*****************************************************************
06/27/05 **** RADIATION BULLETIN(RADBULL) **** VOL 13.147
*****************************************************************
RADBULL IS PRODUCED BY THE ABALONE ALLIANCE CLEARINGHOUSE
*****************************************************************
Send News Stories to news@energy-net.org with title on subject
line and first line of body
NUCLEAR POLICY
1 Iran: Mehr: Extremism has no place in next government
2 Guardian Unlimited: Iran's New Leader to Pursue Nuclear Plans
3 US: [NYTr] Bush Plans to Resume Plutonium Production
4 US: Want US to build new nuclear weapons?
5 US: [NukeNet] Alert!--Senate to vote on Energy bill Tuesday: Act
6 US: Deseret News: Bush puts nuke cart before horse
7 US: Guardian Unlimited: Nunn: Terrorists Winning Nuclear Race
NUCLEAR REACTORS
8 US: IPS-English ENERGY-US: Nuclear Industry Poised to Win Big
9 US: NRC: Notice of Availability of Interim Staff Guidance Documents
10 AU ABC: Victorian MP backs nuclear power
11 Taipei Times: US and Europe weigh in on nuclear energy GROWING CONSE
12 canadaeast.com: Ottawa's Lepreau offer just 'weeks' away - MP
13 US: www.delawareonline.com: Nuclear power presents too many long-ter
14 US: NRC: Sunshine Act; Meetings
15 US: NRC: Notice of Consideration of Amendment Request for an Alterna
16 US: NRC: Nuclear Management Company, LLC, Palisades Nuclear Plant; N
17 US: NRC: Notice of Availability of Environmental Assessment and Find
18 Scotsman.com News: Nuclear Power Debate Still Open - Blair
19 Sofia Morning News: Bulgaria Sees Belene N-Plant Bidders
20 Sofia Morning News: Two Firms Bid on Belene Nuke Construction
21 US: Arizona Republic: Toxic or magic?
22 US: Guardian Unlimited: Fire at Fla. Nuke Plant Causes Minor Leak
NUCLEAR SECURITY
NUCLEAR SAFETY
23 [NYTr] German Oncologist Praises Cuba's Nuclear Medicine
24 [du-list] More Evidence Indicts U.S.
25 US: Herald Sun: Deadly fuel for espionage
26 US: LW: Testing for depleted uranium in La. soldiers passes into law
27 US: BostonHerald.com: Feds OK funds for radiation claims
28 [NYTr] Venezuela Dismisses "Jitters" over Its Nuclear Program
NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE
29 Las Vegas SUN: Columnist Jeff German: Hunt only one in GOP with guts
30 US: Berkshire Eagle: Nuclear waste puzzle unsolved
31 US: Salt Lake Tribune: Update: Goshute tribe chair gets 3 years prob
32 US: Salt Lake Tribune: Leon Bear learns his fate today
33 US: Salt Lake Tribune: Huntsman pushes 'variable' flat tax
PEACE
US DEPT. OF ENERGY
34 Tri-Valley Herald: Lab awaits supercomputer
35 California Aggie: Fraudulent purchasing at Los Alamos
36 lamonitor.com: Group renews LANL document retrieval project
37 lamonitor.com: Oak Ridge remembers its role in Manhattan Project
38 ABQjournal: Air, Dirt at LANL Get OK
39 ABQjournal: Lab Visit Invigorates Team Leader for UC
40 Guardian Unlimited: DOE to Resume Production of Plutonium-238
*****************************************************************
*****************************************************************
FULL NEWS STORIES
*****************************************************************
*****************************************************************
1 Iran: Mehr: Extremism has no place in next government
: Ahmadinejad
Ahmadinejad said on Sunday that extremism has no place in a
popular government.
Ahmadinejad told Iranian and foreign reporters at a press
conference that justice, peace, and solidarity would form the
main principles of the next government’s foreign policy.
Asked to clarify Iran’s policy toward the Unites States, he
said, "We are willing to develop relations with all nations
based on justice and mutual respect.
"Our foreign policy on relations with the U.S. has been
announced time and again. Our nation is passing through a period
of self-confidence, progress, and advancement and does not need
U.S. assistance.
"We will consider establishing ties with any country that is not
hostile to the Islamic Republic and the Iranian nation.
"Those willing to establish relations with the Islamic Republic
should announce their decisions, and the system will study their
proposals.
"The fact that the U.S. described the Iranian election as
undemocratic is a viewpoint.
“Everyone has the right to put forward his views, but
statements that are out of touch with reality and are based on
an unfair approach need to be studied.”
In response to a question on the nuclear issue, Ahmadinejad said
the Islamic Republic needs nuclear technology for medical,
scientific, and engineering applications and would continue to
develop its nuclear program.
"It is the right of the Iranian nation to advance in all fields
and to acquire modern technology. Nuclear technology is a result
of the scientific progress of the Iranian youth.”
In response to a question raised by a French reporter on the
Western world’s concerns about alleged human rights violations
in Iran, Ahmadinejad said, “Freedom is the spirit of the
Islamic Revolution, and the greatest gift that God has bestowed
upon mankind.”
He stated that progress and justice can only be attained through
freedom, adding that freedom would expand day by day in the
country.
The president-elect said that religious democracy is based on
continuous public participation and supervision.
“We are concerned about the violation of the rights of
religious and racial minorities in Europe and are ready to study
all global issues through a fair process.”
Expressing concern over state-sponsored terrorism in one part of
the world, he said that the rights of all nations should be
recognized.
Asked about the Iran-European Union nuclear talks, Ahmadinejad
said that Iran would continue the confidence-building talks to
affirm the right of the Iranian nation to peaceful application
of nuclear energy.
Confidence-building should be mutual and the European side is
expected to fulfill its commitments to the talks and follow a
logical approach, he added.
Responding to a question on Iran’s policy toward Islamic and
regional states, Ahmadinejad said, “In our view, the Persian
Gulf is the gulf of friendship and peace, and expanding
relations with neighboring Islamic and Arab countries is a
priority in our foreign policy.”
Asked how he would implement his campaign promises in the social
and economic spheres, the president-elect said, “I will live
up to my pledge to establish justice and will do everything in
my power to implement my plans.”
On the domestic scene, he said government policies would be
based on moderation and all forms of extremism would not only be
avoided, but would also be seriously dealt with.
“In addition, optimal use will be made of all opportunities,
potentials, and qualified people.”
Ahmadinejad stated that in a popular government, national
interests and dignity as well as comprehensive progress will be
taken into consideration.
He added that he would make use of all the positive plans raised
by the seven other presidential candidates in his government.
Elsewhere in his remarks, Ahmadinejad said, “During the ninth
presidential election, the Iranian people proved that they are
capable of determining their own destiny, despite the usual
political divisions, and showed that the election was not a
result of an agreement or negotiation between certain groups.
“Money and wealth found no place in our election, and
worldwide propaganda also failed to influence people’s
decision.
“Elections in Iran are a manifestation of the will of the
Iranian nation.”
Ahmadinejad noted that the Iranian nation has maintained its
independence and dignity throughout history and will play an
even more active role in the international arena in the near
future.
“Undoubtedly, a popular government will be a government of
friendship and moderation, development and solidarity.
“The government belongs to all Iranians and will pursue their
demands,” he vowed.
The 70 million Iranians will be represented in the cabinet, he
said.
The next government will be based on religious democracy, and
this means that the people will participate in its economic,
cultural, and political sectors, he added.
"We have many managers in the executive branch of government who
respect justice. The next government will invite all of them to
work for the people," he said.
HL/HG
© 2003 Mehr News Agency
*****************************************************************
2 Guardian Unlimited: Iran's New Leader to Pursue Nuclear Plans
From the Associated Press
[UP]
Monday June 27, 2005 1:31 PM
AP Photo VAH104
By KATHY GANNON
Associated Press Writer
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - The president-elect of Iran vowed to restart
the nation's controversial nuclear program, saying it was meant
only for peaceful energy purposes. Defense Secretary Donald
Rumsfeld labeled the new ultraconservative leader as ``no friend
of democracy.''
Asked about relations with the United States during his first
news conference since Friday's election, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
said Sunday that Iran ``is taking the path of progress based on
self-reliance. It doesn't need the United States significantly
on this path.''
In a sign of tensions likely ahead, Rumsfeld dismissed the vote
as a ``mock election.''
Ahmadinejad entered the crowded chambers in Iran's municipal
building with little fanfare, maintaining the unassuming style
embraced by the roughly 17 million Iranians who voted him to
power in a landslide victory.
His government's foreign policy would focus on ``peace,
moderation and coexistence,'' he said.
``Moderation will be the policy of (my) popular government.
Extremism will have no place in (my) popular government,'' he
said.
He fielded questions confidently and smiled broadly when asked
by an Iranian female journalist wearing a colorful head scarf
whether he would introduce a strict dress code.
It wasn't his job to decide, he said.
``I am the president. There are people who make those
decisions,'' Ahmadinejad said. He appeared to be referring to
the judiciary and the police, which enforce the law on the dress
code.
In his opening statement, he promised to shun extremism and
cobble together a moderate regime. Yet critics say his election
only consolidated the hard-liners' hold on power, and no
reform-minded people remain in the government.
``He is no friend of democracy,'' Rumsfeld said on ``Fox News
Sunday.'' ``He is a person who is very much supportive of the
current ayatollahs, who are telling the people of that country
how to live their lives, and my guess is over time the young
people and women will find him as well as his masters
unacceptable.''
A key concern for the United States is Iran's 20-year-old
nuclear program, revealed in 2002.
The United States alleges the program is aimed at building
atomic weapons. Iran insists it is only interested in generating
electricity. Uranium enriched to low levels has energy uses,
while highly enriched uranium can be used in bombs.
Iran suspended all uranium enrichment-related activities in
November to avoid possible sanctions from the U.N. Security
Council, but it said all along the suspension was temporary.
France, Britain and Germany have offered economic incentives in
hopes of persuading Iran to permanently halt enrichment.
``We need the peaceful nuclear technology for energy, medical
and agricultural purposes and our scientific progress. We will
continue this,'' Ahmadinejad said.
He said Iran's decision would not change, but he did not say
when the resumption would begin.
``This is the final path we have taken,'' he said.
Concerning Iran's negotiations with France, Britain and Germany,
Ahmadinejad said he was waiting for specific offers to break the
stalemate.
``We will continue talks with Europeans while preserving our
national interests and insistence on the right of the Iranian
nation to use nuclear energy,'' he said.
On Monday, European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana
said he saw no immediate reason to change policy on Iran
following Ahmadinejad's election, adding that nuclear talks with
Tehran will continue.
``We don't have any reason to change at this time,'' Solana
said.
Officials at the EU head office and Solana also demanded Iran
address claims of voter irregularities in the presidential vote.
``I have some doubts about ... the manner in which the election
has taken place,'' Solana said.
Western leaders have worried that relations with Iran may become
increasingly troublesome with Ahmadinejad as president.
As Tehran mayor, he also served as managing director of a
newspaper affiliated with the Tehran municipality. He quickly
replaced journalists who defended pro-democracy reforms with
conservative writers.
He also replaced most district mayors considered pro-reform.
``We didn't have a revolution to have a democracy,'' he is
widely quoted as saying, referring to the 1979 Islamic
Revolution.
A former Revolutionary Guard commander, Ahmadinejad resurrected
platitudes popular in the movement's early days.
``Iran can accomplish anything. Iranians have everything they
need themselves to accomplish everything,'' he said Sunday.
His comments overlooked the fact that Iran's economy is
staggering under the weight of high unemployment, double-digit
inflation and interest rates of 25 percent to 30 percent on
personal loans.
He also responded harshly to comments in Sunday's Rome daily La
Repubblica, where European Union Justice Commissioner Franco
Frattini was quoted as saying: ``We are waiting for clear words
on human rights and the nuclear issue from the new president.
But if the responses are negative, the European Union can't but
freeze the dialogue with Iran.''
Ahmadinejad said the European Union ``should come down from its
ivory tower and understand that they cannot talk to the Iranian
nation in this way.''
Ahmadinejad said he would seek to improve relations with other
countries and ``pay attention to improving relations with any
country that doesn't seek hostilities against Iran.''
Guardian Unlimited Guardian Newspapers Limited 2005
*****************************************************************
3 [NYTr] Bush Plans to Resume Plutonium Production
Date: Mon, 27 Jun 2005 14:50:25 -0500 (CDT)
Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit
[... But Iran and Venezuela shouldn't have nuclear programs.]
The New York Times - June 27, 2005
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/27/politics/27nuke.html
U.S. Has Plans to Again Make Own Plutonium
By WILLIAM J. BROAD
The Bush administration is planning the government's first production of
plutonium 238 since the cold war, stirring debate over the risks and
benefits of the deadly material. The substance, valued as a power source,
is so radioactive that a speck can cause cancer.
Federal officials say the program would produce a total of 330 pounds over
30 years at the Idaho National Laboratory, a sprawling site outside Idaho
Falls some 100 miles to the west and upwind of Grand Teton National Park in
Wyoming. Officials say the program could cost $1.5 billion and generate more
than 50,000 drums of hazardous and radioactive waste.
Project managers say that most if not all of the new plutonium is intended
for secret missions and they declined to divulge any details. But in the
past, it has powered espionage devices.
"The real reason we're starting production is for national security,"
Timothy A. Frazier, head of radioisotope power systems at the Energy
Department, said in a recent interview.
He vigorously denied that any of the classified missions would involve
nuclear arms, satellites or weapons in space.
The laboratory is a source of pride and employment for many residents in the
Idaho Falls area. But the secrecy is adding to unease in Wyoming, where
environmentalists are scrutinizing the production plan - made public late
Friday - and considering whether to fight it.
They say the production effort is a potential threat to nearby ecosystems,
including Yellowstone National Park, Grand Teton National Park and the area
around Jackson Hole, famous for its billionaires, celebrities and weekend
cowboys, including Vice President Dick Cheney.
"It's completely wrapped in the flag," said Mary Woollen-Mitchell, executive
director of Keep Yellowstone Nuclear Free, a group based in Jackson Hole.
"They absolutely won't let on" about the missions.
"People are starting to pay attention," she said of the production plan. "On
the street, just picking up my kids at school, they're getting keyed up that
something is in the works."
Plutonium 238 has no central role in nuclear arms. Instead, it is valued for
its steady heat, which can be turned into electricity. Nuclear batteries
made of it are best known for powering spacecraft that go where sunlight is
too dim to energize solar cells. For instance, they now power the Cassini
probe exploring Saturn and its moons.
Federal and private experts unconnected to the project said the new
plutonium would probably power devices for conducting espionage on land and
under the sea. Even if no formal plans now exist to use the plutonium in
space for military purposes, these experts said that the material could be
used by the military to power compact spy satellites that would be hard for
adversaries to track, evade or destroy.
"It's going to be a tough world in the next one or two decades, and this may
be needed," said a senior federal scientist who helps the military plan
space missions and spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the
possibility that he would contradict federal policies. "Technologically, it
makes sense."
Early in the nuclear era, the government became fascinated by plutonium 238
and used it regularly to make nuclear batteries that worked for years or
decades. Scores of them powered satellites, planetary probes and spy
devices, at times with disastrous results.
In 1964, a rocket failure led to the destruction of a navigation satellite
powered by plutonium 238, spreading radioactivity around the globe and
starting a debate over the event's health effects.
In 1965, high in the Himalayas, an intelligence team caught in a blizzard
lost a plutonium-powered device meant to spy on China. And in 1968, an
errant weather satellite crashed into the Pacific, but federal teams managed
to recover its plutonium battery intact from the Santa Barbara Channel, off
California.
Such accidents cooled enthusiasm for the batteries. But federal agencies
continued to use them for a more limited range of missions, including those
involving deep-space probes and top-secret devices for tapping undersea
cables.
In 1997, when the National Aeronautics and Space Administration prepared to
launch its Cassini probe of Saturn, hundreds of protesters converged on its
Florida spaceport, arguing that an accident could rupture the craft's
nuclear batteries and condemn thousands of people to death by cancer.
Plutonium 238 is hundreds of times more radioactive than the kind of
plutonium used in nuclear arms, plutonium 239. Medical experts agree that
inhaling even a speck poses a serious risk of lung cancer.
But federal experts say that the newest versions of the nuclear batteries
are made to withstand rupture into tiny particles and that the risk of human
exposure is extraordinarily low.
Today, the United States makes no plutonium 238 and instead relies on aging
stockpiles or imports from Russia. By agreement with the Russians, it cannot
use the imported material - some 35 pounds since the end of the cold war -
for military purposes.
With its domestic stockpile running low, Washington now wants to resume
production. Though it last made plutonium 238 in the 1980's at the
government's Savannah River plant in South Carolina, it now wants to move
such work to the Idaho National Laboratory and consolidate all the nation's
plutonium 238 activities there, including efforts now at the Los Alamos
National Laboratory in New Mexico and Oak Ridge National Laboratory in
Tennessee.
By centralizing everything in Idaho, the Energy Department hopes to increase
security and reduce the risks involved in transporting the radioactive
material over highways.
Late Friday, the department posted a 500-page draft environmental impact
statement on the plan at www.consolidationeis.doe.gov. The public has 60
days to respond.
Mr. Frazier said the department planned to weigh public reaction and
complete the regulatory process by late this year, and to finish the plan
early in 2006. The president would then submit it to Congress for approval,
he said. The work requires no international assent.
