***************************************************************** 01/26/06 **** RADIATION BULLETIN(RADBULL) **** VOL 14.22 ***************************************************************** RADBULL IS PRODUCED BY THE ABALONE ALLIANCE CLEARINGHOUSE ***************************************************************** Send News Stories to news@energy-net.org with title on subject line and first line of body NUCLEAR POLICY 1 Truthout: Fitzgerald Eyes Plame-Niger Conspiracy 2 [NYTr] US Lawmakers Thirst for War on Iran 3 BBC: China backs Iran compromise plan 4 Guardian Unlimited: U.N. Official Hopeful for Iran Nuke Plan 5 AFP: West wants UN to urge suspension of Iran nuclear activity - dra 6 AFP: US moves to delink Indian nuclear deal with Iran vote - 7 Guardian Unlimited: U.N. Nuke Chief Hails Russian Offer 8 AFP: World powers haggle over Iran nuclear resolution as Bush backs 9 AFP: China backs Russian plan to resolve Iranian nuclear standoff - 10 Korea Herald: EDITORIAL Seoul-Washington rift 11 US: CNS: NSA Whistleblowers Were Allegedly Isolated, Intimidated -- 12 Guardian Unlimited: Bush Plans $250M for Nuclear Waste Project 13 [NYTr] Fidel Warns World's Nuclear Powers Endanger the Planet 14 Xinhua: Germany suggested to develope nuclear weapons 15 ITAR-TASS: Moscow court to review complaint about Adamov extended cu 16 Guardian Unlimited: India Protests U.S. Nuke Statement 17 SFSS: Japanese surrendered due to Russian threat, not atomic bombs, 18 PRN: BNFL Board OKs Toshiba's Bid for Westinghouse; 'Smooth, 19 Guardian Unlimited: Burgeoning problems divide Davos delegates NUCLEAR REACTORS 20 US: heraldsun.com: Nuclear plant plan to draw opposition 21 US: Metroland: All systems aglow at Pickering nuclear station - 'Pla 22 US: NRC: News Release - Region IV - 2006-06-001 - Performance Issues 23 US: Herald News: Exelon wants tract near valve break 24 MDM: Nuclear reactor shuts down after valve trouble; no radiation le 25 Aljazeera.Net: Chernobyl overshadows push for N-power 26 GAZETA.KZ: Russia, Kazakhstan agree to cooperate in peaceful nuclear 27 US: APP.COM: Exelon: Oyster Creek plant not for sale | 28 US: Clarion-Ledger: Nuclear power only 'rational answer' to energy s 29 BUCHAREST DAILY NEWS: Romania made progress in nuclear activities se 30 Globe and Mail: Clean-air group blasts nuclear proposal 31 China Daily: Datang agrees to go nuclear energy 32 TheStar.com: Green group says nuclear cost underestimated 33 Shanghai Daily: Datang to move into nuclear energy 34 Creamer Media's Mining Weekly: Simmer seeks to tap into nuclear rena 35 Creamer Media's Mining Weekly: Delivering the nuclear age 36 US: Guardian Unlimited: Nuclear Co. Plans Post-Leak Land Buyouts 37 US: Boston Globe: Plymouth seeks $2m a year for Pilgrim?s nuclear wa 38 Scotsman.com News: Call for 'reasoned' energy debate 39 US: WSJ.com: Bush Seeks to Jump-Start Nuclear Power NUCLEAR SECURITY 40 US: NUCLEAR 911 IMMINENT? 41 US: NarcoSphere: Words from a whistleblower on a slow train coming NUCLEAR SAFETY 42 [du-list] VA RAC FY 2006 Proposals 43 US: AP Wire: Tritium levels around Braidwood plant worry nuclear wat 44 Radio New Zealand: France defends nuclear test safety record 45 US: Earthjustice: Federal Atomic Safety Board to Hold Hearings on Co 46 US: Morris Daily Herald: Tritium release worries nuclear watcher 47 Yggdrasil: The Report of the Investigative Commission on the Consequ 48 US: PE.com: Testing detects wider reach 49 PM: FRENCH POLYNESIA: N-Tests Done With "Permanent Concern" For 50 AU ABC: Nuclear fallout in Tahiti: Independent report. 51 canada.com: Nuclear risks underestimated: activitsts 52 US: Vermont Guardian: Radiation calculations may pose 11th hour upra NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE 53 [NukeNet] US Democracts Oppose Rokkasho Tests 54 US: [NukeNet] I TOLD YOU SO! SRS picked as reprocessing site! 55 US: Metroland: Low Level Radioactive Waste team reports to Council 56 US: Santa Fe New Mexican: DOE issues contract to track WIPP shipment 57 BBC: Study warning over nuclear waste 58 BBC: BNFL set to sell power plant arm 59 US: Las Vegas SUN: Trucks with low-level nuke material within 60 US: Herald: Nuclear waste blow to plan for reactors 61 reviewjournal.com: Dust-up over Yucca document 62 New Scientist: US may overturn nuclear fuel reprocessing ban 63 US: GreenvilleOnline.com: Barrett tentatively backs nuke waste plan 64 US: Salt Lake Tribune: Guv gets support in waste dispute 65 US: Boston Globe: Radiation in trash spurs order 66 Scotsman.com News: No 'early nuclear waste solution' 67 US: Cape Cod Online: State ready to propose perchlorate standards 68 US: TownOnline.com: Spilled Casella waste safe PEACE US DEPT. OF ENERGY 69 DOE: Department Sponsors Free Rebuilding Workshop in Biloxi, MS 70 islandpacket.com: DuPont no longer wants contract to run SRS 71 Hanford News: DuPont no longer seeking Savannah River site bids 72 Hanford News: PNNL receives 'excellent' rating; lab's 8-year streak 73 PRN: Steelworkers Union Applauds DuPont Pulling Out of Savannah Rive 74 KVBC: Inside Nevada Test Site ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** FULL NEWS STORIES ***************************************************************** ***************************************************************** 1 Truthout: Fitzgerald Eyes Plame-Niger Conspiracy Prosecutor Probing Niger Forgeries, Possible Conspiracy in CIA Leak By Jason Leopold t r u t h o u t | Investigative Report Monday 23 January 2006 "There was a discussion about what to do about Mr. Wilson," the current State Department official said. "There was a decision to leak a story to the press - I think a few journalists - about the Wilson trip, that it was a non-issue because his wife set it up for him." Over the past few months, Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald has been questioning witnesses in the CIA leak case about the origins of the disputed Niger documents referenced in President Bush's January 2003 State of the Union address, according to several current and former State Department officials who have testified in the case. The State Department officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because some of the information they discussed is still classified, indicated that the White House had substantial motive for revealing undercover CIA operative Valerie Plame's identity to reporters. They said the questions Fitzgerald asked them about the Niger documents suggested to them that the special prosecutor was putting together a timeline. They said they believe Fitzgerald wants to show the grand jury how some people in the Bush administration may have conspired to retaliate against former Ambassador Joseph Wilson, an outspoken critic of the administration's pre-war Iraq intelligence. The officials said Fitzgerald's interest is not in the the war's validity. Instead, Fitzgerald is trying to find out if Wilson's public questions about the administration's intelligence and its use of the Niger documents led members of a little known committee called the White House Iraq Group to leak Plame's name and CIA status to reporters. The officials have provided the first in-depth look at how the administration came to rely upon the Niger documents in the fall of 2002, and how it played a direct role in the Plame leak, which ultimately forced the White House to acknowledge that it shouldn't have allowed President Bush to cite the uranium claims in his State of the Union address - a move the White House had hoped it could avoid. Wilson was chosen by the CIA in February 2002 to travel to Niger to check on questions Vice President Dick Cheney had about Iraq's interest in buying yellowcake uranium from the African country. Uranium is the key component used to build an atomic bomb. The State Department had first expressed doubts about the vice president's inquiries. Officials at the State Department, including Colin Powell, according to sources, told Cheney the intelligence was suspect. "We already expressed our opinion about the intelligence the vice president was asking about. We thought it had no merit," one former senior State Department official said. "We resented that they didn't trust what we said." Indeed, earlier that month, Carlton Fulford Jr., a four-star Marine general, was sent to Niger to check on the security of Niger's uranium. He returned to the United States convinced that the supply was secure. Fulford informed Gen. Richard B. Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, about his findings. It's unclear whether Myers ever shared the information with White House officials. A spokesperson for Myers said the general would not respond to questions for this story. Later that same month, the State Department official said, Wilson traveled to Niger on behalf of the CIA. That's the trip the State Department had initially protested because Fulford had already looked into it. But Wilson confirmed that there was no truth to the allegations. "We felt vindicated," the State Department official said because there had long been animosity between the White House and State over disagreements concerning intelligence on the Iraqi threat. However, seven months later, the British government prepared a "white paper" giving validity to the claims that Iraq tried to purchase uranium from Niger which the State Department and Wilson had already proved false. "Some very senior people in the vice president's office saw that as an opportunity," an official who currently works at the State Department in a senior capacity said. "They took it and ran with it, and it was wrong." I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby - Cheney's former chief of staff, who was indicted on five-counts of lying to federal investigators, perjury, and obstruction of justice related to his role in the Plame leak - National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley, and Cheney had embraced the uranium claims cited in the"white paper," according to the State Department sources, and they had all pushed for its inclusion in the National Intelligence Estimate in October 2002. "I have no idea how or why [the Niger uranium claim] got in there," one of the current State Department sources said. "To this day I don't know. Secretary Powell knew that we disagreed with the intelligence. It wasn't that we disagreed with the White House per se. It's that we disagreed with the intelligence regarding Niger. We were the only people in the intelligence community who thought the documents were bogus." Numerous messages were left at the offices of Hadley, Cheney and Powell, and there was no response. Iraq's interest in the yellowcake caught the attention of Mohammed ElBaradei, the head of the International Atomic Energy Association. ElBaradei had read a copy of the National Intelligence Estimate and had personally contacted the State Department and the National Security Council, where Hadley was then deputy advisor, to obtain the evidence so his agency could look into it. ElBaradei sent a letter to the White House and the National Security Council in December 2002, warning senior officials he thought the documents were forgeries and should not be cited by the administration as evidence that Iraq was actively trying to obtain WMDs. ElBaradei said he never received a written response to his letter, despite repeated follow-up calls he made to the White House, the NSC and the State Department. The State Department officials said they did not know whether Powell ever saw ElBaradei's letter, but they were unaware that ElBaradei had inquired about the allegations made in the Niger documents. In a second letter sent to Congressman Henry Waxman, D-California, in March 2003, after the Iraq had war started, ElBaradei laid out the details of his attempts to get to the bottom of the Niger uranium story. ElBaradei said that when the Niger claims were included in the State Department fact sheet on the Iraqi threat in December 2002, "the IAEA asked the U.S. Government, through its Mission in Vienna, to provide any actionable information that would allow it to follow up with the countries involved, viz Niger and Iraq." ElBaradei said he was assured that his letter was forwarded to the White House and to the National Security Council. He added that he and his staff were suspicious about the Niger documents because it had long been rumored that documents pertaining to Iraq's attempt to obtain uranium from Niger had been doctored. In conversations and correspondence with Waxman in March 2003, ElBaradei said White House officials pledged to cooperate with United Nations inspectors but repeatedly withheld evidence from them. Cheney, who made the rounds on the cable news shows that month, tried to discredit ElBaradei's conclusion that the documents were forged. "I think Mr. ElBaradei frankly is wrong," Cheney said. "[The IAEA] has consistently underestimated or missed what it was Saddam Hussein was doing. I don't have any reason to believe they're any more valid this time than they've been in the past." Two months earlier, Wilson re-emerged. It was one day after President Bush's January 28, 2003, State of the Union address, in which the president said: "The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa." Wilson said he met with a friend who worked at the State Department and asked why the president cited the British intelligence report about Iraq's attempt to buy uranium, when he had debunked the allegation a year earlier. "I reminded a friend at the State Department of my trip and suggested that if the president had been referring to Niger, then his conclusion was not borne out by the facts as I understood them. He replied that perhaps the president was speaking about one of the other three African countries that produce uranium: Gabon, South Africa or Namibia. At the time, I accepted the explanation. I didn't know that in December, a month before the president's address, the State Department had published a fact sheet that mentioned the Niger case," Wilson wrote in his infamous July 6, 2003, op-ed in the New York Times, which preceded his wife's identity being leaked to reporters by about a week. Many career State Department officials were also livid that the so-called "16 words" made its way into the State of the Union address, the current and former department officials who commented for this story said. "To me it showed a total disregard for the truth, plain and simple," said one former State Department official who had worked closely with former Secretary of State Colin Powell, referring to the administration's use of the flawed intelligence. "I refuse to believe that the findings of a four-star general and an envoy the CIA sent to Niger to personally investigate the accuracy of the intelligence, as well as our own research at the State Department, never got into the hands of President Bush or Vice President Cheney. I don't buy it. Saying that Iraq sought uranium from Niger was all it took, as far as I'm concerned, to convince the House to support the war. The American people too. I believe removing Saddam Hussein was right and just. But the intelligence that was used to state the case wasn't." The officials said Scooter Libby and Stephen Hadley had pressured Powell to reference the Niger documents in his presentation to the United Nations in February 2003, but Powell did not believe the intelligence was solid and refused. The officials said there was a verbal confrontation between the men over the issue. Other sources close to Powell confirmed this as well. Although there were suspicions that the Niger documents were forgeries, the White House went to great lengths to defend its use of the report in Bush's State of the Union address, saying the CIA signed off on it. At this time, Wilson was also unconvinced that the White House did not see his report. In private conversations with a State Department official and a few reporters, he accused the White House of twisting the intelligence to fuel the administration's war machine. He let it be known that he had personally investigated the allegations on behalf of the CIA. By May 2003, Wilson had made enough noise in Washington, DC, political circles about the veracity of pre-war Iraq intelligence to attract the attention of Libby and Hadley. Wilson had been a source for Nicholas Kristoff's New York Times column that suggested the administration knowingly used the phony Niger documents to win support for the war. "You have to understand," the former State Department official said, "this was two months after the invasion, and here was a person contradicting what the administration felt strongly about. The administration put so much stock into the fact that WMDs (weapons of mass destruction) were there. But it was clear that in May 2003 there was no evidence of WMDs. Anyone bringing it up, calling the administration out, so to speak, became a target." All of the officials said that after Kristoff's column was published, they received phone calls from from Libby and Hadley inquiring about the unnamed official in Kristoff's column, who turned out to be Wilson. For the first time, the public learned that the US had sent an American envoy to personally check on the accuracy of the Niger claims. This was in stark contrast to what the administration had been saying publicly up until this point: that they only cited the Niger documents because they had been confirmed by British intelligence. But the column raised new questions about what the administration knew and when they knew it. The revelation in Kristoff's report threatened to expose how senior White House officials ignored Wilson and all the other warnings they had received about the veracity of the documents. Cheney found out who Wilson was in May 2003, according to the indictment handed up against Libby in late October. Cheney found out that Wilson's wife worked at the CIA. He shared the information with Libby, although Libby had been snooping around on his own and found out the same information, too. In fact, according to sources knowledgeable about the discussions that took place during this time, only a handful of Cheney's very close aides knew the identity of the person trashing the administration's pre-war intelligence. Karl Rove wasn't even in the know yet, the sources said. White House officials' decision to retaliate against Wilson by blowing his CIA wife's cover to reporters would come less than a month later - in early June 2003. The Wilson story had legs. Walter Pincus of the Washington Post started poking around. He called the CIA to check on Wilson's story. He called other people at the White House, too. Reporters were becoming very interested in the fact that the Bush administration failed to inform