***************************************************************** 11/16/05 **** RADIATION BULLETIN(RADBULL) **** VOL 13.267 ***************************************************************** RADBULL IS PRODUCED BY THE ABALONE ALLIANCE CLEARINGHOUSE ***************************************************************** Send News Stories to news@energy-net.org with title on subject line and first line of body NUCLEAR POLICY 1 NEWS.com.au: Iran continues uranium conversion - 2 AFP: Iran starts new round of uranium conversion - diplomats 3 IRNA: Russia to continue nuclear consultations with Iran - Ivanov 4 IRNA: Iran expects India share its nuclear experience with Tehran - 5 IRNA: Involving others in nuclear talks with EU will not help, says 6 AFP: Bush, Roh to discuss way forward on North Korea 7 Guardian Unlimited: Rice: N. Korea Nuclear Intentions Unclear 8 Korea: Digital Chosunilbo: 50 Percent Want Seoul to Vote for N.Korea 9 US: Guardian Unlimited: Leak raises doubts about Cheney's industry l 10 Guardian Unlimited: Nixon Papers Show Worry Over Israel Nukes 11 US: reviewjournal.com: Energy spending bill approved by Senate 12 US: Washington Post: Document Says Oil Chiefs Met With Cheney Task F 13 RIA Novosti: INTERVIEW: Russian SC head: nuclear consultations 14 PTI: Russia to help India develop nuclear submarine - Pranab 15 Reuters: Israeli PM Sharon to seek February election 16 UPI: Intl. Intelligence - India says world receptive to ITER role NUCLEAR REACTORS 17 Sydney Morning Herald: Trying to gauge their nuclear reactions - 18 US: NRC: State of Minnesota: NRC Draft Staff Assessment of a Propose 19 The Age: Nuclear power is not the right answer - 20 Times of India: N-energy not the best option 21 US: NRC: Statement of Organization and General Information 22 US: Rutland Herald: VY: Safety could slip, but within fed limits 23 UK GP: Could nuclear power emit more carbon than fossil fuels? 24 US: NRC: [License No. NPF-37] Exelon 25 FE: Nuclear data needed to develop advanced nuclear systems, say exp 26 Japan Times: Reactor increase not needed to cut CO 2 drastically: re 27 US: NRC: Sunshine Act; Meeting 28 US: Hudson Valley News: Most Indian Point sirens sound in test; NRC 29 US: Middletown Press: Conn Yankee: Rate increase necessary 30 US: Vermont Guardian: Illinois steam dryer cracks raise concern for NUCLEAR SECURITY 31 AFP: US not doing enough to control nuclear black market - commissio 32 US: DentonRC.com: Radioactive material missing from Texas shipment NUCLEAR SAFETY 33 More on DU as Genocide 34 US: NRC: NRC Settles Discrimination Case; Georgia Co. Agrees to Stre 35 US: www.midstateliving.com: A dose of protection from radiation 36 US: BoiseWeekly: Craig demands RECA reform 37 US: EPA: RadNet Review committee Meeting 38 US: Advocate: Submarine involved in September collision returns home NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE 39 Las Vegas SUN: Energy inspector general: More suspect Yucca Mountain 40 US: Sun News: Environmental group to appeal ruling on nuclear dump's 41 US: Salt Lake Tribune: Applause for Huntsman 42 DenverPost.com: Nuclear dump in Nevada takes $127 million cut in bud 43 US: Salt Lake Tribune: Governor honors Radiation manager 44 US: Salt Lake Tribune: Cannon should go 45 US: NRC: Notice of Availability of Environmental Assessment and Find 46 US: Salt Lake City Weekly: Envirocare short 47 US: Gallup Independent: Energy corridor may impact reservation land 48 US: Gallup Independent: Officials tour area affected by water rights 49 Pahrump Valley Times: County getting a handle on PETT (Yucca) 50 US: Tribune-Review: Landfills retract offers to take ash - 51 US: VALLEY NEWS DISPATCH: Two more landfills say no to nuke ash - PEACE US DEPT. OF ENERGY 52 TheNewsTribune.com: Senator rethinks Hanford cleanup | 53 DenverPost.com: Rocky Flats legislation passes senate 54 DenverPost.com: Senate OKs bill boosting Rocky Flats, Pueblo depot ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** FULL NEWS STORIES ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** 1 NEWS.com.au: Iran continues uranium conversion - Breaking News 24/7 - From: Agence France-Presse By Michael Adler in Vienna November 17, 2005 IRAN will start converting 50 tonnes of uranium ore from the end of next week into the feedstock gas for making enriched uranium, a key phase in the nuclear process. A diplomat said the Iranians have told the UN watchdog International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna that "they intend to resume full conversion work on November 26". That would be after a crucial November 24-25 meeting of the IAEA board of governors on Tehran's nuclear program at which diplomats will consider whether to send Iran to the UN Security Council. The announced work would be a second round of conversion. Iran has already processed 37 tonnes of ore. Diplomats said the amount of uranium hexafluoride (UF6) gas the Iranians would have after processing 50 tonnes would be enough to make highly enriched uranium for up to 10 atomic bombs. Iran had previously announced it would do more conversion but had not given a specific date, although it had been expected to begin the process earlier in November. The amount to be converted is also more than previously thought. The diplomats also said reports that the UF6 is too contaminated to be put into the centrifuges that spin it into enriched uranium were wrong. Iran is currently suspending enrichment work but "the current batch is good enough for a crash nuclear weapons program, if Iran doesn't mind ruining a lot of centrifuges along the way," a Western diplomat said. Iran says its nuclear program is a peaceful effort to generate electricity but the United States charges that Tehran is using this to hide secret work on developing atomic weapons. SitemapCopyright 2005 News Limited. All times AEDT (GMT ***************************************************************** 2 AFP: Iran starts new round of uranium conversion - diplomats 16/11/2005 19h38 Two Iranians work at the plant in Isfahan ©AFP/File - Henghameh Fahimi VIENNA (AFP) - Iran started a new round of converting uranium ore into the feedstock gas for making enriched uranium, a move likely to complicate diplomacy over Iran's disputed nuclear program, diplomats said. UN inspectors "are reporting that the first drums of new uranium ore were fed into the process at the uranium conversion facility in Isfahan this morning," a diplomat who asked not to be identified told AFP. Enriched uranium can be used as fuel for a civilian nuclear reactor or as atom bomb material. The conversion into the precursor gas is a second round after Iran already processed 37 tonnes of ore. Diplomats said the amount of uranium hexafluoride (UF6) gas the Iranians would have after processing what is likely to be 50 tonnes this time would be enough to make highly enriched uranium for up to 10 atomic bombs. A senior European diplomat told AFP: "It's not good news, no, not at all." Asked why, the diplomat said: "Because people were trying to arrange for new talks and now it's more difficult." Iran says its nuclear program is a peaceful effort to generate electricity but the United States charges that Tehran is using this to hide secret work on developing atomic weapons. Talks with the European Union aimed at securing guarantees that Iran is not secretly developing nuclear weapons collapsed in August when Iran restarted conversion, nine months after suspending the work as a confidence-building measure. An Iranian technician works at the Isfahan plant ©AFP/File - Behrouz Mehri On September 24, the Vienna-based UN watchdog International Atomic Energy Agency passed a resolution calling on Iran to cease all nuclear fuel work, including conversion, and to cooperate fully in an IAEA investigation into its atomic program. Since then Russia has been lobbying for a compromise by offering to allow Iran to convert uranium but to do the actual enrichment work in Russia. Iran has refused to give up the right to enrich uranium on its soil, however. A diplomat said Iran told Igor Ivanov, head of Russia's Security Council, last weekend that it would never agree to giving up on enrichment on its soil but that it was still open to talks. The Iranians told Ivanov that they would discuss the Russian idea if other nations would consider investing in the Islamic republic's nuclear program, an idea proposed by hardline president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at the United Nations in September to prove its nuclear intentions were peaceful. At stake is whether IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei should make an 11th-hour trip to Iran to try to revive EU-Iran talks, ahead of an IAEA meeting November 24-25 on whether to send the Iranian dossier to the UN Security Council. Diplomats said ElBaradei would probably not go if he could not clinch a deal, although one diplomat said the IAEA chief was still willing to travel to Tehran as a mediator for EU negotiators Britain, Germany and France. An Iranian technician stands as camera insalled by the IAEA is seen at the Isfahan plant ©AFP/File - Behrouz Mehri A second diplomat confirmed that Iran had Wednesday started new conversion work, saying the Iranians had changed the date they would do this several times since telling the IAEA last month that they would be converting 150 drums of uranium ore, which is also called yellowcake. Diplomats said reports that the UF6 is too contaminated to be put into the centrifuges that make enriched uranium were wrong. "The current batch is good enough for a crash nuclear weapons program, if Iran doesn't mind ruining a lot of centrifuges along the way," a Western diplomat said. Mark Fitzpatrick, a non-proliferation expert at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London, said that while UF6 could be used to enrich uranium, "it will corrode centrifuge machines over time." "But many of the centrifuge machines will crash upon start-up anyway, so contamination may be the least of Iran's worries." A non-Western diplomat said 50 tonnes was considered a very large quantity. "The feeding of such a quantity in the system clearly indicates that Iran believes in its capability to produce UF6 of good quality in the conversion process," the source said. + Àðàáñêèé Copyright Disclaimer ©AFP 2005 ***************************************************************** 3 IRNA: Russia to continue nuclear consultations with Iran - Ivanov Tehran, Nov 16, IRNA Russia-Iran-Nuclear Russian Security Council Secretary Igor Ivanov on Wednesday said his country would continue consultations with Iran on its nuclear programs. In an interview with Itar-Tass and RIA-Novosti news agencies, Ivanov said during his recent visit to Iran, the two sides discussed regional issues including Iran's nuclear programs. Russia believes Iran, like other member countries of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and based on the country's commitments, is entitled to expand its nuclear program. He voiced his country's opposition to access of non-nuclear countries to nuclear weapons, saying such an issue may leave serious impacts on regional and international security. He urged continuation of nuclear talks between Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the European Union troika to remove possible concerns. Ivanov voiced Russia's willingness to expand ties with Iran, saying Iran is Russia's old neighbor and partner. Iran and Russia enjoy great potential for constructive cooperation, he further stated. ***************************************************************** 4 IRNA: Iran expects India share its nuclear experience with Tehran - paper Tehran, Nov 16, IRNA Iran-Editorial-India A morning daily said on Wednesday that Tehran expects New Delhi share its experience and assist Iran's peaceful nuclear program. Criticizing India's anti-Iran stand during the last meeting of the UN nuclear watchdog's Board of Governors (September 24), 'Iran Daily' said it seemed that New Delhi intended to revise its earlier stance on Iran's nuclear program. "At the next IAEA board meeting slated for late November, the Indian government is expected to undo the damage and focus more on the technical and legal aspects of the Iranian dossier, not political give and take," argued the editorial. During the last Board of Governors meeting, New Delhi voted against Iran and in favor of a US-backed European resolution, the daily wrote. The nuclear watchdog is to meet on November 24 again to decide whether to refer Iran to the UN Security Council for possible sanctions if by that time it fails to convince the agency that its nuclear program is geared only to peaceful purposes, added the paper. It further quoted pundits and politicians as predicting that under the worst scenario India would see reason and abstain in the IAEA vote and not attach its name to a politicized document. "As a major political and economic player in this part of the world, India should help not hinder access of other countries to civilian nuclear technology," stressed the article. It is time of need and especially at crucial junctures that countries must help each other, it concluded. ***************************************************************** 5 IRNA: Involving others in nuclear talks with EU will not help, says Iranian analyst - Brussels, Nov 16, IRNA Belgium-Iranian analyst An Iranian expert on Middle East affairs thinks that involving other players besides the EU-3 in the talks on the Iran nuclear issue would not be a good idea. "Involving others or not does not help any more. First of all, the others don't count. They have their own agenda. India has shown that. And they won't easily say `yes' to the Iranian call," Dr Touraj Atabaki told IRNA in an interview. Atabaki is an associate professor of social history of the Middle East and Central Asia at the University of Utrecht, Holland. He is also a senior research fellow at the International Institute of Social History in Amsterdam. Hence, instead of lobbying for others to join the talks Iran should concentrate on its position with the EU, said the Iranian analyst who has been living in Holland since the past 23 years. "The ball at the moment is on the Iranian side. They should decide what they want to do with this new policy following the establishment of the new administration in the Islamic Republic," he said. "Iran should realize that the 21st century is very different from the time we had the Soviet Union, the NAM bloc." "Look at the role of India, role of Pakistan. They have changed. India is no more the forerunner of NAM," he noted. Atabaki urged the EU to continue negotiations with Iran because "with negotiations you can sort out any problems." The Iranian professor was in Belgium to lecture on Iran at an Iranian cultural evening held in the city of Ghent on Tuesday night. ***************************************************************** 6 AFP: Bush, Roh to discuss way forward on North Korea 17/11/2005 00h48 George W. Bush ©AFP/Pool - Katsumi Kasahara BUSAN, South Korea (AFP) - US President George W. Bush was to meet with South Korean President Roh Moo-Hyun in talks Washington hoped would reinforce unity of purpose in ending the North Korean nuclear crisis. The two leaders were to hold talks at a lakeside resort in Gyeongju, the ancient capital of Korea, and hold a brief public appearance before Bush visits the Bulguksa Temple, one of South Korea's premier Buddhist shrines. The two leaders were also to discuss the war in Iraq, where South Korea has the third largest troop contingent, as well as the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum summit that opens here Friday. And they were expected to take up Washington's plans to cut back its troop presence in South Korea. The proposal triggered alarm here when it was first announced because of the perceived threat posed by the North. But the six-country talks aimed at ending the crisis over Pyongyang's nuclear weapons programs were expected to dominate the agenda, with the US president expected to argue for a hard line that Roh has resisted. Bush, who branded Pyongyang an outpost of "isolation, backwardness, and brutality" on Wednesday, was expected to soften his position somewhat by expressing support for Roh's policy of reconciliation with the North. "The president understands this is very important for the people of South Korea, and it's in the interest, ultimately, of the region and the US to have this reconciliation," Mike Green, the chief Asia hand on Bush's top national security council, told reporters late Wednesday. George W. Bush ©AFP - Paul J. Richards "The idea is to have close cooperation and coordination so that these two tracks are mutually reinforcing. And that's a message I think both leaders will be conveying together," Green said. Green said "the tone is different sometimes" in Washington and Seoul's comments because North Korea is "very much a clear and present threat" to the South. Bush met Wednesday with Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and was to meet over the next few days with the leaders of China and Russia, who have partnered with South Korea and the United States in negotiations with North Korea. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said after talks with her counterparts from Beijing, Moscow, Tokyo and Seoul that Pyongyang must "get serious" in talks on dismantling its nuclear weapons program. Rice expressed disappointment with Pyongyang's attitude in the last round of talks in Beijing, which ended in stalemate last week after North Korea suddenly raised new demands. "The North Koreans need to have a different attitude and a different approach when they come to the next round," she told reporters on the sidelines of the APEC summit in Busan. "I think the jury is out on whether the North Koreans are prepared to do what they need to do, which is to get serious about dismantlement and verification obligations that they undertook," she said. At a previous round of talks in September, the parties issued a joint statement of principles in which North Korea promised to scrap its nuclear programs in exchange for energy assistance and other benefits. But a day later North Korea insisted it would not dismantle its nuclear arsenal before the United States supplied it with a light-water atomic reactor to generate electricity. The United States says North Korea must disarm first. At last week's talks in Beijing, North Korea raised a new obstacle, accusing Washington of breaching the September agreement by imposing sanctions on its firms. + Àðàáñêèé Copyright Disclaimer ©AFP 2005 ***************************************************************** 7 Guardian Unlimited: Rice: N. Korea Nuclear Intentions Unclear the Associated Press [UP] Wednesday November 16, 2005 8:46 am AP Photo APEC101 By ANNE GEARAN AP Diplomatic Writer BUSAN, South Korea (AP) - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice says North Korea has not followed through on promises to drop its nuclear weapons program and needs to bring ``a different attitude'' to the next round of international talks. North Korea agreed in September to dismantle its existing nuclear weapons and renounce new ones, in exchange for a package of economic incentives and diplomatic assurances. Since then, however, the secretive communist regime has seemed to pull back from those pledges. ``I think the jury is out on whether the North Koreans are ... prepared to do what they need to do, which is to get serious,'' Rice told reporters Wednesday after meetings with other members of a six-way international negotiating team on North Korea. A disappointing round of talks ended last week without progress toward details of how to dismantle existing weapons and verify that the country has really ended all suspicious programs. ``The round that just ended did not have the kind of engagement from the North Koreans on that issue that we might have expected,'' Rice said. South Korea's foreign minister said Tuesday that talks with the North would resume in January, although Rice said there is no firm date. When they do return to discussions with South Korea, China, Japan, Russia and the United States, ``the North Koreans need to have a different attitude, and a different approach,'' Rice said. The top U.S. diplomat is in South Korea for the annual forum of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, as were representatives for the other five countries involved in the nuclear talks with North Korea. On a separate nuclear issue, Rice said she discussed the situation in Iran with her counterparts from Russia and China. Those nations are both Iranian allies and members of the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency's board. The board meets later this month to consider what the United States claims is Iran's record of deceit over its nuclear program. The board could vote to send Iran's case before the powerful U.N. Security Council for possible sanctions. ``We will do a referral at a time of our choosing,'' Rice said. ``I think we've got the votes at any time.'' The United States and European allies claim Iran is hiding ambitions for nuclear weapons behind a legitimate program to develop nuclear energy. Iran says its nuclear program is entirely peaceful, and demands an international treaty right to control civilian nuclear technology. Iran's new hardline government rejected a package of economic and trade incentives offered by European nations last summer. New diplomatic overtures are in the works to avert a vote. On North Korea, China is hosting the six-way disarmament talks. The North is insisting on receiving aid in stages as it dismantles its nuclear programs, while Washington refuses to reward Pyongyang until that goal is achieved. The North also irked Rice and others by claiming what they say is premature victory on a symbolically important point - a right to operate a civilian nuclear energy reactor. North Korea on Saturday stood by its demand for aid in exchange for shutting down a plutonium-producing nuclear reactor, saying it won't act until Washington offers concessions. ``As we have to follow the 'action-for-action' principle, we will act if action is made,'' the North's envoy to six-nation disarmament talks, said Vice Foreign Minister Kim Gye Gwan. ``We will never move first.'' Kim didn't say what concessions the North wanted. ^--- On the Net: State Department: http://www.state.gov Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2005 ***************************************************************** 8 Korea: Digital Chosunilbo: 50 Percent Want Seoul to Vote for N.Korea Resolution > Updated Nov.16,2005 20:17 KST UN Assembly Vote on N.Korea Tabled for Thursday More than 50 percent of South Koreans believe the government should vote for an EU-led resolution condemning North Korea¡¯s human rights abuses in the UN General Assembly, a snap survey suggests. The poll by Research &Research of 800 adults nationwide found 53.3 percent in favor of voting for the resolution. The government has decided to abstain. In the survey published Wednesday, only 22.2 percent agreed that the government must create a favorable mood for inter-Korean reconciliation and greater bilateral cooperation and abstain. Of those in favor of voting for the resolution, men made up 63.8 percent, and people in their 30s 60.2 percent, educated respondents starting with undergraduates 62.6 percent and the self-employed 65.6 percent. Asked if South Korean intervention in North Korean human rights could help with a basket of issues including six-party talks on Pyongyang¡¯s nuclear program, 34.3 percent replied it would make no significant difference. However, 22.7 percent said it would have a positive impact and the remaining 25 percent said it would adversely affect inter-Korean ties. The poll was conducted shortly after the resolution was introduced at the General Assembly on Oct. 2. The margin of error is a substantial 3.46 percent. The vote is expected on Nov. 18. (englishnews@chosun.com ) ***************************************************************** 9 Guardian Unlimited: Leak raises doubts about Cheney's industry links Jamie Wilson in Washington Thursday November 17, 2005 A leaked White House document shows oil executives met Vice-President Dick Cheney's energy taskforce in 2001, which called for more oil and gas drilling and a revived nuclear programme, according to the Washington Post. The administration has denied any collusion between energy companies and the taskforce, but officials from Exxon Mobil, Conoco, Shell and BP America met in the White House with policy officials. Green groups have accused Mr Cheney, a former boss of energy company Halliburton, of working with other executives to produce recommendations. [UP] Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2005 ***************************************************************** 10 Guardian Unlimited: Nixon Papers Show Worry Over Israel Nukes From the Associated Press [UP] Wednesday November 16, 2005 6:16 PM By CAL WOODWARD Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) - A U.S. official disbelieved Israel's assurances during the Cold War that it would avoid acquiring nuclear weapons and feared the United States' main ally in the region would spark a Middle East nuclear arms race, documents from that time show. A 1969 memo reported intelligence findings that ``Israel is rapidly developing a capability to produce and deploy nuclear weapons,'' despite promises it would not introduce nuclear arms to the region. The memo by Joseph J. Sisco, an assistant secretary of state, was contained in 50,000 pages of previously secret papers from Richard Nixon's presidency, released Wednesday by the National Archives. The collection draws heavily on national security files during the Vietnam War, arms control negotiations with the Soviets, and the intense superpower competition for influence in the Middle East and beyond. Documents are thick with minute aspects of the ebb and flow of progress in Vietnam, showing growing worries about the ability of the South Vietnamese government years before it fell, but also seeking encouragement wherever it could be found. One May 1970 cable marked ``For Confidential Eyes Only'' provided National Security Adviser Henry Kissinger with an inventory of captured weapons, supplies and food. It noted, for example, that the 1,652.5 tons of rice seized so far would ``feed over 6,000 enemy soldiers for a full year at the full ration.'' North Vietnamese troops were fighting on 1 pounds of rice a day, cut back to 1 pound when necessary, the cable said. With improbable precision, the memo said U.S. and South Vietnamese forces had deprived their enemy of the ability to conduct exactly 3,779 typical attacks because of the capture of rockets, mortar and rifle ammunition. Kissinger, in memos to Nixon, expressed concern about the increasing isolation of South Vietnamese President Nguyen Van Thieu, complicating an already unsteady U.S. war effort. He also told Nixon in May 1970, five years before the war ended, that economic chaos, including 30 percent inflation, was a greater risk to the South Vietnamese government than the communists. To this day, Israel officially neither confirms nor denies its nuclear status and the actual size of its stockpile remains uncertain. But it has long been considered the only nation in the Middle East with atomic weapons. Researcher William Burr said the memo on Israel's nuclear program sheds light on a little known area of U.S. intelligence. ``For a long time, the U.S. kept secret its assessment of the status of the Israeli nuclear program,'' said Burr, senior analyst at the National Security Archives at George Washington University. The paper shows ``Israel could develop nuclear weapons fairly quickly, something that isn't widely known.'' In the memo, Sisco urged Secretary of State William Rogers to try to curb Israel's ambitions before it was too late. ``If this process continues, and it becomes generally assumed that Israel has the bomb, it will have far-reaching and even dangerous implications for the U.S.,'' Sisko wrote. Among those dangers: ``Israel's possession of nuclear weapons would do nothing to deter Arab guerrilla warfare or reduce Arab irrationality; on the contrary it would add a dangerous new element to Arab-Israeli hostility with added risk of confrontation between the U.S. and U.S.S.R.'' Sisco said a nuclear-armed Israel would draw Arab states even closer to Moscow and perhaps under a ``nuclear umbrella'' extended by the Soviets. Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2005 ***************************************************************** 11 reviewjournal.com: Energy spending bill approved by Senate Nov. 15, 2005 Nuclear waste burial funds slashed, fuel reprocessing OK'd By STEVE TETREAULT
STEPHENS WASHINGTON BUREAU WASHINGTON -- A bill that slices President Bush's budget request for Nevada nuclear waste burial while directing more federal spending into nuclear fuel reprocessing was passed by the Senate on Monday. Senators approved the $30.5 billion energy spending bill by a vote of 84-4, sending it to the White House for Bush's signature. The House passed the bill last week. The measure for the 2006 fiscal year directs spending for programs within the Department of Energy, the Bureau of Reclamation, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and several smaller agencies. The bill contains more than $285 million in earmarked spending inserted by Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee. The money is directed to research at Nevada universities, for flood control and water conservation programs in the state, and for operations at federal facilities including the Nevada Test Site. Among major items in the bill, Congress reduced the Bush administration's budget request to develop nuclear waste storage at Yucca Mountain in Nevada. The stalled project was allocated $450 million, a 31 percent decrease from what Bush requested. Lawmakers said persistent delays in the Yucca project mean the department does not need the entire $651 million that it requested earlier this year. At the same time, lawmakers approved $80 million to continue research into advanced nuclear fuel reprocessing technologies, and an additional $50 million for an initiative to identify one or more of them that might be brought online in the next decade. Scientists have touted reprocessing as holding the potential to exact more use out of spent fuel while reducing the leftover waste in volume and toxicity. Experts differ however as to how long it might take to make the technology economical while some others have raised environmental concerns. "Congress is taking a giant step backward by advancing spent nuclear fuel reprocessing programs," said Thomas Cochran, director of nuclear programs for the Natural Resources Defense Council. "These projects threaten our national security, our public health, and our safety. And they are wildly expensive." A repository still would be required for the waste products, experts and lawmakers have said. The measure directs the Department of Energy to open a competition for communities interested in hosting a waste reprocessing complex, offering $5 million apiece to develop site plans at four locations. The department was told to submit a detailed program to Congress by next March 31, and to open the site competition by the end of next June. The target for site selection would be in late 2006 or 2007 with a construction goal of 2010, lawmakers said in the bill. Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal, 1997 - 2005 ***************************************************************** 12 Washington Post: Document Says Oil Chiefs Met With Cheney Task Force "washingtonpost.com"> Hello By Dana Milbank and Justin BlumWashington Post Staff Writers Wednesday, November 16, 2005; Page A01 A White House document shows that executives from big oil companies met with Vice President Cheney's energy task force in 2001 -- something long suspected by environmentalists but denied as recently as last week by industry officials testifying before Congress. The document, obtained this week by The Washington Post, shows that officials from Exxon Mobil Corp., Conoco (before its merger with Phillips), Shell Oil Co. and BP America Inc. met in the White House complex with the Cheney aides who were developing a national energy policy, parts of which became law and parts of which are still being debated. [Testifying at a Senate hearing last week were, from left, Lee R. Raymond of Exxon Mobil, David J. O'Reilly of Chevron, James J. Mulva of ConocoPhillips, Ross Pillari of BP America and John Hofmeister of Shell Oil.] Testifying at a Senate hearing last week were, from left, Lee R. Raymond of Exxon Mobil, David J. O'Reilly of Chevron, James J. Mulva of ConocoPhillips, Ross Pillari of BP America and John Hofmeister of Shell Oil. (By Chip Somodevilla -- Getty Images) TRANSCRIPT In a joint hearing last week of the Senate Energy and Commerce committees, the chief executives of Exxon Mobil Corp., Chevron Corp. and ConocoPhillips said their firms did not participate in the 2001 task force. The president of Shell Oil said his company did not participate "to my knowledge," and the chief of BP America Inc. said he did not know. Chevron was not named in the White House document, but the Government Accountability Office has found that Chevron was one of several companies that "gave detailed energy policy recommendations" to the task force. In addition, Cheney had a separate meeting with John Browne, BP's chief executive, according to a person familiar with the task force's work; that meeting is not noted in the document. The task force's activities attracted complaints from environmentalists, who said they were shut out of the task force discussions while corporate interests were present. The meetings were held in secret and the White House refused to release a list of participants. The task force was made up primarily of Cabinet-level officials. Judicial Watch and the Sierra Club unsuccessfully sued to obtain the records. Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.), who posed the question about the task force, said he will ask the Justice Department today to investigate. "The White House went to great lengths to keep these meetings secret, and now oil executives may be lying to Congress about their role in the Cheney task force," Lautenberg said. Lea Anne McBride, a spokeswoman for Cheney, declined to comment on the document. She said that the courts have upheld "the constitutional right of the president and vice president to obtain information in confidentiality." The executives were not under oath when they testified, so they are not vulnerable to charges of perjury; committee Democrats had protested the decision by Commerce Chairman Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) not to swear in the executives. But a person can be fined or imprisoned for up to five years for making "any materially false, fictitious or fraudulent statement or representation" to Congress. Alan Huffman, who was a Conoco manager until the 2002 merger with Phillips, confirmed meeting with the task force staff. "We met in the Executive Office Building, if I remember correctly," he said. A spokesman for ConocoPhillips said the chief executive, James J. Mulva, had been unaware that Conoco officials met with task force staff when he testified at the hearing. The spokesman said that Mulva was chief executive of Phillips in 2001 before the merger and that nobody from Phillips met with the task force. Exxon spokesman Russ Roberts said the company stood by chief executive Lee R. Raymond's statement in the hearing. In a brief phone interview, former Exxon vice president James Rouse, the official named in the White House document, denied the meeting took place. "That must be inaccurate and I don't have any comment beyond that," said Rouse, now retired. Ronnie Chappell, a spokesman for BP, declined to comment on the task force meetings. Darci Sinclair, a spokeswoman for Shell, said she did not know whether Shell officials met with the task force, but they often meet members of the administration. Chevron said its executives did not meet with the task force but confirmed that it sent President Bush recommendations in a letter. The person familiar with the task force's work, who requested anonymity out of concern about retribution, said the document was based on records kept by the Secret Service of people admitted to the White House complex. This person said most meetings were with Andrew Lundquist, the task force's executive director, and Cheney aide Karen Y. Knutson. According to the White House document, Rouse met with task force staff members on Feb. 14, 2001. On March 21, they met with Archie Dunham, who was chairman of Conoco. On April 12, according to the document, task force staff members met with Conoco official Huffman and two officials from the U.S. Oil and Gas Association, Wayne Gibbens and Alby Modiano. On April 17, task force staff members met with Royal Dutch/Shell Group's chairman, Sir Mark Moody-Stuart, Shell Oil chairman Steven Miller and two others. On March 22, staff members met with BP regional president Bob Malone, chief economist Peter Davies and company employees Graham Barr and Deb Beaubien. Toward the end of the hearing, Lautenberg asked the five executives: "Did your company or any representatives of your companies participate in Vice President Cheney's energy task force in 2001?" When there was no response, Lautenberg added: "The meeting . . . " "No," said Raymond. "No," said Chevron Chairman David J. O'Reilly. "We did not, no," Mulva said. "To be honest, I don't know," said BP America chief executive Ross Pillari, who came to the job in August 2001. "I wasn't here then." "But your company was here," Lautenberg replied. "Yes," Pillari said. Shell Oil president John Hofmeister, who has held his job since earlier this year, answered last. "Not to my knowledge," he said. Research editor Lucy Shackelford contributed to this report. 