The Idaho National Laboratory, founded in 1949 for atomic research,
stretches across 890 square miles of southeastern Idaho. The Big Lost River
wanders its length. The site is dotted with 450 buildings and 52 reactors -
more than at any other place - most of them shut down. It has long wrestled
with polluted areas and recently sought to set new standards in
environmental restoration.
New plutonium facilities there would take five years to build and cost about
$250 million, Mr. Frazier said. The operations budget would run to some $40
million annually over 30 years, he said, for a total cost of nearly $1.5
billion.
An existing reactor there would make the plutonium. Mr. Frazier said the
goal was to start production by 2012 and have the first plutonium available
by 2013. When possible, Mr. Frazier said, the plutonium would be used not
only for national security but also for deep-space missions, reducing
dependence on Russian supplies.
Since late last year, the Energy Department has tried to reassure citizens
living around the proposed manufacturing site of the plan's necessity and
safety.
But political activists in Wyoming have expressed frustration at what they
call bureaucratic evasiveness regarding serious matters. "It's the nastiest
of the nasty," Ms. Woollen-Mitchell said of plutonium 238.
Early this year, she succeeded in learning some preliminary details of the
plan from the Energy Department. Mr. Frazier provided her with a document
that showed that production over 30 years would produce 51,590 drums of
hazardous and radioactive waste.
He also referred to the continuing drain on the government's national
security stockpile, saying the known missions by the end of this decade
would require 55 pounds of plutonium for 10 to 15 power systems. Those uses,
he said, would leave virtually no plutonium for future classified missions.
Ms. Woollen-Mitchell was unswayed. In January she told the Energy Department
that so much information about the plan remained hidden that it had "given
us serious pause."
The Energy Department is courting Keep Yellowstone Nuclear Free because it
has flexed its political muscle before. Starting in late 1999, financed by
wealthy Jackson Hole residents like Harrison Ford, it fought to stop the
Idaho lab from burning plutonium-contaminated waste in an incinerator and
forced the lab to investigate alternatives.
In the recent interview, Mr. Frazier said he planned to talk to the group on
Tuesday and expressed hope of winning people over.
"I don't know that I'll be able to make them perfectly comfortable," he
said, "but they know that the department is willing to listen and talk and
take their comments into consideration."
"We have a good case," Mr. Frazier added, saying the department could show
that the Idaho plan "can be done safely with very minimal environmental
impacts."
Copyright 2005 The New York Times
*
================================================================
.NY Transfer News Collective * A Service of Blythe Systems
. Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us .
.339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012 http://www.blythe.org
.List Archives: https://olm.blythe-systems.com/pipermail/nytr/
.Subscribe: https://olm.blythe-systems.com/mailman/listinfo/nytr
================================================================
*****************************************************************
4 Want US to build new nuclear weapons?
Date: Mon, 27 Jun 2005 14:36:14 -0500 (CDT)
What Part of "No New Nukes" Don't They Understand?
The Bush Administration just doesn't get it.
Last year, TrueMajority members asked Congress to shut down the
plan to build a new nuclear weapon, the pleasantly named "bunker
buster."[1] So ludicrous was the president's idea that the
Republican-led Congress then eliminated all the money for new
nukes. [2] Now Bush is back, asking for money to cook up new
nuclear weapons -- even as polling makes clear that the American
people want significant reductions in our 10,000-weapon nuclear
arsenal. [3]
This week, the Senate will consider spending taxpayer dollars to
design yet another generation of nuclear bombs.
If you'd like to send a free message to your senators, just
click "reply" and "send" if you are a TrueMajority member (text
of the message below). If you'd like to edit the message we'll
send to your senator, or if you aren't yet a TrueMajority
member, go to
http://action.truemajority.org/campaign/bunkerbuster . And
forward this to others so they, too, can help make the world a
safer place.
Monitoring Washington for you,
Darcy Scott Martin
P.S. If you haven't checked out Ben's little movie on what
America's nuclear weapons arsenal is all about before, click
here.
1) For more on the "bunker buster" from our friends at Women's
Action for New Directions, click
www.wand.org/issuesact/bunkerbusterinfo.htm .
2) "Bush Denied Nuclear Bunker-Buster Funds," ABC News, Nov.
2004,
http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200411/s1249981.htm
3) We commissioned a poll in March by the Carnegie
Foundation-based PIPA, which showed that Americans want to
switch federal investments from nuclear weapons to pressing
human needs at home and around the world. Click here to see what
the public wants:
http://pipa.org/OnlineReports/budget/030705/Press03_07_05.pdf .
===============================================================
Here's the letter we'll send to your senators. If you'd like to
customize your own letter, click here:
Dear [your Senator's name here]:
I was relieved when Congress eliminated funding for the nuclear
bunker buster last year. Please take that position again.
TrueMajority members believe that building new nuclear weapons
moves us away from our goal of reducing our nuclear arsenal and
signals other countries that America is working on new ways to
use nuclear weapons. This will make the world a more dangerous,
not safer, place.
Sincerely,
[your name here]
*****************************************************************
5 [NukeNet] Alert!--Senate to vote on Energy bill Tuesday: Act
Date: Mon, 27 Jun 2005 14:50:10 -0700
NukeNet Anti-Nuclear Network (nukenet@energyjustice.net)
Content-class: urn:content-classes:message
Content-Type: multipart/alternative;
boundary="----_=_NextPart_001_01C57B38.ACE5EFE4"
ALERT
vote on energy bill tuesday, june 28, 2005 at 9:45 AM.
call your senators (AGAIN) and tell them to vote against subsidies and tax
breaks for nuclear power.
WHATS HAPPENED SO FAR: The U.S. Senate is finishing floor debate on the
National Energy Policy. The bill has an anemic renewable portfolio
standard that is not worth the subsidy and tax-break trade-offs within the
rest of the bill. Even this tepid renewable energy provision is likely to
be stripped away later in the conference committee action to reconcile the
House version of the bill with that from the Senate (the House version has
no RPS). As it stands, the Senate version gives nuclear power 10 billion
dollars in tax breaks, incentives and subsidies.
WHAT YOU CAN DO:
- Call your Senators, even if you have called them before, and tell them:
Vote NOon S.-10
No Subsidies for Nuclear Power, regardless of which amendment it
comes in; and regardless of inclusion of an RPS provision
Capitol Switchboard is 202-224-3121. Two working toll-free numbers are:
1-888-355-3588 or 1-877-762-8762.
- Get your friends to call. We need to pressure them to do the right thing.
- Then, you can send an e-mail to your Senators by going to
http://www.nukeretro.com. Enjoy the Mark Fiore
animation, and then click on the link to the action page.
- Finally, if you havent yet signed the Petition for a Sustainable Energy
Future, please do so now, at http://www.nirs.org and
forward it to your friends too.
_______________________________________________________________________
Subscribe/Unsubscribe Here: http://www.energyjustice.net/nukenet/
Change your settings or access the archives at:
http://energyjustice.net/mailman/listinfo/nukenet_energyjustice.net
*****************************************************************
6 Deseret News: Bush puts nuke cart before horse
[deseretnews.com]
Monday, June 27, 2005
Deseret Morning News editorial
After highly publicized crises at Chernobyl in 1986 and Three
Mile Island in 1979, Americans were, for many years, in no mood
to entertain the wide-scale proliferation of nuclear power
plants.
Amid growing concerns about finite fossil fuel resources,
crude oil prices that have topped $60 a barrel and the political
implications of meeting the nation's energy needs, many
Americans today concede that other options must be explored.
President Bush says nuclear power needs to play a far bigger
role in America's future. He has asked Congress to include
incentives in the Energy Bill to jump start construction of
nuclear power plants. Final passage of the bill could come early
this week.
Bush and other advocates of nuclear power say technology
has significantly reduced the risks of nuclear power generation.
Nuclear power plants produce no emissions that could worsen
global warming and they operate efficiently. However, they
produce waste that remains lethally radioactive for centuries.
Before Bush takes the country down this road, his
administration and Congress have to deal with the issue of
nuclear waste storage. The best option for now is to store
it where it is produced. Yucca Mountain's planned repository
remains an option, but its storage capacity is finite. Over the
long term, the wisest course may be recycling spent fuel rods.
Even then, there is a waste issue.
Spent nuclear waste is, obviously, a big concern for
Utahns, considering how a proposal to site an above-ground
nuclear waste storage facility in Tooele County is winding its
way through federal regulatory processes. Absent a legislative
solution, the Private Fuel Storage proposal may very well become
a reality.
PFS, a consortium of nuclear power concerns, aims to
establish a temporary nuclear waste storage facility on lands
owned by the Skull Valley band of the Goshute tribe. With Yucca
Mountain mired in political and scientific quagmires, there is a
growing concern that a "temporary" storage facility in Utah
could readily become a permanent fixture. Any talk about
creating yet more waste is an obvious concern for Utahns.
Nuclear power plants wouldn't replace traditional power
plants overnight. They are costly to build and they present
different security issues than coal- or gas-fired power plants.
Obviously, the United States needs to diversify its
energy production portfolio. But the Bush administration must
get a handle on the nuclear waste issue before moving ahead with
expansion of this form of energy production.
2005 Deseret News Publishing Company
*****************************************************************
7 Guardian Unlimited: Nunn: Terrorists Winning Nuclear Race
From the Associated Press
[UP]
Monday June 27, 2005 10:16 PM
AP Photo WXS610
By JEFFREY McMURRAY
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) - The government is losing the battle to keep
the world's most dangerous weapons away from the world's most
dangerous terrorists, largely because of a failure to monitor
nuclear materials at the source, former Sen. Sam Nunn said
Monday.
``We are in a race between cooperation and catastrophe, and the
threat is outrunning our response,'' said Nunn, a former Armed
Services chairman who now leads the Nuclear Threat Initiative, a
group that promotes nonproliferation issues.
Nunn's comments came as part of a public discussion following
the recommendations made a year ago by an independent commission
that investigated the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
Although the government has enacted about half the
recommendations - including creation of a national intelligence
director, Nunn said it had largely ignored those concerning the
need to find, catalog and destroy plutonium and uranium.
``Cradle-to-grave'' monitoring of these materials is perhaps the
most critical component of the war on terror, he said.
Part of the difficulty, Nunn said, is the effort requires broad
international support - particularly from Russia, where hundreds
of tons of loose nuclear material reportedly sit unprotected.
President Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin have agreed
in principle to work together on harnessing these materials, but
Nunn said the negotiations have been scuttled by far lesser
concerns, such as deciding who would be liable should something
go wrong.
There is no greater international threat than a weapon of mass
destruction falling into the hands of terrorists, Nunn said, and
it would be practically impossible to avert an attack once that
happened.
Former Indiana Rep. Tim Roemer, who was a member of the 9/11
Commission, moderated the discussion and agreed the Bush
administration and Congress had done virtually nothing since
last July to curb nuclear proliferation.
``The terrorists keep on expediting their timetable and putting
more urgency into it, but we seem to be getting more complacent
and skating on thinner ice,'' Roemer said.
---
On the Net:
Nuclear Threat Initiative: http://www.nti.org/
Guardian Unlimited Guardian Newspapers Limited 2005
*****************************************************************
8 IPS-English ENERGY-US: Nuclear Industry Poised to Win Big
Date: Mon, 27 Jun 2005 18:24:30 -0700
ROMAIPS NA EN HE IP
ENERGY-US: Nuclear Industry Poised to Win Big
Emad Mekay
WASHINGTON, Jun 27 (IPS) - Incentives for nuclear energy in a new U.S.
energy bill have come under attack from environmentalists and consumer
groups who say the legislation will make the United States reliant on
expensive and dangerous commercial nuclear plants.
The nuclear energy industry counters that building a new generation of
commercial nuclear plants is one of the main safe and clean methods the
United States can use to wean itself from Arab oil and enhance national
security.
The U.S. Congress is expected to pass the sweeping bill on Tuesday, and has
so far been leaning toward supporting a revived nuclear future.
The House of Representatives passed its own version of the energy
legislation in April, including 6.1 billion dollars in subsidies and tax
breaks for the nuclear industry, among other incentives. The Senate version
of the energy bill includes 4.3 billion dollars in subsidies.
The two bills have to be reconciled and the U.S. president has to sign it
before it becomes law.
Nuclear energy incentives are very important (in the bill), said Michael
Mariotte, of the Nuclear Information and Resource Service (NIRS), a group
that opposes new plant construction.
In terms of dollars they are probably the single largest part of the bill
If the bill is enacted as it currently stands, we are looking at maybe 10
billion dollars in taxpayer subsidies to the nuclear industry. And that is
a huge amount of money.
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has estimated that the energy bill
could cost 35.9 billion dollars over five years.
U.S. nuclear plants, which use an enriched form of uranium as fuel, already
generate 20 percent of U.S. electricity, and supply the largest percentage
of electricity in seven states.
The stated goal of the bill is to end U.S. reliance on Mideast oil, and
nuclear energy has received strong backing in the bill from the
Congressional leadership. Plans to develop the new commercial nuclear
generators have been heartily welcomed by the White House, which is
increasingly worried about what officials say is the link between oil and
national security.
The energy bill will also help us expand our use of the one energy source
that is completely domestic, plentiful in quantity, environmentally
friendly, and able to generate massive amounts of electricity, and that's
nuclear power, Pres. George W. Bush said on Jun. 22 in a speech at the
Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant in Maryland.
It is time for this country to start building nuclear power plants again,
Bush said.
But environmentalists, consumer, and safe energy groups say the bill
ignores safety and environmental priorities.
Anyone who thinks nuclear power is a silver bullet is really just passing
the buck to future generations, said Carl Pope, executive director of the
environmentalist group Sierra Club.
The Bush administration and its allies in Congress have painted a glowing
picture of nuclear power to justify billions of dollars in new taxpayer
subsidies for the industry, he said.
Environmentalists say that nuclear power poses a major security risk and
generates radioactive waste that cannot be stored safely over the long term.
Not only is nuclear energy dangerous, it is prohibitively expensive, said
Pope. The huge safety risks associated with nuclear facilities make them
impossible to insure, which is why the industry wants taxpayers to pay all
liability costs.
Sierra Club says that radioactive waste needs to be secured and stored for
10,000 years.
Last week, some 300 international and national environmental and consumer
groups rejected the argument that nuclear power can solve the problems of
rising oil consumption and carbon dioxide emissions in the United States
since it does not address vehicle fuel efficiency.
The groups said they favoured energy efficiency measures and alternative
power sources like wind, solar and geothermal energy.
Global warming is the most serious environmental problem facing us today
and we should aggressively increase energy efficiency and renewable energy
to reduce carbon dioxide pollution, said Anna Aurilio of the U.S. Public
Interest Research Group.
Nuclear power has long been viewed as uneconomical and unsafe, especially
after the Chernobyl disaster in the former Soviet Union and the Three Mile
Island accident in Pennsylvania in 1979.
The Pennsylvania accident involved a reactor that suddenly overheated,
releasing radioactive gases and forcing thousands of residents to flee to
emergency shelters. It was the worst nuclear accident in U.S. history.
As a result, no new reactors have been built in the United States for 30 years.
But the nuclear energy industry has brushed aside safety concerns as
unfounded, arguing that an emissions-free energy source like nuclear power
remains a powerful way out for an increasingly oil-thirsty nation and a
precarious international situation.
I think what you are hearing is really a mixture of lies and hypocrisy
from those who want to criticise but do not want to offer any kind of
realistic solution to our nation's pressing electricity and environmental
needs, said Steve Kerekes, spokesperson for the Nuclear Energy Institute
(NEI), a powerful trade group for nuclear utilities based in Washington.
NEI says that the United States cannot meet future energy demands with even
the most optimistic conservation measures and all the wind, solar,
geothermal and hydropower the country can support.
Investment in new nuclear is a must to meet these demands while protecting
our environment, the industry says.
*****
+Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) (http://www.nei.org/)
+Sierra Club (http://www.sierraclub.org/)
+NIRS (http://www.nirs.org/press/index.htm)
(END/IPS/NA/EN/HE/IP/EM/KS/05)
= 06280023 ORP002
NNNN
*****************************************************************
9 NRC: Notice of Availability of Interim Staff Guidance Documents for
FR Doc 05-12639
[Federal Register: June 27, 2005 (Volume 70, Number 122)]
[Notices] [Page 36969] From the Federal Register Online via GPO
Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr27jn05-70]
Fuel Cycle Facilities AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Notice of availability.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Wilkins Smith, Project Manager,
Technical Support Group, Division of Fuel Cycle Safety and
Safeguards, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards,
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20005-0001.
Telephone: (301) 415- 5788; fax number: (301) 415-5370; e-mail:
wrs@nrc.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: I. Introduction The Nuclear Regulatory
Commission (NRC) is preparing and issuing Interim Staff Guidance
(ISG) documents for fuel cycle facilities. These ISG documents
provide clarifying guidance to the NRC staff when reviewing
licensee integrated safety analyses, license applications or
amendment requests or other related licensing activities for fuel
cycle facilities under Subpart H of 10 CFR Part 70. FCSS-ISG-01,
-04, and -09 have been issued and are provided for information.
II. Summary The purpose of this notice is to provide notice to
the public of the issuance of Interim Staff Guidance documents
for fuel cycle facilities. FCSS-ISG-01, Revision 0, provides
guidance to NRC staff relative to methods for qualitative
evaluation of likelihood in the context of a review of a license
application or amendment request under 10 CFR Part 70, Subpart H.
FCSS-ISG-01, Revision 0, has been approved and issued after a
general revision based on NRC staff and public comments on the
initial draft. FCSS-ISG-04, Revision 0 has been approved and
issued and provides guidance relative to baseline design criteria
for new facilities and new processes at existing facilities.
