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NUCLEAR POLICY
1 IRNA: Tehran to host national nuclear conference -
2 Xinhua: Unacceptable EU proposal will impair nuclear talks: Iran
3 Annan Commends Participants For Resumption Of Six-party Talks On Kor
4 IPS-English NORTH KOREA: Nuke-free Korean Peninsula is our
5 Guardian Unlimited: Nuclear Talks Open After N. Korea Boycott
6 Guardian Unlimited: U.S., China Press for N. Korea Nukes Deal
7 Guardian Unlimited: U.S., China Happy With N. Korea Talks
8 BBC: Mood upbeat at North Korea talks
9 AFP: US and North Korea hold another bilateral meeting -
10 Reuters: Beijing venue for N.Korea talks shrouded in secrecy
11 Reuters: N.Korea crisis talks resume with hope for progress
12 Reuters: EU holds out aid promise to North Korea
13 BBC: N Korea and US negotiators meet
14 Guardian Unlimited: Korean Peninsula Key Issue for Nuke Talks
15 US: [NukeNet] SUCCESS!: More Needed Now: Lobby Day Success--but
16 US: [NukeNet] Lobby Day Success--but more action needed now
17 [NYTr] Sponsoring Nuclear Proliferation: The US & India
18 US: Guardian Unlimited: Lawmakers Near Agreement on Energy Bill
19 Rediff: India: Do we really need the nuclear deal with the US?
20 Khaleej Times: Pakistan for nuclear cooperation with US
21 US: Political Affairs Magazine: How to Lobby Congress With a Hammer
22 US: Reuters: US negotiators finish work on energy bill
23 US: Reuters: US lawmakers to add tax package to energy bill
24 Annan Welcomes Seven-nation Nuclear-non-proliferation Initiative
25 Canada's complicity w/ BMD: Straightgoods.com
26 MSN-Mainichi Daily News: Years On: Looking back at the end of World
NUCLEAR REACTORS
27 US: [NukeNet] Fwd: [Know_Nukes] Exelon CEO Says Merger Will Save
28 US: San Luis Obispo Tribune: Raising nuclear plant quality
29 AU ABC: Environment centre rejects Govt's nuclear support
30 Xinhua: Nuclear industry to seek foreign investment
31 US: NRC: In the Matter of FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Company, Dav
32 US: Reuters: Entergy's Vermont Yankee nuclear plant shut
33 US: Vermont Guardian: Backup power delayed after Vermont Yankee shut
34 US: Guardian Unlimited: Energy Deal Has Tax Breaks for Companies
NUCLEAR SECURITY
35 RIA Novosti: Emergency drills at nuclear facility in Murmansk
NUCLEAR SAFETY
36 [NYTr] 60 Years After Hiroshima, US Wants New Generation of
37 US: NRC: NRC Announces Opportunity for Hearing on License Applicatio
38 US: Vermont Guardian: Baby teeth sought for radiation study
39 US: Discovery Channel: Nuclear Bomb Fallout Used to Date Cells
40 US: NRC: In the Matter of AVI Food Systems, Inc.; Confirmatory Order
41 US: WGRZ Nuke Workers Get Resource Center
42 US: AU ABC: Gallop defends stance on nuclear exports.
NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE
43 US: Plant waste may increase
44 US: Nukes on Native Land
45 US: Guardian Unlimited: Crews to Move Tons of Utah Toxic Waste
46 US: Deseret News: Celebrities protest plan for Goshute N-dump
47 US: ABQJOURNAL: NRC Judge Sides with Mining Company
48 US: Salt Lake Tribune: DOE details plan to ship tailings by rail
49 US: Salt Lake Tribune: Uranium mining makes a comeback
50 US: NRC: In the Matter of Private Fuel Storage, L.L.C. (Independent
51 US: KRQE: WIPP no longer in running for underground lab
52 US: RedNova News: Russian Atomic Energy Chief Sees Spent Fuel Import
53 US: NRDC: Scientists Say Perchlorate a Potential Threat to Thyroid
54 Nevada Appeal: Come clean on Yucca Mountain application
55 US: Newsday.com: OK for radioactive soil shipments to resume
56 US: CounterPunch: David Swanson: Nuking Native Land
57 US: American Chronicle: Nuclear Waste May Pass Through 45 States
58 US: azcentral.com: Artists, Activists protest nuclear waste dump in
PEACE
59 US: Gallup Independent: No nukes; Navajo Council passes legislation
US DEPT. OF ENERGY
60 Rocky Mountain News: CU bids for Los Alamos
61 Rocky Mountain News: Salazar resolves Flats flap
62 DOE: Environmental Management Site-Specific Advisory Board, Oak Ridg
63 PiSJ: INL plutonium-production meeting slated today
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FULL NEWS STORIES
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1 IRNA: Tehran to host national nuclear conference -
Tehran, July 26, IRNA
Iran-Conference-Research
The Majlis Research Center is to hold a national nuclear
conference aimed at studying the process of Iran's ongoing
nuclear talks, on August 1, the Information Department of the
center reported on Tuesday.
In the one-day conference titled "Iran's Nuclear Technology; A
Test of National Will", the participants will exchange views on
Iran-EU nuclear talks, the progress Iran has made in nuclear
field and the potentials of domestic manpower, said the report.
According to the report, some nuclear experts, analysts, MPs
and lecturers will take part in the conference scheduled to be
held next week.
While Iran and the EU-3 -- Germany, France and Britain -- are
preparing the ground to resume nuclear talks, Tehran will host
an independent nuclear conference to assess the future of
nuclear programs.
15:06 Tuesday July 26,
Back Next news Previous news
*****************************************************************
2 Xinhua: Unacceptable EU proposal will impair nuclear talks: Iran
www.xinhuanet.com
www.chinaview.cn 2005-07-26 19:40:54
TEHRAN, July 26 (Xinhuanet) -- Iran's chief nuclear
negotiator Hassan Rowhani has warned that a European nuclear
proposal unwelcome to Iran would impair the ongoing nuclear
talks, the official IRNA news agency reported on Tuesday.
"Keeping in mind prevailing realities, we have reminded the
European Union (EU) of our minimum expectations, and I hope the
decision they make would not waste the fruits of our mutual
efforts," Rowhani was quoted as saying.
The negotiator made the comments in an exclusive interview
with IRNA shortly after he arrived in Johannesburg, South
Africa, Monday afternoon on an official visit.
Rowhani noted that the EU would present a nuclear proposal
aimedto solve the Iranian nuclear issue by the end of July or in
early August.
"Iran would wait for European countries' comprehensive
cooperation proposal. If that proposal would be arranged in a
way to face Iran's rejection, we might be faced with new
conditions," he said.
Rowhani also expressed hope that the ongoing bilateral
nuclear talks would not be influenced by the upcoming
inauguration of Iran's new cabinet.
"It will not be acceptable for us if the EU would intend to
let the result of Iran's recent presidential elections influence
our nuclear talks, and furthermore, they should respect what is
the choice of the Iranian nation in a free and fair election,"
he said.
"The two sides have reached a relatively satisfactory point
now,and I hope we would be able to witness the fruits of our
mutual efforts in the future," Rowhani added.
Iran and the EU have been negotiating over Tehran's nuclear
project since Iran suspended its uranium enrichment activities
in November 2004 to avoid a referral of its nuclear case to the
UN Security Council.
The EU promised in late May to make a comprehensive proposal
in two months, including a package of economic and political
incentives, to solve the Iranian nuclear issue. It hopes to
encourage Iran to permanently halt the enrichment.
However, Tehran insists that it will never give up legal
rights for the peaceful use of nuclear power.
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, a hardliner winning a landslide victory
in Iran's presidential election in June, will come into power on
Aug. 4, which has raised wide worries over the prospect of the
diplomatic solution to the Iranian nuclear issue.
The United States has accused Iran of secretly developing
nuclear weapons, but Tehran rejected the charge as politically
motivated. Enditem
Copyright ©2003 Xinhua News Agency. All rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
3 Annan Commends Participants For Resumption Of Six-party Talks On Korean Peninsula
Date: Tue, 26 Jul 2005 15:06:53 -0400
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ANNAN COMMENDS PARTICIPANTS FOR RESUMPTION OF SIX-PARTY TALKS ON
KOREAN PENINSULA
New York, Jul 26 2005 3:00PM
Secretary-General Kofi Annan warmly welcomed the resumption of the
six-party talks in Beijing on the Democratic Peoples Republic of
Korea's (DPRK) nuclear weapons programme and said he would continue
to work closely with the parties on this challenging set of
issues.
In a <"http://www.un.org/apps/sg/sgstats.asp?nid=1593">statement
issued by his spokesman, Mr. Annan commended the parties for breaking
the impasse and for creating the current positive momentum.
"The Secretary-General hopes that the resumed session will achieve
substantive progress towards a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula that
is stable, secure and prosperous. He maintains that a negotiated
solution based on dialogue and goodwill is the right way to achieve
these goals," the statement added.
2005-07-26 00:00:00.000
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4 IPS-English NORTH KOREA: Nuke-free Korean Peninsula is our
Date: Tue, 26 Jul 2005 14:40:12 -0700
AE CR
NORTH KOREA: Nuke-free Korean Peninsula is our goal, says Pyongyang
Att.Editors: The following item is from the Emirates News Agency (WAM)
SEOUL, July 26 (WAM) - North Korea's chief delegate to the six-nation talks
said Tuesday that his country was ready to discuss practical ways to achieve
a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula and urged other concerned parties to work
toward that goal, according to a Beijing datelined dispatch of Yonhap news
agency.
"The goal requires a firm political will and a strategic decision of the
concerned parties trying to remove the danger of a nuclear war and realize
the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula," Yonhap quoted North Korean
Deputy Foreign Minister Kim Kye-gwan as having said in his opening statement
during the six-nation talks, which opened in Beijing on Tuesday.
Kim said North Korea was prepared to cooperate with other dialogue
partners to ensure that the six-nation talks would achieve "substantial
progress". South Korea made official its proposal to provide North Korea
with two million kilowatts of electricity if the communist country agrees to
scrap its nuclear weapons programme.
"I hope our offer of electricity will become an important pillar for
successful negotiations," the South Korean delegation chief, Song Min-soon,
said.
In an apparent warning to Japan, Song said the Beijing talks should focus
on the nuclear issue only.
Notwithstanding, Japan's chief negotiator, Kenichiro Sasae, raised the
issue of about a dozen Japanese citizens kidnapped by North Korean agents
decades ago, saying that the humanitarian issue is as important as the
nuclear row.
The chief U.S. negotiator, Christopher Hill, said the North's worrisome
nuclear programme should be dismantled "permanently, fully and
verifiability". (WAM)
*****************************************************************
5 Guardian Unlimited: Nuclear Talks Open After N. Korea Boycott
From the Associated Press
[UP]
Tuesday July 26, 2005 12:46 PM
AP Photo XED110
By ALEXA OLESEN
Associated Press Writer
BEIJING (AP) - Six-party nuclear disarmament talks opened
Tuesday after a 13-month boycott by North Korea, and the
communist nation's envoy said his country was ready to work on
eliminating atomic weapons from the Korean Peninsula.
The United States, in turn, reassured the North that it has no
intention of invading to end the standoff.
``The fundamental thing is to make real progress in realizing
the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula,'' North Korean
Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye Gwan said at the opening session
of the talks in Beijing.
``This requires very firm political will and a strategic
decision of the parties concerned that have interests in ending
the threat of nuclear war,'' he said. ``We are fully ready and
prepared for that.''
In the past, North Korea has said denuclearization of the
peninsula also includes removing alleged U.S. nuclear weapons
from South Korea. Both Washington and Seoul have denied any such
weapons are present.
The talks Tuesday are the fourth such six-nation negotiations,
which also include China, Japan, Russia, South Korea and the
United States. The North had boycotted the talks because of what
it called ``hostile'' U.S. policies.
North Korea agreed to return to the talks following a meeting
earlier this month between Kim and the main U.S. envoy,
Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill, who assured the
North that Washington recognized its sovereignty.
On Tuesday, Hill repeated those pledges.
``We view (North Korea's) sovereignty as a matter of fact. The
United States has absolutely no intention to invade or attack''
North Korea, Hill said in his opening remarks.
Unlike the previous rounds, which were scheduled for several
days, no end date has been set for this week's resumed
negotiations.
Hill said Tuesday his delegation would remain in Beijing ``so
long as we are making progress in these talks.'' He has
previously said he doesn't expect this round to be the last of
the six-nation talks.
``We do not have the option of walking away from this problem,''
he said.
Hill also said the U.S. would address the North's security and
energy concerns after the nuclear issue is resolved.
``Nuclear weapons will not make (North Korea) more secure,'' he
said. ``And in fact, on the contrary, nuclear weapons on the
Korean Peninsula will only increase tension in the region.''
In a nod to Pyongyang, Hill said if North Korea ``permanently,
fully and verifiably'' dismantles its nuclear programs, the U.S.
and other countries would offer measures ``consistent with the
principle of 'words for words and actions for actions.''' That
principle was contained in a statement at the end of the last
round of talks in June 2004 and been repeatedly invoked by North
Korea as one of its demands.
The talks are the first in which Hill is representing
Washington, and he is believed to have more room for negotiating
than his predecessor, James Kelly. In a departure from previous
meetings, Hill met his North Korean counterpart on Monday ahead
of the official opening of the talks.
The U.S. and North Korea held another meeting later Tuesday
after the talks opened, a U.S. Embassy spokeswoman said. No
details of their discussion were released.
The latest nuclear standoff with North Korea erupted in late
2002, when U.S. officials accused the communist nation of
running a secret uranium enrichment program.
Since then, the North has pulled out of the Nuclear
Nonproliferation Treaty and taken steps that would allow it to
harvest more radioactive materials for atomic bombs. In
February, the North publicly claimed it had nuclear weapons, but
it hasn't performed any known tests that would confirm it can
make them.
At the talks' opening, South Korea's envoy, Deputy Foreign
Minister Song Min-soon, repeated Tuesday his nation's offer of
massive electricity aid to the North if it agrees to disarm.
In Seoul, South Korean Unification Minister Chung Dong-young
told a meeting of the ruling Uri party that discussions on
details of the electricity offer to the North could begin as
soon as Pyongyang agrees to abandon nuclear weapons. However, he
conceded North Korea would likely make a counterproposal to
Seoul's offer - which experts point out would effectively place
control of the North's power supply in its capitalist rival's
hands.
North Korea has demanded aid and security guarantees from
Washington in exchange for giving up its nuclear weapons. The
United States says it won't offer concessions until North
Korea's nuclear weapons program is verifiably dismantled.
Another issue that could complicate the arms talks is Japan's
concerns about its citizens abducted by the North.
South Korea's main delegate Song appeared to issue a warning
Tuesday to Japan not to derail the negotiations, saying it
``would definitely not be desirable to take up issues that would
disintegrate the focus of the talks.''
Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2005
*****************************************************************
6 Guardian Unlimited: U.S., China Press for N. Korea Nukes Deal
From the Associated Press
[UP]
Tuesday July 26, 2005 7:16 PM
AP Photo XED110
By AUDRA ANG
Associated Press Writer
BEIJING (AP) - The United States and China both expressed
determination Tuesday to make long-awaited headway toward a
settlement in six-nation talks aimed at persuading North Korea
to abandon its nuclear weapons program.
Washington also assured North Korea it has no intention of
attacking, and Pyongyang promised to work toward a denuclearized
Korean Peninsula, opening moves that also indicated a shared
goal of progress.
The latest round of talks resumed in Beijing, the closest ally
of the isolated, communist North, after a 13-month boycott by
North Korea, which had cited ``hostile'' U.S. policies.
Delegates struck an amiable note before the meeting, smiling and
clasping hands for a group photo. The other participants are
South Korea, Japan and Russia.
The chief U.S. and North Korean envoys seemed especially
determined to move ahead after three earlier rounds of talks
produced no breakthroughs. The two men held a one-on-one meeting
Tuesday - their second in as many days, and a departure from
Washington's previous refusal to have direct contact with the
North.
``These talks are at a critical juncture,'' U.S. Assistant
Secretary of State Christopher Hill said at the opening
ceremony. ``We do not have the option of walking away from this
problem.''
His North Korean counterpart, Vice Foreign Minister Kim Kye
Gwan, said, ``The fundamental thing is to make real progress in
realizing the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.''
``This requires very firm political will and a strategic
decision of the parties concerned that have interests in ending
the threat of nuclear war,'' Kim said. ``We are fully ready and
prepared for that.''
Hill directly addressed one of the North's main sticking points,
assuring Pyongyang that Washington recognized its sovereignty
and would not attack to end the standoff.
``We view (North Korea's) sovereignty as a matter of fact. The
United States has absolutely no intention to invade or attack,''
Hill said.
``Nuclear weapons will not make (North Korea) more secure,'' he
said. ``And in fact, on the contrary, nuclear weapons on the
Korean Peninsula will only increase tension in the region.''
Qin Gang, a spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, also
expressed optimism.
``This is a solid foundation for us to usher our talks into a
stage of more in-depth discussion and make important progress,''
he said. ``We need to show faith, confidence, resolve and
patience. We have to make unremitting efforts.''
After his one-on-one session with Kim, Hill told reporters that
the North Koreans expressed concerns about the ``sequencing'' of
proposals. Washington has said it wants verifiable disarmament
before the North is rewarded, while Pyongyang insists on getting
something in exchange for a nuclear freeze and more concessions
as it disarms.
``They do not want to have obligations ahead of other people's
obligations,'' Hill said.
Russia's Interfax news agency, citing unidentified North Korean
sources, said the North also demanded that the United States
withdraw nuclear weapons from the South as part of any
settlement.
Both Washington and Seoul deny that any U.S. nuclear weapons are
present in the South. It's not clear whether Pyongyang also is
referring to visits to nearby waters by American nuclear-armed
submarines.
``The North Koreans are asking a lot of the Americans,'' said
Steve Tsang, a political specialist at Oxford University.
``Before the Americans can even know whether the North Koreans
actually have nuclear weapons or not, and before the North
Koreans dismantle their nuclear weapons if they have them, the
Americans will have to remove any of their nuclear installations
from South Korea, be they weapons or other items,'' Tsang said.
``It's not easy for the U.S. government to accept,'' he added.
Even so, delegates have tried to show their commitment to
progress by setting no end date for the talks, unlike earlier
rounds that lasted three days.
In Washington, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said
that despite determination on all sides, developments would be
gradual. It would be progress, he said, for all parties to agree
to another round of talks.
Moscow's negotiator, Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Alexeyev,
suggested Washington might be expected to grant Pyongyang's wish
for diplomatic relations as part of a settlement.
A possible stumbling block is Japan's insistence on resolving
the issue of its citizens abducted by the North.
South Korea's negotiator, Deputy Foreign Minister Song Min-soon,
appeared to warn Japan not to derail the negotiations, saying it
``would definitely not be desirable to take up issues that would
disintegrate the focus of the talks.''
Song also repeated South Korea's offer to supply the North with
2 million kilowatts of electricity if it agrees to disarm.
The latest nuclear standoff with North Korea erupted in late
2002, when U.S. officials accused the country of running a
secret uranium enrichment program.
Since then, the North has pulled out of the Nuclear
Nonproliferation Treaty and taken steps that would allow it to
harvest more radioactive materials for atomic bombs. In
February, the North publicly claimed it had nuclear weapons, but
there has been no independent confirmation.
Hill said that if North Korea ``permanently, fully and
verifiably'' dismantles its nuclear programs, the U.S. and other
countries would offer measures ``consistent with the principle
of 'words for words and actions for actions.'''
That phrase was contained in a statement issued by the Chinese
chairman at the end of the last round of talks in June 2004 and
has been repeatedly invoked by North Korea as a demand.
Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2005
*****************************************************************
7 Guardian Unlimited: U.S., China Happy With N. Korea Talks
From the Associated Press
[UP]
Tuesday July 26, 2005 6:46 PM
AP Photo XED110
By ALEXA OLESEN
Associated Press Writer
BEIJING (AP) - Six-party nuclear disarmament talks opened
Tuesday after a 13-month boycott by North Korea, and the
communist nation's envoy said his country was ready to work on
eliminating atomic weapons from the Korean Peninsula.
The United States, in turn, reassured the North that it has no
intention of invading to end the standoff.
Washington and Beijing gave positive reviews to the initial
talks, saying progress was being made toward more in-nding the
threat of nuclear war,'' he said. ``We are fully ready and
prepared for that.''
Russia's Interfax news agency said serious disagreement remained
between Washington and Pyongyang after a one-on-one meeting
Monday. The agency cited a North Korean official it did not
identify as saying, ``The process of denuclearization should
take place simultaneously in the North and in the South.''
The official apparently was referring to previous demands by
Pyongyang that the United States remove its alleged nuclear
arsenal from South Korea. Washington and Seoul have denied the
presence of any such weapons.
The talks Tuesday are the fourth such six-nation negotiations,
which also include China, Japan, Russia, South Korea and the
United States. The North had boycotted the talks because of what
it called ``hostile'' U.S. policies.
North Korea agreed to return to the talks following a meeting
earlier this month between Kim and the main U.S. envoy,
Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill, who assured the
North that Washington recognized its sovereignty.
On Tuesday, Hill repeated those pledges.
``We view (North Korea's) sovereignty as a matter of fact. The
United States has absolutely no intention to invade or attack''
North Korea, Hill said in his opening remarks.
Unlike the previous rounds, which were scheduled for several
days, no end date has been set for this week's resumed
negotiations.
``I would say that we had good discussions,'' State Department
spokesman Sean McCormack said in Washington. ``It was a good
start.''
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang agreed, saying,
``This is a solid foundation for us to usher our talks into a
stage of more in-depth discussion and make important progress.
We need to show faith, confidence, resolve and patience.''
Hill said Tuesday his delegation would remain in Beijing ``so
long as we are making progress in these talks.'' He has said he
does not expect this round of talks to be the last.
``We do not have the option of walking away from this problem,''
he said.
Hill also said the United States would address the North's
security and energy concerns after the nuclear issue is
resolved.
``Nuclear weapons will not make (North Korea) more secure,'' he
said. ``And in fact, on the contrary, nuclear weapons on the
Korean Peninsula will only increase tension in the region.''
In a nod to Pyongyang, Hill said if North Korea ``permanently,
fully and verifiably'' dismantles its nuclear programs, the
United States and other countries would offer measures
``consistent with the principle of 'words for words and actions
for actions.''' That principle was contained in a statement at
the end of the last round of talks in June 2004 and has been
invoked repeatedly by North Korea as one of its demands.
The talks are the first in which Hill is representing
Washington, and he is believed to have more room for negotiating
than his predecessor, James Kelly. In a departure from previous
meetings, Hill met his North Korean counterpart on Monday ahead
of the official opening of the talks.
The United States and North Korea held another meeting later
Tuesday after the talks opened, and Hill said the North Koreans
expressed concerns about the ``sequencing'' of proposals.
``They do not want to have obligations ahead of other people's
obligations,'' he told reporters.
Also, chief Japanese envoy Kenichiro Sasae met briefly Tuesday
with North Korean diplomat Kim after the opening session, a
Japanese government official said, declining to give further
details on the encounter. Tokyo still hopes for a full bilateral
meeting with the North, the official said.
The latest nuclear standoff with North Korea erupted in late
2002, when U.S. officials accused the communist nation of
running a secret uranium enrichment program.
Since then, the North has pulled out of the Nuclear
Nonproliferation Treaty and taken steps that would allow it to
harvest more radioactive materials for atomic bombs. In
February, the North publicly claimed it had nuclear weapons, but
it has not performed any known tests that would confirm it can
make them.
At the talks' opening, South Korea's envoy, Deputy Foreign
Minister Song Min-soon, repeated his nation's offer of massive
electricity aid to the North if it agreed to disarm.
In Seoul, South Korean Unification Minister Chung Dong-young
told a meeting of the ruling Uri party that discussions on
details of the electricity offer to the North could begin as
soon as Pyongyang agrees to abandon nuclear weapons. However, he
conceded North Korea would likely make a counterproposal to
Seoul's offer - which experts point out would effectively place
control of the North's power supply in its capitalist rival's
hands.
North Korea has demanded aid and security guarantees from
Washington in exchange for giving up its nuclear weapons. The
United States says it will not offer concessions until North
Korea's nuclear weapons program is verifiably dismantled.
Another issue that could complicate the arms talks is Japan's
concerns about its citizens abducted by the North.
Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2005
*****************************************************************
8 BBC: Mood upbeat at North Korea talks
Last Updated: Tuesday, 26 July, 2005
[Christopher Hill of the US and North Korea's Kim Kye-gwan]
There were smiles despite the gulf between the sides
North Korea and the United States have both made conciliatory
remarks as fresh six-nation talks on North Korea's nuclear
programme opened in Beijing.
North Korean negotiator Kim Kye-gwan said Pyongyang was ready to
work to free the peninsula of nuclear weapons.
The US said it viewed North Korea as a sovereign state which it
had no intention of attacking.
Pyongyang wants a peace treaty with the US, plus aid in exchange
for scrapping its nuclear programme.
The talks mark the end of a 13-month boycott by North Korea.
But Mr Kim said the beginning of the talks was only a first step.
"Opening talks is important, but what is more important is to
achieve actual progress such as denuclearisation," Mr Kim said.
He said the North and "other parties including the United States"
were ready for such a move.
Ticking clock
South Korea urged a quick resolution of the long-running
stand-off between Washington and Pyongyang.
"Time is not on anyone's side," South Korean Deputy Foreign
Minister Song Min-soon said.
CRISIS TIMELINE
Oct 2002: US says North Kore is enriching uranium in violation of
agreements Dec 2002: North Korea removes UN seals from Yongbyon
nuclear reactor, expels inspectors Feb 2003: IAEA refers North
Korea to UN Security Council Aug 2003:First round of six-nation
talks begins in Beijing Feb 2005: Pyongyang says it has built
nuclear weapons for self-defence Timeline: Nuclear crisis
Unusually, no end date has been set for this round of talks
between North and South Korea, the US, China, Russia and Japan.
US envoy Christopher Hill said the Americans would stay at the
talks "so long as we are making progress".
He said nuclear weapons would not make North Korea more secure.
"And in fact, on the contrary, nuclear weapons on the Korean
Peninsula will only increase tension in the region," he said.
Resumption
The six-party talks had been stalled for more than an year after
North Korea withdrew, blaming US aggression.
South Korea began to deliver food aid to the North as the talks
began, part of an earlier pledge to send 500,000 tons of rice to
its impoverished neighbour.
[Trucks of rice head from South Korea to the North] South Korea
began aid deliveries as the talks opened
The BBC's Charles Scanlon in the South Korean capital, Seoul,
says there is little expectation of a breakthrough at the talks,
but negotiators say this time they will be more flexible and will
discuss the problems in more detail.
