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NUCLEAR POLICY
1 [NYTr] Russian Denounces Double Standard on Iranian Nuke
2 [NYTr] Russian Denounces Double Standard on Iranian Nuke
3 FT.com: EU3 look to Russia to influence Iran on nuclear talks
4 Xinhua: Iran: EU would be biggest loser if nuclear case referred
5 AFP: UN nuclear official on Iran mission
6 AFP: US says ball in Iran's court over nuclear talks
7 csmonitor.com: Why EU, Iran still far apart over nukes
8 MNA: IAEA deputy director in Tehran
9 MNA: Iran will sign contracts with Russia on construction of more
10 Guardian Unlimited: Diplomats See Possible Iran Compromise
11 Korea Herald: 'USFK conducted nuclear strike exercises in 1991'
12 Korea: Digital Chosunilbo: USFK Used Nuclear Weapons in Drills
13 US: It is no time to sit on our hands!
14 [NYTr] Venezuela Warns Bush Is the Real Atomic Threat
15 War & Peace & War by Peter Turchin
NUCLEAR REACTORS
16 [NYTr] No Plans to Buy Argentine Reactor: Venez Energy Min.
17 [NYTr] Venezuela Denies It Seeks Reactor from Argentina
18 US: NRC: NRC Announces Opportunity for Hearing on Application to Ren
19 BBC: Blair 'open' over nuclear future
20 US: Rockford Register Star: New Byron nuclear plant assessment relea
21 Slovak news: Nuclear power plant construction discussed
22 Xinhua: Nuke power firm plans project in Hainan
23 Scotsman.com News: 'Keep open mind on nuclear power'
24 US: Orlando Sentinel: Fossil-fuel bite real; nuclear fears are fable
25 AFP: Pakistan, Indian say nukes safe after quake
26 Guardian Unlimited Argentina: Venezuela Sought Nuclear Info
NUCLEAR SECURITY
27 US: ABC News: Secret Government Team Fights to Negate Nuclear Threat
NUCLEAR SAFETY
28 US: USATODAY.com: Nuke pills not ready despite '03 deadline
29 US: Hawk Eye: RAB meeting set for Tuesday
30 US: Newhouse A1: What Is Our Duty to the Future?
31 Scoop: Leuren Moret: Depleted Uranium Is WMD
NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE
32 Australian: N-waste our duty: Labor MP
33 Las Vegas SUN: Critics dominate final EPA hearing on radiation rule
34 Las Vegas SUN: Wife of Nevada congressman seeks his House seat
35 US: Buffalo News: Spent fuel removed from idle UB reactor
36 INSIDE JoongAng Daily: Seoul warns of abuse in nuclear waste vote
37 Las Vegas SUN: Finding common ground
38 US: Salt Lake Tribune: Dumping ground
39 US: NRC: Advisory Committee on Nuclear Waste; Procedures for Meeting
40 Guardian Unlimited: Critics Attack EPA's Yucca Mountain Rules
PEACE
41 AU ABC: Push on for council nuclear-free zones.
US DEPT. OF ENERGY
42 Rocky Mountain News: Rocky Flats operators lied, lawyers say
43 lamonitor.com: DOE OKs work plan for airport cleanup
44 lamonitor.com: Leaders visit from Russia
45 Chicago Maroon: Private firms interested in U of C's Argonne
46 lamonitor.com: Chief addresses fire contract
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1 [NYTr] Russian Denounces Double Standard on Iranian Nuke
Date: Tue, 11 Oct 2005 19:26:04 -0500 (CDT)
Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit
Prensa Latina, Havana
http://www.plenglish.com
Russian Expert Denounces Double Standard on Iranian Nuclear Program
Moscow, Oct 11 (Prensa Latina) A recognized Russian specialist from Russia's
Center for Political Studies stated Tuesday that he agrees with those who
believe a double standard is used in analyzing the Iranian nuclear program.
In the International Atomic Energy Agency Board of Governors' resolution,
there is no proof that Iran is using atomic energy with military objectives,
Russian expert Guennadi M. Evstafiev told Prensa Latina.
Evstafiev said what was discussed were all suspicions, used to create
distrust with propaganda objectives.
He recalled the similarity to the accusations against Iraq for weapons of
mass destruction, which never appeared after the overthrow of the Saddam
Hussein government.
For 20 years Iraq survived under great pressure from the US, and in the end
it was invaded on an unjustified pretext, the expert said.
While in that same region, Israel is an internationally recognized nuclear
and military power, and we hear only silence and a policy of excuses, he
added.
"As I see it, Iran wants to go forward independently with the use of nuclear
energy, to create a base for developing its economy, and perhaps, a future
resource for foreign trade," he opined.
Teheran authorities said Monday that negotiations on its nuclear program are
the only way to solve the crisis.
hr/ccs/tac/jpm
*
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2 [NYTr] Russian Denounces Double Standard on Iranian Nuke
Date: Tue, 11 Oct 2005 19:26:05 -0500 (CDT)
X-Fingerprint: owner-imap@chumbly.math.missouri.edu-127.127
Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit
Prensa Latina, Havana
http://www.plenglish.com
Russian Expert Denounces Double Standard on Iranian Nuclear Program
Moscow, Oct 11 (Prensa Latina) A recognized Russian specialist from Russia's
Center for Political Studies stated Tuesday that he agrees with those who
believe a double standard is used in analyzing the Iranian nuclear program.
In the International Atomic Energy Agency Board of Governors' resolution,
there is no proof that Iran is using atomic energy with military objectives,
Russian expert Guennadi M. Evstafiev told Prensa Latina.
Evstafiev said what was discussed were all suspicions, used to create
distrust with propaganda objectives.
He recalled the similarity to the accusations against Iraq for weapons of
mass destruction, which never appeared after the overthrow of the Saddam
Hussein government.
For 20 years Iraq survived under great pressure from the US, and in the end
it was invaded on an unjustified pretext, the expert said.
While in that same region, Israel is an internationally recognized nuclear
and military power, and we hear only silence and a policy of excuses, he
added.
"As I see it, Iran wants to go forward independently with the use of nuclear
energy, to create a base for developing its economy, and perhaps, a future
resource for foreign trade," he opined.
Teheran authorities said Monday that negotiations on its nuclear program are
the only way to solve the crisis.
hr/ccs/tac/jpm
*
================================================================
.NY Transfer News Collective * A Service of Blythe Systems
. Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us .
.339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012 http://www.blythe.org
.List Archives: https://olm.blythe-systems.com/pipermail/nytr/
.Subscribe: https://olm.blythe-systems.com/mailman/listinfo/nytr
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3 FT.com: EU3 look to Russia to influence Iran on nuclear talks
By Gareth Smyth in Teheran
Published: October 11 2005 17:52 | Last updated: October 11 2005
17:52
[Iran & Nuclear symbol] With time ticking away to next
month's crucial meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency
the European Union is looking to Russia, China and domestic
Iranian opinion to persuade Tehran to revive talks over its
controversial nuclear programme.
Iran has given no indication to the EU3, Britain, France and
Germany it will accept last month's IAEA resolution that found
Tehran in “non-compliance” with the Nuclear
Non-Proliferation treaty, a first step towards referral to the
UN security council and possible sanctions.
Iran has dismissed the resolution's call to give up converting
raw uranium into fuel, a demand the EU has made a condition for
restarting talks.
The Tehran ambassadors of the EU3 have not even met Ali
Larijani, Iran's top security official, since the resolution was
passed.
“At the moment we have no interlocutor,” said a senior
European diplomat. “We are talking through [press]
interviews.”
Tony Blair, the British prime minister, on Tuesday told a
London news conference “the position of Europe and America
..[is] ‘the same’ we will continue the pressure”.
Condoleezza Rice, the US secretary of state, will later this
week visit Europe to co-ordinate policy.
Meanwhile, Iran's diplomacy has been muted. Since taking office
in August, new president Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad has appointed
officials who show little appetite for compromise.
“These people are more like interrogators than
negotiators,” said the European diplomat, referring to the
background of many new officials in the Revolutionary Guards.
The Europeans have identified Mr Larijani as the man with whom
they need to talk, but are discouraged by his performance.
On Sunday, Mr Larijani gave mixed signals in a speech to staff
and students at Tehran's Sharif technical university.
On one hand, he said for the first time that Iran might accept
some of the conditions of the IAEA resolution.
But he also complained of “fascism” and of Iran being
treated “worse than North Korea”, which claims to have
nuclear weapons.
Europe still wants to avoid referring Iran to the security
council, said the diplomat: “Our hope is that as the deadline
approaches, more moderate elements in Tehran will have more
sway.”
Both former president Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani and reformist
figures have begun publicly to question whether confrontation is
in Iran's best interests.
A second EU hope is that Russia and China, who abstained on the
IAEA resolution and who have vetoes in the security council, can
influence Iran.
“We certainly need outside help,” said the diplomat.
“Russia's red line is the same as ours, they do not want Iran
to have the full nuclear fuel cycle.”
A third hope is that Iran might give some positive signs to the
IAEA delegation that arrived in Tehran on Monday, apparently to
complete research for a report to November's meeting.
But there are increasing signs of the Iranian leadership
preparing public opinion for referral to the security council.
Mohammad Saeedi, deputy head of Iran's Atomic Energy
Organisation (AEO), on Tuesday claimed “credible” opinion
polls showed 80 percent of Iranians supported the country having
the full nuclear cycle.
Mr Saaedi said the AEO was working on details of the proposal
made by Mr Ahmadi-Nejad to the UN last month for
“international involvement” in Iran's nuclear programme.
The European diplomat said this idea was “old hat”.
“This could come later once confidence is established, but
it's not the way forward now. Iran's new team is still at the
stage of showing how their predecessors got it all wrong.
“But what we need are clear signals they want to comply with
the IAEA resolution. It's not up to us to initiate, Iran has to
move.”
Copyright The Financial Times Ltd 2005. "FT"
"Financial Times" are trademarks of the Financial Times.
*****************************************************************
4 Xinhua: Iran: EU would be biggest loser if nuclear case referred
www.xinhuanet.com
www.chinaview.cn 2005-10-12 04:49:22
TEHRAN, Oct. 11 (Xinhuanet) -- A top Iranian nuclear
official urged the European Union (EU) on Tuesday not to seek
the referral of Iran's nuclear issue to the UN Security Council,
warning that the pan-Europe bloc would be the biggest loser in
that case.
"The EU has made some mistakes in dealing with Iran's
nuclear issue, especially its call for Tehran to give up its
nuclear fuel cycle program," said Mohammad Saeedi, deputy chief
of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization, quoted by the students'
news agency ISNA.
"It would be another great mistake if the EU made efforts to
refer Iran's file to the UN Security Council, because the EU
would be the biggest loser in that case," Saeedi said.
The Iranian nuclear issue hit a deadlock after Tehran in
early August resumed its highly sensitive uranium conversion
activities,the preparatory step for uranium enrichment.
As a result, the UN nuclear watchdog, the International
Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) adopted on Sept. 24 a resolution
drafted by the EU, which urged Iran to fully suspend all of its
activities related to uranium enrichment before November with a
warning of referring the case to the UN Security Council.
Tehran has urged the EU to adopt negotiations rather than
threats on the issue while calling upon the IAEA to stay away
from political influences and remain fixed on its professional
norms and responsibilities.
Saeedi said Iran was optimistic that satisfactory progress
would be made in the process of resolving the disputes between
Iran and the IAEA by November.
"Both Iran and the EU trio (of Britain, France and
Germany)expressed their desire to resume nuclear negotiations,
but Iranwill not accept any preconditions for the talks and what
the Europeans have proposed as a prerequisite for the
continuation of talks is not acceptable," Saeedi added.
The EU trio, long-time broker of the Iranian nuclear issue,
has been trying but in vain to persuade Iran to give up efforts
to build nuclear fuel cycles.
The United States accuses Iran of developing nuclear weapons
under the disguise of civilian program, but Tehran categorically
denies the charge, saying its nuclear program is completely
peaceful. Enditem
Copyright 2003 Xinhua News Agency. All rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
5 AFP: UN nuclear official on Iran mission
Tue Oct 11, 1:36 PM ET
VIENNA (AFP) - UN nuclear watchdog number two Olli Heinonen left
for Iran" /> Iran, where he is "paying a visit to certain
officials" and will meet UN inspectors on the ground, a western
diplomat said in Vienna.
IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei -- who on Friday received the Nobel
Peace Prize jointly with his agency -- was invited to Tehran at
the end of September, but a visit was not deemed appropriate at
this stage, according the diplomat.
"The Director General would go only if there was a major
breakthrough, if they decided to open their doors," the source
said.
"Among the outstanding issues are detailed accounts of what was
offered by the (AQ Khan) network and what was accepted by Iran,"
the diplomat said, referring to the suspected leaking of nuclear
expertise from Pakistan.
The IAEA, and ElBaradei in particular, have been demanding
greater transparency from Iran over its nuclear programme amid
fears it contains a military element. The agency has also asked
for access to certain sensitive sites in the Islamic Republic.
"Inspectors have been there for a while, they come in and out,"
the diplomat explained.
Heinonen's visit comes a day after Iran softened its tone on
negotiations over its disputed nuclear programme.
"Negotiations are Iran's strategic choice in the nuclear issue,"
Ali Agha Mohammadi, spokesman for Iran's Supreme National
Security Council, told the student news agency ISNA on Monday.
In the past few days European officials have also called for
talks to reopen before the next meeting of the atomic agency's
board of governors in November, which will decide whether to
refer Iran to the UN Security Council for "non compliance" with
the Non Proliferation Treaty.
Talks with Britain, France and Germany broke down in August,
when Iran slammed the door on an offer of incentives in exchange
for a cessation of fuel work. Iran also ended a freeze on fuel
cycle work by resuming uranium conversion -- a precursor to
potentially dual-use enrichment work.
Copyright 2005 Yahoo! Inc. All rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
6 AFP: US says ball in Iran's court over nuclear talks
Tue Oct 11, 3:28 PM ET
BRUSSELS (AFP) - A senior US official said that the "ball is in
Iran" /> 's court" over resuming talks with the European Union"
/> suspended in August after Tehran resumed controversial
nuclear activities.
Nicholas Burns, Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs,
underlined that Iran was responsible for breaching an accord
struck with the EU in Paris last November, under which it
pledged to freeze the sensitive atomic action.
"I think the ball's in Iran's court more than it is in the EU's
court," said Burns, whose government suspects Tehran of trying
to develop atomic weapons under the guise of its civilian
nuclear program.
"Here is a country that unilaterally ruptured the Paris
agreement ... that has resumed conversion in Isfahan ... a
country that seems to be embarked in a very radical course," he
added.
Talks with the so-called EU-3 -- Britain, France and Germany --
broke down in August, when Iran slammed the door on an offer of
incentives in exchange for a cessation of fuel work.
Iran also ended a freeze on fuel cycle work by resuming uranium
conversion -- a precursor to potentially dual-use enrichment
work.
In September, the 35-nation board of the International Atomic
Energy Agency" /> (IAEA) passed a resolution finding Iran to be
in non-compliance with the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty
(NPT) -- paving the way for the matter to be referred to the UN
Security Council.
Under the NPT, to which Iran is a signatory, non-nuclear-weapon
states undertake not to acquire or produce nuclear weapons or
nuclear explosive devices.
They are required also to accept safeguards to detect diversions
of nuclear materials from peaceful activities, such as power
generation, to the production of nuclear weapons or other
nuclear explosive devices.
Burns stressed the importance of the IAEA resolution. "Our view
is that the pressure is really on the Iranian government to
respond to this very strong vote," he said.
"The Iranians are in a weakened position diplomatically and it
is up to the Iranians to come back to these negotiations with
the EU-3 and to resume them."