FCSS-ISG-09, Revision 0, has been approved and issued and
provides guidance relative to initiating event frequencies for
integrated safety assessments.
III. Further Information Documents related to this action are
available electronically at the NRC's Electronic Reading Room at
http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. From this site, you can
access the NRC's Agencywide Document Access and Management System
(ADAMS), which provides text and image files of NRC's public
documents. The ADAMS accession numbers for the documents related
to this notice are provided in the following table. If you do not
have access to ADAMS or if there are problems in accessing the
documents located in ADAMS, contact the NRC Public Document Room
(PDR) Reference staff at 1-800-397-4209, 301-415-4737, or by
e-mail to pdr@nrc.gov.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
-------
ADAMS Interim staff guidance accession No.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
------- FCSS Interim Staff Guidance-01, Revision 0..............
ML051520236 FCSS Interim Staff Guidance-04, Revision
0.............. ML051520313 FCSS Interim Staff Guidance-09,
Revision 0.............. ML051520323
-----------------------------------------------------------------
------- These documents may also be viewed electronically on the
public computers located at the NRC's PDR, O 1 F21, One White
Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD 20852. The PDR
reproduction contractor will copy documents for a fee. Comments
on these documents may be forwarded to Wilkins Smith, Project
Manager, Technical Support Group, Division of Fuel Cycle Safety
and Safeguards, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards,
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20005-0001.
Comments can also be submitted by telephone, fax, or e-mail which
are as follows: Telephone: (301) 415-5788; fax number: (301)
415-5370; e-mail: wrs@nrc.gov. Dated at Rockville, Maryland this
9th day of June, 2005. For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Melanie A. Galloway, Chief, Technical Support Group, Division of
Fuel Cycle Safety and Safeguards, Office of Nuclear Material
Safety and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. 05-12639 Filed 6-24-05; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590-01-P
*****************************************************************
10 AU ABC: Victorian MP backs nuclear power
Australian Broadcasting Corp
Monday, 27 June 2005. 15:00 (AEST)Monday, 27 June 2005. 15:00
The Member for Gippsland Province and Legislative Council
Leader of the Nationals, Peter Hall, is calling on the Federal
Government to look at nuclear power to meet future energy
demands.
Mr Hall has returned from an energy conference in Denmark.
He says by 2030 the world's carbon dioxide emissions from energy
production will increase by 60 per cent.
Mr Hall says nuclear power is safe and a good way to tackle
global concerns about greenhouse gasses.
But he says the Government's reliance on brown coal is purely a
political decision.
"There is...not a great deal of active research pursuing
nuclear, it's there, it's available, it's an environmentally
friendly way of doing it, but it's purely a political decision
as to whether governments wish to employ that method or not," he
said.
*****************************************************************
11 Taipei Times: US and Europe weigh in on nuclear energy GROWING CONSENSUS?
http://www.taipeitimes.com
Mon, Jun 27, 2005 News Editorials e-Industry
With an upsurge in world oil prices, leaders in the US and UK
are pressing for more dependence on `clean and cheap' nuclear
power. But a safe way to dispose of nuclear waste has not been
resolved, and accidents are always possible
BLOOMBERG
Nuclear power plants, shunned since the meltdown at Three Mile
Island and the disaster at Chernobyl, may make a comeback in
Europe and the US as companies and governments try to reduce
record energy costs and pollution.
Finland is building the first nuclear plant in Europe approved
since 1986, and France plans a new US$3.6 billion reactor.
NuStart LLC, a group of utilities including New Orleans-based
Entergy Corp and Constellation Energy Group, last month said it
expects to select two sites by October for the first US nuclear
power stations in 30 years.
More than US$200 billion will be spent on nuclear power by 2030,
according to the Paris-based International Energy Agency, an
adviser to 26 of the world's largest energy users. A surge in oil
to a record above US$59 a barrel and concern that the carbon
dioxide released by burning fossil fuels leads to global warming
are driving the revival.
US President George W. Bush in April said he wants to expedite
the licensing of new reactors. UK Prime Minister Tony Blair may
decide next year whether to replace the nation's aging nuclear
plants. Even Ukraine, where the 1986 Chernobyl blast killed 31,
the world's worst nuclear disaster to date, sees nuclear energy
as a way to break a reliance on Russia for oil.
The primary reactor of Taiwan's Nuclear Power Plant No. 4 under
construction. A US scholar suggested that the Taiwan Power Co
(Taipower) should make this power plant a thermal rather than a
nuclear one. Taipower officials responded that the suggestion is
technically feasible, but other issues such as nuclear waste
disposal should also be taken into consideration. PHOTO: HUANG
LI-HSIANG, TAIPEI TIMES
"Since Ukraine has uranium and zirconium fields, we should be
concentrating on developing nuclear energy domestically," Prime
Minister Yulia Timoshenko said last week in Kiev.
Globally, there are 440 nuclear power plants, and 24 are under
construction, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency
in Vienna. Any new power plants need government approvals, and in
some countries, such as Switzerland, voter referendums can block
such plans. In Taiwan, a US$7 billion reactor now being built and
planned to start next year may not be switched on, should public
concern about the project's safety persist, Minister of Economic
Affairs Ho Mei-yueh () said on June 20.
Investors are betting on nuclear. Uranium prices have jumped 62
percent in the past year, partly driven by hedge fund purchases
in a bet on growth in atomic energy, said Gerald Grandey, chief
executive of Saskatoon, Canada-based Cameco Corp, the world's
biggest uranium producer, in Vienna this week.
The price of uranium, used to fuel nuclear reactors, rose to
US$29 per pound this month from US$17.90 a year ago, according to
the Metal Bulletin's Uranium Nuexco Restricted Post Price.
`Dirty and Dangerous'
Companies that would benefit from a new round of construction
include General Electric Co, Munich-based Siemens AG and Areva SA
of France, which build the reactors, and Essen, Germany-based RWE
AG and Dusseldorf-based E.ON AG, which operate nuclear plants
that have to close under current plans.
In Western Europe and the US, approvals ground to a halt after
the Chernobyl explosion in Ukraine sent radiation as far away as
Sweden. Death rates among the more than half a million workers
who participated in the cleanup operation soared, and thyroid
cancer rates in Gomel, Belarus, increased 22-fold from 1986
through 1990.
The Three Mile Island meltdown in Middletown, Pennsylvania, in
1979 was the most serious US nuclear incident. The accident
caused "negligible" harm to people and the environment but led to
"fear and mistrust" of the industry and the government, according
to a US Nuclear Regulatory Commission fact sheet.
Environmentalists including Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth
oppose nuclear energy for being "dirty and dangerous." Nuclear
waste "has no solution" and will "threaten ourselves and future
generations for millions of years into the future. It carries
with it the inherent risk of a catastrophic nuclear accident,
spreading radioactive contamination far and wide. It routinely
discharges nuclear waste into the environment, threatening the
health of those in the vicinity."
Greenpeace also says on its Web site that "money spent on
subsidizing nuclear stations will suppress the emergence of new,
clean renewable technologies."
Radioactive Waste
The single biggest issue is storage of nuclear waste, according
to the International Energy Agency. Nuclear stations have to
store the spent uranium and plutonium fuels under water for
months because they are radioactive. Any spillage of the waste
could lead to cancer if ingested by humans, according to
Greenpeace. The US and the UK are still deliberating how to
dispose of nuclear waste.
Asian countries including China, India, South Korea and Japan are
leading the global nuclear construction program, using technology
supplied by Areva and GE, as well as Westinghouse, a unit of
British Nuclear Fuels, owned by the UK government.
The French reactor is being planned by Electricite de France,
Europe's largest utility, and Enel SpA in Rome. The Finnish
plant's investors include Espoo, Finland-based Fortum Oyj. Suez
SA of France and E.ON are also considering joining EDF.
In the US, Bush called for more reactors.
"There is a growing consensus that more nuclear power will lead
to a cleaner, safer nation," Bush said on June 22 at the Calvert
Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant, owned by Constellation Energy Group.
"It is time for this country to start building nuclear power
plants again."
The Tennessee Valley Authority, the largest public power company
in the US, plans to restart its 1,200-megawatt Browns Ferry 1
reactor by 2007, 22 years after it was shut down, said Nils Diaz,
chairman of the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
The authority idled the reactor in northern Alabama in 1985
because its physical layout didn't match architectural drawings.
Restarting Browns Ferry 1 will cost about US$1.8 billion. New
plants may be built within six years, Senate Energy Committee
Chairman Pete Domenici, a New Mexico Republican, said in April.
Nuclear plants may contribute about 200 gigawatts of the 4,800
gigawatts of new capacity needed until 2030, according to the
IEA. European countries will add more than 40 gigawatts of
nuclear capacity by 2030, the IEA said.
Nuclear capacity will increase in Asia to 8 percent of the
region's total in 10 years, from 5 percent now. China, the
world's second-largest electricity consumer after the US, plans
to add about 30 gigawatts of nuclear generation by 2030, while
Russia could add another 22 gigawatts. Korea may add 17 gigawatts
and Japan about 14 gigawatts, according to the IEA.
The new nuclear stations and an extended life of the present
ones will offset the closure of aging plants to keep the share of
nuclear energy in the global power capacity mix at 12 percent in
a decade, according to estimates from PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Germany, whose parliament voted to shut down its nuclear plants
in 2001, may allow them to stay open longer. Christian Democratic
opposition party leader Angela Merkel plans to keep nuclear
energy alive should her party, which is leading in the polls, win
the German election expected on Sept. 18.
Bury the Waste?
The European Union's Energy Commissioner, Andris Piebalgs, said
Finland can become a model for how to handle nuclear waste, by
taking years to gain public support to build the Olkiluoto site
and bury the waste in the bedrock some 500 meters underground.
The commissioner in May said he wants nuclear energy to maintain
its 13 percent share of the region's energy mix.
The US may follow the Finnish model and bury the waste, storing
it deep within Yucca Mountain in Nevada, a US$58 billion project
mired in controversy.
The UK government has postponed a decision on new reactors until
the Committee for Radioactive Waste Management finishes a report
next year. The Committee received proposals on how to handle the
waste, or the 1 percent of uranium and plutonium that can't be
reused, which included firing it in a capsule into the sun.
In Europe, where laws as of this year penalize excessive
production of carbon dioxide, utilities such as Madrid-based
Endesa SA, Spain's largest power company, see nuclear energy as a
way of avoiding the rising costs of carbon, gas and oil.
"We are convinced nuclear is the answer for emissions and
security of supply," Rafael Miranda, the chief executive of
Endesa, said during the conference in Vienna. Endesa in the first
quarter had to more than double power production from fuel
oil-fed plants in Spain and Portugal as a dry winter depleted
water supplies at hydropower plants.
In the Netherlands, the government has decided to run its
Borssele nuclear plant until the end of its economic life,
scrapping plans to switch it off in 2004. In Switzerland, a
moratorium on construction of new nuclear plants has expired.
Sweden shut its Barseback 2 nuclear station last month, despite
opposition from power lobby groups, such as Swedenergy, which
argued the country will have to burn more fossil fuels. About 80
percent of Swedes now favor nuclear generation, the Financial
Times said on March 22, citing a poll.
"Nuclear doesn't emit carbon dioxide, so when you close it down
you will have an increase in carbon dioxide," Lars Josefsson,
chief executive of Stockholm-based Vattenfall AB, the Nordic
region's biggest utility, said last week in Vienna. "The debate
is coming" on new nuclear reactors.
Italy's industry minister, Claudio Scajola, called for a
reconsideration of Italy's ban on nuclear plants on May 26 in an
address to the business association Confindustria. Italian
competitiveness is undergoing a crisis "without precedent," in
part because of rising power costs, he said. Italy's electricity
costs are the highest in Europe. Enel, the nation's largest
utility, plans to invest in the reactor France will build and in
new reactors in Slovakia.
"Personally I am much in favor, nuclear is an environmental and
less expensive fuel," Enel Chief Executive Fulvio Conti said in
an interview in Vienna recently. "Unfortunately we cannot build
in Italy, there's the law."
A study by the UK's Royal Academy of Engineering last year
showed that one unit of gas generation costs four cents per
megawatt-hour, compared with 4.3 cents for a nuclear plant, 4.7
cents for a coal-fired plant and 6.7 cents at a wind park.
Total costs of producing nuclear power, including construction
and decommissioning, are likely to be US$46 per megawatt-hour in
2010, less than the US$50.80 for a gas-fired station and the
US$54.39 for a coal-fired plant, a study published in March by
UBS AG said. The calculation assumes oil prices fall to US$32.50
a barrel, after 2007. If oil prices slid below US$28, nuclear
wouldn't be competitive against gas, UBS said.
Also, nuclear power plants are heavily subsidized by governments
and taxpayer money. The UK government in November 2002 agreed to
give US$2.74 billion of aid to British Energy Group Plc, whose
nuclear plants supply about one-fifth of the nation's power. The
cash was earmarked for liabilities including nuclear cleanup.
Today, nuclear energy is opposed by 52 percent of Britons,
according to a survey last month by ICM Research for the British
Broadcasting Corp. Blair, who has made tackling climate change a
priority while leading the Group of Eight nations this year,
won't rule out a new round of nuclear construction.
A UK study released in December showed the nation will be "some
way short" of a goal for a 20 percent cut in carbon dioxide
emissions by the end of 2010 unless more programs are put in
place, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
said in a strategy document.
Blair must decide by 2009 whether to replace the nation's eight
nuclear power stations that will reach the end of their life
within the next 30 years. Unless new stations are built, the
share of electricity generated by nuclear power will drop to
about 7 percent in 2020 from about a fifth now.
"Britain has had a significant amount of its energy from nuclear
power in the past," Blair said in an interview during this year's
election campaign. "It won't in the future unless a new
generation of power stations is built." This story has been
viewed 743 times. +
Copyright 1999-2005 The Taipei Times. All rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
12 canadaeast.com: Ottawa's Lepreau offer just 'weeks' away - MP
As published on page A1/A8 on June 27, 2005
Paul Zed says federal government is firming up how much they
will pony up for refurbishment
BY RICHARD ROIK
Telegraph-Journal
OTTAWA - The federal government is expected to present NB Power
with a proposal in as little as two weeks to help with the $1.4
billion refurbishment of Point Lepreau nuclear power plant.
Saint John Liberal MP Paul Zed said a financial package is now
just weeks away, instead of months.
"We're in the last stages of doing our due diligence," Mr. Zed
said of the behind-the-scenes discussions.
Federal insiders have confirmed that senior officials with
Natural Resources Canada have made a presentation to the Prime
Minister's Office, the Privy Council and the Department of
Finance outlining the various options and the potential pitfalls.
However, Natural Resources Minister John Efford insisted this
week he has seen nothing on paper from his department, nor has he
been briefed on the latest developments on the file.
His comments appear to confirm that the much-rumoured financial
package has yet to clear the necessary approval channels. Mr. Zed
added that no dollar figure has been attached to the federal
proposal because Ottawa is still deciding upon its preferred
option and the financial implications.
Mr. Zed said Ottawa's plan could follow a variety of routes to
help reduce New Brunswick's financial exposure in the project it
is partnering with Bruce Power. Mr. Zed said everything is still
on the table from loan guarantees and interest-rate buy downs to
assistance through the Crown agency Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd.
or a straight cash payment.
"Those are the various scenarios that are being fine-tuned," Mr.
Zed said, adding that the rumoured $200-million price tag is
still only a ballpark figure.
"The number will be what the number needs to be in order to make
the project work, whether it's $150 million or $250 million," Mr.
Zed said. "The public number continues to be $200 million, but I
believe it could be less - although, of course, it could also be
more."
The province has asked for $400 million to help close the gap
between the cost of the refurbishment and cheaper options such as
building a second coal-fired power plant in Belledune.
Mr. Zed's prediction of an imminent offer did little to calm
provincial officials who have grown increasingly alarmed by the
silence coming out of Ottawa in recent weeks.
"I've heard next week too many times," said New Brunswick Energy
Minister Bruce Fitch.
"It's imperative we have a decision now," Mr. Fitch added.
He didn't set a deadline, but Mr. Fitch said if the talks drag on
much longer, federal officials could soon disappear from Ottawa
without a decision when Parliament rises for the summer. He added
that such a delay could also "double the ($200-million) cost of
replacement power" for the province if it has to go two winters
without Point Lepreau contributing to New Brunswick's energy
needs.
Union officials are equally concerned about a federal decision
being drawn out too long, adding that some skilled workers have
already left Point Lepreau in search of greater job security.
"As we delay, that creates a risk," said Ross Galbraith,
assistant business manager with Local 37 of the International
Brotherhood of Electrical Workers which represents most of the
Point Lepreau employees.
He also warned that the cost of the refurbishment will only climb
as the delays mount.
"That's not in anyone's interest," Mr. Galbraith said.
But Mr. Zed defended the time it is taking for a deal, arguing
the province is asking for a lot of money after only presenting
its latest financial numbers to Ottawa last month.
"That's not a small number," Mr. Zed said of the provincial
request, "so you would expect the federal government to do its
due diligence.