Congress or the public that Cheney asked the CIA to look into the Niger uranium allegations a year before, and that Wilson was chosen for the mission. It started to appear as if the administration had manipulated the intelligence and duped Congress into backing the war. Marc Grossman, then Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs, read about the Niger story, and the unnamed special envoy that was sent to check out the bogus claims, in Kristoff's column. "He got a request from someone at the White House to look into it, the Niger issues that is, and he asked INR about it," the current State Department official said. Grossman was scheduled to meet with Cheney and Libby and other senior officials who were members of the White House Iraq Group to discuss the war and the negative stories that were flooding the media about the absence of WMDs in Iraq. There is no indication that Fitzgerald is investigating Cheney. The White House Iraq Group (WHIG) was formed in August 2002 by Andrew Card, President Bush's chief of staff, to publicize the threat posed by Saddam Hussein. WHIG operated out of the Vice President's office. The group's members included Rove, Bush advisor Karen Hughes, Senior Advisor to the Vice President Mary Matalin, Deputy Director of Communications James Wilkinson, Assistant to the President and Legislative Liaison Nicholas Calio, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley and I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby. Last week, this State Department official said that a meeting took place in the office of the Vice President after Libby read the memo, to decide how they would respond to Wilson's increasing public criticism about the administration. "There was a major, major concern about the polls, the public response, that Mr. Wilson could cause enormous damage," the retired senior State Department official said. Grossman asked Carl Ford, then the head of the State Department's Bureau of Intelligence and Research, to prepare what is known as an INR report about the Niger claims to shed additional light on what Wilson had been referring to in news reports. The four-page memo indicated that the State Department long had doubts about the veracity of the administration's claims about Iraq's attempts to purchase yellowcake uranium from Niger. The memo made scant reference to Wilson and his wife, Valerie Plame. "We had real qualms that the intel was not true. When the report was prepared, we were actually happy, because it was an opportunity to talk about Niger again and why we thought there was absolutely no truth to the intelligence," one senior State Department official who saw the report said. "It was not intended to be a report about Mr. Wilson or Ms. Plame." A retired State Department official who was a source for a July 20, 2005, Associated Press story told the AP that the memo was drafted to respond to specific questions about Wilson's debunking of the Niger uranium claims. "It wasn't a Wilson-Wilson wife memo," the State Department official told the AP. "It was a memo on uranium in Niger and focused principally on our disagreement with the White House." The retired official was tracked down and interviewed by this reporter. This person said some senior members of Cheney's staff wanted the memo "toned down" after they read it. "Try to understand their concern," the retired State Department official said. "This was the very first time there was written evidence - not notes, but a request for a report - from the State Department that documented why the Niger intel was bullshit. It was the only thing in writing, and it had a certain value because it didn't come from the IAEA. It came from State. It scared the heck out of a lot of people because it proved that this guy Wilson's story was credible. I don't think anybody wanted the media to know that the State Department disagreed with the intelligence used by the White House. That's why Wilson had to be shut down." The current State Department official said the INR memo was discussed at length during the meeting Grossman attended at the White House. That meeting may have been the first time other White House officials, including Karl Rove, White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card, and other unknown administration officials learned that Valerie Plame was Wilson's wife and that she worked at the CIA in a covert capacity. All of the sources interviewed separately for this story said they were told that Karl Rove was the person who first suggested using the media to "turn the tables on Wilson." The officials wouldn't identify the person who told them this. The decision, however, was made during a meeting that took place between the White House Iraq Group. "There was a discussion about what to do about Mr. Wilson," the current State Department official said. "There was a decision to leak a story to the press - I think a few journalists - about the Wilson trip, that it was a non-issue because his wife set it up for him. They were going to show that Wilson and his wife were Democrats. Can you imagine? They were going to say 'don't listen to them, they're partisan.' It was a coordinated effort to turn him into the story. Much to my surprise, it worked." One of the officials interviewed for this story was also cited in a September 28, 2003, Washington Post story about the motivation to leak Wilson's wife's identity to the media. "Clearly, it was meant purely and simply for revenge," the State Department official told the Post. The Post did not name the official. Lawyers close to the leak case said Fitzgerald seems to be pursuing conspiracy charges against some of the higher-profile suspects in the leak, such as Rove. Robert Luskin, Rove's attorney, did not return numerous messages left at Patton Boggs, the law offices where he works in Washington, DC. The State Department officials said they were asked by Fitzgerald how important they thought the Niger uranium claims were in making a case for war. He also asked them why they doubted the authenticity of the Niger documents, why the reports appeared to be dubious, if they knew how Wilson was picked to investigate it, whether they heard about his verbal report upon his return, how and why the INR memo was prepared, and whether it was done in response to Wilson's claims about the Niger intelligence or so officials could find out how Wilson was chosen for the trip, and why any reference to his wife was made in the memo. Ironically, a day after Wilson's July 6, 2003, op-ed titled "What I didn't Find in Niger" was published in the New York Times, Hadley accepted responsibility for allowing the infamous "16 words" to be included in Bush's State of the Union address. Hadley was sent two separate letters from the CIA, warning him not to allow Bush to cite the Niger uranium claim in his State of the Union address. Hadley said he forgot about the letters. Exactly one week later, Valerie Plame Wilson's cover was blown in a column written by conservative journalist Robert Novak. ***************************************************************** 2 [NYTr] US Lawmakers Thirst for War on Iran Date: Thu, 26 Jan 2006 12:08:47 -0600 (CST) Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit sent by mart AP via Washington Post - Jan. 26, 2006 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/25/AR2006012500270.html Many in Congress Hawkish on Iran By LIZ SIDOTI WASHINGTON - As the Bush administration pushes to refer Iran to the U.N. Security Council, many members of Congress support keeping the use of military force as an option to thwart Tehran's nuclear ambitions. Lawmakers largely back the effort to haul Iran before the Security Council over the Iranian government's refusal to give up its uranium enrichment program. But some say they doubt that a simple reprimand from the council - seen as a likely outcome - will be enough to persuade Iran to change course. Rather, Republicans and Democrats alike say the United States should seek international economic sanctions that are harsh enough to hurt Iran, while securing assurances from Tehran's major trading partners that they will abide by any restrictions the Security Council imposes. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has repeatedly emphasized that the United States is committed to addressing the Iran standoff diplomatically and is working to line up support for a vote of the U.N.'s International Atomic Energy Agency to refer Iran to the Security Council. A British Foreign Office official said Wednesday that foreign ministers from the five permanent Security Council members Britain, France, Russia, China andthe United States plus Germany will discuss the situation with Iran while in London next week for a donors' conference on Afghanistan. In Moscow, Iran's top nuclear negotiator said Wednesday that Tehran views Russia's offer to have Iran's uranium enriched in Russia as a positive development but no agreement has been reached between the countries. Chief negotiator Ali Larijani also reiterated Iran's threat to renew enrichment activities if it is referred to the U.N. Security Council. Rice has shied away from discussions of possible U.S. military action, saying the United States is focused on a diplomatic course. But she has consistently said President Bush reserves the right to use any option, including force. Lawmakers say the threat that Iran could obtain weapons of mass destruction is so serious that the international community must act decisively to halt Iran's nuclear program. The Bush administration should not rule out other avenues should diplomatic efforts fail, they say. "It's important to give diplomacy a try, but I don't believe we should take any option- including military force - off the table," said Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, chairman of the Senate Armed Services emerging threats subcommittee. "If you eliminate the threat of military action, the possibility of it, then there's no way to secure compliance," added Rep. Gary Ackerman, D-N.Y., a House International Relations Committee member.... Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said diplomatic efforts must be exhausted before turning to the "last option," the use of force. "There's only one thing worse than the United States exercising a military option, and that is Iran having nuclear weapons," the No. 2 Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee said on "Fox News Sunday." Some analysts have said that while an American military strike could destroy Iran's nuclear facilities, it would anger U.S. allies, intensify the Muslim world's bitterness toward the United States, drive up oil prices and rally Iranians behind their president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., said all options, including military force, should be on the table. But, he said that for now, the United States and European countries must do everything possible to secure the support of China and Russia to take Iran before the Security Council, and then stake out "a tough posture" that includes sanctions. However, said Obama, a Senate Foreign Relations Committee member, "We have to be judicious in how we apply sanctions - there may be some sanctions that may not make a difference." Rep. Christopher Smith, R-N.J., vice chairman of the House International Relations Committee, said: "We need to use the diplomatic means very, very aggressively." Some lawmakers are suggesting that new Iranian leadership is needed. Sen. Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., said that for now, the United States and its allies must intensify its pressure on Iran to halt its nuclear program. "But ultimately," he said, "there must be change in the country's leadership. The current Iranian government is a corrupt and dangerous regime that's out of step with its citizens." Cornyn said Iran has become more authoritarian and autocratic. "We need to do a better job of letting pro-democracy forces in Iran know that we are supportive of their efforts of peaceful regime change," he said. Over the past week, several senators have proposed resolutions that ranged from condemning Tehran for its nuclear activities to accusing Bush of ignoring the threat of Iran. But given the widespread interest in putting the Senate on record with its concerns about Iran,congressional officials say several Republicans and Democrats are working together to write one resolution that they hope will gain broad bipartisan support and can be introduced by next week. * ================================================================ .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 ================================================================ ***************************************************************** 3 BBC: China backs Iran compromise plan Last Updated: Thursday, 26 January 2006 [Isfahan uranium conversion facility] Iran will ban snap UN inspections if it is referred to the Security Council Plans to enrich uranium in Russia for use in Iran could help break a global stalemate over Tehran's nuclear aims, China's government has said. Iran's top nuclear negotiator, Ali Larijani, called the proposals "useful" after talks in Beijing aimed at heading off US and EU calls for UN action. China, which could veto any sanctions bid in the UN, has urged greater efforts for a diplomatic solution. Mr Larijani said China and Iran held "similar views" on the nuclear issue. "We agreed members of the Non-Proliferation Treaty have [the] right to peaceful nuclear energy," he told reporters. Iran has consistently denied US-led accusations that it is seeking to develop nuclear weapons, insisting its nuclear programme is for producing electricity. The UN's nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), is meeting in Vienna on 2 February. It is thought to be split over whether to refer Iran to the Security Council, and UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said the IAEA's latest report on Iran might not be ready until March. In Beijing, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Kong Quan said the threat of "arbitrary sanctions" complicates negotiations with Iran. The Russian suggestion "would be a good attempt at breaking the stalemate", he told reporters. "We oppose impulsively using sanctions or threats of sanctions to solve problems. "We hope the concerned parties can take practical measures to ease tensions." Details sketchy The Russian plans would limit Iran's ability to covertly produce fissile material for possible use in a nuclear weapon by carrying out uranium enrichment in Russia. [Iranian nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani] Ali Larijani travelled to China from Russia, where talks were "positive" Few details have been released about the Russian proposals. Iran is thought to be keen that its own scientists are involved in enrichment. Russia, meanwhile, has previously said any spent nuclear fuel must be returned to Russia for reprocessing. Early next week, ahead of the Vienna talks, foreign ministers of the five permanent members of the Security Council plus Germany will meet in London to discuss their strategy. US Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick, also visiting China this week, said he had China that allowing the spread of nuclear weapons in the Middle East, the centre of global oil supplies, would be extremely dangerous, the Associated Press reports. Iran is a major supplier of oil to China's fuel-hungry economy. ***************************************************************** 4 Guardian Unlimited: U.N. Official Hopeful for Iran Nuke Plan From the Associated Press [UP] Friday January 27, 2006 12:03 AM AP Photo VIE127 By EDITH M. LEDERER Associated Press Writer DAVOS, Switzerland (AP) - U.N. nuclear chief Mohamed ElBaradei said Thursday he was hopeful that a Russian proposal could help break the standoff over Iran's nuclear research and enrichment plans. Speaking at the World Economic Forum's annual meeting, ElBaradei said he was happy that earlier in the day Iran's top nuclear negotiator, Ali Larijani, said Russia's proposal to move Iran's enrichment program to Russian territory was ``a positive one.'' ElBaradei said he also was encouraged that all parties still were discussing a diplomatic solution. His comments came amid quickening diplomatic negotiations ahead of a crucial Feb. 2 meeting of his International Atomic Energy Agency, which could refer the issue to the Security Council. Britain, France and Germany have been leading efforts to get Iran to abandon uranium conversion and enrichment activities, which it refuses to do. The three countries declared that negotiations had reached a dead end two days after Iran broke U.N. seals at a uranium enrichment plant Jan. 10 and said it was resuming nuclear research after a two-year freeze. ``We need Iran to use maximum transparency because there are a lot of question marks about its program,'' ElBaradei said. ``They need to be assured that they can use nuclear power for electricity, but the international community needs to be assured that the Iran program is exclusively for peaceful purposes.'' Pakistan President Gen. Pervez Musharraf said at the forum Thursday that Iran should not be allowed develop nuclear weapons, but he did not say if the country should face economic sanctions. ``Their security is not threatened,'' Musharraf said of Iran during a discussion on Islam. He said his own country had nuclear weapons because it maintained a balance of power with neighboring India. ``When a nuclear threat was posed to us we had to set the balance right again,'' he said. ``Every country has a right to defend its security if its security is threatened.'' As for Iran developing nuclear weapons, he said that if the country felt its security was threatened, ``they would have the right to go nuclear.'' The European Union on Thursday urged Iran to accept the Russian offer as a way to defuse the standoff with the international community. ``The Russians have made a very reasonable suggestion,'' Austrian Chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel said at a joint press conference with French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin. Because of concerns about Iran's nuclear intentions, ElBaradei said Thursday, ``Iran probably needs to go through a rehabilitation period by which it will accept that it will not engage in enrichment on Iran territory while at the same time make sure that they get what they need for their own peaceful purpose.'' ``And that's why the Russian proposal is a very attractive proposal,'' he said. At the moment, many people are trying to use ``the maximum of diplomacy,'' he said. The question being debated right now is whether to go to the Security Council at the beginning or end of February or this month, he said. But even the Europeans and Americans, who want Iran referred to the council now, want the Security Council ``to do a new phase of diplomacy,'' he said. ``Everybody's still talking about diplomacy and I'm very hopeful that as long as we talk about diplomacy, as long as we're not talking about enforcement measures, sanctions, et cetera, we are on the right track. But we need to accelerate the process,'' ElBaradei said. Iran alleged Thursday it had information that the United States, Britain and Israel had a role in two deadly military plane crashes in the last two months. It was the latest accusation by Tehran against the West in their sharpening confrontation. A day earlier, Iran blamed the United States and Britain for two bombings this week that killed at least nine people in southwestern Iran. Interior Minister Mostafa Pourmohammadi said the crashes of a C-130 and a Falcon plane were ``done by their design, or maybe electronic interference.'' Pourmohammadi did not elaborate and did not offer any evidence. Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2006 ***************************************************************** 5 AFP: West wants UN to urge suspension of Iran nuclear activity - draft Thu Jan 26, 3:08 PM ET VIENNA (AFP) - Western powers want the UN Security Council to call on Iran" /> Iranto suspend sensitive nuclear fuel activity, according to a UN draft resolution read to AFP. The United States, along with Britain, Germany and France, are haggling with key Iranian trading partners Russia and China over the wording of the draft resolution for an emergency meeting in Vienna February 2 of the UN watchdog International Atomic Energy Agency" /> International Atomic Energy Agency(IAEA). The draft -- read to AFP -- "recommends to the Security Council that it consider making clear to Iran that outstanding questions" can be resolved "by Iran responding" to calls by the IAEA for a suspension of nuclear fuel work and cooperation with IAEA inspectors. Russia is resisting the pivotal clause because it fears Tehran's failure to meet the demand would open the way to an escalation in UN Security Council action, possibly leading to sanctions, said a senior diplomat, who is close to the talks but asked not to be named because of the sensitivity of the matter. The text shows a line crossing out the crucial clause. The diplomat said this had been done by the Russian representative to talks in Vienna in order to clear the way to a new wording. Britain, Germany and France called the emergency meeting of the IAEA's 35-nation board of governors after Iran this month resumed work on uranium enrichment, the process that makes fuel for civilian nuclear reactors but also what can be the raw material for atom bombs. The European trio, who are spearheading European Union" /> European Unionnuclear talks with Iran, drew up the draft text, a senior diplomat close to the talks said. Washington charges the Iranian nuclear program is a cover for secret atomic weapons work. Iran says it is a peaceful nuclear power program, which it has the right to pursue. Russia wants to change the clause so that the IAEA board of governors just informs the Security Council about developments in Iran but "decides not to take any action," the senior diplomat said. "The Russians object that if the Council is empowered to take any sort of action, that this will go further, an automatism that will set off a chain of reactions," said the diplomat. The diplomat said that "if Iran does not do what the resolution tells them, then this could lead to sanctions, or even more," a reference to military action, under Chapter 7 of the UN Charter. A second diplomat said the Russians want the crackdown on Iran to be a "two-step" process, with the Security Council being informed of the matter after next week's meeting but any decision on calling for enforcement action coming after a pause for diplomacy until a regularly scheduled IAEA board meeting on March 6. Copyright © 2006 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved. The ***************************************************************** 6 AFP: US moves to delink Indian nuclear deal with Iran vote - Wed Jan 25, 11:32 PM ET WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) - Washington moved to unlink a landmark US-India civilian nuclear deal with how New Delhi votes on the Iranian nuclear question at a key meeting of the UN atomic watchdog agency. "Well, we deal with the Indian Government on these two issues as separate issues," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters on Wednesday. "Certainly, they come up in the same conversations, I'll tell you that," he said. US Ambassador to India David Mulford had warned Wednesday that a historic deal giving American nuclear technology to India might fall through if New Delhi did not vote against Iran" /> at the February 2-3 meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency" /> (IAEA). The West wants to refer Iran to the UN Security Council amid concerns over its nuclear program heightened earlier this month when Tehran announced it was suspending a voluntary moratorium and resuming sensitive nuclear research work. Western countries suspect Iran wants to build nuclear weapons under the guise of a civilian nuclear power program, a charge Tehran denies. Mulford had said that a prospective deal for the United States to transfer civilian nuclear technology to India would "die" in the US Congress if India voted against a resolution on Iran. If India decides not to back the resolution, "the effect on members of the US Congress with regard to (India-US) civil nuclear initiative will be devastating," Mulford told the Press Trust of India (PTI) news agency. India, which carried out a string of nuclear tests in 1998 and declared itself to be a nuclear-armed state, bristled at Mulford's comments, saying New Delhi would be guided by its own national interest. McCormack said Washington encouraged the Indian Government to vote for Iran's referral to the UN Security Council but "ultimately, that is going to be their decision." But he recalled that last September, India voted along with the United States when Iran came up before the global atomic agency, a part of the United Nations" /> . Under the Indo-US nuclear deal, signed by US President George W. Bush" /> and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh last July, India would get advanced nuclear technology which it has been denied for 30 years for conducting nuclear tests and refusing to sign on to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). For the deal to be approved, the United States wants India to separate its civilian and military nuclear programs under a plan that would place its civilian nuclear reactors under IAEA inspection. Mulford said Washington felt the ideas put forth by India on nuclear programme separation had not met the "test of credibility". Copyright © 2006 Agence France Presse. All rights reserved. The ***************************************************************** 7 Guardian Unlimited: U.N. Nuke Chief Hails Russian Offer From the Associated Press [UP] Thursday January 26, 2006 7:18 PM By EDITH M. LEDERER Associated Press Writer DAVOS, Switzerland (AP) - U.N. nuclear chief Mohamed ElBaradei said Thursday he was hopeful that a Russian proposal could help solve the international crisis over Iran's nuclear program. Speaking at the World Economic Forum's annual meeting, ElBaradei said he was pleased that Tehran's top nuclear negotiator, Ali Larijani, on Wednesday called Russia's proposal to move Iran's enrichment program to Russian territory ``positive.'' ElBaradei said he also was encouraged that all parties still were discussing a diplomatic solution. His comments came amid quickening diplomatic negotiations ahead of a crucial Feb. 2 meeting of his International Atomic Energy Agency, which could refer the issue to the Security Council. The 15-member council has the power to impose economic and political sanctions on Iran. Britain, France and Germany have been leading efforts to get Iran to abandon uranium conversion and enrichment activities - which it refuses to do. The United States and European powers fear Iran is using what it says is an atomic energy program as a front to build weapons. The three countries declared that negotiations had reached a ``dead end'' two days after Iran broke U.N. seals Jan. 10 at a uranium enrichment plant and said it was resuming nuclear research after a two-year freeze. Moscow has suggested that uranium could be enriched in Russia and then returned to Iran for use in the country's reactors. But haggling has continued over the specifics. President Bush has said Russia's proposal offered the best chance for resolving the impasse. ``We need Iran to use maximum transparency because there are a lot of question marks about its program,'' ElBaradei said at the World Economic Forum. ``They need to be assured that they can use nuclear power for electricity, but the international community needs to be assured that the Iran program is exclusively for peaceful purposes. ``And that's why the Russian proposal is a very attractive proposal. ``I was happy today to see Mr. Larijani ... saying that the Russian proposal is a positive one and they continue to discuss it,'' he said. ``I am hoping the Russian proposal could provide the beginning of a solution.'' Larijani said earlier this month that Iran would discuss the proposal with the Russians at a meeting in Moscow next month. On Thursday, he was in Beijing, where Chinese officials expressed support for the Russian proposal. Still, Larijani warned of ``consequences'' should the United States and its European allies move to refer Iran to the Security Council. ``It would be a disgrace to condemn with sanctions a country for peaceful research. Surely the world would not accept such an action,'' Larijani said. ``But if this kind of mistake happens, the consequences of the wrong actions will return back to those who put Iran under pressure.'' Also Thursday, Pakistan President Gen. Pervez Musharraf said Iran should not be allowed to develop nuclear weapons. ``Their security is not threatened,'' Musharraf told the forum. Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2006 ***************************************************************** 8 AFP: World powers haggle over Iran nuclear resolution as Bush backs Russia plan - Friday January 27, 12:02 AM VIENNA (AFP) - Western powers want the UN Security Council to call on Iran to suspend its nuclear fuel work, according to a draft resolution being refined while the United States and its allies pursue diplomatic efforts. Efforts to complete the draft continued Thursday as US President George W. Bush joined China in supporting a Russian plan to halt the Iran nuclear crisis. Russia has offered to manufacture nuclear fuel for Iran and collect the waste so that it cannot be used for nuclear ADVERTISEMENT [ src=] weapons development. Although Iran has said it is interested in the idea, the United States continues to lobby hard to get the International Atomic Energy Agency to refer Iran to the UN Security Council. The United States, Britain, Germany and France were haggling with Russia and China over the wording of the draft resolution for an emergency IAEA meeting in Vienna on February 2. The confidential draft -- read to AFP -- recommends to the Security Council "that it consider making clear to Iran that outstanding questions" can be resolved by Iran "responding" to IAEA calls for a suspension of its nuclear fuel work. Russia is resisting the pivotal clause because it fears Tehran's failure to meet the demand would open the way to a Security Council escalation and possible sanctions, said a senior diplomat, who is close to the talks but asked not to be named. According to the diplomat, the draft text shows a line crossing out the crucial clause. The diplomat said this had been done by the Russian representative to talks in Vienna in order to clear the way for a new wording. The IAEA meeting was called after Iran this month resumed work on uranium enrichment, the process that makes fuel for nuclear reactors but can also become the raw material for bombs. While Washington charges that Iran is seeking atomic weapons, Tehran insists its program is peaceful. The European trio, who are spearheading European Union talks with Iran, drew up the draft text, a senior diplomat close to the talks said. Russia wants to change the key clause so that the IAEA board of governors just informs the Security Council about developments in Iran but "decides not to take any action," the senior diplomat said. "The Russians object that if the Council is empowered to take any sort of action, that this will go further, an automatism that will set off a chain of reactions," said the diplomat. The diplomat said that "if Iran does not do what the resolution tells them, then this could lead to sanctions, or even more," a reference to military action, under the UN Charter. A second diplomat said the Russians want the crackdown on Iran to be a "two-step" process, with the Security Council being informed of the matter. But any decision on calling for enforcement action would come after a pause for diplomacy until a regular IAEA board meeting on March 6. Bush on Thursday gave public backing to the Russian compromise but said the United States is not easing efforts to refer Iran to the Security Council. China and IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei have also backed the move. The US State Department has expressed fears that Iran could be seeking to buy time through the Russian proposal. "The Russians came up with the idea and I support it. And the reason why I think it makes sense is because I do believe people ought to be allowed to have civilian nuclear power," Bush told a White House press conference. "However, I don't believe nontransparent regimes that threaten the security of the world should be allowed to gain the technologies necessary to make a weapon. And the Iranians have said, 'We want a weapon'. And it's not in the world's interests that they have a weapon." Bush stressed that the United States want to end the crisis through diplomatic efforts. But it is also lobbying aggressively for a UN referral. Diplomats said the United States as well as the European trio were pushing hard in Vienna to rally support on the IAEA board. One diplomat said US officials were saying that "Iran is a direct threat to US national security and that the United States will not tolerate an Iranian nuclear weapons program or enrichment capability because of the nature of the regime." "The Americans made very clear that they want action at this board," a diplomat said. Copyright © 2006 Yahoo! UK Limited. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 9 AFP: China backs Russian plan to resolve Iranian nuclear standoff - Friday January 27, 06:04 AM BEIJING (AFP) - China has backed a plan to have Iran's uranium enriched in Russia, as the Islamic republic's top security envoy met with Chinese officials in Beijing for talks on his nation's nuclear program. Ali Larijani, secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, on Wednesday gave fresh life to the Russian plan as a way to appease international concern that Tehran's nuclear energy program is a front for building weapons. Larijani, who was in Moscow, said "we positively evaluate this offer", adding the plan could be "perfected" in talks with Russian officials next month. Larijani then travelled to Beijing, where he held talks with Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing and other senior officials on Thursday. After his day of meetings in the Chinese capital, Larijani again said the Russian proposal was an option for Iran. "We welcome any plan that will allow us the peaceful use of nuclear energy," Larijani told reporters here. "But we need more discussion and we are in the negotiation process on this issue," he said. "We need to be patient. We should not be carried away but consider it more deeply." China, which is a key player in the global standoff because it is a permanent veto-wielding member of the UN Security Council, said it backed the plan for Iran's uranium to be enriched on Russian territory. "We think the suggestion would be a good attempt at breaking the stalemate," Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Kong Quan told a regular press briefing when asked about the proposal. Kong also reiterated China's opposition to UN-imposed sanctions and that it preferred diplomatic efforts to any other method of ending the stalemate over Iran's nuclear program. "In treating similar complicated issues, our position has been very clear -- we are opposed to the use of sanctions or the threat of sanctions to resolve problems, as this will often complicate issues," he said. China's comments may have offered hope to Iran as it seeks to fend off efforts from the United States and the so-called EU-3 -- France, Germany and Britain -- to refer it to the UN Security Council over its nuclear program. Under the proposed Russian arrangement, uranium for Iran's nascent nuclear power program would be enriched in Russia in order to keep tabs on the material. It would allay Western and Israeli fears that Iran secretly plans to build a nuclear weapon under cover of the civilian power project. The European Union and the United States have previously given backing to the Russian plan. However the United States has expressed concern that, with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) due to meet on February 2 to discuss the Iranian issue, Iran is playing the Russian card to stall for time. The IAEA, the UN's nuclear watchdog, could decide to refer Iran to the UN Security Council, which could then lead to sanctions. China -- partly motivated by its economic interests in oil and gas-rich Iran -- has consistently advocated a policy of negotiations on the nuclear issue. Its general reluctance to exert overt pressure in international relations, such as the imposition of sanctions, is another factor. Earlier Thursday, Chinese State Councilor Tang Jiaxuan told Larijani that China was concerned about the possible escalation of tensions over the nuclear issue, Xinhua news agency said. Larijani was quoted by Xinhua as saying that Iran is "willing to make further effort" to resolve the issue through dialogue and talks. Larijani was scheduled to leave Beijing late Thursday. Copyright © 2006 AFP. All rights reserved. All information ***************************************************************** 10 Korea Herald: EDITORIAL Seoul-Washington rift It is neither new nor surprising to hear that South Korea and the United States have different views on how to deal with North Korea. But it is truly alarming to see the two allies openly criticize each other at a time when they need closer cooperation on the communist country's nuclear disarmament and other bilateral issues such as restructuring the military alliance and negotiating a free trade agreement. What is most worrisome is that distrust between Seoul and Washington seems to have reached a dangerous level. It has come to the point where the South Korean Foreign Ministry publicly finds fault with the U.S. Embassy in Seoul regarding their statements related to the North's illegal financial activities, and President Roh Moo-hyun issues a warning against hardliners in the Bush administration. In his New Year's news conference on Wednesday, Roh said his government "does not agree with the view of some in the United States who take issue with North Korea's regime, putting pressure on and sometimes wishing for its collapse." He went on to say that "if the U.S. government tries to resolve problems that way, there will be friction and disagreement between South Korea and the United States." Roh quickly added that "for now" there is no such disagreement, but one can easily interpret the remarks as a warning to the Bush administration that he does not support U.S. sanctions on Pyongyang's illegal financial activities. It should be noted that Roh's statement came amid a fresh row between Seoul and Washington on the issue, which has left the six-party nuclear talks at an impasse since last November. Most disturbing is that the South Korean Foreign Ministry and the U.S. Embassy in Seoul even appear to have gotten emotional over their different approaches toward North Korea's illicit financial activities. One cannot but wonder whether diplomats from the two sides have cool heads and whether they are willing to cooperate in dealing with North Korea, a country notoriously difficult to negotiate with. By all accounts, the two sides seem to have had significant differences during their talks Monday on the North's illegal financial activities. It is understandable that South Korean officials, wary of angering the North, wanted to play down details about their discussions with the visiting U.S. deputy assistant treasury secretary for terrorist financing and financial crimes. Equally understandable is the fact that U.S. officials do not appreciate Seoul's lukewarm position on the issue. Nonetheless, it was unwise for the U.S. Embassy to issue a press release without first consulting with their Korean counterparts. No less imprudent was the South Korean decision to issue a statement rebuking the embassy. That may help the Seoul government earn some points from Pyongyang, but it's wrong to do so at the expense of the all-important collaboration with Washington. As things stand, at the core of the conflict is how to put an end to North Korea's illegal financial activities, while at the same time keeping the country within the framework of the multilateral nuclear talks. Both South Korea and the United States need to contain the damage from the latest friction, restore mutual confidence and redouble efforts to restart the six-party nuclear talks. If not, South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon's wish to restart the talks next month will be nothing but a pipe dream. 2006.01.27 ***************************************************************** 11 CNS: NSA Whistleblowers Were Allegedly Isolated, Intimidated -- By Sherrie Gossett CNSNews.com Staff Writer January 26, 2006 (The following is the second of a two-part series on the National Security Agency's alleged abuse of employee whistleblowers.) Read Part One: (CNSNews.com) - Whistleblowers who have stepped forward to accuse the National Security Agency of retaliating against them by falsely labeling them "paranoid," "delusional," or "psychotic," cover a range of political views. Russell D. Tice, a self-described conservative, believes President Bush should be impeached over the current controversy involving the NSA's domestic surveillance program. Another whistleblower, Diane Ring, is a staunch Bush supporter who supports the surveillance program. Ring is a former NSA computer scientist who said she was ordered to undergo a psychiatric evaluation after she ran afoul of a colonel at the Pentagon. Her case differs from the others in that she was not initially a whistleblower, but believes the retaliation arose from a personal vendetta against her. The colonel had chastised Ring for missing a briefing. When Ring explained that she had been directed by her branch chief, who was her superior, to work on a classified program during the briefing period and that the directive took priority, the official reportedly "blew up." Ring said she was first given a "management consult," instructing her to seek counseling then was pressed to see NSA forensic psychologist Dr. John Michael Schmidt. After she lodged a complaint about the alleged retaliation with the NSA inspector general, Ring said the agency moved to revoke her security clearance, "red-badging" her. "Red-badged" employees only have access to the corridors at the NSA. "I had just received a 4.5 out of 5.0 job evaluation rating 3 months prior," Ring told Cybercast News Service. According to Ring, her colleagues told her in the hallways at NSA that they had been ordered not to communicate with her. Ring said she was assigned to spend her days in a room full of other "red-badgers." She believes the isolation was one part of an intentional campaign to break her and drive her out of the NSA. For eight months, the former action officer from the Pentagon read books and magazines. "They had these red-badgers spread out all over the place. Some were sent to pump gas in the motor pool and chauffeur people around," said Ring. "In our room, some people brought sleeping bags in and slept all day long. Others read. I would think that would incense the taxpaying public." Soon after being isolated, Ring said she began losing sleep and was ordered to undergo more psychiatric evaluations administered by Schmidt. Ring said Schmidt eventually reported that another doctor had diagnosed her with a "personality disorder," but according to Ring, she later produced a letter from that doctor who said he had never told Schmidt such a thing. Like others in her position, Ring began to go to the NSA Employee Assistance Service (EAS) for confidential counseling about what she was going through. But a current NSA officer who spoke with Cybercast News Service on the condition of anonymity and is identified in this report as "Agent X," warned that NSA officials are able to obtain 'confidential' EAS records when they are attempting to retaliate against an employee. "Their goal is to freak you out, to get inside your mind," X said. Ring claims that NSA General Counsel Paul Caminos lied about her case before a judge, denying that he had sent an internal email forbidding anyone from supporting Ring. Ring said she was "floored" by Caminos' actions, comparing the process to being "shell-shocked." "I served in Bosnia. We had mines going off all around us, all day long. That was nothing compared to this," Ring said. She now plans to send a letter to the new NSA director, Lt. Gen. Keith B. Alexander, asking that he order an investigation of her case. "This is his time to shine," said Ring. "He can really clean house." Like "J," the linguist whose account was detailed in of this report, Ring believes that the problem at NSA involves only a few people. "The whole lot of them is corrupt though," Ring said. "There is zero integrity in the process. And zero accountability. " 'Doing a mental' Former NSA officer Thomas G. Reinbold confirmed that the practice of "psychiatric abuse" inside the NSA is "very widespread." "They call it 'doing a mental' on someone," Reinbold said, and it has a "chilling effect" on other potential whistleblowers, he added. "They fear for their careers because they fear someone will write up bad [psychological] fitness reports on them." Reinbold was labeled "paranoid" and "delusional" by Schmidt after he complained to an inspector general on Feb. 25, 1994, that the federal government was guilty of contract tampering. An evaluation conducted by Schmidt eight months earlier had concluded that Reinbold did not present a mental health or security risk, according to court documents. Reinbold was working at the time as a contracting officer representative assigned to the Naval Security Group (NAVSECGRU) at Sugar Grove, W.Va. NSA temporarily suspended his "Sensitive Compartmented Information" (SCI) security clearance, which is more exclusive than a "Top Secret" clearance and Reinbold said he was escorted from Sugar Grove by armed naval officers. Reinbold accused the NSA of fabricating evidence in his personnel file in order to oust him. The phony evidence, Reinbold alleged, included that he was a danger to himself and others, and that he had said "if [he] was going down, [he] would take everyone with him." During this time, Reinbold also requested that Schmidt's earlier statements, labeling him "paranoid" and "delusional" be removed from his file. An administrative hearing held on Sept. 7, 1995, found that the revocation of Reinbold's security clearance was unjustified and that the NSA should restore both his clearance and his job. However, Reinbold was not able to get the damaging information removed from his file. He later sued, but then was forced to retire because of his diabetes. During his career, Reinbold said, he received 26 commendations and awards as well as a medal for the strategic intelligence he provided during the first Persian Gulf War. "I gave 29 years of my life to the intelligence community," Rienbold said. "They couldn't get me out the door fast enough. There are very good people, getting screwed and going through hell," he told Cybercast News Service. Some of the whistleblowers plan to ask U.S. Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) for help. While Diane Ring wants her job back, or at minimum, to be allowed to resign with her security clearance intact, Tice believes there is no reason for optimism. "Our time is over," Tice said he told Ring. "But we can make a difference for those who come behind us," he added. Cybercast News Service contacted the NSA on Jan. 17 about the allegations contained in this report, including those involving the security department, the NSA inspector general, the Office of the General Counsel and staff psychologists such as Schmidt. Two days later, Don Weber, senior NSA media advisor responded. "At this time I have no information to provide; however, if that changes, I will email you soonest. Thanks for the query," Weber stated. Dr. Don Soeken, founder and director of Integrity International, a whistleblower advocacy group, supports the public stance taken by the whistleblowers. Soeken became a whistleblower himself while employed as a psychiatric caseworker for the U.S. Public Health Service in the 1970s. He told Cybercast News Service that he discovered the government employees sent to him with diagnoses of mental illness or imbalance were actually whistleblowers who had no mental problems. Soeken's superior backed his findings, which eventually led to hearings on Capitol Hill. "When this retaliation first starts, there's a tendency by bosses to use code words like 'delusional,' 'paranoid' and 'disgruntled'" said Soeken. "Then they use psychiatric exams to destroy them. They kill the messenger and hope the PR spin will be bought by the public." Tom Devine, legal director for the Government Accountability Project, a Washington D.C.-based non-profit advocacy group, told Cybercast News Service that "psychiatric retaliation" is a knee-jerk reaction against whistleblowers. "It's a classic way to implement the first rule of retaliation: shift the spotlight from the message to the messenger. We call it the 'Smokescreen Syndrome.'" Superiors investigate and brand the whistleblower for anything ranging from financial irregularities, to family problems, sexual practices, bad driving records or even failure to return library books, Devine said. "It's a form of abuse of power." Beth Daly, senior investigator for the Project on Government Oversight (POGO), said whistleblowers in the intelligence community have no real protection due to flaws in the Whistleblower Protection Act. "You have to go through the inspector general or the director of the CIA to let them know if you're going to Congress and what you're going to disclose. And inspector generals are notorious for revealing who whistleblowers are," Daly said. On Feb. 14, U.S. Rep. Christopher Shays (R-Conn.), chairman of the House National Security subcommittee, will begin hearings to investigate the allegations of security clearances being revoked as a form of retaliation. Vince Chase, an investigator with the subcommittee, told Cybercast News Service that three panels of witnesses would testify and that the focus would be on the lack of protections for national security agency whistleblowers. Some intelligence agency whistleblowers had been skeptical about the proceedings, believing that their concerns would not be accurately represented by witnesses such as inspectors general. But the subcommittee has now invited Russell D. Tice to testify, as well as the organization to which he belongs, the National Security Whistleblowers Coalition (NSWBC). Prof. William Weaver, senior advisor to NSWBC and a legal expert in governmental abuse, is expected to emphasize the lack of oversight and direct accountability. The Concerned Foreign Service Officers Coalition, an NSWBC partner, will be offering written testimony as well. Former FBI language specialist Sibel Edmonds, president of the National Security Whistleblowers Coalition, praised the development in a letter sent Jan. 25 to supporters. "This shows once again that we may be powerless in pursuing our own individual cases and going against the monstrous government brick wall of abuse," Edmonds wrote, "but together, collectively, as a coalition of now 70+ (national security) whistleblowers, we have a voice, a mighty powerful one indeed." Meanwhile, Agent X, Russell Tice and the other whistleblowers quoted in this report believe other former NSA employees might be better able now to come to terms with what happened. "They probably feel alone, but this shows they're not alone. There are a lot of people who this has happened to," Agent X said. CNSNews.com is optimized for use with the latest version ***************************************************************** 12 Guardian Unlimited: Bush Plans $250M for Nuclear Waste Project From the Associated Press [UP] Friday January 27, 2006 12:03 AM By H. JOSEF HEBERT Associated Press Writer WASHINGTON (AP) - The Bush administration is making plans to revive nuclear fuel reprocessing, including a long-term proposal to provide reactor fuel to foreign countries if they return it to the United States to be recycled. President Bush will include a request for $250 million in his budget to be released next week as a first step toward reversing a decades long U.S. policy against nuclear reprocessing, congressional and administration officials said Thursday. The plan is part of an effort to take a fresh look at how to deal with the thousands of tons of used reactor fuel piling up at U.S. commercial power plants, while also gaining control over future nuclear materials in developing countries where the demand for nuclear energy is expected to grow. The United States halted all reprocessing in the late 1970s because it produces pure plutonium that could be used in a nuclear weapon if obtained by terrorists or rogue states. The Bush plan, expected to be unveiled as part of the Energy Department's budget, calls for stepped up research into a ``more proliferation resistant'' type of reprocessing that proponents say will reduce dramatically the likelihood of theft or diversion. The process would not produce pure plutonium, but a mixture of plutonium and neptunium that would make the separated elements more difficult to handle and, therefore, more secure. But nonproliferation advocates contend the new process represents little more than - as one described it - a ``fig leaf'' over the reprocessing the U.S. has rejected since 1979 when President Carter banned reprocessing because of proliferation worries. ``The tweaking of this process would only provide a minor additional deterrent,'' said Edwin Lyman, a nuclear specialist at the Union of Concerned Scientists. It would not prevent a suicidal terrorist from handling the material, he said. The Bush proposal, called the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership, envisions that U.S. companies eventually will sell reactors and fuel to developing countries with the stipulation that the fuel would be returned to the United States for reprocessing. Nuclear scientists who have been working on the reprocessing technology for the Energy Department say that up to 90 percent of spent fuel can be recycled for reuse, reducing dramatically the need for geological disposal. The initial $250 million is expected to go to stepped up research and initial work on a reprocessing facility, probably at the Savannah River nuclear complex in South Carolina, according to private and government sources familiar with the discussions. The sources spoke on condition of anonymity because the plan has yet to be announced. President Bush has been briefed on the plan, and Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman hinted at the broad outline of the reprocessing initiative and its potential global aspects in a November speech at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Countries around the world will demand use of nuclear energy in the coming decades, Bodman said, and ``the challenge that confronts us'' is providing nuclear fuel and addressing reactor waste globally without increasing proliferation risks. He said the U.S. might be one of the countries that could offer ``cradle to grave fuel cycle services, leasing fuel for power reactors and then taking it back for reprocessing and disposition.'' Bodman said the administration remained committed to completing the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste site in Nevada. But experts say it will not be able to hold all of the country's reactor waste if nuclear energy expands with new reactors. ``Reprocessing could help avoid or delay the need for a second repository,'' Marvin Fertel, a senior vice president of the Nuclear Energy Institute, the industry's