After the failure of the first three rounds, negotiators fear a
further stalemate could derail hopes for a diplomatic solution.
In the 13 months since the last round of talks, North Korea has
declared itself a nuclear power.
But it has angrily denied US allegations that it is running a
second secret project to enrich uranium in addition to its
well-known plutonium programme.
Washington, meanwhile, has been refusing to talk about any kind
of pact until North Korea agrees to shut down its nuclear weapons
programme.
The US has indicated that the country could face further
sanctions if it fails to resolve the nuclear crisis.
Kidnapped Japanese
Separately, Japan raised the issue of North Korea's abduction of
its citizens in the past, although South Korea, China and Russia
fear its stance could endanger the negotiations.
In 2002, Pyongyang admitted to abducting 13 people during the
1970s and 1980s, to train spies in Japanese language and culture.
It declared the issue over after repatriating five victims, while
saying the other eight had died. However, Japan believes some
could still be alive and living in North Korea.
The Russian negotiator, Alexander Alexeyev, has described the
Japanese position as counter-productive, though Washington has
backed Tokyo.
*****************************************************************
9 AFP: US and North Korea hold another bilateral meeting -
Tuesday July 26, 11:55 AM
BEIJING (AFP) - The United States and North Korea held another
bilateral meeting following a rare "businesslike" contact the
previous day, a US official told AFP.
"The United States and North Korea held a bilateral meeting this
afternoon," said a US embassy official, without saying how long
it lasted or what was discussed.
On Monday the US met with the North to work out procedures on the
negotiations concerning the abandonment of Pyongyang's nuclear
weapons programmes.
The US described that meeting as "businesslike" but also said the
atmosphere was good.
Copyright © 2005 AFP AFP. All rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
10 Reuters: Beijing venue for N.Korea talks shrouded in secrecy
Mon Jul 25, 2005 11:23 PM ET
BEIJING, July 26 (Reuters) - It has been the site of endless
intrigue and secret meetings, where scheming mandarins plotted
palace coups.
No venue could be more appropriate for talks on ending the North
Korean nuclear face-off than Beijing's tightly guarded Diaoyutai
State Guesthouse, its history as Byzantine as any of the
machinations in the reclusive Stalinist state.
Delegates from the two Koreas, the United States, Japan, Russia
joined their Chinese hosts there on Tuesday to resume discussions
after a year's hiatus, but they were unlikely to find much time
to enjoy Diaoyutai's lush, sprawling gardens.
What is now the guesthouse was built more than 800 years ago as
a retreat for Chinese emperors. Poets drew inspiration from its
scenic gardens.
Peacocks wander the lawns, and ducks and swans swim on the lake
at Diaoyutai, which derives its name from its role as an imperial
"fishing platform".
But its idyllic setting has masked many a political power
struggle and cut-throat negotiation within the walls of the
villas dotted through the park.
Mao Zedong's wife, Jiang Qing, used to watch Western movies in
one of the villas. In the mid-1970s, she met at Diaoyutai to plot
the downfall of political rival Deng Xiaoping.
Late premier Zhou Enlai opted for Building No 5, where Henry
Kissinger stayed on his secret 1970-71 visits to pave the way for
U.S. President Richard Nixon's landmark trip in 1972.
"If a foreigner's presence has to be kept secret then the
Diaoyutai is appropriate," said Roderick MacFarquhar, a
specialist in Mao-era politics at Harvard University.
LISTENING WALLS
The site became a guesthouse in 1958 in time to house foreign
dignitaries attending celebrations the following year to mark the
10th anniversary of the People's Republic.
But just as the imperial sanctum morphed into an exclusive
hideaway for statesmen visiting Mao's court, it has since opened
its gates to non-VIP tourists and business officials.
Room rates start at nearly $300 a night. But the usual quarters
for visiting heads of state -- the two-storey Building No 18,
where Nixon stayed -- now rents for $50,000.
Kim Il-sung, the late father of North Korean leader Kim Jong-il,
stayed at Building No 12 when he came to Beijing and planted a
pine tree to symbolise everlasting friendship.
When Bill Clinton stayed there in 1998, American officials were
warned "the walls have ears".
But if allowing tourists to stay in the same grounds as world
leaders has cheapened its image of exclusivity, security at
Diaoyutai for events such as the current six-party nuclear talks
ensures plenty of intrigue.
Even without talks, paramilitary police guard the gates and cars
and visitors need passes to enter. Surveillance cameras scan the
420,000 sq metre (4.5 million square ft) grounds.
Curiosity among the Chinese public was so great after the first
round of nuclear talks in 2003 that the government opened
Diaoyutai to the broad masses for a brief period, allowing
visitors to see the six-sided table where negotiations were held.
The price of admission? One hundred yuan ($12).
© Reuters 2005. All Rights Reserved.
*****************************************************************
11 Reuters: N.Korea crisis talks resume with hope for progress
Tue Jul 26, 2005 7:22 AM ET
(Updates with China comments, changes byline)
By Teruaki Ueno and Benjamin Kang Lim
BEIJING, July 26 (Reuters) - Six-party talks aimed at ending the
crisis over North Korea's nuclear ambitions resumed in Beijing on
Tuesday after a one-year hiatus with positive signals from both
Washington and Pyongyang raising hopes for progress.
While few expect a breakthrough this week, the atmosphere ahead
of the fourth round of discussions between the two Koreas, the
United States, Russia, Japan and China has been upbeat.
The United States held a rare one-on-one meeting with North
Korea on Monday and another on Tuesday that sources said lasted
more than an hour, raising hopes of a less confrontational
approach to talks which have dragged on for nearly three years.
"Opening talks is important. But what's more important is to
achieve actual progress such as denuclearisation," North Korean
chief negotiator Kim Kye-gwan had told Tuesday's opening session.
"Our delegation is fully ready for this and we believe other
parties including the United States are also ready for it."
U.S. negotiator Christopher Hill responded in kind, with
reassurances that Washington believed the North, once part of an
"axis of evil", was a sovereign state which it would not attack.
"We view DPRK's sovereignty as a matter of fact. The United
States has absolutely no intention to invade or attack the DPRK,"
Hill said, using the North's formal name, the Democratic People's
Republic of Korea.
Despite the upbeat signals, distrust is still great and the
stakes are high. A North Korean source told Russia's Interfax
news agency that major disagreements remained after Monday's
bilateral meeting.
The United States was sticking by its position that improved
ties, security guarantees and energy assistance could only come
after North Korea scrapped its nuclear weapons programmes, the
source said.
Qin Gang, a spokesman for the Chinese delegation, called the
first day of talks a "sound foundation" but quoted Foreign
Minister Li Zhaoxing as saying they still faced hard issues.
There may be "new difficulties and twists and turns because it
involves historical factors, Cold War background and present-day
interests", Qin said.
NEED FOR PROGRESS
Three previous rounds saw no progress and Japanese top
negotiator Kenichiro Sasae said failure to gain concrete results
this time would call the credibility of the talks into question.
Stalemate might prompt Washington to take the issue to the
United Nations and open debate on possible sanctions, which China
opposes and North Korea has warned would trigger conflict.
A possible obstacle arose on Tuesday, when Japan raised the
thorny issue of North Korea's's abduction of Japanese citizens
decades ago. Pyongyang insists the case is closed and has warned
Japan any attempt to raise the issue in Beijing would disrupt the
nuclear talks.
China disapproved of Japan's move.
"We hope Japan and North Korea could properly resolve the issue
through bilateral channels," Qin said.
If the talks go well, the rewards could help the impoverished
North out of isolation and offer aid at a time when the World
Food Programme is warning of a worsening food crisis.
"The limited availability of local food, the very rapid
inflation in private markets and limited supplies in the hands of
WFP -- that combination of factors is very ominous," WFP
spokesman Gerald Bourke told Reuters.
The United States told North Korea informally last month that it
could consider setting up a liaison office in Pyongyang as a
first step towards normalising relations if North Korea scrapped
its nuclear programmes, Japan's Kyodo news agency reported.
South Korean delegation chief Song Min-soon said Seoul's offer
to supply Pyongyang with 2,000 megawatts of electricity, roughly
equivalent to the North's total power output, if it scrapped its
nuclear plans, could be key to resolving the crisis.
The nuclear standoff erupted in October 2002 when U.S. officials
accused Pyongyang of pursuing a clandestine weapons programme.
The North quickly expelled nuclear inspectors and withdrew from
the Non-Proliferation Treaty.
Early this year Pyongyang announced it possessed nuclear weapons
and demanded Washington provide aid, security guarantees and
diplomatic recognition in return for scrapping them. (Additional
reporting by Jack Kim, Lindsay Beck and Guo Shipeng)
© Reuters 2005.
All Rights Reserved.
*****************************************************************
12 Reuters: EU holds out aid promise to North Korea
Tue Jul 26, 2005 7:44 AM ET
BRUSSELS, July 26 (Reuters) - The European Union could raise
humanitarian aid to North Korea as part of renewed international
efforts to end the crisis over the impoverished state's nuclear
ambitions, a top EU official said on Tuesday.
Talks between the two Koreas, the United States, Russia, Japan
and China resumed on Tuesday after a one-year pause. The EU is
not involved but its foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, said
the bloc would do all it could to support them.
Asked whether the 25-nation EU could increase existing aid to
Pyongyang to encourage it to resolve the dispute, Solana told a
news briefing: "We will see what we can do."
Solana will hold talks with North Korea's foreign minister on
Friday during a trip to meet leaders of the ASEAN club of
southeast Asian nations in Vientiane, Laos.
The European Union this year launched a 10.7 million euro ($13
million) aid plan to provide sorely lacking medicine, ante-natal
care and hospital equipment to North Korea. It has channeled over
92 million euros to the region since 1996.
The dispute erupted in 2002 when U.S. officials accused
Pyongyang of pursuing a clandestine nuclear weapons programme.
The North quickly expelled U.N. inspectors and withdrew from the
nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
Three previous rounds of talks have produced no progress, but
both Washington and Pyongyang have made positive signals ahead of
the new round.
Solana noted these discussions were open-ended and so could
continue until a solution was found. "We hope this will be a very
fruitful phase," he said.
© Reuters 2005.
All Rights Reserved.
*****************************************************************
13 BBC: N Korea and US negotiators meet
Last Updated: Monday, 25 July, 2005
[US assistant secretary of state for East Asia-Pacific affairs
Christopher Hill (R) speaks to the press on arrival at a hotel in
Beijing, 24 July 2005]
Christopher Hill said he had come in the spirit of making real
progress
The chief US negotiator on North Korea's nuclear programme has
held a rare meeting with his North Korean counterpart ahead of
key nuclear talks.
It is the first time the two have held bilateral talks ahead of
the six-party process.
But before meeting Kim Kye-gwan, US negotiator Christopher Hill
stressed they were not holding private talks.
BBC correspondent Charles Scanlon in Seoul says few are expecting
a breakthrough at this meeting.
However, he adds, negotiators say this time they will be more
flexible and will discuss the problems in more detail.
'Measurable progress'
The main six-nation talks - involving delegates from North and
South Korea, China, Japan, Russia and the US - are due to begin
on Tuesday in the Chinese capital, Beijing.
Mr Hill said over the weekend that he had come to the talks in
the spirit of making real progress.
North Korea agreed to resume the six-nation talks earlier this
month, more than a year after it suspended them, blaming US
aggression.
Washington's aim in the talks - now in their fourth round - is to
persuade North Korea to stop developing nuclear weapons in return
for economic aid and security guarantees.
[Yongbyon plant, North Korea]
N Korea blamed US aggression for the suspension of talks
Mr Hill said he was deeply committed to the talks.
"We're just trying to get acquainted... and compare notes," Mr
Hill told reporters.
"I wouldn't expect this to be the last set of negotiations... we
would like to make some measurable progress, progress we can
build on for a subsequent round of negotiations."
"We come here in a real spirit of trying to make some real
progress."
South Korean Deputy Foreign Minister Song Min-soon echoed the
comments after meeting his northern counterpart.
"We shared the view that participants in the talks should produce
substantial progress and come up with a framework for the
realisation of a nuclear-free Korean peninsula," Yonhap news
agency quoted him as saying.
Pyongyang has been making calls for a peace treaty with the US in
the days leading up to the talks.
But Washington has been refusing to talk about any kind of pact
until North Korea agrees to shut down its nuclear weapons
programme.
The US has indicated that the country could face further
sanctions if it fails to resolve the nuclear crisis, although it
has stressed that it does not intend to attack the North.
*****************************************************************
14 Guardian Unlimited: Korean Peninsula Key Issue for Nuke Talks
[UP]
Tuesday July 26, 2005 11:31 AM
AP Photo TOK205
By ALEXA OLESEN
Associated Press Writer
BEIJING (AP) - Six-party nuclear disarmament talks opened
Tuesday after a 13-month boycott by North Korea, and the
communist nation's envoy said his country was ready to work on
eliminating atomic weapons from the Korean Peninsula.
The United States, in turn, reassured the North that it has no
intention of invading to end the standoff.
``The fundamental thing is to make real progress in realizing
the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula,'' North Korean
Vice Foreign Minister Kim Key Wan said at the opening session of
the talks in Beijing.
``This requires very firm political will and a strategic
decision of the parties concerned that have interests in ending
the threat of nuclear war,'' he said. ``We are fully ready and
prepared for that.''
In the past, North Korea has said denuclearization of the
peninsula also includes removing alleged U.S. nuclear weapons
from South Korea. Both Washington and Seoul have denied any such
weapons are present.
The talks Tuesday are the fourth such six-nation negotiations,
which also include China, Japan, Russia, South Korea and the
United States. The North had boycotted the talks because of what
it called ``hostile'' U.S. policies.
North Korea agreed to return to the talks following a meeting
earlier this month between Kim and the main U.S. envoy,
Assistant Secretary of State Christopher Hill, who assured the
North that Washington recognized its sovereignty.
On Tuesday, Hill repeated those pledges.
``We view (North Korea's) sovereignty as a matter of fact. The
United States has absolutely no intention to invade or attack''
North Korea, Hill said in his opening remarks.
Unlike the previous rounds, which were scheduled for several
days, no end date has been set for this week's resumed
negotiations.
Hill said Tuesday his delegation would remain in Beijing ``so
long as we are making progress in these talks.'' He has
previously said he doesn't expect this round to be the last of
the six-nation talks.
``We do not have the option of walking away from this problem,''
he said.
Hill also said the U.S. would address the North's security and
energy concerns after the nuclear issue is resolved.
``Nuclear weapons will not make (North Korea) more secure,'' he
said. ``And in fact, on the contrary, nuclear weapons on the
Korean Peninsula will only increase tension in the region.''
In a nod to Pyongyang, Hill said if North Korea ``permanently,
fully and verifiably'' dismantles its nuclear programs, the U.S.
and other countries would offer measures ``consistent with the
principle of 'words for words and actions for actions.''' That
principle was contained in a statement at the end of the last
round of talks in June 2004 and been repeatedly invoked by North
Korea as one of its demands.
The talks are the first in which Hill is representing
Washington, and he is believed to have more room for negotiating
than his predecessor, James Kelly. In a departure from previous
meetings, Hill met his North Korean counterpart on Monday ahead
of the official opening of the talks.
The U.S. and North Korea held another meeting later Tuesday
after the talks opened, a U.S. Embassy spokeswoman said. No
details of their discussion were released.
The latest nuclear standoff with North Korea erupted in late
2002, when U.S. officials accused the communist nation of
running a secret uranium enrichment program.
Since then, the North has pulled out of the Nuclear
Nonproliferation Treaty and taken steps that would allow it to
harvest more radioactive materials for atomic bombs. In
February, the North publicly claimed it had nuclear weapons, but
it hasn't performed any known tests that would confirm it can
make them.
At the talks' opening, South Korea's envoy, Deputy Foreign
Minister Song Min-soon, repeated Tuesday his nation's offer of
massive electricity aid to the North if it agrees to disarm.
In Seoul, South Korean Unification Minister Chung Dong-young
told a meeting of the ruling Uri party that discussions on
details of the electricity offer to the North could begin as
soon as Pyongyang agrees to abandon nuclear weapons. However, he
conceded North Korea would likely make a counterproposal to
Seoul's offer - which experts point out would effectively place
control of the North's power supply in its capitalist rival's
hands.
North Korea has demanded aid and security guarantees from
Washington in exchange for giving up its nuclear weapons. The
United States says it won't offer concessions until North
Korea's nuclear weapons program is verifiably dismantled.
Another issue that could complicate the arms talks is Japan's
concerns about its citizens abducted by the North.
South Korea's main delegate Song appeared to issue a warning
Tuesday to Japan not to derail the negotiations, saying it
``would definitely not be desirable to take up issues that would
disintegrate the focus of the talks.''
Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2005
*****************************************************************
15 [NukeNet] SUCCESS!: More Needed Now: Lobby Day Success--but
Date: Tue, 26 Jul 2005 20:01:53 -0700
NukeNet Anti-Nuclear Network (nukenet@energyjustice.net)
Please call EVERY day this week and ask all other
interested parties to do likewise. Please pass to
other lists you may be on.
-Bill Smirnow
----- Original Message -----
From: Michael Mariotte
To: nukenet@energyjustice.net
Sent: Tuesday, July 26, 2005 1:17 PM
Subject: [NukeNet] Lobby Day Success--but more
action needed now
LOBBY DAY SUCCESS-BUT MORE ACTION IS NEEDED NOW!
Thank you to everyone who called your Senators
yesterday in support of the Senate Call-In Day. We
know a lot of you made calls and kept those phones
ringing!
The Lobby Day was a tremendous success: the
briefing room was packed for Ani DiFranco, The
Indigo Girls, James Cromwell, Joan McIntosh,
Winona LaDuke, Margene Bullcreek and Lena Knight,
and Rep. Dennis Kucinich, who hosted the event.
And all of the participants, and representatives
from NIRS, Public Citizen, US PIRG, Sierra Club
and Honor the Earth, spent the rest of the day
visiting Senate offices. Thanks to all of the
participants for their tireless efforts.
The response was so great that the industry's
Nuclear Energy Institute is scrambling to hold
their own call-in day tomorrow. It's time to rain
on their parade!
And more action is needed now. Late last night,
the House-Senate conference committee approved a
final version of the energy bill. We now expect
the bill to be voted on in the House as early as
tomorrow, and in the Senate possibly by the end of
the week-despite the fact that no Members or
staffers not on the conference committee itself
have yet even seen the 1,000+ page bill!
Again, if you called your Senators yesterday:
thank you! Please ask your friends and colleagues
to call today and every day this week.
If you weren't able to call yesterday, please do
so now, and then ask your friends and colleagues
to call too. We need to make the nuclear
funding-reportedly even more than the $10 billion
of your dollars already in the bill was added by
the conference committee-as controversial as
possible. The Senate should delay their vote until
after the August recess, so they have time to
learn what is actually in the bill.
Your message to your Senators is simple: No
taxpayer funding for nuclear power. Stop the
Energy Bill. And read the bill before voting on
it.
Capitol Switchboard: 202-224-3121
Toll-Free Numbers: 1-888-355-3588 or
1-877-762-8762
Thanks for all of your help and efforts!
Michael Mariotte
Nuclear Information and Resource Service
www.nirs.org
--------------------------------------------------
------------------------------
__________________________________________________
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Subscribe/Unsubscribe Here:
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16 [NukeNet] Lobby Day Success--but more action needed now
Date: Tue, 26 Jul 2005 20:01:52 -0700
NukeNet Anti-Nuclear Network (nukenet@energyjustice.net)
Content-class: urn:content-classes:message
Content-Type: multipart/alternative;
boundary="----_=_NextPart_001_01C59205.E18FD51E"
LOBBY DAY SUCCESSBUT MORE ACTION IS NEEDED NOW!
Thank you to everyone who called your Senators yesterday in support of the
Senate Call-In Day. We know a lot of you made calls and kept those phones
ringing!
The Lobby Day was a tremendous success: the briefing room was packed for
Ani DiFranco, The Indigo Girls, James Cromwell, Joan McIntosh, Winona
LaDuke, Margene Bullcreek and Lena Knight, and Rep. Dennis Kucinich, who
hosted the event. And all of the participants, and representatives from
NIRS, Public Citizen, US PIRG, Sierra Club and Honor the Earth, spent the
rest of the day visiting Senate offices. Thanks to all of the participants
for their tireless efforts.
The response was so great that the industrys Nuclear Energy Institute is
scrambling to hold their own call-in day tomorrow. Its time to rain on
their parade!
And more action is needed now. Late last night, the House-Senate conference
committee approved a final version of the energy bill. We now expect the
bill to be voted on in the House as early as tomorrow, and in the Senate
possibly by the end of the weekdespite the fact that no Members or staffers
not on the conference committee itself have yet even seen the 1,000+ page bill!
Again, if you called your Senators yesterday: thank you! Please ask your
friends and colleagues to call today and every day this week.
If you werent able to call yesterday, please do so now, and then ask your
friends and colleagues to call too. We need to make the nuclear
fundingreportedly even more than the $10 billion of your dollars already in
the bill was added by the conference committeeas controversial as possible.
The Senate should delay their vote until after the August recess, so they
have time to learn what is actually in the bill.
Your message to your Senators is simple: No taxpayer funding for nuclear
power. Stop the Energy Bill. And read the bill before voting on it.
Capitol Switchboard: 202-224-3121
Toll-Free Numbers: 1-888-355-3588 or 1-877-762-8762
Thanks for all of your help and efforts!
Michael Mariotte
Nuclear Information and Resource Service
www.nirs.org
_______________________________________________________________________
Subscribe/Unsubscribe Here: http://www.energyjustice.net/nukenet/
Change your settings or access the archives at:
http://energyjustice.net/mailman/listinfo/nukenet_energyjustice.net
*****************************************************************
17 [NYTr] Sponsoring Nuclear Proliferation: The US & India
Date: Tue, 26 Jul 2005 16:12:36 -0500 (CDT)
Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit
Foreign Policy in Focus - July 20, 2005
http://www.fpif.org/fpiftxt/170
Bush Administration Stokes Dangerous Arms Race on Indian Subcontinent
By Stephen Zunes
For more than two decades, arms control experts have argued that the
most likely scenario for the hostile use of nuclear weapons was not
between the former Cold War superpower rivals, an act of terrorism by
an underground terrorist group, or the periodically threatened
unilateral U.S. attack against a "rogue state," but between India and
Pakistan. These two South Asian rivals have fought each other in three
major wars--in 1947, 1965, and 1971--and have engaged in frequent
border clashes in recent years in the disputed Kashmir region, coming
close to another all-out war as recently as 2002.
It is ironic, then, that President George W. Bush--who reiterated in
the 2004 presidential campaign that his primary concern was the
proliferation of nuclear materials--is actively pursuing policies
which will likely increase the risk of a catastrophic nuclear
confrontation on the Indian subcontinent.
The United States and India
On July 18, during the visit of Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh,
President Bush announced his intention to provide India access to
sensitive nuclear technology and sophisticated nuclear-capable weapons
systems. The agreement does not require India to eliminate its nuclear
weapons program or its ballistic missile systems, as called upon by a
1998 UN Security Council resolution, or even to cease production of
weapons-grade plutonium which enables India to further expand its
arsenal of more than three dozen nuclear warheads
Nicholas Burns, the U.S. Under Secretary of State for Political
Affairs, called the agreement on the transfer of the dangerous
technology "the high-water mark of U.S.-India relations" since the
country's independence from Great Britain in 1947. It is demonstrative
of the Bush administration's view of foreign relations that the
transfer of such dangerous technology is seen as of greater positive
significance than the critical agricultural assistance and food aid
the United States provided India in the 1960s, which not only
prevented an incipient famine of mass proportions but significantly
boosted India's long-term agricultural production, thereby saving
untold millions of lives.
Former U.S. Senator and 1972 Democratic presidential nominee George
McGovern, who helped oversee such foreign aid programs to India when
he served as director of the Food for Peace program in the Kennedy
administration, called Burns' statement "a dangerous misunderstanding
of how America can best utilize foreign aid in support of economic
development and international security."
In order for the proposed U.S.-Indian agreement to be implemented, the
Bush administration will need Congress to amend the U.S.
Non-Proliferation Act of 2000, which bans the transfers of sensitive
nuclear technology to any country which refuses to accept
international monitoring of its nuclear facilities. It will also mean
contravening the rules of the 40-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group, which
controls the export of nuclear technology and to which the United
States is a signatory. It would also be a violation of the 1968
Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty, which has been signed and ratified
by the United States and calls upon existing nuclear powers to not
transfer nuclear know-how to countries which have not signed the
treaty.
This proposed agreement would actually endanger India's security by
encouraging a dangerous and destabilizing nuclear weapons program that
award-winning Indian novelist Arundhati Roy has referred to as "the
final act of betrayal by a ruling class that has failed its people."
The best-case scenario, in which U.S. nuclear assistance was somehow
limited solely to peaceful uses, would still be bad for India. Even
advanced industrialized countries have found nuclear power to be an
extremely dangerous and expensive means to generate electricity. As
evidenced by the 1984 accident at a Union Carbide chemical facility in
the Indian city of Bhopal, which killed more than 20,000 people, there
are serious questions regarding the ability of Indian authorities to
adequately safeguard the public from industrial accidents.
India's interests in procuring additional nuclear technology is
ironic, moreover, given that the man who led the country's freedom
struggle from British colonialism, Mohandas Gandhi, was not only a
pacifist and an opponent of the partition of his country between India
and Pakistan, but also opposed centralized control of basic
necessities like energy--whether it be by the state or private
corporations. Were he alive today, Gandhi would not only be leading
the struggle against the proposed U.S.-Indian nuclear agreement, he
would be an outspoken advocate of small-scale, locally-controlled
renewable energy and other appropriate technologies, such as solar
power.
India ranks 118th out of 164 countries on the United Nations
Development Program's Human Development Index, ranking below even the
impoverished nations of Central America. More than 400 million Indians
are illiterate, more than 600 million lack even basic sanitation and
more than 200 million have no safe drinking water. Surely, if
promoting "sustainable development" in India is really the goal, as
President Bush claims, there are certainly better ways to do that than
by building nuclear power plants.
The United States and Pakistan
The Bush administration's announcement in March that it intends to
sell sophisticated F-16 fighter jets to Pakistan similarly raises
serious questions regarding its stated commitment to promote
democracy, support non-proliferation, and fight terrorism and Islamic
extremism.
Unlike India, which--despite its enormous social and economic
inequality and ethnic diversity--has nurtured a longstanding
democratic political system, Pakistan has primarily been ruled by a
series of military dictatorships.