"We're resolved that by early summer - which is now here - this
matter will be pushed back to the province with some sort of
scenario that would bridge the gap to ensure refurbishment
happens," Mr. Zed said. "We're committed to that. We're now
talking about weeks rather than months."
on canadaeast.com Copyright 2005 Brunswick News Inc. All rights
*****************************************************************
13 www.delawareonline.com: Nuclear power presents too many long-term hazards
The News Journal
June 27, 2005
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Our Readers' Views
In his June 20 column, Harry Themal tried to tell us that
nuclear power is still an option. The proposal to build another
50 nuclear reactors is the dream of this administration's secret
energy policy which has yet to be passed by Congress They will
not openly discuss the true economics of nuclear power: the cost
of uranium enrichment, the enormous expense of the
transportation and storage of radioactive waste for 250,000
years and the liability involved in a nuclear accident.
Each typical 1,000-megawatt nuclear reactor manufactures 33 tons
of radioactive waste per year. More than 80,000 tons of this
waste sits in cooling pools next to the 103 U.S. nuclear plants,
awaiting transportation to a facility yet to be found.
After spending $5 billion on the Yucca Mountain site, its safety
is now seriously questioned. Even if finally approved, the
capacity for future waste is totally inadequate.
A recent study by the National Academy of Sciences shows that
the cooling pools at nuclear reactors are easy targets for
international terrorists.
But the Achilles' heel of the nuclear industry is the Price
Anderson Act. which must be renewed this year.
The exclusion clause in homeowners insurance policies, "not
applicable in a nuclear power accident," was the incentive given
to the industry almost 50 years ago, since no company in the
world would insure it.
Several studies on the results of a serious accident by the
Nuclear Regulatory Commission were commissioned over the years.
The last study in 1982 by the NRC and Sandia Laboratories lists
Salem, N.J., consequences in case of a severe accident as
follows:
Early peak fatalities: Salem I, 100,000; Salem II, 200,000.
Early injuries: Salem I 70,000; Salem II, 75,000.
Belgium, Germany, Spain and Sweden have decided to phase out
their operating nuclear reactors. It is time we do the same.
Frieda Berryhill, Wilmington
delawareonline.com/The News Journal
*****************************************************************
14 NRC: Sunshine Act; Meetings
FR Doc 05-12687
[Federal Register: June 27, 2005 (Volume 70, Number 122)]
[Notices] [Page 36968-36969] From the Federal Register Online via
GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr27jn05-69]
Date: Weeks of June 27, July 4, 11, 18, 25, August 1, 2005.
Place: Commissioners' Conference Room, 11555 Rockville Pike,
Rockville, Maryland.
Status: Public and closed.
Matters to be Considered: Week of June 27, 2005 Tuesday, June 28,
2005 9:30 a.m. Briefing on Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO)
Program (Public Meeting) (Contact: Corenthis Kelley,
301-415-7380).
This meeting will be webcast live at the Web
address--http://www.nrc.gov .
Wednesday, June 29, 2005 9:25 a.m. Affirmation Session (Public
Meeting) (Tentative). a. Yankee Atomic Electric Co. (Yankee
Nuclear Power Station), Licensee's and NRC Staff's appeal of
LBP-04-27 (Tentative) b. (1) Exelon Generation Company, LLC
(Early Site Permit for Clinton ESP Site), Docket No. 52-007-ESP;
(2) Dominion Nuclear North Anna, LLC (Early Site Permit for North
Anna ESP Site), Docket No. 52-008-ESP; (3) System Energy
Resources, Inc. (Early Site Permit for Grand Gulf ESP Site),
Docket No. 52-009-ESP; (4) Louisiana Energy Services, L.P.
(National Enrichment Facility), Docket No. 70-3103-ML; (5) USEC
Inc. (American Centrifuge Plant), Docket No. 70-7004, Guidance on
Mandatory Hearings (Tentative).
9:30 a.m. Discussion of Security Issues (Closed--Ex. 1) Week of
July 4, 2005 - Tentative There are no meetings scheduled for the
week of July 4, 2005.
Week of July 11, 2005 - Tentative There are no meetings scheduled
for the week of July 11, 2005.
Week of July 18, 2005 - Tentative There are no meetings scheduled
for the week of July 18, 2005.
Week of July 25, 2005 - Tentative There are no meetings scheduled
for the week of July 25, 2005.
Week of August 1, 2005 - Tentative There are no meetings
scheduled for the week of August 1, 2005.
*The Schedule for Commission meetings is subject to change on
short notice. To verify the status of meetings call
(recording)--(301) 415- 1292. Contact person for more
information: Michelle Schroll, (301) 415- 1662.
The NRC Commission Meeting Schedule can be found on the Internet
at: http://www.nrc.gov/what-we-do/policy-making/schedule.html.
The NRC provides reasonable accommodation to individuals with
disabilities where appropriate. If you need a reasonable
accommodation to participate in these public meetings, or need
this meeting notice or the transcript or other information from
the
[[Page 36969]] public meetings in another format (e.g. braille,
large print), please notify the NRC's Disability Program
Coordinator, August Spector, at 301-415-7080, TDD: 301-415-2100,
or by e-mail at aks@nrc.gov. Determinations on requests for
reasonable accommodation will be made on a case-by-case basis.
This notice is distributed by mail to several hundred
subscribers; if you no longer wish to receive it, or would like
to be added to the distribution, please contact the Office of the
Secretary, Washington, DC 20555 (301-415-1969). In addition,
distribution of this meeting notice over the Internet system is
available. If you are interested in receiving this Commission
meeting schedule electronically, please send an electronic
message to dkw@nrc.gov. Dated: June 22, 2005.
R. Michelle Schroll Office of the Secretary [FR Doc. 05-12687
Filed 6-23-05; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590-01-M
*****************************************************************
15 NRC: Notice of Consideration of Amendment Request for an Alternate
FR Doc E5-3319
[Federal Register: June 27, 2005 (Volume 70, Number 122)]
[Notices] [Page 36964-36966] From the Federal Register Online via
GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr27jn05-66]
Decommissioning Schedule for the Department of the Army, U.S.
Army Garrison, Rock Island Arsenal, Rock Island, IL, and
Opportunity To Request a Hearing AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory
Commission.
ACTION: Notice of license amendment, opportunity to request a
hearing, and solicitation of public comments.
DATES: A request for a hearing must be filed by August 26, 2005.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Tom McLaughlin, Project Manager,
Decommissioning Directorate, Division of Waste Management and
Environmental Protection, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and
Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC
20555- 0001; Telephone: (301) 415-5869; fax number: (301)
415-5398; e-mail: tgm@nrc.gov.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: I. Introduction The Nuclear Regulatory
Commission (NRC) is considering issuance of a license amendment
to the Department of the Army (Army as the licensee) to amend its
License No. SUB-1435 to authorize an alternate decommissioning
schedule pursuant to 10 CFR 40.42(g)(2) for its facility at
Jefferson Proving Ground, Madison, Indiana.
License No. SUB-1435 authorizes the licensee to possess depleted
uranium in the ``impact area'' of Jefferson Proving Ground. The
license amendment request
[[Page 36965]] for an alternate decommissioning schedule was
submitted by the licensee on May 25, 2005. An NRC administrative
review, documented in a letter to the U.S. Army Garrison at Rock
Island Arsenal on June 15, 2005, found the license amendment
request acceptable to begin a technical review.
If the NRC approves the license amendment request, the
authorization for an alternate decommissioning schedule will be
documented in an amendment to NRC License No. SUB-1435. However,
before approving the proposed amendment, the NRC will need to
make the findings required by the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as
amended, and NRC's regulations. These findings will be documented
in a Safety Evaluation Report and an Environmental Assessment.
II. Opportunity To Request a Hearing The NRC hereby provides
notice that this is a proceeding on an application for a license
amendment to License No. SUB-1435 to request an alternate
decommissioning schedule. In accordance with the general
requirements in Subpart C of 10 CFR Part 2, as amended on January
14, 2004 (69 FR 2182), any person whose interest may be affected
by this proceeding and who desires to participate as a party must
file a written request for a hearing and a specification of the
contentions which the person seeks to have litigated in the
hearing.
In accordance with 10 CFR 2.302 (a), a request for a hearing must
be filed with the Commission either by: 1. First class mail
addressed to: Office of the Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, Attention: Rulemakings and
Adjudications; 2. Courier, express mail, and expedited delivery
services: Office of the Secretary, Sixteenth Floor, One White
Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD 20852,
Attention: Rulemakings and Adjudications Staff, between 7:45 a.m.
and 4:15 p.m., Federal work days; 3. E-mail addressed to the
Office of the Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
HEARINGDOCKET@NRC.GOV; or 4. By facsimile transmission addressed
to the Office of the Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission, Washington, DC, Attention: Rulemakings and
Adjudications Staff, at (301) 415-1101; verification number is
(301) 415-1966.
In accordance with 10 CFR 2.302 (b), all documents offered for
filing must be accompanied by proof of service on all parties to
the proceeding or their attorneys of record as required by law or
by rule or order of the Commission, including: 1. The applicant,
U.S. Army Garrison, 1 Rock Island Arsenal, Rock Island Illinois,
61299, Attention: Alan G. Wilson, Garrison Manager; and 2. The
NRC staff, by delivery to the Office of the General Counsel, One
White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD 20852, or
by mail addressed to the Office of the General Counsel, U.S.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001. Hearing
requests should also be transmitted to the Office of the General
Counsel, either by means of facsimile transmission to (301)
415-3725, or by email to ogcmailcenter@nrc.gov. The formal
requirements for documents contained in 10 CFR 2.304 (b), (c),
(d), and (e), must be met. In accordance with 10 CFR 2.304 (f), a
document filed by electronic mail or facsimile transmission need
not comply with the formal requirements of 10 CFR 2.304 (b), (c),
and (d), as long as an original and two (2) copies otherwise
complying with all of the requirements of 10 CFR 2.304 (b), (c),
and (d) are mailed within two (2) days thereafter to the
Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC
20555-0001, Attention: Rulemakings and Adjudications Staff.
In accordance with 10 CFR 2.309 (b), a request for a hearing must
be filed by August 26, 2005.
In addition to meeting other applicable requirements of 10 CFR
2.309, the general requirements involving a request for a hearing
filed by a person other than an applicant must state: 1. The
name, address, and telephone number of the requester; 2. The
nature of the requester's right under the Act to be made a party
to the proceeding; 3. The nature and extent of the requester's
property, financial or other interest in the proceeding; 4. The
possible effect of any decision or order that may be issued in
the proceeding on the requester's interest; and 5. The
circumstances establishing that the request for a hearing is
timely in accordance with 10 CFR 2.309 (b). In accordance with 10
CFR 2.309 (f)(1), a request for hearing or petitions for leave to
intervene must set forth with particularity the contentions
sought to be raised. For each contention, the request or petition
must: 1. Provide a specific statement of the issue of law or fact
to be raised or controverted; 2. Provide a brief explanation of
the basis for the contention; 3. Demonstrate that the issue
raised in the contention is within the scope of the proceeding;
4. Demonstrate that the issue raised in the contention is
material to the findings that the NRC must make to support the
action that is involved in the proceeding; 5. Provide a concise
statement of the alleged facts or expert opinions which support
the requester's/petitioner's position on the issue and on which
the requester/petitioner intends to rely to support its position
on the issue; and 6. Provide sufficient information to show that
a genuine dispute exists with the applicant on a material issue
of law or fact.
This information must include references to specific portions of
the application (including the applicant's environmental report
and safety report) that the requester/petitioner disputes and the
supporting reasons for each dispute, or, if the
requester/petitioner believes the application fails to contain
information on a relevant matter as required by law, the
identification of each failure and the supporting reasons for the
requester's/petitioner's belief.
In accordance with 10 CFR 2.309 (g), a request for hearing and/or
petition for leave to intervene may also address the selection of
the hearing procedures, taking into account the provisions of 10
CFR 2.310. III. Opportunity To Provide Comments In accordance
with 10 CFR 20.1405, the NRC is providing notice to individuals
in the vicinity of the site that the NRC has received a license
amendment request from the Army. The NRC will accept comments
concerning this amendment request. Comments with respect to this
action should be provided in writing within 30 days of this
notice and addressed to Mr. Tom McLaughlin, U.S. NRC, Washington,
DC 20555-0001. Comments received after 30 days will be considered
if practicable to do so, but only those comments received on or
before the due date can be assured consideration.
IV. Further Information Documents related to this action,
including the application for amendment and supporting
documentation, are available electronically at the NRC's
Electronic Reading Room at
http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. From this site, you can
access the NRC's Agency wide Document Access and Management
System (ADAMS), which provides text and image files of NRC's
public documents. The ADAMS accession
[[Page 36966]] number for the document related to this notice is
ML051520319.
If you do not have access to ADAMS or if there are problems in
accessing the documents located in ADAMS, contact the NRC Public
Document Room PDR Reference staff at 1-800-397-4209,
301-415-4737, or by e-mail to
pdr@nrc.gov. These documents may also be viewed electronically on
the public computers located at the NRC's PDR, located in O-1
F21, One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD
20852. The PDR reproduction contractor will copy documents for a
fee.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 15th day of June, 2005.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Daniel M. Gillen, Deputy Director, Division of Waste Management
and Environment, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and
Safeguards.
[FR Doc. E5-3319 Filed 6-24-05; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590-01-P
*****************************************************************
16 NRC: Nuclear Management Company, LLC, Palisades Nuclear Plant; Notice
FR Doc E5-3320
[Federal Register: June 27, 2005 (Volume 70, Number 122)]
[Notices] [Page 36967-36968] From the Federal Register Online via
GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr27jn05-68]
of Intent To Prepare an Environmental Impact Statement and
Conduct Scoping Process Nuclear Management Company, LLC (NMC) has
submitted an application for renewal of Facility Operating
License DPR-20 for an additional 20 years of operation at the
Palisades Nuclear Plant (Palisades). Palisades is located on the
eastern shore of Lake Michigan in Covert Township on the western
side of Van Buren County, Michigan, approximately 4.5 miles south
of the city limits of South Haven, Michigan.
The operating license for Palisades expires on March 24, 2011.
The application for renewal was received on March 31, 2005,
pursuant to title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR)
part 54. A notice of receipt and availability of the application,
which included the environmental report (ER), was published in
the Federal Register on April 12, 2005 (70 FR 19104). A notice of
acceptance for docketing of the application for renewal of the
facility operating license was published in the Federal Register
on June 8, 2005 (70 FR 33533).
The purpose of this notice is to inform the public that the U.S.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) will be preparing an
environmental impact statement (EIS) in support of the review of
the license renewal application and to provide the public an
opportunity to participate in the environmental scoping process,
as defined in 10 CFR 51.29. In addition, as outlined in title 36
of the Code of the Federal Regulations part 800.8, ``Coordination
with the National Environmental Policy Act,'' the NRC plans to
coordinate compliance with section 106 of the National Historic
Preservation Act in meeting the requirements of the National
Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA).
In accordance with 10 CFR 51.53(c) and 10 CFR 54.23, NMC
submitted the ER as part of the application. The ER was prepared
pursuant to 10 CFR part 51 and is available for public inspection
at the NRC's Public Document Room (PDR), located at One White
Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike (first floor), Rockville,
Maryland 20852, or from the Publicly Available Records component
of NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System
(ADAMS). ADAMS is accessible at , which provides access through
the NRC's Public Electronic Reading Room link. Persons who do not
have access to ADAMS, or who encounter problems in accessing the
documents located in ADAMS, should contact the NRC's PDR
Reference staff at 1-800-397-4209, or 301- 415-4737, or by e-mail
to . The application may also be viewed on the Internet at .
In addition, the South Haven Memorial Library (314 Broadway St.,
South Haven, MI 49090) has made the ER available for public
inspection.
This notice advises the public that the NRC intends to gather the
information necessary to prepare a plant-specific supplement to
the Commission's ``Generic Environmental Impact Statement [GEIS]
for License Renewal of Nuclear Plants,'' (NUREG-1437) in support
of the review of the application for renewal of the Palisades
operating license for an additional 20 years. Possible
alternatives to the proposed action (license renewal) include no
action and reasonable alternative energy sources. The NRC is
required by 10 CFR 51.95 to prepare a supplement to the GEIS in
connection with the renewal of an operating license. This notice
is being published in accordance with NEPA and the NRC's
regulations found in 10 CFR part 51.
The NRC will first conduct a scoping process for the supplement
to the GEIS and, as soon as practicable thereafter, will prepare
a draft supplement to the GEIS for public comment.
Participation in the scoping process by members of the public and
local, State, tribal, and Federal government agencies is
encouraged. The scoping process for the supplement to the GEIS
will be used to accomplish the following: 1. Define the proposed
action which is to be the subject of the supplement to the GEIS.
a. Determine the scope of the supplement to the GEIS and identify
the significant issues to be analyzed in depth.
b. Identify and eliminate from detailed study those issues that
are peripheral or that are not significant.
c. Identify any environmental assessments and other ElSs that are
being or will be prepared that are related to, but are not part
of the scope of the supplement to the GEIS being considered.
d. Identify other environmental review and consultation
requirements related to the proposed action.
e. Indicate the relationship between the timing of the
preparation of the environmental analyses and the Commission's
tentative planning and decision-making schedule.
f. Identify any cooperating agencies and, as appropriate,
allocate assignments for preparation and schedules for completing
the supplement to the GEIS to the NRC and any cooperating
agencies.
g. Describe how the supplement to the GEIS will be prepared, and
include any contractor assistance to be used.
The NRC invites the following entities to participate in scoping:
a. The applicant, Nuclear Management Company, LLC. b. Any Federal
agency that has jurisdiction by law or special expertise with
respect to any environmental impact involved, or that is
authorized to develop and enforce relevant environmental
standards.
c. Affected State and local government agencies, including those
authorized to develop and enforce relevant environmental
standards.
d. Any affected Indian tribe. e. Any person who requests or has
requested an opportunity to participate in the scoping process.
f. Any person who has petitioned or intends to petition for leave
to intervene.