He reiterated Washington's support for the EU's diplomatic
efforts. "Our instinct is to let the EU-3 be in the lead and to
support the EU-3 and try to resume negotiations," he said.
But he warned: "If the Iranians cannot do that they will face
increased diplomatic pressure and further isolation."
Copyright 2005 Yahoo! Inc. All rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
7 csmonitor.com: Why EU, Iran still far apart over nukes
October 12, 2005 edition
By Scott Peterson | Staff writer of The Christian Science
Monitor
TEHRAN, IRAN For months before Iran's June elections,
front-runner and former President Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani
sent clandestine messages to Washington and to Europe: "You can
trust me to lead Iran to moderation."
European officials from Britain, France, and Germany, long
engaged in nuclear negotiations with Iran, framed their hopes
around the likely new president.
But in August, it was hard-line victor Mahmoud Ahmadinejad who
took the oath of office after an unexpected surge to the right
by voters that also strengthened the grip of military and
security forces on Iran's nuclear program.
Within days, Mr. Ahmadinejad rejected a final (and not very
good, by all accounts) European proposal, and resumed enrichment
activities that had been suspended for nearly two years. Within
weeks, the UN's nuclear watchdog agency, under US and EU
pressure, voted to refer Iran to the Security Council - a move
that shocked Iran's top leadership.
Today, as both sides suggest that talks may soon resume,
diplomats and analysts argue that the political changes in Iran
are so fundamental that the nuclear red lines of the EU and Iran
may have become irreconcilable.
"The pivotal point is the orientation of the new government,"
says an Iranian analyst who asked not to be named. "It is backed
by military forces in Iran, which makes it even more
controversial to give it some nuclear leverage."
2005 Nobel Peace Prize winner Mohammed ElBaradei, head of the UN
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), last week said he was
hopeful the "hiccup" will be solved and that talks can soon
resume.
Iran insists on its "right" to enrich uranium for peaceful
purposes, as codified by the nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty
(NPT), to which it is a signatory. With the possibility of a
decision against Iran at the next IAEA meeting in November,
Tehran's new top negotiator, Ali Larijani, last week threatened
to "use [Iran's] full might to endanger America's interests" if
Washington increases pressure.
While the US has played no overt role in the talks, Europeans
admit the tough line from Washington has shaped EU proposals.
And Iranians often point out that any nuclear deal could be
irrelevant or even dangerous, without US involvement.
"You have to be realistic; there was no point putting together a
package that the US couldn't support," says a European diplomat
familiar with the talks. Though Washington at first disparaged
the European diplomatic efforts, it has gradually come around to
support them.
"The Americans and Europeans were prepared to offer Iran a
package deal, if Rafsanjani came to power - they counted on it,
and were hopeful for it [because] they would be assured that he
would decrease the power of military groups in Iran," says the
analyst.
"The 'grand bargain' was more than nuclear [issues]," the
analyst adds. "The US would lift sanctions in return for a
number of steps like Iran accepting a two-state
[Palestinian-Israel] solution ... US security guarantees would
have been part of the package. That is what the [Iranian] system
is looking for from the Americans."
How far any such deal could have stretched remains far from
clear, and some diplomats dismiss it completely. Though not
directly involved in any European offer, the US had made a
previous gesture to supply aircraft parts and an assurance that
it would not block Iran's WTO progress. Europeans say the August
offer was meant to be the first step toward broader talks.
"Hard-liners are very much in the ascendant, and voices for
enrichment will be much stronger," says the diplomat. "They
haven't started [actual] enrichment. They know that's the real
red line, where you break off the diplomatic track for good."
But at the same time, Rafsanjani's unelected Expediency Council
has in recent days been given sweeping new oversight powers, in
an apparent bid by Iran's supreme religious leader, Ayatollah
Ali Khamenei, to rein in hard-liners. In recent meetings with
foreign diplomats, Rafsanjani has also explicitly stated that
the supreme leader and the Expediency Council together - with no
reference to the Ahmadinejad government - will "determine
everything in the country."
And during Friday prayers in Tehran on Sept. 30, Rafsanjani
carefully calibrated his words, describing the need for
"diplomacy and not slogans," an indirect swipe at Ahmadinejad's
tough speech at the UN just days earlier.
"Maybe we have overestimated the capacity of Rafsanjani to make
a deal," says another European diplomat. "Nobody thought it
would be easy, because there is consensus in this regime [on
pursuing nuclear technology]. The difference between them is
tactics."
Diplomats note that Rafsanjani used "all his weight," just
before the election, to convince Ayatollah Khamenei not to
permit the resumption of enrichment activities until after the
vote, as hard-liners demanded.
Iran has since warned that it could reverse voluntary acceptance
of the NPT Additional Protocol, which enables snap inspections.
Or Iran could withdraw from the NPT altogether, heightening
concern of a secret bomb program and risking a US or Israeli
military response.
"It's not rational to tell Iran not to enrich uranium - it's our
right," says Amir Mohebian, political editor of the conservative
Resalat newspaper. Iran can prove its peaceful intention through
greater transparency, he says, if the IAEA guarantees a supply
of nuclear fuel for five years, while talks continue.
"We have spent huge money, $4 billion for enrichment, so we
can't stop it," he adds.
But the resurgent military role has set off alarm bells. "I
think it stands to reason that the one logical conclusion of the
military involvement in a nuclear program is that they are
trying to build a nuclear weapon," US State Department spokesman
Sean McCormack said last week.
The European position also appears to have hardened since
spring, when diplomats in Tehran spoke of a face-saving
acceptance of Iran's right to nuclear technology by permitting a
very limited, experimental enrichment project.
One document circulated between embassies in Tehran, with a
section labeled "Compromise Solution" that permitted Iran a
pilot project of a few hundred centrifuges. Iran wanted 5,000
centrifuges, which are central to a key method of uranium
enrichment, for the project.
But European diplomats say that no such offer was ever put to
the Iranians, and that "no enrichment at all" has been their
constant message.
Iranians often point out the inconsistencies in their own
neighborhood. Israel, Pakistan, and India are all nuclear
weapons states, did not sign the NPT, and have been little
punished for secretly building the bomb.
The US in July, in fact, agreed to a deal for extensive civilian
nuclear cooperation with India. But, says one of the Western
diplomats, "a regime that threatens to destroy Israel with the
Shahab-3 [missile] can't have nuclear weapons. [W]e can't deal
with Iran like we deal with India, which has proven to be a
responsible nuclear weapons power."
www.csmonitor.com | Copyright 2005 The Christian Science
Monitor. All rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
8 MNA: IAEA deputy director in Tehran
2005/10/11
Tehran: 21:17 , 2005/10/10
TEHRAN, Oct. 10 (MNA) -- Olli Heinonen, IAEA deputy director
general and head of the Department of Safeguards, arrived in
Tehran on Sunday night. He is heading a 4- member delegation for
negotiations with Iranian officials.
This trip was planned at the recent IAEA general assembly meeting
in Vienna, the Mehr News Agency reported.
In his meeting with Iranian officials Heinonen will discuss the
nuclear issues between Iran and International Atomic Energy
Agency.
An informed diplomat in Vienna said the impending talks are not
related to the recent IAEA resolution on Iran’s nuclear
program, adding that the delegation will start its work on
Tuesday.
Two IAEA inspectors are currently at the Isfahan Uranium
Conversion Felicity (UCF). The IAEA inspectors are continually
visiting Isfahan UCF after a resumption of the work at the
facility.
RS/MS
End
MNA
© 2003-2005 Mehr News Agency
*****************************************************************
9 MNA: Iran will sign contracts with Russia on construction of more
nuclear plants: envoy
2005/10/11
Tehran: 22:21 , 2005/10/10
TEHRAN, Oct. 10 (MNA) -- Iran plans to sign contracts with Russia
on the construction of additional nuclear power plants after the
Bushehr power plant project is completed, Iranian ambassador to
Moscow Gholamreza Ansari told the RIA Novosti news agency on
Monday.
“After the completion of the Bushehr plant, we will start work
on other plants with Russia. We assure Moscow that our nuclear
activities are peaceful and expect Russia to inform other
countries of this policy,” he explained.
Ansari went on to say that the Iran-Russia nuclear cooperation
has been brief but promising and, of course, this cooperation
can be expanded.
Bilateral talks have always been based on mutual understanding
of the countries’ needs and priorities, and Iran and Russia
hold the same views on major regional and international issues,
Ansari pointed out, adding that Iranian and Russian officials
are determined to develop and deepen their ties.
Fortunately, with the support of Russia and the other Shanghai
Cooperation Organization member states, Iran was given observer
status in the organization, he said.
RS/MS/HG
End
MNA
© 2003-2005 Mehr News Agency
*****************************************************************
10 Guardian Unlimited: Diplomats See Possible Iran Compromise
From the Associated Press
[UP]
Tuesday October 11, 2005 11:16 PM
AP Photo VAH103
By GEORGE JAHN
Associated Press Writer
VIENNA, Austria (AP) - Iran has signaled it may grant access to
sites linked to possible work on nuclear weapons and other
demands from the U.N. atomic watchdog agency to avoid referral
to the Security Council, diplomats said Tuesday.
The diplomats, who demanded anonymity because they were not
authorized to talk to media about the sensitive negotiations,
said a high-ranking IAEA delegation was in Tehran on Tuesday to
discuss the issue with Iranian officials.
Besides seeking access to two military sites, the agency also
wants to interview military officials thought to be associated
with what Iran says is a purely civilian nuclear program. The
agency is also asking for documents linked to the country's
uranium enrichment program.
Officials from the U.N. nuclear monitoring agency view those
three outstanding issues as crucial to their nearly three-year
investigation meant to test Iranian assertions that more than 18
years of clandestine nuclear activities first discovered in 2002
were geared solely toward generating power.
Iranian foot dragging on those points contributed to a decision
last month by the IAEA's 35-nation board of governors to find
the country in violation of provisions of the Nuclear
Nonproliferation Treaty. The board also passed a resolution
clearing the way for it to refer Tehran to the Security Council
as early as next month.
The diplomats, who are accredited to the agency, said that -
after signals from Tehran that it was ready to compromise - all
three points were being discussed between Iranian officials and
the IAEA delegation, led by Olli Heinonen, an agency deputy
director general.
Iran strongly denies assertions from the United States and its
allies that its nuclear program is a cover for a weapons program
or that its military is involved in nuclear activities.
Among the unanswered questions, according to an IAEA report last
month, were gaps in the documented development of Iran's
centrifuge program used in uranium enrichment - and in what was
received, and when, from the black market network headed by the
Pakistani scientist A.Q. Khan.
It also said Tehran continued denying access to IAEA experts at
Lavizan-Shian near Tehran, where the agency believes Iran has
stored equipment that can be used both for peaceful and nuclear
weapons-related purposes. It said investigators have also been
kept out of Parchin, the site of alleged experiments linked to
nuclear weapons.
Sentiment for the IAEA resolution on Security Council referral
was fed after Iran resumed uranium conversion - a precursor of
enrichment - in August, preventing talks with Britain, France
and Germany meant to cool suspicions about Tehran's nuclear
agenda.
Russia, which is opposed to Security Council involvement, on
Tuesday repeated its view that the Iran issue should be dealt
with by the IAEA.
``We do not want these controls, this inspection work, to be
interrupted,'' Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said at a
news conference in Paris alongside his French counterpart,
Philippe Douste-Blazy.
Douste-Blazy said France continued to hope for dialogue with
Tehran.
---
Associated Press Writer Joelle Diderich contributed to this
report from Paris.
---
On the Net:
http://www.iaea.org
Guardian Unlimited Guardian Newspapers Limited 2005
*****************************************************************
11 Korea Herald: 'USFK conducted nuclear strike exercises in 1991'
By Jin Dae-woong and David Nicoll
2005.10.12
U.S. Forces Korea conducted military exercises in preparation
for an aerial nuclear attack against North Korea in 1991, a
lawmaker said yesterday, citing recently declassified U.S
documents.
Rep. Choi Sung of the ruling Uri Party said in a statement that
the U.S. Air Force stationed in Gunsan conducted several combat
exercises from January through June 1991 in preparation for
possible air-launched nuclear strikes against North Korea.
Last month, Choi also said that USFK had deployed nuclear
weapons in South Korea but withdrew the nuclear arms from the
country around 1992 after the two Koreas signed an agreement not
to hold nuclear arms on the peninsula.
Documents provided from the office of Choi show that then
President George H.W. Bush approved a national security
directive in November 1991 committing the United States to
removing all nuclear weapons from the peninsula.
Choi's secretary, speaking on behalf of the lawmaker, said they
had no document showing this action had been taken.
After Choi disclosed that nuclear weapons had been present on
the peninsula between 1958 and 1991 - information he also
obtained from declassified documents - he said a USFK official
contacted him questioning what his intentions were in publicly
presenting this information.
Choi's secretary, Lee Jae-woong, said they told the USFK
official they wanted to clarify whether or not nuclear weapons
were in South Korea anymore. He added that any such
clarification would help the process of denuclearization on the
peninsula. Uncertainty has always hung over whether or not
nuclear weapons were in South Korea before 1992.
Choi said he received the declassified documents from the
Nautilus Institute, a U.S. think tank concerned with nuclear
security issues. The documents were written for USCINCPAC, the
U.S. Command in Chief of Pacific Command.
USFK was contacted by The Korea Herald about Choi's statements
in the National Assembly, but has not yet had adequate time to
respond.
Since late last month, the lawmaker has unveiled a series of
U.S. documents related to the activities of the U.S. military
stationed here. The documents came from the archives of the
Department of Defense and the Department of State, declassified
under the Freedom of Information Act.
On Sunday, Choi said the U.S military deployed 11 types of
nuclear weapons systems at its 16 bases in Korea from 1958 to
1991 and added that large-scale drills were carried out to
rehearse the launch of atomic bombs from field artillery in 1968.
(davidpooh@heraldm.com)
(davidn@heraldm.com)
*****************************************************************
12 Korea: Digital Chosunilbo: USFK Used Nuclear Weapons in Drills
> Updated Oct.11,2005 18:52 KST
The U.S. Forces Korea conducted nuclear attack flight drills
in 1968 and as recently as June 1991 at Gunsan Air Force Base, a
ruling party lawmaker said Tuesday. Choi Sung told a
parliamentary audit of the Foreign Ministry he had confirmation
from U.S. State and Defense Department papers released under the
Freedom of Information Act that large-scale nuclear training
exercises were conducted in 1968, from brigade to division
levels, in which all nuclear weapons were used.
"Between January and June 1991, the eighth Fighter Wing of the
Gunsan base participated in surface-to-air and air-to-air atomic
warfare flight training, he added. Based on the documents, he
said Sunday that 11 types of nuclear weapons systems were
deployed across the country, and 16 USFK bases transported or
stored nuclear weapons between 1958 and 1991.
The lawmaker said the fact that there were 16 U.S. military
bases that either have nuclear weapons or had them until 1991
raised the need for an investigation of possible radioactive
contamination around the bases. He urged the government to
revise articles on environmental issues in the Status of Forces
Agreement (SOFA) so the results of environmental inspections of
USFK facilities can be made public.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
*****************************************************************
13 It is no time to sit on our hands!
Date: Tue, 11 Oct 2005 15:05:57 -0700
X-Temp-Whitephrase: YES nuclear
X-Spamprobe: ham-extreme * 0.0001271 OK
image001.gifNuclear Information and Resource Service
1424 16th Street NW, #404, Washington, DC 20036
202.328.0002; fax: 202.462.2183; nirsnet@nirs.org;
www.nirs.org
October 11, 2005
Dear Friend of NIRS,
The energy bill is now law. Showing contempt for the wishes of the American
people, Congress passed a bill that authorizes billions of your hard-earned
dollars to be given to the nuclear power, coal and oil industries.
President Bush, of course, eagerly signed the bill.