General Pervaz Musharraf, who overthrew Pakistan's
democratically-elected government in 1999, continues to suppress the
established secular political parties while allowing for the
development of Islamic political groups that show little regard for
individual freedom. Despite this, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice
had little but kind words for the Musharraf dictatorship when she
visited Pakistan in March during her "democracy promotion" world tour.
While acknowledging that he has yet to restore constitutional
governance, she praised his willingness to consider holding elections
some time in 2007.
Under Musharraf's rule, the Pakistani government's funding for
education has declined to become one of the lowest education budgets
relative to GDP than any country on the globe, resulting in the
collapse of what was once one of the developing world's better public
school systems. This lack of adequate public education has led to the
rise of Saudi-funded Islamic schools, known as madrasahs, many of
which have served as recruiting grounds for terrorists. The
Congressional Research Service, in a report this past December, noted
how--despite promises to the contrary--Musharraf has not cracked down
on the more extremist madrasahs. Yet the Bush administration is only
offering $67 million in foreign aid for Pakistani education--compared
to $3 billion worth of weaponry.
An administration official has claimed that the U.S. fighter-bombers
"are vital to Pakistan's security as President Musharraf prosecutes
the war on terror." However, these jets were originally ordered
fifteen years ago, long before the U.S.-led "war on terror" began.
They were suspended by the administration of the current president's
father out of concerns about Pakistan's nuclear program and the
Pakistani military's ties with Islamic terrorist groups. These
concerns seem to bother the son not at all. Nor are such sophisticated
aircraft particularly effective in attacking a decentralized network
of underground terrorist cells located in remote tribal areas of that
country, where small-unit counter-insurgency operations would be far
more effective.
The other factor the administration and its supporters fail to mention
is that, for more than a decade, Pakistan actively supported the
Taliban regime in Afghanistan, which provided sanctuary for the
al-Qaida network. Osama bin Laden and his senior aides are widely
believed to have been living in Pakistan for the past three and a half
years.
One of the most disturbing aspects of U.S. support for the Pakistani
regime is that Pakistan has been sharing its nuclear materials and
know-how with North Korea and other so-called "rogue states." The Bush
administration has chosen to essentially ignore what has been called
"the most extravagantly irresponsible nuclear arms bazaar the world
has ever seen" and to instead blame others.
For example, even though it was actually Pakistanis who passed on
nuclear materials to Libya, the Bush administration instead told U.S.
allies that North Korea was responsible, thereby sabotaging
negotiations which many had hoped could end North Korea's nuclear
program and resolve that festering crisis. Though it was Pakistan
which provided Iran with nuclear centrifuges, the Bush administration
is now citing Iran's possession of such materials as justification for
a possible U.S. military attack against that country.
The Bush administration, despite evidence to the contrary, claims that
the Pakistani government was not responsible for exporting such
dangerous materials, but that these serious breaches of security were
solely the responsibility of a single rogue nuclear scientist name
Abdul Qadeer Khan. Unfortunately, the Pakistani military regime has
not allowed U.S. intelligence access to Khan, the former head of
Pakistan's nuclear program, who lives under government protection in
Islamabad.
Encouraging a Regional Arms Race
The Bush administration has tried to assuage India's concerns over the
transfer of such military aircraft to Pakistan by promising that India
too would be able to receive the nuclear-capable warplanes. It is not
unreasonable to expect that, out of a similar interest in "balance,"
the Bush administration may support the transfer of nuclear technology
to Pakistan as well. The result of such policies will almost certainly
be a renewed and increasingly dangerous nuclear arms race.
Pakistan and India are among only a handful of states which have
refused to sign the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT). Though
U.S. law had formerly prohibited U.S. arms transfers to these
governments, President Bush--with bipartisan Congressional
support--successfully had such restrictions overturned in 2001.
In 1998, the UN Security Council--with U.S. support--passed resolution
1172, which called on Pakistan and India to eliminate their nuclear
weapons and their ballistic missiles. Among policymakers, however,
this resolution seems to have been forgotten.
The Bush administration tried to justify its 2003 decision to invade
Iraq on the grounds that the Iraqi government was flouting UN Security
Council resolutions requiring the elimination of weapons of mass
destruction, WMD programs, and offensive delivery systems. Although
the Iraqi government had in fact already done so, and had even allowed
UN inspectors unfettered access to verify that it had disarmed as
required, the United States proceeded with an invasion to deal with
this supposed "threat."
By contrast, Pakistan and India--unlike Iraq in 2003--not only have
active nuclear weapons programs; they have built, tested, and amassed
a stockpile of nuclear weapons and nuclear-capable missiles. Pakistan
and India, unlike Iraq in 2003, are in open defiance of the UN
Security Council's insistence that they disarm these weapons and
delivery systems.
The Bush administration and Congressional leaders, however, appear to
believe that nuclear proliferation and violations of UN Security
Council resolutions only matter for governments that the U.S.
government does not like.
For more than a decade, the U.S. government has forcefully challenged
Russia not to provide nuclear technology to Iran, even though the
Russian-Iranian nuclear agreements have had more stringent safeguards
than the proposed U.S.-Indian nuclear agreement. Indeed, unlike India,
there is no solid evidence that Iran even has a nuclear weapons
program, much less nuclear weapons themselves.
Rather than get serious about discouraging proliferation, the Bush
administration--with the support of a bipartisan majority in
Congress--appears instead to insist upon a kind of nuclear apartheid,
where the United States alone gets to decide who can have these
dangerous weapons and who cannot.
Any arms control regime based upon such double standards, unilaterally
imposed from the outside, is bound to lead to increased efforts by the
have-nots to join the ranks of the already-haves. The best hope for
genuine peace and security in the region would be a nuclear
weapons-free zone for all of South and Southwest Asia, similar to
those which already exist in Southeast Asia, Latin America, Africa,
and the South Pacific. Unfortunately, a proposed UN Security Council
resolution in December 2003 calling for the establishment of such an
additional nuclear-free zone was withdrawn after a threatened U.S.
veto.
Maintaining such double standards regarding nuclear proliferation
presents incalculable dangers to regional and global peace and
security. They are also simply not worthy of a country which asserts
the right to global leadership.
[Stephen Zunes is Middle East editor for the Foreign Policy in Focus
Project (www.fpif.org) and a Professor of Politics at the University
of San Francisco.]
*
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18 Guardian Unlimited: Lawmakers Near Agreement on Energy Bill
From the Associated Press
[UP]
Tuesday July 26, 2005 11:31 AM
By H. JOSEF HEBERT
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) - House and Senate negotiators are awaiting
completion of an $11.5 billion tax package before giving final
approval to an sweeping compromise energy bill that Congress
hopes to send to President Bush by week's end.
The conferees approved the non-tax measures early Tuesday in a
session that lasted well past midnight, maneuvering through
dozens of amendments, including one aimed at blunting China's
attempt to purchase U.S. energy companies.
Throughout the negotiations, conference leaders took precautions
to avoid provisions that might prompt a Senate filibuster, which
they feared would doom energy legislation as it did two years
ago.
But Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., the Senate's chief negotiator,
warned that a provision calling for an inventory of oil and gas
resources in coastal waters - which conferees voted to keep in
the bill - could prompt a filibuster attempt by Florida
senators.
Still, he said, he's confident that will be overcome, although
he said Senate approval might be delayed until Friday.
Congress has been thwarted repeatedly over the past four years
in attempts to enact energy legislation, although Bush first
called for a new national energy blueprint in 2001, only months
after taking office.
With soaring gasoline and other energy prices, Bush challenged
Congress to give him a bill before it begins its August recess.
Even so, Bush and the lawmakers acknowledged the bill includes
little, if anything, to reduce gasoline or other energy costs in
the short term.
The broad legislation includes measures to spur construction of
new nuclear power plants, promote ways to reduce pollution from
coal and provides a boon to farmers by requiring refiners to
double the use of corn-based ethanol in gasoline to 7.5 billion
gallons a year by 2012.
It also would:
- Provide subsidies and tax breaks for wind, geothermal and
solar industries.
- Require new efficiency standards for commercial appliances
from air conditioners to refrigerators.
- Extend daylight saving time by a month to save energy.
- Require utilities to meet federal reliability standards for
the electric transmission grid, hoping to avoid future blackouts
such as struck in the summer of 2003.
- Eases the way for more imports of liquefied natural gas by
giving federal regulators final say over import terminals.
- Provides loan guarantees and other subsidies for clean energy
technologies and new nuclear reactors. It would authorize a $1.8
billion program to promote clean coal technologies.
Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, the conference chairman, called the
legislation ``the most comprehensive energy bill in the last 30
or 40 years.''
But some Democrats criticized the bill for providing cash-flush
energy companies a mountain of tax subsidies, loan guarantees
and support such as help to pay for deep-water oil exploration
and drilling.
``These are the wealthiest companies in America. We shouldn't be
subsidizing them,'' complained Rep. Edward Markey, D-Mass.
Responding to a Chinese company's recent move to buy
California-based Unocal, the conferees including a provision to
require the government to wait for completion of a 120-day
security review by the Pentagon and other agencies before the
government's Committee on Foreign Investments in the United
States can trigger its formal review.
``I think we ought to slow things down,'' Sen. Byron Dorgan,
D-N.D., said, joining House conferees in strong support of the
measure.
The provision, opposed by the White House, reflected the serious
concern by many in Congress over China's attempt to buy
California-based Unocal, or other U.S. energy companies.
Working well past midnight, the conferees addressed dozens of
amendments to the wide-ranging bill.
Separately, congressional tax writers were expected to finish an
energy package expected to cost about $11.5 billion in tax
breaks for both energy production and conservation. The tax
discussions have been behind closed doors and no details were
available.
Some lawmakers said the bill should have included more to
promote energy savings.
Dorgan tried to include a Senate-approved measure that would
have required the president to develop a program to reduce
future oil use by 1 million barrels a day. It was rejected.
An attempt by Markey to strip from the bill loan guarantees for
new energy technologies, including development of the next
generation of nuclear reactors also failed.
The conferees approved a White House proposal to provide ``risk
insurance'' against regulatory delays for companies that want to
build a new nuclear power plant. The measure, highlighted by
Bush in a speech last April, would apply for the first six
reactors built.
The requirement for an inventory of offshore oil and gas
resources was criticized as a prelude to drilling in coastal
waters now off limits including off Florida.
``This is the first step to oil drilling in areas now off
limits,'' said Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif. Supporters of the
measure argued the government and industry should know what
resources are available even if drilling isn't planned.
One of the most contentious environmental issues of past energy
debates, whether to drill for oil in an Alaska wildlife refuge,
became a non-issue this time. The House approved such drilling,
but the Senate ignored the issue. It was not included.
Another thorny issue, involving product liability protection for
makers of the gasoline additive MTBE, was resolved when House
conferees abandoned the measure.
----
On the Net:
Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee:
http://energy.senate.gov/public/
House Energy and Commerce Committee:
http://energycommerce.house.gov/
Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2005
*****************************************************************
19 Rediff: India: Do we really need the nuclear deal with the US?
Columnists > Air Commodore Jasjit Singh (retd)
July 26, 2005
The new nuclear bargain means different things to different
people, both here and in the United States -- a case of the
elephant and the blind men!
Dire consequences to our national security are forecast by our
strategic community because we would have access to nuclear
power trade and international cooperation.
So the first question that we must address is: Why do we need
international cooperation in nuclear power, and what would be
the bargain?
To begin with, we all know how deficient the country is in total
energy as well in electricity. We have a lot of coal, but it has
a very high content of ash (which requires technology and
capital to improve it) and is a serious environmental problem.
Meanwhile we import better quality of coal from Australia.
The nuclear deal
With the rising consumption in the country, we will be importing
over 90 per cent of our oil and gas needs in a few years, mostly
from unstable regions to the west of us. This has its own
vulnerabilities. Oil prices have soared in the past two years
and are likely to keep hovering around $60 per barrel with
obvious negative impact on our economy.
Energy deficient countries like Japan, France etc had to rapidly
build nuclear power capacity after the oil shock of 1973. China
now is building its nuclear power base from near-zero capacity
to 40,000MW of electricity by 2020.
We have an ambitious plan to build 20,000MW of nuclear power by
2020. But our indigenous uranium reserves can support, at best,
a capacity of only 10,000MW!
A good deal
If we want to increase our nuclear power capacity to even the
targeted figure, we will need to import fuel for decades till
the fast-breeder reactors are able to take over.
The NDA government was fully cognisant of this, and that is why
it had included 'nuclear energy' as the first item for
cooperation with the United States under the NSSP (Next Steps in
Strategic Partnership) agreed upon in January 2004 by then prime
minister Vajpayee and negotiated by then National Security
Adviser Brajesh Mishra, which have been praised so much and for
which they took so much credit -- only to slam it now that those
steps are moving forward!
The second big question is: Does this agreement jeopardise our
national security?
Continuation of pro-US shift: Left parties
Enhancing nuclear power availability in the country would
actually enhance national security since it would help economy
to grow, reduce poverty and build national comprehensive power.
What is less known here is that nuclear power now has become the
most economical, most environmental friendly and most reliable
form of energy among various types available for commercial use.
But there is no way we can access international cooperation,
especially fuel for reactors, without some adjustments in our
policies. What we are expected to do beyond the traditional
policy of the country is that
i. We will assume all responsibilities and practices (and
acquire same benefits and advantages) as other nuclear weapon
states like the United States;
ii. we will separate civil and military nuclear facilities and
programmes in a 'phased manner' and 'voluntarily' place them
under IAEA inspections;
iii. sign and adhere to an Additional Protocol with IAEA
covering such civilian nuclear facilities.
Third, what would be the implications, especially for our
nuclear deterrence capabilities?
The loudest objections in the country have been that separation
of civilian facilities from the military facilities would
undermine our nuclear defence capability. Nothing could be
farther from the truth.
India-US: The blunt truth
We have never had any problem with placing civil nuclear power
reactors under IAEA inspection system (Tarapur was voluntarily
placed under such inspection in 1993 when our treaty obligations
expired). The two Russian supplied reactors near Chennai are
under IAEA inspections, and so are the Kota reactors.
The point is that we have an efficient autonomous capability to
manufacture nuclear weapons and the facilities for this all
would obviously not be placed under any international oversight.
But the civil nuclear power reactors built with any
international cooperation component would have to be under IAEA
inspection and it is crazy to claim that this jeopardises our
security.
President Bush has given up the long-held US demand for India
becoming a non-nuclear weapon state and in fact put India at par
with the US in this respect for nuclear energy cooperation.
Fourth, would this agreement go through, and if not, would it
then leave us high and dry with commitments that regress from
our present positions and capabilities?
There is no doubt that Bush would find it an uphill task to get
the necessary legal authority and international concurrence to
the proposal. But he also has the bulk of his second term ahead
of him.
US lawmakers say N-deal will be a tough-sell
A joint working group to progress this agreement has already
been set up, and senior US officials have been speaking to
Congress and US allies. First reactions are fairly positive and
100 Senators and Congressmen at a convention of the Indian
American Friendship Council the other day have promised to make
the nuclear deal a reality.
President Bush and Prime Minister Singh will meet early next
year to review the progress, and the personal role of the US
president would matter greatly. If for any reasons the new
enterprise does not go through, India still gains by being
labelled as a 'responsible State with advanced nuclear
technology' (read 'State with nuclear weapons'). Surely, that is
not something that we should be complaining about?
Fifth, what does the US get out of what is obviously a major
shift in its policy?
Indo-US nuclear treaty: A good deal
The answer to this lies in the macro picture of global trends.
The obvious incentive is the burgeoning market (growing at an
impressive rate) of a liberal democracy of over a billion
people. But the second Bush administration is also seeking to
re-orient its grand strategy after experiencing the negative
fall-out from its first tenure. It is badly bogged down in Iraq
while it is unable to get enough recruits for its army. Central
Asian leaders are seeking its military withdrawal from the
region at an early date.
But above all, Washington is finally beginning to readjust its
strategy in the context of what has come to be accepted as the
'rise of China.' New tensions have been building in US-China
relations in recent months. High-level Chinese generals have
been publicly threatening America with 'hundreds of its cities'
being burned by Chinese nuclear weapons if there is US-supported
conflict over Taiwan.
N-deal no compromise: Saran
Above all, there has been a growing realisation of a global
power shift from the West to the East, where China stands out as
the rising superpower. The US National Intelligence Council in
its projection for the next 15 years raised the issue of how the
US would manage the rise of China and India in the coming
decade.
By any logic, a successful and prosperous India would be a
natural balance to China even while the two remain friendly; and
strong India-US relations are crucial to Bush's stated goal of
supporting India's rise to global power status. But the nuclear
and the contradictory policies of the two have been at the core
of their divergences for three decades.
Without finding a way out --- or around them --- the
relationship would continue to be severely limited.
Air Commodore Jasjit Singh (retd) is one of India's leading
experts on strategic issues.
Copyright © 2005 rediff.com India Limited. All Rights Reserved.
*****************************************************************
20 Khaleej Times: Pakistan for nuclear cooperation with US
www.khaleejtimes.com
MOHAMMED A. R. GALADARI
(DPA, AP) 26 July 2005
ISLAMABAD — Almost a week after the United States agreed to help
India develop its peaceful use of atomic energy, Pakistan
yesterday said it also wanted to expand cooperation with the US
in the nuclear field.
Pakistan has its own strategic relations with the US and we would
like to extend this cooperation in multiple fields including the
peaceful uses of nuclear energy and space technology,” foreign
ministry spokesman Mohammed Naeem Khan told a press briefing in
Islamabad.
US President George W. Bush last week announced plans to help
India in the peaceful use of nuclear energy in return for New
Delhi’s promise to abide by international safeguards and step up
efforts to combat weapons proliferation.
Bush made the announcement after talks in Washington with
visiting Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, a trip which
observers said marked a change in Washington’s nuclear policy
toward India.
Khan said the US has made it clear that entering cooperation with
India in nuclear arena does not amount to recognise the latter as
the nuclear state.
Our position has been that the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG)
should extend cooperation to Pakistan for the peaceful uses of
nuclear energy under the International Atomic Energy Agency
(IAEA) safeguards,” spokesman Khan said.
He said that Pakistan is committed to the peace process with
India, but is disappointed with recent comments about nuclear
proliferation made by Indian Premier Manmohan Singh.
Pakistan and India are engaged in this peace process,” Naeem Khan
said. “We believe that this process is on track.”
However, Khan criticised remarks by Dr Singh, who said last week
in Washington that India has “adhered scrupulously to every rule
and canon” on nuclear nonproliferation even though “we have
witnessed unchecked nuclear proliferation in our own
neighbourhood, which has directly affected our security
interests.”
That reference was to Pakistan, where A.Q. Khan, a national hero
known as the father of Pakistan’s bomb, ran a network smuggling
nuclear weapons technology. Pakistan is “disappointed” with Dr
Singh’s statements, Khan said. “They really do not serve any
purpose.”
*****************************************************************
21 Political Affairs Magazine: How to Lobby Congress With a Hammer
By David Swanson
Published: 07/26/2005 09:38
Over 100 people, few if any of them employed by the corporate
media, filled a press conference room in the US Capitol on
Monday to hear artists, advocates, and experts speak against the
current energy bill and against a proposal to dump the nation's
nuclear waste on the land of a native American tribe in Utah.
Congressman Dennis Kucinich opened the proceedings, welcomed the
speakers, and began by denouncing the activities of the Private
Fuel Storage Limited Liability Consortium (PFS), which has
proposed this latest "solution" to the problem of nuclear
waste. Did you know these matters were being handled by a
private organization AND that it conveniently has LIMITED
liability?
Kucinich called PFS's plan "unjust, dangerous, and
unnecessary." He said it violates the rights of the tribe whose
land is thus ruined, and puts the whole country at risk of a
catastrophe in the transportation of the waste to Utah. He said
that 60 members of Congress had written to the Nuclear
Regulatory Commission about this, and have yet to receive any
response.
Kucinich spoke also of this country's long history of abusing
the rights of native Americans and urged those listening to move
beyond that history.
Navin Nayak of the US Public Interest Research Group (PIRG)
spoke next and MC'd the event. "The U.S. Congress," he said,
"stands on the precipice of passing an energy bill that would
reproduce the mistakes of the past 50 years." From 1950 to
1997, he said, the federal government has spent $500 billion
subsidizing fossil fuels and nuclear power, but only $25 billion
on renewables.
Despite that, Nayak pointed out, wind power is the fastest
growing power globally, and the cost of it has fallen by 80
percent in recent years.
The energy bill now under consideration would give billions to
nuclear energy and subsidize the building of new plants,
something we haven't done for 30 years, Nayak said.
The first speaker Nayak introduced set a tone of serious
dedication and sacrifice. He was actor and activist James
Cromwell, and he said that if anyone tries to move 44 thousand
metric tons of nuclear waste across the country, "It's going to
be blocked, the same way it was in Germany. But in this
country, to stand in front of those trains, as I will be doing,
is a violation of the PATRIOT Act and it is an act of terrorism
and punishable by life in prison."
Cromwell seemed confident that others, young and old, would
stand with him in front of the trains. He said that young
people would not allow the country's future to be put at risk by
nuclear waste. "It's our children and our children's children
who will be affected by this technology, and it is up to us to
stop it. I hope you will join us."
Amy Ray of the Indigo Girls spoke next. She said that the
Indigo Girls have been a part of a campaign called Honor the
Earth, and have worked on this issue with Winona LaDuke since
1992. Back then, she said, they opposed a bill that they called
"Mobile Chernobyl," which would have transported the waste to
Yucca Mountain in Nevada.
"When that took too long to work out," she said, "they created
this limited liability consortium (PFS) so as not to have the
liability that they should… No one wants the nuclear waste, and
we're targeting minority communities with it. We need to stop
producing it."
Ray pointed out that Yucca Mountain is in an earthquake zone,
but noted that Skull Valley, Utah, (the current site targeted)
is near an Air Force bombing range.
Ray advocated wind turbines as a safe and profitable project for
native Americans and others. "We oppose this energy bill," she
said, "because of the subsidies to nuclear companies in it."
Nayak again spoke briefly and provided some more stats. Despite
a lack of investment, he said, renewables and co-generation now
produce 92 percent as much energy as nuclear, on a global
basis. The US Department of Energy says that the US could get
400 percent of its electricity from renewables, in comparison to
the 2.5 percent that we actually get.
Next to speak was Margene Bullcreek, founder of Ohngo Guadedah
Devia, Skull Valley Goshute. "Our treaty protects our
sovereignty as caretakers of our land," she said. "Help us stop
this destruction, this genocide to our native people of this
great nation that was founded on our indigenous land."
Nayak then cited a few more reasons to have strong doubts about
the proposal before the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to violate
that sovereignty. There have, he noted, been no Congressional
hearings on this important public question of whether to ship 44
thousand tons of nuclear waste through as many as 45 states and
store it above ground. There has been no examination of the
safety of this proposal. Within days, he said, we could have a
decision from the NRC. "It is time for Congress to step in."
Emily Saliers f the Indigo Girls spoke very briefly and to the
point: "Nuclear energy is not clean energy." If we don't change
from nuclear power and fossil fuels to renewables, she said,
"then every time we switch on a light we are complicit in
injustice that affects people's lives."
Nayek added that the United States imports over 50 percent of
its oil, and that the new energy bill would increase the
nation's dependence on oil. Meanwhile, he said, over 90 percent
of Americans support renewables and conservation as the top
solution to our energy policy.
Longtime activist and former Green Party Vice Presidential
candidate Winona LaDuke was unable to speak at this event
because of a delayed flight.
The last to speak was musician, singer, song-writer Ani DiFranco.
The job of a poet or a singer, DiFranco said, is to draw
connections. She was compelled, she said, "to speak one word:
cancer." Cancer, she said, "is the physiological reaction to
toxicity in our environment."
There is no barrel, DiFranco said, that can be guaranteed safely
sealed. There is no safe way to ship nuclear waste. "We all
know there's a bit of a farce in this policy."
"This week," DiFranco urged those in attendance, "rather than
writing a check to the Leukemia Foundation, we can stop the
Skull Valley dump and stop this energy bill. And we can invest
in renewable energy that is out there waiting for us to use it….
"Radioactive waste is not clean. Therefore, anyone who is
trying to tell me that nuclear power is clean is lying to me.
And subsidizing nuclear power is absolutely a deal breaker in a
twenty-first century energy policy."
DiFranco probably received the most applause of all the
speakers, with the exception of Congressman Kucinich's closing
remarks – see below.
Nayek concluded the prepared agenda of the press conference by
noting that if an energy bill passes this week, it will likely
set our energy policy for a decade. This policy will not focus
on renewables. Focusing on renewables could create hundreds of
thousands of new jobs, save consumers dollars, and protect
public health.
Nayek asked for questions from the media, and seeing none, asked
for questions from others. A man asked about the likelihood of
the energy bill passing.
A committee of the House of Representatives, Nayek said, is
trying to complete a bill tonight – likely a 1,000 page bill –
and a vote in the House may come tomorrow, which is when the
public will first see the bill. A Senate vote could come as
early as Thursday.
Kucinich rose to the podium to point out, in addition, that most
Congress Members will not have seen the bill before it comes to
the floor.
Expert speakers who were available for questions rose and spoke
briefly, one after another, because there were few reporters
present, and none with questions.
Kevin Kamps of the Nuclear Information and Resource Service
said that the federal government until 1994 and the PFS since
then have targeted 60 native American tribes for the dumping of
waste, 50 of which have fought it off. In the current case, he
said, there are strong arguments against the proposed site.
For one thing, 7,000 F-16 fighter jets fly over every year.
"What if one crashes?" The NRC, he said, had ruled, 2 to 1,
that such a crash would not release radiation above an
acceptable level. The two Yes votes came from lawyers, said
Kamps, while a blistering dissent was penned by an engineer who
focused on numerous defects in the storage containers.
In addition, Kamps said, Cedar Mountains Wilderness Area, sacred
ground, would have a rail line put through it.
And, the Bureau of Indian Affairs approved the lease agreement
for this dump in three days. In response to a Freedom of
Information Act request from Public Citizen, the BIA said it had
no related documents whatsoever.
Pete Downing of the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance added that
House has passed a bill as part of a defense bill to protect
Utah from this dump, a bi-partisan measure that focused on
public safety and military safety. It remains to be seen what
the Senate will do.
Nayak said that stopping the energy bill, on the other hand,
would likely require 41 senators to stand up and protect us with
a filibuster.
Kucinich gave a stirring speech to conclude the event. He
referred to Conscience and Consciousness, two words that
DiFranco had used.
"The American people," he said, "are waiting to be inspired and
moved. Will $2 per gallon move them? Maybe not. Will $3? $4?