In accordance with 10 CFR 51.26, the scoping process for an EIS
may include a public scoping meeting to help identify significant
issues related to a proposed activity and to determine the scope
of issues to be addressed in an EIS. The NRC has decided to hold
public meetings for the Palisades license renewal supplement to
the GEIS. The scoping meetings will be held at Lake Michigan
College, 125 Veterans Boulevard, South Haven, Michigan 49090, on
Thursday, July 28, 2005. There will be two sessions to
accommodate interested parties. The first session will convene at
1:30 p.m. and will continue until 4:30 p.m., as necessary. The
second session will convene at 7 p.m. with a repeat of the
overview portions of the meeting and will continue until 10 p.m.,
as necessary. Both meetings will be transcribed and will include:
(1) An overview by the NRC staff of the NEPA environmental review
process, the
[[Page 36968]] proposed scope of the supplement to the GEIS, and
the proposed review schedule; and (2) the opportunity for
interested government agencies, organizations, and individuals to
submit comments or suggestions on the environmental issues or the
proposed scope of the supplement to the GEIS. Additionally, the
NRC staff will host informal discussions one hour before the
start of each session at Lake Michigan College.
No formal comments on the proposed scope of the supplement to the
GEIS will be accepted during the informal discussions. To be
considered, comments must be provided either at the transcribed
public meetings or in writing, as discussed below. Persons may
register to attend or present oral comments at the meetings on
the scope of the NEPA review by contacting Mr. William Dam by
telephone at 1-800-368-5642, extension 4014, or by e-mail to the
NRC at no later than July 22, 2005. Members of the public may
also register to speak at the meeting within 15 minutes of the
start of each session.
Individual oral comments may be limited by the time available,
depending on the number of persons who register. Members of the
public who have not registered may also have an opportunity to
speak, if time permits. Public comments will be considered in the
scoping process for the supplement to the GEIS. Mr. Dam will need
to be contacted no later than July 15, 2005, if special equipment
or accommodations are needed to attend or present information at
the public meeting, so that the NRC staff can determine whether
the request can be accommodated.
Members of the public may send written comments on the
environmental scope of the Palisades license renewal review to:
Chief, Rules and Directives Branch, Division of Administrative
Services, Office of Administration, Mailstop T-6D59, U.S. Nuclear
Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001, and should cite
the publication date and page number of this Federal Register
notice. Comments may also be delivered to the NRC, Room T-6D59,
Two White Flint North, 11545 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland,
from 7:30 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. during Federal workdays. To be
considered in the scoping process, written comments should be
postmarked by August 22, 2005. Electronic comments may be sent by
e-mail to the NRC at and should be sent no later than August 22,
2005, to be considered in the scoping process. Comments will be
available electronically and accessible through ADAMS at .
Participation in the scoping process for the supplement to the
GEIS does not entitle participants to become parties to the
proceeding to which the supplement to the GEIS relates. Notice of
opportunity for a hearing regarding the renewal application was
the subject of the aforementioned Federal Register notice (70 FR
33533). Matters related to participation in any hearing are
outside the scope of matters to be discussed at this public
meeting.
At the conclusion of the scoping process, the NRC will prepare a
concise summary of the determination and conclusions reached,
including the significant issues identified, and will send a copy
of the summary to each participant in the scoping process. The
summary will also be available for inspection in ADAMS at .
The staff will then prepare and issue for comment the draft
supplement to the GEIS, which will be the subject of separate
notices and separate public meetings. Copies will be available
for public inspection at the above-mentioned addresses, and one
copy per request will be provided free of charge. After receipt
and consideration of the comments, the NRC will prepare a final
supplement to the GEIS, which will also be available for public
inspection.
Information about the proposed action, the supplement to the
GEIS, and the scoping process may be obtained from Mr. Dam at the
aforementioned telephone number or e-mail address.
Dated in Rockville, Maryland, this 20th day of June, 2005.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Pao-Tsin Kuo, Program Director, License Renewal and Environmental
Impacts Program, Division of Regulatory Improvement Programs,
Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.
[FR Doc. E5-3320 Filed 6-24-05; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590-01-P
*****************************************************************
17 NRC: Notice of Availability of Environmental Assessment and Finding
FR Doc E5-3321
[Federal Register: June 27, 2005 (Volume 70, Number 122)]
[Notices] [Page 36966-36967] From the Federal Register Online via
GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr27jn05-67]
of No Significant Impact for License Amendment for the Department
of the Army's Facility at Fort Belvoir, VA AGENCY: Nuclear
Regulatory Commission.
ACTION: Notice of availability.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Tom McLaughlin, Project Manager,
Decommissioning Directorate, Division of Waste Management and
Environmental Protection, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and
Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC
20555- 0001; Telephone: (301) 415-5869; fax number: (301)
415-5398; e-mail: .
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: I. Introduction The NRC is considering
issuance of a license amendment to the Department of the Army
(Army or licensee) for License No.
19-10306-02, to authorize decommissioning for its facility at
Fort Belvoir, Virginia. NRC has prepared an Environmental
Assessment (EA) in support of this action in accordance with the
requirements of 10 CFR part 51. Based on the EA, the NRC has
concluded that a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) is
appropriate.
II. EA Summary The purpose of this proposed amendment to License
No.
19-10306-02 is to authorize the decommissioning of the licensee's
Building 7304 at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, for unrestricted use to
allow for license termination. The Army was authorized by the NRC
on March 31, 1989, to use radioactive materials for research
purposes at the site. On May 17, 2004, the Army requested that
NRC approve the decommissioning plan for the facility which when
completed would permit the site to be released for unrestricted
use. Final approval for release of the site for unrestricted use
and license termination would be contingent upon NRC staff's
approval of the licensee's final status survey report and making
the findings required by the Commission's regulations following
completion of the licensee's decommissioning activities. The
Army's request for the proposed amendment was previously noticed
in the Federal Register on December 28, 2004 (69 FR 77779), with
a notice of an opportunity to request a hearing. No comments or
request for a hearing were received.
Following a Characterization Survey, the Army found that there
are elevated levels of radioactivity on the floor of Building
7304, in the soil beneath the floor, in the wall storage vaults,
and in the floor vaults. These elevated levels indicate the need
for the removal of the Building 7304 structure and any soil that
is above the soil screening criteria, then transport of the
contaminated waste to an authorized disposal facility. The NRC
staff determined that all steps in the proposed decommissioning
could be accomplished in compliance with the NRC public and
occupational dose limits, effluent release limits, and residual
radioactive material limits. In addition, the staff concluded
that approval of the decommissioning of Building 7304 at Fort
Belvoir, Virginia, in accordance with the commitments in NRC
License No.
19- 10306-02 and the final decommissioning plan, would not result
in a significant adverse impact on the environment.
If the NRC approves the license amendment, the authorization will
be documented in an amendment to NRC License No. 19-10306-02.
However, before approving the proposed amendment, the NRC will
need to make the findings required by the Atomic Energy Act of
1954, as amended, and NRC's regulations. These findings will be
documented in a Safety Evaluation Report in addition to the EA.
III. Finding of No Significant Impact The staff has prepared the
EA (summarized above) in support of the Army's proposed
decommissioning. The NRC staff has concluded that there will be
no adverse environmental impacts associated with approving the
Army's license amendment request for decommissioning Building
7304. The radiological environmental impacts from the proposed
amendment are bounded by the impacts evaluated by NUREG-1496,
Volumes 1-3, ``Generic Environmental Impact Statement in Support
of Rulemaking on Radiological Criteria for License Termination of
NRC-Licensed Facilities'' (ML042310492, ML042320379, and
ML042330385). The staff has also found that the non-radiological
impacts are not significant. On the basis of the EA, the NRC has
concluded that the environmental impacts from the action are
expected to be insignificant and has determined that an
environmental impact statement does not need to be prepared for
the action.
IV. Further Information Documents related to this action,
including the application for amendment and supporting
documentation, are available electronically at the NRC's
Electronic Reading Room at .
From this site, you can access the NRC's Agency-wide Document
Access and Management System (ADAMS), which provides text and
image files of NRC's public documents. The ADAMS accession number
for the documents related to this notice are: The Army's package
to NRC dated May 17, 2004, ML041490071; EA prepared for this
action, ML050810012; and Federal Register Notice for Amendment
No. 2, ML050960044. If you do not have access to ADAMS or if
there are problems in accessing the documents located in ADAMS,
contact the NRC Public Document Room (PDR) Reference staff at
1-800-397-4209, 301-415- 4737, or by e-mail to .
Any questions should be referred to Thomas McLaughlin, Division
of Waste Management and Environmental Protection, U.S. Nuclear
Regulatory Commission, Washington DC 20555, Mailstop T-7E18,
telephone (301) 415- 5869, fax (301) 415-5397.
Dated in Rockville, Maryland, this 21st day of June, 2005.
[[Page 36967]] For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Daniel M. Gillen, Deputy Director, Decommissioning Directorate,
Division of Waste Management and Environmental Protection, Office
of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards.
[FR Doc. E5-3321 Filed 6-24-05; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590-01-P
*****************************************************************
18 Scotsman.com News: Nuclear Power Debate Still Open - Blair
Mon 27 Jun 2005
By Andrew Woodcock, PA Political Correspondent
Prime Minister Tony Blair refused today to rule out the
possibility of a new generation of nuclear power plants in the
UK.
But he said the nuclear industry would have to overcome the twin
hurdles of cost and acceptability to the public before it could
hope to win approval for new generating facilities.
Mr Blair said that the UK would face major demands for new
electricity generating capacity over the next 10 to 15 years,
which under present plans would have to be filled by renewable
energy technology, such as wind farms.
Speaking at his monthly press conference at 10 Downing Street,
he said: “I don’t know at this present time, and I am not in
a position to give an answer on (whether it is) ever possible to
get back into this nuclear debate. Maybe it isn’t.
“But I do know that anybody who is responsibly looking at this
can’t simply say ‘We are refusing ever to look at the issue
of nuclear power again’.
“Just think of how much we are going to need to boost
renewable energy by over the next 10-15 years. It is a lot.
I’m not saying we can’t do it, but I am saying it is going
to be tough to do and there are other countries who are going to
take a different choice, including on nuclear power.
“I don’t think we can shut the debate down.
“I have always said unless nuclear power can overcome the two
problems of cost and public acceptability, it is very hard to
see how we could ever get it back into the system again.
“I just wouldn’t like it to be thought that we had taken the
position that says we are never prepared to have that argument
again.”
The Scotsman's
*****************************************************************
19 Sofia Morning News: Bulgaria Sees Belene N-Plant Bidders
[Sofia News Agency]
Business: 27 June 2005, Monday.
Candidates for a construction contractor of a nuclear power
plant at the Danube river town of Belene were to submit their
bids to the National Electricity Transmission Company by June 27.
Preliminary information shows that by the end of the deadline
set at 2 pm France's Framatome, Russia's Atomexportstroy and
Czech Skoda have submitted the bidding offers.
The offers will be evaluated by July 17.
The contract with the selected bidder is scheduled to be signed
on January 23, 2006. The contractor is put into operation the
first nuke unit five years after the signing ceremony.
In the late 1980s Bulgaria spent USD 1.3 B on infrastructure and
foundations at the Danube-located Belene for a 1,000- MW
reactor, supplied by then Czechoslovakia.
The government gave the final go-ahead for Belene construction
at the beginning of April this year, reviving the controversial
plan that was mothballed amid environmentalists' protests.
It would cost another USD 3 B to complete the project for
building a new plant of maximum capacity of 2000 megawatts, with
two VVER-type reactors.[ width=]
novinite.com Forum Google Tourism Business MobileBulgaria
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
*****************************************************************
20 Sofia Morning News: Two Firms Bid on Belene Nuke Construction
[ width=] www.novinite.com News Alert [
[Sofia News Agency]
Business: 27 June 2005, Monday.
A Czech and a Russian consortium saw Monday the public opening of
their bids for a contract with Bulgaria's government to build a
EUR 2 B nuclear plant.
The two consortiums - one led by the Czech Skoda and another by
Russia's Atomstroyexport - have met the June 17 deadline for
acquiring tender papers.
The applicants must submit their detailed offers of technical
specifications and financial blueprints by July 17.
The bidding prerequisites for the construction of Bulgaria's
second nuclear plant include an annual turnover of at least USD 5
B and previous experience in the construction and commissioning
of water-pressurized nuclear units.
Skoda is expected to have formed a consortium with two banks and
Atomexportstroy - with the French Framatome and German Siemens.
The chief contractor for the construction of Bulgaria's second
nuclear power plant should be selected by January 2006.[ width=]
novinite.com Forum Google Tourism Business MobileBulgaria
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
*****************************************************************
21 Arizona Republic: Toxic or magic?
[Arizona Republic Online Print Edition] June 27, 2005
Toxic or magic? Nation needs a fresh look at nuclear power
The nuclear option is back. The real one.
Nuclear power has been on the back burner in U.S. energy policy
for years, with no new plants in more than a quarter century.
But global climate change and rising demands for energy are
compelling reasons to reconsider our nuclear options.
Developing countries, with China in the lead, are showing an
insatiable appetite for electricity. Meanwhile, the "greenhouse
gases" emitted by traditional power generation are big
contributors to global warming.
Conservation and alternative sources of energy, such as solar
and wind power, should be leading strategies to expand energy
supplies.
But we shouldn't ignore what nuclear plants can accomplish:
Producing large amounts of electricity with virtually no
emission of greenhouse gases.
The nuclear debate in America is historically black and white.
Supporters tend to dismiss any obstacles with the cheery
optimism of the old Atoms for Peace program of the 1950s.
Opponents are still pointing to the partial meltdown at Three
Mile Island in 1979 and the Chernobyl disaster in 1986, without
recognizing the strides in safety and technology.
America gets more electricity from nuclear power than most
people realize: 20 percent of the total. The nation's largest
plant is the Palo Verde facility outside the Valley. Using
nuclear instead of fossil fuel is keeping tens of thousands of
tons of pollutants and greenhouse gases out of our air in
Arizona every year.
There apparently are no plans for the state to get another
nuclear power plant. Certainly, siting and water would be major
hurdles.
President Bush is eager to jump-start nuclear power - supporters
note that it supplies 78 percent of electricity in France - and
he underlined the issue by traveling to a nuclear generator in
Maryland last week.
Certainly, public perceptions are a barrier to building more
plants. But the obstacles go far beyond public relations.
One of the most vexing is how to store waste that remain highly
radioactive for centuries.
In the United States, the proposed storage site at Yucca
Mountain in Nevada has failed to go forward. So U.S. plants are
storing reactor waste for decades, a task they were never
designed to do.
We need a solution for waste storage before adding nuclear
facilities.
Cost is another stumbling block. Although nuclear plants have an
advantage in fuel costs - especially with soaring prices for oil
and natural gas - the construction costs are enormous.
Nuclear power proponents argue that we must supply a financial
boost to start the next generation of nuclear power plants in
the United States.
There's already a substantial stepstool. Under a program
designed to encourage new investment in nuclear power plants,
for instance, a consortium called NuStart Energy Development is
set to tap $260 million in matching funds from the Department of
Energy.
For too long, the words "nuclear power" have been either toxic
or magic. Putting aside the rhetoric, there is real promise in
nuclear power for meeting our energy needs and reducing global
warming.
Copyright 2005, azcentral.com. All rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
22 Guardian Unlimited: Fire at Fla. Nuke Plant Causes Minor Leak
From the Associated Press
[UP]
Monday June 27, 2005 8:31 PM
MIAMI (AP) - Fire caused a small leak of coolant at a nuclear
plant early Monday but left its two reactors undamaged.
The sprinkler system at the Turkey Point power plant
extinguished the flames, which broke out several hours before
dawn in an area that was not near any nuclear equipment.
The blaze caused a leak that spilled 30 to 40 gallons of mineral
oil being used as a coolant in a transformer.
The plant's nuclear machinery, shielded by domes and concrete
barriers, was never endangered, but officials took one of the
reactors offline while the fire was investigated, said Bill
Swank, a spokesman for Florida Power and Light.
Turkey Point is on Biscayne Bay, some 25 miles south of Miami.
Guardian Unlimited Guardian Newspapers Limited 2005
*****************************************************************
23 [NYTr] German Oncologist Praises Cuba's Nuclear Medicine
Date: Mon, 27 Jun 2005 14:48:54 -0500 (CDT)
Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit
Agencia Cubana de Noticias (AIN)
http://www.ain.cubaweb.cu
German Professor Praises Nuclear Medicine Advances in Cuba
Havana, June 27 (AIN) Cuba's progress in the field of
biotechnology and molecular biology can be compared to that of
Europe and the United States, said Professor Hans Jurgen from
the University of Bonn, Germany.
Jurgen attended the First International Congress of Nuclear
Oncology, held June 24-26 in Havana, with the participation of
experts from Asia, Africa, the United States and Europe.
Professor Jurgen, the former president of the World Federation
of Nuclear Oncology, declared that Cuba has surpassed many
developing countries in dealing with health problems and
biotechnological solutions.
He congratulated the Cuban government for having taken the wise
decision to invest in molecular biology, whose results have
already had a significant impact in improving the national
health system. The German professor said the role played by
nuclear medicine when combined with radioisotope procedures,
chemo and x-ray therapy should also be highlighted.
