land and
bulldozers began clearing 59,000 acres for the Manhattan
Project, a top-secret mission to end World War II.

Overnight, eastern Tennessee, the heartland of Appalachia, was
transformed. Called Oak Ridge, the new city was wedged between
mountain ridges, where the climate was moderate, electricity and
water plentiful, and it wouldn't be noticed. Oak Ridge was a
secret city; it didn't appear on a U.S. map until 1949.

Today, Oak Ridge is sharing an engrossing story of invention,
risk and patriotism. Museums re-create the life and times, tours
roam the streets and railways, and quirky restaurants breathe
new life into 1940s buildings. Everywhere you go, history
whispers in your ear.

Some 80,000 men and women came to Oak Ridge from all over the
country, although they weren't exactly sure what was going on
there.

Three years and $1.1 billion later, they found out. At 11 a.m.
on Aug. 6, 1945, the White House announced that a B-29 bomber,
Enola Gay, had dropped a 9,000-pound bomb called Little Boy over
Hiroshima.

Only then did Oak Ridge residents learn that their work in three
sprawling experimental plants — cryptically named X-10, K-25 and
Y-12 — had produced fuel for an atomic bomb that ended World War
II.

"When we heard about the bombing, we were proud," resident Bill
Wilcox said. "We helped bring an end to that wrenching war."

Wilcox, an engineer, was one of 30,000 men and women who worked
at Y-12, a huge complex of semicircular electromagnetic arcs
called calutrons that whirled uranium at high speeds, separating
the uranium atoms needed for bombs.

Today, Oak Ridge is a prosperous city of 27,000 people. It has
15 parks, a championship rowing lake and is home to
sophisticated technological research.

Out of the past

 Oak Ridge's main streets are named for states (Alabama,
Connecticut, Vermont etc.). Prefab cemesto (cement and asbestos)
houses built for workers in 1943-45, now remodeled and enlarged,
still stand.

Children still frolic in the 1.5-acre spring-fed swimming pool.
Nearby tennis courts were once the community dance floor because
they were the only paved surface in the muddy frontier town.

The Guest House (now the Alexander Inn) sags with decrepitude,
hostage in a dispute between its owner (who is asking $1.3
million for the historic wreck) and the Oak Ridge Heritage and
Preservation Association that wants to restore this endangered
site. Here, scientists, military brass and industrialists
spearheaded the Manhattan Project.

Security was tight

 Other landmarks are gone. Crude hutments that once segregated
black workers from their white counterparts exist only in
black-and-white photos of Ed Westcott. (The town library's Oak
Ridge Room has a well-organized archive of his work.)

Perhaps his most famous photo shows Gen. Leslie Groves,
commander of the Manhattan Project, with eyes fixed on a map of
Japan the day before the surprise attack on Hiroshima.

Relics, photos and videos put Oak Ridge in context in a
fascinating exhibit, "World War II Secret City" at the American
Museum of Science and Energy. A letter from Albert Einstein
urged President Franklin D. Roosevelt to begin a scientific push
to counter intelligence that Germany had split the atom and
might be building a bomb.

"Spotter cards" prepared workers to identify enemy aircraft that
they feared would attack the plants. Men and women who worked at
the K-25 plant pose proudly in front of Sunday Punch, a B-25
plane they bought to support the war effort.

Grady Whitman, a museum volunteer, was a track foreman in Y-12,
where he supervised 50 women who operated the calutrons.

"Security was famously tight," Whitman said, standing beneath a
poster of Uncle Sam holding finger to lips to communicate a
stern "shhhhh."

"You didn't talk about what you did. There were many
counter-intelligence people around and, if you blabbed, you
could end up in the Aleutians," Whitman said.

But now the story can be told. An audio driving tour, on CD,
leads to historic sights.

Jackson Square was the original shopping area for the secret
city. Although it retains its original strip-mall feel, the
wartime movie theater, food store and drug store now sell
handicrafts, gifts and pizza.

Big Ed's Pizza moved into the old drug store 34 years ago. The
place is an institution, crowded and fun to visit.

More upscale is the Bleu Hound Grille that took over an old gas
station. The menu is imaginative. I dug into wild salmon on
grilled eggplant with rice and a curry sauce and lavender lemon
creme brulee.

Pyrotechnics on display

 An enormous stuffed polar bear rears up inside the door of the
Children's Museum of Oak Ridge, housed in the original 1940s
school building.

While the museum doesn't dwell on Oak Ridge's past, an exhibit
focuses on the Manhattan Project and includes a glass case
featuring beautifully stitched Japanese kimonos.