lobbying group, told a congressional hearing last March. But Fertel emphasized that the nuclear industry views fuel reprocessing as a technology that is still decades away from being economical - and won't be as long as fresh uranium is plentiful and relatively cheap. --- On the Net: Energy Department: http://www.doe.gov Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2006 ***************************************************************** 13 [NYTr] Fidel Warns World's Nuclear Powers Endanger the Planet Date: Thu, 26 Jan 2006 14:39:10 -0600 (CST) Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit Prensa Latina, Havana http://www.plenglish.com Fidel Castro Warns World's Nuclear Power Endanger the Planet Havana, Jan 26 (Prensa Latina) President Fidel Castro has cautioned that the planet is in danger because top worlds powers have a monopoly over nuclear weapons. In an informal talk late Wednesday night with foreign and Cuban reporters at the capitals Anti-imperialist Tribune, the Cuban leader commented on how these nations get all bent out of shape when another country like Iran wants to produce nuclear fuel for peaceful ends. They are even talking about attacking Iran and imposing sanctions against this Persian state, he said. However, he stated, those nations have never protested the weapons of mass destruction Israel has been producing. Fidel Castro also recalled that in Angola, South Africa with the support of the United States during the Apartheid regime, considered launching those weapons against the Cuban internationalist troops. The Cuban statesman pointed out the world could disappear if it does not denounce the George W. Bush warmongering policy. Using as a pretext the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, Bush spoke of attacking some 60 countries. The White House even spoke of attacking European nations, and even invading the Netherlands, Fidel Castro added. Not even Hitler said that. He looked for pretexts, but Bush attacks more blatantly and has more weapons; he is a madman and the world runs a real danger, the Cuban leader stressed. "Only truth can save this specimen," he underlined. Fidel Castro unexpectedly visited the site, just in front of the US Interest Section, where workers are constructing what will shortly be the Cuban response to the latest US provocations through its Interest Section (USINT) in Havana. The current US diplomatic mission put up a large ticker on the east side of its building from which it is beaming subversive messages. The Cuban leader warned the Bush administration is trying to break diplomatic relations with Cuba, which are at their lowest level, and asserted that "Cuba has nothing to lose." "They are taking all the steps to bring about a rupture. We are denouncing this to the world, so Cuba is not the one to be blamed for it," he said. In any case, "if relations get broken, we would not lose absolutely anything," he added and referred to the USINT as "a General Staff, the command post of the counter-revolution dedicated to smuggling." Last Tuesday, 1.4 million Cubans marched in front of USINT for seven hours, repudiating Washington4s aggressive policy against the island and reiterating support for the Revolution. Led by President Fidel Castro, demonstrators condemned the imminent release of notorious Cuban-born terrorist Luis Posada Carriles and shouted over and over "Fascist Bush, Condemn the Terrorist." Responsible, among other crimes, for the mid-air explosion of a Cuban plane in October 1976, killing 73 people, Posada Carriles is still detained at the US Immigration Detention Center in El Paso, Texas, since May last year, after having illegally sneaked into the US territory. mh/iff/acl/mf * ================================================================ .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 ================================================================ ***************************************************************** 14 Xinhua: Germany suggested to develope nuclear weapons www.xinhuanet.com www.chinaview.cn 2006-01-26 23:30:54 BERLIN, Jan. 26 (Xinhua) -- Germany may need to develop its own nuclear weapons to counter nuclear threat from a terrorist state, a former defense minister said Thursday. "We need a serious discussion over how we can react to a nuclear threat by a terrorist state in an appropriate manner -- and in extreme cases with our own nuclear weapons," Rupert Scholz,who was defence minister from 1988 to 1989, said in an interview with the Bild newspaper. Berlin should firstly try to get binding guarantees from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) that it would protect Germany from being attacked by nuclear weapons, said Scholz, a member of Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democratic Union. If such guarantees could not be inked in a formal NATO doctrine, Germany needed to consider building its own nuclear deterrence system, said the former minister, who admitted that his suggestions were breaking a national taboo. Building nuclear weapons would violate the 2+4 Treaty, which paves the way for the 1990 German unification as the United States,Britain France and former USSR ended their occupation rights in Germany. According to the treaty, Germany gives up "the manufacture and possession of and control over nuclear, biological and chemical weapons." Scholz's remarks sparked sharp criticism from Rainer Stinner, a member of the opposition Free Democratic Party. He said, "If we start questioning international treaties, what right do we have to demand others adhere to them?" Germany's security would be reduced rather than increased by possessing nuclear weapons, Stinner added. French President Jacques Chirac said last week that Paris could use nuclear weapons against state sponsored terrorists if they attacked France. His remarks have drawn worries and criticism in Europe, including Germany. Enditem Copyright ©2003 Xinhua News Agency. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 15 ITAR-TASS: Moscow court to review complaint about Adamov extended custody 26.01.2006, 10.58 MOSCOW, January 26 (Itar-Tass) - The Moscow City Court has set January 30 as a date of a review of a complaint about the extension of custody of Yevgeny Adamov, the ex-chief of the Russian Nuclear Energy Ministry. Sources told Itar-Tass that the court is to consider the appeal about the decision of the lower Basmanny court of Moscow that prolonged Adamov’s custody to April 12 by its December 22 decision. Adamov’s defence had earlier said that it was going to ask for his release from custody. Switzerland extradited him to Moscow on December 31 at the request of the Russian Prosecutor General’s Office that brought against him charges of fraud and abuse of office. Adamov was placed in Moscow’s pre-trial detention prison Matrosskaya Tishina after the extradition. © ITAR-TASS. All rights reserved. You undertake not to copy, ***************************************************************** 16 Guardian Unlimited: India Protests U.S. Nuke Statement From the Associated Press [UP] Thursday January 26, 2006 3:33 PM By ASHOK SHARMA Associated Press Writer NEW DELHI (AP) - India on Thursday protested a suggestion by the U.S. ambassador that a landmark nuclear deal between the two countries would fall apart unless New Delhi backed Washington's effort to bring Iran before the U.N. Security Council because of its atomic program. Under the deal signed in July, Washington is to share civilian nuclear technology and supply nuclear fuel to India in return for New Delhi separating its civilian and military nuclear programs and allowing international inspections of its atomic facilities. But U.S. Ambassador David Mulford said Wednesday that if India does not vote next month to refer Tehran to the Security Council, which could impose sanctions, it would be ``devastating'' to the deal currently before the U.S. Congress. ``I think the Congress will simply stop considering the matter,'' Mulford told the Press Trust of India news agency. The pact ``will die in the Congress,'' Mulford said. The State Department said the envoy was speaking for himself. India Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran told Mulford at a meeting Thursday that the remarks ``were inappropriate and not conducive to building a strong partnership between our two independent democracies,'' the External Affairs Ministry said in statement. Mulford's unusually frank comments came as Washington intensifies efforts to win support at the International Atomic Energy Agency for its plan use the Security Council to pressure Iran to end its nuclear program. The IAEA board, on which India sits, is due to meet Feb. 2 to discuss Iran. India has long-standing ties with Iran. U.S. Embassy spokesman David Kennedy confirmed that Saran and Mulford met Thursday but could not provide any details of their talks. But India's Foreign Ministry quoted Saran as telling Mulford: ``India's vote on any possible resolution on the Iran nuclear issue at the IAEA would be determined by India's own judgment of the merits of the case.'' A referral to the Security Council could lead to economic and political sanctions against Iran. The United States and European powers fear Tehran could use its nuclear program to develop atomic weapons. Iran insists its program is only for generating electricity. European countries believe they have enough votes at the IAEA to bring Iran before the Security Council. But they are seeking support from Russia, China and key developing nations, including India. Although New Delhi agrees with Washington that Iran should not be allowed to develop nuclear weapons, it has pushed a softer line, urging negotiations with Tehran. New Delhi voted in September with the United States and European powers on an earlier IAEA resolution that could have led to Iran's referral to the council. But the Indian government faced fierce domestic criticism over the move from its left-wing political allies, who accused it of selling out a longtime ally to curry favor with Washington. New Delhi has, in recent weeks, appeared hesitant to repeat the vote, instead urging negotiations with Tehran. ``We have made it known to (India) that we would very much like India's support because India has arrived on the world stage and is a very important player in the world,'' Mulford said Wednesday. Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2006 ***************************************************************** 17 SFSS: Japanese surrendered due to Russian threat, not atomic bombs, historian says South Florida Sun-Sentinel [Sun-Sentinel.com] By Peter Franceschina Staff Writer Posted January 26 2006 University of California historian Tsuyoshi Hasegawa, a critically acclaimed and controversial author, told a group Wednesday at Florida Atlantic University that the atomic bomb was not the main reason for the Japanese surrender in World War II. Rather, the Soviet entry into the Pacific war between the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945 had far more influence on the surrender, Hasegawa said. His latest book, Racing the Enemy: Stalin, Truman, and the Surrender of Japan, contradicts the long-held wisdom of many Americans that President Harry Truman's decision to use nuclear weapons led directly to the surrender. "The Soviet entry into the war was more decisive than the atomic bomb, but that was no knockout punch," he said. Hasegawa's lecture drew more than 100 people, a mix of students, history buffs and World War II veterans. His book has been praised as a new review of primary war documents -- especially Japanese documents -- that sheds new light on the war's final days. "I think Hasegawa's work is the best thing to come along in a long time as far as bringing out new information," said author Richard Rhodes, whose 1986 The Making of the Atomic Bomb won the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award. "His information is new, and really as far as I can see, is definitive. He looked at the records of the Russian government, the Japanese government and the American government." Hasegawa joked that his work is not definitive, because his views have shifted since the book was published in May. To laughs, he said that was a result of some of the probing criticism from other historians. There is a lively debate on the book at the Web site www.h-net.org. One of the book's main themes is that Truman wanted the war to end before the Soviets could get involved, to limit Russian influence in the Far East, Hasegawa said. Soviet leader Josef Stalin wanted time to get his troops into Manchuria, and lay claim to war spoils, he said. After the Potsdam Conference in the summer of 1945, in which the Allies issued an ultimatum to Japan of unconditional surrender or total destruction, there was a race between the United States and Russia, Hasegawa said. "The race between the Soviet entry into the war and the atomic bomb began in earnest," he said, adding he doesn't believe Truman employed the nuclear weapons as a show of power to intimidate the Russians. The first atomic bomb fell on Hiroshima on Aug. 6, 1945; the Russians invaded Manchuria on Aug. 8, and the second atomic bomb was unleashed Aug. 9 on Nagasaki. The Japanese wanted to preserve their monarchial emperor, and an unconditional surrender would not guarantee that, Hasegawa said. They were more afraid the Russians would destroy the monarchy than the United States, he said. In the end, the surrender allowed Japan to keep its emperor. Michael Eremia, 77, of Singer Island, came to the lecture because he is a history buff. "It reconfirmed what I always suspected -- that the Japanese were more frightened by the Russians than the Americans," he said. "As [Hasegawa] said, they gambled correctly on the Americans." Peter Franceschina can be reached at pfranceschina@sun-sentinel.com or 561-228-5503. Copyright © 2006, South Florida Sun-Sentinel Copyright 2006, Sun-Sentinel Co. & South Florida Interactive Inc. Sun-Sentinel.com, 200 E. Las Olas Blvd., Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33301 ***************************************************************** 18 PRN: BNFL Board OKs Toshiba's Bid for Westinghouse; 'Smooth, Expeditious' Sale Predicted LONDON, Jan. 26 /PRNewswire/ -- The Board of Directors of British Nuclear Fuels plc (BNFL) today confirmed Toshiba Corporation as the preferred bidder for Westinghouse Electric Company, paving the way for what BNFL CEO Mike Parker predicted will be a "smooth, expeditious" sale. Toshiba offered the highest bid for Westinghouse. "With the endorsement of the Board of Directors, we now look forward to a smooth, expeditious sale. This was a straightforward decision due to the strength of Toshiba's bid, and the care BNFL has taken to ensure every potential concern is addressed responsibly," Parker said. "Toshiba offered not only the highest price but also the best value, making this the clear-cut best result for our business, for our employees and for the British taxpayers," BNFL Board Chairman Gordon Campbell said. Toshiba is now engaged in additional due diligence, examining Westinghouse's business records as a formal step toward a final contract, which the parties hope to sign next month. SOURCE British Nuclear Fuels plc Copyright © 1996- PR Newswire Association LLC. All Rights Reserved. ***************************************************************** 19 Guardian Unlimited: Burgeoning problems divide Davos delegates Larry Elliott Thursday January 26, 2006 The Guardian A lengthy list of policy headaches ranging from Iran's nuclear threat to the stalled global trade talks greeted more than 2,000 business, government and civil society leaders as they gathered in the Swiss ski resort of Davos for the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum. Faced with a cocktail of problems that would have spelled political and economic chaos a generation ago, sharp divisions were evident from the outset between pessimists convinced the world is living on borrowed time and optimists who argued that the doomsters are ignoring signs of hope. Jim O'Neill, head of global economic research at Goldman Sachs, professed himself to be "quite cheerful and getting more optimistic". The world economy was on course to enjoy the best three years of growth since the second world war and there was evidence that China - a big theme at Davos this year - was forcing countries such as Japan, India and Germany to embrace much needed reforms. With Germany's chancellor, Angela Merkel, opening the WEF last night, Mr O'Neill said Europe's biggest economy was, at last, turning the corner. "A bit of a mini-revolution has been going on in Germany." A different insight came from Stephen Roach, for years the most bearish of Wall Street analysts, on the US economy. Mr Roach, the chief economist at Morgan Stanley, said markets and policymakers had developed "a dangerous degree of complacency", assuming that an unbalanced world economy could continue without correction. Mr Roach, who delivered a similar warning at last year's Davos, said Asian central banks had helped to keep the show on the road for longer than could have been expected, but that with Alan Greenspan, the chairman of the Federal Reserve, due to be replaced by Ben Bernanke after more than 18 years at the helm of the US central bank, tougher times were coming. The American consumer - both "the weakest link" and the most important - had continued to drive the world economy by spending on the back of a property bubble but the boom was running out of steam with the key indicator of home mortgage refinancing down 45% from peak levels a year ago. A number of sessions in Davos over the next few days will be devoted to the price of oil, which has stayed higher for longer than participants envisaged a year ago. China's strong growth is seen as a prime cause of the rise in all commodity prices, including oil and Mr O'Neill said that even if the country's growth rate halved to 5% it would still overtake the US to be the world's biggest economy by the middle of the century. Amid fears in the west that spectacular growth in China and other developing countries would lead to job losses in the west, the US labour secretary, Elaine Chao, sought to reassure American workers yesterday that a 30,000 cut in Ford's workforce announced last week was not the start of a rise in unemployment. "While these jobs may be going away there are new jobs that are being created and therefore the retraining and training of new workers coming into the workforce is of paramount importance," she said, adding that 2.4m jobs were created in 2005. Hopes for an immediate breakthrough on two pressing issues - Iran