The eminent professor spoke highly of the work carried out by
the Cuban government since 1959 in the field of medicine,
outlining its assistance to help train thousands of doctors from
other countries, an act of solidarity that contributes to the
development of a healthier world, he said.
Cuba's advances in oncology and nuclear medicine are worthy of
being known outside its borders, indicated the German
specialist. He further noted that Cuba has been a member of the
International Federation of Nuclear Oncology for 15 years,
together with other 19 countries.
*
================================================================
.NY Transfer News Collective * A Service of Blythe Systems
. Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us .
.339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012 http://www.blythe.org
.List Archives: https://olm.blythe-systems.com/pipermail/nytr/
.Subscribe: https://olm.blythe-systems.com/mailman/listinfo/nytr
================================================================
*****************************************************************
24 [du-list] More Evidence Indicts U.S.
Date: Mon, 27 Jun 2005 14:50:19 -0700
** Dahr Jamail's Iraq Dispatches **
** http://dahrjamailiraq.com **
More Evidence Indicts U.S.
Inter Press Service
Dahr Jamail
ISTANBUL, Jun 27 (IPS) - New evidence on U.S. war crimes and violations
of international law was presented at the concluding session of the
World Tribunal on Iraq at hearings in Istanbul Sunday.
The World Tribunal on Iraq (WTI) is a 'peoples' court' set up by
academics, human rights campaigners and non-governmental organisations
to take an independent look at the Iraq record of the United States and
other occupying powers such as Britain. The tribunal was inspired by the
Russel Tribunal of the Vietnam war days.
The three-day tribunal, the 21st in a series of meetings held over the
last two years, was held against a background of another spurt of
violence that left 41 people dead in bombings Sunday. The dead included
four U.S. soldiers, three of them women.
The tribunal says it derives its legitimacy from the fact that a war of
aggression was launched on Iraq "despite the opposition of people and
governments all over the world." It adds: "However, there is no court or
authority that will judge the acts of the U.S. and its allies. If the
official authorities fail, then authority derived from universal morals
and human rights principles can speak for the world."
The last sitting took place before a 'jury of conscience' that included
author Arundhati Roy and Francois Houtart who participated in the
Bertrand Russell War Crimes Tribunal on U.S. Crimes in Vietnam. In all
54 persons gave testimony on several aspects of the invasion and the
occupation of Iraq.
"The assault on Iraq is an assault on all of us: on our dignity, our
intelligence, and our future," Roy said at the hearings.. "We recognise
that the judgment of the World Tribunal on Iraq is not binding in
international law. However, our ambitions far surpass that. The World
Tribunal on Iraq places its faith in the consciences of millions of
people across the world who do not wish to stand by and watch while the
people of Iraq are being slaughtered, subjugated, and humiliated."
Denis Halliday, former assistant secretary-general of the United Nations
who resigned in protest against sanctions on Iraq said during his
testimony that "the UN silently accepted the totally illegal no-fly zone
bombing by the U.S../UK of Iraq culminating in softening up attacks
preliminary to the unlawful invasion of 2003."
Halliday said that "by these various means, the UN has itself destroyed
the basic human rights of the Iraqi people through the wilful neglect of
Articles 22-28 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The UN
failed to protect and safeguard the children and people before and after
the 2003 invasion."
Thomas Fasy, associate professor of pathology at the Mount Sinai School
of Medicine in New York, provided evidence of a seven-fold increase in
congenital malformations of Iraqi babies from 1990-2001.
Fasy also testified that childhood cancers and leukemia in children
below five in the Basra governorate increased 26-fold over 1990-2002.
Fadhil Al Bedrani, a BBC and Reuters journalist who was in Fallujah
during the November siege, provided evidence of collective punishment of
civilians by U.S. forces.
Iraqi women's rights supporter Hana Ibrahim said women suffer 90 percent
unemployment, and are often the victims of rape, lawlessness, forced
prostitution and kidnappings.
"From the day that the occupation started in Iraq there was a systematic
violation of women and their rights," she said.
Herbert Docena, researcher with the group 'Focus on the Global South'
who has studied Iraq's reconstruction and political transition pointed
to the economic and political forces behind the invasion and occupation
of Iraq.
"As early as February 2003, the U.S. had finished drafting what the Wall
Street Journal called 'sweeping plans to remake Iraq's economy in the
US's image'," Docena said. "Just as the U.S. bombed out and physically
obliterated almost all of Iraq's ministries, the plan entails the repeal
of almost all of its current laws and the dismantling of its existing
institutions, except those that already fit in with the U.S. design."
The jury in its ruling "recognised the right of the Iraqi people to
resist the illegal occupation of their country."
It recommended "immediate, unconditional withdrawal of all occupation
forces" and called on "the governments of the coalition to pay full
compensation to Iraqis for any and all damages, and that all laws,
contracts, treaties and institutions created under the occupation that
Iraqi people deem harmful or un-useful to them be banished."
Other recommendations included immediate investigation of crimes against
humanity by U.S. President George W. Bush, British Prime Minister Tony
Blair, and every other president of countries belonging to the coalition.
In addition, the jury called for a process of accountability to bring to
justice journalists and media outlets that lied and promoted the
violence against Iraq, as well as corporations who have profited from
the war.
_______________________________________________
More writing, photos and commentary at http://dahrjamailiraq.com
You can visit http://dahrjamailiraq.com/email_list/ to subscribe or
unsubscribe to the email list.
Iraq_Dispatches mailing list
http://lists.dahrjamailiraq.com/mailman/listinfo/iraq_dispatches
----------
No virus found in this outgoing message.
Checked by AVG Anti-Virus.
Version: 7.0.323 / Virus Database: 267.8.1/28 - Release Date: 6/24/05
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
To unsubscribe from this groups send a message to
du-list-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com. In the body of the message type
unsubscribe and send.
Yahoo! Groups Links
<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/du-list/
<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
du-list-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
*****************************************************************
25 Herald Sun: Deadly fuel for espionage
launchTime: 26-06-2005-->
28jun05
THE United States plans to produce highly radioactive plutonium
238 for the first time since the Cold War.
The New York Times reported that most, if not all, of the new
plutonium was intended for secret missions.
Government officials would not comment, but the newspaper said
plutonium had powered espionage devices in the past.
The Times said Timothy Frazier, a nuclear expert at the US
Energy Department, recently strongly denied any of the
classified missions would involve nuclear arms, satellites or
weapons in space.
"The real reason we're starting production is for national
security," Mr Frazier said.
Officials at the Energy Department did not return calls.
The program, which the newspaper said had raised concerns among
environmentalists, would produce 150kg over 30 years. The
program could cost $1.95 billion and generate more than 50,000
drums of hazardous and radioactive waste, federal officials
said.
Plutonium 238 is many times more radioactive than plutonium 239,
which is used in nuclear arms.
Medical experts say inhaling even a speck posed a serious risk
of lung cancer.
The newspaper said plutonium 238 had no central role in nuclear
arms, but was valued for its steady heat that could be turned
into electricity. Nuclear batteries made from it power
spacecraft to go where sunlight is too dim to energise solar
cells.
Experts unconnected to the project were quoted as saying the new
plutonium would likely power devices for espionage under the sea
and on land.
The US last made plutonium 238 in the 1980s and now relied on
stockpiles or imports from Russia, the newspaper said. It added
that under the agreement with Russia, the US could not use the
imports for military purposes.
Herald and Weekly Times
*****************************************************************
26 LW: Testing for depleted uranium in La. soldiers passes into law
www.louisianaweekly.com
By Jan Clifford, Contributing Writer
June 27, 2005
Louisiana became the first state in the nation to pass a bill to
give to all military veterans returning from Operations Enduring
Freedom and Iraqi Freedom the right to be tested for depleted
uranium (DU) contamination. The bill received unanimous
bipartisan support, and Governor Kathleen Babineaux Blanco
signed it into law on June 16.
The bill, Act 69, was introduced in the Louisiana State House of
Representatives by Rep. Juan LaFonta and co-sponsored by Rep.
Jalila Jefferson-Bullock. Retired Army Command Sgt. Maj. Bob
Smith, who served three tours of duty with the Green Berets
during the Vietnam War, is responsible for bringing the issue to
the attention of the legislature. Advocates testifying for the
bill were Smith of New Orleans and Army veteran Ward Reilly of
Baton Rouge.
"'Supporting the troops' means more than magnetic yellow ribbons
and plastic flags on SUVs - it also means truly caring about the
health and welfare of each and everyone one of our young women
and men in uniform," Smith said. "That is why we pushed for this
bill."
Among some military health experts, DU contamination is believed
to be responsible for the varieties of symptoms associated with
Gulf War Syndrome. They say it can cause leukemia, various other
cancers, DNA breakdown and an unusually high occurrence of
severe birth defects in offspring of soldiers who have come into
contact with it. Current mandatory testing by the Veterans
Administration and the Department of Defense has been shown to
be ineffective due to the lack of adequate testing procedures.
Smith hopes that the test will be a best practices
health-screening for exposure to DU and will include a procedure
involving sensitive methods capable of detecting DU at low
levels, using equipment with the capacity to discriminate
between radioisotopes in naturally occurring levels of uranium
and the far more harmful characteristics of DU. Specific details
of the test's adminsitration have not yet been determined, but
no state expenses will be incurred since the federal government
subsidizes the $170 test.
*****************************************************************
27 BostonHerald.com: Feds OK funds for radiation claims
By Associated Press
Monday, June 27, 2005 - Updated: 03:08 AM EST
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. - Two dozen workers or their survivors are
eligible to be compensated for claims they were sickened by
exposure to radiation at the Chapman Valve plant in Springfield,
according to the U.S. Department of Labor.
The department has given its preliminary approval to 24
claims filed by former plant workers or their relatives, making
them eligible for up to $150,000 in compensation, plus payments
for medical bills.
However, none of the claims will be paid until the
department gives them its final approval, The Republican of
Springfield reported yesterday.
``It should be a fairly rapid (approval) process,'' said
Shelby Hallmark, director of the agency's Office of Workers
Compensation.
Chapman Valve, which closed in 1988, milled uranium as part
of a federal nuclear power project after World War II. Earlier
this year, a federal study concluded that the plant was
contaminated by radioactive material until the early 1990s.
A total of 315 claims have been filed in connection with
the radioactive contamination at Chapman Valve, but 166 of those
already have been rejected by the labor department because a
worker wasn't employed by the plant while uranium was being
milled there during the late 1940s.
The 24 claims are the first to be approved. Another 122
claims remain under review, including one filed by James Pollard
of Chicopee, whose father worked at Chapman Valve for 25 years
and died of lung and skin cancer in the 1960s.
Pollard said he is frustrated by the delay in reviewing his
claim.
``It shouldn't have taken this long,'' he said. ``The
government had the resources to do this a lot faster. I think
they built up a lot of false hope in people.''
Copyright 2005 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This
*****************************************************************
28 [NYTr] Venezuela Dismisses "Jitters" over Its Nuclear Program
Date: Sat, 25 Jun 2005 03:04:23 -0500 (CDT)
Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit
Reuters via Yahoo - June 25, 2005
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=586&e=6&u=/nm/20050625/wl_nm/venezuela_nuclear_dc
Venezuela dimisses jitters over nuclear program
By Patrick Markey
Venezuela will pursue plans to develop nuclear technology for its
medical, industrial and oil sectors despite regional jitters over
possible cooperation with Iran, the science minister said.
Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez, a critic of the United States and an
ally of communist Cuba, met with wary reactions from South American
neighbors last month when he said he could acquire nuclear technology
with the possible help of Tehran.
But Science Minister Marlene Yadira Cordova dismissed as "rushed"
initial reaction to Venezuela's plan to develop atomic technology with
partners such as Iran, which Washington brands as part of an "axis of evil."
"In the scheme of alliances Venezuela has developed, any country where
we have the conditions for scientific and technological cooperation in
this area could be part of the process," Cordova told Reuters in a
recent interview.
"It could be used for industry and for continued medical uses, which the
country needs to support hospitals... and the third element is for
energy for the oil industry," she said.
Venezuela has backed Iran in its dispute with the United States and
Europe over Tehran's nuclear program. U.S. officials accuse Iran of
secretly working to produce nuclear arms, but Tehran says the program is
only for civilian energy uses.
Chavez said in May that Venezuela and other Latin American countries
such as Brazil and Argentina could develop nuclear energy as an
alternative power source.
But Brazil said it would likely not cooperate with Venezuela on nuclear
energy projects involving Iran. A Brazilian government official
described possible Iranian involvement as "risky" and pointed to
Brazil's energy projects with Argentina and the United States.
Chavez, a former soldier who has promised to fight poverty, says his
"new socialism" counters U.S. policies in Latin America and he has
strengthened ties with Iran, Russia and Cuba to move away from a
traditional reliance on Washington.
The firebrand Venezuelan leader says U.S. officials are plotting to oust
him. Washington dismisses his charges, but portrays Chavez as a
troublemaker in South America.
Cordova said Venezuela had closed down its RV1 nuclear reaction more
than 10 years ago and recently converted it to the Pegamma irradiation
plant for industrial and medical uses and for scientific study.
"We should within the next two years start building at least one other
irradiation plant," she said.
The minister said that technology could be used for food sterilization
and medical purposes. She said in the longer term Venezuela would study
possible use of nuclear energy in the processing and production of its
vast petroleum reserves.
Copyright ) 2005 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
*
================================================================
.NY Transfer News Collective * A Service of Blythe Systems
. Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us .
.339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012 http://www.blythe.org
.List Archives: https://olm.blythe-systems.com/pipermail/nytr/
.Subscribe: https://olm.blythe-systems.com/mailman/listinfo/nytr
================================================================
*****************************************************************
29 Las Vegas SUN: Columnist Jeff German: Hunt only one in GOP with guts
Columnist Jeff German: Hunt only one in GOP with guts
Jeff German's column appears Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays and
Sundays in the Sun. Reach him at german@lasvegassun.comor (702)
259-4067.
Lt. Gov. Lorraine Hunt has finally received that official White
House snub we've been expecting in the mail.
Three months after she wrote President Bush asking him to
abandon the stalled Yucca Mountain Project, Hunt has heard back
from the White House.
The president, a White House aide wrote, has no desire to turn
his back on the flawed multibillion-dollar project that aims to
store the nation's dangerous high-level nuclear waste in our
backyard.
"The fact remains that the U.S. needs a permanent geological
nuclear waste repository, and the administration will continue
to pursue that goal," said Ruben Barrales, a deputy assistant to
the president.
This is hardly surprising.
Just this week the Republican president, whom many regard as
being beholden to the wealthy nuclear industry lobby, was
publicly pushing for more nuclear power plants that will create
more deadly waste.
But don't worry, Barrales told Hunt, "President Bush is
committed to the safety, protection and health of the citizens
of Nevada as the development of the Yucca Mountain project is
pursued."
We're supposed to trust the president, like many of us did on
the campaign trail a few years ago, when he said he would base
his Yucca Mountain recommendation on "sound science."
We really got snookered on that one.
If Hunt didn't see the disingenuous nature of the White House
response at this point, she should have seen it when Barrales
said he was forwarding her letter to Energy Secretary Samuel
Bodman "for his review and further consideration."
Barrales might as well have tossed the letter in the
wastebasket, because that's what Bodman is likely to do with it.
In his brief tenure at the helm of the Energy Department,
Bodman has become the administration's staunchest Yucca Mountain
proponent.
He's the guy who turned a cold shoulder to Nevada congressional
leaders during a meeting in Washington last month.
Despite the existence of government e-mails suggesting
scientific evidence was rigged at Yucca Mountain, Bodman told
the delegation members that he's pressing ahead with the effort
to ram the nuclear waste dump down our throats.
Hunt, meanwhile, said she was disappointed in the White House
response.
She wouldn't criticize the president, but she said he's getting
bad advice from the people around him, including Bodman.
"I think Secretary Bodman's judgment on this issue is flawed,"
Hunt explained. "He needs to move up to the 21st Century."
Hunt, a Republican candidate for governor, said she's
dumbfounded that the administration continues to pursue an
"archaic" nuclear waste policy that dates back nearly 50 years.
Bob Loux, the state's chief Yucca Mountain watchdog, said he
sees the White House response as more evidence that the
president and his administration are in the "ultimate state of
denial.
"You've got a project that's dead out there," he said, "and
they're still under the illusion that it's going forward."
No one really expected that President Bush would actually
listen to Hunt -- even in the face of Yucca Mountain's recent
setbacks.
The president probably never even saw her letter.
But we do have something positive to take away from this
experience.
We know there's at least one elected Republican in this state
who isn't afraid to take this fight directly to the White House.
If only there were a few more.
*****************************************************************
30 Berkshire Eagle: Nuclear waste puzzle unsolved
By Christopher Marcisz, Berkshire Eagle Staff
ROWE -- Most of the structures at the former Yankee Rowe
nuclear power plant have been torn down, and the closing is
expected to be finished by the end of the year. But the site
remains home to several tons of high-level nuclear waste, a
costly legacy of the nuclear era.
At its meeting this month, the Yankee Rowe Citizen Advisory
Board officially changed its mission from overseeing the
demolition of the plant to monitoring the storage of the waste
there until the federal government lives up to its contractual
obligation to take the waste to a permanent waste dump.
Yankee Rowe was the third civilian reactor to open in the
United States, and it generated electricity for New England from
1960 to 1992. It is now home to 16 "dry cask" storage units
weighing about 1,700 tons and containing 533 fuel assemblies --
bundles of hollow steel rods that contain ceramic-coated pellets
of highly refined uranium.