2005 The Washington Post Company © Copyright 1996- The Washington Post Company ***************************************************************** 13 RIA Novosti: INTERVIEW: Russian SC head: nuclear consultations with Iran to be continued 16/ 11/ 2005 JERUSALEM, November 16 (RIA Novosti) - Russia will continue consultations with Iran on nuclear issues, Russian Security Council Secretary Igor Ivanov said Wednesday. "Russia is proceeding from the assumption that Iran, like other parties to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT), has the right to develop its own peaceful nuclear programs," the Security Council secretary told Russian TV and news agencies. However, he stressed, Russia is against the emergence of states possessing nuclear weapons. He said he hoped consultations would be continued. Ivanov said Russia was interested in developing good, stable relations with Iran. "It is our neighbor, our old partner and we have many fields where we can effectively cooperate to our mutual benefit," he said. On Russian President Vladimir Putin's instruction, Ivanov visited Iran, Iraq and Israel. In Tehran, he also discussed regional problems and other issues on the agenda. © 2005 "RIA Novosti" ***************************************************************** 14 PTI: Russia to help India develop nuclear submarine - Pranab Vinay Shukla Moscow, Nov 16 (PTI) Russia has agreed to help India in developing indigenous nuclear-powered submarine and aircraft carriers, while India is ready for joint development of a fifth-generation fighter aircraft, Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee here today. The issue of vessels were discussed and Russia has agreed to provide all possible help and the advanced technology available with it, Mukherjee said after talks with his his Russian counterpart Sergei Ivanov. "For some components joint ventures and joint production would be set up," he told PTI when asked if Russian cooperation in the development of Advanced Technology Vessel (ATV) and Air Defence Ship (ADS) projects was discussed with Russian Defence Minister. ATV is an indigenous project for the development of nuclear submarine and ADS project is for the development of aircraft carriers. Speaking at a joint press conference, Mukherjee said India will take part in the development and financing of a fifth generation super fighter aircraft project with Russia. "We exchanged views. Active contacts are going on with Russian side. Our air force is in contact with their Russian counterpart, HAL and Sukhoi Corporation are talking on manufacturing aspects. "We are keen on taking part in the development and financing of the fifth generation fighter," Mukherjee said. He also announced that Russia's Defence Ministry has agreed to provide access to the Russian GLONASS global navigational satellite system for military application to India, an alternative to Pentagon-controlled US Global Positioning System (GPS). PTI © Copyright PTI 2003-2004 ***************************************************************** 15 Reuters: Israeli PM Sharon to seek February election | Reuters.com Thursday 17 November 2005, 1:10am EST (Updates with media reports of possible February election) By Corinne Heller JERUSALEM, Nov 17 (Reuters) - Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon backs holding early parliamentary elections in February because of the planned departure of the left-wing Labour party from his shaky coalition, Israeli media reported on Thursday. "As soon as it became clear that the existing political framework was falling apart, I came to the conclusion that the best thing for the country is to hold new elections as soon as possible," he told Yedioth Ahronoth, Israel's biggest newspaper. "Snap elections," Sharon said. "Not in May, not in March. If possible, we'll go to the people already in February." Israeli Army Radio said the prime minister would opt for a Feb. 28 ballot. There were no immediate comments from Sharon's spokesmen. Amir Peretz, who ousted Shimon Peres as Labour's party chief last week, has called for a parliamentary vote in March and is expected to tell Sharon in their first meeting later on Thursday that his faction had effectively quit his coalition. Elections are due in November 2006. Labour's departure would cause Sharon to lose his government majority. The leftist Labour had joined Sharon's right-wing government to push forward Israel's Gaza pullout, which it completed in September, as well as peace talks with the Palestinians, which are currently stalled by violence. PREVENT POLITICAL FREEZE "Snap elections would prevent a political freeze," Sharon told Yedioth Ahronoth. "We must ensure that 2006 will not turn into a lost year with regard to the political process and to the effort to reach an agreement with the Palestinians." Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom, a Sharon loyalist, had said on Wednesday that the prime minister had agreed with him that the ballot should be brought forward because of the government crisis. Shalom met Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Tunis on Wednesday to push forward talks between the sides, which Sharon has said he would not renew until Abbas disarms gunmen. The Palestinian leader says this would lead to civil war. Peretz, 53, shares Peres' dovish views on Israel's conflict with the Palestinians, but his call to restore social welfare policies and reverse reforms favoured by investors have rattled Israeli markets that only recently pulled out of recession. Recent opinion polls showed that Peretz's toppling of Peres had given Labour a slight lift but not enough to unseat Sharon, a 77-year-old former general who twice swept to power pledging to crack down on a Palestinian revolt that erupted in 2000. The crisis has prompted speculation that Sharon could bolt Likud to form a more centrist party, possibly with Peres. But this has been offset by a new survey showing Sharon would trounce rival Benjamin Netanyahu in a Likud leadership battle. (c) Reuters 2005. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by caching, framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters and the Reuters sphere logo are registered trademarks and trademarks of the Reuters group of companies around the world. © Reuters 2005. All Rights Reserved. ***************************************************************** 16 UPI: Intl. Intelligence - India says world receptive to ITER role United Press International - 11/16/2005 10:07:00 AM -0500 Newstrack: A U.S. businessman has been charged NEW DELHI, Nov. 16 (UPI) -- India said it received a positive response to its desire to join the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor Project. "I have taken up the matter with world leaders. I am very happy that we are eliciting a positive response," Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said, according to The Hindu newspaper Wednesday. The comments were made Tuesday in Bombay, now Mumbai, at the 16th annual conference of the Indian Nuclear Society. ITER was conceived by the United States, the European Union, Russia, Japan and South Korea for hot fusion. Singh emphasized the need for international cooperation to meet the challenge of India's future energy needs. "We must create the space for quantum jump in nuclear energy production in the coming decades in a manner that is consistent with our national policy of maintaining the integrity of our three-stage nuclear energy program," he said. India's three-stage nuclear program progresses along the uranium plutonium route toward thorium, relying heavily on reprocessed fuel. © Copyright 2005 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved ***************************************************************** 17 Sydney Morning Herald: Trying to gauge their nuclear reactions - National - smh.com.au Too hot to handle … a counter-terrorism unit prepares to enter the contaminated area at Lucas Heights. It was the first time in Australia that radioactive material had been used in such an exercise. Photo: Dallas Kilponen By Richard Macey November 17, 2005 Checking for radioactivity is likely to become routine when emergency services respond to threats to public safety. More than 60 police from all states and territories, firefighters and scientists gathered at Lucas Heights yesterday for an exercise simulating nuclear contamination released in an explosion. Police dressed in protective clothing and equipped with breathing gear were sent into a laboratory - the scene of the nuclear "crime" - to detect radioactive contamination and collect evidence that could be used in court. Hazardous material specialists from the NSW Fire Brigades then cleaned up the contamination. George Collins, chief of research at the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation, which operates the Lucas Heights research reactor, said it was the first exercise of its type in Australia to use radioactivity. Dr Collins conceded that terrorists armed with radioactive material could detonate "what's generally called a dirty bomb". However, even contamination from a dirty bomb was not too hot to handle. "It makes a mess that needs to be cleaned up, but these messes can be cleaned up." Asked if radiation monitoring would become routine for emergency workers arriving at the scene of an explosion or some other security threat, Greg Hough, of the Victoria Police, said: "Well, most probably … yes. The public would have an expectation that we prepare ourselves for any possible contingency. We will screen for everything to make sure our operators are safe and are able to deal with what we are containing." However, Detective Inspector Hough said not every emergency involving radioactivity would result from terrorism. "Any crime scene may have the potential for a radiological issue. Take, for example, a burglary and a [radioactive] source is stolen. It may not be terrorism. It may be juveniles who don't actually know what they have taken." Yesterday's exercise involved technetium-99, which is routinely injected into patients undergoing medical tests. It was selected because it has a radioactive half life of just six hours, ensuring it would not pose a long-term contamination hazard. Agreement| Copyright © 2005. The Sydney Morning Herald. President George W. Bushand Russia's President Vladimir Putin " /> Vladimir Putinmade in February that gave US inspectors greater access to sites in Russia was a step forward but not enough. "About half of the nuclear materials in Russia still have no security upgrade whatsoever," he said. "At the current rate of effort, it's going to take 14 long years to complete this job. Is there anybody anywhere who thinks that we really have 14 years? This is unacceptable. Bin Laden and the terrorists will not wait." The commission also criticised administration efforts to improve the US image, which has been tarnished particularly in the Muslim world and particularly by the Iraq war, the Abu Ghraib abuse scandal and reports about the treatment of detainees at the Guanantanamo "war on terror" camp. "We should offer an example of moral leadership in the world, committed to treat people humanely, abide the rule of law and be generous and caring to our neighbors," said the commission's co-chairman Lee Hamilton, a former member of the House of Representatives. He added that "detainee abuse in Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo and elsewhere undermines America's reputation as a moral leader." Hamilton said there should be more educational programmes to boost the image effort. Thomas Kean, chairman of the 9/11 Commission, makes remarks during a press conference to present the commission's 'one year later' report card on US diplomacy, non-proliferiation and the handling of terrorist detainees at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington, DC(AFP/Tim Sloan)] AFP Photo Thomas Kean, chairman of the 9/11 Commission, makes remarks during a press conference to present... ***************************************************************** 32 DentonRC.com: Radioactive material missing from Texas shipment News for Denton, Texas | Texas/Southwest 03:16 PM CST on Wednesday, November 16, 2005 From Staff Reports New Mexico environmental officials are investigating the theft of a box containing two vials of radioactive material from a shipment delivered to East Texas. [ width=] NMED The vials were housed in a green ammunition box inside a round shipping container. The vials contained Antimony-124, a toxic beta- and gamma-emitting material used extensively in the oil and gas recovery industry that can cause significant radiation exposure. They were housed in a World War II-style ammunition box. The materials were shipped from Albuquerque through Clovis, N.M. and the Texas cities of Abilene, Austin, Dallas, and Tyler with final delivery in Kilgore. Authorities believe the material was stolen in Texas, and New Mexico authorities are now working closely with the shipment's owner, the FBI and the Texas Department of State Health Services to determine what happened to the vials. "We don't wish to alarm the public, only to ask them to be on the lookout for the ammunition box or vials, and to contact us if they think they may have seen it or have any information on its whereabouts," said NMED Secretary Ron Curry. "The public's knowledge and involvement is often key in these cases." The licensee and carrier, whose names are not being released for security reasons, have performed extensive searches and inventories of their facilities. The Albuquerque company is offering a $1,000 reward for information leading to its recovery. The green container weighs 80 pounds, contains two 30-milliliter plastic vials labeled "radioactive" and is about 50 percent full of a sand-like substance. If anyone sees an item matching this description, they are asked to not touch or open it. Instead, they are urged to contact the New Mexico Environmental Department at (505) 827-9329. Due to the small quantity of Antimony-124, the materials are not considered a terrorist threat. However, unlawful possession of radioactive material is a violation of the New Mexico Radiation Protection Act and the New Mexico Radiation Protection Regulations, and is subject to criminal and civil penalties. This text is invisible on the page, but this text is affected by the invisible item's flow. This text is invisible on the page, but this text is affected by the invisible item's flow. More headlines... State absorbing $1.4 billion hit from storms Exclusive: College prepay plan still on hold Convicted killer in Christmas Eve deaths executed Seven Calif. workers share $315 million lottery prize Radioactive material missing from Texas shipment More © 2005 Denton Publishing Co. ***************************************************************** 33 More on DU as Genocide Date: Wed, 16 Nov 2005 13:00:23 -0600 (CST) Forwarded with Compliments of Government of the USA in Exile (GUSAE): Free Americans Resisting the Fourth Reich on Behalf of All Species. NOTE: Please circulate this to the utmost. -- kl, pp http://www.sfbayview.com/110905/radioactivetank110905.shtml Radioactive Tank No. 9 Comes Limping Home By Bob Nichols [demime 1.01d removed an attachment of type image/jpeg which had a name of DEADTANKINKANS14.jpg] "RADIOACTIVE" is stenciled on Abrams tanks in these pictures taken Oct. 13, 2005, in Topeka, Kansas. Photo: Chris Bayruh Across the plains of Kansas, destroyed, radioactive Abrams tanks, perched on railroad flatcars, rolled towards an uncertain future. Only one thing was certain. They would be radioactive forever. This would be their everlasting death mask. The Pentagon deceptively calls it "depleted uranium." The Abrams tanks are constructed with a layer of radioactive uranium metal plates. The big tanks fire a giant uranium dart at 2,100 mph, much faster than an F-16 fighter aircraft, mach III to airplane pilots and very, very fast to the rest of us. American taxpayers paid to ship the tanks to Iraq and to return them for disposal or re-building in the United States. The tanks are 12 feet wide and weigh a stout 70 tons, or 140,000 pounds. The enduring vigorous stupidity of the U.S. military pretends that radiation is one of those things that if you can't see it, it can't hurt you. They are thoroughly delusional, of course. A National Academy of Sciences report released June 30, 2005, finds that there is no safe level of radiation. Any radiation is bad. [demime 1.01d removed an attachment of type image/jpeg which had a name of DEADTANKINKANS3.jpg] This radioactive tank sitting exposed on a flatbed railroad car in Topeka, Kansas, should have been "encapsulated," according to U.S. Army Regulation 700-48, which has the force of law. Photo: Chris Bayruh >From America to Iraq and back, these giant radioactive hulks can only sicken and kill Americans. On top of the sheer, unrelenting stupidity of playing with radiation with unsuspecting soldiers, now the neo-con government is involving everyday Americans in their radiation madness. The Pentagon can't even follow simple radiation hazard mitigation instructions. Their own rules and regulations have the force of law throughout the world. Yet they are ignored in the United States. Dr. Doug Rokke Dr. Doug Rokke is the Pentagon's former director of the U.S. Army Depleted Uranium Project. When contacted on Oct. 22, he viewed Chris Bayruh's photographs and made this statement about the radioactive tanks in Kansas: "The radioactive damaged Abrams tanks that were left unsecured on a Kansas railroad track are a perfect example of exactly how not to ship damaged radioactive equipment and how not to protect our Army's Abrams tanks from possible sabotage and compromise of classified battle systems." On Oct. 10, prior to the discovery of the radioactive tanks, Dr. Rokke made the following statement. It is eerily predictive of what would happen in Kansas three days later. "U.S. Department of Defense officials continue to deny that there are any adverse health and environmental effects as a consequence of the manufacture, testing and/or use of uranium munitions to avoid liability for the willful and illegal dispersal of a radioactive toxic material - depleted uranium." [demime 1.01d removed an attachment of type image/jpeg which had a name of DEADTANKINKANS.jpg] This is another of the destroyed radioactive tanks in Topeka, Kansas. Children were playing around the tanks. Photo: Chris Bayruh Dr. Rokke continued, "They [the U.S. military] arrogantly refuse to comply with their own regulations, orders and directives that require United States Department of Defense officials to provide prompt and effective medical care to all exposed individuals." (See Note 1 below.) "They also refuse to clean up dispersed radioactive contamination of equipment as required by Army regulations." (See Note 2.) "Specifically, they are required (see Note 3) to accomplish four things: 1) Military personnel must 'identify, segregate, isolate, secure and label all RCE' (radiologically contaminated equipment). 2) 'Procedures to minimize the spread of radioactivity will be implemented as soon as possible.' 