and trade - looked remote last night. Kofi Annan, the UN secretary general, saw little prospect of Iran's nuclear programme being discussed by the UN security council next month because it would take time for the International Atomic Energy Agency to prepare a report. Trade sources also said a meeting of 25 ministers planned for the fringes of the WEF was unlikely to jumpstart the talks before April's deadline. Useful links The Foreign and Commonwealth Office The Department for International Development Email comments for publication to: politics.editor@guardianunlimited.co.uk [UP] Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2006 ***************************************************************** 20 heraldsun.com: Nuclear plant plan to draw opposition BY ROB SHAPARD : The Herald-Sun rshapard@heraldsun.com Jan 25, 2006 : 7:44 pm ET More than two decades ago, Carolina Power &Light Co.'s plans to build a nuclear power plant in southwestern Wake County galvanized people by the hundreds in neighboring Durham, Orange and Chatham counties. They flooded meeting rooms of local councils and commissions. Some filed legal challenges that reached a federal appeals court in Richmond, Va., where CP -- now known as Progress Energy -- prevailed. Opposition to putting a nuclear power plant 25 miles from downtown Durham and 18 miles from Chapel Hill was hardly surprising, given the area's political pedigree. More so in light of events in the late '70s and early '80s: the 1979 accident at the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania and in 1986 at the Chernobyl nuclear plant in the former Soviet Union. All of which invites the question: What will the reaction be to this week's Progress Energy announcement that it may add another unit to the Shearon Harris plant? Particularly at a time when, for many people, high gasoline, oil and natural gas prices -- not to mention health hazards from fossil-fuel emissions -- are everyday worries. Phyllis Lotchin, an English professor who's worked at N.C. Central University in Durham for 37 years, said she found the news from Progress Energy distressing. "When it read it [in the paper], my heart sank," she said. "I thought, what's my role in all of this? Do I have the time and energy to get involved again?" Lotchin, who lives in Chapel Hill, served on a committee that recommended ways for the town to increase its own safety once Shearon Harris was up and running. Progress Energy doesn't expect to finish the work needed to apply for licensing by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission until late 2007 or early 2008. It likely would take the NRC another two years or so to complete its review, company spokesman Keith Poston said. The utility says it needs more generating capacity because it expects to add some 300,000 customers in the Carolinas over the next decade. It said construction could start as early as 2010 and a new reactor could be on line about six years later. Still, the company stated it would take "several years" to make a final decision, which would be based on several factors, such as "public and political support, regulatory approval and forecasts for energy demand and economic conditions later this decade." State Rep. Paul Luebke, a Durham Democrat, said Progress Energy's plans likely will spark much debate. Luebke said Wednesday that, as a Durham resident and professor of sociology at UNC Greensboro, he was focused in the early '80s on community issues other than Shearon Harris. That's not to say he was comfortable with the plant. "Back then, I had concerns about safety and evacuation," he said. "I continue to have those concerns. The population is much greater today than 20 years ago, so I think there's an even greater challenge." Orange Democrat Rep. Joe Hackney, the House majority leader, flatly said he opposes adding another reactor at Shearon Harris. Hackney has been in office since 1980 and represents parts of Orange, Chatham and Moore counties. He lives in southern Orange and owns a farm with his brother in Chatham. "I think there will be a great deal of opposition to it, because it's just too close to large population centers," Hackney said. To contest CP's plans to build the plant, critics formed the Coalition for Alternatives to Shearon Harris. And once the NRC granted the license in early 1987, the coalition turned to the appeals court in Richmond, with Durham resident Wells Eddleman and the Conservation Council of North Carolina named in the petition along with the coalition. Bob Epting, a law partner with Hackney in Chapel Hill, represented the coalition in appearances at local government meetings and in the federal appeal. "I've come to believe the greatest benefit from [those efforts] was to make sure people who were concerned found a way to have a voice," Epting said. "Ultimately, I think the fact that a large part of the community has accepted the plant as necessary and probably safe is a result of all the questions, and all the hell that was raised and the omissions that were pointed out." But Epting said he still sees it as "morally wrong" to leave huge amounts of radioactive waste for future generations, and that he realized many people still weren't comfortable with the plant. On Tuesday, the Carrboro Board of Aldermen expressed concerns about the proposal and may consider a resolution on the matter. Orange Commissioners Chairman Barry Jacobs suggested forming a local group that could gauge concerns about the proposal. Orange activists Dan Coleman and Mark Marcoplos were deeply involved in opposing the plant in the '80s. They both argued this week that allowing Shearon Harris to expand would be unnecessary and foolish on many counts. "There are so many better options," Coleman said. "There is so much untapped potential in renewable energy and energy efficiency. It requires some vision from the Legislature and the [regulators], and putting some programs in place. But it's definitely possible for North Carolina to chart a different course." Marcoplos, a member of the N.C. Waste Awareness and Reduction Network, said he expects that group to challenge points such as the demand Progress Energy is projecting. "I don't think what [Progress Energy] has done yet is going to provoke any kind of massive outpouring of activist energy," he said. "But I can guarantee it has caught the attention of lots and lots of people, and it will be building below the surface as this process goes forward." For its part, Progress Energy plans to start holding public forums and meetings in the Triangle within the next couple of months, Poston said. "I'm sure there will be some opposition, but I believe as more people understand the options for large-scale electricity production, and the benefits nuclear power offers, it will be clear it's a good option," he said. ***************************************************************** 21 Metroland: All systems aglow at Pickering nuclear station - 'Plant operated very well last year' Jan 26, 2006 By Keith GilliganStaff Writer PICKERING -- Last year was a good one at the Pickering nuclear station, and it's been so far, so good for 2006. "So far, the year has been fairly good," said Ontario Power Generation senior vice-president Pat McNeil. "The Pickering plant operated very well last year." Four reactors, Units 1, 5, 7 and 8 are operating at full power, while Unit 4 went into a "forced outage last Thursday and it's expected to be back this week," Mr. McNeil said Tuesday during a meeting of the Community Advisory Committee. The cause of the outage was on the "conventional side" and not the nuclear section, he noted. Unit 6 is in a planned outage and should be back in service in about a month. "It's a very long outage for us; it's over 120 days," he said. A highlight of last year was the return to full service of Unit 1 in the fall. The reactor had been out of service for eight years and required extensive refurbishment prior to being restarted. "Pickering 'B' worked remarkably well last year," Mr. McNeil said. "It was a pretty successful year." OPG also announced last year that two reactors on the 'A' side, Units 2 and 3, wouldn't be restarted. The company claimed the cost to refurbish the reactors didn't justify the expense. Also on the 'A' side, there hasn't been an accident that has caused someone to take time off work in more than four million hours. "We've operated for two years without a loss-time accident," Mr. McNeil stated. John Coleby, the senior vice-president in charge of the 'A' side, noted there had been eight accidents on the 'A' side that required medical attention and "each gets investigated." On the 'B' side, it's been 250,000 hours since a loss-time accident, Mr. McNeil added. "The only way to reach the safety level we have is extensive training. We strive to get better. It's the only way to do it," Mr. McNeil said. "We put a lot of emphasis on training our folks before they ever get in the plant." The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission looks at safety when reviewing the facility, he noted. An overview of the nuclear facilities is underway, he said. The 'B' side at Pickering could operate until 2014 "without a significant investment," he noted. In December, the Ontario Power Authority released a report outlining how the Province should proceed in addressing the power needs of the province. One of the recommendations is building more nuclear stations. "The nuclear component would remain roughly the same as where it is today. It's currently about 50 per cent of Ontario's power," Mr. McNeil stated, pointing out that's between 12 to 15 megawatts of energy. The OPA suggested either reinvesting in old nuclear reactors or building new ones. "What that will be isn't clear at this time. The government has received the report," Mr. McNeil noted. A 60-day public review is underway and the "government, after consultation, will ask the OPA to come back with specific recommendations. What that will be at this time, I don't know," Mr. McNeil said. On the topic of energy from wind, he said the government is "looking for other investors." Copyright © Metroland, Durham Region Media Group. - All ***************************************************************** 22 NRC: News Release - Region IV - 2006-06-001 - Performance Issues at the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Office of Public Affairs, Region IV 611 Ryan Plaza Drive, Suite 400, Arlington TX 76011 www.nrc.gov No. IV-06-001 January 26, 2006 CONTACT: Victor Dricks Phone: 817-860-8128 E-mail: opa4@nrc.gov PERFORMANCE ISSUES AT THE PALO VERDE NUCLEAR GENERATING STATION Printable Version[PDF Icon] Bruce Mallett Region IV Administrator U. S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission before the Arizona Corporation Commission Phoenix Arizona Good afternoon. My name is Bruce Mallett. I am the Regional Administrator or Director of the Region IV Office of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Here with me today is Mr. Troy Pruett, Chief of the Reactor Projects Branch, and Victor Dricks, Public Affairs Officer, both in our Region IV Office. Mr. Pruetts Branch is responsible for NRC inspection oversight of the licensees (Arizona Public Service) operation of the Palo Verde nuclear power plant. Our Office is one of four regional offices in the NRC with our Headquarters office near Washington, D.C. The Region IV Office is located in Arlington, Texas, and regulates the use of radioactive materials for licensees operating in the United States west of the Mississippi River. This includes regulating the use of nuclear materials in the operation of nuclear power plants such as the Palo Verde nuclear plant. At your request, we are here to provide you with information specific to the operation of the Palo Verde nuclear plant. Before we respond to your questions, I would like to provide you a brief overview of the role of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, how we assess the performance of commercial nuclear power facilities, and our current assessment of Palo Verde. Our Agencys mission is to ensure that nuclear plants, like Palo Verde, are operated safely and securely, in a manner that protects the public health and safety. We also ensure that the licensees are adequately prepared for emergencies and operate such that they protect the environment. We carry out this mission by licensing facilities to operate and inspecting them during operation. We also evaluate, test the adequacy of qualifications for and license the operators of the controls of these nuclear reactors. We license nuclear plants to operate only after exhaustive reviews of their proposed design and a determination that their facilities, procedures, and training and technical qualifications of certain individuals in the organization (e.g., the operators at the controls) are adequate. After issuance of the license to operate, we inspect the plants operation to ensure compliance with (1) the operating bases (e.g., procedures, facilities, people, technical specifications, etc., described in the license); and (2) our regulations, and to ensure operation with the greatest margin between operation and a safety problem. In addition, our inspection program ensures that Palo Verde (1) maintains acceptable design and safety margins when making changes, (2) identifies and adequately addresses problems that could impact that safety margin, and (3) maintains the qualifications of the control room operators. An example of this might be examinations or surveillances the licensee conducts to make sure a piece of equipment important to safety remains capable of performing its safety function. Our inspection program is a part of our Reactor Oversight Process and includes three inspectors, who live in the vicinity of the plant and inspect full time at the Palo Verde plant. These resident inspectors work out of an NRC field office that has been established at each nuclear power plant. In addition, we conduct multiple other inspections, by inspectors who travel from our Region IV office to the plant site for weeks at a time. When we complete an inspection, we provide the licensee with our findings and request a response to those that we determine to be important to safety. The results of these inspections are documented in quarterly or special inspection reports. In addition to inspections, each licensee monitors the performance of their plants and provides quarterly performance indicator reports to the NRC. The NRC verifies the information is accurate by sampling data used by the licensee to generate the report. Performance indicator results and inspection reports are publicly accessible at the NRC Web site. Performance indicators and inspection findings can have varied safety significance. To facilitate communication, we assign them a color code depending on their safety significance. Green issues have very low safety significance and require little NRC follow up. White, Yellow, and Red issues have increasing safety significance and trigger additional NRC review. This entire inspection process is described at our Web site as the Reactor Oversight Process. Our Rector Oversight Process also includes an assessment every six months of each licensees performance with regard to operation of the nuclear plant. The purpose is to note whether the licensee and the NRC need to take actions in addition to those already identified and taken at the time of each inspection or event response. The results of this evaluation are then provided in writing and during a public meeting with the licensee for the annual assessment. These assessment letters are also available at our Web site under the Reactor Oversight Process and the Palo Verde plant. To apply our actions consistently in response to inspection findings and this assessment, we have created guidelines that are in a table, called an Action Matrix. The Action Matrix concept provides for a gradual increase in NRCs response as safety significance increases. As safety significance increases, NRC inspection effort, management involvement, and regulatory actions also increase. The Action Matrix has five columns of licensee performance and NRC response actions. Of the 103 nuclear units in the United States, 80 are in the first or Green Column (Licensee Response), 17 are in the second or White Column (Regulatory Response), three are in the third or Yellow Column (Degraded Cornerstone), and three are in the fourth or Red Column (Multiple/Repetitive Degraded Cornerstone). There are no units in the 5th or unsafe column. The three Yellow Column units are Palo Verde Units 1, 2, and 3. If we determine the licensees performance in identifying and correcting problems, in human performance, or in maintaining a safety conscious work environment have declined and meet certain threshold criteria, we may also identify this in the letter to the licensee and increase our inspection oversight in that area. We term this process as identifying a cross-cutting issue, because each of these three areas is important to all aspects of a safe, secure, operation of a nuclear plant and one that has adequate procedures and facilities sufficient to respond to potential emergency situations. The NRC has several actions we can take and have taken to ensure licensees operate nuclear plants in keeping with protecting the public health and safety and with the greatest margin to safety problems (i.e., the lowest risk significance). For example, we issue findings and Notices of Violation and require responses to describe corrective actions. We can also issue Civil Penalties, and Orders to modify the license or shut down the operation. With this information as background, Mr. Pruett and I will now provide some information specific to Palo Verdes performance as a licensee over the past 1-2 years. First and foremost, the licensee, Arizona Public Service, has operated the Palo Verde nuclear plant in a safe and secure condition, ensured the protection of the public health and safety, and ensured the protection of the environment. The licensee has also responded to emergent plant conditions and emergencies with safety as the primary focus. There have been problems, some identified by the licensee and some by the NRC, that have challenged the plant safety systems (people, facilities and procedures). Based on these problems and events, we have assessed the licensees performance as being in Column 3 of our Action Matrix. This means that their performance is degraded in certain areas, and they and the NRC are taking actions to ensure improvement. This does not mean the operation is unsafe. I should also note that there are some areas where the licensees performance is not degraded