Walking along a fitness trail, I stopped to swing a log on a
rope at the first U.S.-Japanese monument in a Manhattan Project
site. That's how you bong the International Friendship Bell that
hangs in a pagoda near the Oak Ridge Visitors Center. Weighing
more than 4 tons, it was cast by a bell maker in Japan for Oak
Ridge's 50th birthday.

This year, Oak Ridge will observe its 60th anniversary during
its Secret City Festival Friday and Saturday. The annual event
features World War II pyrotechnics, entertainment and a chance
to talk with original Oak Ridgers.

Hal Williams, in his 80s, poured the first yard of concrete in
K-25 where laborers earned $1.37 an hour.

"It felt like Army camp," Williams said. "We had coal stoves,
but we didn't cook. The women cooked and brought it over," he
said recalling life in the hutments, where men and women lived
in separate quarters and no children were allowed.

Wilcox has vivid memories of walking through mud.

"The mud resulted in one nice feature here — boardwalks," he
said. "We wore galoshes and when we got to the plant, we took
off our shoes. At home we did, too — just like the Japanese."

  Copyright © 2005 Asbury Park Press. All rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
 89 Tri-Valley Herald: Lawyer takes hot seat as weapons lab adviser
 
Article Last Updated: 06/11/2005 09:14:47 AM                              
                   
By Ian Hoffman, STAFF WRITER   

For the first time in more than a decade, the University of 
California has looked to private industry to fill one of the most 
powerful positions in the nuclear-weapons labs that UC runs for 
the federal government — the chief lawyer at Lawrence Livermore 
Lab. 

The choice is Harvard-trained Melissa Allain, and when she
starts work in August, she takes a hot seat, with Congress and
worker advocates increasingly critical of how Livermore and the
university handle complaints of whistleblower retaliation and
discrimination. 

If that's not enough, the Energy Department is throwing open the
university's Livermore management contract to challengers for
the first time. 

As lab counsel for Livermore 				 				 					 					 					 				
				 				 					 					 				 and an arm of the university counsel,
Allain will be the highest-ranking African-American woman ever
recruited into the nation's nuclear-weapons labs. Traditionally,
the lab counsel has been one of the most influential voices
inside the weapons labs, in addition to heading a team of 30
in-house lawyers, a third of whom specialize in intellectual
property, such as securing and defending the patents of lab
scientists. 

Allain, 52, has been chief compliance counsel for Tyco Fire
&Safety, focused principally on environment,safety and health
compliance and business ethics, similar to her predecessor, Jan
Tulk, who was an environmental lawyer before serving as
Livermore lab counsel. 				 				 					 					 					 				 				
				 					 					 				 

At Tyco's safety subsidiary in South Florida, which supplies
firefighting, safety and homeland-security gear to the Defense
Department among others, Allain trained and advised managers on
conducting business within law and regulations. 

Worker advocates and lawyers who have represented Livermore
whistleblowers say the lab's approach in the past has been to
offer limited ways to air grievances internally and fight every
prospective claim or lawsuit to the hilt. 

The lab and the university typically do not pay those costs. The
U.S. Department of Energy in recent years has reimbursed more
than 98 percent of legal costs, settlements and adverse
judgments for the University of California and its other 
contractors. 

Critics say workers who have encountered problems with
management faced an opponent with virtually unlimited resources
and ready access to the best defense firms in the country. Even
so, the lab and the university have lost or settled most worker
lawsuits in recent years, with legal bills, judgments and
settlements in just three recent cases expected to reach nearly
$30 million. 

Republicans and Democrats on at least one key House committee
have noted that combination of lost cases and high legal bills
to the federal government. In response, the House version of the
president's energy policy bill would 				 				 					 					 					
				 				 				 					 					 				 force Energy Department
contractors to shoulder their own legal costs from the first
adverse ruling onward. 

Allain says she hasn't been briefed on Livermore's outstanding
lawsuits and can't say whether she would do things differently. 

"I don't have a magic ball to know what the future will bring,"
said Allain. But her 20 years of representing clients on a
variety of issues should serve her well, she said. Allain has
worked for car-retailer AutoNation, minerals and energy firm
Unocal and Los Angeles law firm Parker, Milliken, Clark, O'Hara
&Samuelian. 

Gary Gwilliam, an Oakland-based plaintiff's attorney who has 
worked on a multiple lab worker cases, said the lab needed "new 
blood" in its legal offices. "They need somebody to say, hey, 
business as usual just isn't right," he said. 


Tri-Valley Herald All Rights Reserved
    
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