Then came Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, and the bill already looks more
antiquated and backward-looking than before. But that wont stop the bills
biggest beneficiarythe nuclear power industry.
About the same time the Entergy Corporation announced its New Orleans
subsidiary was filing for bankruptcy, the company also said it plans to
build new reactors: in Louisiana and Mississippi! Why? Because Entergy, and
other nuclear utilities, want tax breaks for new reactors; loan guarantees
for up to 80% of the cost of new reactors (loan guarantees the
Congressional Budget Office says have a 50% chance of failure); and all the
other benefits authorized under the energy bill.
And, get this: the Department of Energy already was authorized to give the
nuclear utilities hundreds of millions of dollars to go through the reactor
licensing process. Now, without a hearing ever being heldCongress approved
another $2 Billion for utilities if there are delays in this licensing process.
Translation: taxpayers would be funding the nuclear industrys slick lawyers
to fight NIRS, other environmental groups, local citizensgroups, state and
local governments and anyone else who dares to challenge them in the NRCs
licensing process. And then, when we winon our shoestring budgets--the
nuclear utilities will get paid again!
So, what do we do? Throw up our hands and wait until we can say we told you so?
Not a chance.
We go on the offensive. We organize and educate and mobilize and empower
more than we ever have before. Well work harder to stop the nuclear
industry in the next Congress, well block it in the courts, in the states
and localities, and in the streets.
As a first step, were organizing a series of regional strategy conferences.
The first was held in New Hampshire in early August, and was a huge
success. More will take place throughout the Fall and Winter, well let you
know when and where. And if your group would like to co-host such a
session, please let us know.
And were reaching out to build strong new alliances: with sustainable
energy groups and companies; with doctors, economists and other
professionals; with the toxics movement; with cancer survivors and those at
risk; with mothers and children; with everyone who would be affected by a
new nuclear era: and that means everyone.
Lets face it: for 30 years the nuclear industry has been moribund, and for
good reason. This industry has failed, and continues to fail, four basic
tests: safety, radioactive waste, economics and public acceptance.
So, what changed to make nuclear power suddenly so attractive to Congress?
Actually, nothing.
But as you surely know, the nuclear industry has been spending millions of
dollars to tout itself as an answer to climate change.
That is the greatest fallacy of all. In fact, we face a fundamental choice:
we can have nuclear power, or we can address climate change. We cant do both.
And the climate crisis is too dire to waste any more time: we simply must
take the steps necessary to reduce carbon emissions as quickly as possible,
and that means not wasting our time, money and resources on nuclear power.
At the end of this letter, youll find some basic facts on nuclear power and
the climate crisis.
The reality is that we need to begin, now, to educate the next Congress
that we must take concrete, meaningful steps to address climate change; and
that nuclear power has no role to play in this.
Thats why were continuing to collect signatures on our Petition for a
Sustainable Energy Future (sign at www.nirs.org) and
will do so until January 2007. And thats why were supporting the
Sustainable Energy Coalitions Blueprint for a Sustainable Energy
Futureanother effort to bring these issues to the next Congress.
Just because the energy bill has been approved doesnt mean all of its
provisions will happen. Money was authorized to be spent, but it hasnt
actually been spent yet, and we need to prevent the appropriations of this
money by the next Congress.
We need your help to do that. We need your activism and, to be honest, your
financial help as well: it takes money for organizing, outreach, and public
education.
Your presence on our e-mail Alert list already indicates your willingness
to be active, and we appreciate that! We will let you know when you can
help stop appropriations for new reactors: watch in coming months for ways
you can make a real differenceyour actions really are important.
And so are your contributions. We thank each one of you who already has
contributed this year and ask you to contribute again. And we ask each of
you who has not yet given to do so now, as generously as you can. You can
make a secure, tax-deductible contribution online by clicking the donate
nowbutton on NIRS website or going directly to
https://secure.campagne.com/Donation/donate.aspx?id=58.
Or you can send a check to NIRS, 1424 16th Street NW, #404, Washington, DC
20036. Your support and activism is gratefully appreciated.
Best wishes,
Michael Mariotte
Executive Director
Some facts on nuclear power and the climate crisis:
* While atomic reactors themselves are not major carbon emitters, the
nuclear fuel chain produces significant greenhouse emissions. Taken
together, the fuel chain greenhouse emissions approach those of natural
gasand are far higher than emissions from renewable energy sources and
energy efficiency technologies.
*Nuclear power does not work well in warming climates. The summer of 2004s
heat wave across Europe caused many reactors to reduce power levels and
even shut down entirely because of dwindling river levels. Reactors require
vast quantities of water to keep the core cool; changes in water levels and
temperatures greatly affects reactor operations.
*According to a 2004 MIT study and the National Commission on Energy
Policys report, about 1,500 large new reactors would have to be built
worldwide to make a meaningful dent in greenhouse emissions. Operation of
that many new reactors (currently about 440 exist) would cause known
uranium reserves to run out in just a couple of decadesmaking nuclear power
a temporary solution at best or requiring a global program of dirty,
dangerous and proliferation-prone reprocessing.
*Operation of 1,500 or more new reactors would create the need for a new
Yucca Mountain-sized radioactive waste dump every 3-4 years.
*Operation of 1,500 or more new reactors would require a couple of dozen
new uranium enrichment plants, and would result in the production of
thousands of tons of plutonium, posing untenable nuclear proliferation threats.
*Construction of 1500 new reactors would cost trillions of dollars. Use of
resources of this magnitude would make it impossible to also implement
genuinely effective means of addressing global warming. Energy efficiency
improvements, for example, are seven times more effective at reducing
greenhouse gases, per dollar spent, than nuclear power. Yearly costs per
1000 kg avoided CO2 emissions is $68.9 for wind and $132.5 for nuclear power.
*Nuclear power, which can only produce electricity, cannot even begin to
address emissions from automobiles and other components of the
transportation sector.
We hope youll use this information in your letters to the editor, your
op-eds, your letters to Congress and state officials, your arguments with
friends and neighbors&..
Attachment Converted: image00111.gif: 00000001,5edff703,00000000,00000000
*****************************************************************
14 [NYTr] Venezuela Warns Bush Is the Real Atomic Threat
Date: Tue, 11 Oct 2005 19:25:43 -0500 (CDT)
Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit
Prensa Latina, Havana
http://www.plenglish.com
Venezuela Warns: Bush Is the Real Atomic Threat
Caracas, Oct 11 (Prensa Latina) Venezuelan authorities denied with
indignation an accusation by US Rev. Pat Robertson that Venezuela is
preparing a nuclear attack against the United States.
Venezuelan Vice President Jose Vicente Rangel asserted Venezuela is willing
to launch "love, affection, and appreciation" to the US people, but the true
atomic bomb threatening the United States is President George W. Bush.
Speaking at Monday's celebration of Venezuelan Soldier's Day, Rangel said
the significance of the new accusation by the evangelical minister, who
earlier called for assassinating President Hugo Chavez, was who is behind
him, and recalled that he is President Bush's spiritual advisor.
A man who announces a policy to kill a president should be tried in any
democratic country the vice president stressed, and expressed surprise at US
official silence on the statements.
Because the religious is very close to the US Executive, it confirms that
terrorism has a double meaning for the White House.
The Venezuelan vice president said that another accusation, that Chavez
finances Osama Bin Laden, is beyond logic and rationalism.
He said this kind of thing is why 67 percent of US citizens, including
whites and Republicans, repudiate Bush.
In a Venezolana de Television interview, US attorney Eva Golinger, who
divulged official documents about US interference in Venezuela, said
Robertson is being used by the most reactionary sectors to try and get the
public to relate Venezuela with the Al Qaeda terrorist network.
She said those who do not know the truth only hear those arguments intended
to frighten, and recalled that the Bush government unleashed a war based on
false information and lies.
What Robertson says is nothing to worry about, but what is behind him is,
the researcher concluded.
hr/ccs/iom/ml
*
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. Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us .
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15 War & Peace & War by Peter Turchin
Date: Tue, 11 Oct 2005 00:46:26 -0500 (CDT)
X-Fingerprint: owner-imap@chumbly.math.missouri.edu-127.127
War & Peace & War by Peter Turchin
01 October 2005
From New Scientist Print Edition..
Mark Buchanan
"WRITING history," Gustave Flaubert once remarked, "is like drinking
an ocean and pissing a cupful." Historians don't just list everything
that has ever happened, but try to string together selected events
that hopefully give some insight into the process of history. History
is, or should be, about learning from the past to understand the future.
Are there "laws of history", patterns or regularities that would let
War & Peace & War by Peter Turchin
Date: Tue, 11 Oct 2005 00:46:26 -0500 (CDT)
X-Fingerprint: owner-imap@chumbly.math.missouri.edu-127.127
War & Peace & War by Peter Turchin
01 October 2005
From New Scientist Print Edition..
Mark Buchanan
"WRITING history," Gustave Flaubert once remarked, "is like drinking
an ocean and pissing a cupful." Historians don't just list everything
that has ever happened, but try to string together selected events
that hopefully give some insight into the process of history. History
is, or should be, about learning from the past to understand the future.
Are there "laws of history", patterns or regularities that would let
us make predictions? Karl Marx thought he saw a steady progression in
history, leading inevitably to a future of world government by the
workers. British historian Arnold Toynbee saw cyclic patterns in the
rise and fall of civilisations. But most historians today think that
Marx and Toynbee were deluded, and that the pursuit of historical
laws is, in general, a fool's errand.
Refreshingly, Peter Turchin doesn't agree. A professor of ecology and
evolutionary biology at the University of Connecticut in Storrs,
Turchin argues in War & Peace & War that history isn't just "one
damned thing after another", but presents discernible patterns. In
the patterns he identifies, he may ultimately be wrong; time will
tell. What is most exciting is that Turchin brings modern discoveries
in psychology, experimental economics, evolutionary biology and even
physics to bear on history. This isn't just another arbitrary narrative.
Aside from our intelligence, what really sets humans apart from other
species is our ability to cooperate, even with genetically unrelated
strangers. Noting this fact, Turchin takes cooperation as his central
focus, and to make the project specific, he tries to tackle the
growth and dissolution of empires.
Empires rise and fall, he suggests, because of "competition and
conflict between groups, some of which dominate others". On the world
stage, ethnic groups - identified by race, language and other markers
- compete with one another for resources, land and so on. Plausibly
enough, those able to muster and sustain a higher level of internal
cooperation should tend to prevail, doing a better job of providing a
collective defence or in coordinating attacks against others.
In this sense, Turchin sees history as an evolutionary competition
between more or less cooperative groups, and this raises two natural
questions. First, how do new highly cooperative groups emerge, and so
become candidates for expansion and the founding of new empires?
Second, what happens to these cooperative groups that eventually
undermines their success?
A fundamental idea of biology is that new adaptive traits emerge most
readily where evolutionary pressure selects for them. Birds evolve
longer beaks only under conditions in which longer beaks make a real
difference to a bird's fitness. Following this idea, Turchin argues
that particular geographical zones should act as incubators for
highly cooperative groups, because they impose conditions under which
cooperation really matters.
In particular, he suggests, peoples that live at the boundaries of
existing empires face serious threats as those empires attempt to
expand. On the other hand, such peoples may also have opportunities
for beneficial trade with the empire. "In the pressure cooker" of
such a zone, Turchin suggests, "poorly integrated groups crumble or
disappear whereas groups based on strong cooperation thrive and expand".
So, the idea goes, the frontiers of existing empires offer fertile
territory for seeding highly cooperative groups that might then grow
into new empires. Turchin argues that a number of historical examples
fit this pattern. Russia rose up out of a three-century battle to
survive in the face of murderous raids by Tatar bands from the steppe
to the south. America grew strong and cohesive during a similarly
murderous three-century battle to survive and expand against
indigenous people.
Curiously, this part of Turchin's argument finds support in modern
experimental economics and anthropology. Experiments over the past
decade or so have established that most individuals aren't the
greedy, rational machines of neo-classical economics, but are often
willing to cooperate with others even when they clearly have nothing
to gain by doing so. Some of the most convincing efforts to explain
such "irrational" tendencies point to a process of cultural group
selection that looks surprisingly like Turchin's historical dynamics
- competition between groups of greater or lesser cooperative skills,
with the more cooperative tending to win out.
But if high levels of internal cooperation lead to the rise of great
empires, what leads to their ultimate demise? Here Turchin suggests
that another natural process comes into play. As an empire grows
rich, inequalities in wealth and power naturally emerge among its
people. Consequently, the very success of an empire sets up the
conditions for its demise, through the "corrosive effect that glaring
inequality has on the willingness of people to cooperate".
Turchin also illustrates this point with several historical examples,
including the abrupt decay of France in the 14th century, following
glory in the 13th, and the fall of Rome. It would be interesting to
know what he makes of today's America, and the fallout after the
disaster and debacle of New Orleans. But Turchin goes beyond mere
examples.
He also argues - rightly, I think - that the emergence of such
inequality ultimately has less to do with people than with simple
mathematics. A key discovery of so-called "complexity science", and
the physics of systems that are out of equilibrium, is that growth
often leads to a "rich get richer" phenomenon, which naturally
generates dramatic differences between distinct parts of a system.
This is true in systems ranging from the web where a small fraction
of sites account for a large fraction of all hypertext links - to
crystals growing in solution. In the context of economics, rich-get-
richer phenomena have been shown to cause a few business firms to
become far larger than all the others, and a few people to become
incredibly wealthy. Inequalities emerge inexorably, and for
fundamental reasons.
None of this is to say that Turchin is right about what causes the
rise and fall of empires. He expresses a convincing argument clearly
and with a wealth of supporting historical material, but no one, as
yet, can possibly know if this explanation is right. Even so, his
infusion of science into an area that too often ignores it is surely
admirable.
It will be interesting, however, to see what professional historians
make of Turchin's views. Today the task for many historians isn't so
much to seek the rhythms of history as to recreate the thoughts and
motivations of the people who lived it. This idea can be traced to
the British historian Robin George Collingwood, who insisted that all
history is "the history of thought". In this view, historians aren't
actually interested in what Turchin calls "historical dynamics" -
finding the causes of wars or of great empires - but in discovering
what the people involved were thinking, and how their thoughts led to
what happened.
To me, and certainly to Turchin, this view seems like an unfortunate
retreat from the task of understanding the past and its dynamics so
that we might understand the future better. It's likely that there
aren't any obvious trends or simple cycles in history, nothing that
can be wrapped up in a few equations ` la Isaac Newton. But by
bringing modern science to bear, researchers - if not historians -
may yet find meaningful patterns in history.
*****************************************************************
16 [NYTr] No Plans to Buy Argentine Reactor: Venez Energy Min.
Date: Tue, 11 Oct 2005 14:59:33 -0500 (CDT)
Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit
Venezuelanalysis - Oct 10, 2005
http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/news.php?newsno=1782
Energy Minister Denies Venezuela is Planning to Buy Argentine Reactor
By Venezuelanalysis.com
Caracas, Venezuela, October 10, 2005--Responding to news reports that
Venezuela is interested in purchasing a nuclear reactor from
Argentina, Venezuelas Minister of Energy and Petroleum, Rafael
Ramirez, denied that this true. Rather, Venezuela is interested in
training and research on nuclear technology, in cooperation with
Argentina, as part of its existing cooperation agreements.
The report that Venezuela was interested in purchasing a nuclear
reactor from Argentina originated with an AP summary of a news story
in the Argentinean newspaper Clarmn. According to this report,
diplomatic sources had told the Clarmn that the request had been made
during a meeting last August 29. The reactor type, known as CAREM, is
of medium capacity and would be used only for peaceful purposes.
Ramirez, making his comments to the press following a cabinet meeting,
said, there is no negotiation [for the purchase of a reactor]. There
are agreements for scientific cooperation, that is, for technological
exchange and research development. But there is no concrete agreement
for the acquisition of anything having to do with the generation of
atomic energy.