3) 'Radioactive material and waste will not be locally disposed of through burial, submersion, incineration, destruction in place, or abandonment' and 4) 'All equipment, to include captured or combat RCE, will be surveyed, packaged, retrograded, decontaminated and released.' "The past and current use of uranium weapons, the release of radioactive components in destroyed U.S. and foreign military equipment, and releases of industrial, medical and research facility radioactive materials have resulted in unacceptable exposures." Dr. Rokke added, "Therefore, decontamination must be completed as required by U.S. Army Regulation 700-48 and should include releases of all radioactive materials resulting from military operations. "The extent of adverse health and environmental effects of uranium weapons contamination is not limited to combat zones but includes facilities and sites where uranium weapons were manufactured or tested, including Vieques, Puerto Rico, Colonie, New York, and Jefferson Proving Grounds, Indiana. "Therefore, medical care must be provided by the United States Department of Defense officials to all individuals affected by the manufacturing, testing and/or use of uranium munitions. Thorough environmental remediation also must be completed without further delay. "I am amazed," exclaimed Dr. Rokke, "that 14 years after I was asked to clean up the initial DU mess from Gulf War I and almost 10 years since I finished the depleted uranium project, United States Department of Defense officials and many others still attempt to justify uranium munitions use while ignoring mandatory requirements. "But beyond the ignored mandatory actions, the willful dispersal of tons of solid radioactive and chemically toxic waste in the form of uranium munitions just does not even pass the common sense test. "Finally, continued compliance with the infamous March 1991 Los Alamos Memorandum (see Note 5) that was issued to ensure continued use of uranium munitions cannot be justified. "In conclusion," Dr. Rokke urged, "the president of the United States, George W. Bush, and the prime minister of Great Britain, Tony Blair, must acknowledge and accept responsibility for willful use of illegal uranium munitions - their own "dirty bombs" - resulting in adverse health and environmental effects." "President Bush and Prime Minister Blair also should order: 1) medical care for all casualties, 2) thorough environmental remediation, 3) immediate cessation of retaliation against all of us who demand compliance with medical care and environmental remediation requirements, 4) and ban the future use of depleted uranium munitions," Dr. Rokke concluded. A little old lady in tennis shoes Leuren Moret is a world famous scientist and radiation specialist who formerly worked at the Lawrence Livermore Nuclear Weapons Lab, where she became a whistleblower in 1991. She has spoken out about the danger of uranium munitions to humanity in more than 42 countries. Moret has appeared in four documentaries about uranium munitions (depleted uranium). "Beyond Treason" debuted in August 2005 and won the Grand Festival Award at the Berkeley Film Festival. The newest film, "Blowin' in the Wind," was nominated during its debut the first week of November in Australia for an Academy Award. Moret was an expert witness at the International Criminal Tribunal for Afghanistan and serves as an adviser and expert witness in court cases regarding radiation exposure. Her statement, made Oct. 24, about the dead tanks in Kansas follows: "Sally Devlin, a little old lady in tennis shoes, went to a public meeting several years ago, held by the Air Force in Pahrump, Nevada. Two officers told the citizens of the town that the Air Force would be moving 80 old target practice tanks and tons of old depleted uranium munitions through their town. "The radioactive bullets had been picked up off the Nellis gunnery ranges by order of the state of Nevada and were being transported to the Nevada Test Site [a nuclear weapons test site] to be buried as radioactive waste. "When Mrs. Devlin politely asked them how they would prevent the residents of the town from being contaminated by the radioactive dust on the tanks and bullets, the officers said, 'We're wrapping them in Saran Wrap.' She told them that would be unacceptable and stopped the Air Force dead in their tracks," Moret concluded. Whether it is Saran Wrap in Nevada or nothing at all in Kansas, the Pentagon just doesn't get it when it comes to uranium radiation dispersing weapons. It is way past time to take all their nuclear weapons and uranium munitions away from them and send them home to get real jobs. They are clearly incapable of protecting this country from all dangers, including those created by our own U.S. military. The U.S. military shows so little regard for Americans in Kansas, one wonders what on earth they have done to Iraq. The U.S. military has distributed an estimated 8 million pounds of weaponized ceramic uranium oxide gas, aerosols and dust on a practically defenseless little country of 26 million people (see Note 6), according to an estimate by former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark. What is this lethal radioactive weapon supposed to do? Why was it used? Ceramic uranium oxide gas is a genocidal weapon, for God's sake. It persists in the environment forever. In Leuren Moret's pithy words, "The Iraqis are uranium meat." The politicians, Pentagon staff, generals, commanding officers and others responsible for this war crime must be arrested, tried, convicted and appropriately punished for their crimes against humanity. There is another explanation Another explanation is that the U.S. Army and other branches of the military are far from stupid. They are, in fact, the most lethal and carefully planned military in the history of the world. The extensive use of weaponized uranium oxide gas, aerosols and dust is not an accident or an oversight. They did it on purpose. If this is true, they purposely used a genocidal weapon over at least a 15-year period. No, this is not a callous mistake of empire; it is a calculated act of genocide to weaken the oil- and gas-rich countries of Central Asia, including Iraq. Take your choice: they are either stupid or genocidal monsters. A British group has estimated the weaponized ceramic uranium oxide will account for an additional 25 million cancers in Iraq in the next several years. There are only 26 million Iraqis to start with, minus the nearly 1.7 million killed by war or sanctions since 1991, plus some live births. A National Academy of Sciences report released June 30, 2005, finds that there is no safe level of radiation. The committee dismissed the idea that any radiation could be harmless or beneficial. The radioactive tanks in Kansas and Iraq are the same. They are placed there at great expense by the senior American political and military leadership, with premeditated malice. The bottom line purpose of a 140,000-pound radioactive tank is to kill people. Uranium munitions a war crime Dennis Kyne, noted speaker and writer, is a former drill instructor (DI) and a 15-year veteran of the Army as well as a Gulf War vet (see www.denniskyne.com). Kyne makes a point of how "hot" or radioactive the tanks in Kansas would be if they were hit by "friendly fire" to get beat up so much. They could be contaminated with as much as 30,000 times background radiation. That is what uranium munitions do to a tank, bunker or building. Karen Parker, a prominent U.S. international human rights lawyer, says there are four rules derived from humanitarian laws and conventions regarding weapons: 1. Weapons may only be used against legal enemy military targets and must not have an adverse effect elsewhere (the territorial rule). 2. Weapons can only be used for the duration of an armed conflict and must not be used or continue to act afterwards (the temporal rule). 3. Weapons may not be unduly inhumane (the "humaneness" rule). The Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907 speak of "unnecessary suffering" and "superfluous injury" in this regard 4. Weapons may not have an unduly negative effect on the natural environment (the "environmental" rule). "DU weaponry fails all four tests," Parker states. "First, DU cannot be limited to legal military targets. Second, it cannot be 'turned off' when the war is over but keeps killing. "Third, DU can kill through painful conditions such as cancers and organ damage and can also cause birth defects, such as facial deformities and missing limbs. Lastly, DU cannot be used without unduly damaging the natural environment. "In my view, use of DU weaponry violates the grave breach provisions of the Geneva Conventions," Parker concluded, "and so its use constitutes a war crime, or crime against humanity." Notes 1. "Medical Management of Unusual Depleted Uranium Casualties," DOD, Pentagon, 10/14/93, "Medical Management of Army Personnel Exposed to Depleted Uranium (DU)," Headquarters, U.S. Army Medical Command, 4/29/04, and section 2-5 of AR 700-48 . 2. AR 700- 48: "Management of Equipment Contaminated With Depleted Uranium or Radioactive Commodities," Headquarters, Department of the Army, Washington, D.C., September 2002, and U.S. Army Technical Bulletin TB 9-1300-278: "Guidelines For Safe Response To Handling, Storage, and Transportation Accidents Involving Army Tank Munitions or Armor Which Contain Depleted Uranium," Headquarters, Department of the Army, Washington, D.C., July 1996, http://traprockpeace.org/du_pam_700-48.pdf. 3. Section 2-4 of United States Army Regulation 700-48 dated Sept. 16, 2002, specifies these requirements. 4. IAW Technical Bulletin 9-1300-278, DA PAM 700-48. Maximum exposure limits are specified in Appendix F. 5. http://www.tv.cbc.ca/national/pgminfo/du/doc1.html 6. Former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark's estimate, http://www.covertactionquarterly.org/demonize.html Copyright Bob Nichols. Copying permitted if you credit the source and leave everything intact, including notes. Bob Nichols is a Project Censored Award winner and lives in California. He formerly lived in Oklahoma. He is a contributor to OnLineJournal.com, AxisofLogic.com, DissidentVoice.com and other online publications and is a correspondent for the San Francisco Bay View newspaper. Nichols is a former employee of the McAlester Army Ammunition Plant. He can be reached by email at bob.bobnichols@gmail.com. San Francisco Bay View National Black Newspaper 4917 Third Street San Francisco California 94124 Phone: (415) 671-0789 Fax: (415) 671-0316 Email: editor@sfbayview.com ***************************************************************** 34 NRC: NRC Settles Discrimination Case; Georgia Co. Agrees to Strengthen Safety Conscious Work Environment 2005-05-155 - NRC NEWS U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Office of Public Affairs Telephone: 301/415-8200 Washington, DC 20555-0001 E-mail: opa@nrc.gov www.nrc.gov No. 05-155 November 16, 2005 Williams Industrial Services Group, LLC, of Stone Mountain, Ga., has agreed to implement industry-standard programs to promote a safety-conscious work environment as part of a settlement with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission of a discrimination complaint and charges of deliberately providing false information to federal investigators. The settlement, achieved through the NRCs alternative dispute resolution program, stems from a 2000 incident involving three painters employed by Williams at the Perry Nuclear Power Plant, in Perry, Ohio, where Williams was performing contract work for plant operator FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Co. Two of the painters were laid off and a third was forced to resign after they expressed safety concerns to FirstEnergy officials about directions they received from their supervisor for painting in the plants Fuel Handling Building. The NRC places prime importance on promoting a safety-conscious work environment among its licensees and their contractors, said Michael Johnson, director of NRCs Office of Enforcement. We will not tolerate discrimination against employees who raise safety concerns or providing false information to our investigators. Under the settlement, Williams agrees to take a number of corrective actions, including comparing its safety conscious work environment program with industry best practices to ensure that the companys program incorporates industry trends and developments; conducting periodic audits of its program to ensure its effectiveness; and modifying its company ethics policy to include an explicit reference to the necessity for complete and candid communications with government agencies. The corrective actions in the settlement have been confirmed by an order issued to Williams. NRC agrees to withdraw its deliberate misconduct citation against Williams, issued Feb. 24, 2005. The employee protection violation, originally issued as a Severity Level III (the second lowest in a scale of IV, signifying an escalated enforcement sanction viewed as a significant regulatory concern) will be treated instead as a violation without severity level specified. The NRC will evaluate the implementation of Williams commitments related to employee protection and deliberate misconduct during future inspections. As part of the investigation of this complaint, the supervisor involved has been barred from NRC-licensed activities for three years for deliberately providing false information during the NRCs investigation. The supervisor pleaded guilty in July 2004 to a felony charge of providing false information to the NRC. Also, FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Co. was fined $55,000 for violating employee protection requirements. The company admitted to the violation, and it has paid the fine. Last revised Wednesday, November 16, 2005 ***************************************************************** 35 www.midstateliving.com: A dose of protection from radiation Midstate Living Health &Fitness Potassium iodide pills are a safety measure for residents within 10 miles of Salem/Hope Creek nuclear plants in N.J. STORY BY KATHY ANSELL PHOTOGRAPH BY JENNIFER CORBETT 11/16/2005 Two times in October, midstate residents visited area fire stations for a state distribution of potassium iodide pills. It's been an occasional rite since 2002, a calm, businesslike procedure with a serious undertone: the pills are meant to minimize the risk of thyroid cancer in people who might be exposed to airborne radiation. Those people live or work in Delaware within a 10-mile radius of the Salem/Hope Creek nuclear power plants across the Delaware River in New Jersey. That's the state's Emergency Planning Zone, which includes more than 25,000 people at last estimate. The zone arcs from Delaware City to eastern Middletown and southeast to Smyrna. Nuclear power plants produce radioactive iodine, which could escape as a gas during an accidental release. Those who might be exposed to the gas before they could evacuate are at risk because the thyroid gland is the body's most absorbent organ and the first place radioactive iodine would accumulate.Advertisement Potassium iodide, a simple salt that's the same chemical added to table salt, saturates the thyroid so it can't absorb radioactive material. Each adult receives two pills to be taken once every 24 hours if notified of a radiation emergency. Babies younger than 1 get a half. Officials emphasize that evacuation is the first action in an emergency, but the pills offer a measure of protection from one side effect. Late-afternoon traffic at the Odessa Fire Company Station 4 in Middletown last month was steady, with residents quickly filling out forms and picking up the tiny, foil-packed tablets. The response rate for picking up the pills is running about 65 percent since 2002, said Roseanne Pack, spokeswoman for the state’s Department of Emergency Management. Most people said they weren’t concerned about ever having to use the pills. But Joseph T. Hassell of Pine Valley Farms took a darker view: “It’s a feel-good pill,” said the former nuclear power plant designer. “The vast majority of folks are well aware it’s not a magic pill,” said Frieda Fisher-Tyler, an administrator from the state health department’s office of radiation control who was fielding questions. A common one, she said, was, “Can pets take it?” Thyroid cancer is so slow-growing that most pets don’t have life spans long enough for it to develop, Fisher-Tyler said. Some had questions about the sirens that are meant to sound during an emergency, said Daniel A. Rose, a planner for the Emergency Management Agency. Residents are concerned about distinguishing between tests and the real thing. Tests are 10-second bursts, while in an actual emergency the sirens would sound for three to five minutes. A calendar published by PSEG Nuclear LLC, which operates the power plants, lists dates of siren tests and emergency contacts such as radio stations and phone numbers. “The more knowledge you have, the less likely you are to be scared,” Rose said. Beth Gabsewics, who has lived in Delaware for decades but built a house on Jamison Corner Road two years ago, agreed, with one caveat: “I only hope whoever works there knows what they’re doing,” she said. A harmless steam plume emphasizes the Salem nuclear plant just across the river from the Thomas Cove development. ABOUT POTASSIUM IODIDE It’s a salt that will not interact with other medications. People who are sensitive to iodine, who have a shellfish allergy or who have had their thyroid gland removed should talk to their doctors first. The pills should be stored in their foil packets at room temperature. They expire in 2007. You can buy potassium iodide at a pharmacy over the counter. EMERGENCY CONTACTS New Castle County: Office of Emergency Preparedness, 573-2855 Kent County: Emergency Management, 735-3465 Delaware Emergency Management Agency: 659-3362, (877) 729-3362 or www.state.de.us/dema Federal Emergency Management Agency, Region III: (215) 931-5500 or www.fema.gov/regions/iii PSEG rumor control line: (800) 443-7392 or www.pseg.com MORE RESOURCES Pamphlets from Nuclear Energy Institute, (202) 739-8000 or www.nei.org 2005-2006 calendar with contacts, evacuation procedures and siren test dates available from PSEG or DEMA. Map of emergency response areas, available from DEMA Delaware Health and Social Service, Division of Public Health, Office of Radiation Control, 744-4546 A pharmacist counts out potassium iodide pills. 2005 delawareonline.com ***************************************************************** 36 BoiseWeekly: Craig demands RECA reform NOVEMBER 16, 2005 BY NICHOLAS COLLIAS Both of Idaho's senators claim to be working in the best interest of nuclear downwinders, but they are doing it in very different ways. Mike Crapo, created legislation earlier this year to roundly include Idaho in the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA), which covers victims of 19 different fallout-related cancers if they lived in a fallout path when nuclear blasts happened at the Nevada Test Site. Crapo told BW the bill was an "interim step," because RECA might soon be overhauled according to more scientific standards recommended from the National Academies of Sciences--standards that would, according to the NAS, open up the entire nation for compensation but "result in few successful claims." Larry Craig, on the other hand, co-sponsored Crapo's legislation, but also last week took a step toward enacting the NAS reforms. On November 9, Craig inserted RECA-related language in the 2006 Department of Justice appropriations bill, directing the Department to submit a report "detailing those actions that the department and the Congress can take to implement the recommendations of the National Academy of Sciences report on the coverage of affected populations by [RECA]." He gave a deadline of 90 days after the enactment of the appropriations bill for the report. The two bills seem to espouse entirely different goals--one increases the chance of compensation right away, the other pushes a scheme that makes it highly unlikely. However, in a statement released after the appropriations bill passed the House of Representatives, Congressman Mike Simpson called it "A very significant development for Idaho's downwinders. They have a great advocate in Senator Craig." In a Senate colloquy with Senate Judiciary Chariman Arlen Specter on October 25, Crapo agreed that such reforms were necessary, but called them "long-term challenges," which should be undertaken after a short-term compensation program. Oh, well, senator. Thanks for playing. We have some nice parting gifts for you. Us Powered by Gyrobase © Copyright 2005, BoiseWeekly ***************************************************************** 37 EPA: RadNet Review committee Meeting FR Doc 05-22702 [Federal Register: November 16, 2005 (Volume 70, Number 220)] [Notices] [Page 69550-69551] From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr16no05-65] ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY [FRL-7996-7] Science Advisory Board Staff Office; Notification of a Public Teleconference and Meeting of the Science Advisory Board Radiation Advisory Committee (RAC) RadNet Review Panel AGENCY: Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). ACTION: Notice. SUMMARY: The EPA Science Advisory Board (SAB) Staff Office announces a public teleconference and face-to-face meeting of the SAB Radiation Advisory Committee (RAC) RadNet Review Panel of the SAB to discuss the Office of Radiation and Indoor Air (ORIA) draft report ``Expansion and Upgrade of the RadNet Air Monitoring Network,'' (Vols. 1 & 2), dated October 2005. The RAC will also receive a program update and briefings. DATES: A public teleconference of the SAB Radiation Advisory Committee (RAC) RadNet Review Panel will be held on December 1, 2005 from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. eastern standard time. The face-to-face public meeting will be held December 19 and 20, 2005 from 8:30 a.m to 5:30 p.m. central time. Upon completion of the RadNet Review, the RAC will receive a program update and briefing from ORIA on December 21, 2005 from 8:15 a.m. to no later than 1 p.m central time. ADDRESSES: The public teleconference will take place via telephone only. The public face-to-face meeting will be held at the U.S. EPA National Air and Radiation Environmental Laboratory (NAREL), 540 South Morris Avenue, Montgomery, AL 36115. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Members of the public who wish to obtain the call-in number and access code for the December 1, 2005 teleconference, or further information concerning the public face-to- face meeting in Montgomery, AL may contact Dr. K. Jack Kooyoomjian, Designated Federal Officer (DFO), by mail at EPA SAB Staff Office (1400F), U.S. EPA, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20460; by telephone at (202) 343-9984; by fax at (202) 233-0643; or by e-mail at: [[Page 69551]] kooyoomjian.jack@epa.gov. General information concerning the SAB can be found on the SAB Web site at: http://www.epa.gov/sab. Technical Contact: For questions and information concerning the document being reviewed, contact Dr. Mary E. Clark, U.S. EPA, ORIA by telephone at (202) 343-9348, fax at (202) 243-2395, or e-mail at clark.marye@epa.gov. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Summary: EPA's ORIA has requested EPA's Science Advisory Board to review its draft report ``Expansion and Upgrade of the RadNet Air Monitoring Network,'' (Vols. 1 & 2), dated October 2005. The purpose of the upcoming teleconference is for the RAC's RadNet Review Panel to be briefed on the document to be reviewed and to clarify the charge to the Panel. The purpose of the upcoming face-to-face meeting is to allow the SAB RAC RadNet Review Panel to conduct a peer review of the document. Meeting agendas and background information for the teleconference and face-to-face meetings will be posted on the SAB Web site at: http://www.epa.gov/sab prior to the meetings. The SAB was established by 42 U.S.C. 4365 to provide independent scientific and technical advice, consultation, and recommendations to the EPA Administrator on the technical basis for Agency positions and regulations. The review will be conducted by the RAC's RadNet Review Panel, consisting of current SAB RAC members and additional outside experts. The Panel will comply with the provisions of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA) and all appropriate SAB procedural policies. As such, all public meetings will be announced in the Federal Register at least 15 days prior to their scheduled times. Background: Pursuant to the Federal Advisory Committee Act, Public Law 92-463, the SAB Staff Office hereby gives notice of a public meeting of the Radiation Advisory Committee (RAC) RadNet Review Panel. The EPA ORIA requested the SAB to provide advice on RadNet, which is the National Monitoring System (NMS) upgrade, formerly known as the Environmental Radiation Ambient Monitoring System (ERAMS). The RAC's RadNet Review Panel will review the draft document entitled ``Expansion and Upgrade of the RadNet Air Monitoring Network,'' (Vols. 1 & 2), dated October 2005. Additionally, the RAC will receive a program update and briefing related to ORIA program activities within the EPA for the coming year on the morning of December 21, 2005. Additional background information on this review include notification of a public teleconference meeting of the RAC to receive briefings from the Agency and discuss its advisory agenda for FY 2005 [70 FR 4847, January 31, 2005], as well as a request for nominations of experts [70 FR 15083, March 24, 2005]. Persons who wish to obtain additional background materials on the current ERAMS network may find them at the following Web site: http://www.epa.gov/narel/erams/index.html. Copies of the materials provided to the RAC's RadNet Review Panel, including the Agency's draft document entitled ``Expansion and Upgrade of the RadNet Air Monitoring Network,'' (Vols. 1 & 2), dated October 2005, as well as briefing materials and other background materials pertinent to the activities announced in this notice may be requested from Dr. Mary E. Clark of the U.S. EPA, ORIA by telephone at (202) 343-9348, fax at (202) 243-2395, or e-mail at clark.marye@epa.gov. Procedures for Providing Public Comment: The SAB Staff Office accepts written public comments of any length for consideration by the Panel and accommodates oral comments whenever possible. The EPA SAB Staff Office expects the public statements presented at SAB meetings will not repeat previously-submitted oral or written statements. Oral Comments: Requests to provide oral comment must be in writing (e-mail or fax) and received by Dr. Kooyoomjian at the contact information noted above no later than November 23, 2005 for the December 1, 2005 teleconference call, and December 12, 2005 for the December 19 to 21, 2005 meeting. Oral presentation at a teleconference meeting will usually be limited to three minutes per speaker or organization for a total of no more than fifteen minutes for all speakers. Written Comments: Written comments should be received by Dr. Kooyoomjian at the contact information noted above no later than November 23, 2005 for the December 1, 2005 teleconference call, and December 12, 2005 for the December 19 to 21, 2005 meeting so that comments may be made available to the Panelists for their consideration. Written comments should be received by Dr. Kooyoomjian (preferably by e-mail) at the address and contact information provided above in the following formats: one hard copy with original signature, and one electronic copy via e-mail (acceptable file format: Adobe Acrobat PDF, WordPerfect, Word, or Rich Text files (in IBM-PC/Windows 98/2000/XP format)). Those providing written comments and who attend the meeting are also asked to bring 35 copies of their comments for public distribution. Meeting Access: Individuals requiring special accommodation to access the public teleconference or public meeting should contact Dr. Kooyoomjian at least five business days prior to the meeting, so that appropriate arrangements can be made. For information on access or services for individuals with disabilities, please contact Dr. K. Jack Kooyoomjian at 202-343-9984 or kooyoomjian.jack@epa.gov to request accommodation of a disability. Such accommodation is required by sections 504 and 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, 29 U.S.C. 794 and 794d, EPA's implementing regulations, 40 CFR part 12, and the federal standards for ``Electronic and Information Technology Accessibility,'' 36 CFR part 1194, which govern accessibility and accommodation in relation to EPA programs and activities, such as Federal Advisory Committee meetings. Dated: November 8, 2005. Anthony F. Maciorowski, Associate Director for Science, EPA Science Advisory Board Staff Office. [FR Doc. 05-22702 Filed 11-15-05; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 6560-50-P ***************************************************************** 38 Advocate: Submarine involved in September collision returns home Connecticut News Associated Press Published November 16 2005 GROTON, Conn. -- A U.S. nuclear submarine that collided with a Turkish cargo ship in September returned home Wednesday to a warm welcome from more than 200 family members and friends. The USS Philadelphia and its 125 crew members pulled into the Naval Submarine Base New London as "Philadelphia Freedom" by Elton John blared from loudspeakers. The submarine spent five months at sea as part of a fleet of U.S. and allied vessels trying to stop the movement of terrorists and the smuggling of drugs and weapons in the Persian Gulf. It was traveling on the surface of the Gulf about 30 miles northeast of Bahrain at about 2 a.m. on Sept. 5 when it hit the bulk carrier M/V Yaso Aysen. Nobody was injured and the damage was minor. As a result of the accident, Cmdr. Steven M. Oxholm was relieved of his command and two other officers were reassigned. Capt. Robert J. Brennan replaced Oxholm as commander of the Philadelphia. "She obviously came 8,000 miles back so she does everything she needs to do and was able to answer the bell and accomplish all tasks," said Brennan, who commended the crew Wednesday for its performance after the accident. He said the submarine suffered minor damage to the deck, rudder and stern that will require about a week of repair work. Navy officials said they're not sure where they'll send the submarine for final repairs. On Wednesday, Brennan turned over command of the Philadelphia to a new commander, Jeff Jablon. Family members said the accident made for some tense moments back at home. "I've been a Navy wife for a long time, and this is the first time I had to endure an accident," said Rena Carrender, 42, of Groton, who brought 3-year-old daughter Brooke to welcome back her husband, Chief Machinist's Mate Ricky Carrender. "It was frightening to be woken up in the morning by a phone call saying 'don't worry,' and as he's saying that, it's coming over CNN." Sandy Jarvis of South Windsor was glad to see her husband, Petty Officer Mark Jarvis. Their daughter, Victoria, was born June 14, four days after the crew deployed. Sandy Jarvis said dealing with the birth, a 2-year-old at home and the accident made for a difficult five months. "I was very scared when they called me at 12:30 at night to tell me he was OK, but he called me the next day and I felt better," she said. It was the Navy's second collision with a civilian vessel in the Gulf in 14 months. In July 2004, the aircraft carrier USS John F. Kennedy collided with a dhow in the Gulf, leaving no survivors on the traditional Arab sailing boat. The Navy relieved the Kennedy's commander, Capt. Stephen B. Squires, after the incident. The Kennedy itself was unscathed, but two jet fighters on the deck were damaged when one slid into the other as the carrier made a hard turn to avoid the dhow. The investigation into the Philadelphia accident has not been completed, Brennan said, and the Philadelphia crew members don't know when they'll be deployed next. Turnaround time is generally three months to a year. For now, Brooke Carrender is just happy to have her father back to give her what she missed most. "Hugs!" Copyright © 2005, The Associated Press © 2005, Southern Connecticut Newspapers, Inc. ***************************************************************** 39 Las Vegas SUN: Energy inspector general: More suspect Yucca Mountain e-mails Today: November 16, 2005 at 12:37:54 PST By ERICA WERNER ASSOCIATED PRESS WASHINGTON (AP) - There is more evidence of questionable work on the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste dump in Nevada, an Energy Department inspector general's report said Wednesday. Criminal investigations already were under way into a batch of e-mails the Energy Department disclosed in March that suggest government scientists falsified data on the project. The inspector general uncovered more e-mails that raise new questions about work on the national nuclear waste dump being developed in the desert 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas. "The office of inspector general found e-mails by other authors that identified possible conditions adverse to quality at Yucca," the report said. "However, these e-mails had not been identified by Yucca personnel as requiring further review." One e-mail cited by the report says that the office of quality assurance "just discovered that (quality assurance) software requirements were being ignored." Another says: "We may want to backdate the notebook to when we started putting things together." The report doesn't say who wrote the e-mails or how many were found, and a spokeswoman for the inspector general said she couldn't elaborate because of the criminal investigation into the original e-mails. Those were written by U.S. Geological Survey scientists studying how water moved through the underground dump site. It's not clear whether the newly discovered e-mails dealt with the same issue. The report also says Yucca Mountain workers have not adequately focused on quality control in their reviews of e-mails written about the project, and they should go back and look at approximately 10 million project e-mails. The e-mails and other documents are being reviewed as the Energy Department readies an application for a Nuclear Regulatory Commission license to operate the dump. Craig Stevens, a spokesman for the Energy Department, said department managers have signed off on a corrective action plan to implement the report's recommendations. He said the 10 million e-mails - plus an additional 4 million subsequently discovered - will be reviewed through statistical sampling "We certainly appreciate the information the inspector general gave and the recommendations the inspector general presented and this is something we take very seriously," Stevens said. Problems at the Yucca Mountain dump, including the e-mail controversy, have delayed the projected opening date by years, and it's now not expected until after 2012. The dump was approved by Congress in 2002 as a national repository for 77,000 tons of spent reactor fuel and high-level defense nuclear waste. It faces strong opposition from Nevada lawmakers. --- On the Net: Energy Department inspector general: http://www.ig.doe.gov/ All contents copyright 2005 Las Vegas SUN, Inc. ***************************************************************** 40 Sun News: Environmental group to appeal ruling on nuclear dump's permit | 11/16/2005 | The Associated Press CHARLESTON - An environmental group plans to appeal a judge's ruling allowing a company to keep its permit to run a low-level radioactive waste dump in Barnwell County. The Sierra Club had challenged Chem-Nuclear Systems' permit to operate the site, saying the company needed to change the way it handles its incoming waste - tritium, a radioactive form of hydrogen. Traces of the gas have been detected in trenches at Barnwell as far back as 1974. Although it emits weak radiation levels and leaves the body relatively quickly, tritium exposure can increase the risk for cancer. Administrative Law Judge John Geathers agreed there were concerns, but he said the Sierra Club did not meet the burden of proof that would lead him to rescind the company's permit. The company must study ways to improve its disposal practices, according to Geathers' ruling last month. Geathers ordered Chem-Nuclear to evaluate whether it is feasible to make changes that would keep rain out of its underground disposal trenches and provide temporary dry storage facilities for radioactive waste received during wet weather. The company also must consider sealing its concrete containers, known as vaults, to limit water intrusion, he said. The company-funded study is due by early April. "We're more than happy to comply," Chem-Nuclear spokeswoman Deborah Ogilvie said. Sierra Club attorney Jimmy Chandler says the judge's ruling provides no punishment if Chem-Nuclear does not address environmental concerns. "He said we brought up legitimate issues that needed study and other things that in his own words were problems," Chandler said. "But the bottom line was that he affirmed the permit without anything with any teeth in it. If there are problems, we need to fix them through the permitting process. Chandler said the Sierra Club will appeal the decision to the Department of Health and Environmental Control. Some environmental groups have pushed for Chem-Nuclear to start storing hazardous waste in above-ground facilities and in waterproof chambers. The company has said it would be unrealistic to make substantial changes at the site, which by state law will be closed in mid-2008 to all waste except that from South Carolina, New Jersey and Connecticut. Chem-Nuclear has said it's changed over the years and the company no longer puts waste packages into trenches. Rather the waste goes inside concrete vaults before it is buried. ***************************************************************** 41 Salt Lake Tribune: Applause for Huntsman Opinion Last Updated: 11/15/2005 11:45:37 PM After recent news that Envirocare had bought the support of Joe Cannon, head of Utah's Republican Party, and several other prominent Utah Republicans, I was beginning to despair that any Utah Republican would be immune to Envirocare's offers of cash for votes. I was therefore pleased and surprised to wake up Nov. 11 to the Tribune headline that Gov. Jon Huntsman will oppose the expansion of Envirocare. As a Democrat, I applaud the governor. Will any others of his party have the courage to join him in protecting Utah from becoming the world's nuclear dumping ground? Edwin Firmage Jr. Salt Lake City © Copyright 2005, The Salt Lake Tribune. ***************************************************************** 42 DenverPost.com: Nuclear dump in Nevada takes $127 million cut in budget talks Article Launched: 11/15/2005 01:00:00 AM By The Associated Press Washington - The Senate voted Monday to cut significantly the budget for the troubled Yucca Mountain nuclear waste dump as negotiators tried to finalize several spending bills before stopgap funding expires. The $450 million Yucca Mountain budget - down $127 million from each of the last two years - is included in a final bill funding energy and water programs for fiscal 2006, which cleared the Senate by an 84-4 vote. Senate negotiators immediately headed to a House meeting room for talks on two other bills. The urgency comes as lawmakers try to wrap up work on the 11 spending bills that make up the approximately one-third of the federal budget that Congress passes each year. After years of consistent increases, the overall budget for domestic agencies, except for the Homeland Security Department, is essentially frozen or even slightly below last year's levels. The Senate vote clears the sixth of 11 spending bills for President Bush's signature. Lawmakers hope to be done by Friday, when a stopgap bill expires. Meanwhile, House leaders have had trouble passing $50 billion-plus in cuts over five years to the approximately 55 percent of the budget for programs such as Medicare and Medicaid that goes up automatically each year. GOP leaders scrapped plans for a vote last week. All contents Copyright 2005 The Denver Post or other copyright ***************************************************************** 43 Salt Lake Tribune: Governor honors Radiation manager Article Last Updated: 11/16/2005 01:37:20 AM Loren Morton, photographed near a wetlands preserve near Moab, helped persuade the U.S. Energy Department to move a pile of uranium mill tailings from the banks of the Colorado River. (Judy Fahys/The Salt Lake Tribune ) Many people - from politicians in Washington to activists in Moab - pressed the federal government for years to move a massive pile of uranium waste from the banks of the Colorado River. Many thank the dogged work of a Utah Division of Radiation Control manager for finally succeeding. For that work, Loren Morton became the first person in his agency to be honored with the prestigious Governor's Science and Technology Medal. "It's been a pleasure to work on the Moab tailings project and be involved in the Department of Environmental Quality's efforts to