and the licensees actions have been in compliance with our requirements and timely and thorough in response to events and emergent issues. For example, in February 2004, in response to an early indication of a leak in one of the tubes in a steam generator in Unit 2, the licensee shut down the unit before it could become a more significant leak. In June 2004, all three units tripped off-line due to a loss of offsite power. While there were some problems associated with the response, the operators successfully stabilized all three units. Most recently, in October 2005, the licensee shutdown Units 2 and 3 in response to a potential design deficiency raised by the NRC until the deficiency was addressed. This shutdown is required by license technical specifications once there is a confirmed, unresolved design question that could cause operation outside the license design basis. When Palo Verde began the 2004 assessment cycle, they were in the Licensee Response Column of the NRC Action Matrix as a result of having no inspection findings or performance indicators greater than Green. In 2004 and 2005, the licensee experienced several events at the Palo Verde plant, which the NRC determined warranted special inspections to determine the causes and adequacy of the licensees responses. A few of them are: + Steam generator tube leak in Unit 2 in February 2004 + Response to loss of offsite power in all three units in June 2004 + Followup on identification of significant voiding in the Emergency Core Cooling System at all three units in August 2004. + Followup on identification of potential design issue in Emergency Core Cooling System at all three units in October 2005. + Followup on operating at reduced power due to high pipe vibrations in Unit 1 in December 2005. As a result of the voiding issues in the ECCS piping, the NRC issued two escalated enforcement actions to the licensee for Palo Verde in April 2005. The first was the issuance of two violations, one with a significance equivalent to yellow in our process for failure to control the design and a second, Security Level III violation for an inadequate review to detect NRC needing to approve the design change. The second action was the issuance of a civil penalty in the amount of $50,000 for these violations. Based on these findings, the NRC assessed the licensees performance as being currently in the third column of our Action Matrix. In March 2005, the NRC notified the licensee of a decision that their performance met the criteria for issuance of substantive cross-cutting issues in the areas of problem identification and resolution and human performance. Some contributing causes to this declined performance are: + Unclear, thorough reviews of issues or problems + Fixing the symptoms of a problem and moving on without completely addressing the causes. + Not recognizing or incomplete evaluation of design changes with potential impact on safety. + Not all organizations or individuals using the corrective action program to identify and set up actions to correct issues. + Incomplete and untimely engineering evaluations and communications with operations causing delays in operability evaluations. In response to events and problems identified in 2004 and 2005, the licensee has initiated an evaluation and steps to correct identified causes of degraded performance. The licensee refers to their collective actions as a Performance Improvement Plan. These are significant issues and the licensee is taking actions to correct them. At this time, they have identified the issues and are in the process of setting actions in motion to correct. The key to improvement will be the effective implementation of these actions. Be assured that we will be inspecting them closely to ensure that these actions improve the performance. At this time, we would be glad to answer your questions involving our oversight and assessment of Arizona Public Services operation of the Palo Verde nuclear plant. Privacy Policy | Site Disclaimer Last revised Thursday, January 26, 2006 ***************************************************************** 23 Herald News: Exelon wants tract near valve break [SuburbanChicagoNews.com] Elevated tritium levels found: But officials say these do not pose any health threat By Kim Smith STAFF WRITER BRACEVILLE Exelon officials are negotiating the purchase of a nearly 20-acre tract near the site of a 1998 pipeline valve break. Yet they say there are no potential health threats caused by an elevated level of tritium found in November near the site of the valve break. They claim the pipeline has been tested and no problems were found. "We are in negotiations with one property owner and have sent out 15 letters offering compensation to others for any lot property values lost because of what Exelon has done," said Neal Miller, spokesman for the Exelon Nuclear Braidwood Station. "This is not a buyout." Tritium is a naturally occurring isotope of hydrogen that emits a low level of radiation and is a natural part of water. It is found in more concentrated levels in water used in nuclear reactors. High exposures to tritium may increase the risk of developing cancer. As a precaution, Exelon recently agreed to test the drinking water of 28 property owners who live next to the 5-mile pipeline on Smiley Road. The pipeline discharges into the Kankakee River. Exelon has twice been cited for violations of the state's groundwater standards by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, which has given the company until Feb. 3 to file a report on how to deal with the problem. Exelon has drilled more than 100 test wells in order to track the problem. Higher-than-normal levels were discovered in one test well. Miller said the well was not used for drinking water. Eli Port of RSSI, a radiation protection consulting firm, said the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has established an upper limit for tritium concentration in drinking water of 20,000 picocuries per liter. "You get the same amount of radiation exposure on an airplane flight across the country," Port said. "I would drink this water. I would let my family drink this water." Exelon has a private meeting scheduled with homeowners today to openly discuss the contamination. "We do not want them to think we can afford to buy them all out," Miller said. Yet, Godley Park District Executive Director Joe Cosgrove feels not enough investigation has been done. He has been busy gathering a lot of information he plans to release to the public at a meeting at 7 p.m. Feb. 7 at the Godley Community Center. "I feel people have the right to know everything," Cosgrove said. "This problem should have been taken care of eight years ago." Godley filed a contamination lawsuit in 2002 after oil spilled over from Exelon properties into neighbors' yards. Afterwards, the state sampled 42 drinking water wells in Godley and claimed there were no contaminates found. It will take about two weeks for the results from the 28 wells tested to be received. - Reporter Kim Smith can be reached at (815) 729-6067 and via e-mail at ksmith@scn1.com. 01/26/06 SuburbanChicagoNews.com — © Digital Chicago & Sun-Times ***************************************************************** 24 MDM: Nuclear reactor shuts down after valve trouble; no radiation leak - MSN-Mainichi Daily News A nuclear reactor in northwest Japan undergoing a test run ahead of its planned launch was shut down Thursday due to technical problems, but there was no danger of a radiation leak, an official said. Workers at Hokuriku Electric Power Co.'s No. 2 Shika reactor manually shut down the plant shortly after 9 a.m. (0100 GMT) after one of the reactor's two vapor valves did not close properly, according to company spokesman Teruyasu Ito. There was no possibility of a radiation leak from the shutdown, Ito said, adding that the boiling water reactor would stay closed until Hokuriku Electric figured out why the valve did not function properly. He said it was unclear if the incident would delay the reactor's launch, which is slated for March. Resource-poor Japan is heavily dependent on its nuclear program, with the country's 52 nuclear reactors supplying 35 percent of its electricity. But the public has been increasingly wary of reactor safety following a series of reactor malfunctions and accidents. In 2004, five workers were killed when a corroded pipe at a reactor in western Japan ruptured and sprayed plant workers with boiling water and steam in the country's worst-ever nuclear plant accident. No radiation leaked from that reactor, which was allowed to resume operations in December last year. The government has said it wants to build 11 new plants and raise electricity output generated by nuclear power to nearly 40 percent of the national supply by 2010. (AP) January 26, 2006 Have your say in the MSN-Mainichi Daily News Readers' Forum Copyright 2004-2005 THE MAINICHI NEWSPAPERS. All ***************************************************************** 25 Aljazeera.Net: Chernobyl overshadows push for N-power Pripyat, Ukraine Thursday 26 January 2006, 4:57 Makka Time, Hundreds of contaminated trucks remain abandoned As Ukraine looks to nuclear power to fuel its increasing energy needs, critics have warned that the lessons of the 1986 Chernobyl reactor meltdown may have gone unheeded. Ukraine's dispute with Russia over gas supplies in early January caused panic in Europe - and even the eventual defeat of the government in Kiev. With high oil prices and increased demand continuing to dominate international markets, interest in nuclear power has resurged as securing energy sources becomes a key issue for many European countries. Ukraine is planning to boost its nuclear sector, and Viktor Yushchenko, the president, has even floated the idea of using the old Chernobyl site as a new dump for nuclear waste Paulius Kuncinas, a Kiev-based energy analyst, says: "In 2004, Ukraine commissioned two large new reactors. "The government plans to build up to 11 new reactors by 2030. The rationale is that it is a cheap way to replace gas. Ukraine also has large uranium deposits." But the move towards nuclear energy may be lingering in Chernobyl's shadow. Fatal meltdown The result of an experiment that went horribly wrong, the Chernobyl nuclear plant's reactor number four exploded on 26 April 1986, releasing large amounts of radioactivity into the atmosphere. A radioactive cloud affected people as far away as Scotland. The nuclear sector in Europe took a plunge in the wake of the disaster. Reactor number 4 Many countries moved to decommission existing nuclear power stations and - except in France and Finland - cancelled plans for new ones. Low oil prices and fears over nuclear safety were key factors in this loss of public trust. Today, the reactor sits at the heart of a 30km exclusion zone, an area still dangerous for visitors. "It's something of a wildlife sanctuary," says Maxime Orel of the Ukrainian Ministry of the Catastrophe, a special government unit set up to manage and monitor disaster relief at the site. "The reason is that hunting is banned, because the animals are laced with Strontium 90, a deadly radioactive isotope. They get it from eating the plants, which are also radioactive." Nobody knows how many people died in the disaster, particularly as effects such as cancers may not appear for years. Official estimates, which are widely disputed, from the three former Soviet countries affected - Ukraine, Belarus and Russia - say about 25,000 had died by the year 2005. "At the time, no one wanted to believe this disaster had happened," explains Orel. The Soviet authorities covered up much of what had happened. Ghost towns We are walking in the abandoned city of Pripyat, 1km from the reactor and once a home to more than 40,000 people. "The residents of Pripyat say they heard only a small noise when the reactor blew - a hand clap, nothing else - at about 2am," continues Orel. "The following morning, people, mothers with children, went about their daily business. No one told them what had happened, but the radiation level was already extremely high. There was radioactive dust in the air and it covered all the buildings and streets." The town of Pripyat was home to 40,000 people. It lies deserted The entire town was evacuated some days later. Because residents were told they would return in three days, they left clothes, furniture and pets behind. "When they came back, all the pets were dead," Orel told Aljazeera.net. Now the town stands deserted, its miles of apartment blocks, shopping centres, wide boulevards and amusement parks too radioactive to be lived in again. With the wind and snow, followed by spring rains and summer heat, the concrete buildings will likely have long since cracked and eroded away before the radiation levels become safe. Yet this natural process of decay is also a growing cause for alarm. Growing alarm "Chernobyl is one of the most complex sites, geologically, of any nuclear power station," says Jan Vande Putte, the nuclear campaigns coordinator for environmental activists Greenpeace International. "Several million cubic metres of radioactive waste were dumped around the reactor in ditches, most of it in the 12 months after the disaster and in an emergency situation. They did this next to a river which regularly floods." "Chernobyl is one of the most complex sites, geologically, of any nuclear power station" Jan Vande Putte, nuclear campaigns coordinator, Greenpeace International The fear is that radioactive material could get into the water table and seep down river into the Kiev Reservoir, which lies north of Ukraine's capital. Kiev lies two hours' drive downstream from Chernobyl. In the immediate aftermath of the 1986 explosion, thousands of soldiers, firemen and rescue workers - known as liquidators - also rushed to the site to pour thousands of tons of lead and sand around the reactor. Many of them died or received severe radiation burns in the process, but eventually they contained the reactor in what has since become known as "the sarcophagus". Yet this structure too is now causing alarm. "Inside the sarcophagus, in one second you can take a fatal dose of radiation," says Orel. "Yet its north wall is unstable. Ground water is undermining the cement and sand dropped by the helicopters during the emergency, it's a mess. Highly polluted and very unstable." Containment hopes French company Framatom is working fast onsite to build a new sarcophagus to contain the old one. Orel hopes it will be completed as soon as possible. A supermarket remains abandoned in Pripyat Nuclear sector companies have been busy recently elsewhere in Ukraine too. Reactor number four was just one of several at Chernobyl, yet all these have been closed since 2000. To compensate for the loss, the Ukrainian government commissioned two new Russian designed reactors, Khmelnitsky 2 and Rivne 4, and received financial backing from a string of European, US and Russian authorities. "There is pressure on the Ukrainian government to find new energy resources," Kuncinas told Aljazeera.net. "Coal-fired power plants and nuclear plants are the two options being considered. Coal is not very popular as it enjoys little support outside Ukraine." Cheap energy production Tony Blair, the British prime minister, announced late last year that his government would be reviewing "the development of a new generation of nuclear power stations". Elsewhere, countries from Lithuania to China have also announced nuclear plans. Advocates argue that it is a way of producing cheap energy that does not harm the environment by producing greenhouse gases. A return to nuclear power has also been welcomed by Western business groups. They fear that uncertainty over energy supplies - such as that recently shown in Russia's spat with Ukraine - coupled with rising gas and oil prices will have a major impact on their future competitiveness. Yet back in the snows of Pripyat, such considerations seem a long way away. "Once, they thought of this as a paradise," says Orel. "The people who lived and worked here at the reactor were all young - the average age was 25. They were paid much more than normal Soviet citizens and had everything they wanted. Now who knows how many are still alive." All photographs: Jody Sabral © 2003 - 2006 Aljazeera.Net Copyright and ***************************************************************** 26 GAZETA.KZ: Russia, Kazakhstan agree to cooperate in peaceful nuclear energy uses January 27, 2006 Kazakhstan today Russia and Kazakhstan prepared a joint statement on cooperation in the peaceful use of nuclear energy. It was declared on Wednesday in St. Petersburg by the president of Russia Vladimir Putin at the meeting with the president of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev, Kazakhstan Today informs with the reference to Russian mass media. The president of Russian Federation V. Putin considers Russia and Kazakhstan can make steps toward bilateral cooperation. "As it has been agreed in Astana we can make the steps forward, reflect on what has been done and plan prospects of development in vital directions," V. Putin noted. He thanked N. Nazarbayev for persistent efforts in the development of integration processes on the territory of the former USSR. The president of Kazakhstan, in his turn, noted mutual relations are adequately developing. "We are to accept the final report on the border of Northern Caspian Sea which will start a joint work on Êurmangazinskiy, Central, Hvalynskiy - three largest deposits," N. Nazarbayev said. As he said, the Russian and Kazakhstan companies will work on these deposits by the principle " 50 by 50 ". Translated by Nataliya Shirinskikh All rights reserved. Copyright © Alma-Media, 2000-2006 ***************************************************************** 27 APP.COM: Exelon: Oyster Creek plant not for sale | Asbury Park Press Online Thursday, January 26, 2006 Owner of Lacey nuclear reactor denies online report Posted by the Asbury Park Presson 01/26/06 BY NICHOLAS CLUNN MANAHAWKIN BUREAU LACEY — A published report says Exelon Corp. has put the Oyster Creek nuclear power plant up for sale, but the company's top officer emphasized on Wednesday the importance of keeping its reactors. Plant managers, meanwhile, rebutted the report's claim Tuesday by posting signs saying the plant was not for sale, said David Most, plant worker and township committeeman. The signs were put up after some workers saw the report online and began to question their job security, he said. The report from a trade publication tracking Exelon's proposed merger with the Public Service Energy Group stated that Exelon was "quietly