Ramirez pointed out that Venezuela is indeed interested in nuclear
technology, but only for training and for medical purposes. Venezuela
will bring itself up to date in the area of atomic energy, said
Ramirez.
According to Ramirez, Venezuela was one of the first countries of
Latin America to have a nuclear reactor, which was a pilot reactor.
Nuclear technology, however, was given little attention in the past
few decades in Venezuela and now the Chavez government is interested
in updating itself in this area.
Argentina and Brazil are both countries with advanced nuclear
capabilities Ramirez reminded the press. According to DPA Argentina
has exported reactors to countries such as Australia, Peru, Algeria,
and Egypt.
*
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17 [NYTr] Venezuela Denies It Seeks Reactor from Argentina
Date: Tue, 11 Oct 2005 11:57:04 -0500 (CDT)
X-Fingerprint: owner-imap@chumbly.math.missouri.edu-127.127
Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit
Bloomberg News - Oct 11, 2005
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000086&sid=agNy4xii_I24&refer=latin_america
Venezuela Isn't Seeking Argentine Nuclear Reactor
by Peter Wilson in Caracas
Oct. 11 (Bloomberg) -- Venezuelan Energy and Oil Minister Rafael
Ramirez denied a news report that the country is seeking to acquire a
nuclear reactor from Argentina.
Ramirez told the state-run Bolivarian News Agency that the country
plans to send scientists to Argentina to study "peaceful uses" of
nuclear energy. He denied an Oct. 9 report in the Argentine newspaper
Clarin that Venezuelan officials had sought a reactor from Argentina
during a visit in late August.
"We won't be acquiring a reactor," Ramirez said.
Ramirez's denial came two days after U.S. television evangelist Pat
Robertson accused the South American country of seeking nuclear
material that could be used to make a bomb. Venezuelan Vice President
Jose Vicente Rangel yesterday denied Robertson's charges, saying the
leader of the Christian Coalition was "crazy."
Venezuela particularly wants to study the use of nuclear energy for
medical projects, Ramirez said, without giving details.
"The important thing is the country is informed that the government
continues to advance in new areas such as nuclear and atomic energy,"
Ramirez said.
Analysts, such as independent oil analyst Jose Toro Hardy, questioned
Venezuela's need for nuclear technology, saying it may be for
political ends.
"Venezuela has huge reserves of oil and natural gas," Toro Hardy
said. "We have large hydroelectric resources. I don't see why nuclear
power is needed."
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, 51, said in March that his country
supports Iran in its confrontation with the U.S. over its nuclear
program.
Chavez said that each country has the right to nuclear power.
*
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18 NRC: NRC Announces Opportunity for Hearing on Application to Renew Operating License for Kansas
State Research Reactor
News Release - 2005-13 U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Office
of Public Affairs Telephone: 301/415-8200 Washington, DC
20555-0001 E-mail: opa@nrc.gov No. 05-137 October 11,
2005
opportunity to request a hearing on an application to renew the
operating license for the Kansas State University (KSU) Research
Reactor for an additional 20 years.
The KSU Research Reactor is a TRIGA Mark II reactor located on
the Kansas State campus in Manhattan, Kansas. The university
submitted the renewal application Sept. 12, 2002, and
supplemented the application on Dec. 22, 2004, and July 6, 2005.
The reactors license would have expired Oct. 16, 2002, but since
the renewal application was filed before that point, the NRC
will consider the license valid until the renewal application
has been reviewed.
The NRC staff has determined that the application contains
sufficient information for the agency to formally "docket," or
file, the application and begin its technical review. Docketing
the application does not preclude requesting additional
information as the review proceeds; nor does it indicate whether
the Commission will grant the application.
A notice of opportunity to request a hearing was published in
the Federal Register on Oct. 6, and the deadline for requesting
a hearing is Nov. 7. Petitions may be filed by anyone whose
interest may be affected by the license renewal and who wishes
to participate as a party in the proceeding.
A request for hearing and a petition for leave to intervene must
be filed with the Secretary of the Commission, U.S. Nuclear
Regulatory Commission, Washington, D.C. 20555-0001, Attention:
Rulemaking and Adjudications Staff. Requests may also be
submitted by facsimile to (301) 415-1101 or e-mail to
HEARINGDOCKET@nrc.gov. A copy should also be submitted to the
NRC Office of General Counsel, by facsimile to (301) 415-3725 or
e-mail to OGCMailCenter@nrc.gov.
Information about the NRCs oversight of research reactors can be
found on the agencys Web site at
http://www.nrc.gov/reactors/non-power.html.
Last revised Tuesday, October 11, 2005
*****************************************************************
19 BBC: Blair 'open' over nuclear future
Last Updated: Tuesday, 11 October 2005
[Tony Blair]
Mr Blair said he was not 'pre-empting' the debate
Tony Blair has called for an "open-minded" debate on the future
of nuclear power in the UK.
The prime minister said concerns over possible fossil fuel
shortages and global warming were "too strong for anybody
reasonably to ignore".
But the UK's targets for using more renewable sources, such as
wind and wave power, were "very ambitious".
But Mr Blair told his monthly news conference he was not
"pre-empting the debate at all" over nuclear energy.
The government has not ruled out building more atomic power
stations to help it meet carbon emission targets and plug the
energy gap created by the closure of ageing plants.
Mr Blair said the nuclear industry needed a "decision and a
framework".
He added that it was "responsible to start this debate and have
it in a very open way" and to "take what decisions we think are
right for the country".
Trade Secretary Alan Johnson has said government will bring
forward proposals for nuclear power next year to allow a public
debate on the issue.
*****************************************************************
20 Rockford Register Star: New Byron nuclear plant assessment released
Tuesday, October 11, 2005
The magic number in Ogle County this week is $390 million, a
figure released by officials as the new assessment of the Exelon
nuclear power plant in Byron.
That number has been a long-time coming. A seven-year agreement
freezing the plant's value at $472 million expired this year.
Local taxing bodies have been scrambling for years to make cuts
knowing their yearly property tax checks could be cut.
Exelon pays 11 governments, including Ogle County and the Byron
School District, nearly $26 million each year in property taxes.
The plant was once worth close to $1 billion.
The new figure is not final. It's the amount released by Ogle
County Supervisor of Assessments Jim Harrison. Both Exelon and
the taxing bodies have a 30-day window to appeal the amount.
Copyright 2005 Rockford Register Star.
*****************************************************************
21 Slovak news: Nuclear power plant construction discussed
Slovakia's English language newspaper October 10 - October
16, 2005, Volume 11, Number 39
EXPERTS are considering building a new nuclear power station in
Slovakia, the news wire SITA reported.
"The whole planning and construction process for a nuclear power
plant lasts between 15 and 17 years. Thus, it is high time to
think over another nuclear source in Slovakia," said head of the
Slovak Nuclear Society (SNUS), Vladimr Sluge, during an
international conference called "The Role of Nuclear Energy in
the Energy Policy of Slovakia and the European Union" on October
11.
A new nuclear power station is needed even though completion of
the third and fourth blocks of the nuclear power station in
Mochovce is now certain, the experts suggested.
"With another nuclear power station we would secure safe and
efficient energy supplies, cover increasing demand for energy,
availability of energy resources in Slovakia and reduce
pollution in Slovakia," added Sluge.
The SNUS head specified neither the locality of a potential
nuclear power station nor its type.
"For now, energy experts in Slovakia have started debating the
construction of a new nuclear facility and the entire project
preparation could last as long as ten years," added Sluge.
Nuclear power stations have been built in 31 countries in the
world. Some countries, including Poland, Indonesia and Vietnam,
are planning construction of new nuclear power stations for the
first time. The US plans to increase its nuclear capacity by 50
percent over the next 20 years.
Slovakia has two active nuclear facilities. Jaslovsk Bohunice
has two nuclear power stations with two blocks each; one of the
stations will be closed down in 2008.
The nuclear power station in Mochovce features two active and
two unfinished blocks.
Compiled by Beata Balogov from press reports
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the
information presented in its Flash News postings.
[10/11/2005 1:44:50 PM]
Copyright 1998-2003 The Rock spol. s r.o. All rights
*****************************************************************
22 Xinhua: Nuke power firm plans project in Hainan
www.xinhuanet.com
www.chinaview.cn 2005-10-11 09:27:15
BEIJING, Oct. 11 -- The nation's largest nuclear plant
builder, China National Nuclear Corp (CNNC), is in talks with
Hainan Province to build a nuclear plant in the South China
island province.
"We finished preliminary talks with senior government
officials last week and further negotiations are expected next
year," a CNNC director, who did not want to be identified, said
yesterday in Beijing.
The site for the plant has not been decided, he said, and it
will be selected from 10 potential locations.
The size of the plant will depend on the power demand
forecast for the province, the director told China Daily.
CNNC will use advanced technology for building the plant,
which is yet to secure final approval from the National
Development and Reform Commission, the country's top economic
planning body.
To build a nuclear plant, CNNC spends three years in
preliminary preparations and another five years on building
infrastructure, he explained.
The Hainan plant is CNNC's latest proposal which could be
included in the 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-15) or later, he
revealed.
The company plans a wide network of plants across coastal
provinces such as Liaoning, Shandong, Fujian and Guangdong; and
most have been included in the country's 11th Five-Year Plan
(2006-10).
Surging energy demand has pushed the central government to
accelerate the building of nuclear power plants to cut the heavy
reliance on coal and imported oil.
The nation's power consumption is estimated to more than
double to 4.6 trillion kilowatt-hours (kWh) from now to 2020,
and CNNC has budgeted some 400 billion yuan (US$49.3 billion) to
build at least 30 nuclear plants to produce 4 per cent of the
country's total electricity generation by then.
The Hainan government's long-term plan to push industrial
sectors such as petrochemicals and steel will also drive its
power demand to increase by an annual 15.5 per cent to reach
17.5 billion kWh by 2010, said a local news report.
(Source: China Daily)
Copyright 2003 Xinhua News Agency. All rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
23 Scotsman.com News: 'Keep open mind on nuclear power'
Tue 11 Oct 2005
Prime Minister Tony Blair has appealed for people to keep an
"open mind" on the merits and disadvantages of nuclear energy as
the debate gets under way on whether to replace Britain's atomic
power stations.
Mr Blair insisted that he had not yet made up his mind on
whether to order the construction of new nuclear plants to
replace the ageing power stations as they are phased out over
the coming 10-15 years.
But he said that the need to halt climate change and ensure the
UK's security of energy supply meant it would be irresponsible
simply to discount the nuclear option.
Speaking at his monthly press conference at 10 Downing Street,
Mr Blair said: "The reasons why it has got to go on the agenda -
and I am not expressing a concluded view - are security of
supply and global warming.
"There will be a debate about that, but it should be conducted
with an open mind, I hope, by everybody.
"The issue of energy is, in my view, going to start to come
centre-stage, not just in our own politics but in the politics
of other similar countries, and that is for a very simple
reason.
"We have the evidence of global warming which is there, and that
is very strong now - I think too strong for anybody responsibly
to ignore.
"Secondly, for a country like Britain, our present nuclear power
is going to be phased out over 10-15 years. We have a very
ambitious renewables target and there are obviously issues there
that we have got to address and get right."
Mr Blair promised: "I am not pre-empting the debate at all. We
will take whatever decisions are right for the country."
© Copyright Press Association Ltd 2005, All Rights Reserved.
*****************************************************************
24 Orlando Sentinel: Fossil-fuel bite real; nuclear fears are fables -
OrlandoSentinel.com:
[Mike Thomas] Mike Thomas
Published October 11, 2005
As a radical environmentalist, I support Progress Energy's plans
to build a nuclear power plant in Florida.
Bring on the three-eyed fish, glowing cockroaches and Homer
Simpson.
Give me these imaginary bogeymen instead of the very real
wasteland being created by fossil fuels.
America's decision to abandon nuclear power back in the 1970s
has been an ecological disaster.
Coal contains mercury, a potent neuro-toxin. It goes up the
smokestack, about 100,000 tons of it a year. Some of it is
dispersed into the atmosphere where it is deposited to parts
unknown. Some comes down near the smokestack.
Rain sweeps it into lakes and streams, and from there it is
passed up the food chain. Biologists have found so much mercury
in Florida freshwater fish that health advisories have been
issued even in lakes and rivers thought to be free from
pollution.
In Central Florida, children are not supposed to eat more than
one serving of bass a week from the Butler Chain of Lakes. Bass
from the Econlockhatchee River are completely off limits.
Power plants also spew out an assortment of other nasty
pollutants, including sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide and carbon
monoxide.
These cause acid rain, ozone pollution, soot and global warming.
Health experts have calculated that pollution from power plants
puts 30,000 people a year into early graves by triggering
respiratory and heart problems. The scientists primarily blame
older power plants, which should have been replaced years ago by
nuclear facilities.
The two coal-fired power plants at the Orlando Utilities
Commission are about the cleanest in the nation. Yet they still
emit 6,775 tons of sulfur dioxide a year and 8,426 tons of
nitrogen oxide. Every little bit hurts.
Carbon dioxide is not measured because it can't be controlled as
of yet. Yet this is a key gas responsible for global warming.
Nuclear power plants don't dump sulfur dioxide or nitrogen
dioxide or carbon dioxide in the air.
They don't dump soot in the air to poison people's lungs.
Three Mile Island was the nation's worst nuclear accident. It
occurred in 1979 when a reactor partially melted down. Most
experts are skeptical that the small amount of released radiation
caused any statistically significant health problems. In 1996, a
federal judge threw out a lawsuit filed by almost 2,000 nearby
residents, saying there wasn't sufficient evidence to link any
illnesses to the accident.
There hasn't been a major incident in the United States since
then.
We need a paradigm shift away from fossil fuels and toward
nuclear power, renewable energy sources and conservation.
God bless proponents of the latter two, but that alone is not a
solution. And so I welcome Progress Energy's announcement. The
utility is taking advantage of new federal energy legislation
that is loaded with financial incentives in the form of tax
credits and loan guarantees.
The News & Observer, a newspaper from Progress Energy's home
city of Raleigh, N.C., reports that the utility could get as much
as $2 billion from the federal government.
Critics call it corporate welfare.
If it cleans up the air and water, stops our dependence on
foreign energy sources and slows down global warming, I'll call
it a good investment.
Mike Thomas can be reached at 407-420-5525 or
mthomas@orlandosentinel.com.
Copyright 2005, Orlando Sentinel| Get home
*****************************************************************
25 AFP: Pakistan, Indian say nukes safe after quake
Tue Oct 11, 3:55 AM ET
ISLAMABAD (AFP) - Rivals Pakistan and India said their nuclear
warheads and installations were safe after the weekend's
devastating earthquake which caused major casualties on both
sides.
The South Asian neighbours conducted tit-for-tat atomic tests in
1998 and in 2002 came to the brink of war along their ceasefire
line in the divided Himalayan territory of Kashmir" /> Kashmir,
the area worst hit by Saturday's 7.6 magnitude quake.
"There is no danger to our nuclear installations and weapons
from earthquakes," Pakistan military spokesman major general
Shaukat Sultan told AFP on Tuesday. "They are fully safe."
Sultan said he was not immediately able to say up to what
intensity the Pakistani nuclear facilities could withstand
earthquakes and aftershocks.
Indian government officials declined to comment on the status of
their atomic bombs but Indian defence experts said no warheads
are deployed anywhere near the border with Pakistan.
Separately, the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited said
they had "not received any reports of any damage to any of our
facilities". India's 15 nuclear power plants also withstood a
giant quake in Gujarat in January 2001, the corporation's
website said.
Up to 40,000 people are thought to have died in Pakistan from
the weekend's monster quake, many of them in Pakistani Kashmir,
and a further 950 have been confirmed dead in India's sector of
the region.