protect the Colorado River," said the soft-spoken Morton, who described it as team effort with federal employees, researchers and Moab residents. "Together, we have had the privilege of protecting the environment for future generations." For a long time, the U.S. Energy Department seemed to favor a much cheaper plan, cleaning up chemical contamination that was leaching into the river and stabilizing the 18-million-ton pile where it is. But Morton, a hydrogeologist, helped convince the Energy Department that that probably would not be enough to protect the pile from the next large-scale flood. The Energy Department's decision became final in September. The Colorado provides drinking water for 25 million people downstream. And, near the tailings pile, it is home to several species of endangered fish. Bill Sinclair, deputy director of the Utah Department of Environmental Quality, nominated Morton for the award, presented Nov. 3. He said Morton, a section manager for the radiation division, had been applauded by the U.S. Interior Department, the National Park Service, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Grand County Council, as well as Moab residents. In his 21 years with the state, Morton worked in the Water Quality Division before going to the Radiation Control Division, where he monitors low-level radioactive waste facilities like Envirocare of Utah and uranium mills. Prior to the Department of Environmental Quality, he was an engineering geologist for the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation in Utah. He is a graduate of Brigham Young University where he earned bachelor's and master's degrees in geology. - Judy Fahys © Copyright 2005, The Salt Lake Tribune. ***************************************************************** 44 Salt Lake Tribune: Cannon should go Opinion Article Last Updated: 11/15/2005 11:45:38 PM Congratulations to Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. for sticking to a campaign promise that Utah shouldn't become a dumping ground for radioactive waste. I appeal to Gov. Huntsman, as our highest elected Republican official, to take one more step. He should request the resignation of Utah Republican Chair Joe Cannon, whose conflict of interest as an Envirocare lobbyist is obvious to everyone except, it seems, to Mr. Cannon. Too bad that a Democrat had to point out first that the king has no clothes, which many of us Republicans felt but didn't proclaim when first learning that our Utah Republican chair had accepted a position that would place his loyalty at odds with our governor's position. Many of us applaud and support Jim McConkie's Citizens Against Radioactive Waste, and we are grateful for the work the committee does watch-dogging Envirocare's end runs. In this tenuous time the Utah Republic Party needs a chair who is not dogged by position versus job. My call for Mr. Cannon's resignation is no cheap tactic, but rather a realistic appeal for open and honest government with no conflicts rocking the boat. Georgia B. Peterson Former Republican Utah legislator Salt Lake City © Copyright 2005, The Salt Lake Tribune. ***************************************************************** 45 NRC: Notice of Availability of Environmental Assessment and Finding FR Doc E5-6315 [Federal Register: November 16, 2005 (Volume 70, Number 220)] [Notices] [Page 69605-69608] From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr16no05-126] of No Significant Impact for Construction and Operation of the Humboldt Bay Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission. ACTION: Notice of Availability and Finding of No Significant Impact. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: James Park, Environmental and Performance Assessment Directorate, Division of Waste Management and Environmental Protection, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 20555. Telephone: (301) 415-5835; Fax number: (301) 415-5397; E-mail: jrp@nrc.gov. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: I. Introduction By letter dated December 15, 2003, Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG) submitted an application to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), requesting a site-specific license to build and operate an Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation (ISFSI), [[Page 69606]] to be located on the site of the Humboldt Bay Power Plant (HBPP), in Humboldt County, California. z A holder of an NRC license for a power reactor under 10 CFR part 50 can construct and operate an ISFSI at that power reactor site under the general license provisions of 10 CFR part 72, or may apply for a separate site-specific license. PG has applied for a site-specific license for the proposed Humboldt Bay ISFSI in accordance with the applicable regulations in 10 CFR part 72. The NRC staff has prepared an Environmental Assessment (EA) in support of its review of PG's application in accordance with the requirements of 10 CFR part 51. Based on the EA, the NRC has concluded that a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) is appropriate. II. EA Summary Background The HBPP consists of five electric generation units. Unit 3, a boiling water reactor, operated for approximately 13 years before being shutdown for a refueling in July 1976. It has remained inactive since that time. In 1988, the NRC approved the SAFSTOR plan for Unit 3 and amended the plant's license under 10 CFR part 50 to a ``possession only'' license that expires on November 9, 2015. (SAFSTOR is a method of decommissioning in which the nuclear facility is placed and maintained in such condition that the nuclear facility can be safely stored and subsequently decontaminated (deferred decontamination) to levels that permit release for unrestricted use.) PG currently stores spent fuel from previous HBPP operations in the Unit 3 spent fuel pool. Review Scope The NRC staff reviewed PG's request in accordance with the requirements under 10 CFR part 72 for ISFSIs and under the environmental protection regulations in 10 CFR part 51. The EA provides the results of the NRC staff's environmental review; the staff's radiation safety review is documented separately in a Safety Evaluation Report. The NRC staff prepared the EA in accordance with NRC requirements in 10 CFR 51.21 and 51.30, and with the associated guidance in NRC report NUREG-1748, ``Environmental Review Guidance for Licensing Actions Associated with NMSS Programs.'' The NRC staff's review did not address either the decommissioning of Unit 3 following transfer of the spent fuel to the ISFSI, nor the transportation of the fuel offsite to a permanent federal repository. Proposed Action The proposed action is for PG to construct, operate, and decommission an ISFSI at the HBPP site. The ISFSI would provide temporary dry storage capacity for the spent nuclear fuel that PG currently stores in the HBPP spent fuel pool, located in the shut-down Unit 3. The proposed ISFSI is intended as an interim facility consisting of an in-ground concrete structure with storage capacity for six shielded casks. Five casks would contain spent nuclear fuel and one would contain Greater-than-Class C (GTCC) waste. (GTCC waste is low- level radioactive waste generated by the commercial sector that exceeds NRC concentration limits for Class C low-level waste, as specified in 10 CFR 61.55). All such spent fuel and GTCC waste to be placed in the casks was generated from prior HBPP operations. The spent fuel would be stored in the ISFSI until the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) takes possession and transports the spent fuel offsite to a federal repository, or until PG elects to transfer the spent fuel to another acceptable offsite interim storage facility, if one becomes available. Need for the Proposed Action Removal of the spent fuel from the HBPP Unit 3 spent fuel pool to the proposed ISFSI would permit the dismantling of the existing radioactive reactor structures, thereby providing for earlier decommissioning of the HBPP Unit 3 facility. This would allow earlier termination of the SAFSTOR license and restoration of most areas on site to unrestricted use. Transfer of the fuel to dry storage in an ISFSI also would result in lowered operational costs for PG. In contrast with the currently- used wet storage method (i.e., storage in the spent fuel pool), dry storage in an ISFSI is a passive storage process that does not require extensive operating equipment or personnel to maintain. The dry storage process would reduce both the amount of effluents generated by the existing SAFSTOR operation and the amount of solid radioactive wastes generated. Alternatives to the Proposed Action No Action Alternative: Under the ``no action'' alternative, PG would continue to store the spent fuel from prior operations at the HBPP in the spent fuel pool in Unit 3. PG would continue to conduct approved and appropriate maintenance and monitoring. Unit 3 would remain under the SAFSTOR license. Other Alternatives: The NRC staff also evaluated other alternatives to the proposed action. First, PG could construct a new storage pool and support facilities separate from the existing HBPP Unit 3, which would allow PG to decommission the Unit 3 facility. However, this alternative would increase the number of times a fuel assembly was handled and, consequently, the potential occupational exposure to the workers. The additional maintenance and surveillance activities to support operation of the new pool would also result in higher worker exposures. This alternative also has a high cost, due to construction of the new pool and facilities, and for the dry transfer system needed to transfer the fuel. For these reasons, building a new fuel pool was not considered a viable alternative and was eliminated from further detailed study. A second alternative would be to transport the spent fuel offsite, either (1) to store at another nuclear power plant with sufficient capacity; (2) to store at a permanent federal or privately-owned repository; or (3) to reprocess overseas. None of these offsite options was deemed viable at this time. Storage at another power plant would require a receiving utility to be licensed to accept the HBPP spent nuclear fuel and willing to accept the fuel. Because most nuclear power plant operators are expected to face their own limitations on spent fuel storage capacity, PG felt it unlikely that other operators would be willing to accept spent fuel owned by another company. Secondly, with respect to storage at a repository, neither a permanent federal repository nor a privately-owned facility are currently available in the United States. Finally, although reprocessing facilities exist in other countries, the political, legal, and logistical uncertainties and the high cost of shipping spent fuel overseas make this alternative not viable. The NRC staff also evaluated PG's analysis of alternate locations on the HBPP site for the proposed ISFSI and PG's selection of an in- ground vault design versus a surface pad design for the proposed ISFSI. The NRC staff determined that PG's selections of a final proposed location and design for the proposed ISFSI were acceptable. Environmental Impacts No-Action Alternative: Under this alternative, PG would not be permitted to completely [[Page 69607]] dismantle the existing HBPP Unit 3 radioactive reactor structures, and therefore would not be able to decommission the Unit 3 facility to allow unrestricted use, and thus could not terminate the SAFSTOR license. PG would continue to incur the costs and impacts associated with maintaining and monitoring the spent fuel pool, the management of solid radioactive wastes, and the monitoring of effluents generated by the existing SAFSTOR operation. Proposed Action: The environmental impacts due to construction of the HBPP ISFSI are expected to be small. The ISFSI would be located within the boundaries of the 143-acre PG-controlled site area, and constructed in an area previously disturbed during HBPP operations. Construction activities associated with the proposed ISFSI would impact less than one acre of land area. This impact would involve excavating the vault area, disposing the excavated spoils, forming and pouring of the vault structure, widening and extending the oil supply road, constructing security structures, and controlling dust and runoff. Dust generated during construction is expected to be minimal given that the construction traffic would be using paved onsite and offsite roadways. Gaseous emissions from construction equipment would be mitigated through regular maintenance of the equipment. Excavated material disposed at the onsite spoils area would be contoured to the existing slope. As appropriate, PG would use best management practices to address storm water runoff, erosion control, and revegetation. All areas disturbed during construction activities would be revegetated with an appropriate seed mix. ISFSI construction activities are not expected to impact any state or federally listed threatened or endangered plant, terrestrial wildlife, marine life, or fish species. Construction would not impact historical or cultural resources in the region around or at the HBPP site. The storage of spent fuel in casks at the ISFSI is expected to result in small radiation doses to the offsite population. The closest point that a member of the public may access (i.e., via the public trail) is 16.2 m (53 ft) from the ISFSI, and the nearest resident is approximately 244 m (800 ft) away. In its environmental report, PG provided the results of conservative calculations of offsite dose (PG, 2003a). These calculations assumed contributions to the total dose due to direct radiation from the spent fuel in the storage casks, as well as contributions from the spent fuel in the MPCs during their transfer to the storage overpacks and from the casks as they are transported to and loaded into the ISFSI. The MPCs would be seal-welded and therefore are considered leak tight, so that no leakage is expected during normal operation, off-normal conditions, or design basis accidents. The analysis also assumed that access to the public trail would be controlled to keep members of the public more than 100 meters (328 ft) away while the spent fuel casks are transported to and loaded into the ISFSI. Assuming a continuous occupancy time (i.e., 8760 hours per year), the calculated annual dose to the nearest resident from ISFSI activities is 0.0631 mSv (6.31 mrem), which is significantly below the annual limits specified in 10 CFR 72.104(a) and 10 CFR 20.1301(a), of 0.25 mSv (25 mrem) and 1 mSv (100 mrem), respectively. The cumulative offsite dose to the nearest resident from all site activities is calculated to be about 0.0641 mSv/year (6.41 mrem/year), which is also significantly less than the limit referenced in 10 CFR 20.1301. Assuming an occupancy time of 2080 hours per year (based on a 40-hour week and 52 weeks per year, although the public trail is only occasionally used), PG calculated an annual dose at the point of closest access of approximately 0.21 mSv (21 mrem). Following transfer of the six casks to the ISFSI, the annual offsite dose will be limited primarily to direct radiation, thus reducing the calculated doses at the point of closest access and to the nearest resident to approximately 0.17 mSv/yr (17 mrem/yr) and 0.045 mSv/yr (4.5 mrem/yr) respectively. Given the assumptions in the calculations, actual doses are expected to be less than these values. Conclusion The NRC staff reviewed the environmental impacts of the proposed action in accordance with the requirements of 10 CFR part 51. The NRC staff has determined that the storage of spent nuclear fuel in an in- ground ISFSI at the Humboldt Bay Power Plant would not significantly affect the quality of the human environment. Therefore, an environmental impact statement is not warranted for the proposed action, and pursuant to 10 CFR 51.31, a Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) is appropriate. Agencies and Persons Consulted The NRC staff consulted with several other agencies regarding the proposed action. These consultations were intended to afford the designated State Liaison agency the opportunity to comment on the proposed action, and to ensure that the requirements of Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) and Section 7 of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) were met with respect to the proposed action. By letter dated July 15, 2005, the NRC staff provided a pre- decisional draft EA for review and comment to the California Energy Commission (CEC), which is the designated State liaison agency. The CEC provided its comments in a telephone call in August 2005, stating its desire to see an expanded discussion of seismic and tsunami hazards in the EA. The NRC staff revised the discussion of seismic and tsunami hazards in response to the CEC's comments. On behalf of the CEC, Ms. Byron provided additional editorial comments by electronic mail on September 30, 2005, and in that same electronic mail message, raised the issue of potential terrorist attacks. The Commission previously has ruled that analysis of the possibility of a terrorist attack is ``speculative and simply too far removed from the natural or expected consequences of agency action to require a study under [the National Environmental Policy Act]'' (Commission Memorandum and Order CLI-02-25. ``In the Matter of Private Fuel Storage, L.L.C. (Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation).'' December 18, 2002). With respect to the requirements of Section 7 of the ESA, the NRC staff consulted with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Arcata Fish and Wildlife Office (USFWS/AFWO), and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration National Marine Fisheries Service (NOAA Fisheries). As a result of this consultation, by letters dated July 29, 2005, the NRC staff separately notified the USFWS/AFWO and NOAA Fisheries of its determination that the proposed action would have no effect on an endangered or threatened species or on critical habitat within the area of influence for the proposed action and provided an assessment in support of this determination. Pursuant to the requirements of Section 106 of the NHPA, the NRC staff consulted with the California Office of Historic Preservation, the California Native American Heritage Commission, and three Federally-recognized Indian Tribes: the Wiyot Tribe, the Bear River Band of Rohnerville Rancheria, and the Blue Lake Rancheria. As a result of this consultation and its own evaluation, the NRC staff determined that no historic or cultural resources would be adversely [[Page 69608]] affected by the proposed action. The California Office of Historic Preservation concurred in this determination by letter dated October 25, 2005. III. Finding of No Significant Impact On the basis of the EA, the NRC has concluded that there are no significant environmental impacts from the proposed action of constructing and operating the Humboldt Bay ISFSI and has determined not to prepare an environmental impact statement. IV. Further Information Documents related to this action, including the application for amendment and supporting documentation, are available electronically at the NRC's Electronic Reading Room at http://www.NRC.gov/reading-rm/adams.html. From this site, you can access the NRC's Agencywide Document Access and Management System (ADAMS), which provides text and image files of NRC's public documents. The ADAMS accession numbers for the documents related to this notice are: Document date Description ADAMS accession No. 10/30/2005.................. NRC staff's EA for ML052430106 the proposed ISFSI. 