Probably not.
"But if people make connections between a war against innocent
people in Iraq and our energy policy, between moving tons of
nuclear waste and our so-called energy policy, between the
production of nuclear weapons and our failed energy policy….
"We're not just talking about protecting sacred land. The whole
earth is sacred. The whole earth is sacred! We're talking
about reclaiming our humanity.
"Jamie Cromwell talked about people putting themselves on the
line. We have to shake the conscience of this country! WAKE
UP! That's what we ought to be telling this country, and we are
the ones. We are the messengers. We are the messengers."
--David Swanson is a board member of Progressive Democrats of
America. http://www.pdamerica.org.
*****************************************************************
22 Reuters: US negotiators finish work on energy bill
Tue Jul 26, 2005 3:13 AM ET
By Tom Doggett and Chris Baltimore
WASHINGTON, July 26 (Reuters) - House of Representatives and
Senate negotiators finished work on Tuesday on energy legislation
that aims to boost traditional oil, natural gas and electricity
supplies and would double production of the gasoline additive
ethanol.
The panel of lawmakers rejected a proposal to reduce U.S. oil
consumption by 1 million barrels per day and also turned down a
plan to require utilities to generate more electricity from
renewable energy sources like wind and solar power.
The full House and Senate will vote on the compromise bill this
week. President George W. Bush on Sunday urged leaders of the
conference committee to wrap up work on the energy bill this week
so he could sign it into law by Aug. 1.
The ethanol compromise, which would raise production of the
motor fuel additive to 7.5 billion gallons a year by 2012, is
larger than the 5 billion gallons approved by the U.S. House of
Representatives, but smaller than the 8 billion gallons called
for by the Senate.
Ethanol, derived mostly from corn, is a popular political cause
in farm country, where it is regarded as a homegrown answer to
oil imports and a boon to farm income.
It is usually blended directly into gasoline in a mix of 10
percent ethanol and 90 percent gasoline, which makes motor fuel
burn more cleanly to meet federal air pollution requirements.
Ethanol is more difficult for oil companies to transport because
it evaporates more quickly than conventional gasoline.
House negotiators voted against a Senate plan requiring the
president to come up with ways to cut America's oil demand by 1
million barrels a day by 2015.
'RELENTLESS ADDICTION TO OIL'-SENATOR
"We have a relentless addiction to oil. We need to address it,"
said Democratic Sen. Byron Dorgan of North Dakota and sponsor of
the oil savings amendment. The United States has to import 60
percent of its oil to meet its 21 million barrel daily demand.
House opponents said the proposal would force Americans into
carpools and automakers to boost vehicle fuel standards.
A separate Senate proposal that also failed would have required
10 percent of U.S. electricity to be generated by renewable
sources by 2020.
Republican Pete Domenici of New Mexico, the chief Senate energy
bill negotiator, said the electricity plan would have helped
reduce U.S. demand for natural gas, which has increased in price
due in part to new power plants fueled by gas.
Chances for the bill's passage have improved, after negotiators
on Sunday dropped a proposal for legal protection for oil
refiners that make a rival fuel additive to ethanol -- methyl
tertiary butyl ether, or MTBE.
Rep. Joe Barton, Texas Republican and chairman of the energy
bill conference committee, proposed creating an $11.4 billion
fund to clean up water supplies caused by MTBE contamination in
return for shielding refiners such as Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM.N:
Quote, Profile, Research) from lawsuits. But the plan was
criticized by the oil industry, municipal water officials and key
U.S. senators.
While Barton did not win liability protection for the oil
companies, he was able to include language in the bill to permit
new MTBE liability lawsuits to be reviewed by federal courts,
setting a higher bar for such lawsuits to proceed.
CHANGE TO DAYLIGHT-SAVING TIME
A multibillion-dollar package of energy tax breaks and subsidies
will be added to the bill. Negotiators are working on a
compromise tax package of about $10 billion, which is higher than
the $6.7 billion sought by the Bush administration.
White House spokesman Scott McClellan reiterated on Monday that
the administration "doesn't think we need to be providing tax
credits to oil companies when the price of oil is above $50 a
barrel."
Other provisions in the bill would:
* Move the start of daylight-saving time in 2007 from the first
Sunday in April to the second Sunday in March, and extend it by
one week to the first Sunday in November. Extending
daylight-saving time would save the energy equivalent of
thousands of barrels of oil a day.
* Impose a 141-day delay in a U.S. government review of the
Chinese-government owned CNOOC Ltd (0883.HK: Quote, Profile,
Research) oil company's $18.5 billion bid for American-oil giant
Unocal (UCL.N: Quote, Profile, Research).
*Repeal a Depression-era law, the Public Utility Holding Company
Act, which prevents certain utility mergers.
* Require the federal government to provide $2 billion in
insurance to cover delays in the building of 6 new nuclear power
reactors.
* Impose reliability operating standards on utilities to protect
the U.S. electric grid from blackouts.
* Conduct an inventory of offshore oil and natural gas
resources, including in areas where drilling is banned.
LINKS:
* FACTBOX-House,Senate energy bills differ [ID:nL15651656]
* MTBE protection dropped from energy bill [ID:nN24682955]
* Democrats demand EPA's MTBE cancer report[ID:nN21565497]
* US lawmakers may extend daylight-saving [ID:nN21566323]
* No need for price-reporting in bill [ID:nN19667438]
* Reuters top energy news [TOP/O]
* NYMEX futures prices
© Reuters 2005.
*****************************************************************
23 Reuters: US lawmakers to add tax package to energy bill
Tue Jul 26, 2005 5:40 PM ET
(Recasts, adds details of energy tax package)
By Tom Doggett and Chris Baltimore
WASHINGTON, July 26 (Reuters) - Congressional negotiators on
Tuesday were set to finalize $11.5 billion in energy tax credits
and incentives, setting the stage for the U.S. Congress to vote
on a broad energy bill later this week.
House of Representatives and Senate negotiators worked past
midnight on Monday to complete the energy bill that aims to boost
traditional oil, natural gas and electricity supplies while also
promoting alternative energy sources.
Cost details have yet to be released, but Senate Finance
Committee chairman Charles Grassley said tax writers had agreed
on most of the $11.5 billion package.
That would be higher than the $6.7 billion recommended by the
Bush administration, but there was no threat of a presidential
veto because of cost. A White House spokesman on Monday
criticized the bill's tax credits for oil companies at a time
when crude is well above $50 a barrel.
Oil and gas subsidies in the bill come in at about $1.5 billion,
Grassley said, much lower than the House-written bill, which had
about $4 billion in such incentives. The final package will have
$3.1 billion in incentives to produce electricity from wind,
solar and other renewable sources and $1.3 billion for efficiency
and conservation.
Democrats and environmentalists still pilloried the bill as a
giveaway to Big Oil that will do little to lower gasoline prices
or reduce U.S. dependence on foreign oil imports.
"This is the lobbyist backyard barbecue bill, because every
energy interest is going home with its pockets stuffed with
pork," said Jill Lancelot at Taxpayers for Common Sense.
Rep. Joe Barton of Texas, who headed negotiations, called it a
"transformational bill" that will spur new nuclear and cleaner
coal plants as well as hybrid-powered cars.
"It's harder and harder to find energy," Barton told reporters.
"It's only fair to have some incentives and credits to encourage
that."
During a final nine-hour negotiating session that ended shortly
before dawn on Tuesday, a joint Senate-House energy bill
conference committee agreed to nearly double production of
ethanol, a gasoline additive made from corn.
But the panel rejected Senate proposals to cut U.S. oil
consumption by 1 million barrels per day and to require American
utilities to generate more electricity from renewable energy
sources like wind and solar power.
President George W. Bush asked Congress to approve the
legislation before this weekend, when lawmakers leave for their
month-long summer recess in August. Once the tax package is done,
the full House could vote on the bill as early as Wednesday. The
Senate may vote Thursday.
OIL DEMAND, MTBE DROPPED FROM BILL
The ethanol compromise, which would raise output of the additive
to 7.5 billion gallons a year by 2012, is larger than the 5
billion gallons approved by the House but smaller than the 8
billion gallons sought by the Senate.
Ethanol, scorned by the oil industry, is popular in farm states
as a home-grown way to reduce oil imports and boost farmers'
incomes.
House negotiators also rejected a Senate plan requiring the
president to come up with ways to cut America's oil demand by 1
million barrels a day by 2015. Opponents said the proposal would
force Americans into carpools while making automakers boost
vehicle fuel standards.
Another Senate proposal that failed would have required use of
renewable sources to generate 10 percent of U.S. electricity by
2020.
Also dropped from the bill was a House Republican plan to shield
from lawsuits those oil refiners that make a rival fuel additive
to ethanol -- methyl tertiary butyl ether, or MTBE.
Rep. Barton wanted to create an $11.4 billion fund to clean up
water supplies contaminated by MTBE in return for shielding
refiners such as Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM.N: Quote, Profile,
Research) from lawsuits. But the plan was criticized by the oil
industry, municipal water officials and key U.S. senators.
House Majority Leader Tom DeLay told Reuters he was
"disappointed" the energy bill would not protect MTBE makers.
"We're not giving up on it," DeLay said, but did not elaborate on
how the plan could be revived.
The final energy bill did not include language to open the
Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling. However, that
proposal has broad support and is expected to be included in
separate budget legislation later this year.
LINKS:
* FACTBOX-House,Senate energy bills differ [ID:nL15651656]
* MTBE protection dropped from energy bill [ID:nN24682955]
* Democrats demand EPA's MTBE cancer report[ID:nN21565497]
* US lawmakers may extend daylight-saving [ID:nN21566323]
* No need for price-reporting in bill [ID:nN19667438]
* Reuters top energy news [TOP/O]
* NYMEX futures prices
© Reuters 2005.
*****************************************************************
24 Annan Welcomes Seven-nation Nuclear-non-proliferation Initiative
Date: Tue, 26 Jul 2005 19:01:23 -0400
X-Spam-Level:
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ANNAN WELCOMES SEVEN-NATION NUCLEAR-NON-PROLIFERATION INITIATIVE
New York, Jul 26 2005 7:00PM
United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan today welcomed an "encouraging"
seven-nation initiative which he said could lead to General
Assembly consensus on strengthening adherence to nuclear non-proliferation
and disarmament agreements.
The political declaration was announced today by the foreign ministers
of Australia, Chile, Indonesia, Norway, Romania, South Africa
and the United Kingdom.
According to a <"http://www.un.org/apps/sg/sgstats.asp?nid=1594">statement
issued by a UN spokesman in New York, Mr. Annan had been
deeply troubled by the failure of the Review Conference of the
Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), held at UN Headquarters in
May, to achieve substantive agreement to strengthen collective
security against the many nuclear threats to which all States and
peoples are vulnerable.
He is therefore "deeply encouraged" by the agreement announced today
by the ministers, who represent a diverse group of States, the
statement said, adding that Mr. Annan thanked Norway's Foreign
Minister, Jan Petersen, for spearheading the initiative.
"The political declaration they have adopted and the input for the
2005 World Summit they have submitted to the President of the General
Assembly provide the basis, the Secretary-General expects,
for a wide-ranging consensus," the statement said, referring to
the Assembly's upcoming September summit, where world leaders are
expected to renew their commitment to the implementation of agreed
development targets and take decisions on UN reform.
"The Secretary-General hopes that leaders will use the opportunity
offered by the World Summit, and the added impetus which these
seven foreign ministers have provided, to make bold commitments and
address the pressing challenges to the nuclear non-proliferation
regime," Mr. Annan said.
2005-07-26 00:00:00.000
________________
For more details go to UN News Centre at http://www.un.org/news
To change your profile or unsubscribe go to:
http://www.un.org/news/dh/latest/subscribe.shtml
*****************************************************************
25 Canada's complicity w/ BMD: Straightgoods.com
Date: Tue, 26 Jul 2005 12:29:20 -0500 (CDT)
from: http://www.straightgoods.ca/ViewFeature5.cfm?REF=351
Missile Defense and NORAD
Canada requested a role in missile defense, while publicly denying we would
participate.
Dateline: Monday, July 25, 2005
by Richard Sanders
On August 5, 2004, the Canadian government initiated a change to the NORAD
agreement in order to add a crucial "missile defense" task to the Canada-US
military alliance. The US promptly agreed to Canada's kind offer to share
in the important "aerospace warning" function that is required for the
tracking and targeting functions of America's "missile defense" weapons
systems.
The process by which Canada attained its new "missile defense" job within
NORAD, was facilitated by an exchange of bureaucratic letters between
Canada's Ambassador to the US, Michael Kergin, and the US Secretary of
State, Colin Powell. (1) Kergin's letter reminded Powell of a previous
round of official notes, dated January 15, 2004, between Canadian Defense
Minister, David Pratt, and US Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld.
Pratt's letter to Rumsfeld, which had been sent one short month after Paul
Martin became Prime Minister, presented the Canadian government's frank
proposal on how it could get more deeply ensconced in "missile defense"
work by creating an "overall framework for co-operation."...
whole article at: http://www.straightgoods.ca/ViewFeature5.cfm?REF=351
Penney Kome, author and journalist
http://penneykome.ca
Editor, Straight Goods, http://straightgoods.com
*****************************************************************
26 MSN-Mainichi Daily News: Years On: Looking back at the end of World War II in Japan
Though few may have realized it, the beginning of the end for
Japan in World War II came on July 26, 1945, when U.S. President
Harry S. Truman, Chinese President Chiang Kai-shek and British
Prime Minister Winston Churchill issued the Potsdam Declaration.
The Potsdam Declaration reaffirmed the Allies' demand for
Japan's unconditional surrender and threatened "complete and
utter destruction" if the empire refused to obey.
Japan was unaware that the United States was then armed with
nuclear weapons and had the force to back up its threat.
Although Allied bombing that left nearly all cities flat and a
severe lack of food made life almost unbearable for nearly all
Japanese, in late-July 1945, the nation remained committed to
fighting.
At the same time, it had put out feelers for a peace deal
mediated by the Soviets, with whom Japan then still had a
current Non-Aggression Pact.
Despite being the language of the enemy, English newspapers
continued to be printed in Japan during the war. The Mainichi
Daily News was no exception, though it was subjected to strict
military censorship, depleted resources and affected by the
frequent air raids.
The Mainichi Daily News was Japan's only English language
newspaper to keep on publishing every day until the war ended on
Aug. 15, 1945.
To mark the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II, the
MSN-Mainichi Daily News special "60 Years On" will feature a
daily reproduction of the front page of the MDN from the
corresponding date six decades earlier.
The "60 Years On" special will also draw on the Mainichi's
extensive pictorial records to feature a number of Photo
Specials updated at regular intervals during the coming weeks,
offering a rare glimpse of what was happening in Japan as the
most destructive conflict in history entered its final days. (By
Ryann Connell)
60 Years On Potsdam Photo SpecialMDN July 26, 1945 Front Page
ReproductionPotsdam Declaration Transcript
July 26, 2005
Copyright 2004-2005 THE MAINICHI NEWSPAPERS. All
*****************************************************************
27 [NukeNet] Fwd: [Know_Nukes] Exelon CEO Says Merger Will Save
Date: Tue, 26 Jul 2005 20:01:55 -0700
NukeNet Anti-Nuclear Network (nukenet@energyjustice.net)
Exelon digs into the PSEG swamp:
"Further, Hope Creek has experienced operating issues that could, if
not corrected, shut the plant down for some time, Rowe added"
------- Forwarded message -------
From: "Jim Hoerner"
To: Know_Nukes@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [Know_Nukes] Exelon CEO Says Merger Will Save Consumers $100sM
Date: Tue, 26 Jul 2005 09:35:23 -0400
[Re: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Know_Nukes/message/13838 - JH]
New York (Platts)--22Jul2005
The merger of Exelon and Public Service Enterprise Group would help
consumers
by improving PSEG's nuclear plants' operation, and supplying more low-cost
power to the wholesale market, Exelon CEO John Rowe said Friday.
At a news conference before Exelon's annual meeting in Philadelphia, Rowe
agreed that utility customers may not see merger-related rate cuts given
that
prices for natural gas--a key generating fuel--continue to rise. But by
allowing Exelon to operate PSEG's Salem and Hope Creek nuclear stations,
the
merger could restrain prices and save customers "hundreds of millions of
dollars," Rowe said.
Exelon's nuclear plants run at 93.5% capacity factor, he noted, while
PSEG's
have run 10-30% below that. An Exelon team is already working at the PSEG
plants under contract, but the merger would create "deeper management," he
said. Further, Hope Creek has experienced operating issues that could, if
not
corrected, shut the plant down for some time, Rowe added. Good nuclear
operations, he said, can have a "tremendous impact" on power markets.
For more Exelon and PSEG merger stories, take a trial to Platts Electric
Utility Week at http://electricutilityweek.platts.com.
http://www.platts.com/Nuclear/News/4364525.xml?S=n
--
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lane signals to get over, slow down. Smile and say "hi" to the folks you
pass on the sidewalk. Give blood. Volunteer.
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UNPLUG Salem Campaign; 321 Barr Ave, Linwood
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ncohen12@comcast.net; http://www.unplugsalem.org
http://www.coalitionforpeaceandjustice.org
"A time comes when silence is betrayal.
Even when pressed by the demands of
inner truth, men do not easily assume
the task of opposing their government's
policy, especially in time of war.
Nor does the human spirit move without
great difficulty against all the apathy
of conformist thought, within one's own
bosom and in the surrounding world."
- Martin Luther King Jr.
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28 San Luis Obispo Tribune: Raising nuclear plant quality
| 07/26/2005 |
A proposed bill would require plants to meet higher standards
before renewing their license
By David Sneed
The Tribune
Nuclear watchdog groups are asking California's congressional
delegation to support a bill that would raise standards for
renewing licenses for commercial nuclear power plants.
The bill by Rep. Nita Lowey, D-N.Y., would require nuclear
plants to meet the same standards when they apply for license
renewal that a new plant would need to meet for its original
license.
If the bill became law, federal regulators would have to take
into account such factors as new seismic information, terrorist
threats and changes in population density around the plant.
Currently, the relicensing process concentrates on how utilities
have managed the aging of the plants and other requirements.
"It makes no sense to have a double standard," said Rochelle
Becker, executive director of the San Luis Obispo-based Alliance
for Nuclear Responsibility.
Nuclear plants are initially licensed to operate for 40 years
and can apply to renew their licenses for an additional 20
years. The nation's older nuclear plants are applying for
license renewal and the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission
has approved all the applications.
Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant's two licenses will expire in
2023 and 2025. Pacific Gas and Electric Co. has not applied to
renew Diablo Canyon's licenses, yet, but the NRC and the nuclear
power industry expect all plants to renew their licenses.
The Nuclear Energy Institute, the industry's lobbying arm, said
the current rules are sufficient. Most issues were addressed
when the plants were built, and utilities are required to meet
standards for such threats as earthquakes and terrorist attacks.
"The license renewal process is not a rubber stamp," said
Trish Conrad, NEI spokeswoman.
Rep. Maurice Hinchey, D-N.Y., is co-sponsoring the bill. Local
nuclear activists hope California's Congress members will become
interested in the bill with the recent passage of an energy bill
that took up most of their time, Becker said.
Reps. Bill Thomas, R- Bakersfield, and Lois Capps, D-Santa
Barbara, have not taken positions on the bill. Capps is still
investigating it, and Thomas does not comment on bills until they
leave committee and go to the full House of Representatives.
*****************************************************************
29 AU ABC: Environment centre rejects Govt's nuclear support
07:21 (ACST)Wednesday, 27 July 2005. 08:21 (AEDT)Wednesday, 27
The Northern Territory Environment Centre has described the
Federal Government's support for nuclear power to slow climate
change as absurd.
Environment Minister Ian Campbell launched a report yesterday
that shows climate change is inevitable over the next 30 years.
Senator Campbell is urging more uranium exports to China and
India to ensure they use nuclear power instead of oil and coal.
But the Environment Centre coordinator Peter Robertson says the
Government knows nuclear power is not a viable replacement.
"That is their number one priority is to constantly deflect and
defer and delay and make sure that the sorts of changes that are
required to the fossil fuel industry do not eventuate," he said.
"So part of their strategy is to throw up these spurious
alternatives such as nuclear energy."
The centre says climate change could have a devastating impact
on remote Top End communities, starting with more intense
cyclones more often.
Mr Robertson says the risk of tropical diseases will increase,
but the impact on ecosystems and people's way of life will be
immeasurable.
"Every aspect of life that you look at for communities across
the Territory has the potential to be absolutely devastated by
global warming if it continues on its current trend, if the
Howard Government continues to ignore the problem and make large
cuts in its greenhouse gas emissions," he said.
*****************************************************************
30 Xinhua: Nuclear industry to seek foreign investment
www.xinhuanet.com
www.chinaview.cn 2005-07-27 08:03:43
BEIJING, July 27 -- China's ambitious plans to build some 30
nuclear reactors within the next 15 years will provide vast
opportunities for foreign architecture & engineering (A&E)
companies to cash in on the expanding clean energy sector,
industry authorities said.
"The gigantic project, which means building approximately
two reactors each year, will see a great demand for professional
services in fuel resources procurement, project management &
consulting, as well as infrastructure engineering," said Zhao
Chengkun, senior advisor with the preparatory office of State
Nuclear Power Technology Corp of China (SNPTC).
He was speaking yesterday at a nuclear forum in Beijing.
China, the world's second largest energy consumer after the
United States, now has a policy of "actively promoting nuclear
power construction."
In an effort to satiate the country's surging power demands,
China aims to have a total nuclear installed capacity of 40
gigawatts by 2020, which will make up 4 per cent of the nation's
aggregate power generation, from the current 2.3 per cent.
When building nuclear plants in previous years, nuclear
research institutes were responsible for the research and design
of a whole project, which lacked an integrated chain for A&E
services.
"But the old system only applied to small-scale nuclear
plant construction, and does not suit the country's (new) scheme
to massively drive the nuclear power generation," SNPTC's Zhao
said on the sidelines of the forum.
Zhao thought the establishment of joint-ventures by Chinese
and foreign firms would be one way of introducing professional
A&E services.
China's nuclear industry has actually already begun to try
and enhance the A&E ability of the country's existing nuclear
project research institutes, noted Zhao.
"For example, the nuclear industry engineering research and
design institute in Shanghai has improved the overall strength
of its A&E arm," Zhao said.
Another concern relevant to China's aspirations to
accelerate its nuclear plant construction regards the supply of
the fuel source uranium.
According to Pan Ziqiang, director of the science &
technology commission of the China National Nuclear Corporation,
China has little in the way of uranium although more unproven
reserves have yet to be explored.
"The country will beef up investment in exploring fuel
resources for the growing number of nuclear power plants across
the nation," Pan said yesterday at the forum.
He said that in recent years, the country has found a host
of potential reserves of nuclear plant fuel, but did not
elaborate.
Furthermore, around one third of the country has not yet
been checked for uranium reserves, and areas that have been
looked into are only tapped down to a depth of 500 metres.
"Places below 500 metres are believed to also be rich in
uranium reserves," Pan added.
(Source: China Daily)
Copyright ©2003 Xinhua News Agency. All rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
31 NRC: In the Matter of FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Company, Davis-
FR Doc E5-3968
[Federal Register: July 26, 2005 (Volume 70, Number 142)]
[Notices] [Page 43199-43200] From the Federal Register Online via
GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr26jy05-130]
Besse Nuclear Power Station, 5501 North State Route 2, Oak
Harbor, OH 43449-9760; Confirmatory Order Modifying License
(Effective Immediately) I FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Company
(FENOC or Licensee) is the holder of Facility Operating License
No. NPF-3 issued by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC
or Commission) pursuant to 10 CFR part 50 on April 22, 1977. The
license authorizes the operation of Davis-Besse Nuclear Power
Station, Unit 1 (Davis-Besse), in accordance with conditions
specified therein. The facility is located on the Licensee's site
in Ottawa County, Ohio.
II On February 9, 2004, and July 8, 2004, the NRC's Office of
Investigations (OI) began investigations to determine if former
AVI Food Systems, Inc. (AVI) employees at Davis-Besse were the
subject of employment discrimination in violation of 10 CFR 50.7.
In OI Report Nos. 3-2004-006 and 3-2004-018, OI concluded that
AVI employees were the subject of discrimination. By letter dated
February 25, 2005, the NRC identified to the Licensee the NRC's
concern and offered FENOC the opportunity to attend a
predecisional enforcement conference or to request alternative
dispute resolution (ADR) in which a neutral mediator with no
decision-making authority would facilitate discussions between
the NRC and FENOC and, if possible, assist the NRC and FENOC in
reaching an agreement on resolving the concern. FENOC chose to
participate in ADR. On May 11, 2005, the NRC and FENOC met at the
Davis-Besse facility in Oak Harbor, Ohio in an ADR session
mediated by a professional mediator, arranged through Cornell
University's Institute on Conflict Resolution. As part of the ADR
session, based upon the facts discussed during the mediation
session and the commitments noted in Section IV below, the NRC
will not issue a notice of violation for this issue and will not
count this matter as previous enforcement for the purposes of
assessing potential future enforcement action civil penalty
assessments in accordance with Section VI.C of the Enforcement
Policy.
[[Page 43200]] III By letter dated June 15, 2005, the Licensee
stated that in addition to the actions already taken by FENOC to
promote a safety conscious work environment (SCWE) at the FENOC
nuclear facilities, the Licensee agreed to take certain
additional corrective measures to emphasize the importance of a
SCWE. The agreed-upon additional actions noted in Section IV of
this Confirmatory Order focus on SCWE training for contractor
personnel who are granted unescorted access to Davis-Besse and
the other FENOC nuclear facilities.
On July 6, 2005, FENOC consented to the NRC issuing this
Confirmatory Order with the commitments, as described in Section
IV below. The Licensee further agreed in its July 6, 2005, letter
that this Order is to be effective upon issuance and that it has
waived its right to a hearing. The NRC has concluded that its
concerns can be resolved through NRC's confirmation of the
Licensee's commitments as outlined in this Order.
I find that the Licensee's commitments as set forth in Section IV
are acceptable and necessary and conclude that with these
commitments the public health and safety are reasonably assured.
In view of the foregoing, I have determined that the public
health and safety require that the Licensee's commitments be
confirmed by this Order.
Based on the above and the Licensee's consent, this Order is
immediately effective upon issuance. FENOC is required to provide
the NRC with a letter summarizing its actions when all of the
Section IV requirements have been completed.