"It is certainly my feeling it is in the best interest of
Yankee Rowe and lots of other people to have a permanent storage
solution," said Anne Skinner, who represents Williamstown on the
advisory board. "Right now, it doesn't represent a high risk in
the sense that the casks are quite sturdy and well-patrolled.
Nonetheless, you don't want it sitting there."
Community input
The board has met since 1998 to provide community input into
the decommissioning process. Its Berkshire County members are
Skinner, Anita Barker on behalf of Berkshire Regional Planning
Commission, North Adams City Councilor Gailanne Cariddi, and
Jana Hunkler Brule from the town of Florida.
The U.S. Department of Energy was supposed to take possession
of the waste and remove it to a permanent storage facility -- at
Yucca Mountain in Nevada. However, the Yucca Mountain project
has met numerous delays and will not be ready until 2012 at the
earliest. Until then, most nuclear waste remains at the site
where it was generated.
Yankee Rowe's parent company, Yankee Atomic, is owned by a
consortium of New England utilities. The costs of dismantling
the site, and the ongoing costs of maintaining and guarding the
fuel, are borne by their electric utility customers.
Yankee Atomic is among the parties to a lawsuit against the
federal government to recover some of the costs of storing the
fuel after the government failed to meet its contractual
obligation.
Yankee Atomic always keeps an eye on temporary waste storage
solutions. In May, Congress came close to approving a plan for
temporary storage. The House of Representatives' version of the
federal budget included calls for the Energy Department to put
together a plan for aboveground storage for reactor fuel at a
handful of federal laboratory and weapon sites in South
Carolina, Washington state and Idaho. The budget called for $10
million in funding, and the government was to begin accepting
the fuel by October 2006.
However, the idea was defeated earlier this month in the Senate.
Alternatives also are being pursued by the utility owners
themselves, including a consortium of private nuclear owners who
are seeking to create a temporary dump at Skull Valley Goshute
Indian reservation in Utah. And although Yankee Atomic is not
part of that plan, spokeswoman Kelley Smith said Yankee
certainly would consider something like that.
Keeping the material around presents a major logistical
challenge, and it is carefully monitored.
Officials in Vermont recently discovered that a 250-foot
retaining wall along the West Branch of the Deerfield River,
behind Readsboro General Store, was built with concrete blocks
from Yankee Rowe and is slightly radioactive. The blocks, which
are contaminated with the radioactive isotope tritium, were
taken from the plant site by the store's owner, with the
company's permission. State and federal health officials say the
wall poses no health risk.
Tests by the Vermont Department of Health show that the wall is
releasing 1 millirem of radioactivity a year above normal
background levels of radioactivity, which is estimated at 360
millirems a year.
Smith said Yankee Atomic discovered and reported the removal.
"It was a self-identified issue," she said. "We have stringent
regulations we have to abide by, and it was clear this was
licensed material, and we needed proper paperwork."
According to regulations, all material from the site is
"licensed material," which must be stored or disposed of at a
licensed site. Smith said they have filed a request for an
exemption with the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission so that
the wall can remain in place. The investigation is expected to
take several months.
And once a permanent site for the nuclear waste is decided on,
the issue of transportation will become more pressing. Advisory
board members said the topic has been discussed, but not in any
great detail.
Meanwhile, the demolition process will continue through the
summer with the demolition of pipes and other subsurface
materials. Grading work and planting are expected to start later
in the year.
According to plans, the company will continue to own the
1,800-acre site, but will lease much of it to the town for
recreational use. However, a 90-acre patch will remain the
interim home of the 16 spent nuclear fuel casks.
And although the amount of waste piles up at plants that are
still running -- more than 54,000 tons in 31 states -- the
question of what to do with it remains, even as the Bush
administration supports research into a new generation of
civilian nuclear power.
Administration officials have touted nuclear power's relative
cleanness -- it has no emissions -- and the potential of using
it as a possible source of hydrogen for emission-free vehicles.
On a visit to the Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant in
Maryland last Wednesday, Bush pointed out that no new plants
have been built in the United States since the 1970s, while in
that time France has built 58 and China has built eight and
plans on 40 more in the next 20 years.
"In the 21st century, our nation will need more electricity,
more safe, clean, reliable electricity," Bush said. "It is time
for this country to start building nuclear power plants again."
But Barker, who is on the Yankee Rowe board, said that without
a solution to the waste problem, the idea is misguided.
"They only talk about how clean nuclear power is, but they
don't talk about the end result," she said. "Until they have an
end result, I don't think nuclear is the answer."
Material from the Associated Press was used in this article.
Christopher Marcisz can be reached at or at (413) 664-4995.
June 27, 2005
(413) 447-7311
75 South Church Street
P.O.Box 1171
Pittsfield, MA 01202
*****************************************************************
31 Salt Lake Tribune: Update: Goshute tribe chair gets 3 years probation
Article Last Updated: 06/27/2005 08:47:15 PM
Leon Bear
Controversial Goshute tribal Chairman Leon Bear was
sentenced today by a federal judge to three years probation for
tax evasion.
U.S. District Judge Bruce Jenkins also ordered Bear to pay
restitution of $13,000 in back taxes and repay the tribe for
various duplicate stipends he received. The sentencing was part
of a plea bargain in April in which he agreed to plead guilty to
filing a false federal tax return. In exchange, the federal
government dropped five charges of embezzlement and fraud.
Bear's leadership of the tribe has been controversial because
he contracted with a consortium of utility companies to store
thousands of tons of nuclear waste on the reservation 45 miles
southwest of Salt Lake City. He also canceled a tribal election
in November at which some members were challenging his
leadership.
About a dozen dissidents heckled Bear as he left the federal
courthouse in downtown Salt Lake City, demanding an accounting of
missing funds and calling for an election they said would replace
him, according to The Associated Press. Lawrence Bear, a former
tribal chairman and uncle to Leon, said the tribe would hold a
new election July 9.
© Copyright 2005, The Salt Lake Tribune.
*****************************************************************
32 Salt Lake Tribune: Leon Bear learns his fate today
Article Last Updated: 06/27/2005 01:31:45 AM
By Judy Fahys The Salt Lake Tribune
['']
Leon D. Bear, the Goshute leader, pleaded guilty to an
income tax charge. (Francisco Kjolseth/The Salt Lake Tribune )
A federal judge is to decide today whether the leader of the
Skull Valley Goshute tribe goes to jail.
Leon D. Bear, 49, has pleaded guilty to a single charge of
cheating on his taxes, but his critics in the tiny American
Indian band say that no matter what the sentence, he still must
answer to his people in an election.
"He should be held accountable for all of his actions," said
tribal member Russell Allen.
Allen and other Skull Valley Goshutes have long accused Bear
of fleecing funds from tribal ventures, including a project to
store up to 4,000 containers of depleted nuclear-plant fuel on
the reservation about 45 miles southwest of Salt Lake City.
The critics have gone to federal agencies and the courts in
hopes of ousting Bear, and the state of Utah, which opposes the
nuclear waste project, has assisted with hundreds of thousands
of dollars in legal fees. So far, the opponents have failed to
block the multibillion-dollar venture.
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission could approve the
license this summer.
Bear did not respond to a call seeking comment on the
upcoming sentencing.
However, Skull Valley Band attorney Scott York said the
judge's decision today may help end the turmoil in the tribe. He
noted that Bear admitted guilt to a tax charge, not embezzling
tribal funds as alleged in three of the indictment's original
counts.
In an April plea agreement, the corruption charges pertaining
to $160,952 in tribal funds were dropped, along with two
tax-fraud charges.
In exchange, Bear pleaded guilty to filing a false tax return
for reporting to the IRS he was unemployed when he actually had
$67,168 in income from the tribe. He agreed to pay more than
$44,000, which includes $13,000 in back taxes and $25,242 to the
tribe in restitution for duplicate stipends he received.
Prosecutors said they would recommend penalties on the lower
end of federal sentencing guidelines. Those guidelines suggest
up to three years in jail, a $100,000 fine and a year of
supervised release.
"It really has nothing to do with his actions as tribal
chairman," York said, "so I think most [Skull Valley] members
think it doesn't really matter."
York said Bear "bit the bullet" in accepting the deal so the
tribe could move forward with projects that will mean more jobs,
improved housing and economic development opportunities.
"Poor Leon and [Vice Chairwoman] Lori [Skiby] have a huge
amount of work to do, and this has been a huge distraction,"
York said.
It seems unlikely, though, that the pressure on the Skull
Valley Goshutes will ease anytime soon. Bear's and Skiby's terms
ended in November, and two efforts at holding a new election have
failed.
Bear's critics say the chairman derailed the elections by
ending the meetings before a quorum could assemble. York
countered: "You just can't hold an election in the middle of a
fistfight."
Meanwhile, several tribal members who thought they had won an
election in 2001 were charged with stealing federal funds after
banks released money to the would-be Executive Committee
members. Two face criminal trial in September. The third faces
sentencing next month under a plea agreement.
In addition, Bear critic Margene Bullcreek recently renewed
her fight to end the infighting. She and five other Goshutes
filed a federal suit in March that would force the federal
government to block the waste project and back a new election.
"I'm not going to let up on him," said Bullcreek, who hopes
to read a statement at Bear's sentencing.
"He's a felon, and he still says [to tribal members] nothing
is going on."
It is not clear what might happen with the tribe's support
for the waste project if Bear is ousted. Although some Goshutes
oppose the project altogether, others have objected only to
Bear's handling of it, and some support it because of the
revenue it generates for tribal members.
Also planning to attend the sentencing are Rex and Mary
Allen, the brother and sister who signed the initial agreement
for the waste facility with Bear in 1997. Now Bear opponents,
they would have testified against Bear had the case gone to
trial.
Rex Allen, who asserts he still holds the title of tribal
secretary, hopes U.S. District Judge Bruce Jenkins imposes a
harsh sentence, he said, "not a slap on the wrist," so Bear "can
have time to think about what he has done to his people."
Mary Allen said she hoped Jenkins "thinks of tribal members"
as he decides Bear's punishment.
fahys@sltrib.com
© Copyright 2005, The Salt Lake Tribune.
*****************************************************************
33 Salt Lake Tribune: Huntsman pushes 'variable' flat tax
Article Last Updated: 06/26/2005 03:11:46 AM
Jon Huntsman, Jr, republican running for Utah Governor.
FAIRNESS CONCERN
In an effort to look out for Utah's poor, Gov. Jon Huntsman
Jr. is trying to change the vernacular of tax reform.
A task force of legislators and state officials is debating
the merits of a flat tax tied to eliminating the property tax
exemption for homes and ending the income tax deduction for
charitable donations. Huntsman says he prefers a "flatter"
income tax than the current state rate, but balks at some task
force members' suggestion of a 4 percent rate for every
taxpayer.
At his monthly televised KUED news conference Thursday,
Huntsman said he is worried a single income tax for all Utahns
would end up hurting low-income workers and benefiting the
wealthy. Instead, he supports a "variable" tax rate for
different income levels - a "fairer, simpler, flatter tax."
ONE TRY LEFT
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Monday denied Utah's
latest bid to block a license for a nuclear waste storage area
on the Skull Valley Indian reservation, rejecting the argument
that the waste could be stuck at the site permanently.
The unanimous ruling leaves the state just one remaining
avenue to challenge - over the risk of a fighter jet crash - and
moves the commission a step closer to a decision on granting a
license to Private Fuel Storage, a group of electric utilities
seeking to store 44,000 tons of waste on the Skull Valley
reservation until a permanent dump is opened.
Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr.'s general counsel, Mike Lee, said he
expects the NRC's final determination by the end of the summer.
SOCIAL SECURITY
A Salt Lake City man has been cited for driving under the
influence of drugs and alcohol and could face charges of
automobile homicide for his role in an accident June 18 that
sparked a chain of events that killed five people and injured
several more.
The citation is not the first for Andrew Eugene Hooper, who
has been charged with driving under the influence of drugs or
alcohol at least two other times, court records show.
He was charged with DUI and reckless driving in 1986. He was
charged again with DUI 10 years later.
He was ordered to take Antabuse - an anti-drinking medication
- for the 1996 charge, though a doctor argued the drugs were
harmful to his system and the order was removed.
Hooper, 62, has also been cited three times for driving on a
denied or suspended license.
In addition to the traffic violations, he has a history of
assault and domestic violence, according to court records.
© Copyright 2005, The Salt Lake Tribune.
*****************************************************************
34 Tri-Valley Herald: Lab awaits supercomputer
Article Last Updated: 06/27/2005 02:46:44 AM
Lawrence Livermores new machine will be roughly equivalent to
60,000 desktops
By Ian Hoffman, STAFF WRITER
Scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Labratory will rule the
supercomputing world for the next year or more with the fastest
machine on the planet getting even faster and another
supercomputer on the way.
By the end of the year, the nuclear-weapons lab will house more
computational power than the worlds top five machines combined
and be halfway to the next frontier something called a
petaflop, or the ability to do a million billion calculations
every second.
But IBM is close behind, keeping the worlds second-fastest
machine at its Thomas Watson Research Center and loaning its
power out to academics and the government. It is the first time
in years that a private entity challenged the usual primacy of
defense science and academia for the upper echelons of the
computing world.
A machine at NASAs Ames Research Center
in Mountain View called
Columbia and made by Silicon Graph-
ics came in third in rankings released Wednesday at the
International Supercomputing Conference in Heidelberg.
Every computer in the global top 500 runs at more than a
trillion calculations per second, a sign that massive computer
simulation is now ubiquitous in a way unthinkable in the 1990s.
Scientists and engineers use supercomputers for everything from
testing new jet airliners and finding oil deposits to predicting
the weather and modeling the Gordian knots of proteins.
One of the original problems that drove the rise of
supercomputing the simulation of the complex physics in the
detonation of a nuclear weapon is putting Livermore on top,
with only half of its Blue Gene L machine running at 136.8
teraflops or a trillion calculations a second.
By late August, scientists anticipatethe experimental machine
will hit its 360-teraflop peak operational power, roughly
equivalent to 60,000 of the latest desktops all running pieces of
the same problem simultaneously.
It soon will be joined by a more mainstream and general-purpose
IBM supercomputer known as Purple, running at 100 teraflops.
Weapons scientists have been planning and waiting more than a
decade for Purple. For the first time, they will have a
workhorse machine capable of simulating a detonating H-bomb in
great detail and three dimensions.
Even running at Purples full speed, the simulation will take a
month to calculate an explosion that lasts millionths of a
second.
For now, said Livermore assistant chief of advanced computing
technology Mark Seager, we cant do button-to-boom (simulations)
in 3D.
The two machines Blue Gene L white-tiled floors in their own
building, equipped to deliver 12 megawatts of power to the
computers and their massive chillers.
Scientists will focus Blue Gene L on some of the toughest
problems in nuclear-weapons science, starting with analog
simulations. The machine now is simulating what happens to the
heavy metal tantalum at extreme pressures and temperatures (like
plutonium in the first stage of an atom bomb) and exploding
stars (featuring the same turbulent radiation and thermonuclear
burn as an H-bomb.)
Our expectation is that when we field Blue Gene for the
(weapons) program, it wont be a production machine but it will
run problems that are run nowhere else on the planet, Seager
said. Its kind of like looking at the top speed of a sports car
vs. the top speed of a bus. If you want to get the football
team to
the stadium, you could take multiple trips in the sports car but
you really want the bus.
The worlds second fastest machine, a smaller version of
Livermores Blue Gene running at an IBM research lab in New York,
boasts nearly the same speed as Purple, the closest that private
industry has come to matching the computer power devoted to
nuclear weapons.
Known as Blue Gene W, it is running several problems at once,
including a simulation of a protein folding, explorations of new
semiconductor materials and looking for greater efficiencies in
various businesses. IBM is making some processing time on the
machine free to researchers in academia and the U.S. Department
of Energys labs.
IBM vice president Tilak Agerwala said the computer helped one
limousine company figure out how to save money.
More and more, what you find is that our work in life sciences
and these other areas also helps us set up collaborations with
other companies in these areas, he said.
By doing the kind of simulations that academics, drug companies
and the financial markets do, IBM expects to refine its software
and its computers to those tasks, making smaller Blue Genes
attractive to buyers.
Some of this is just doing good science in areas that IBM thinks
will be important, Agerwala said.
2005 ANG Newspapers
*****************************************************************
35 California Aggie: Fraudulent purchasing at Los Alamos
June 27, 2005
By BRIAN CHEN / Aggie Campus Editor
Los Alamos National Laboratory has accused two of its
employees of committing illegal purchasing activities — just
four months after the federal court sentenced two former lab
employees for being part of a purchasing scandal, LANL announced
Wednesday.
One employee is accused of purchasing $3,000 worth of gasoline
for his or her acquaintances with the lab’s credit card, which
is meant for buying gas for LANL vehicles.
The other employee is accused of being part of a payment scam,
which involves the collection of payment for fraudulent
purchases.
LANL is currently working with police on the case and will
disclose details after the investigation is completed on
Wednesday.
The incident follows a purchasing scandal in 2002 that
resulted in the jail sentencing of former lab employees Peter
Bussolini and Scott Alexander in February 2005.
Bussolini and Alexander were accused of placing thousands of
dollars’ worth of orders on the lab’s account, including
television sets, vacuum cleaners, automobile tires and hunting
gear.
U.S. District Judge James Parker sentenced Bussolini to half a
year in prison, followed by half a year of house arrest and
$30,000 in fines.
Alexander was sentenced to one year and a day in prison.