12/15/2003.................. PG's transmittal ML033640441 letter. 12/15/2003.................. PG's Environmental ML033640453 Report. ML033640677 7/15/2005................... NRC staff letter ML051780043 transmitting the pre-decisional draft EA to the CEC. 7/29/2005................... NRC staff's ML052030228 transmittal of determination of no effect to USFWS/ AFWO. 7/29/2005................... NRC staff's ML051380126 transmittal of determination of no effect to NOAA Fisheries. 10/25/2005.................. SHPO concurrence on ML053040051 NRC staff determination of no adverse affect. If you do not have access to ADAMS or if there are problems in accessing the documents located in ADAMS, contact the NRC's Public Document Room (PDR) Reference staff at 1-800-397-4209, 301-415-4737, or by e-mail to pdr@nrc.gov. These documents may also be viewed electronically on the public computers located at the NRC's PDR, O 1 F21, One White Flint North, 11555 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD 20852. The PDR reproduction contractor will copy documents for a fee. Dated at Rockville, Maryland this 4th day of November, 2005. For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Scott C. Flanders, Deputy Director, Environmental & Performance Assessment Directorate, Division of Waste Management and Environmental Protection, Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards. [FR Doc. E5-6315 Filed 11-15-05; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590-01-P ***************************************************************** 46 Salt Lake City Weekly: Envirocare short November 17, 2005 Governor Guts, BlackBerry Blues, Downtown Livin' by Ted McDonough HIT: Governor Guts Hiring the governor ’s brother-in-law has always been the way to do politics in Utah. Envirocare had every reason to believe putting Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr.’s cronies on the payroll would help its bid to double its radioactive waste dump. This is the same company, after all, whose previous owner gave a $65,000 “loan†to former-Gov. Norm Bangerter. Envirocare had Huntsman’s brother-in-law as an investor, then hired as lobbyists two directors of Huntsman’s political action committee and the chairman of Utah’s Republican Party. No dice, said Huntsman, announcing he’d already made up his mind to oppose the expansion. It’s too much to hope this signals a new way of doing politics in Utah, but there are signs of a nascent gubernatorial spine. MISS: BlackBerry Blues With the reconstruction of Utah’s Capitol, lawmakers got new meeting rooms, secret back passages and a private -parking garage elevator, rendering unnecessary interaction with the public. Now, in preparation for the 2006 legislative session, lawmakers are eliminating virtual access. Last week, legislative leaders approved giving all lawmakers free BlackBerry cell phone/e-mail devices—at an annual taxpayer cost of $220,000—while a legislative task force in another room recommended changing public records law to keep lawmakers’ e-mail secret. Call us paranoid, but this is starting to look like the plot of a bad James Bond movie in which the government is taken over by an aging charismatic leader who plots from inside an ugly stone headquarters emblazoned with giant globe. Oh. … Never mind. HIT: Downtown Livin' Salt Lake City’s Planning Commission has answered the question of what to do with empty storefronts in downtown’s once-thriving business sector: Turn them into homes. Planners have asked the city council to remove restrictions that ban street-level apartments. The change would accommodate the demand for downtown living while building a downtown population to support future commercial businesses. Equally forward-looking are restrictions the commission wants to impose on new construction in residential neighborhoods, making it difficult to build monster homes that dwarf neighbors in historic neighborhoods and preserving the charm that makes people want to move to Salt Lake City in the first place. story [SXSW 2006 application] Salt Lake City Weekly and slweekly.com ©1996-2005 Copperfield Publishing, Inc.. All rights reserved. offices: 248 S. Main Street Salt Lake City, Utah 84101 801-575-7003 ***************************************************************** 47 Gallup Independent: Energy corridor may impact reservation land - Monday, Nov. 14, 2005 Number 268 Volume 118 Southwest Page 5 By Kathy Helms Dine Bureau WINDOW ROCK -- U.S. government plans to designate national "energy corridors" on federal lands in 11 western states surrounding the Navajo Nation, appear to be building toward a legal takeover of Indian land through rights-of-way agreements the tribe could be forced to accept. The Energy Policy Act of 2005 enacted in August directs the secretaries of Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, Energy and the Interior to designate federal land in 11 western states for oil, gas and hydrogen pipelines, and electricity transmission and distribution facilities, or "energy corridors." The federal agencies must amend their land use plans to designate the series of corridors on federal lands in Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, Nevada, California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana and Wyoming and have been conducting hearings on the issue, though none in Navajo Indian Country. Federal lands are a combination of public domain lands, including state property and lands administered by agencies such as the Bureau of Indian Affairs, which holds 56 million acres in trust status on behalf of Indian nations and individuals. Federal land under Interior stewardship amounts to 437 million acres. The USDA Forest Service manages another 192 million acres -- including Coconino National Forest where the San Francisco Peaks are located. The Department of Defense oversees 25 million acres on 425 major installations. The feds also control 1.76 billion acres of the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf. Designating energy corridors as required by Section 368 of the 3-month-old energy policy could significantly impact the environment, the federal agencies said, prompting them to publish a notice of intent to prepare the West-Wide Energy Corridor Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement in the Sept. 28 edition of the Federal Register. Deadline for comment is Nov. 28. The Department of Energy and the Bureau of Land Management, co-lead agencies in the effort, with the Forest Service acting as a cooperating agency, held a series of public meetings Oct. 25-27 in Denver, Albuquerque, Salt Lake City, Cheyenne, Wyo., and Helena, Mont. Meetings also were conducted Nov. 1-3 in Boise, Idaho; Sacramento, Calif.; Las Vegas; Portland, Ore.; Phoenix and Seattle. The Navajo Nation holds rights to a wealth of oil, gas, coal, uranium and other minerals -- as well as hundreds of thousands of acre feet of precious water needed to sustain an ambitious energy corridor. NATION LEFT IN THE DARK Though the proposed corridors completely surround the Navajo Nation, Resources Committee Chairman George Arthur said Wednesday (Nov. 9) that committee members have not been told anything about it and have not been involved in federal discussions. Resources has oversight on issues pertaining to lease permits for oil, gas and mineral development on Navajoland. The Office of Navajo Nation President Joe Shirley Jr. has yet to respond to queries from The Independent regarding whether the Nation has been consulted. Resources' Arthur said, "In as far as the U.S. energy corridor is concerned, at least for us as oversight on that part of the discussion, we have never been apprised of it." "The Navajo Nation Resources Committee has never been at the table, has never participated in any shape or form in any of these discussions. Furthermore, if there is such a discussion, you¹ve got to keep in mind that the Nation is a sovereign state. Whether people realize it or not, everything stops at the border." The Navajo Nation is still in the process of developing its own energy policy which would reflect the objectives and mission statement of the Nation in regard to energy development in local, national, and international arenas, according to Arthur. One of this greatest concerns in the designation of energy corridors is the vulnerability of the Eastern Agency of the Navajo Nation "because of the land structure and the relationship that it has with the federal government with the trust responsibility. "I guess you could look at is as the Nation is a bigger figure in trust lands than individual allottees, so the vulnerability of individual allottees in respect to the pressure and impact of federal regulations and big corporations coming in is very open. They¹re very vulnerable," Arthur said. Uranium mining companies already are leasing land in Church Rock and Crownpoint within the Eastern Agency, despite the Nation's ban on uranium mining and processing passed in April by the 20th Navajo Nation Council. President Shirley signed an Executive Order Nov. 4 prohibiting Navajo Nation employees from communicating with uranium mining companies without first receiving guidance from the Nation's Department of Justice. Shirley said the move was necessary because some companies have been willfully disrespecting the Dine Natural Resources Protection Act of 2005 which banned uranium mining and processing. GOVERNMENTAL GROUPS ISSUE ENERGY MEMORANDUM A memorandum of Understanding was signed in August 2001 among DOE, the Interior, U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Council on Environmental Quality, and members of the Western Governors' Association. The MOU was to establish cooperation between western states and the federal government to address the West's growing energy problems. An August 2002 letter to Vice President Dick Cheney from then-Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham and Interior Secretary Gale Norton advised Cheney that an interagency task force, the National Energy Policy Development Group, had been formed to address issues associated with "renewable energy" production on federal lands. "Our response to the national Energy Policy reflects a commitment to increase our energy security by expanding the use of indigenous resources on Federal lands, while accelerating the protection of our environment," they said. The Energy Policy Act co-sponsored by New Mexico Sens. Pete Domenici and Jeff Bingaman contains a section on energy right-of-way corridors on federal land. Section 368 directs the secretaries of the various agencies to ensure that additional corridors for oil, gas, and hydrogen pipelines and electricity transmission and distribution facilities on federal land "are promptly identified and designated as necessary." The secretaries also are instructed to "expedite applications." El Paso Natural Gas, now in trespass on Navajoland after the two entities failed to reach agreement on the value of El Paso's right-of-way renewal, has teamed with a Washington, D.C.-based lobby group, the Fair Access to Energy Coalition, which gos by the acronym FAIR, to "ensure the movement of energy across tribal lands on reasonable terms." Other members of FAIR include: New Mexico Oil and Gas Association, the Association of Commerce and Industry of New Mexico, Arizona State Chamber of Commerce, Arizonans for Electric Choice and Competition, California State Chamber of Commerce, and Enterprise, which had its right-of-way agreement approved last month on the same day El Paso's expired. The Enterprise contract is worth approximately $23 million over the next 20 years for right-of-way access across 318 miles of fee land. The tribe is seeking $400 million from El Paso for its 900-mile stretch of pipeline right-of-way and associated projects. NOT IN TUNE WITH THE TIMES El Paso representatives were in Window Rock Thursday (Nov. 10) hoping to get an extension from the Resources Committee; however, they failed to get on the agenda but will try again later this month. El Paso has asked Interior Secretary Norton for an opinion regarding right-of-way status on Indian land. El Paso contends the federal government actually owns the land and that it's just held in trust for the Navajo Nation. The New Mexico Oil and Gas Association is seeking Domenici's support in amending the Indian Right of Way statute to allow the Secretary of the Interior to grant pipeline rights-of-way over tribal lands despite objections by the affected tribes. Resources' Arthur said, "In the discussion of the rights-of-way ... it's been very difficult because they perceive the Nation as not having to have been in tune with today's market value and the industry as a whole. "But I think that people in the industry need to realize that we've been down that road, and we're not going to go down the same road twice and be expected to conclude our business settlement on the same terms and conditions as it was in the 1980s or the mid-1990s." ON THE NET (to view map): http://corridoreis.anl.gov/guide/maps/map2.html ***************************************************************** 48 Gallup Independent: Officials tour area affected by water rights settlement - Monday, Nov. 14, 2005 Number 268 Volume 118 Page 1A By Kathy Helms Dine Bureau WINDOW ROCK --U.S. Sen. Jeff Bingaman and New Mexico State Engineer John D'Antonio on Saturday toured areas affected by the proposed San Juan River water rights settlement. Bingaman and U.S. Sen. Pete Domenici are co-architects of the Energy Policy Act of 2005. In a press release Saturday morning from the president's office, Navajo Nation President Joe Shirley Jr., said, "This settlement is crucial to the Navajo Nation. We are hosting this tour because it is vital that people see the conditions that some of our people are living in right now." "There are people in America without running water. This is one of the primary reasons why we need to move forward with this water project." D'Antonio said the negotiation is a move in the right direction and the result of much hard work and cooperation between the Navajo Nation, the State of New Mexico and the federal government. "Navajos and non-Navajos have waited many years for a resolution of water claims in this region and this settlement protects existing uses of water and gives these communities a secure future," D'Antonio said. Under the proposed San Juan settlement, the Navajo Nation would have the right to use (divert) 606,660 acre-feet per year and the right to consume (deplete) 325,670 acre-feet per year, plus 50 percent of any additional apportionment. An acre-foot equals 325,851 gallons. Total proposed settlement cost is $613,800,000. The revised settlement which passed the Navajo Nation Council in December 2004 eliminated language that would have increased the budget ceiling for Navajo Indian Irrigation Project by $341 million and authorized $31.8 million in rehabilitation expenses. Sources within the Navajo Nation say that if Congress fails to support the San Juan settlement package, it is expected that Domenici will try to put together a package tied to a big water project for California, though probably not this year. The proposed settlement agreement would resolve the Navajo Nation's water rights without litigation, supply water to Gallup, N.M., and recognize existing and authorized uses of water In the San Juan River Basin, including the San Juan-Chama Project that will provide drinking water to Albuquerque and Santa Fe, according to George Hardeen, Shirley's communications director. 'WIN-WIN SOLUTION' Gallup Mayor Bob Rosebrough, whose city may be out of water in 15 years, called the settlement a "win-win solution for everyone involved and crucial for all of us depending on water from the San Juan Basin." The San Juan settlement agreement would provide for the development of a rural water supply system to serve Indians and non-Indian residents in northwest New Mexico and on the Navajo Nation in far western Arizona, Hardeen said. The Navajo-Gallup Project calls for building a main trunk line. Piping water to individual homes would be a separate matter to be dealt with by Indian Health Service and Navajo Tribal Utility Authority. The settlement also calls for a Farmington-Shiprock Municipal Pipeline which would have a right to divert 4,680 acre-feet annually. There is no set diversion limit for "extra diversion for municipal and industrial." "The settlement is a bold step to address the need for a water system in this area of New Mexico and will have far-reaching benefits to multiple communities," Bingaman said. Domenici, who is also chairman of the Senate Energy and Water Development Appropriations Committee, warned in April that legislation authorizing the settlement "will be very difficult to fund given the huge budget deficits confronting the nation." He spoke in September in Washington to a group of water experts and representatives from 12 Department of Energy laboratories -- led by Sandia -- known as the "Energy-Water Roadmap" group, which is charged by Congress with creating a "roadmap" for assuring sufficient energy and water in the future. "Energy and water are interdependent. We cannot have sufficient energy without having sufficient water," Domenici said. ENERGY WATER ROADMAP As part of the recently enacted National Energy Policy Act of 2005, DOE was directed to research, develop, demonstrate and commercialize programs to address interdependent energy and water problems. Domenici, through the appropriations committee, has provided funding through Sandia to undertake the roadmapping effort, expected to take about a year. The Energy Policy Act also calls for a one-year study of tribal rights-of-way which could give the Secretary of the Interior final say in determining just compensation for rights-of-way when tribes and companies are in dispute, and granting those rights-of-way despite tribal protests. On Valentine's Day 2004, Sen. Bingaman, top Democrat on the Senate, Energy & Natural Resources Committee chaired by Domenici, renewed his effort to focus more attention on developing energy resources on Indian lands by introducing a bipartisan measure mean to spur energy production in Indian Country. "Energy production on tribal lands holds great promise. It is my belief that we can help meet our future energy needs by tapping into those resources. At the same time, such a move would provide new economic development opportunities in Indian Country, where jobs are scarce," Bingaman said. The bill was designed to help Indian tribes tap into energy resources by establishing a "Comprehensive Indian Energy Program" at the U.S. Department of Energy, which would assist with grants and loans for energy resource development. The legislation also proposed to "cut red tape imposed by the federal government on Indian tribes that seek to lease land and rights-of-way for energy production and transmission," Bingaman said. According to the Department of the Interior, only a quarter of the oil resources and less than a fifth of the natural gas resources on tribal lands have been developed. This past January, Bingaman and five other senators asked the White House to increase federal funding for domestic oil and gas research-and-development programs in the Fiscal Year 2006 budget request. The letter to U.S. Office of Management and Budget Director Joshua Bolton also asked the White House not to cut funding for the Bureau of Land Management's onshore oil and gas management activities. In addition to sponsoring the nation's new energy policy, Domenici and Bingaman co-sponsored the Rural Water Supply Act of 2005, which authorizes the U.S. Department of the Interior, through the Bureau of Reclamation to establish a program to plan, design and