IV Accordingly, pursuant to Sections 103, 161b, 161i, 161o, 182,
and 186 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, and the
Commission's regulations in 10 CFR 2.202 and 10 CFR Part 30, It
is hereby ordered, effective immediately, that License No. NPF-3
is modified as follows: 1. By no later than August 31, 2005,
FENOC will provide contractors who are granted unescorted access
to FENOC nuclear facilities with SCWE training that is equivalent
to the SCWE training provided to FENOC employees as part of Plant
Access Training.
2. By no later than August 31, 2005, FENOC will review the SCWE
training module included in Plant Access Training and make any
changes necessary to ensure that the module clearly reinforces
that FENOC SCWE policies and NRC employee protection requirements
(10 CFR 50.7) apply to all personnel working on behalf of FENOC,
specifically including contractor employees, supervision, and
management.
3. By no later than August 31, 2005, FENOC will provide specific
training to the Davis-Besse food services contractor management
and supervision involved in the provision of services to FENOC on
SCWE principles, FENOC SCWE policies, and NRC employee protection
requirements (10 CFR 50.7). This training will be comparable to
the SCWE training that has been provided to FENOC management and
supervision.
4. By no later than August 31, 2005, FENOC will include surveys
of contractor personnel as part of the quarterly FENOC
performance monitoring of SCWE at its nuclear facilities. These
surveys are performed annually. Other data relied upon in the
quarterly performance monitoring already includes the activities
of contractor personnel in the calculation of the applicable
performance measures.
The Director, Office of Enforcement, may relax or rescind, in
writing, any of the above conditions upon a showing by the
Licensee of good cause.
V Any person adversely affected by this Confirmatory Order, other
than the Licensee, may request a hearing within 20 days of its
issuance. Where good cause is shown, consideration will be given
to extending the time to request a hearing. A request for
extension of time must be made in writing to the Director, Office
of Enforcement, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington,
DC 20555, and include a statement of good cause for the
extension. Any request for a hearing shall be submitted to the
Secretary, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, ATTN: Rulemakings
and Adjudications Staff, Washington, DC 20555. Copies also shall
be sent to the Director, Office of Enforcement, U.S. Nuclear
Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555, to the Assistant
General Counsel for Materials Litigation and Enforcement at the
same address, to the Regional Administrator, NRC Region III, 2443
Warrenville Road, Suite 210, Lisle, IL 60532-4352, and to the
Licensee. Because of continuing disruptions in delivery of mail
to United States Government offices, it is requested that
requests for hearing be transmitted to the Secretary of the
Commission either by means of facsimile transmission to (301)
415-1101 or by e-mail to and also to the Office of the General
Counsel either by means of facsimile transmission to (301)
415-3725 or by e- mail to . If a person requests a hearing, that
person shall set forth with particularity the manner in which his
interest is adversely affected by this Order and shall address
the criteria set forth in 10 CFR 2.309(d) and (f). If a hearing
is requested by a person whose interest is adversely affected,
the Commission will issue an Order designating the time and place
of any hearing. If a hearing is held, the issue to be considered
at such hearing shall be whether this Confirmatory Order should
be sustained.
A request for hearing shall not stay the immediate effectiveness
of this order.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Dated this 15th day of July, 2005.
Michael R. Johnson, Director, Office of Enforcement.
[FR Doc. E5-3968 Filed 7-25-05; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590-01-P
*****************************************************************
32 Reuters: Entergy's Vermont Yankee nuclear plant shut
Tue Jul 26, 2005 3:41 PM ET
(Adds company comments)
NEW YORK, July 26 (Reuters) - Entergy Corp.'s (ETR.N: Quote,
Profile, Research) 506-megawatt Vermont Yankee nuclear station in
Vermont shut on July 25 due to a failure of an insulator in the
transmission switchyard, a spokesman for the New Orleans-based
energy company said.
The spokesman said he could not discuss when the unit would
likely return to service due to competitive reasons.
He did note however, the company sent the insulator to a lab to
determine why it failed. An insulator is a material like glass or
porcelain that does not conduct electricity.
Earlier on Monday, the unit was operating at full power.
The Vermont Yankee station is in Vernon in Windham County about
80 miles north of Hartford, Connecticut.
One megawatt powers about 800 homes, according to the North
American average.
Entergy's Entergy Nuclear subsidiary, the second largest nuclear
generator in the United States, operates the Vermont Yankee
station.
Entergy's subsidiaries own and operate about 30,000 MW of
generating capacity, market electricity, and transmit and
distribute power to 2.6 million customers in Arkansas, Louisiana,
Mississippi and Texas.
© Reuters 2005.
All Rights Reserved.
*****************************************************************
33 Vermont Guardian: Backup power delayed after Vermont Yankee shutdown
By Kathryn Casa | Vermont Guardian
Posted July 26, 2005
BRATTLEBORO The Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant remained
offline Tuesday, one day after a broken electrical insulator
outside the reactor caused the plant to automatically shut down.
The shutdown caused an interruption of power to the plant as VY
shifted to a diesel generator backup system, according to
Nuclear Regulatory Commission Region I spokesman Neil Sheehan.
Although there was no risk to the reactors safety systems,
Sheehan acknowledged that the power transfer to diesel-generated
power was delayed.
According to the incident report filed by VY officials with the
NRC, the degraded AC power system prevented a fast transfer from
occurring. The degraded voltage caused the plants 4 kilovolt
emergency diesel generators to start, the report said.
The shutdown means Vermont utilities, which buy about one-third
of the states power from Vermont Yankee at below-market costs,
will have to turn to the more costly spot market for replacement
power while the plant is offline.
Dorothy Schnure, a spokeswoman for Green Mountain Power, said
the utility had paid approximately $100,000 on both Monday and
Tuesday to buy power on the spot market to replace the VY power.
She said spot-market prices were high due to high temperatures.
A cooling trend was expected on Wednesday.
Under an agreement with Vermont Yankee and the state, the
utilities can recoup the cost of a spot market purchase only if
a shutdown is the result of modifications made to the plant to
prepare for the proposed 20 percent update.
The Public Service Board is still reviewing the utilities
argument that a transformer fire in June 2004 which caused the
plant to shut down for 19 days was related to the uprate. That
shutdown cost Vermont utilities $1.25 million in replacement
power costs.
VY spokesman Rob Williams said Tuesday that the insulator
problem was still under review, but it was not related to uprate
modifications.
We are still reviewing the plant performance, as we always do,
and sending the insulator out to a lab for analysis to determine
the cause, said Williams. He said he did not know when the plant
would be back online.
The NRCs spokesman said there was no evidence that linked
Mondays problem with some $60 million in uprate-related
modifications made at the plant.
Schnure said there will be no immediate impact to ratepayers
because rates already have been set for the year. However, when
the utility seeks rate increases next year, the PSB will
consider how much the company paid for power, she said.
Central Vermont Public Service spokesman Steve Costello said he
did not know how much CVPS was paying for replacement power.
Mondays power outage did not jeopardize VYs safety systems,
Williams said. He said plant officials on Tuesday were looking
at the interaction of all the systems, and that it would be
premature to say more.
Wednesday, Jul. 27, 2005
Vermont Guardian PO Box 335 Winooski, VT 05404
*****************************************************************
34 Guardian Unlimited: Energy Deal Has Tax Breaks for Companies
From the Associated Press
[UP]
Wednesday July 27, 2005 12:31 AM
AP Photo DCLJ105
By H. JOSEF HEBERT
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) - Lawmakers scaled back support for energy
conservation and efficiency programs as part of a $11.5 billion
tax package expected to be added Wednesday to a sweeping energy
bill that Congress hopes to complete this week.
The agreement, worked out in closed meetings of House and Senate
negotiators, funnels about 60 percent of the tax breaks, about
$8.5 billion, to traditional energy industries including coal,
natural gas and electric companies. Many of the incentives are
aimed at promoting new energy technologies.
Efficiency and conservation programs would get $1.3 billion,
about a third of what the Senate had approved for such programs
when it passed its energy legislation in June. In many cases the
savings were achieved by shortening the duration that tax breaks
will be available. About $3 billion goes to renewables, mostly
tax breaks for wind turbines.
Sen. Jeff Bingaman of New Mexico, the ranking Senate Democrat on
the panel that forged the energy compromise with the House and
also involved in the tax negotiations, said the reductions in
tax breaks for energy efficiency ``is greater than I had
wanted.''
Nevertheless, said Bingaman, he supports the overall bill.
``Given the makeup of the Congress today and given the policies
of the administration, this is as good a bill as I think we
could hope to get,'' said Bingaman. He also failed in the
House-Senate negotiations to get a provision requiring utilities
to use renewable fuels to generate at least 10 percent of their
electricity, a measure that the Senate has passed several times
but was opposed by House Republicans.
Sen. Pete Domenici, R-M.M., who headed the Senate side
negotiating the bill, said the measure will help diversify the
nation's energy portfolio by spurring development of new
technologies from the next generation of nuclear reactors to
ways to burn coal with less smog-causing and climate-changing
pollution.
``We mandate more conservation and higher efficiency,'' said
Domenici, citing among other things new efficiency standards for
14 commercial appliances such as large refrigerators and cooling
systems.
Completion of the tax package, which includes about $14.1
billion worth of tax breaks and incentives offset by $2.6
billion in new tax revenue set the stage for final approval of
the bill in the House and Senate.
The House was likely to take up the measure as early as
Wednesday, followed by the Senate on Thursday or Friday.
President Bush had challenged Congress to complete an energy
bill before leaving for the August recess after four years in
which repeated attempts to enact a broad national energy agenda
failed because of regional disputes or environmental fights.
While the bill was expected to get bipartisan support, some
lawmakers criticized the legislation Wednesday for failing to do
enough to curtail the country's thirst for oil.
``The bill does little to nothing to reduce our dependence on
Middle East oil,'' said Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., citing
lawmakers' refusal to take even modest measures to increase
automobile fuel efficiency.
Bingaman agreed the bill ``does not reduce our dependence on
foreign oil significantly'' and noted that the House had
rejected a ``modest provision'' approved by the Senate to
require the president to outline how to reduce oil use by 1
million barrels a day by 2025. Critics of that proposal called
it a backdoor way to impose tougher requirements on automakers.
Some House Democrats, meanwhile, criticized giving billions of
dollars or subsidies to mature industries including oil
companies already flush with money in this era of $60 per barrel
of oil.
The bill would provide more than $4 billion in tax breaks and
direct royalty relief for the oil and gas industries and an
equal amount for the coal industry, while providing loan
guarantees and other subsidies for the nuclear industry to build
new reactors.
``There is a strong rationale for providing government financial
support to new technologies and industries'' but not to ``giving
taxpayer dollars to mature and wealthy industries,'' said
California Democratic Reps. Henry Waxman, Hilda Solis and Lois
Capps, and Edward Markey, D-Mass.
The watchdog group Taxpayers for Common Sense estimated the
total cost of the bill, including authorized programs that may
never get funding from Congress, at $80 billion.
``The bill is filled to the brim with massive giveaways for
mega-rich energy companies,'' said Jill Lancelot, the group's
president. ``By stuffing the measure with so much pork, the(y)
have attempted to buy off enough votes to guarantee passing a
so-called energy bill.''
Myron Ebel of the conservative Competitive Enterprise Institute
also criticized the bill over its government subsidies. ``A lot
of these tax subsidies and loan guarantees look an awful lot
like the failed energy policies of the 1970s,'' said Ebel in an
interview.
----
On the Net:
Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee:
http://energy.senate.gov/public/
House Energy and Commerce Committee:
http://energycommerce.house.gov/
Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2005
*****************************************************************
35 RIA Novosti: Emergency drills at nuclear facility in Murmansk
26/ 07/ 2005
MURMANSK, July 26 (RIA Novosti, Yekaterina Kozlova) - Exercises
simulating an emergency situation at Atomflot nuclear
maintenance facility are currently under way in Murmansk (the
Cola peninsula, Russia's northwest), an Atomflot official told
RIA Novosti today.
The source said the exercises simulate a situation where a
container with spent nuclear fuel, loaded from a floating
technical base near the shore, has been damaged.
The goal of the exercises is to test the skills of the company's
personnel in emergency situations and check the readiness of the
system that warns residents in the Murmansk region and
neighboring countries about the danger of radiation.
"The exercises are being carried out under a Russian-U.S.
cooperation agreement on research of the radioactive impact on
the population and environment," the source said.
He also said experts from the U.S., Sweden, Norway, and relevant
Russian ministries are attending the exercise as observers.
© 2005 "RIA Novosti"
*****************************************************************
36 [NYTr] 60 Years After Hiroshima, US Wants New Generation of
Date: Tue, 26 Jul 2005 16:12:49 -0500 (CDT)
Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit
AFP via Yahoo - July 26, 2005
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1520&e=5&u=/afp/20050726/pl_afp/wwiihistorynuclearus_050726143146
US considers new nuclear generation 60 years after first bomb
WASHINGTON (AFP) - Sixty years after the first atomic bomb was tested in the
New Mexico desert, the United States still has some 2,000 nuclear weapons on
hair trigger alert and is considering new weapons such as earth-penetrating
bunker busters.
The US administration has agreed to pare back its nuclear arsenal from about
10,000 warheads today to about 6,000 in 2012 under the Moscow Treaty reached
with Russia in 2001.
But even as it moves to retire much of its Cold War arsenal, it has pressed
a reluctant Congress for funds for nuclear bunker-buster studies,
refurbished nuclear testing facilities, and a facility to build the
plutonium triggers for new weapons.
The US Strategic Command in Omaha, Nebraska, is reported to be developing
"global strike" options, including a nuclear option, against potential
adversaries with nuclear weapons such as Iran and North Korea.
More than 15 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, nuclear weapons "are
alive and well," said Robert S. Norris, an expert at the Natural Resources
Defense Council, an arms control and environmental advocacy group.
Norris points to the administration's Nuclear Posture Review of 2001 as "the
revealing document" that shows its intention to use nuclear weapons to
counter a new cast of potential adversaries armed with weapons of mass
destruction.
The review called for a "new triad" in which conventional and nuclear forces
would be meshed in a "global strike" capability, enabling the United States
to respond to a threat anywhere in the world on very short notice.
It envisioned more precise long-range missiles armed with conventional
warheads as well as smaller, lower yield nuclear tips.
The other parts of the triad are missile defense systems and a revived
infrastructure of weapons labs and production facilities that had
deteriorated since the end of the Cold War.
"So the vision of the Bush administration is that we are going to need
nuclear weapons well out into the middle of the 21st century, and beyond. I
mean for decades to come," said Norris.
But the administration appears not to have counted on Representative David
Hobson (news, bio, voting record).
The Ohio Republican, chairman of the House Appropriations subcommittee that
oversees the Energy Department's nuclear weapons programs, stunned the
administration by rejecting last year's request for new nuclear weapons
funding.
He nixed nine million dollars in funding for research into new low yield
"mini-nukes;" denied another 27.6 million dollars request for study of a
Robust Nuclear Earth-Penetrating Weapon; and put off a request for another
30 million dollars for a new plant to manufacture the plutonium pits that
trigger nuclear explosions.
"The development of new weapons for ill-defined future requirements is not
what the nation needs at this time," Hobson said in a speech February 3 to
the Arms Control Association.
"What is needed, and what is absent to date, is leadership and fresh
thinking for the 21st Century regarding nuclear security and the future of
the US stockpile," he said.
The United States currently has 5,300 operational nuclear warheads, and
another 5,300 in reserve, said Victoria Sampson, an expert at the Center for
Defense Information.
"We have about 2,000 which are on hair trigger alert, which means they can
be ready to go within minutes of that decision to launch," she said.
Hobson and others are worried that new nuclear weapons initiatives could
lower the threshhold for their use, and warned it would send the wrong
signal at a time when the United States was demanding that North Korea and
Iran stop their weapons programs.
But the administration has struck back with a request for 8.5 million
dollars of renewed funding for the nuclear earth penetrator in 2006.
It also has asked for 25 million dollars to get its Nevada test site ready
to resume testing in 18 months if needed, instead of the 24 to 36 months it
would currently take. Those requests are working their way through Congress
where opposition remains strong.
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld argued that only "very large, very dirty
nuclear bombs" could now destroy the increasing numbers of facilities that
potential adversaries have buried deep underground.
"So the choice is: do we want to have nothing and only a large, dirty
nuclear weapon, or would we rather have something in between. That is the
issue," he said in April.
"It seems to me studying it makes all the sense in the world," he said.
But scientists warn that no earth-penetrating nuclear weapon could bore deep
enough to trap devastating fallout that the National Academy of Sciences has
concluded would still kill more than a million people on the surface if it
was near a densely populated urban area.
Copyright ) 2005 Agence France Presse.
*
================================================================
.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/
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*****************************************************************
37 NRC: NRC Announces Opportunity for Hearing on License Application for Commercial
Irradiator in Honolulu, Hawaii
News Release - Region IV - 2005-02
U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
Office of Public Affairs, Region IV
No. IV-05-029 July 26, 2005
CONTACT: Victor Dricks
Phone: 817-860-8128
E-mail: opa4@nrc.gov
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has announced the
opportunity to request a hearing on an application from Paina
Hawaii, LLC., a Hawaiian-owned company, to build and operate an
underwater pool-type commercial irradiator at a location near
Honolulu International Airport.
Paina Hawaii stated in its application, submitted June 27, that
the device would primarily be used for the irradiation of fresh
fruit and vegetables bound for the mainland from the Hawaiian
islands. During use, materials to be irradiated are loaded into
a stainless steel chamber, then lowered into a water-filled pool
where they are exposed to radiation. The company also plans to
irradiate cosmetics and pharmaceutical products, conduct
research and development activities and irradiate a wide range
of other materials as specifically approved by the NRC.
The NRC staff has conducted an initial review of the application
and determined that it contains enough information for the
required formal review. The NRC reviews irradiator applications
to determine whether the proposed facilitys design and operating
procedures are sufficient to protect the health and safety of
workers and the public, the adequacy of emergency plans and
physical security for the facility.
Other federal agencies, such as the U.S. Department of
Agriculture and the Food and Drug Administration are responsible
for determining which foods and products intended for human
consumption may be safely irradiated. In addition to satisfying
NRC regulations, Paini Hawaii must also comply with all
applicable federal, state and municipal regulations.
A notice of the NRCs receipt of the application and the
opportunity to request a hearing will be published in the
Federal Register. Petitions may be filed within 60 days of
publication of the Federal Register notice by anyone whose
interest may be affected by the license application and who
wishes to participate as a party in the proceeding. A request
for a hearing and a petition for leave to intervene must be
filed with the Secretary of the Commission, U.S. Nuclear
Regulatory Commission, Washington, D.C. 20555-0001, Attention:
Rulemaking and Adjudications Staff.
A copy of the license application (with security-sensitive
information redacted) will be available through the NRCs
Agencywide Documents Access and Management System (ADAMS). Use
ADAMS number ML052060372. Help in using ADAMS is available by
contacting the NRC Public Document Room staff at 1-800-397-4209,
or by sending a message to: pdr@nrc.gov.
In addition, copies of the application will be available for
inspection at the Honolulu Public Library and the library of the
University of Hawaii.
The NRC plans to hold a public meeting on the license
application in Honolulu within the next 60 days. Members of the
NRC staff will be available to receive comments from interested
parties, describe the process that will be used to review the
license application, and answer questions from the public.
Notices in advance of the meeting will be published in the
Federal Register, placed in newspapers, and announced on the
NRCs web site at: www.nrc.gov.
For more information contact Jack Whitten, Chief, Nuclear
Materials Licensing Branch, Region IV, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission, 611 Ryan Plaza Drive, Suite 400, Arlington, Texas,
76011, telephone (817) 860-8197, fax (817) 860-8263: or by
email: jew1@nrc.gov.
Last revised Tuesday, July 26, 2005
*****************************************************************
38 Vermont Guardian: Baby teeth sought for radiation study
By Kathryn Casa | Vermont Guardian
BRATTLEBORO High levels of a cancer-causing radionuclide found
in nine baby teeth collected from children who live near the
Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant have prompted anti-nuclear
activists to seek at least 100 more teeth for further testing.
Preliminary findings of a study by the Radiation and Public
Health Project show the average Strontium-90 (Sr-90)
concentration in baby teeth collected from Windham County in
Vermont and Cheshire County in New Hampshire to be 61 percent
higher than 17 baby teeth from other counties in Vermont and New
Hampshire, according to Agnes Reynolds, a nurse and RPHP
volunteer from Hartford, CT. RHRP is a New York-based nonprofit
group of scientists and medical professionals that examines
links between low-level radiation and public health.
The teeth from counties surrounding Vermont Yankee showed an
average of 4.2 picocuries per gram of calcium, compared to 2.65
picocuries in teeth from other areas in Vermont, Reynolds said
at a press conference Tuesday in Brattleboro.
A spokesman for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission said that
agency has no acceptable radiation levels for specific body
parts. The NRC calculates radiation based on whole-body doses,
he said.
Acknowledging that nine teeth is not a significant sampling,
Reynolds said 100 teeth will produce meaningful results.
RPHP will focus their Tooth Fairy Project on the Vermont Yankee
region because VY is the 11th oldest reactor in the country; its
owner, Entergy Corp., is seeking to increase power there by 20
percent; and boiling water reactors typically release higher
levels of radioactivity than pressurized water reactors,
according to a press release from the group.
The results of a several RPHP studies of more than 4,000 baby
teeth, mostly from areas near seven nuclear power plants around
the country, showed Strontium-90 levels 30-50 percent higher
than average, Reynolds said. She added that the results have
been published in four environmental and medical journals.
There are different levels of scientific journals, said NRC
Region I spokesman Neil Sheehan. He said the NRC monitors the
radiation releases at all of the nations nuclear power plants,
and Vermont Yankees levels consistently comply with NRC
standards.
We raise concerns about the methodologies used by the Tooth
Fairy Project, said Sheehan. Among the agencys questions about
the project, he said, are that the group has failed to establish
control populations for their studies; they have not examined
other risk factors such as background radiation levels; they
have used small sample sizes to draw general conclusions and
have not submitted the data for rigorous peer review.
Anti-nuclear activists on Tuesday acknowledged the shortcomings
of their studies, and said they are hampered by the high cost of
the lab work. It costs $72 to analyze each tooth, noted Sunny
Miller, executive director of the Traprock Peace Center in
Deerfield, MA.
The average Sr-90 levels found in these nine baby teeth raises a
little red flag, said Reynolds, and indicate the need for
further analysis
Vermont State Sen. Jeanette White, D-Windham County, who was
present in the audience at the press conference, said she would
look into the states role in monitoring the levels through the
Department of Health, which oversees both the radiation
protection program and early childhood services.
Deb Katz, executive director of the Citizens Awareness Network
based in Shelburne Falls, MA, said its very difficult to get
government agencies involved, noting that even after the
Massachusetts Health Department agreed to conduct three studies
to investigate high rates of cancer and other diseases around
three nuclear power plants, state officials never pinpointed
radiation from the reactors as the cause of the cancers.
But you can ask the people suffering in nuclear communities
whether the reactor has affected them and you will hear time and
again that they believe it has, Katz said.
Those interested in collecting teeth or donating a baby tooth
should contact the RPHPs outreach coordinator, Joseph Mangano,
at (610) 666-2985 or Odiejoe@aol.com. Requests for envelopes or
information on where to send teeth can be made by calling
800-582-3716 or by e-mail to .
Send us your news tips, a letter to the editor or general
comments.
Wednesday, Jul. 27, 2005
| | Northern Vermont: PO Box 335, Winooski, VT 05404
Southern Vermont: 139 Main Street, Suite 702, Brattleboro, VT
05301
Contact: 802.861.4880 (ph) | 802.861.6388 (fax) | 877.231.5382
(toll-free)
©2005 Vermont Guardian |
*****************************************************************
39 Discovery Channel: Nuclear Bomb Fallout Used to Date Cells
[mushroom cloud of an atom bomb] Left its Mark
By Jennifer Viegas, Discovery News [small text]
July 26, 2005 All living cells on Earth contain radioactive
material that was emitted by nuclear bombs and weapons tested
from the mid-1950s until 1963, and now scientists have figured
out a way to use these radioactive markers to figure out how old
individual cells are in our bodies.
The researchers analyzed brain cells and determined that the
cerebral cortex, also called the brain's "gray matter," is as
old as the individual, meaning that many of our brain cells do
not regenerate over our lifetimes. In contrast, certain skin and
intestinal cells have a turnover rate of approximately five
days.
Scientists hope to determine the ages of all cells. This could
provide critical information for developing stem cell therapies
and other medical treatments. [advertisement]
'Thick-Skinned' People Have Thick Brains
While studies have linked nuclear radiation to cancer, the
residual bomb fallout now allows human cells to be carbon-dated
like archaeological artifacts.
"Basically, because of the atomic bomb testing in the mid-1950s
until the Test Ban Treaty in 1963, there has been a massive
amount of radioactive carbon, c14, released into Earth's
atmosphere," said Ratan Bhardwaj, who worked on the research,
outlined in the current issue of the journal Cell.
"This c14 then enters the plants and trees via photosynthesis,
and ultimately it enters humans too via the food chain,"
Bhardwaj, a cellular and molecular biologist at Sweden's Nobel
Medical Institute, added.
Since DNA does not change after its last division, which occurs
when a cell is born, c14 levels within DNA can be measured and
compared with known atmospheric levels to determine the date of
the cell, Bhardwaj explained to Discovery News.
Bhardwaj and his colleagues determined levels of radioactive
carbon in the atmosphere for the past 60 years by measuring the
amount of c14 in Swedish pine tree growth rings. Measurements of
c14 in cerebral cortex cells then were compared with the tree
data to figure out the age of the brain cells.
Copyright © 2005 Discovery Communications Inc.
*****************************************************************
40 NRC: In the Matter of AVI Food Systems, Inc.; Confirmatory Order
FR Doc E5-3967
[Federal Register: July 26, 2005 (Volume 70, Number 142)]
[Notices] [Page 43198-43199] From the Federal Register Online via
GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr26jy05-129]
(Effective Immediately) I AVI Food Systems, Inc. (AVI) is an
independently owned and operated food service company serving
various industries in the Midwest and Eastern United States
including the Davis-Besse plant which is regulated by the U.S.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC or Commission). AVI
headquarters is located in Warren, OH. II On February 9, 2004,
and July 8, 2004, the NRC's Office of Investigations (OI) began
investigations to determine if former AVI employees at the
Davis-Besse facility were the subject of employment
discrimination in violation of 10 CFR 50.7. In OI Report Nos.