The quake also caused massive structural damage, wiping out
whole villages and laying waste to some 75 percent of
Muzaffarabad, capital of Pakistani Kashmir.
Pervez Hoodbhoy, professor of physics at Islamabad's
Quaid-i-Azam University, said the quake posed more danger to
nuclear power plants than the nuclear weapons.
Pakistan's main uranium enrichment facility in Kahuta, near
Islamabad, is located about 75 kilometres (46 miles) southeast
of Kashmir.
"It will not be a military installation, the danger could be at
Chashma," Hoodbhoy, also an activist against nuclear weapons,
told AFP refering to a Chinese-built facility some 400
kilometres (248 miles) southwest of Islamabad.
"Chashma is in a seismic zone and if an earthquake is centred
close to it (the nuclear power plant) there could be loss of
radioactive material and a Chernobyl like situation," Hoodbhoy
said.
India and Pakistan have fought three wars since their bloody
partition in 1947 but they launched a peace process in January
2004 that renewed cultural, sports and economic links snapped in
2002.
The two countries had poured troops onto their border in 2002
following an attack by suspected Pakistan-backed militants on
India's parliament. India blamed Pakistan for the attack, but
Islamabad denied the charge.
They have since been involved in peace talks including
confidence-building measures to avoid an accidental nuclear war
between them.
Copyright 2005 Yahoo! Inc. All rights reserved.
*****************************************************************
26 Guardian Unlimited Argentina: Venezuela Sought Nuclear Info
From the Associated Press
[UP]
Tuesday October 11, 2005 3:46 AM
By OSCAR SERRAT
Associated Press Writer
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) - Venezuela's government has asked
Argentina about the possibility of providing technical expertise
to help develop nuclear energy in Venezuela for peaceful
purposes, officials said Monday.
Cabinet Chief Alberto Fernandez said a delegation from the
Venezuelan state oil firm Petroleos de Venezuela S.A. had
inquired about the possibility.
Argentina is one of the leading Latin American nations in
nuclear power generation for peaceful purposes, and the two
countries have signed a series of energy accords that mark close
ties between two left-leaning leaders, Venezuelan President Hugo
Chavez and Argentine President Nestor Kirchner.
In Caracas, Venezuelan Energy Minister Rafael Ramirez said
building a nuclear reactor in Venezuela ``is not planned at this
moment.''
``It's about technical exchange and studies, there is no
concrete agreement for obtaining anything related to generating
atomic energy,'' Ramirez told state television.
Chavez recently said his government is researching peaceful uses
of nuclear power, and is looking to countries such as Iran and
Brazil as examples.
Argentina's foreign minister, Rafael Bielsa, noted that
Argentine has helped other countries with reactor projects for
peaceful uses, including Australia and Egypt.
Venezuelan Vice President Jose Vicente Rangel said he expected
government opponents to falsely accuse Chavez of seeking foreign
expertise to develop nuclear weapons rather than an alternative
energy program.
``Of course they will give it military connotations,'' he said,
adding that it was part of a ``dirty campaign'' against Chavez's
government.
Chavez has previously said he is interested in working with Iran
to explore peaceful nuclear energy. Chavez has insisted Iran has
the right to develop nuclear energy despite opposition from the
U.S. government, which fears Tehran may be developing a nuclear
weapons program.
The Venezuelan leader is a strong critic of the U.S. government,
although the United States remains the leading buyer of
Venezuelan oil.
--
Associated Press writer Jorge Rueda, in Caracas, Venezuela,
contributed to this report.
Guardian Unlimited Guardian Newspapers Limited 2005
*****************************************************************
27 ABC News: Secret Government Team Fights to Negate Nuclear Threat
ABC News Gets Exclusive Opportunity to Observe Teams Deployed to
Detect Radioactive Material
[NEST members]
The NEST teams scour cities and major events for signs of
radioactive material, like a "Ghostbusters" for nuclear bombs.
(ABC NEWS)
Oct. 11, 2005 If you live in a big city, chances are a secret
government team has been in your neighborhood hunting for
radioactive material even terrorist bombs. But you probably
didn't even notice.
ABC News' Cynthia McFadden got an exclusive, inside look at one
of the most secretive units working in the war on terror a
little-known government SWAT team called the Nuclear Emergency
Support Team.
+ Video: Out with the NEST
+ Related: Loose Nukes
"We look like normal people out there. Miniskirts and flip-flops
and baseball hats," said one female NEST member, who asked not
to be identified for security reasons.
The unit serves as a sort of "Ghostbusters" for nuclear bombs,
often scouring major events such as Super Bowls or Olympic
competitions for signs of trouble.
They hide their detection equipment in briefcases, knapsacks,
even beer coolers, and travel in mobile labs disguised as
ordinary delivery vans. They often work right out in the open,
but remain hidden from the untrained eye.
The woman next to you in the ballpark, the executive at the
airport, the man with the golf bag any of them could be
carrying sophisticated, well-disguised radiation detectors.
Scientists, Not Soldiers
NEST is made up of nuclear physicists and scientists who work in
the nation's weapons labs, but when their pagers alert them,
they become an investigative unit tasked with finding a
terrorist's nuclear weapon before it explodes.
Though they're often chasing dangerous characters, NEST members
carry technical equipment rather than weapons.
"That is why we are attached at the hip to law enforcement,"
said Debbie Wilbur, who heads NEST for the Department of
Energy's Nuclear Security Administration. "They understand the
risks. These guys run toward the problem. Everybody else is
hightailing it out of there."
To see what they do, ABC News went to Las Vegas last summer to
get a rare glimpse of a NEST team in action at its headquarters
at Nellis Air Force Base.
Drilling for Disaster
As a drill, a team of NEST investigators was asked to search the
grounds of the base for a small amount of cobalt-60 a highly
radioactive material that can be deadly if used in a dirty bomb.
They piled into a NEST van packed with high-tech equipment to
begin the search.
The cobalt-60 had been hidden in a nearby parking lot, and the
highly-sensitive detection equipment in the van began beeping
soon after the search began. Background radiation from
construction equipment, granite or even just the Earth can
register alerts for an elevated radiation level. The challenge
for the team is to determine which hit is the real threat.
The parking lot was filled with more than 100 cars, and the team
drove the van past each one. Every move the team made was
transmitted and recorded back at the base. After 15 minutes,
several beeps sounded, indicating a real hit.
The hit was radioed back to the base, and the team returned to
explore the area on foot. Once the correct vehicle was
identified, a team member used another piece of equipment, known
as an "identifier," to determine what type of material was in the
car.
"And it identifies this - cobalt-60," a male team member said.
"Yes, there's definitely a radiation source."
Searching From the Air
NEST also has technology that allows the teams to detect
radiation from the air. A test run at the Nevada site -
considered ground zero for America's atomic bomb tests - showed
how a helicopter flying at a low altitude was able to find a
small amount of cesium, a rare element, in a stretch of desert.
The detection methods and technology are state of the art, but
some experts say it may not be good enough.
Peter Zimmerman, a nuclear physicist who was formerly the chief
scientist for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, pointed out
that even with NEST's high-tech tools, it is very difficult to
find nuclear material.
"The bomb is likely to be shielded by the walls of the building,
could be in a basement, could be shielded by real shielding,"
Zimmerman said.
And background radiation that surrounds many things can create
significant problems, often making it nearly impossible to detect
the nuclear material in a bomb.
"It's there. It masks the signal, it mimics the signal. It makes
it more [difficult], I think even, than a needle in a stack of
needles. I once heard it described as the drops from a glass of
vodka in a thunderstorm," Zimmerman said.
He noted that the helicopter experiment in the Nevada desert
might not be a true example of how difficult it is to find
nuclear material in a crowded city, like Los Angeles. And he said
a material like cesium might send off a stronger signal that some
other bomb-making materials.
"Cesium's a strong gamma emitter. It's hard, it's very hard to
shield it," he said.
In fact, sources like cobalt or cesium, which could be used in a
dirty bomb, emit strong radioactive signals and are relatively
easy to detect. But plutonium and highly enriched uranium, the
two fuels used in nuclear weapons, are far less radioactive even
though they're potentially more dangerous.
Zimmerman said uranium 235, which is used to make bombs, is a
very low-emission material, making it hard to find. Its emission
levels are so low that something as simple as a piece of aluminum
foil could mask it.
Because of this, the technology alone is unlikely to just chance
upon loose nuclear material. The investigators must first know
where to look. Without good intelligence information, finding
threatening nuclear material is a very difficult task.
"I won't say virtually impossible. Without good intelligence,
it's extremely difficult," Zimmerman said.
How Fast Can They Find a Bomb?
In 1974, Boston police received a ransom letter that said an
atomic bomb had been planted somewhere in the city. Experts were
flown in to search for the device, but the response was poorly
organized, and their equipment ended up at the wrong airport.
The organizational failures surrounding the Boston incident led
to the creation of NEST. Over the next decade, NEST responded to
dozens of nuclear extortion threats. But responding to a ransom
threat, which gives investigators time to search while the
extortionists wait for a payoff, is far different than the threat
posed by terrorists.
The attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, offered a good example of the
challenges faced when responding to immediate danger. After the
World Trade Center collapsed, NEST investigators were stranded in
Las Vegas, unable to respond for 24 hours because their specially
equipped plane was grounded along with almost every other
aircraft in the country.
"We realized after the towers were hit, the Pentagon was hit,
that we were dealing with a situation in which we didn't have the
time, like an extortion event," Wilbur said.
After 9/11, NEST created smaller teams that could respond faster,
and they worked around the clock, going from one city to another,
searching up to three cities at a time.
"There are just a lot of threats out there that we never even
considered before," one male team member said.
Today, with close to 1,000 team members in 29 locations, two
helicopters and three planes, NEST teams deploy dozens of times
each year on search drills in cities designated by the FBI. They
launch into action when the Homeland Security Department raises
the threat level.
"We keep a bag packed. Often we don't know exactly where we're
going. They put us on a plane and where we land is . is where we
land," the female team member said.
Tracking a Nuclear Drill
ABC News for the first time observed an actual drill at Andrews
Air Force base in Maryland. From the moment they were alerted,
the NEST team had four hours to deploy. They loaded up water,
tents, protective vests and gear that protects from chemical and
biological agents, as well as detection gear and communications
equipment - anything they would need to survive in the field.
The Maryland team was ready and out the door in under an hour,
well ahead of schedule. It's a tough job, with very dangerous
work and hectic schedules. NEST investigators are often away from
home for weeks at a time, though they earn just a few extra
dollars a day when they're on call.
So why do they do it?
"I'll tell you this. When the pager goes off and somebody says,
'The U.S. has a problem, and you're the one we've selected to
go,' there's nothing that beats that feeling. That makes
everything else worth it," one member of the Maryland team said.
How Safe Are We?
Government officials concede that the NEST operations are not
foolproof, but the combination of technology, detailed
intelligence and dedicated investigators working with law
enforcement forms a complex network fighting to stop a terrorist
bomb from killing Americans.
The simple fact remains that there are literally tons of nuclear
materials in more than 40 countries around the world. It only
takes a few kilograms for terrorists to make a bomb and threaten
lives. To ensure 100 percent safety, the government and NEST
investigators would have to make sure that all of this
potentially lethal material doesn't fall into the wrong hands.
"You can't fight the laws of physics, but you can push as far as
they'll let you go," said Ambassador Linton Brooks, head of the
National Nuclear Security Administration.
"We would certainly be less safe if our opponents knew that we
had no capability and that there was no barrier, no equipment, no
team to stop them. After all, if the bad guy knows we have NEST,
he may even decide that he can't do whatever bad thing, nuclear
terror, because he can't beat NEST."
RightsCopyright 2005 ABC News Internet Ventures [ /]
*****************************************************************
28 USATODAY.com: Nuke pills not ready despite '03 deadline
Posted 10/11/2005 1:01 AM Updated 10/11/2005 1:04 AM
By Mimi Hall, USA
TODAY WASHINGTON Despite an order from Congress, the Bush
administration has not given millions of people living within 20
miles of nuclear power plants access to pills that could help
protect them if they are exposed to radiation.
It will be early 2006, at the earliest, before potassium iodide
pills are made available to those people. Congress had ordered
that the pills, which help prevent thyroid cancer, be stockpiled
by mid-2003.
Rep. Edward Markey, D-Mass., said it's "outrageous" that the
administration hasn't made the pills more widely available.
"Nuclear power plants are at the top of the al-Qaeda target
list," he said. "Potassium iodide is an inexpensive way to
protect infants and children."
The federal government already makes pills available to states
that have residents living within 10 miles of a licensed nuclear
reactor. The nation has 104 such reactors spread across 33
states.
After the Sept. 11 attacks raised concerns that terrorists might
try to attack nuclear power plants, members of Congress decided
more people should be protected.
HOW PILLS WORK
A nuclear accident produces radioactive iodine. Potassium
iodide pills, if taken quickly, fill the thyroid with
non-radioactive iodine, thereby blocking the radioactive element
from the thyroid.
As part of broad bioterrorism legislation passed in 2002,
Congress set a June 2003 deadline for the administration to
offer free potassium iodide pills to states that have residents
living within a 20-mile radius of a plant.
According to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 4.7 million
people live within a 10-mile radius of the nation's plants, and
21.9 million live within a 20-mile radius. Because the pills are
recommended only for people 40 and younger, who are more likely
than older people to get thyroid cancer, not everyone would need
them.
The once-a-day pills are approved by the Food and Drug
Administration and must be started within four hours of
exposure. Thyroid cancer would be a leading health concern,
particularly among children, in the event of a radioactive
iodine leak caused by an accident or a terrorist attack.
Robert Claypool, director of the emergency preparedness planning
office at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS),
acknowledges the government is way behind schedule.
He blames bureaucratic indecision during the past two years
about which government agency HHS or the Homeland Security
Department should be in charge of the federal government's
stockpile of drugs and anti-dotes for anthrax, smallpox and
other diseases.
The dispute was resolved this year in favor of HHS.
"All of us understand that more time has elapsed than Congress
intended," Claypool said. "We're doing our best to try to comply
with it."
States have the option of stockpiling their own potassium iodide
pills.
Under the bioterrorism law, HHS must offer guidelines to states
on how to store, distribute and use them. HHS published
guidelines for public comment in August.
Claypool said the administration is pushing to get the program
in place. But he added that officials are concerned that the
pills, which protect the thyroid against inhaled or ingested
radioactive iodine by saturating it with harmless potassium
iodide, "will be overrelied on as a panacea" in lieu of
evacuation and decontamination.
Alan Morris, president of Anbex, a company that sells the pills
over the Internet, says the government could buy them for only
18 cents per pill. Most people would probably need to take the
pills only a few days before the radiation dissipated.Nuke pills
not ready10/11/2005 1:04 AMBy Mimi Hall, USA TODAYWASHINGTON-->
Copyright 2005 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.
*****************************************************************
29 Hawk Eye: RAB meeting set for Tuesday
Sunday, October 9, 2005 Site updated daily at 11 a.m. CST
IAAP brief
The Hawk Eye
The Iowa Army Ammunition Plant Restoration Advisory Board meets
this week.
The civilian board, which monitors environmental cleanup at the
ammunition plant, will gather at 5 p.m. Tuesday in the Winegard
Board Room of the Burlington/West Burlington Area Chamber of
Commerce, 610 N. Fourth St.
The meeting is open to the public. Interested residents can read
more on the topic at the Burlington Public Library, Danville
City Hall or Lee County Health Department.
For more information, call Rodger Allison at (319) 7537130.