construct rural water supply projects. The act establishes a federal loan guarantee program within the Bureau of Reclamation that allows rural communities to obtain loans at interest rates far lower than loans not guaranteed by the federal government. ***************************************************************** 49 Pahrump Valley Times: County getting a handle on PETT (Yucca) November 16, 2005 By DOUG McMURDO PVT Comptroller Marie Owens might have stuttered and stammered her way through the ordeal, but when she was finished briefing the Nye County Board of Commissioners on the status of the Payments Equal to Taxes special project fund 492 late Monday afternoon, she managed to answer the one question nobody in county government has been able to adequately respond to in more than a decade - where is all the PETT money? PETT is an acronym for payments equal to taxes; funds the federal government pays Nye County for its use of Yucca Mountain as the probable site to store 77,000 metric tons of the nation's high-level radioactive waste. Each year the Energy Department pays a negotiated amount to Nye and nine other "affected units of local government." In January the county will receive roughly $10 million for fiscal year 2005-2006, which began July 1, and all but $2 million of that revenue has been committed - and a substantial portion of that funding was approved in 2003 and 2004. It is critically important readers understand Owens' figures are "un-audited," meaning they could change upon further scrutiny - but only by $100,000 one way or the other. The county on Oct. 21, 2003 pledged $1.5 million to help fund a Pahrump community college, monies that would be spent contingent on the 2005 Legislature approving a full-fledged Pahrump campus. But the Legislature was not kind to rural Nevada in the last session and the promised commitment was not honored. College boosters will now be asked to once again plead their case to the commissioners lest the funding promise be taken away - and at a time when a concerted effort is under way to move the valley out from under the umbrella of the Community College of Southern Nevada system and into the Great Basin system. Both systems are part of the Nevada System of Higher Education; however, Pahrump would likely fare better under the Elko-based Great Basin system. Other projects that could be in jeopardy include a Nye County Community Grant fund approved Feb. 17, 2004 for $1.25 million, $300,000 to the Pahrump fairground project, approved April 6, 2004 and $61,000 that was dedicated to the Pahrump skateboard park that same day. In her five-page report, Owens provided a description of specific commitments, the date they were approved, the total commitment from Nye County, what has been paid, and finally, the remaining balance. According to Owens, there was more than $7.5 million in PETT funding carried over from the fiscal year ending June 30, 2004. Add that to this fiscal year and more than $15.6 million that would be available in January. It is important to note there are several items that are budgeted that must be paid, such as old and new commitments for medium term financing, communications providers Harris and Motorola, and annual maintenance of the county's HTE financial software system. Transfers to various county funds, such as for airports, museums, probation, law library, forensic services, parks and recreation, self-insurance, a loan repayment from the county - $3 million was borrowed from PETT to balance the county's books last spring - and senior nutrition add up to more than $2 million. Those commitments must be honored and much of it has already been paid. The bottom line - the county has paid nearly $13 million in PETT funds on projects ranging from road improvements to signs, from a master plan in Pahrump to the abatement of a nuisance in Beatty. Owens' one error involved public works, which saved the county roughly $1 million over the past two years by having county crews perform base work on roads before they are chip-sealed. She mistakenly placed that money as a PETT commitment. If the status quo is maintained and commissioners agree to honor all current commitments, they would have roughly $2 million left after the Energy Department deposits $10 million in county coffers come January. What is most important, at least from the perspectives of Owens and Commission Chairwoman Candice Trummell and her peers, is that Nye County might abandon its carry over from one fiscal year to the next, meaning Nye County would close the books each year and start anew. For comment or questions, please e-mail Copyright © Pahrump Valley Times, 1997 - 2005 ***************************************************************** 50 Tribune-Review: Landfills retract offers to take ash - PittsburghLIVE.com By Wynne Everett TRIBUNE-REVIEW NEWS SERVICE Wednesday, November 16, 2005 Two more landfills have retracted offers to take uranium-contaminated ash from an old Allegheny Township sewage lagoon. Valley Landfill in Penn Township and Monroeville Landfill in Monroeville no longer want the contract to dispose of 12,000 cubic meters of radioactive ash from the former treatment lagoon at Kiski Valley Water Pollution Control Authority. Greenridge Reclamation landfill in East Huntingdon Township on Monday rescinded its offer to accept the ash after public outcry over the plan to dump the low-level radioactive material in a municipal landfill near three schools. There were two other DEP-qualified landfills -- Valley Landfill and Monroeville Landfill -- that bid on the ash. Waste Management Inc. owns both. The company notified the authority Tuesday that it is no longer interested in disposing of the ash. Jim Gebicki, a company spokesman, said that despite its decision, the company is still confident in the department's assertion that the ash is safe to bury in a municipal landfill. He said the company managers changed their minds because of the concerns the public had regarding the ash. Kiski Valley Water Pollution Control Authority Director Bob Kossak did not return calls for comment Tuesday on Waste Management's change of plan. The authority received a permit from DEP in October to remove the ash that was contaminated between 1978-1984 by waste from the former Nuclear Materials and Equipment Corp., and its successor companies Atlantic-Richfield and Babcock &Wilcox. The companies processed nuclear materials in plants in Apollo and Parks until the mid-1980s. The Kiski Valley Water Pollution Control Authority accepted wastewater from these plants, which was treated, leaving behind uranium in the sewage plant treatment lagoon ash. The authority wanted to remove the ash sludge from the defunct lagoon in 1994 as part of normal clean-up, but the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission declared the ash nuclear waste and forbade removal. Early this year, the NRC ruled the uranium dosage a person would incur by exposure to the ash was not dangerous, clearing the way for the authority to move the ash to an ordinary municipal landfill. DEP spokeswoman Betsy Mallison said the authority now can request bids from other landfills that qualify to take the lagoon ash, or it can consider other alternatives for disposing of it. Patty Ameno, an environmental activist from Leechburg, Armstrong County, and others, support temporarily moving the lagoon ash to the existing B waste dump in Parks Township, Armstrong County. The landfill is one of the former B properties contaminated by radioactive waste. It's scheduled to be cleaned up next year, with its contents going to a low-level nuclear waste facility. "There's only one resolution," Ameno said, "and that's to take it to a proper facility. If they can't afford to do that right now, then it should go in sealed containers and sit on top of that Parks site to be cleaned up with the rest of it." It is unclear how much this option would cost. The authority had planned to spend about $600,000 to dispose of the ash in a landfill. If the authority chooses to pursue another option, it would have to reapply for a new permit, Mallison said. "That would be a major modification, which would essentially start the review all over again," she said. Wynne Everett can be reached at or (724) 226-4676. Images and text copyright © 2005 by The Tribune-Review Publishing Co. Reproduction or reuse prohibited without written consent from PittsburghLIVE. ***************************************************************** 51 VALLEY NEWS DISPATCH: Two more landfills say no to nuke ash - PittsburghLIVE.com By Wynne Everett Wednesday, November 16, 2005 Two more landfills have retracted offers to take uranium-contaminated ash from an old Allegheny Township seweage lagoon. Valley Landfill in Penn Township and Monroeville Landfill in Monroeville no longer want the contract to dispose of 12,000 cubic meters of radioactive ash from the former treatment lagoon at Kiski Valley Water Pollution Control Authority, leaving plans to clean up the contaminated ash up in the air. Monday, Greenridge Reclamation landfill in East Huntingdon Township, Westmoreland County, rescinded its offer to accept the ash after public outcry over the plan to dump the low-level radioactive material in a municipal landfill near three schools. There were two other DEP-qualified landfills -- Valley Landfill and Monroeville Landfill -- that bid on the ash. Waste Management Inc. owns both. The company notified the authority Tuesday that it is no longer interested in disposing of the ash. Jim Gebicki, a company spokesman, said that despite its decision, the company is still confident in the department's assertion that the ash is safe to bury in a municipal landfill. He said the company managers changed their minds because of the concerns the public in had regarding the ash. Kiski Valley Water Pollution Control Authority Director Bob Kossak did not return calls for comment Tuesday on Waste Management's change of plan. The authority received a permit from DEP in October to remove the ash that was contaminated between 1978-1984 by waste from the former Nuclear Materials and Equipment Corp., and its successor companies Atlantic-Richfield and Babcock &Wilcox. The companies processed nuclear materials in plants in Apollo and Parks until the mid-1980s. The Kiski Valley Water Pollution Control Authority accepted wastewater from these plants, which was treated, leaving behind uranium in the sewage plant treatment lagoon ash. The authority wanted to remove the ash sludge from the defunct lagoon in 1994 as part of normal clean-up, but the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission declared the ash nuclear waste and forbade removal. Early this year, the NRC ruled the uranium dosage a person would incur by exposure to the ash was not dangerous, clearing the way for the authority to move the ash to an ordinary municipal landfill. DEP spokeswoman Betsy Mallison said the authority now can request bids from other landfills that qualify to take the lagoon ash, or it can consider other alternatives for disposing of it. Local activist Patty Ameno and other support temporarily moving the lagoon ash to the existing B waste dump in Parks. The landfill is one of the former B properties contaminated by radioactive waste. It's scheduled to be cleaned up next year, with its contents going to a low-level nuclear waste facility. "There's only resolution," Ameno said, "and that's to take it to a proper facility. If they can't afford to do that right now, then it should go in sealed containers and sit on top of that Parks site to be cleaned up with the rest of it." It is unclear how much this option would cost. The authority had planned to spend about $600,000 to dispose of the ash in a landfill. If the authority chooses to pursue another option, it would have to reapply for a new permit, Mallison said. "That would be a major modification, which would essentially start the review all over again," she said. Contributing: Sam Kusic of the Tribune-Review in Greensburg. Wynne Everett can be reached at or (724) 226-4676. Images and text copyright © 2005 by The Tribune-Review Publishing Co. Reproduction or reuse prohibited without written consent from PittsburghLIVE. Feedback | Report a Bug | Advertise with us | ***************************************************************** 52 TheNewsTribune.com: Senator rethinks Hanford cleanup | | Tacoma, WA LES BLUMENTHAL; The News Tribune Published: November 16th, 2005 02:30 AM WASHINGTON  The powerful chairman of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee said Tuesday that the 16-year-old agreement covering the cleanup of the Hanford nuclear reservation needs to be rewritten. In calling for state and federal officials to negotiate a new Tri-Party Agreement, Sen. Pete Domenici (R-N.M.) said the pact was too inflexible, has hindered the cleanup and has driven up its cost. Maybe we ought to sit down and think about another agreement, Domenici said during a hearing on the Department of Energys environmental cleanup program. Im hoping people think it is time to start anew. Domenicis comments came a day after Washington Gov. Christine Gregoire said the state was considering suing the federal government and would not sit idly by as the Energy Department and Congress cut funding, breaking their promise to clean up Hanford. Gregoire, in a statement Tuesday, showed no interest in negotiating a new Hanford agreement and insisted the federal government has a responsibility to provide the necessary funding. The Tri-Party Agreement is a carefully negotiated, legally enforceable agreement and it is unconscionable of the federal government to fail to provide the funding to do the job, try to get out of the agreement or pursue any delaying tactics, Gregoire said. A top DOE official, however, told Domenici a new agreement would make sense. Your suggestion is a valid one, testified James Rispoli, the departments assistant secretary for environmental management. Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-Edmonds) said the proposal for a new agreement was a nonstarter. No and no, Cantwell said after the hearing when asked whether she would support rewriting the current pact. Its just another gimmick. A Cantwell aide later said the state has agreed to more than 420 changes in the Tri-Party Agreement over the years, including adjusting some of the deadlines or milestones driving the cleanup. The agreement, signed by the state, DOE and the federal Environmental Protection Agency in 1989, spells out in detail how the Hanford cleanup was to be carried out. Gregoire, while serving as state attorney general, helped negotiate the agreement. The Senate Energy Committee, which Domenici chairs, has jurisdiction over the cleanup program. Domenici is also chairman of the Senate energy and water development appropriations subcommittee, which controls funding for the cleanup program. Domenici made it clear he was increasingly concerned about the cleanup effort at Hanford, saying it had been marked with continual confrontations between the state and DOE. The ever-increasing costs had to be reined in, he said. We have to find a way to do this at a more reasonable price and still get it done, he said, adding that those who oppose, argue, insist and litigate need to sit down with Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman and negotiate a new agreement. If the state is looking for a secretary who is capable of putting something together, this man could do it, Domenici said of Bodman. Domenici said the cleanup of the departments Rocky Flats site in Colorado was a model for how local, state and federal officials along with contractors can work together on cleanup. Originally, Rocky Flats was expected to take 70 years and $37 billion to clean up. The work, however, took 10 years and cost $7 billion. 1950 South State Street, Tacoma, Washington 98405 253-597-8742 © Copyright 2005 Tacoma News, Inc. A subsidiary of The McClatchy Company ***************************************************************** 53 DenverPost.com: Rocky Flats legislation passes senate Launched: 11/16/2005 05:04:00 AM By Anne C. Mulkern Denver Post Staff Writer Washington - Legislation introduced by Colorado's senators to finalize the cleanup at Rocky Flats, provide mental health screenings for military personnel and bring millions to the Pueblo Chemical Depot passed the Senate Tuesday as part of a defense funding bill. The Rocky Flats provision, added by Sens. Wayne Allard, a Republican, and Ken Salazar, a Democrat, gives the Department of Energy $10 million to buy mineral drilling rights for four parcels at the former nuclear weapons plant. It's the last step needed before Rocky Flats can become a wildlife refuge. The site has been returned to the way it was before plutonium production at Rocky Flats began, Allard said. It is now a beautiful open space that we all can enjoy. Salazar added a provision to the bill calling for $51 million for construction, planning and design work to accelerate the destruction of chemical weapons at depots in Pueblo and Bluegrass, Ky. He also added language requiring the Defense Department to provide mental health screenings for armed forces members. Mental health experts predict that 15 percent to 30 percent of those returning from the conflicts will develop post-traumatic stress disorder. This amendment will help to diagnose soldiers earlier, and improve their long-term quality of life," Salazar said. He also added amendments providing grants to retrain spouses when military members relocate, and allowing the Defense Department to provide security at some officially-sanctioned Paralympic events. Lawmakers now will work out differences between Senate and House versions of the bill before voting on it again. All contents Copyright 2005 The Denver Post or other copyright ***************************************************************** 54 DenverPost.com: Senate OKs bill boosting Rocky Flats, Pueblo depot Article Launched: 11/16/2005 01:00:00 AM Legislation by Colorado's senators to finalize the cleanup at Rocky Flats and bring millions of dollars to the Pueblo Chemical Depot passed the Senate on Tuesday as part of a defense funding bill. The Rocky Flats provision, by Sens. Wayne Allard and Ken Salazar, gives the Department of Energy $10 million to buy mineral drilling rights at the former nuclear-weapons plant. It's the last step before Rocky Flats can become a wildlife refuge. "The site has been returned to the way it was before plutonium production at Rocky Flats began," Allard said. Salazar added a provision to the bill calling for $51 million to accelerate the destruction of chemical weapons at depots in Pueblo and Richmond, Ky. He also added language to provide mental-health screenings for armed-forces members. Lawmakers now will work out differences between Senate and House versions of the bill before voting on it again. CANON CITY Mill spills contained, but 17 geese killed Nonradioactive spills last month from a uranium mill resulted in the death of 17 geese, but otherwise did not harm the environment, state officials discovered during a surprise inspection of the mill. The system set up at the Cotter Corp. mill was effective in keeping the spilled material from seeping into the soil, according to Marion Gallant, a coordinator with the hazardous materials division of the Colorado Department of Public Heath. Gallant and other health officials conducted an inspection of the mill Friday. In three separate incidents during October, 5,000 gallons of a thickener liquid spilled from storage drums, more than 6,700 gallons of kerosene spilled and 4,500 gallons of mildly contaminated water spilled. 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