3-2004- 006 and 3-2004-018, OI concluded that AVI employees were
the subject of discrimination. By letter dated February 25, 2005,
the NRC identified to FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Company
(FENOC) the NRC's concern and offered FENOC and AVI the
opportunity to attend a predecisional enforcement conference or
to request alternative dispute resolution (ADR) in which a
neutral mediator with no decision-making authority would
facilitate discussions between the NRC, FENOC and AVI, and if
possible, assist the NRC and the parties in reaching an agreement
on resolving the concerns. FENOC and AVI chose to participate in
ADR. On May 11, 2005, the NRC and AVI met at the Davis-Besse
facility in Oak Harbor, Ohio in an ADR session mediated by a
professional mediator, arranged through Cornell University's
Institute on Conflict Resolution. As part of the ADR session,
based upon the facts discussed during the mediation session and
the commitments noted in Section IV below, the NRC will not issue
a Notice of Violation to AVI for this issue.
III By letter dated June 9, 2005, AVI committed to include in its
policy/programs, information necessary to ensure that its future
activities with NRC licensees will incorporate training for its
employees involved with the NRC licensees regarding safety
conscious work environment (SCWE) and safety culture. The
training program will have the objective of reinforcing the
[[Page 43199]] importance of maintaining a SCWE and of assisting
managers and supervisors in responding to employees who raise
safety concerns in the workplace. AVI also agreed to include in
such training the requirements of 10 CFR 50.7, ``Employee
protection.'' On July 6, 2005, AVI consented to the NRC issuing
this Confirmatory Order with the commitments, as described in
Section IV below.
AVI further agreed in its July 6, 2005, letter that this Order is
to be effective upon issuance and that it has waived its right to
a hearing.
The NRC has concluded that its concerns can be resolved through
effective implementation of AVI's commitments. I find that AVI's
commitments as set forth in Section IV are acceptable and
necessary and conclude that with these commitments the public
health and safety are reasonably assured. In view of the
foregoing, I have determined that the public health and safety
require that AVI's commitments be confirmed by this Order.
Accordingly, the staff is exercising its enforcement discretion
and will not issue a Notice of Violation in this case. Based on
the above and AVI's consent, this Order is immediately effective
upon issuance. AVI is required to provide the NRC with a letter
summarizing its actions when all of the Section IV requirements
have been completed.
IV Accordingly, pursuant to Sections 103, 161b, 161i, 161o, 182,
and 186 of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, as amended, and the
Commission's regulations in 10 CFR 2.202 and 10 CFR part 30, It
is hereby ordered, effective immediately, that: By no later than
six months from the issuance of this Order, AVI will include in
its policy/programs, information necessary to ensure that its
future activities with NRC licensees will incorporate training,
initial and recurring, for its employees involved with the NRC
licensees regarding SCWE and safety culture. AVI also agreed to
include in such training the requirements of 10 CFR 50.7,
``Employee protection.'' The Director, Office of Enforcement, may
relax or rescind, in writing, any of the above conditions upon a
showing by AVI of good cause.
V Any person adversely affected by this Confirmatory Order, other
than AVI, may request a hearing within 20 days of its issuance.
Where good cause is shown, consideration will be given to
extending the time to request a hearing. A request for extension
of time must be made in writing to the Director, Office of
Enforcement, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC
20555, and include a statement of good cause for the extension.
Any request for a hearing shall be submitted to the Secretary,
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, ATTN: Rulemakings and
Adjudications Staff, Washington, DC 20555. Copies also shall be
sent to the Director, Office of Enforcement, U.S. Nuclear
Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555, to the Assistant
General Counsel for Materials Litigation and Enforcement at the
same address, to the Regional Administrator, NRC Region III, 2443
Warrenville Road, Suite 210, Lisle, IL 60532-4352, and to the
Licensee. Because of continuing disruptions in delivery of mail
to United States Government Offices, it is requested that
requests for hearing be transmitted to the Secretary of the
Commission either by means of facsimile transmission to (301)
415-1101 or by e-mail to hearingdocket@nrc.gov and also to the
Office of the General Counsel either by means of facsimile
transmission to (301) 415-3725 or by e-mail to
OGCMailCenter@nrc.gov. If a person requests a hearing, that
person shall set forth with particularity the manner in which his
interest is adversely affected by this Order and shall address
the criteria set forth in 10 CFR 2.309(d) and (f). If a hearing
is requested by a person whose interest is adversely affected,
the Commission will issue an Order designating the time and place
of any hearing. If a hearing is held, the issue to be considered
at such hearing shall be whether this Confirmatory Order should
be sustained.
A request for hearing shall not stay the immediate effectiveness
of this order.
For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Dated this 15th day of July, 2005.
Michael R. Johnson, Director, Office of Enforcement.
[FR Doc. E5-3967 Filed 7-25-05; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590-01-P
*****************************************************************
41 WGRZ Nuke Workers Get Resource Center
Created:7/25/2005 7:06:11 PM
By Rich Kellman Senior Correspondent
They've been called heroes of the Cold War, and now hundreds in
Western New York have a new way to gain payback for their
sacrifices.
Ed Walker of Eden is among them. He and his wife Joyce have gone
through five years of what they consider hell on earth. "When
somebody describes hell," says Walker, "that's what Bethlehem
Steel was like for workers who were there at that time."
That time was 1949 through 1952, when Ed Walker was a bricklayer
at Bethlehem Steel in Lackawanna. It was hot and dusty. It was
also radioactive where Walker worked. The place where they rolled
rods of uranium for the nation's nuclear arsenal.
And they did it not knowing how dangerous it was. "The dust fell
into your drink or on your food, you just had to brush off the
top of it," he recalls.
Ed Walker developed bladder cancer five years ago and has been
trying to get compensation from the Federal Government ever
since.
On Monday, he and Joyce headed to a new Labor Department Resource
Center on North Bailey Avenue in Amherst. He was turned down
once, and now he wants to have his case re-opened.
Labor Department Project Manager Larry Hoss is short on details
but talks about having a staff of three and having them act as a
go-between for hundreds of former workers in more than a dozen
local factories. "The office will work with them to help speed up
their specific claim," he says.
Joyce watches and listens to her husband and Larry Hoss talk
about the possibilities. "I would like to see an end come to the
Bethlehem Steel part," she says.
Rich Kellman: "That's been most stressful for you?"
Joyce: "Yes, difficult and very stressful, yes."
Ed wonders how far all this will go. "Will it hurry up the
process? We'll just have to wait and see."
Kellman: "You've been waiting a long time. Five years."
Ed: "And so have a lot of those people. Some of them decades, and
many have died."
Ed and Joyce finally head back to their home in Eden, hoping for
the best for them and the hundreds of former coworkers. He has
taken on the mantle of leadership on the issue, and says he'll
continue to fight for justice for these Cold War warriors who
knew nothing about the hidden enemy that was attacking them in
the workplace a half century ago.
The new Labor Department Resource Center is expected to be fully
staffed within days. It's located at 6000 North Bailey Avenue in
Amherst. Officials say they expect to have a toll-free number for
the Center soon.
Copyright © 2005 by WGRZ-TV Buffalo. Terms of Service
[Gannett]
*****************************************************************
42 AU ABC: Gallop defends stance on nuclear exports.
26/07/2005. ABC News Online
Western Australian Premier Geoff Gallop has rejected criticism
by the Federal Government that his opposition to uranium mining
is xenophobic and silly.
Federal Environment Minister Ian Campbell says Australia should
help other countries use cleaner energy sources like nuclear
power and should not refuse to export uranium on ideological
grounds.
The State Government has banned uranium mining in Western
Australia.
Dr Gallop says its position is based on common sense.
"We live in an age of terrorism and we should be doing all we
can to reduce the possibility of such horrific use of nuclear
fuels," he said.
"Secondly and importantly we wouldn't want to be encouraging
the world to spend the huge amount of money that would need to
be spent on nuclear energy when indeed it could go down the
renewable path and the energy efficiency path."
© 2005 ABC| Privacy Policy
*****************************************************************
43 Plant waste may increase
Date: Tue, 26 Jul 2005 20:01:49 -0700
Pike County News Watchman
Wednesday, June 1, 2005
Plant waste may increase
By VAN ROSE
NW Staff
The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency last week announced an upcoming
public information session concerning an increase in volatile chemicals dumped
into local waterways by the Portsmouth Uranium Enrichment Plant in Piketon.
The session, to be held next week at the Piketon Village Council chambers,
will
outline an EPA draft renewal permit to allow plant operator United States
Enrichment Corporation to continue discharging treated wastewaters to Little
Beaver Creek, Big Run Creek, West Ditch and the Scioto River.
Information about a new discharge source from a cleanup at the site will be
discussed as well.
"Permits come up for renewal every certain number of years," said Ohio EPA
Spokesman Jim Leach. "So we issued a draft renewal permit and just want to
hold an info session to see if anyone is interested or has any comments or
questions."
This renewal happens to include the new discharge source, an ongoing
environmental remediation effort to remove contaminants like uranium,
technetium-99, plutonium-238 and trichloroethylene - or TCE - from soil
beneath
the plant's X-701B holding pond.
The unlined, 200 ft. by 50 ft. pond was used for the neutralization
and settling of metal-bearing wastewater, solvent-contaminated solutions and
acidic wastewater from 1954 until 1988, according to a 2003 EPA document.
It is the source of a contaminating groundwater plume containing the highest
concentration of TCE at the plant, says a December 2003 environmental bulletin
published by U.S. Department of Energy cleanup contractor Bechtel Jacobs LLC.
The plume extends from east to west for one-quarter mile within the
boundaries of
the facility.
Information at the EPA's Web site, www.epa.gov, names
TCE, an industrial
degreasing agent, as a likely carcinogen with documented chronic effects to
the
liver, kidneys, and immune and endocrine systems. The chemical contaminates
between nine and 34 percent of drinking water supplies that rely on
contaminated
groundwater sources.
Two groundwater treatment facilities at the ends of the plume were
constructed in
1993 and 1994, and 68 gallons of TCE were extracted in 1999.
A potential method of removing the remaining chemical involves a process
called
oxidant injection, which would chemically destroy the TCE, breaking it down
into
carbon dioxide and mineral acids.
Those substances could then be removed from the plume.
"It will be treated and monitored before it is discharged into waterways,"
said
Steve Wells, a representative for Ohio EPA's Division of Surface Water.
The output of wastewater from the plant site would increase as a result, Wells
added, since current discharge would not see any change.
"It wouldn't exceed any water standards," Leach said, "so it would still be
within
limits."
Some public concern at the information session is anticipated, said Leach.
"That's why we solicit their input," he said. "We may address some of the
issues
they bring up."
Responsibility for X-701B and other environmental cleanup efforts at the
Portsmouth plant is expected to be transferred from Bechtel Jacobs to
LATA/Parallax later this month.
The transition could delay completion of X-701B remediation since the new
contractor will be required to apply for a permit with the Ohio EPA. The
method of
cleanup must be finalized as well.
"We submitted a permit modification based on our process, but now they (Ohio
EPA) are looking at a different method with a new contractor," said Bechtel
Jacobs
Public Affairs Manager Sandy Childers. "I don't know what their proposal
entails."
Officials with LATA/Parallax failed to return several phone calls.
The Ohio EPA information session will be held June 9 at 6:30 p.m. in the
Piketon
Village Council chambers located at 109 Third Street, Piketon.
*****************************************************************
44 Nukes on Native Land
Date: Tue, 26 Jul 2005 20:10:00 -0500 (CDT)
The Case Against Hauling 44 Thousand Metric Tons of Nuclear Waste
Through 45 States and Storing it Above Ground on Native American Land,
Against the Tribe's Sovereign Will and Next to an Air Force Bombing
Ground, Without a Single Hearing or Safety Investigation
Or
How to Lobby Congress With a Hammer
By David Swanson, Board Member of Progressive Democrats of America,
http://www.pdamerica.org
Over 100 people, few if any of them employed by the corporate media,
filled a press conference room in the US Capitol on Monday to hear
artists, advocates, and experts speak against the current energy bill
and against a proposal to dump the nation's nuclear waste on the land of
a native American tribe in Utah.
Congressman Dennis Kucinich opened the proceedings, welcomed the
speakers, and began by denouncing the activities of the Private Fuel
Storage Limited Liability Consortium (PFS), which has proposed this
latest "solution" to the problem of nuclear waste. Did you know these
matters were being handled by a private organization AND that it
conveniently has LIMITED liability?
Kucinich called PFS's plan "unjust, dangerous, and unnecessary." He
said it violates the rights of the tribe whose land is thus ruined, and
puts the whole country at risk of a catastrophe in the transportation of
the waste to Utah. He said that 60 members of Congress had written to
the Nuclear Regulatory Commission about this, and have yet to receive
any response.
Kucinich spoke also of this country's long history of abusing the rights
of native Americans and urged those listening to move beyond that
history.
Navin Nayak of the US Public Interest Research Group (PIRG) spoke next
and MC'd the event. "The U.S. Congress," he said, "stands on the
precipice of passing an energy bill that would reproduce the mistakes of
the past 50 years." From 1950 to 1997, he said, the federal government
has spent $500 billion subsidizing fossil fuels and nuclear power, but
only $25 billion on renewables.
Despite that, Nayak pointed out, wind power is the fastest growing power
globally, and the cost of it has fallen by 80 percent in recent years.
The energy bill now under consideration would give billions to nuclear
energy and subsidize the building of new plants, something we haven't
done for 30 years, Nayak said.
The first speaker Nayak introduced set a tone of serious dedication and
sacrifice. He was actor and activist James Cromwell, and he said that
if anyone tries to move 44 thousand metric tons of nuclear waste across
the country, "It's going to be blocked, the same way it was in Germany.
But in this country, to stand in front of those trains, as I will be
doing, is a violation of the PATRIOT Act and it is an act of terrorism
and punishable by life in prison."
Cromwell seemed confident that others, young and old, would stand with
him in front of the trains. He said that young people would not allow
the country's future to be put at risk by nuclear waste. "It's our
children and our children's children who will be affected by this
technology, and it is up to us to stop it. I hope you will join us."
Amy Ray of the Indigo Girls spoke next. She said that the Indigo Girls
have been a part of a campaign called Honor the Earth, and have worked
on this issue with Winona LaDuke since 1992. Back then, she said, they
opposed a bill that they called "Mobile Chernobyl," which would have
transported the waste to Yucca Mountain in Nevada.
"When that took too long to work out," she said, "they created this
limited liability consortium (PFS) so as not to have the liability that
they should. No one wants the nuclear waste, and we're targeting
minority communities with it. We need to stop producing it."
Ray pointed out that Yucca Mountain is in an earthquake zone, but noted
that Skull Valley, Utah, (the current site targeted) is near an Air
Force bombing range.
Ray advocated wind turbines as a safe and profitable project for native
Americans and others. "We oppose this energy bill," she said, "because
of the subsidies to nuclear companies in it."
Nayak again spoke briefly and provided some more stats. Despite a lack
of investment, he said, renewables and co-generation now produce 92
percent as much energy as nuclear, on a global basis. The US Department
of Energy says that the US could get 400 percent of its electricity from
renewables, in comparison to the 2.5 percent that we actually get.
Next to speak was Margene Bullcreek, founder of Ohngo Guadedah Devia,
Skull Valley Goshute. "Our treaty protects our sovereignty as
caretakers of our land," she said. "Help us stop this destruction, this
genocide to our native people of this great nation that was founded on
our indigenous land."
Nayak then cited a few more reasons to have strong doubts about the
proposal before the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to violate that
sovereignty. There have, he noted, been no Congressional hearings on
this important public question of whether to ship 44 thousand tons of
nuclear waste through as many as 45 states and store it above ground.
There has been no examination of the safety of this proposal. Within
days, he said, we could have a decision from the NRC. "It is time for
Congress to step in."
Emily Saliers f the Indigo Girls spoke very briefly and to the point:
"Nuclear energy is not clean energy." If we don't change from nuclear
power and fossil fuels to renewables, she said, "then every time we
switch on a light we are complicit in injustice that affects people's
lives."
Nayek added that the United States imports over 50 percent of its oil,
and that the new energy bill would increase the nation's dependence on
oil. Meanwhile, he said, over 90 percent of Americans support
renewables and conservation as the top solution to our energy policy.
Longtime activist and former Green Party Vice Presidential candidate
Winona LaDuke was unable to speak at this event because of a delayed
flight.
The last to speak was musician, singer, song-writer Ani DiFranco.
The job of a poet or a singer, DiFranco said, is to draw connections.
She was compelled, she said, "to speak one word: cancer." Cancer, she
said, "is the physiological reaction to toxicity in our environment."
There is no barrel, DiFranco said, that can be guaranteed safely sealed.
There is no safe way to ship nuclear waste. "We all know there's a bit
of a farce in this policy."
"This week," DiFranco urged those in attendance, "rather than writing a
check to the Leukemia Foundation, we can stop the Skull Valley dump and
stop this energy bill. And we can invest in renewable energy that is
out there waiting for us to use it..
"Radioactive waste is not clean. Therefore, anyone who is trying to
tell me that nuclear power is clean is lying to me. And subsidizing
nuclear power is absolutely a deal breaker in a twenty-first century
energy policy."
DiFranco probably received the most applause of all the speakers, with
the exception of Congressman Kucinich's closing remarks - see below.
Nayek concluded the prepared agenda of the press conference by noting
that if an energy bill passes this week, it will likely set our energy
policy for a decade. This policy will not focus on renewables.
Focusing on renewables could create hundreds of thousands of new jobs,
save consumers dollars, and protect public health.
Nayek asked for questions from the media, and seeing none, asked for
questions from others. A man asked about the likelihood of the energy
bill passing.
A committee of the House of Representatives, Nayek said, is trying to
complete a bill tonight - likely a 1,000 page bill - and a vote in the
House may come tomorrow, which is when the public will first see the
bill. A Senate vote could come as early as Thursday.
Kucinich rose to the podium to point out, in addition, that most
Congress Members will not have seen the bill before it comes to the
floor.
Expert speakers who were available for questions rose and spoke briefly,
one after another, because there were few reporters present, and none
with questions.
Kevin Kamps of the Nuclear Information and Resource Service said that
the federal government until 1994 and the PFS since then have targeted
60 native American tribes for the dumping of waste, 50 of which have
fought it off. In the current case, he said, there are strong arguments
against the proposed site.
For one thing, 7,000 F-16 fighter jets fly over every year. "What if
one crashes?" The NRC, he said, had ruled, 2 to 1, that such a crash
would not release radiation above an acceptable level. The two Yes
votes came from lawyers, said Kamps, while a blistering dissent was
penned by an engineer who focused on numerous defects in the storage
containers.
In addition, Kamps said, Cedar Mountains Wilderness Area, sacred ground,
would have a rail line put through it.
And, the Bureau of Indian Affairs approved the lease agreement for this
dump in three days. In response to a Freedom of Information Act request
from Public Citizen, the BIA said it had no related documents
whatsoever.
Pete Downing of the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance added that House
has passed a bill as part of a defense bill to protect Utah from this
dump, a bi-partisan measure that focused on public safety and military
safety. It remains to be seen what the Senate will do.
Nayak said that stopping the energy bill, on the other hand, would
likely require 41 senators to stand up and protect us with a filibuster.
Kucinich gave a stirring speech to conclude the event. He referred to
Conscience and Consciousness, two words that DiFranco had used.
"The American people," he said, "are waiting to be inspired and moved.
Will $2 per gallon move them? Maybe not. Will $3? $4? Probably not.
"But if people make connections between a war against innocent people in
Iraq and our energy policy, between moving tons of nuclear waste and our
so-called energy policy, between the production of nuclear weapons and
our failed energy policy..
"We're not just talking about protecting sacred land. The whole earth
is sacred. The whole earth is sacred! We're talking about reclaiming
our humanity.
"Jamie Cromwell talked about people putting themselves on the line. We
have to shake the conscience of this country! WAKE UP! That's what we
ought to be telling this country, and we are the ones. We are the
messengers. We are the messengers."
LINK TO ARTICLE:
http://www.pdamerica.org/articles/events/ani-on-hill.php
LINK TO PHOTOS:
http://www.davidswanson.org/images/photos/anidi/index.htm
*****************************************************************
45 Guardian Unlimited: Crews to Move Tons of Utah Toxic Waste
From the Associated Press
[UP]
Tuesday July 26, 2005 3:31 AM
By MARK THIESSEN
Associated Press Writer
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) - The Department of Energy plans to move a
12 million ton heap of radioactive waste away from the banks of
the Colorado River, a major source of drinking water for about
25 million people, officials said Monday.
The mound is just 750 feet from the river in southeastern Utah.
Environmentalists have long feared its contaminants are leaching
into the soil and could eventually poison the water supplies of
Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Phoenix and other cities.
``We have identified a solution that will help to ensure the
environmental quality of the region for generations to come,''
Energy Department spokesman Mike Waldron said in announcing the
plan Monday.
The radioactive waste is to be moved mostly by rail starting in
2007 to a proposed holding site near Crescent Junction, Utah,
about 30 miles from the Colorado River. The cleanup and move
have been estimated to cost more than $300 million.
The current site covers 130 acres near Moab and is the only
decommissioned uranium mill overseen by the Energy Department
that has yet to be cleaned up.
The waste began piling up in the 1950s as the Atomic Age created
uranium mining boom towns in Utah. The government took control
of the site in 2001 after the most recent owner, Denver-based
Atlas Corp., declared bankruptcy in 1998. The 94-foot-tall pile
remaining contains dirt, toxic chemicals and traces of
radioactive substances.
The immediate concern is that the waste is seeping into the soil
and groundwater, and working its way into the Colorado River, a
concern that was heightened this winter by flooding in southern
Utah.
``It was very much a real issue, and I'm very glad this chapter
will be behind us,'' said Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman. ``We've had a
convergence of lot of positive things here.''
Environmentalists have argued that the contamination from the
site is already killing fish in the river.
Critics of moving the waste argue that it has been there for
decades with little effect.
Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2005
*****************************************************************
46 Deseret News: Celebrities protest plan for Goshute N-dump
[deseretnews.com]
Tuesday, July 26, 2005
Associated Press
WASHINGTON — A group of entertainers and American Indian
activists Monday gathered at a Capitol Hill briefing with Rep.
Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, criticizing plans to build a spent
nuclear fuel storage facility on the Skull Valley Goshute
reservation, 45 miles southwest of Salt Lake City.
Celebrities, including actor James Cromwell, who was in
such movies as "The Longest Yard," "Babe" and "L.A.
Confidential," and singer Ani DiFranco and Indigo Girls members
Emily Saliers and Amy Ray, urged Congress not to expand nuclear
power or radioactive dumps on native land.
Private Fuel Storage, a group of electric utilities, is
seeking to store 44,000 tons of waste on the reservation. The
nuclear Regulatory Commission is expected to make a final
decision soon on the proposal.
The artists Monday said the United States should focus on
renewable energy and energy efficiency instead of nuclear power.
They were scheduled to meet with senators after the briefing to
ask them to oppose an energy bill that would spend billions of
dollars on nuclear power projects.
© 2005 Deseret News Publishing Company
*****************************************************************
47 ABQJOURNAL: NRC Judge Sides with Mining Company
the Albuquerque Journal newspaper.
Tuesday, July 26, 2005
NRC Judge Sides with Mining Company
Albuquerque Journal-->
Associated Press
SANTA FE — A Nuclear Regulatory Commission judge has
endorsed a mining company's plan to extract uranium near two
Navajo Nation communities in northwestern New Mexico.
Eastern Navajo Dine Against Uranium Mining has raised
concerns about possible groundwater pollution at four proposed
mining sites near Church Rock and Crownpoint.
New Mexico-based Hydro Resources Inc. has asked the NRC for
permits to inject chemicals into the ground to release uranium
and pump the solution to the surface.
The anti-mining group is concerned about how the mining,
called in-situ leaching, would affect an aquifer that supplies
drinking water to surrounding communities.
The aquifer "is the sole source of drinking water for about
15,000 people, almost all of them Navajo,'' said Doug
Meiklejohn, an attorney for the New Mexico Environmental Law
Center in Santa Fe, which represents the group.
Craig Bartels of Corrales, president of Hydro Resources,
said Monday his company would not pollute the groundwater.
He accused the law center of milking the issue for
fund-raising purposes.
The NRC staff and NRC Judge E. Roy Hawkens have ruled
against the challenges to Hydro Resources' plan, Bartels said.
"Any reasonable technical person who looks at this finds in
our favor,'' Bartels said. "So any reasonable person who looks
at this has to say that what they're presenting is not correct.''
Eric Jantz, a staff attorney for the law center, said
Hawkens' recent ruling on three sites will be appealed to the
full commission.
Another NRC judge in 1999 ruled in favor of the company on a
fourth proposed site, Jantz said. "That's already been appealed
and we lost,'' he said.
Navajo Nation President Joe Shirley Jr. on April 29 signed
legislation that bans uranium mining and processing on the
tribe's land.
The law will probably apply to two of four proposed uranium
mining sites — one in the Church Rock area and one in the
Crownpoint area, Jantz said.
The law might or might not apply to two other sites — also
in the Church Rock and Crownpoint areas, he said Tuesday.
"If they are considered within state jurisdiction, the
uranium ban won't apply,'' he said. "If they are determined to
be within Indian country, the ban would apply.''
The 1999 ruling affected one of the Church Rock sites that
might be affected by the Navajo Nation's uranium mining ban,
Jantz said.
The anti-mining group could fight the company's efforts in
other possible arenas, including the state level, Jantz said.
The NRC is looking only at licensing issues "and sort of
puts blinders on to everything else'' — including the tribe's
mining ban, Jantz said.
Hawkens has three more issues to decide — air emissions,
mining effects on cultural properties and the National
Environmental Policy Act, Jantz said.
The company also needs to obtain aquifer exemptions and
underground injection control permits, he said.
Jantz said he expects the company to secure all its
necessary permits by the end of the year.
"It's my understanding and my sense of things since the
elections of last year, that all nuclear licenses are on the
fast track,'' he said.
Bartels said the company expects to begin mining operations
within a few years, once it addresses the permitting issues and
constructs infrastructure.
The price of uranium has climbed from about $7.50 a pound
five years ago to about $30 a pound today, he said.
The price increase has fired interest in new mining efforts,
Bartels said.
Copyright Albuquerque Journal
Steve@abqjournal.com
*****************************************************************
48 Salt Lake Tribune: DOE details plan to ship tailings by rail
Article Last Updated: 07/26/2005 01:06:39 AM
By Robert Gehrke The Salt Lake Tribune
Jim Matheson, democratic congressman, 2nd district.
WASHINGTON - The Energy Department said Monday it is moving
ahead with its plan to relocate nearly 12 million tons of
uranium tailings and contaminated soil away from the banks of
the Colorado River.
"Taking all facts into account, we believe the
recommendations issued today provide the best solution to
cleaning up Moab and protecting the river," Secretary of Energy
Samuel Bodman said. "The Colorado River is the life-blood of the
Southwest."