The Hawk Eye 800 S. Main St.,
Burlington, Iowa 52601 319-754-8461 1-800-397-1708 FAX
319-754-6824 webmaster@thehawkeye.com
*****************************************************************
30 Newhouse A1: What Is Our Duty to the Future?
[Newhouse News Service]
David Walker, head of Congress' Government Accountability
Office, says federal spending and programs must be revamped to
benefit future generations. (Photo by Chris Rossi)
BY MICHELE M. MELENDEZ c.2005 Newhouse News Service
It's the human condition: The future looms, and we grapple with
how to plan.
Whether the issue is pollution, retirement savings or the state
of education in America, politicians, scholars, interest groups
and even Mom and Dad talk about leaving new generations a better
world, one unencumbered by mistakes adults make today.
Sounds good. But what determines our responsibility to the
future? The question has no clear answer, yet purportedly guides
how we live.
"It has to do with history and ethics and religion and
morality," said William Dunkelberg, economics professor at
Temple University in Philadelphia. "There's no law that says we
have to think about the future. It's something that we choose to
do."
Claire Irvan, 31, of Portland, Ore., has given much thought to
this topic for her sons, ages 5 and 6. She said she fears
deforestation and the country's reliance on oil will leave her
children an unfit planet.
"We have to begin to do things that we know aren't going to hurt
the earth," she said. "What are we teaching our children? ...
What will be there for them?"
By many measures, American children today are better off than
their parents were. Child mortality is down. A higher percentage
finish high school and go on to earn bachelor's degrees.
Once-feared diseases and dangers, including polio and lead
poisoning, have become lesser threats.
But other problems persist. The federal deficit is swelling.
Social Security faces a shortfall. Natural resources shrink as
energy consumption rises.
Those trends trouble David Walker, head of the U.S. Government
Accountability Office, which audits federal programs and
spending. Since the country's infancy, he said, Americans have
passed along greater opportunities and living standards. That's
now in jeopardy.
"We are at risk of not delivering on that longstanding
tradition," said Walker, who preaches "prudence today and
stewardship for tomorrow."
Meanwhile, policymakers and regulators ponder how far into the
future they should reach. Sometimes that is far indeed.
In August, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency revised its
proposed limits on radiation exposure at the planned Yucca
Mountain nuclear waste repository in Nevada. The stated goal is
to protect public health for 1 million years.
"Yucca Mountain is a great example of how tangled up you can get
under the wrong paradigm," said Robert Fri, visiting scholar at
Resources for the Future, a Washington-based institute that
examines environmental issues.
Fri, EPA deputy administrator during the Nixon administration,
chaired a National Academy of Sciences committee in 1995 that --
at Congress' request -- evaluated the EPA's proposed standards
for the Nevada site. In his view, the government's regulatory
framework encourages rigid long-term plans for fluid
environmental problems that deserve periodic re-evaluation.
Regulations crafted today may be inappropriate or meaningless in
a million years.
So, he said, the question becomes: "How do you hand off a
problem to the next generation in a way that we're able to deal
with, that doesn't disadvantage them?"
The starting point rests in centuries-old, even ancient, thought.
"There are certain fundamental building blocks that have to be
in place in order for people to pursue the kind of life they
want to live," said Alex John London, associate professor of
philosophy at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. "We're
moral equals. You're free to do what you want as long as you
afford me access" to necessities, including clean water, food,
even dignity.
"We don't owe (future generations) wealth," London said. "We owe
them a just society and a safe living environment."
It comes down to values. Historically, defining and practicing a
nation's values have proved challenging. Even families who love
each other fight over their beliefs. Try getting a dozen, much
less millions of Americans, to agree.
"We don't have any single tradition of thought," religious,
philosophical or otherwise, said Mary Doak, assistant professor
of theology at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana.
Christianity, Judaism and Islam all honor human rights, the
Earth's resources and the well-being of children. For decades,
scholars have debated how those shared tenets should apply to
tomorrow.
Practically speaking, supporting future generations can have a
selfish twist, at least in the short term. Children eventually
will carry the responsibility for aging adults, said Isabel
Sawhill, a vice president of the Brookings Institution and
co-director of its Center on Children and Families.
But the responsibility rolls both ways. Sawhill said grown-ups
must ensure that children have the skills and knowledge to
become productive adults themselves. She said that if adults
don't minimize foreseeable problems that children will inherit,
such as the mounting deficit, it amounts to "a form of child
abuse. It seems terribly irresponsible."
Scholars use models, theories and equations to project into the
future. They look at history. They chart. They guess. And they
could be wrong.
"It's ridiculous to suggest we would know what things would be
like 100 years from now," said Paul Thompson, environmental
philosopher at Michigan State University in East Lansing.
Look at a hundred years ago: The country had just 45 states. Not
all women could vote. Movies were silent. A copy of The New York
Times cost 5 cents. Las Vegas had no telephone lines, let alone
twinkling casinos.
But Thompson said the country can't use uncertainty as an
excuse: "We have to be cautious about we do today."
Children are counting on it.
Miranda Taylor-Weiss, 11, a sixth-grader at Sunnyside
Environmental School, a public school in Portland, said she
wants communities to be safer.
"When you're grown up, you shouldn't have to go outside and be
abducted," she said.
Schoolmate Kyle Ebberts, 12, in seventh grade, said he hopes for
more research and development of alternative sources of fuel.
"I don't necessarily plan on getting a car when I get older," he
said, adding that he cringes when he sees the rainbow-shimmery
spots left behind by cars: oil wasted. "It just really sickens
me."
Oct. 11, 2005
(Michele M. Melendez can be contacted at
michele.melendez@newhouse.com)
*****************************************************************
31 Scoop: Leuren Moret: Depleted Uranium Is WMD
11 Oct | The Scoop Editor
Tuesday, 11 October 2005, 1:52 pm
Opinion: Leuren Moret
Tuesday August 9, 2005
Translations: French, Italian German
My grandfather, U.S. Army Col. Edwin Joseph McAllister, was born
in Battle Creek in 1895. He does not know that his first
grandchild is an international expert on depleted uranium. I
have worked in two U.S. nuclear weapons laboratories, and in
1991 I became a whistleblower at the Livermore lab. Depleted
uranium is very, very, very nasty stuff:
# Depleted uranium (DU) weaponry meets the definition of weapon
of mass destruction in two out of three categories under U.S.
Federal Code Title 50 Chapter 40 Section 2302.
# DU weaponry violates all international treaties and
agreements, Hague and Geneva war conventions, the 1925 Geneva
gas protocol, U.S. laws and U.S. military law.
# Since 1991, the U.S. has released the radioactive atomicity
equivalent of at least 400,000 Nagasaki bombs into the global
atmosphere. That is 10 times the amount released during
atmospheric testing which was the equivalent of 40,000 Hiroshima
bombs. The U.S. has permanently contaminated the global
atmosphere with radioactive pollution having a half-life of 4.5
billion years.
# The U.S. has illegally conducted four nuclear wars in
Yugoslavia, Afghanistan and twice in Iraq since 1991, calling DU
"conventional" weapons when in fact they are nuclear weapons.
# DU on the battlefield has three effects on living systems: it
is a heavy metal "chemical" poison, a "radioactive" poison and
has a "particulate" effect due to the very tiny size of the
particles that are 0.1 micron and smaller.
# The blueprint for DU weaponry is a 1943 Manhattan Project memo
to Gen. L. Groves that recommended development of radioactive
materials as poison gas weapons - dirty bombs, dirty missiles
and dirty bullets.
# DU weapons are very effective kinetic energy penetrators, but
even more effective bioweapons since uranium has a strong
chemical affinity for phosphate structures concentrated in DNA.
# DU is the Trojan Horse of nuclear war - it keeps giving and
keeps killing. There is no way to clean it up, and no way to
turn it off because it continues to decay into other radioactive
isotopes in over 20 steps.
# Terry Jemison at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
stated in August 2004 that over 518,000 Gulf-era veterans
(14-year period) are now on medical disability, and that 7,039
were wounded on the battlefield in that same period. Over
500,000 U.S. veterans are homeless.
# In some studies of soldiers who had normal babies before the
war, 67 percent of the post-war babies are born with severe
birth defects - missing brains, eyes, organs, legs and arms, and
blood diseases.
# In southern Iraq, scientists are reporting five times higher
levels of gamma radiation in the air, which increases the
radioactive body burden daily of inhabitants. In fact, Iraq,
Yugoslavia and Afghanistan are uninhabitable.
# Cancer starts with one alpha particle under the right
conditions. One gram of DU is 1/20th of a cubic centimeter and
releases 12,000 alpha particles per second.
Before my grandfather died, he told me that his generation had
made a mess of this planet. I wonder what he would say to me now
I would tell him to see "Beyond Treason"
(www.beyondtreason.com), a new documentary about the history of
treason by the U.S. government against our own troops: Atomic
veterans, MK-Ultra, Agent Orange and DU. After Vietnam, Henry
Kissinger said, "Military men are just dumb, stupid animals to
be used as pawns in foreign policy. . ." (from Chapter 5 in the
"Final Days" by Woodward and Bernstein).
*
Leuren Moret is an international radiation specialist, with a
B.S. degree in geology from University of California at Davis, a
M.A. degree in Near Eastern studies from University of
California at Berkeley and has done post-graduate work in the
geosciences at UC-Davis. She is environmental commissioner for
the City of Berkeley, Calif.
*
*****************************************************************
32 Australian: N-waste our duty: Labor MP
[October 12, 2005]
LABOR frontbencher Martin Ferguson has declared Australia must
accept some responsibility for global nuclear waste, just weeks
after the party distanced itself from Bob Hawke's suggestion of
an international nuclear waste dump in the central desert.
Mr Ferguson, responsible for Labor's energy and mining policy,
said yesterday that the Australian community was not yet ready to
accept the return of nuclear waste from its uranium exports.
But he said the nation had to "face up" to the "responsibilities
that come with being the owners of globally important nuclear
energy resources".
He said these included "making sure that nuclear waste materials
are safely and peacefully disposed of for the long term" and
making uranium available to countries that were less fortunate
than Australia in terms of energy self-sufficiency.
"It is time for all Australians to engage properly in a
constructive debate about the strategic importance of Australia's
uranium resources," he told a mining conference in Fremantle.
Labor is increasingly divided over the issue of uranium mining
and exports, with Mr Ferguson pushing for a renewed debate on
mining and nuclear power after two decades of sticking to the
party's "three mines" policy.
However, Labor states and territories such as Western Australia
and Queensland refuse to allow the development of their uranium
deposits. And powerful unions remain implacably opposed to
uranium mining and nuclear power.
Mr Ferguson said yesterday a proper debate on nuclear energy had
been avoided for so long that the nation was unprepared to deal
with global energy issues.
Three weeks ago Mr Hawke, the former Labor prime minister,
created a storm when he said Australia should, "as an act of
economic responsibility", accept the world's nuclear waste.
Opposition Leader Kim Beazley labelled the concept "a bit
outside the platform", with Mr Ferguson repeating his view that
the nation was not "ready to accept a high-level waste
repository".
However, Mr Ferguson's support for a debate on Labor policy -
which limits Australia to three operating uranium mines - was
greeted by loud applause from more than 300 delegates at the
Australian Uranium Conference.
He said avoidance of the nuclear debate meant "we are unprepared
as a nation to deal with the global energy and associated
climate change issues that now loom large on the horizon".
"As a nation, we don't have a clear view about the role of
nuclear power in the world. We don't have a clear view about the
strategic nature of Australia's uranium resources.
"We do not even have a solution for the safe disposal of low and
intermediate-level nuclear waste generated in our own country,
let alone a clear view of the solution for high-level nuclear
waste generated around the globe from nuclear power operations."
After Canada, Australia is the world's second-biggest exporter
of yellowcake. But that could change if the South Australian
Government gives the go-ahead for a planned expansion of the
massive Olympic Dam mine owned by BHP Billiton.
The Australian
*****************************************************************
33 Las Vegas SUN: Critics dominate final EPA hearing on radiation rule
Today: October 11, 2005 at 22:12:13 PDT
ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON (AP) - Yucca Mountain critics dominated the final
public hearing on how much radiation could be released from the
proposed nuclear waste dump.
Environmentalists say the radiation standard proposed by the
Environmental Protection Agency is too weak to protect future
generations.
Just two of 15 people who made public statements at the agency's
headquarters expressed support of the E-P-A proposal.
One represented a group that wants nuclear waste moved away from
the Savannah River Site in South Carolina. The other was an
official with the National Association of Regulatory Utility
Commissioners, which supports swift completion of the Yucca
Mountain nuclear waste dump in Nevada.
The dump 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas is proposed to hold
77,000 tons of the nation's most radioactive waste.
All contents copyright 2005 Las Vegas SUN, Inc.
*****************************************************************
34 Las Vegas SUN: Wife of Nevada congressman seeks his House seat
Today: October 11, 2005 at 17:38:24 PDT
By BRENDAN RILEY ASSOCIATED PRESS
CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) - Former Nevada Assemblywoman Dawn
Gibbons formally announced Tuesday that she's seeking the U.S.
House seat that her husband, Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev., is
vacating to run for governor.
Gibbons, who announced her House bid in a press release rather
than at a news conference, said in a telephone interview that
she's already toured many communities in the sprawling 2nd
Congressional District, which covers most of the state, and is
nearing the $350,000 mark in contributions.
While the campaign budget may be double or more that amount,
Gibbons said, "At a certain point, money doesn't make any
difference. A lot of it is grass roots."
Most of the voters in the district are in the Reno area, where
Gibbons lives. "But where this race really is going to be won is
in the rural communities because you can count on people there
to vote. That's why I'm spending so much time on the road," she
said.
Gibbons will likely face Assemblywoman Sharron Angle, R-Reno,
and Secretary of State Dean Heller in the Republican primary.
Heller and Angle already are mixing it up, with Heller calling
Angle "intellectually dishonest" for advocating two tax
restraint measures after voting for a $5.9 billion budget last
session.
Democrat Jill Derby, a veteran state university and community
college system regent, also is in the race and could benefit
from a bloody Republican primary. But Gibbons said she hopes the
race doesn't turn nasty.
Even if the other candidates resort to negative campaigning,
"I'm not going to," Gibbons said, adding, "It's hard for someone
to say you're bad when people know you. I've done a lot of
grass-roots work, and it's not like I just came on the scene all
of a sudden."
"People know what they get when they meet me. It doesn't take
rocket science. What they want is a good public servant who
knows the issues and cares about them."
In her news release, Gibbons said she'd work to control federal
spending and illegal immigration, and to ensure that any Social
Security reforms leave the system solvent and able to deliver
promised benefits.
Gibbons also said she'd work with Nevada's congressional
delegation to fight federal plans for a nuclear waste dump at
Yucca Mountain, support efforts to limit eminent domain powers
and work with members of the Congressional Western Caucus to
reduce federal control of western lands.
All contents copyright 2005 Las Vegas SUN, Inc.
*****************************************************************
35 Buffalo News: Spent fuel removed from idle UB reactor
By STEPHEN T. WATSON News Staff Reporter
10/11/2005
The spent radioactive fuel once used to power the University at
Buffalo's research nuclear reactor has left the South Campus
facility, the university revealed Monday.
Following strict security guidelines set by the Nuclear
Regulatory Commission, a private contractor removed the fuel from
the reactor and trucked it to an Energy Department storage
facility in Idaho, where it arrived Sept. 28. The university
could not disclose details of the shipment until 10 days after
its arrival.
"They just don't want anybody who has ill intent . . . to have
that knowledge," said Michael F. Dupre, UB's associate vice
president for facilities.
The fuel removal begins efforts to decommission its reactor,
which opened in 1960 and has been shut down since 1994.
It had been used to produce short-lived radioisotopes for medical
research and other applications. In deciding to close it,
university officials cited operating costs and its diminishing
value to researchers.
For a decade, UB waited for the Energy Department to find a
suitable site to store the spent reactor fuel, which is not
weapons-grade.
Last December, UB officials announced the fuel would be removed
sometime this year.