1995 - 2005 by The California Aggie. All rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
36 lamonitor.com: Group renews LANL document retrieval project
The Online News Source for Los Alamos
ROGER SNODGRASS, , Monitor Assistant Editor
The durable project to gather and evaluate environmental
documents at Los Alamos National Laboratory is again up and
running.
"We've been on a hiatus for a while, but we started back in
again in February," said Tom Widner of ChemRisk, the team leader.
The Los Alamos Historical Document Retrieval and Assessment
(LAHDRA) team of contractors and the managers from the National
Center for Environmental Health of the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention held a workshop and a public meeting in
Pojoaque Friday.
The project to document past environmental releases of
radionuclides and chemicals ran out of time and money last year,
and there was some question about whether the work could be
finished. But then a new contract, good for as many as five
years, was signed in September 2004.
At the meeting, project officials were upbeat about
significantly improved relations with the laboratory.
"Now that it's a full-fledged project, they've built an
organization around it supporting us," Widner said.
Many of the previous challenges have resolved and Widner hopes
to accomplish the document review in the first couple of years,
so they can turn more quickly to the analysis.
C.M. Wood of CDC said the appeals process, by which some
documents were withheld from review because they were in a
restricted category, was now working well.
"Here is a document that clearly contains design information
about a nuclear weapon," Wood said, as an example. "But it
contained a nugget of buried information like, 'blew up some
amount of plutonium with some of amount of dynamite.'"
That's exactly the phrase researchers needed to know, and under
the new system in which a Q-cleared federal employee can dig it
out, that type of information is now accessible. There were
three such documents last year, but none this year.
"The appeals business is no longer an issue," Wood said.
Widner said the same applied to other snags. More researchers
can now work in more locations at once. One of the key
databases, that of the legal counsel, has now been made
available.
Kathy DeLucas of the LANL Public Affairs Office attended the
public meeting. Afterward, she said the lab was working hard to
provide the access the project members needed, as well as the
scanning, copying and document review to keep the data flowing.
"We increased staffing and made it a formal project office," she
said.
The project's accumulating database that enables researchers to
delve into specific historical issues is now available at
Northern New Mexico Community College and at Mesa Public
library, soon to be extended to the State Library and Santa Fe
Community College.
Widner said he has tried to respond to requests to make the
information available over the Internet, but that the Department
of Labor has resisted for security reasons.
One controversial finding also seems headed toward a process for
reaching agreement.
The LAHDRA interim report, prepared as a provisional statement,
before the project's continuation was assured, found evidence in
soil measurements of between 10 to 100 times more plutonium
having been released than the laboratory's own historical
accounts have estimated.
In a letter to the CDC project scientist in May 2004, the
laboratory officials objected to "serious deficiencies in the
analysis." Their criticism had to do with the report's
conclusion based on relatively few samples that may not have
been representative, as well as a set of assumptions relating to
rainfall variation and the dispersion model used by LAHDRA. They
also called for an independent technical review before CDC
published such information.
Widner agreed with the need to re-examine the question and said
LANL and LAHDRA will sit down and go over everything.
"The data is pretty sparse," he said. "But the challenge is to
get more data and take more samples."
While the laboratory began operations in 1943, the report noted,
"LANL kept no records of effluent measurements before 1951." And
even those were of poor quality. In those early years Los Alamos
Science Laboratory, as it was then called, had the lead in
producing the nation's nuclear weapons components.
"We're all going to get together and see how the calculations
were made, how they came up with the numbers and figure out how
to resolve the difference," DeLucas said.
2003 Los Alamos Monitor All Rights Reserved.
*****************************************************************
37 lamonitor.com: Oak Ridge remembers its role in Manhattan Project
The Online News Source for Los Alamos
ANNA LEE BEYER, Roane County (Tennessee) Newspapers
OAK RIDGE, Tenn. - Colleen Frahm came to East Tennessee from a
tiny town in Minnesota in the 1940s to contribute to an effort
that would change history, but like thousands of her peers, she
wouldn't know what her work meant until it was revealed to the
rest of the world at the height of World War II.
Working as a chemical analyst at the Y-12 plant, Frahm met James
Lockmiller, the man who would become her husband.
Lockmiller's work in the Secret City began with the Anderson
County/Roane County Security Force, a military police-like force
protecting the government's interests in Oak Ridge. In 1944, he
too went to work at Y-12, an enormous plant where 22,000 workers
were secretly separating uranium isotopes in a massive effort to
be the first nation to develop an atomic bomb.
James Lockmiller and his son, Randy, still residents of Oak
Ridge, joined thousands of people last weekend in visiting the
Secret City Memorial Walk, where many Manhattan Project workers
like the Lockmillers are memorialized.
"I came here today to honor my father and mother," Randy
Lockmiller said.
Locating the plaques on the memorial walk that bear James and
Colleen Lockmiller's names, Randy Lockmiller and his father
visited the monument without Colleen, who died two years ago.
The Secret City Festival in Oak Ridge drew thousands of people
over the weekend - many from the Lockmillers' generation who had
a hand in building the city and its secret work and many from
younger generations who came to learn what the secrets were all
about.
Almost 60 years since the United States dropped atomic weapons
on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, to end World War II, visitors
to Oak Ridge got a glimpse of what life was like for the tens of
thousands of people who lived in a city that wasn't supposed to
exist from 1942 to 1949.
"On June 17, 1945, about 74,000 of us 75,000 Oak Ridgers had
absolutely no inkling of the climax we were about to reach,"
said former Manhattan Project worker and Secret City historian
Bill Wilcox at the dedication of the memorial walk this June 17.
"One more day we went to work to do our little job."
Young men and women, tradesmen and scientists came to Oak Ridge
in the early 1940s for work and learned to live under very
unusual circumstances.
"It was a bizarre community," Wilcox said. "Ph.D.s lived next to
construction workers, an Army colonel lived next to a G.I.,"
Wilcox said.
Workers were allowed to bring one suitcase with them and were
housed in trailers, huts measuring 16 feet by 16 feet and
dormitory-style apartments.
In the documentary "Secret City: The Oak Ridge Story" which
premiered to soldout crowds at the festival, former worker
Joanne Gailor described the orientation process she went through
when she first came to Oak Ridge.
"They asked us would we tell on our husband, brother or father
if he revealed any project information," she said.
Security and secrecy were evident in every part of work and life
at Oak Ridge during that time.
Workers did not have telephones, could not travel outside of Oak
Ridge, and even within the city's boundaries, fences and guards
were everywhere.
These thousands of people were employed at one of three
government facilities - Y-12, K-25 and X-10.
With the exception of Y-12, which continues to be the site of
highly protected work after 60 years, last weekend's visitors
were allowed to tour parts of the facilities and see how Oak
Ridge made it onto maps by enriching uranium and producing
plutonium that ultimately led to the worlds first atomic bombs.
On the X-10 site, now known as Oak Ridge National Lab, a bit of
pre-Oak Ridge settlement still exists as a reminder that
families and small communities were displaced when the
government bought this 94-square-mile plot of land.
New Bethel Baptist Church stands as it did before the 1940s.
Instead of tearing it down, Manhattan Project officials used it
as a meeting place during the project.
Also ORNL, the world's first nuclear reactor - now a museum
exhibit - stands just as it did when it ceased to operate in
1963, said tour guide Jim Alexander.
Bart Jennings, with the Southern Appalachia Railway Museum, led
visitors on a train tour of the K-25 site and nearby countryside.
The rail played a big role in Oak Ridge's success, and its
activity sparked early speculation about the hundreds of freight
cars which delivered to the city 24 hours a day, leaving empty.
Jennings said the people of Wheat (as the K-25 site was known
before the government purchased it) had two weeks to move from
the land when it was bought. A few years previously, those same
families had been displaced from Norris to make way for a TVA
project, he said.
Festival activities throughout the weekend brought a bit of WWII
life to modern Oak Ridge.
The American Museum of Science and Energy was a hub for war-era
children's games, swing dancing, live broadcast of a 1940s radio
show and its permanent Oak Ridge history exhibits.
Twice on Saturday, Bissell Park was transformed into a
battlefield as men in WWII uniforms re-enacted a battle from the
war.
Even now, the secrets of Oak Ridge are protected by the
complexity of what went on there 60 years ago, the fading memory
of the town's earliest history and the enduring reluctance of
former Manhattan Project workers to reveal the details of their
experiences.
2003 Los Alamos Monitor All Rights Reserved.
*****************************************************************
38 ABQjournal: Air, Dirt at LANL Get OK
the Albuquerque Journal newspaper.
Saturday, June 25, 2005
Air, Dirt at LANL Get OK
Albuquerque Journal--> By Adam Rankin
Journal Staff Writer
A federal report says there's nothing to be concerned about
when it comes to breathing the air or even eating the dirt at
Los Alamos National Laboratory and the surrounding area.
The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, which
evaluates the country's most polluted waste sites, based its
findings at the six-decades-old nuclear weapons research lab on
a review of environmental monitoring data gathered at LANL from
1980 to 2001.
The Atlanta-based agency's report concludes that after
assessing possible exposure pathways at the lab via the ground
water, surface soil, surface water, sediment, air and plants,
and animals "that no harmful exposures are occurring or are not
expected to occur in the future," even though some high levels
of radionuclides and chemical hazards exist in LANL's canyons
and old dumping grounds.
The report says its authors used conservative estimates to
gauge health effects, for example using the highest measured
values for contaminates at LANL and assuming the same level
could be found in a residential yard in Los Alamos.
Ingesting sediment at LANL was one of the scenarios
considered in the report.
The agency "identified dermal contact and incidental
ingestion of contaminated surface water and sediment during
recreation by adults and children as a possible exposure
scenario," according to the report.
But investigators still found no adverse health effects
even when assuming contact and ingestion was with the highest
levels measured.
LANL spokeswoman Kathy DeLucas said the report confirms
what the lab's environmental staff has been saying for years.
At least one LANL environmental watchdog group, however,
isn't buying the conclusions and is concerned the study's
authors didn't seek input from any sources beyond LANL and the
federal Department of Energy.
Amy Williams of Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety said
the report appears to be at odds with other studies on
environmental problems at the lab where barrels of radioactive
tritium and transuranic waste along with some hazardous
chemicals have been buried for decades by the New Mexico
Department of Environment and others.
"I don't know how, given all the contradictory statements,
how we can really believe it at this point," Williams said.
The analysis used DOE and lab monitoring data and doesn't
include results gathered following the massive 2000 Cerro Grande
wildfire. The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry
conducted a separate analysis on the possible health effects of
the fire, which burned portions of LANL and caused widespread
public concern over potential radiological and hazardous
chemical releases.
But according to the Agency for Toxic Substances and
Disease Registry findings at the time, the fire posed no short-
or long-term hazards associated with releases of either
radionuclides or chemical contaminants.
Williams said Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety is also
worried the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry
didn't appear to seek input from others before releasing its
draft report and that groups were not notified of the report's
imminent release.
"It kind of came out of nowhere in a lot of ways," she said.
Michael Brooks, an Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease
Registry health physicist and lead author of the LANL public
health assessment, said in a phone interview Friday that local
residents and neighbors surrounding the nuclear weapons research
laboratory really don't have anything to worry about.
"From what we've seen, they shouldn't," he said. "The only
thing that we have been able to find at the site or in the
community around the site was in the Los Alamos County water
supply some of their supply wells have elevated levels of
fluoride, sodium and other things that are naturally occurring."
Brooks said some of those levels are a bit high. "This is
clearly not coming from the site, this is just something that
could be a health problem," Brooks said.
The report recommends that people in the Los Alamos area on
a low-sodium diet should consult with their health-care
providers about monitoring their sodium intake.
A draft version of the LANL public health assessment is now
available for public review and comment through Aug. 8. Copies
of the report are being held at the Santa Fe Public Library, the
Department of Energy Community Relations Office in Los Alamos,
and the Northern New Mexico Citizens Advisory Board office in
Santa Fe.
Copyright Albuquerque Journal
Steve@abqjournal.com
*****************************************************************
39 ABQjournal: Lab Visit Invigorates Team Leader for UC
Albuquerque Journal newspaper.
Friday, June 24, 2005
Albuquerque Journal--> By Adam Rankin
Journal Staff Writer
The head of the University of California and Bechtel
National team preparing for the competition to manage Los Alamos
National Laboratory visited with Los Alamos community and
business leaders on Thursday to gather input that he said will
help shape the team's bid to run the lab.
"It was invigorating," said Michael Anastasio, director of
the UC-run Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and head of
the UC-Bechtel team now about halfway through preparations on
their bid for the $2.2 billion LANL contract.
Anastasio was in Los Alamos for a long day of interviews
and meetings with state lawmakers, local business leaders,
neighboring pueblos and others, gathering input on how they
would like to see the next manager handle a variety of issues
from environmental cleanup to economic development.
"It became clear to me that there are a lot of very
successful things that are going on right now that we can build
on," Anastasio said about community programs already under way
at LANL.
The trip was important, Anastasio said, to get detailed
feedback from the community for the development of the
UC-Bechtel proposal to run LANL.
Those proposals are due to the Department of Energy by July
19. DOE is expected to make a decision on the next LANL manager
by November. The new manager will begin Dec. 1, transitioning to
full control by June 1.
UC-Bechtel is competing against Lockheed Martin, which has
partnered with the University of Texas. Lockheed manages Sandia
National Laboratories for DOE.
Anastasio said the UC-Bechtel team is focused on
demonstrating through the proposal its expertise in science and
technology research and business management and nuclear safety.
"We are a team that can really integrate all those things
together to enable the science and the scientists to unburden
themselves, so they can focus their creativity and innovation on
the missions of the laboratory," he said. "We want to build a
proposal for the laboratory that can deliver on its commitments,
be a positive force in the community and provide a capacity for
the country that serves now and into the future."
Beyond that, Anastasio said the next manager of LANL will
have to anticipate a decade from now "what the country might
need that they don't know to ask for."
Copyright Albuquerque Journal
Steve@abqjournal.com
*****************************************************************
40 Guardian Unlimited: DOE to Resume Production of Plutonium-238
From the Associated Press
[UP]
Monday June 27, 2005 10:16 PM
By H. JOSEF HEBERT
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Energy Department is moving to resume
production of plutonium-238 as an energy source for spacecraft
and some national security activities, because existing supplies
will be virtually gone in five years.
The department said a decision on production of plutonium-238,
reaffirmed last year, ``will not be revisited'' and that
production activities should be consolidated at the government's
Idaho National Laboratory to increase security.
A final decision on consolidation is expected later this year by
Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman, department spokesman Mike
Waldron said Monday.
But Waldron reiterated that the decision to resume production of
plutomiun-238 was made years ago and reaffirmed last year
because it has become clear current stocks of the unique isotope
will be depleted shortly after 2010.
Plutonium-238 is not used for nuclear weapons, but its steady,
virtually infinite release of heat during decay makes the
isotope valuable as a heat source to produce electricity in
spacecraft and for some satellites that are unable to rely on
the sun as an energy source. It is many times more radioactive
than weapons-grade plutonium-239, however, and ingesting a speck
can be fatal.
The United States stopped producing plutonium-238 when it shut
the last weapons reactor at the Savannah River complex in South
Carolina in the mid-1990s. Instead it has relied on existing
stockpiles and a supply provided by Russia that is limited to
use by NASA in the space program.
Currently the government has about 87 pounds of plutonium-238
but expects all but 14 pounds to be used up by 2010 including
about 55 pounds for national security related programs.
``These power systems have been used for the past 30 years, and
we expect that their need will continue,'' Waldron told The
Associated Press. ``Production of plutonium-238 is critical if
the United States is to continue its leadership in areas of
space exploration and provide for certain classified security
operations. ...''
A draft environmental analysis concludes that consolidation of
the program at the Idaho research lab would not cause additional
health concerns from radiation releases and have minimal impact
on the environment. It also would end the need to transport
plutonium-238 over highways.
``The EIS clearly shows the environmental impact ... would be
far less than resuming production at three sites around the
country,'' said Waldron. Under the plan, activities that
otherwise would be at the Oak Ridge facility in Tennessee and
the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico would be
shifted to the Idaho site.
The new complex, if approved, would be expected to be finished
by 2009 and cost as much as $300 million. Plans call for making
11 pounds of plutonium-238 a year over 35 years.
Some area residents in Idaho and adjacent Wyoming have raised
concerns about resuming plutonium production at the Idaho
National Laboratory, a vast complex that covers 570,000 acres in
southeastern Idaho, about 34 miles west of Idaho Falls.
In a series of hearings last year on the plan, dozens of Idaho
residents opposed the consolidation for fear it would increase
cancer deaths, threaten the nearby Yellowstone ecosystem and
make the region a potential terrorist target.
In fact, the government's main argument for consolidation is
that the Idaho facility affords greater security.
``They refused to look at how many dead and diseased Americans
would be affected by a terrorist strike at this facility,'' said
Peter Rickards of Twin Falls, about 160 miles west of the site.
Jeremy Maxand, director of the nuclear watchdog group Snake
River Alliance in Boise, said Monday, ``Everybody is downwind
from the Idaho National Laboratory. There is no safe place to
put this stuff.''
^---
AP reporter Christopher Smith contributed to this report from
Boise.
^---
On the Net:
For look at EIS: www.consolidationeis.doe.gov
Idaho National Laboratory: www.inel.gov
Guardian Unlimited Guardian Newspapers Limited 2005
*****************************************************************
NOTE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107 this
material is distributed without profit or payment to those who
have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for
non-profit research and educational purposes only. For more
information go to:
*****************************************************************