Bodman had announced in April the DOE planned to move the
tailings, but Monday, the department released the final
environmental impact statement, a key step in the process.
The document details the DOE plans to ship the 10.5 million
tons of tailings by rail to a lined disposal cell at Crescent
Junction, 30 miles to the north, and remediation of the
groundwater at the defunct Atlas Corp. mill site.
"Millions of people near Moab and throughout the Southwest
have good reason to fear for their drinking water," said Sen.
Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, in a statement. "We shouldn't have this
radioactive waste so close to the Colorado River. The DOE made
the right decision to move this pile to a safe location."
Rep. Jim Matheson, D-Utah, said he is "very happy with how
this worked out."
"This is something I've been working on for three years and
this is where we want it be," he said. "Now we've got to raise
the money to move it."
He said the Energy Department has already asked for more money
in its remediation fund than it has in the past and made a
commitment to funding the move.
The Energy Department expects surface and groundwater
remediation of the site to cost $472 million.
"The Department of Energy recognizes this is what they've got
to do and I think the money is going to be there," Matheson
said. He says there should still be money provided to study the
extent to which the site has contaminated the aquifer that
provides drinking water for Moab and the area.
The Atlas Corp. mill processed uranium during the Cold War.
The mill was shut down in 1984 and Atlas declared bankruptcy
in 1998, leaving the federal government responsible for the
pile, which despite having an interim cap to keep the tailings
in place continued to contaminate the groundwater and the nearby
Colorado River.
The public will have 30 days to comment on the environmental
impact before the decision is finalized.
© Copyright 2005, The Salt Lake Tribune.
*****************************************************************
49 Salt Lake Tribune: Uranium mining makes a comeback
Article Last Updated: 07/26/2005 01:14:04 AM
Hot item: Demand for the radioactive rock is surging as nuclear
power use increases everywhere
The Associated Press
Rick Ernst, a foreman at the Cotter Corp. uranium mine,
maneuvers a vehicle in the shaft near Naturita, Colo. (R.J.
Sangosti/The Associated Press)
GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. - Western Colorado and eastern Utah,
already a beehive of oil and gas exploration, are seeing a rush
to find uranium to meet rising demand from nuclear reactors
around the world.
This year more than 8,500 mining-claim permits have been
filed in eight uranium-rich Colorado and Utah counties. For
years claim activity was virtually zero.
Only 100 million pounds have been produced annually, but the
435 nuclear reactors in the world, including 104 in the United
States, need 180 million pounds. Demand will grow as China and
India increase nuclear power, and President Bush pushes for the
United States to expand its use.
''No doubt about it, the world needs more uranium,'' said Tom
Pool, chairman of International Nuclear Inc. in Golden.
For the first time since 1974, the U.S. Department of Energy
is preparing to put 13,600 acres of uranium-laced western
Colorado lands up for bid next year. The Uravan Mineral Belt, a
swatch of western Colorado desert that holds a unique
combination of steel-hardening vanadium mixed with uranium, is a
center of activity.
''I see this boom not being a spike like in the early '90s.
And I see it being more sustained than it was in the '70s and
'80s,'' said Ed Cotter, the contract project manager for uranium
leasing for the Department of Energy.
It isn't likely to be a rush to get as much of the 75 million
pounds of uranium and 282,000 pounds of vanadium in the Colorado
Plateau out of the ground as fast as possible.
''Companies are planning in a much more effective way for the
future. They're making sure when you ramp up production, you
ramp up carefully,'' said Stuart Sanderson, director of the
Colorado Mining Association.
Increased permit requirements and a lack of manpower and
equipment won't allow a rush to uranium production in any case.
© Copyright 2005, The Salt Lake Tribune.
*****************************************************************
50 NRC: In the Matter of Private Fuel Storage, L.L.C. (Independent Spent
FR Doc E5-3966
[Federal Register: July 26, 2005 (Volume 70, Number 142)]
[Notices] [Page 43200-43201] From the Federal Register Online via
GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr26jy05-131]
Fuel Storage Installation); Notice of Appointment of Adjudicatory
Employees Commissioners: Nils J. Diaz, Chairman; Jeffrey S.
Merrifield; Gregory B. Jaczko; Peter B. Lyons. Pursuant to 10 CFR
2.4, notice is hereby given that Mr. Arthur Buslik of the Office
of Nuclear Regulatory Research, Division of Risk Analysis and
Applications, Probabilistic Risk Analysis Branch; and Abdul
Sheikh, of the Office of Nuclear Regulatory Research, Division of
Engineering Technology, Engineering Research Applications Branch,
have been appointed as Commission adjudicatory employees within
the meaning of section 2.4, to advise the Commission regarding
issues relating to the pending petition for review in the Matter
of Private Fuel Storage, L.L.C. (Contention Utah K (Aircraft
Crashes)). These employees have not previously performed any
investigative or litigating function in connection with this or
any related proceeding. Mr. Buslik has previously served as an
adjudicatory employee in this proceeding.
Until such time as a final decision is issued in this matter,
interested persons outside the agency and agency employees
performing investigative or
[[Page 43201]] litigating functions in this proceeding are
required to observe the restrictions of 10 CFR 2.780 and 2.781 in
their communications with Mr. Buslik and Mr. Sheikh. It is so
ordered.
For the Commission.
Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 20th day of July, 2005.
Annette L. Vietti-Cook, Secretary of the Commission.
[FR Doc. E5-3966 Filed 7-25-05; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590-01-P
*****************************************************************
51 KRQE: WIPP no longer in running for underground lab
Posted: 7/26/2005 9:54:00 AM
: AP
CARLSBAD, N.M. -- The National Science Foundation has announced
the finalists for an underground physics laboratory -- and the
Department of Energy's underground nuclear waste dump near
Carlsbad is not among them.
The finalists are the Homestake Mine in South Dakota and the
Henderson Mine near Denver.
The foundation rejected six other sites, including the Waste
Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad. No reasons were listed.
The WIPP proposal for the National Science Foundation's proposed
Deep Underground Science and Engineering Research Laboratory was
done in collaboration with the University of California Los
Angeles.
New Mexico's five-member congressional delegation backed WIPP for
the laboratory.
KRQE
*****************************************************************
52 RedNova News: Russian Atomic Energy Chief Sees Spent Fuel Imports
As Key to Nuclear Security
Posted on: Tuesday, 26 July 2005, 09:01 CDT
The re-import of spent nuclear fuel is a key element in keeping
nuclear technology out of the hands of terrorists, the head of
the Russian Federal Agency for Atomic Energy, Aleksandr
Rumyantsev, has said in an interview with Radio Russia on his
60th birthday. He gave details of measures to deal with nuclear
waste in Russia and said he did not see any real alternative to
nuclear power as a long-term solution to mankind's energy needs.
The following is an excerpt from the interview broadcast on
Radio Russia's "Persona Grata" programme on 26 July; subheadings
inserted editorially:
[Presenter] Welcome to Radio Russia. My name is Vitaliy Ushkanov
and this is "Persona Grata". [Passage omitted]
The head of Russia's Federal Agency for Atomic Energy,
Academician Aleskandr Rumyantsev, is our guest today [on his
60th birthday]. [Passage omitted]
The situation regarding spent nuclear fuel is very well known
and has inflamed passions. A law was passed in the end [about
the import of spent nuclear fuel]. The press said this was done
thanks to lobbying by the Atomic Energy Ministry [since
transformed into a federal agency].
So we have the law, and there is no getting away from that. So
you can do something that you could not do before.
Recently in Moscow there was a conference on prospects for the
nuclear fuel cycle, where the trade in spent nuclear fuel was
discussed. It is no secret that your department supports the
creation of a centre for reprocessing and storing this kind of
fuel near Krasnoyarsk. This again is arousing fears and has
given rise to protests by environmentalists, who say that you
want to make Russia virtually a pioneer in this dangerous
business. Is this so?
Economic reasons behind need to import spent nuclear fuel
[Rumyantsev] Let's look at the issue in a slightly broader
context. This law was passed exactly four years ago. If you
recall what I said in the newspapers, TV and radio at that time,
you will find that I was saying then what I will say now, four
years later. This law is necessary for us as a legislative means
to import into Russia spent nuclear fuel, so that we can improve
our integration in the international community by getting into
the market for supplying fresh fuel, enrichment services and
undertaking construction of nuclear power plants outside Russia.
Our opponents around the world were always saying that since you
do not have this legislation, you have no place on the market
for creating these atomic energy capacities.
[Presenter] So they tried to keep you out of this market?
[Rumyantsev] We were criticized. And those countries which
understood that if they construct something according to a
Russian plan, and purchase Russian fuel, that we cannot return
this fuel in the full volume, since we have no law governing
this in detail, they would perhaps look at other countries
supplying this heavy equipment which is uniquely complicated and
involves high technology.
So over these four years, not a gram of spent fuel from nuclear
reactors of foreign manufacture has been brought into Russia. At
the same time, our export potential has risen by 150 per cent.
[Presenter] Just because of this law.
[Rumyantsev] That's right. A silence descended on the world
market when they realized that this argument was no longer
valid. There was even a fear that we could use dumping prices to
take part of the spent nuclear fuel market from countries who do
very well out of this. But we did not do this either.
You asked about transparency. I talk about this all the time,
but no-one listens to me. At the same time, those who say that
Russia has been turned into a dumping ground and has been taking
waste from all over the world, their slogan has been heard just
about every month in various parts of the media for the past
four years.
[Presenter] So you haven't taken any. But you want to, don't
you?
If exports grew, then maybe that would be sufficient and we
would not need any burial sites.
Fighting the terrorist threat
[Rumyantsev] The topic of this conference was completely
different. At the moment we are facing a vital question. How to
counter terrorism and not to allow fissile material and nuclear
technology to fall into the hands of terrorists. This is
referred to in UN Resolution 1540, which was passed recently.
The whole world has united, and his still uniting, in the fight
against these threats. It was to this that the conference was
dedicated. It was not only dedicated to the tail-end of the
nuclear fuel cycle, which the Greens immediately started making
a fuss about, but it was also dedicated to the start of the fuel
cycle.
That is, it is being proposed to countries that they get
guaranteed use only of the benefits of atomic energy and that
the countries that possess nuclear technologies will build
nuclear power plants for them and put the supply of nuclear fuel
under state guarantees, and take the spent fuel so that there is
no problem with the development of a national fuel cycle, which
is very sensitive, given the fact that terrorists could get hold
of individual elements as weapons, not just a weapon of mass
destruction, but as a weapon with the ability to cause mass
disquiet. [Passage omitted]
[Presenter] You haven't answered. So is Russia the first country
importing spent nuclear fuel?
[Rumyantsev] Russia is not spoken about. It is a question of a
group of countries who could offer all those elements of the
fuel cycle to those countries who have given up the idea of
their own national cycle.
Russia has a legislative amendment for the import of the fuel.
That's why Russia held this conference. We possess at each stage
all the elements of the nuclear fuel cycle and we know how to
deal with these things very well. That is why this conference
under the patronage of the International Atomic Energy Agency
gathered together here virtually all leading member states,
which presented their reports.
In my own report I said that there are number of countries here.
Some supply fresh fuel and others can close the cycles. I always
cite France as an example here. France operates very well on the
spent fuel market. [Passage omitted]
Waste disposal programme
[Presenter] France is against us getting involved in this, isn't
it?
[Rumyantsev] They understand that we do not have the same level
of technology as they have. I should say this honestly. They
discharge wastewater which is fit for drinking and they do not
emit anything into the atmosphere. I am envious of this, in a
good way. The point is that France came to nuclear technologies
significantly later than, for example, the USA and Russia, and
it created its atomic capacity on the basis of different
foundations in terms of human development. Both we and the USA
have the same problems. [Passage omitted]
But there is no global danger from what we have built up. You
see that there is a clamour, but there is no instance of someone
suffering radiation poisoning as a consequence of something left
behind by nuclear weapons production. All these storage
facilities have been properly evacuated. All of this is under
control. Still, there are problems. I won't deny or dress things
up.
We have administration reforms in which the approach to planning
is being changed. We are looking at a three-year cycle. We are
looking at results-geared funding. This is the next stage of the
administrative reform. We are carrying out our departmental
programme and we are looking at huge amounts of money by today's
standards, hundreds of millions of roubles, for dealing with all
the negative consequences which have accompanied the process of
the creation of national nuclear weaponry. That is mission 522.
I know by heart all the systems and measures of the Techenskiy
cascade [facility in Chelyabinsk Region in which radioactive
waste is discharged]. Last month I made a special visit to all
these dams, all the lakes and storage facilities, and we will be
making serious progress on this.
You say that you live near the Kurchatov Institute. Well, we
conducted the first pilot project in this institute. Over the
last few years we have taken out all the low-level waste which
was kept there from the late 1940s and early 1950s when the
Kurchatov Institute was leading work on solving our weapons
problem. [Passage omitted]
I can say that this first pilot was carried through in close
alliance with [Moscow mayor] Yuriy Mikhaylovich Luzhkov, with
the Moscow government, and with some financial help from a
federal programme, but with most of the money coming from the
federal agency. That is how we will proceed with regard to all
the facilities in our industry, where there is this kind of
legacy. [Passage omitted]
No alternative to nuclear energy in long term
[Presenter] Am I right in saying that you cannot envisage the
future without atomic energy?
[Rumyantsev] When a forecast goes beyond 20 years, as a
scientist I am very sceptical about its validity.
But we can look at what is actually going on. There is no doubt
that natural resources - oil, gas, coal - are being exhausted.
The resources that have been discovered are sufficient for
humanity not to experience a shortage for 100 years or a little
longer. [Passage omitted]
It is true that you can make different things from gas and oil,
and get energy in a different form. You can also say that
uranium deposits are also running out and are sufficient only
for 100 years or so.
But the thing is that you don't only have thermal neutron
reactors, which are used now, you also have fast neutron
reactors, which use not Uranium-235 in the fuel cycles, of which
there is only 0.7 per cent in natural deposits, but the main
Uranium-238, of which there are hundreds of thousands of tonnes.
We don't know what to do with this depleted uranium, whether to
dispose of it or not. But it can be used in this nuclear fuel
cycle.
In this case, the fuel can last for 1,000 or 1,500 years if
closed fuel cycles are established on the basis of either
thorium, of which we have a lot, or Uranium-238.
[Presenter] What about solar power or wind power?
[Rumyantsev] They are just drops in the ocean, fractions of a
per cent. [Passage omitted] Atomic energy gives us 17 per cent.
[Present] So we cannot get by without the civil atomic energy?
[Rumyantsev] More than likely. [Passage omitted]
Source: BBC Monitoring Former Soviet Union
© 2002-2005 RedNova.com. All rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
53 NRDC: Scientists Say Perchlorate a Potential Threat to Thyroid
Natural Resources Defense Council
7/25/2005 4:45:00 PM
Copyright 2005 E&E Publishing. All Rights Reserved.
Perchlorate pollution in groundwater could harm people with
thyroid disorders, according to a study by the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention.
Scientists at CDC's Agency for Toxic Substances and
Disease Registry found that ingestion of the toxic can interfere
with the body's ability to absorb iodine, which helps regulate
growth and metabolism. Ensuring sufficient consumption of iodine
is key to normal development of the brains and nervous systems of
fetuses and infants.
Exposure to the chemical can come from food and water.
According to the CDC team, studies are needed to track individual
perchlorate ingestion with corresponding nutrition and genetic
information. Their analysis was published last month in the
online version of the journal Environmental Health Perspectives.
(David Danelski, Riverside [Calif.] Press-Enterprise, July 24).
A study published in February found perchlorate in breast
milk samples from 18 states at levels significantly higher than
in cow's milk and more than what the National Academy of Sciences
recently said is safe. Some researchers have speculated that food
-- not water -- may be the main source of the chemical, since
there has been no correlation between subjects' perchlorate
levels and their consumption of tap or bottled water. A Food and
Drug Administration study released last November found
perchlorate in a high percentage of milk and lettuce samples
(Greenwire, Feb. 23).
The perchlorate finding comes as the National Institute
of Environmental Health Sciences revises the National Toxicology
Program, which sets standards for chemical testing.
The effort, expected to take seven years, aims to develop
lab tests for 100,000 industrial compounds and biochemical
markers. "It's taken us 25 years and $2 billion to study 900
chemicals," said Christopher Portier of NIEHS, a leader of the
toxicology program revisions. "If this works, we can study 15,000
in a year" (Peter Waldman, Wall Street Journal [subscription
required], July 25).
Click here to read the CDC study. -- LM
© Natural Resources Defense Council
*****************************************************************
54 Nevada Appeal: Come clean on Yucca Mountain application
Our Opinion
Come clean on Yucca Mountain application
Tuesday, July 26, 2005
The U.S. Department of Energy sounded like it was making some
kind of extraordinary effort to comply with Rep. Jon Porter's
request for documents relating to the Yucca Mountain nuclear
waste project.
Unfortunately, it was an extraordinary effort.
The Energy Department apparently doesn't believe its work is
open to public scrutiny and has been fighting Nevada's requests
to document its work. The federal agency has yet to turn over a
draft of the application it must submit to the Nuclear
Regulatory Commission in order to get a license to build and
operate a nuclear storage site in Southern Nevada
According to the state Agency for Nuclear Projects, the DOE has
repeatedly denied requests — from Nevada's representatives in
Congress, from the governor, from the attorney general — to make
public the draft document.
What is DOE afraid of? That somebody might find out what it's
doing?
The real story, we suspect, is that the Energy Department is
trying to resist getting caught in the middle of a political
football game. It's somewhat understandable for a government
bureaucracy to want to go about its business — in this case, a
highly technical application for handling the nation's most
dangerous nuclear waste—without constantly; having to put out a
finger to test the political winds.
It's understandable, but naive. And ultimately irresponsible.
The Yucca Mountain project is nothing if not political, from its
origin to the site selection in Nevada to the change in the
mission of the DOE — from investigating whether the underground
repository would be safe to engineering a repository that might
be safe.
More troubling, however, is the idea that a bureaucracy may
operate outside the scrutiny of the public and its elected
officials. There is nothing generally sensitive or secretive in
a licensing application. It's going to be public anyway.
Perhaps the DOE is hiding something. More likely, though, it
just doesn't want to answer a lot of messy questions from
Nevadans, or give the state a head start on a strategy to oppose
the application. Either way, it doesn't speak well for the
Energy Department's confidence in its own work.
*****************************************************************
55 Newsday.com: OK for radioactive soil shipments to resume
Long Island
Photos
Railcars containing waste (Newsday Photo by Thomas A. Ferrara)
BY KATIE THOMAS STAFF WRITER
July 26, 2005
Shipment of radioactive soil from Brookhaven National Laboratory
could resume this week, following an agreement reached among
officials from Queens, New York City's Office of Emergency
Management and the Long Island Rail Road.
"We do believe it will be this week," Mona Rowe, a lab
spokeswoman, said yesterday. "It won't take very long for the
rail cars to start getting shipped out."
The Long Island Rail Road halted shipment of the radioactive soil
- part of a years-long cleanup effort at the lab - on June 23,
citing an agreement that required the Queens borough president's
permission before shipping hazardous waste.
For weeks, at least 60 cars packed with waste have been sitting
on the tracks in Brookhaven while officials waited for permission
to start shipments again.
Under the terms of the agreement, reached Thursday, the hauling
can resume, but only after the LIRR formally notifies New York
City's Office of Emergency Management that it intends to start
shipping again, said Jarrod Bernstein, a spokesman for the
emergency management agency.
He said once his agency gets the go-ahead, it will notify the
MTA police, the New York City Police Department, the Fire
Department, and other emergency agencies. "We work 24 hours a
day," Bernstein said. "We notify agencies immediately when we
get information like that."
Sam Zambuto, a spokesman for the Long Island Rail Road, said he
was unaware of the agreement. However, Fred Krebs, president of
New York and Atlantic Railway - the private freight arm of the
LIRR - confirmed that an agreement had been reached, and said
that his company could begin transporting the soil as early as
today.
Dan Andrews, spokesman for Queens Borough President Helen
Marshall, said Marshall was satisfied with the agreement. "The
issue has never been the transportation of the waste," he said.
"The issue was one of notification and no one, it seems, at the
city level was being notified."
Copyright 2005 Newsday Inc.
*****************************************************************
56 CounterPunch: David Swanson: Nuking Native Land
July 26, 2005
Cowardice, Conscience and the Skull Valley Dump
By DAVID SWANSON
Over 100 people, few if any of them employed by the corporate
media, filled a press conference room in the US Capitol on
Monday to hear artists, advocates, and experts speak against the
current energy bill and against a proposal to dump the nation's
nuclear waste on the land of a native American tribe in Utah.
Congressman Dennis Kucinich opened the proceedings, welcomed the
speakers, and began by denouncing the activities of the Private
Fuel Storage Limited Liability Consortium (PFS), which has
proposed this latest "solution" to the problem of nuclear waste.
Did you know these matters were being handled by a private
organization AND that it conveniently has LIMITED liability?
Kucinich called PFS's plan "unjust, dangerous, and unnecessary."
He said it violates the rights of the tribe whose land is thus
ruined, and puts the whole country at risk of a catastrophe in
the transportation of the waste to Utah. He said that 60 members
of Congress had written to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission
about this, and have yet to receive any response.
Kucinich spoke also of this country's long history of abusing
the rights of native Americans and urged those listening to move
beyond that history.
Navin Nayak of the US Public Interest Research Group (PIRG)
spoke next and MC'd the event. "The U.S. Congress," he said,
"stands on the precipice of passing an energy bill that would
reproduce the mistakes of the past 50 years." From 1950 to 1997,
he said, the federal government has spent $500 billion
subsidizing fossil fuels and nuclear power, but only $25 billion
on renewables.
Despite that, Nayak pointed out, wind power is the fastest
growing power globally, and the cost of it has fallen by 80
percent in recent years.
The energy bill now under consideration would give billions to
nuclear energy and subsidize the building of new plants,
something we haven't done for 30 years, Nayak said.
The first speaker Nayak introduced set a tone of serious
dedication and sacrifice. He was actor and activist James
Cromwell, and he said that if anyone tries to move 44 thousand
metric tons of nuclear waste across the country, "It's going to
be blocked, the same way it was in Germany. But in this country,
to stand in front of those trains, as I will be doing, is a
violation of the PATRIOT Act and it is an act of terrorism and
punishable by life in prison."
Cromwell seemed confident that others, young and old, would
stand with him in front of the trains. He said that young people
would not allow the country's future to be put at risk by
nuclear waste. "It's our children and our children's children
who will be affected by this technology, and it is up to us to
stop it. I hope you will join us."
Amy Ray of the Indigo Girls spoke next. She said that the Indigo
Girls have been a part of a campaign called Honor the Earth, and
have worked on this issue with Winona LaDuke since 1992. Back
then, she said, they opposed a bill that they called "Mobile
Chernobyl," which would have transported the waste to Yucca
Mountain in Nevada.
"When that took too long to work out," she said, "they created
this limited liability consortium (PFS) so as not to have the
liability that they should No one wants the nuclear waste, and
we're targeting minority communities with it. We need to stop
producing it."
Ray pointed out that Yucca Mountain is in an earthquake zone,
but noted that Skull Valley, Utah, (the current site targeted)
is near an Air Force bombing range.
Ray advocated wind turbines as a safe and profitable project for
native Americans and others. "We oppose this energy bill," she
said, "because of the subsidies to nuclear companies in it."
Nayak again spoke briefly and provided some more stats. Despite
a lack of investment, he said, renewables and co-generation now
produce 92 percent as much energy as nuclear, on a global basis.
The US Department of Energy says that the US could get 400
percent of its electricity from renewables, in comparison to the
2.5 percent that we actually get.
Next to speak was Margene Bullcreek, founder of Ohngo Guadedah
Devia, Skull Valley Goshute. "Our treaty protects our
sovereignty as caretakers of our land," she said. "Help us stop
this destruction, this genocide to our native people of this
great nation that was founded on our indigenous land."
Nayak then cited a few more reasons to have strong doubts about
the proposal before the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to violate
that sovereignty. There have, he noted, been no Congressional
hearings on this important public question of whether to ship 44
thousand tons of nuclear waste through as many as 45 states and
store it above ground. There has been no examination of the
safety of this proposal. Within days, he said, we could have a
decision from the NRC. "It is time for Congress to step in."
Emily Saliers of the Indigo Girls spoke very briefly and to the
point: "Nuclear energy is not clean energy." If we don't change
from nuclear power and fossil fuels to renewables, she said,
"then every time we switch on a light we are complicit in
injustice that affects people's lives."
Nayek added that the United States imports over 50 percent of
its oil, and that the new energy bill would increase the
nation's dependence on oil. Meanwhile, he said, over 90 percent
of Americans support renewables and conservation as the top
solution to our energy policy.
Longtime activist and former Green Party Vice Presidential
candidate Winona LaDuke was unable to speak at this event
because of a delayed flight.
The last to speak was musician, singer, song-writer Ani
DiFranco.
The job of a poet or a singer, DiFranco said, is to draw
connections. She was compelled, she said, "to speak one word:
cancer." Cancer, she said, "is the physiological reaction to
toxicity in our environment."
There is no barrel, DiFranco said, that can be guaranteed safely
sealed. There is no safe way to ship nuclear waste. "We all know
there's a bit of a farce in this policy."
"This week," DiFranco urged those in attendance, "rather than
writing a check to the Leukemia Foundation, we can stop the
Skull Valley dump and stop this energy bill. And we can invest
in renewable energy that is out there waiting for us to use it.
"Radioactive waste is not clean. Therefore, anyone who is trying
to tell me that nuclear power is clean is lying to me. And
subsidizing nuclear power is absolutely a deal breaker in a
twenty-first century energy policy."
DiFranco probably received the most applause of all the
speakers, with the exception of Congressman Kucinich's closing
remarks see below.
Nayek concluded the prepared agenda of the press conference by
noting that if an energy bill passes this week, it will likely
set our energy policy for a decade. This policy will not focus
on renewables. Focusing on renewables could create hundreds of
thousands of new jobs, save consumers dollars, and protect
public health.
Nayek asked for questions from the media, and seeing none, asked
for questions from others. A man asked about the likelihood of
the energy bill passing.
A committee of the House of Representatives, Nayek said, is
trying to complete a bill tonight likely a 1,000 page bill and a
vote in the House may come tomorrow, which is when the public
will first see the bill. A Senate vote could come as early as
Thursday.
Kucinich rose to the podium to point out, in addition, that most
Congress Members will not have seen the bill before it comes to
the floor.
Expert speakers who were available for questions rose and spoke
briefly, one after another, because there were few reporters
present, and none with questions.