Under a veil of secrecy, the contractor, NAC International,
worked through the week of Sept. 19 to load the spent fuel into
shipping casks and then onto two flat-bed semis for the trip to
the Idaho National Laboratory.
Dupre said the appropriate authorities were notified of the
removal, and the trucks received a State Police escort to the
state's border. He added that even he did not know ahead of time
the precise route they would take to Idaho.
NRC officials will conduct a site characterization study to
determine precisely what UB needs to do to fully decommission the
facility, Dupre said.
UB is considering a variety of options, such as turning it into a
hazardous-materials training center.
The full decommissioning effort could take several years and cost
as much as $10 million or $12 million, which the university is
required to pay, Dupre said.
e-mail: swatson@buffnews.com
Copyright 1999 - 2005 - The Buffalo News
*****************************************************************
36 INSIDE JoongAng Daily: Seoul warns of abuse in nuclear waste vote
Octorber 12, 2005 KST 14:04 (GMT+9)
October 12, 2005 Residents of four municipalities will soon
go to the polls to say whether they are willing to accept a
nuclear waste disposal area in their midst, and Seoul yesterday
warned local governments against over-zealous attempts to swing
the vote in favor of the project.
The Commerce Ministry said yesterday it had asked the National
Election Commission to monitor the campaigning of local
governments for "yes" votes and punish transgressors.
Some civic groups had complained that some governments had sent
officials door to door and had sometimes offered gifts.
The four candidate sites are Gunsan in North Jeolla province
and Gyeongju, Pohang and Yeongdeok in North Gyeongsang province.
The facility will go to the area where support is highest in the
Nov. 2 balloting.
Copyright by Joins.com, Inc. Terms of Use |
*****************************************************************
37 Las Vegas SUN: Finding common ground
Photos: Pete Domenici | Harry Reid
Today: October 11, 2005 at 10:25:24 PDT
Yucca foes Reid, Domenici said to be in talks over nuke bill
By Benjamin Grove
Sun Washington Bureau Chief
WASHINGTON -- Could it be true?
Are Yucca Mountain's biggest opponent in the Senate and one of
its biggest supporters working together on a nuclear waste bill
that would shift the focus away from Yucca?
The trade publication Energy Daily reported Thursday that
Yucca's chief antagonist, Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid,
D-Nev., and Energy Committee Chairman Pete Domenici, R-N.M.,
were discussing Reid's legislation that would require the Energy
Department to take ownership of nuclear power plant waste and
store it at the plants indefinitely.
The paper said another point of discussion may focus on the
development of a U.S. reprocessing program, in which plutonium
and uranium from spent nuclear fuel rods would be recycled to
create new fuel, theoretically decreasing the amount of waste
that would be stored at Yucca.
Reid spokeswoman Tessa Hafen said the senators are not talking
about any specific proposals or bill language.
"I'm not sure where the rumors are coming from," Hafen said.
Reid has not yet introduced the legislation because he is
securing support for it behind the scenes among his Senate
colleagues. Reid aides point to Sen. Robert Bennett, R-Utah, who
on Sept. 20 announced he was shedding his support for Yucca in
favor of on-site storage, as an example that Reid's efforts are
paying off.
Getting the support of Domenici would boost the bill's chances
immediately and help the state in its fight to stop the plan to
ship highly radioactive waste now piling up at the plants to the
proposed underground repository at Yucca for permanent burial.
A Domenici spokeswoman declined to comment to Energy Daily and
could not be reached Monday by the Sun. A spokesman in
Domenici's New Mexico office was unavailable Monday. Federal
offices were closed for the Columbus Day holiday.
Industry officials say the nation needs a geologic repository
whether it pursues reprocessing or not, and were reportedly
uncomfortable that Reid and Domenici could be discussing
legislation that would decrease momentum for Yucca.
Some industry officials at times have said that Yucca Mountain
was important to their plans to construct a new generation of
nuclear power plants.
A spokesman for the Nuclear Energy Institute, the industry's
top lobby group and leading Yucca supporter in Washington, was
unavailable for comment on Monday.
Energy Daily reported that NEI chairman Adm. Skip Bowman sent a
memo to nuclear industry insiders last week that said the
potential for a Reid-Domenici bill was "not good news."
The publication reported that Bowman wrote, "We have been doing
our dead-level best to stamp out this notion." He also wrote
that leaving waste at plants could "completely dampen new plant
enthusiasm."
The potential for an agreement in which the Energy Department
would "take title" to the waste as it sits at the plants could
actually benefit the industry, said nuclear waste specialist
Kevin Kamps of the Nuclear Information and Resource Service. It
would at least solidify a government plan for waste, even if the
industry didn't like it, Kamps said.
"Then they could say, 'Hey, what's the problem with building
new reactors?' " Kamps said.
NIRS opposes reprocessing because it is a "messy" process that
poses environmental and worker risks, as well as weapons
proliferation concerns, Kamps said.
If Congress decides to pursue reprocessing it could be bad news
for Nevada because Yucca Mountain could be chosen as the
reprocessing site, Kamps said. Yucca could potentially be a
waste site for the reprocessing by-product as well as the plant
site, Kamps said.
"Nevada could get a double whammy," he said.
Domenici made a cryptic comment after Bennett's announcement
when the Sun asked Domenici about Yucca Mountain.
"Yucca Mountain must remain alive," he said. When pressed to
clarify the comment, he said, "I didn't say what it (Yucca)
should be."
Reprocessing, though, would mean that nuclear waste would be
shipped across country, which runs counter to arguments made by
Yucca opponents.
Domenici has an interest in pursuing reprocessing technology
because national laboratories in his home state stand to benefit
from the research contracts, Public Citizen analyst Michele Boyd
said.
But it's unlikely that any discussions between Reid and
Domenici would yield a landmark agreement in the final weeks of
the congressional session, largely because Domenici faces a
complicated task in detaching his support from Yucca, Boyd said.
"Everybody's looking for an easy solution, and they haven't
been able to find one in the last 50 years," Boyd said. "I don't
think they will be able to find one this month, or next month."
Benjamin Grove is the Sun's Washington bureau chief. He can be
reached at (202) 662-7436 or by e-mail at grove@lasvegassun.com.
All contents copyright 2005 Las Vegas SUN, Inc.
*****************************************************************
38 Salt Lake Tribune: Dumping ground
Article Last Updated: 10/10/2005 11:49:53 PM
Opinion
While we citizens of Utah dwell in our various states of
ignorance, apathy, distraction and feelings of helplessness, our
state is quickly becoming what many activists have been
predicting for some time: a dumping ground.
For years we've been the nation's dump for low-level
radioactive waste, and now we're becoming a global one for 319
cubic yards of uranium tailings from Japan to be permanently
stored near Blanding, Utah, by International Uranium Corp. of
Canada (Tribune, Oct. 5). This will be in addition, of course,
to the planned storage of thousands of metric tons of spent
nuclear fuel on the Skull Valley Goshute Reservation and
whatever toxic material the gluttonous and ever-expanding
Envirocare can invite into the state.
So, snooze on, brothers and sisters. As those needing to dump
their toxic waste and those few profiting from this business
count on our sleepy compliance, we expose our children and all
future generations to mountains of radioactive garbage slowly
decomposing in the desert.
Keller Higbee
Salt Lake City
© Copyright 2005, The Salt Lake Tribune.
*****************************************************************
39 NRC: Advisory Committee on Nuclear Waste; Procedures for Meetings
FR Doc 05-20317
[Federal Register: October 11, 2005 (Volume 70, Number 195)]
[Notices] [Page 59081-59082] From the Federal Register Online via
GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov] [DOCID:fr11oc05-71]
Background This notice describes procedures to be followed with
respect to meetings conducted pursuant to the Federal Advisory
Committee Act by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's (NRC's)
Advisory Committee on Nuclear Waste (ACNW). These procedures are
set forth so that they may be incorporated by reference in future
notices for individual meetings.
The ACNW advises the NRC on technical issues related to nuclear
materials and waste management. The bases of ACNW reviews include
10 CFR parts 20, 60, 61, 63, 70, 71, and 72 and other applicable
regulations and legislative mandates, such as the Nuclear Waste
Policy Act as amended, the Low-Level Radioactive Waste Policy Act
as amended, and the Uranium Mill Tailings Radiation Control Act,
as amended.
The Committee's reports become a part of the public record.
The ACNW meetings are normally open to the public and provide
opportunities for oral or written statements from members of the
public to be considered as part of the Committee's information
gathering process. The meetings are not adjudicatory hearings
such as those conducted by the NRC's Atomic Safety and Licensing
Board Panel as part of the Commission's licensing process. ACNW
meetings are conducted in accordance with the Federal Advisory
Committee Act.
General Rules Regarding ACNW Meetings An agenda is published in
the Federal Register for each full Committee meeting and is
available on the Internet at http://www.nrc.gov/ACRSACNW. There
may be a need to make changes to the agenda to facilitate the
conduct of the meeting. The Chairman of the Committee is
empowered to conduct the meeting in a manner that, in his
judgment, will facilitate the orderly conduct of business,
including making provisions to continue the discussion of matters
not completed on the scheduled day during another meeting.
Persons planning to attend a meeting may contact the Designated
Federal Official (DFO) specified in the individual Federal
Register Notice prior to the meeting to be advised of any changes
to the agenda that may have occurred.
The following requirements shall apply to public participation in
ACNW meetings: (a) Persons who plan to make oral statements
and/or submit written comments at the meeting should provide 50
copies to the DFO at the beginning of the meeting. Persons who
cannot attend the meeting but wishing to submit written comments
regarding the agenda items may do so by sending a readily
reproducible copy addressed to the DFO specified in the Federal
Register Notice for the individual meeting in care of the
Advisory Committee on Nuclear Waste, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission, Washington, DC 20555-0001. Comments should be in the
possession of the DFO prior to the meeting to allow time for
reproduction and distribution. Comments should be limited to
topics being considered by the Committee.
(b) Persons desiring to make oral statements at the meeting
should make a request to do so to the DFO. If possible, the
request should be made five days before the meeting, identifying
the topics to be discussed and the amount of time needed for
presentation so that orderly arrangements can be made. The
Committee will hear oral statements on topics being reviewed at
an appropriate time during the meeting as scheduled by the
Chairman.
(c) Information regarding topics to be discussed, changes to the
agenda, whether the meeting has been canceled or rescheduled, and
the time allotted to present oral statements can be obtained by
contacting the DFO specified in the individual Federal Register
Notice.
(d) The use of still, motion picture, and television cameras will
be permitted at the discretion of the Chairman and subject to the
condition that the physical installation and presence of such
equipment will not interfere with the conduct of the meeting. The
DFO will have to be notified prior to the meeting and will
authorize the installation or use of such equipment after
consultation with the Chairman.
The use of such equipment will be restricted as is necessary to
protect proprietary or privileged information that may be present
in the meeting room. Electronic recordings will be permitted only
during those portions of the meeting that are open to the public.
(e) A transcript is kept for certain open portions of the meeting
and will be
[[Page 59082]] available in the NRC Public Document Room (PDR),
One White Flint North, Room O-1F21, 11555 Rockville Pike,
Rockville, MD 20852-2738.
ACNW meeting agenda, transcripts, and letter reports are
available through the NRC Public Document Room at pdr@nrc.gov, by
calling the PDR at 1- 800-394-4209, or from the Publicly
Available Records System (PARS) component of NRC's document
system (ADAMS) which is accessible from the NRC Web site at
http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams.html or
http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/. A copy of the
certified copy of the certified three months following the
meeting. Copies may be obtained upon payment of appropriate
reproduction charges.
(f) Video teleconferencing service is available for observing
open sessions of some ACNW meetings. Those wishing to use this
service for observing ACNW meetings should contact Mr. Theron
Brown, ACNW Audio Visual Technician, (301-415-8066) between 7:30
a.m. and 3:45 p.m. Eastern Time at least 10 days before the
meeting to ensure the availability of this service. Individuals
or organizations requesting this service will be responsible for
telephone line charges and for providing the equipment and
facilities that they use to establish the video teleconferencing
link. The availability of video teleconferencing services is not
guaranteed.
(g) The meeting room is handicapped accessible.
ACNW Working Group Meetings From time to time the ACNW may
sponsor an in-depth meeting on a specific technical issue to
understand staff expectations and review work in progress. Such
meetings are called Working Group meetings. These Working Group
meetings will also be conducted in accordance with these
procedures noted above for the ACNW meeting, as appropriate. When
Working Group meetings are held at locations other than at NRC
facilities, reproduction facilities may not be available at a
reasonable cost. Accordingly, 50 additional copies of the
materials to be used during the meeting should be provided for
distribution at such meetings.
Special Provisions When Proprietary Sessions Are To Be Held If it
is necessary to hold closed sessions for the purpose of
discussing matters involving proprietary information, persons
with agreements permitting access to such information may attend
those portions of the ACNW meetings where this material is being
discussed upon confirmation that such agreements are effective
and related to the material being discussed.
The DFO should be informed of such an agreement at least five
working days prior to the meeting so that it can be confirmed,
and a determination can be made regarding the applicability of
the agreement to the material that will be discussed during the
meeting. The minimum information provided should include
information regarding the date of the agreement, the scope of
material included in the agreement, the project or projects
involved, and the names and titles of the persons signing the
agreement. Additional information may be requested to identify
the specific agreement involved. A copy of the executed agreement
should be provided to the DFO prior to the beginning of the
meeting for admittance to the closed session.
Dated: October 5, 2005.
Annette L. Vietti-Cook, Secretary of the Commission.
[FR Doc. 05-20317 Filed 10-7-05; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 7590-01-P
*****************************************************************
40 Guardian Unlimited: Critics Attack EPA's Yucca Mountain Rules
From the Associated Press
[UP]
Monday October 10, 2005 9:01 PM
By ERICA WERNER
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) - Scientists and environmentalists said Monday
that radiation limits proposed for the Yucca Mountain nuclear
waste dump in Nevada aren't strict enough to protect the public.
``This rule is a transparent attempt to accommodate the
industry,'' Arjun Makhijani, a nuclear physicist who has been
critical of the Yucca project, told reporters on a conference
call a day ahead of an Environmental Protection Agency hearing
on draft regulations.
``In the proposed EPA rule, every norm of radiation protection
that has been established for the general public since the late
1950s ... is to be thrown overboard,'' Makhijani said.
The EPA in August proposed limiting exposure near the planned
dump to 15 millirems a year for 10,000 years into the future,
then increasing the allowable level to 350 millirems a year for
up to 1 million years.
That higher level is more than three times what is allowed from
nuclear facilities today by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. A
standard chest X-ray is about 10 millirems.
The 350 millirem level is ``an extremely unacceptable risk,''
said Dr. Robert M. Gould, chairman of Physicians for Social
Responsibility's security committee. He said that annual
exposure to that level of radiation over a lifetime would carry
a one in 36 chance for someone to develop cancer.
EPA spokesman John Millett emphasized that the rule is a draft
and a final standard won't be issued until after the public
comment period ends Nov. 21. Tuesday's meeting at EPA
headquarters is the agency's fifth and final public hearing on
the rule; the four earlier hearings were in Nevada.
``It's a draft rule at this point, but again, the rationale for
the 350 additional millirems from 10,000 years and beyond deals
with the amount of uncertainty that we're faced with in
projecting out 10,000 years, in addition to being equivalent to
radiation levels commonly experienced in other parts of the
mountain West,'' Millett said.
Scientists on Monday's call disagreed with EPA's decision to
link its draft rule to so-called ``background radiation'' that
occurs naturally in the environment, arguing that such radiation
can be dangerous in itself and that some EPA estimates of it
were too high.
The planned Yucca Mountain dump is designed to hold 77,000 tons
of radioactive waste, mostly spent fuel from nuclear reactors,
beneath a volcanic ridge 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas.