Kevin Kamps of the Nuclear Information and Resource Service said
that the federal government until 1994 and the PFS since then
have targeted 60 native American tribes for the dumping of
waste, 50 of which have fought it off. In the current case, he
said, there are strong arguments against the proposed site.
For one thing, 7,000 F-16 fighter jets fly over every year.
"What if one crashes?" The NRC, he said, had ruled, 2 to 1, that
such a crash would not release radiation above an acceptable
level. The two Yes votes came from lawyers, said Kamps, while a
blistering dissent was penned by an engineer who focused on
numerous defects in the storage containers.
In addition, Kamps said, Cedar Mountains Wilderness Area, sacred
ground, would have a rail line put through it.
And, the Bureau of Indian Affairs approved the lease agreement
for this dump in three days. In response to a Freedom of
Information Act request from Public Citizen, the BIA said it had
no related documents whatsoever.
Pete Downing of the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance added that
House has passed a bill as part of a defense bill to protect
Utah from this dump, a bi-partisan measure that focused on
public safety and military safety. It remains to be seen what
the Senate will do.
Nayak said that stopping the energy bill, on the other hand,
would likely require 41 senators to stand up and protect us with
a filibuster.
Kucinich gave a stirring speech to conclude the event. He
referred to Conscience and Consciousness, two words that
DiFranco had used.
"The American people," he said, "are waiting to be inspired and
moved. Will $2 per gallon move them? Maybe not. Will $3? $4?
Probably not.
"But if people make connections between a war against innocent
people in Iraq and our energy policy, between moving tons of
nuclear waste and our so-called energy policy, between the
production of nuclear weapons and our failed energy policy.
"We're not just talking about protecting sacred land. The whole
earth is sacred. The whole earth is sacred! We're talking about
reclaiming our humanity.
"Jamie Cromwell talked about people putting themselves on the
line. We have to shake the conscience of this country! WAKE UP!
That's what we ought to be telling this country, and we are the
ones. We are the messengers. We are the messengers."
David Swanson can be reached at: david@davidswanson.org
*****************************************************************
57 American Chronicle: Nuclear Waste May Pass Through 45 States
Wednesday, July 27, 2005
David Swanson
The Case Against Hauling 44 Thousand Metric Tons of Nuclear Waste
Through 45 States and Storing it Above Ground on Native American
Land, Against the Tribe's Sovereign Will and Next to an Air Force
Bombing Ground, Without a Single Hearing or Safety Investigation
Or
How to Lobby Congress With a Hammer
Over 100 people, few if any of them employed by the corporate
media, filled a press conference room in the US Capitol on
Monday to hear artists, advocates, and experts speak against the
current energy bill and against a proposal to dump the nation's
nuclear waste on the land of a native American tribe in Utah.
Congressman Dennis Kucinich opened the proceedings, welcomed the
speakers, and began by denouncing the activities of the Private
Fuel Storage Limited Liability Consortium (PFS), which has
proposed this latest "solution" to the problem of nuclear waste.
Did you know these matters were being handled by a private
organization AND that it conveniently has LIMITED liability?
Kucinich called PFS's plan "unjust, dangerous, and unnecessary."
He said it violates the rights of the tribe whose land is thus
ruined, and puts the whole country at risk of a catastrophe in
the transportation of the waste to Utah. He said that 60 members
of Congress had written to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission
about this, and have yet to receive any response.
Kucinich spoke also of this country's long history of abusing
the rights of native Americans and urged those listening to move
beyond that history.
Navin Nayak of the US Public Interest Research Group (PIRG)
spoke next and MC'd the event. "The U.S. Congress," he said,
"stands on the precipice of passing an energy bill that would
reproduce the mistakes of the past 50 years." From 1950 to 1997,
he said, the federal government has spent $500 billion
subsidizing fossil fuels and nuclear power, but only $25 billion
on renewables.
Despite that, Nayak pointed out, wind power is the fastest
growing power globally, and the cost of it has fallen by 80
percent in recent years.
The energy bill now under consideration would give billions to
nuclear energy and subsidize the building of new plants,
something we haven't done for 30 years, Nayak said.
The first speaker Nayak introduced set a tone of serious
dedication and sacrifice. He was actor and activist James
Cromwell, and he said that if anyone tries to move 44 thousand
metric tons of nuclear waste across the country, "It's going to
be blocked, the same way it was in Germany. But in this country,
to stand in front of those trains, as I will be doing, is a
violation of the PATRIOT Act and it is an act of terrorism and
punishable by life in prison."
Cromwell seemed confident that others, young and old, would
stand with him in front of the trains. He said that young people
would not allow the country's future to be put at risk by
nuclear waste. "It's our children and our children's children
who will be affected by this technology, and it is up to us to
stop it. I hope you will join us."
Amy Ray of the Indigo Girls spoke next. She said that the Indigo
Girls have been a part of a campaign called Honor the Earth, and
have worked on this issue with Winona LaDuke since 1992. Back
then, she said, they opposed a bill that they called "Mobile
Chernobyl," which would have transported the waste to Yucca
Mountain in Nevada.
"When that took too long to work out," she said, "they created
this limited liability consortium (PFS) so as not to have the
liability that they should… No one wants the nuclear waste, and
we're targeting minority communities with it. We need to stop
producing it."
Ray pointed out that Yucca Mountain is in an earthquake zone,
but noted that Skull Valley, Utah, (the current site targeted)
is near an Air Force bombing range.
Ray advocated wind turbines as a safe and profitable project for
native Americans and others. "We oppose this energy bill," she
said, "because of the subsidies to nuclear companies in it."
Nayak again spoke briefly and provided some more stats. Despite
a lack of investment, he said, renewables and co-generation now
produce 92 percent as much energy as nuclear, on a global basis.
The US Department of Energy says that the US could get 400
percent of its electricity from renewables, in comparison to the
2.5 percent that we actually get.
Next to speak was Margene Bullcreek, founder of Ohngo Guadedah
Devia, Skull Valley Goshute. "Our treaty protects our
sovereignty as caretakers of our land," she said. "Help us stop
this destruction, this genocide to our native people of this
great nation that was founded on our indigenous land."
Nayak then cited a few more reasons to have strong doubts about
the proposal before the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to violate
that sovereignty. There have, he noted, been no Congressional
hearings on this important public question of whether to ship 44
thousand tons of nuclear waste through as many as 45 states and
store it above ground. There has been no examination of the
safety of this proposal. Within days, he said, we could have a
decision from the NRC. "It is time for Congress to step in."
Emily Saliers f the Indigo Girls spoke very briefly and to the
point: "Nuclear energy is not clean energy." If we don't change
from nuclear power and fossil fuels to renewables, she said,
"then every time we switch on a light we are complicit in
injustice that affects people's lives."
Nayek added that the United States imports over 50 percent of
its oil, and that the new energy bill would increase the
nation's dependence on oil. Meanwhile, he said, over 90 percent
of Americans support renewables and conservation as the top
solution to our energy policy.
Longtime activist and former Green Party Vice Presidential
candidate Winona LaDuke was unable to speak at this event
because of a delayed flight.
The last to speak was musician, singer, song-writer Ani
DiFranco.
The job of a poet or a singer, DiFranco said, is to draw
connections. She was compelled, she said, "to speak one word:
cancer." Cancer, she said, "is the physiological reaction to
toxicity in our environment."
There is no barrel, DiFranco said, that can be guaranteed safely
sealed. There is no safe way to ship nuclear waste. "We all know
there's a bit of a farce in this policy."
"This week," DiFranco urged those in attendance, "rather than
writing a check to the Leukemia Foundation, we can stop the
Skull Valley dump and stop this energy bill. And we can invest
in renewable energy that is out there waiting for us to use it….
"Radioactive waste is not clean. Therefore, anyone who is trying
to tell me that nuclear power is clean is lying to me. And
subsidizing nuclear power is absolutely a deal breaker in a
twenty-first century energy policy."
DiFranco probably received the most applause of all the
speakers, with the exception of Congressman Kucinich's closing
remarks – see below.
Nayek concluded the prepared agenda of the press conference by
noting that if an energy bill passes this week, it will likely
set our energy policy for a decade. This policy will not focus
on renewables. Focusing on renewables could create hundreds of
thousands of new jobs, save consumers dollars, and protect
public health.
Nayek asked for questions from the media, and seeing none, asked
for questions from others. A man asked about the likelihood of
the energy bill passing.
A committee of the House of Representatives, Nayek said, is
trying to complete a bill tonight – likely a 1,000 page bill –
and a vote in the House may come tomorrow, which is when the
public will first see the bill. A Senate vote could come as
early as Thursday.
Kucinich rose to the podium to point out, in addition, that most
Congress Members will not have seen the bill before it comes to
the floor.
Expert speakers who were available for questions rose and spoke
briefly, one after another, because there were few reporters
present, and none with questions.
Kevin Kamps of the Nuclear Information and Resource Service said
that the federal government until 1994 and the PFS since then
have targeted 60 native American tribes for the dumping of
waste, 50 of which have fought it off. In the current case, he
said, there are strong arguments against the proposed site.
For one thing, 7,000 F-16 fighter jets fly over every year.
"What if one crashes?" The NRC, he said, had ruled, 2 to 1, that
such a crash would not release radiation above an acceptable
level. The two Yes votes came from lawyers, said Kamps, while a
blistering dissent was penned by an engineer who focused on
numerous defects in the storage containers.
In addition, Kamps said, Cedar Mountains Wilderness Area, sacred
ground, would have a rail line put through it.
And, the Bureau of Indian Affairs approved the lease agreement
for this dump in three days. In response to a Freedom of
Information Act request from Public Citizen, the BIA said it had
no related documents whatsoever.
Pete Downing of the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance added that
House has passed a bill as part of a defense bill to protect
Utah from this dump, a bi-partisan measure that focused on
public safety and military safety. It remains to be seen what
the Senate will do.
Nayak said that stopping the energy bill, on the other hand,
would likely require 41 senators to stand up and protect us with
a filibuster.
Kucinich gave a stirring speech to conclude the event. He
referred to Conscience and Consciousness, two words that
DiFranco had used.
"The American people," he said, "are waiting to be inspired and
moved. Will $2 per gallon move them? Maybe not. Will $3? $4?
Probably not.
"But if people make connections between a war against innocent
people in Iraq and our energy policy, between moving tons of
nuclear waste and our so-called energy policy, between the
production of nuclear weapons and our failed energy policy….
"We're not just talking about protecting sacred land. The whole
earth is sacred. The whole earth is sacred! We're talking about
reclaiming our humanity.
"Jamie Cromwell talked about people putting themselves on the
line. We have to shake the conscience of this country! WAKE UP!
That's what we ought to be telling this country, and we are the
ones. We are the messengers. We are the messengers."
American Chronicle is a trademark of .
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58 azcentral.com: Artists, Activists protest nuclear waste dump in Utah
The Republic
By ELISE WAXENBERG
Hearst Newspapers
Jul. 25, 2005 04:24 PM
WASHINGTON - Joined by celebrity musicians, Rep. Dennis
Kucinich, D-Ohio, on Monday campaigned against a utility
consortium's proposal to dump 40,000 metric tons of radioactive
waste on Indian land in Utah.
Private Fuel Storage LLC, or PFS, a group of eight nuclear
power companies, is waiting for the commissioners of the federal
Nuclear Regulatory Commission to vote on its license to build
the disposal site for high-level radioactive waste in Skull
Valley, Utah.
The facility would be built in an 820-acre area carved out of
the reservation of the Skull Valley Band of Goshute Indians,
which owns 17,444 acres in total.
'The indigenous people within this nation have always been
victimized," Goshute advocate Margene Bullcreek said at a news
conference, coordinated by the Nuclear Information and Resource
Service, Public Citizen and U.S. Public Interest Research Group.
Kucinich, who hosted the event at the U.S. Capitol, said, "We
cannot allow this trampling of Native American rights."
PFS needs the votes of three of the four sitting NRC
commissioners to go forward with the project. The vote could
come by early fall.
In February, the a three-member NRC panel gave preliminary
approval to PFS' proposed site, located 45 miles southwest of
Salt Lake City. PFS had first filed its application with the NRC
eight years ago.
PFS signed a lease for the land with Goshute chairman Leon Bear
and two other executives of the tribe in 1997, but others in the
tribe are contesting the validity of the both the contract and
Bear's chairmanship.
Folk singer-songwriter Amy Ray of the Indigo Girls said that
because PFS is a limited liability corporation, states and
municipalities would have to foot most of the bill if an
accident occurred at the site or in transporting waste.
'No one wants to support an accident with their tax dollars,"
Ray said, warning that accidents also could occur because of the
proposed dump site's proximity to Hill Air Force Base and Utah
Test and Training Range.
PFS spokeswoman Sue Martin said PFS and NRC consultants both
concluded that the chance of a military airplane crashing into
the site is "probably was less than one in a million," the NRC's
threshold probability for a "non-credible" accident risk.
Martin said energy companies are running out of on-site room to
store spent fuel rods left over from producing nuclear energy,
which she called "the cleanest source of power that we have
that's affordable."
At the news conference Monday, folk rocker Ani DiFranco said:
'Anyone who is trying to tell me that radioactive waste is clean
is lying to me."
DiFranco, along with the Indigo Girls and actor James Cromwell
of HBO's Six Feet Under, later lobbied senators to ask for
oversight hearings on the proposed PFS dump site.
The PFS license would last for 20 years with the option of one
20-year renewal, according to Martin. After a maximum of 40
years, the nuclear waste would be moved to a permanent federal
storage facility, she said.
But the federal government has yet to open a storage facility
for high-level radioactive waste.
Since 1987, the Department of Energy has backed Yucca Mountain,
Nevada, as the potential site of a high-level radioactive waste
dump. Both the state of Nevada and public interest advocates
have filed a battery of lawsuits and launched high-profile
campaigns against the proposal, putting the project on hold.
In the latest twist, the Energy Department on July 22 turned
over 1,650 pages of subpoenaed documents to a House Government
Reform panel. The panel is investigating whether or not
government scientists falsified research data on water flows on
the Yucca site.
"If Yucca Mountain is not approved, then the federal government
has a legal obligation to find another site," Martin said.
Now, the earliest a federal facility could open at Yucca
Mountain is 2012, according to Energy Department spokesman Allen
Benson.
The agency is in the process of preparing a Yucca license
application for the NRC, Benson said.
The Yucca facility, if approved and constructed, would hold a
maximum of 70,000 metric tons of high-level radioactive waste.
Some 90 percent of the storage would be for spent fuel rods used
in commercial energy production, while 10 percent would be
designated for government nuclear waste.
Copyright © 2005, azcentral.com. All rights reserved.
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59 Gallup Independent: No nukes; Navajo Council passes legislation opposing the
resumption of testing
July 25, 2005:
By Kathy Helms
Diné Bureau
WINDOW ROCK — The Navajo Nation Council gave near-unanimous
approval Friday to legislation opposing the resumption of
nuclear weapons testing at the Nevada Test Site.
Resumption would impact the health, safety and livelihood of the
Nation's residents and also would impact Navajo tourism and
economy, according to Delegates Roy Laughter
(Chilchinbeto/Kayenta) and Leonard Teller
(Lukachukai/Tsaile/Wheatfields), sponsors of the legislation,
which passed 68-1.
"It has come to our attention that the federal government wants
to resume nuclear weapons testing in Nevada. This is an area of
extreme importance to all the Western states and needs to be a
concern of all the citizens of the Navajo Nation," Laughter told
fellow councilmen.
"On Jan. 10, 2005, U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld asked
Congress to fund research to build Robust Nuclear Earth
Penetrator nuclear weapons, also known as 'Bunker Busters.'
Congress has already passed funding to ready the Nevada Test
Site so that it can be usable in as little as 18 months to
resume the testing of Nuclear Weapons," he said.
In 1990, Congress passed the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act
to provide monetary payments to uranium workers, Nevada Test
Site workers and "downwinders" who contracted certain cancers
and other serious diseases as a result of their exposure to
fallout from mining of radioactive materials and the testing of
nuclear weapons during the 1950s and 1960s.
"Almost every family who lived in this area during the
above-ground testing time periods, or who has been exposed to
uranium, has had a family member with cancer or a child with
Down's syndrome or leukemia," Laughter said.
Public health researchers studied the implications of radiation
fallout and weapons testing in 1961 and discovered significant
negative health effects. However, these research findings were
not released to American citizens until 1979, according to the
legislation.
American citizens were never warned about the likelihood of
contamination in areas downwind of the blasts nor were they
alerted to adverse health effects associated with radiation
exposure, the legislation states.
"Of the 50,000 families that lived in the areas of western
Nevada, Southern Utah and Northern Arizona during the
above-ground tests and uranium mining, over 10,000 families have
already received federal compensation for their documentable
health effects," Laughter said.
"However, as we know, my constituents in my area we know that we
have families who have not received compensation. I'm asking
you, my colleagues, to help me say no to these. I know we can
only request. I wish there was a stronger statement that could
be made," he said.
More than 900 nuclear weapon tests were conducted at Nevada Test
Site, located about 60 miles northwest of Las Vegas. One hundred
of the tests were exploded aboveground, and 804 were detonated
underground.
"These tests were deliberately exploded on days where the wind
was to the East, trying to protect California from exposure.
This decision deliberately made the radiation drift to the East,
contaminating much of the Navajo Nation time and time again,"
Laughter said.
During underground nuclear testing conducted from 1961 until
1992, 45 of the announced underground nuclear tests spewed
radiation as far away as Kentucky and Tennessee.
"The Bunker Buster Bomb which the federal government is
proposing to eventually test at the Nevada Test Site has a high
likelihood to again spew radiation across much of the Navajo
Nation," Laughter said.
The state Legislature in Utah recently passed a resolution
calling on Congress not to resume nuclear testing at the Nevada
Test Site. Similar resolutions also have been passed by the Ute
Indian Tribe of the Uintah and Ouray Reservation in Utah, as
well as Kane County in Utah, and Mohave and Coconino counties in
Arizona.
"We feel it is imperative that we make our voices heard, that
the Navajo Nation should not be exposed to radiation again,"
Laughter said.
U.S. President Bush and Congress recently lifted the ban on
nuclear weapons research and authorized spending $34 million to
improve Nevada Test Site so that underground nuclear testing
could resume in 18 months.
According to the legislation presented by Laughter, "The
citizens and residents of the Navajo Nation have sacrificed
enough for nuclear weapon development, have sacrificed enough in
the name of 'safe' nuclear testing at the Nevada Test Site, and
have sacrificed enough when companies mined uranium within the
Navajo Nation."
Monday
July 25, 2005
the Gallup Independent.
Send questions or comments to ga11p1nd@cnetco.com
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60 Rocky Mountain News: CU bids for Los Alamos
University joins consortium seeking to operate facility
By John C. Ensslin, Rocky Mountain News
July 26, 2005
BOULDER - The University of Colorado has a small part in one of
two competing bids to operate the Los Alamos National Laboratory
in New Mexico.
CU is one of 22 research universities so far that have joined in
a consortium with defense contractor Lockheed Martin and the
University of Texas in a bid submitted this week to the
Department of Energy.
They are competing with the University of California system and
engineering company Bechtel to take over management of the
nuclear weapons facility.
If the Lockheed-University of Texas bid prevails, the exact
details of what CU's role would be have not been determined,
said Jeff Cheek, CU's vice president of research.
"Until certain dominoes fall into place, we don't know exactly
what this could bring," he said.
But it will not entail any management role for the university,
he said. Nor will it involve any classified or weapons-related
research.
The bids mark a major change for the lab, where scientists
developed and tested the first atomic bomb 60 years ago.
The winning bidder - to be determined by Dec. 1 - would receive
an annual fee of up to $79 million and play a key role in the
future of the nation's nuclear weapons stockpile.
The University of California has run the lab for the federal
government since the lab's inception in 1943. But its management
was questioned after a series of security and financial lapses,
which prompted DOE to put the contract out to bid.
Lockheed spokesman Craig Quigley declined to talk specifically
about CU's role in the bid, saying that the details have not
been worked out.
Cheek said that University of Texas officials approached CU
officials in June with an invitation to participate. CU has
about 50 professors who are conducting individual research
projects with the laboratory. That work would become more formal
and centralized if the bid is approved.
"For us, it would be an exciting opportunity," Cheek said. "It
would increase access to resources we would not have otherwise."
By the numbers
• 22 research universities joining in the
LockheedMartin-University of Texas consortium.
•50 CU professors currently doing research at the lab.
•$79 million paid annually to the lab operators.
2005 © Rocky Mountain News
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61 Rocky Mountain News: Salazar resolves Flats flap
By M.E. Sprengelmeyer, Rocky Mountain News
July 26, 2005
WASHINGTON - Sen. Ken Salazar dropped his hold on four
presidential nominations Monday, after two federal agencies
apparently agreed on the last issue delaying completion of a
wildlife refuge at Rocky Flats.
Salazar, D-Colo., placed a temporary hold on three Energy
Department nominations and another in the Department of Interior
last week.
He said it was intended to prod the two departments to reach an
agreement on mineral rights issues so that the former nuclear
weapons plant site can be turned over to the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service, a part of Interior.
After weekend talks, department officials settled on a framework
that Sen. Wayne Allard, R-Colo., and Salazar offered as an
amendment to a pending defense authorization bill Monday.
Under the amendment, the Department of Energy will purchase
mineral rights at Rocky Flats from private owners for up to $10
million and then transfer them to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service. Officials have said they could not protect endangered
grasslands with active surface mining under way.
Salazar's hold threatened to delay Senate confirmation votes on
Coloradan R. Thomas Weimer to become Interior's assistant
secretary for policy, management and budget; Jill Sigal to
become Energy's assistant secretary for intergovernmental
affairs; David R. Hill to become Energy's general counsel; and
James Rispoli to become Energy's assistant secretary for
environmental management.
© Rocky Mountain News
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62 DOE: Environmental Management Site-Specific Advisory Board, Oak Ridge
FR Doc 05-14686
[Federal Register: July 26, 2005 (Volume 70, Number 142)]
[Notices] [Page 43133-43134] From the Federal Register Online via
GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr26jy05-58]
Reservation AGENCY: Department of Energy.
ACTION: Notice of open meeting.
SUMMARY: This notice announces a meeting of the Environmental
Management Site-Specific Advisory Board (EMSSAB), Oak Ridge
Reservation. The Federal Advisory Committee Act (Pub. L. 92-463,
86 Stat. 770) requires that public notice of this meeting be
announced in the Federal Register.
DATES: Saturday, August 13, 2005, 4 p.m.
[[Page 43134]]
ADDRESSES: Pollard Auditorium, 210 Badger Avenue, Oak Ridge,
Tennessee.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Pat Halsey, Federal Coordinator,
Department of Energy, Oak Ridge Operations Office, P.O. Box 2001,
EM- 90, Oak Ridge, TN 37831. Phone (865) 576-4025; Fax (865)
576-5333 or e- mail: or check the Web site at .
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Purpose of the Board: The purpose of
the Board is to make recommendations to DOE in the areas of
environmental restoration, waste management, and related
activities.
Tentative Agenda: Election of Board Officers for Fiscal Year 2006
Public Participation: The meeting is open to the public.
Written statements may be filed with the Board either before or
after the meeting. Individuals who wish to make oral statements
pertaining to the agenda item should contact Pat Halsey at the
address or telephone number listed above. Requests must be
received five days prior to the meeting and reasonable provision
will be made to include the presentation in the agenda. The
Deputy Designated Federal Officer is empowered to conduct the
meeting in a fashion that will facilitate the orderly conduct of
business. Individuals wishing to make public comment will be
provided a maximum of five minutes to present their comments.
Minutes: Minutes of this meeting will be available for public
review and copying at the Department of Energy's Information
Center at 475 Oak Ridge Turnpike, Oak Ridge, TN between 8 a.m.
and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, or by writing to Pat Halsey,
Department of Energy, Oak Ridge Operations Office, P.O. Box 2001,
EM-90, Oak Ridge, TN 37831, or by calling her at (865) 576-4025.
Issued at Washington, DC on July 20, 2005.
Rachel Samuel, Deputy Advisory Committee Management Officer.
[FR Doc. 05-14686 Filed 7-25-05; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 6450-01-P
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63 PiSJ: INL plutonium-production meeting slated today
Pocatello Idaho State Journal:
By Dan Boyd- Journal Writer
POCATELLO - Despite providing scores of workers for the Idaho
National Laboratory, Pocatello will not have a public meeting to
discuss the site's newest controversial proposal.
For residents intrigued by the prospect of consolidating
potentially deadly plutonium production at the INL, tonight's
meeting at the Fort Hall Council Building at 7 p.m. will be
their best chance to see what all the fuss is about.
"We try to have a meeting close to all the interested
stakeholders," said Department of Energy Spokesman Tim Jackson.
"Fort Hall is only 15 minutes away from Pocatello."
After contentious meetings last week in Sun Valley and Jackson
Hole, Wyo., where 200 to 300 people showed up, the scene shifted
to Idaho Falls for a Monday meeting and will conclude later this
week with forums in Twin Falls and Boise.
According to an article on Sun Valley Online, the crowd jeered
and ridiculed nearly every word spoken by DOE experts during one
of the meetings last week.
Whether tonight's meeting takes on that tone remains to be seen,
but many expect the council building to hold a sizable crowd.
The proposal to consolidate production of the isotope
plutonium-238 at the INL stems from a recently completed report,
which identifies the Idaho site's location and existing
infrastructure as key advantages over other potential sites in
New Mexico and Tennessee.
In the report, the events of Sept. 11, 2001 and the nation's
security were identified as reasons to produce plutonium,
although the document also said the material would not be used
in weapons.
Plutonium has been described by some as the most toxic substance
known and according to some reports plutonium-238 is 280 times
more radioactive than the related isotope plutonium-239, which
is used to make bombs.
The INL already has a facility, the Space and Security Power
Systems Facility, that will provide radioisotope power systems
made from plutonium to NASA in preparation for a space mission
to Pluto.
While DOE officials have maintained the plutonium project would
not be potentially harmful, that claim is disputed by vocal
opponents who say damning evidence is being purposefully left
out.
P-238 tentative timeline
- Aug. 25 - Last day for accepting public comment.
- November - Release of final environmental impact statement.
- December - Energy Secretary Sam Bodman makes final decision on
alternatives.
- February/March 2006 -
Budget proposals for fiscal year 2007 submitted to Congress.
Dan Boyd - Journal Writer'> For residents intrigued by the
prospect of consolidating potentially deadly plutonium production
at the INL, tonight's meeting at the Fort Hall Council Building
at 7 p.m. will be their best chance to see what all the fuss is
about.">
This document was originally published online on Tuesday, July
26, 2005
Copyright © 2005 Pocatello Idaho State Journal
P O Box 431 Pocatello, ID 83204-0431
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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:
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