The EPA issued the draft rule now under consideration after a
federal court said the agency's first standard was inadequate
because it didn't establish exposure limits beyond 10,000 years.
The dump's opening date has been repeatedly delayed and is now
expected in 2012 or later.
---
On the Net
Yucca Mountain project: http://www.ymp.gov
Environmental Protection Agency: www.doe.gov
Guardian Unlimited Guardian Newspapers Limited 2005
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41 AU ABC: Push on for council nuclear-free zones.
11/10/2005. ABC News Online
Last Update: Tuesday, October 11, 2005. 11:25am (AEST)
Western Australia's country MPs are being called on to encourage
their local councils to declare themselves nuclear-free zones.
The Member for Albany, Peter Watson, has written to the city of
Albany asking it to amend its town planning scheme to prohibit
nuclear activity.
The move comes after the Liberal Party declared its support for
uranium mining at its state conference earlier this month.
Mr Watson says the issue is an important one for regional areas
and other country MPs should follow his lead.
"If there's going to be any nuclear waste dump it's going to be
in country areas, I can't see them dumping it in the middle of
Perry Lakes stadium, so I'm calling on all the other country
members to try and have this done in their particular councils
and shires right throughout the state so we can tell Canberra we
don't want anything to do with it in our regions," he said.
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42 Rocky Mountain News: Rocky Flats operators lied, lawyers say
By Karen Abbott, Rocky Mountain News
October 11, 2005
Operators of the Rocky Flats nuclear weapons plant lied to the
public about dangers at the plant for decades and still haven't
come clean, lawyers for thousands of plant neighbors told a dozen
federal jurors Tuesday.
"Half-truths, lies and distortions ... continue up to and
including the present," attorney Merrill Davidoff of Philadelphia
said as the neighbors' $500 million class-action trial got
underway 15 years after the lawsuit was filed.
Besides covering up accidents, mishandling of toxic wastes and
other errors, Davidoff said former plant operators Dow Chemical
Co. and Rockwell International, and the U.S. Department of
Energy that employed them, have refused to account publicly for
2,600 pounts of radioactive plutonium that went missing from
Rocky Flats during the 37 years that the plant made nuclear
weapons.
Lawyers for the two companies sued by the neighbors will present
their opening statements to the jury on Wednesday.
The neighbors, who owned property east of Rocky Flats when the
FBI raided the plant in June 1989, contend that releases of
plutonium from the plant onto their land diminished the value of
their property and reduced their use and enjoyment of it.
The Rocky Flats plant, built 16 miles northwest of downtown
Denver in the early 1950s, closed in 1989. The site is to become
a wildlife refuge.
2005 Rocky Mountain News
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43 lamonitor.com: DOE OKs work plan for airport cleanup
DARRYL NEWMAN, Monitor Staff Writer
After sampling an old ash pile at the Los Alamos Airport and
receiving a green light from the New Mexico Environmental
Department, the Department of Energy is set to begin removal of
the debris on Oct. 24 using a vacuum method.
The ash pile is 150 feet wide and runs about 150 feet down the
north-facing slope of Pueblo Canyon and is located several
hundred feet northwest of the airport.
The ash is the result of an old disposal site where incinerator
operations were conducted and were last active in 1947. The ash
primarily consists of office and residential debris that was
burned in an old incinerator building.
Analyses of the ash reveal that it contains low levels of
radioactive constituents, including radium 226, plutonium 239,
uranium 234, uranium 235 and uranium 238, said Project Manager
Bob Enz.
"These are the isotopes that exceeded soil background values,"
Enz said today. "They are low levels and that's how they will be
disposed of."
The ash will be bagged and staged in a portion of the western
parking lot of the airport before being shipped offsite to its
final disposal location at Envirocare in Utah.
The DOE contracted Innovative Technical Solutions earlier this
year to sample the composition of the ash in April and determine
the best method for its removal off the disposal site.
The work plan was submitted to the NMED May 31 and was returned
to Enz on Tuesday of last week with permission to proceed with
the project.
The majority of the ash will be removed by the use of a vacuum
system assisted by a skyline that will be erected to run the
vertical length of the canyon wall.
The DOE expects to move approximately 2,100 cubic yards of ash
material and 450 cubic yards of tin cans and other debris.
County Public Works Director Kyle Zimmerman served as the county
lead in the project while officials were in the midst of a
search for an airport manager.
Zimmerman said today that there were questions the county had
regarding the project work plan.
"We were interested in knowing the impacts that the project
would have on the airport," he said, citing how trucks would
access the project area.
Once the ash is removed, the underlying soil and drainages will
be sampled to ensure the site is clean. As a safety precaution,
the site, which includes the trailhead of the Los Alamos Mesa
Trail, will be temporarily flagged and posted to prevent the
public from entering the area.
The staging area in the airport parking lot also will be fenced
off for public safety.
"So far everything has been going well," Enz said. "Our biggest
problem is going to be cooperation with the weather. This slope
is quite steep."
Work on the ash removal is expected to take three to four months.
For additional information, call Bernard Pleau at 667-6691 or
send him an e-mail at bpleau@doeal.gov.
2003 Los Alamos Monitor All Rights Reserved.
*****************************************************************
44 lamonitor.com: Leaders visit from Russia
CAROL A. CLARK, lanews@lamonitor.com, Monitor Staff Writer
Dinner at the Bethlehem Lutheran Church Sunday evening kicked
off a week packed with activities for a delegation of women
leaders visiting from Russia.
The visit is sponsored by the Los Alamos - Sarov Sister Cities
Initiative, which works in conjunction with the State
Department's Open World Program, created in 1999 by the Library
of Congress and authorized by the U.S. Congress to increase
understanding between the United States and Russia.
The four leaders and their interpreters will meet with local
women in government and business, tour the Los Alamos Medical
Center and Bradbury Science Museum, attend a presentation of
Leadership Los Alamos and United Way and visit the Espanola
Crisis Center.
They also will experience area restaurants, shopping and typical
American home life during their stay with local host families.
The delegates will cap off their trip with a farewell picnic at
Bandelier National Monument.
Sarov Deputy Mayor Alfiya Aleksandova said that Dec. 19 marks
the one-year anniversary since a new generation came into power
in Sarov.
Aleksandova and Sarov Mayor Alexander Gustavovitch belong to the
United Russia Political Party, the same Party as Vladimir Putin,
president of the Russian Federation.
"In almost one year of working together, we have put together
almost 100 education programs to improve the city," Aleksandova
said. "Our new youth programs and activities are under the
umbrella of a uniform program to track children from
kindergarten through the university."
Aleksandova said she is excited to participate in the Open World
Program here because she is interested in learning how local
youth programs are handled and to exchange ideas.
Aleksandova earned her doctorate degree in education through her
research in gender studies and research, stratification of a
woman's role in leadership and men's attitude toward it, women
in science, education and election campaigns, and combining the
role of mother and business woman.
"I'm a daughter of a military official and I know how to set up
goals and achieve them," Aleksandova said
Deputy Chief Editor Bella Apollonova of the Gorodskoy Kuryer
newspaper (The Town Courier) described the new administration as
energetic, dynamic and progressive. She said much is being
accomplished to increase the quality of life for the people of
Sarov.
Apollonova presented an official letter to the Monitor from the
Gorodskoy Kuryer seeking to form a collaboration and exchange of
ideas between the two papers.
Sarov Senior Legal Advisor Olga Mayorova expressed an interest
in learning about the role of women in civil society,
discrimination against women in the workplace and career
development. Research engineer Marina Tolushkina expressed an
interest in learning about issues of full- time mothers and
women's labor market issues, among other issues.
Howard and Ann Wadstrom have hosted many visiting Russians over
the years. They keep hosting because they find the visitors
delightful, they said.
"It's a wonderful privilege for us," Ann said. "The are very
warm and affectionate and they give us lots of hugs."
She said her guests shared cell phone photos of their children
with her and told her how they named each of their children.
The visitors asked to attend church services with the Wadstroms
and presented the minister with five photos of Russian churches,
Ann said.
Howard took the visitors hiking in Bayo Canyon.
"They enjoyed it so much they didn't want it to end," he said.
Howard said it is a remarkable thing to have the two Atomic
cities get to know each other like this.
Former LANL director and renowned scientist Sig Hecker has made
frequent visits to Sarov for years, sometimes as often as a
couple of time a month, Howard said.
"He has gotten to know their scientists and they've gotten to
know us," Howard said. "It's so good for the whole world."
Ann agreed, adding, "The sharing of nuclear information is so
important to peace."
Translators for the week include Olga Augustson and Valida
Dushdurova from UNM-LA, and Open World facilitator Natalya
Tulyeva.
2003 Los Alamos Monitor All Rights Reserved.
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45 Chicago Maroon: Private firms interested in U of C's Argonne
Online Edition] The independent student newspaper of the
University of Chicago since 1892
By Isaac Wolf
October 11, 2005 in News
WASHINGTON, D.C.-Defense firm Northrop Grumman is considering
making a proposal for the Argonne National Laboratory East as
the October 14 deadline to express interest in managing this
University of Chicago-run research center draws near.
Argonnea non-weapons facility that focuses on theoretical work
including physics, computing, and mathis one of five national
laboratories put up for competitive bidding by the Department of
Energy, following widespread mismanagement of the Los Alamos
National Laboratory by the University of California system.
Problems at Los Alamos included security and safety breaches,
prompting the Department of Energy to put the labs up for
competitive contracts in January 2004. While forcing
universities to improve their management practices, the
competitive bidding process allows commercial defense groups
with strong political alliancessuch as Lockheed Martin and
Northropto jockey for the labs.
We are definitely looking at Argonne, said Juli Ballesteros, a
Northrop spokeswoman.
Northrop is unsure of how interested it is in Argonne, and it
will not know until it sees a formal Department of Energy
request for a proposal, Ballesteros said.
The shift in management from universities to private firms
worries some experts. Beth Daley, a spokeswoman for the Project
on Government Oversight (POGO), said every national labwhether
run by a university or for-profit grouphas oversight problems.
The only difference is that the for-profit firms are better at
hiding their shortfalls. Theres just a much more open ethic
with a university, she said.
Daley said the move toward competitive bidding will not
necessarily improve the labs. Its going to have a huge impact
on how much were going to be able to see whats going on, she
said. And its not going to be good.
The University of Chicago, which has overseen Argonne since its
creation in 1946, does not want to give up the $475 million per
year lab when its contract expires at the end of September 2006.
The University lost management of its nuclear research plant in
Idaho, dubbed Argonne National Lab West (ANL-W), to Battelle, a
for-profit firm, in February 2005.
Argonne is very important to the Universitys research
enterprise because its a great complement to what we do here,
University spokesman Larry Arbeiter said.
Besides research opportunities, the Argonne contract provides
the University with about $3 million yearly in management fees.
Unlike the University of California, the University of Chicago
has had minimal problems overseeing Argonne, Arbeiter said.
Weve run it very well, Arbeiter said. Because its very well
run, its attractive to outside investors.
Senator Barack Obama, D-IL, who taught law at the University of
Chicago, said he has met with University of Chicago president
Don Randel and officials from Argonne to brainstorm about the
future of the lab.
Wed like to continue the University of Chicagos management of
the facility, Obama said. Theres no indication that the
University has mismanaged the facility. Obviously, theres a lot
of pressure there to shift for political reasons, and that has
to do with the current administration.
But Peter Stockton, a defense expert with POGO, has been
critical of the Universitys management of Argonne West, saying
that the labs nine tons of highly enriched uranium and
plutonium have not been guarded sufficiently under the
Universitys watch.
Stockton cited a May 2005 POGO report: Two years ago, when
DOEs Independent Oversight office tested Argonne Wests
security, they found it unsatisfactorythe facility would be
unable to protect the tons of highly-enriched uranium and
plutonium from a terrorist attack.
Arbeiter said he was unfamiliar with the report and added that
when he visited Argonne in November 2004, the facility seemed
highly secure. Ive never seen such high security outside of a
Hollywood thriller, he said.
Many national labs are co-managed by a university and a private
firm, including the current bids for Los Alamos. Its current
manager, the University of California system, has submitted a
joint bid with Bechtel, and it faces competition from a team of
the University of Texas and Lockheed Martin.
Northrop, the firm considering Argonne, had been in the running
for the Los Alamos lab but dropped out, Ballesteros said.
One possible reason for the move toward private management of
labs is that universities are not good, traditionally, at
managing sensitive materials, said Stockton, who has advised
Energy Secretary Bill Richardson and investigated for the House
Energy and Commerce Committee.
They become a huge pain with the rise of terrorism, he said.
They still want to run it like a campus and not pay attention
to the security issues. E-mail this articleSend letter to
editorPermanent URL:
http://maroon.uchicago.edu/news/articles/2005/10/11/private_firms
_intere.php
by Isaac Wolf
Copyright 1995-2005 Chicago Maroon
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46 lamonitor.com: Chief addresses fire contract
The Online News Source for Los Alamos
CAROL A. CLARK, , Monitor Staff Writer
Misconceptions surrounding pending fire department contract
details still linger and were addressed by Los Alamos Fire Chief
Douglas MacDonald.
The concern voiced by some employees is that their pensions, or
possibly their employment, may change once NNSA formalizes the
fire contract.
"What people need to understand is that nothing is changing,"
MacDonald said. "Up through 1989 we were all DOE employees, yet
we still protected the community and we still protected the lab
just as we will now."
MacDonald said that LAFD was organized under the Manhattan
Project in April 1943. At that time it consisted of seven
civilian firefighters and 25 volunteer firefighters.
In September 1943, the firefighter functions were taken over by
the military.
LAFD was governed by the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission and DOE
until September 1989.
"That's when the government started the privatization of federal
jobs and the county took over and became a prime contractor with
DOE," MacDonald said. "All fire department personnel became
county employees with full benefits."
In 1997, the county decided to assign oversight of the contract
to the lab because they didn't have sufficient staff to oversee
the fire department, he said.
MacDonald said the county and the lab started discussions for a
new contract for fire services at that time.
They have been providing services to the lab all these years
without an actual contract.
"This is not a new thing," he said.
The lab actually prepared a document and sent it to NNSA earlier
this year. Then NNSA decided they wanted to contract directly
with the fire department for services."
MacDonald said fire personnel are now, and will remain, county
employees.
"We were a prime contractor with DOE," he said. "We moved to a
sub-contractor status that was never executed and now we are
beginning negotiations with NNSA to become a prime contractor
again, which has its advantages for the county."
Mark Whitcomb is president of the firefighters union and he
agreed with MacDonald.
"We're looking forward to having a good contract with NNSA and
there are no concerns about any changes in pensions or
employment changes or anything of that nature," Whitcomb said.
LAFD is one of the largest career fire departments in the state.
Today, LAFD operates six fire stations with 135 budgeted
positions, including 124 uniformed and 11 civilian personnel.
During a joint meeting between the county and NNSA on July 18,
NNSA Los Alamos Site Office Manager Ed Wilmot said NNSA has
directed LANL to increase firefighter staffing by six as soon as
possible, MacDonald said.
And the longer-term effect will be to increase firefighter
staffing numbers even higher.
The LAFD department provides critical fire, rescue, emergency
medical, public education, and life safety services to residents
and visitors of Los Alamos County and Los Alamos National
Laboratory.
LAFD department officials include MacDonald, Deputy Fire Chief
Doug Tucker, Acting Fire Marshal Mike Thompson, Battalion
Chief/Training Juan Pacheco, Battalion Chief/Safety Wilfred
Martinez, Battalion Chief/Deputy Fire Marshal Edward Ortiz and
Battalion Chief/EMS Dennis Martinez.
2003 Los Alamos Monitor All Rights Reserved.
*****************************************************************
NOTE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107 this
material is distributed without profit or payment to those who
have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for
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