marketing" Oyster Creek and attributed that information to officials who have spoken to Exelon officials. Exelon is seeking the sale to appease government regulators, who are considering the merger and have heard complaints about the possibility of the combined company producing more power than what's allowed under federal law, according to the report. The possibility of a new owner for one of the oldest reactors in the country comes at a time when AmerGen, the plant's operator and a wholly owned subsidiary of Exelon, wants to extend its operating license for Oyster Creek by 20 years. If federal regulators reject a license renewal for the plant, it will close in 2009. Oyster Creek provides power for 600,000 homes and stands as one of Ocean County's largest employers with 479 workers. The plant also injects cash into the local economy. Last year, Oyster Creek spent $52.9 million in the Shore area. Exelon officials — including John W. Rowe, chairman, president and CEO — said they could neither confirm nor deny the sale. When asked about the sale during a conference call about Exelon's fourth-quarter performance, Rowe said, "There are a lot of different ways to address the concerns that are being raised in New Jersey." But Rowe also asked analysts to remember that operating nuclear power plants are "a big part of our business." David M. Schanzer, an analyst with Janney Montgomery Scott, said Exelon most likely wants to keep its nuclear reactors and would rather sell fossil-fueled plants. Schanzer also said that buyers would likely seek plants with two or three reactors. Oyster Creek has only one. "That's not the kind of facility that most people want to buy," he said. The report, published on a Web site run by Power Finance &Risk, a weekly trade publication, said the plant could sell for $500 million to $800 million. Committeeman John C. Parker, who helped bring Oyster Creek to township in the 1960s, said he knew nothing about a sale and hoped that plant critics hadn't frustrated AmerGen to the point of giving up. "It's just a matter of time before they get disgusted," he said. Exelon and PSEG officials have told regulators they would divest control of a few thousand megawatts of energy produced at nuclear plants. The new company would continue to own and operate the plants. Control of the energy, however, would either be sold at auction or traded for the rights to energy in other parts of the country. The merger, which must be approved by the state Board of Public Utilities and the U.S. Justice Department, would create the nation's largest utility, Exelon Electric &Gas, with 7 million electric customers and 2 million natural gas customers in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Illinois. Nicholas Clunn: (609) 978-4597 or nclunn@app.com OYSTER CREEK: A RECENT HISTORY 1997: Plant owner GPU says it likely will have to close the plant, which started operating in 1969, because it cannot compete in the newly deregulated utilities market. 2000: GPU changes its mind and sells the plant to AmerGen Energy Co. for $10 million. 2005: AmerGen applies for a 20-year license renewal, which will keep the plant running through 2029 if approved by regulators. Copyright © 2006 Asbury Park Press. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 28 Clarion-Ledger: Nuclear power only 'rational answer' to energy shortage - January 26, 2006 Nuclear power only 'rational answer' to energy shortage So, where are we headed? Natural gas prices are climbing, causing the cost of electricity to increase. Gasoline and diesel fuel prices go up and up. Mine disasters are pushing up the cost of coal. What's the answer to the persistent increases in the cost of energy? If we burn more hydrocarbon fuel, then the demand continues to increase while the supply is shackled and can't keep up. It's shackled, in part, by environmentalists who oppose oil and gas wells offshore on the east and west coasts and oppose wells in Alaska. Nuclear power is the only rational answer. It has been proven safe as demonstrated locally by the Grand Gulf plant operating since 1985 with no safety problems. Plans are in the works for more nuclear generating stations ("Race on to build new wave of nuclear plants," Jan. 17).For those who worry about global warming due to the greenhouse gas production of hydrocarbon combustion, nuclear power is the obvious alternative. It is clean, producing no emissions. It has been demonstrated that the spent fuel can be safely stored. Cars, buses, trucks and trains can and should operate on electricity generated by nuclear power plants. Even sports fishermen like myself could operate battery-powered boats. The future seems obvious: electricity generated by nuclear power plants.Nuclear power is so perfect that it is hard to understand why anyone would oppose it. I can vividly recall President Eisenhower coming to Vicksburg and talking about his "Atoms for Peace" program. Nuclear power was viewed then as the ideal solution to cheap, clean energy for everyone. That should be the case again. Ike had the right idea.C.T. Carley Starkville ©2006 The Clarion-Ledger ***************************************************************** 29 BUCHAREST DAILY NEWS: Romania made progress in nuclear activities security No 407 Date: Friday, January 27, 2006 A recent mission of the International Atomic Energy Agency concluded that Romania made progress in the field of security of peaceful nuclear activities, protection of employees and environmental protection. The head of the Commission to Control Nuclear Activities, Vilmos Zsombori, said that the 4, 000 units which use radioactive substances abide by the European regulations and standards. He explained that the nuclear power plant in Cernavoda which was reopened recently also follows the EU standards. The representative of the agency in Romania, Gustavo Caruso said that a report will be ready soon and it will be sent to the government. A team of experts assessed the situation in the country, and according to Caruso, Romania is the only country checked by three teams of international experts in eight years. Copyright © 2004-2006 Bucharest Daily News ***************************************************************** 30 Globe and Mail: Clean-air group blasts nuclear proposal By MARTIN MITTELSTAEDT Thursday, January 26, 2006 Page A14 ENVIRONMENT REPORTER TORONTO -- An Ontario government agency that is forecasting electricity shortages and recommends spending billions on new nuclear stations has made questionable assumptions in producing its dire outlook, a major environmental group says. In a study being released today, the Ontario Clean Air Alliance accuses the Ontario Power Authority of seriously overestimating the province's future demand for electricity, while also assuming that new nuclear power stations can be built without major cost overruns. The two assumptions were crucial in an OPA report issued last month calling for a massive construction program for up to $40-billion in new nuclear plants. But the alliance study says the province doesn't need to spend all that money and could meet its electricity needs through more aggressive conservation, investments in alternative energy resources (such as wind power) and natural-gas-fired power plants that produce both electricity and hot water for space heating. "We've shown we can meet our electricity needs at a much lower cost," said Jack Gibbons, the author of the study. "I think the OPA is a very pro-nuclear institution, and they're looking for a rationale to build more high-cost, unreliable CANDU reactors in Ontario." The OPA recommendation for new nuclear power plants is one of the most contentious issues facing the provincial government, and if approved, will set the stage for a major dispute with Ontario's powerful environmental movement. An electricity crisis is forecast to begin around 2014, when the OPA projects that power demand will begin to exceed available supplies from the province's generating stations. The alliance is filing its study with the province as part of a public consultation on the OPA report. The alliance contends that the OPA has an overly high estimate for Ontario's growth in electricity demand, which it has been moderating for the past half century. The OPA forecasts consumption will rise by 0.9 per cent annually for the next 20 years, almost double Ontario's actual growth of 0.5 per cent a year since 1990. Using the higher figure, the province would have to build at least two Pickering-sized nuclear stations by 2025. "The OPA has given absolutely no evidence to support its contention that the electricity growth rates will reverse their historical pattern and start rising," Mr. Gibbons said. OPA spokesman Timothy Taylor said it is prudent to plan for higher growth because of the consequences of electricity shortages. The alliance study also contends that Ontario is lagging in its development of renewable energy, and should be prepared to import more electricity from hydroelectric developments in Manitoba, Quebec and Labrador. Ontario generates less than 1 per cent of its electricity from wind power, compared to nearly 20 per cent in such leading jurisdictions as Denmark. "We definitely have the potential to use a lot more wind power," Mr. Gibbons said. The study also says huge reductions in electricity use could be achieved through conservation and by converting many of the 650,000 households that heat with electric baseboards to other fuels. Many of the more than 1.5-million households that have electric water heaters could switch as well. Others in the industry cautioned that such switching is often difficult to achieve. "As a conservation tool, there is no question that limiting space heating and changing it out where possible is a good thing to do," said Blair Peberdy, a spokesman for Toronto Hydro, the province's largest local power utility. Search globeandmail.com + © Copyright 2006 Bell Globemedia Publishing Inc. All Rights Reserved. Globeandmail.com: ***************************************************************** 31 China Daily: Datang agrees to go nuclear energy By Wan Zhihong (China Daily) Updated: 2006-01-27 06:42 Datang International Power Generation Co Ltd, China's second-largest Hong Kong-listed generator, is diversifying by taking a stake in a new nuclear project in East China's Fujian Province. The company has entered into an investment agreement with Guangdong Nuclear Power Investment Co Ltd to establish Ningde Nuclear Power Company. The project will cost 23.4 billion yuan (US$2.9 billion), with Datang Power agreeing to take a 49 per cent share, according to a statement to the Hong Kong stock exchange yesterday. The Ningde project consists of two 1,000-megawatt nuclear power generating units. The plan has been submitted to the National Development and Reform Commission for approval. An official with Datang Power, who declined to be identified, said the new project was part of the company's strategy to diversify its power sources. He said this was because of increasing pressure from rising coal prices and environmental requirements. A nuclear power project will help reduce such pressure, as well as risks, according to the official. He said Datang Power does not have experience in constructing nuclear power plants. Apart from nuclear energy, the company is also developing other kinds of power plants, such as hydropower projects in Southwest China. Diversification into nuclear power generation is a growing trend among Chinese power companies. Although the initial capital investment is high, the government is supporting these projects and this year has introduced a new renewable energy law. (China Daily 01/27/2006 page9) ***************************************************************** 32 TheStar.com: Green group says nuclear cost underestimated Thu. Jan. 26, 2006. | Updated at 07:09 PM DAVID COOPER/TORONTO STAR The Pickering Nuclear Generating Station is shown in this file photo from January 2004. Green group says nuclear cost under estimated PMCANADIAN PRESS A decision whether to build more nuclear plants to boost Ontario’s electricity supply doesn’t need to be made for at least three years but planning should start now, says a group advising the provincial government on its future power needs. The Ontario Power Authority said today that environmental assessments should take place even while debate continues over the controversial nuclear issue, so the government has the option of building new reactors several years from now. “You don’t have to commit to actually doing it, but you have to commit to creating the option to do it,” said Jan Carr, the authority’s chief executive. It already takes up to 10 years to take a nuclear plant from concept to completion, Carr said. That could mean Ontario has to bridge supply gaps with more natural gas plants while waiting for expanded nuclear capacity. “If you don’t plan far enough ahead, you don’t have very many options . . . and you can’t put (supply concerns) off forever.” Carr said that while natural gas plants can be built in just two or three years, they aren’t meant to provide main, baseload capacity and could, arguably, be more expensive. The Ontario government is already facing the prospect of protests and court challenges from environmental groups over potential nuclear power expansion in the province. Premier Dalton McGuinty has promised public consultations on nuclear power, but he has also said he’ll do whatever it takes to ensure Ontario has enough energy supply in coming years — even if that means more nuclear reactors. Sources have indicated the province is interested in expanding the Darlington nuclear site, east of Toronto. In December, an OPA report to the province estimated it would cost up to $70 billion to ensure Ontario has enough electricity to power the province over the next 20 years. More than half of that money would be spent on nuclear power. The report also predicted Ontario’s power system will be overwhelmed by 2013 due to increased demand, lost nuclear power from current stations that aren’t refurbished, and the elimination of coal-fired production. Ontario has committed to closing its remaining coal plants, which currently generate about a fifth of the province’s electricity, by the end of 2009 due to pollution concerns. But Ontario Clear Air Alliance chairman Jack Gibbons said the report is “deeply flawed” because it banks on new having nuclear plants built on budget and operating flawlessly. Those are “two things that have never happened in Ontario,” Gibbons said, referring to multi-billion dollar cost over-runs for the Darlington nuclear facility 15 years ago that hydro users are still paying off. Amir Shalaby, the OPA’s vice-president of power system planning, said previous nuclear projects went over budget largely because of stops, starts and delays due to nuclear policy changes by successive provincial governments. Shalaby said he agrees with Gibbons that if nuclear projects cost what they did in the past, the province shouldn’t build them. But he said nuclear plants now being built around the world operate more efficiently and construction budgets are better managed. “Other people can do this right. We feel we can do this right as well,” Shalaby said. Gibbons also criticized the OPA’s December report for overestimating Ontario’s future electricity demand. The province’s chief conservation officer, Peter Love, said the OPA’s estimate of an average 0.9 per cent increase in demand over the next 20 years is actually much lower than the 1.6 per cent average the United States is forecasting. He added that the OPA figure is really only a guess — it’s ``probably wrong” — but served as a starting point for the December report. Love said new steps to conserve energy will be introduced in coming years and could help lighten growth in Ontario’s electricity load. Legal Notice: Copyright Toronto Star Newspapers Limited. All ***************************************************************** 33 Shanghai Daily: Datang to move into nuclear energy Fu Chenghao 2006-01-27 Beijing Time DATANG International Power Generation Co said yesterday it will invest more than 11 billion yuan (US$1.36 billion) in a nuclear power project in southeastern China over the next six to seven years in a bid to diversify its generating mix. The move will make Hong Kong-listed Datang the first publicly traded Chinese mainland power firm to invest in a nuclear plant. The company has reached agreement with the Guangdong Nuclear Power Investment Co, China's leading nuclear firm, to set up the Ningde Nuclear Power Co to operate the project. Datang will hold a 49 percent stake. Total investment will be 23.4 billion yuan, with 80 percent financed by debt, Datang Power told the Hong Kong stock exchange yesterday. The project, to be located in Fujian Province's Ningde, will comprise two 1,000-megawatt generating units, which are expected to start operation in October 2012 and June 2013, the utility company said. The project is subject to approval by the National Development and Reform Commission and the environmental authority. The investment "represents an important move by Datang to implement a diversification strategy for its sources of power generation," the company said. Dangtang Power shares fell 0.83 percent to HK$6 (76.92 US cents) yesterday. They have risen 5.2 percent this year. The statement didn't give a rate of return on the project. Analysts, including Zhang Qi at Haitong Securities Co, believe profit prospects are positive in the long term, given Datang's experienced partner and the country's current reliance on coal-powered generation. "The deal also helps the Bejing-based company pick up market share in the south," Zhang said. Amid worsening pollution from coal burning and rising prices of the fuel, China is encouraging the use of nuclear power. The domestic industry now lags the global level of 17 percent. The government plans to double nuclear's power contribution to China's total energy output to 4 percent by 2020. China is aiming to quadruple reactor generating capacity to 40,000 megawatts by 2020 with expected investment of 400 million yuan. Shanghai Daily Home | Copyright © 2001-2005 Shanghai Daily Company ***************************************************************** 34 Creamer Media's Mining Weekly: Simmer seeks to tap into nuclear renaissance Online, South African Mining News With global energy demand rising strongly and world uranium prices show- ing sustained growth, on the back of renewed appetite for nuclear energy, South African miner Simmer & Jack Mines has elected to diversify is traditional gold focus and is pur-suing a separate uranium strategy. CEO Gordon Miller tells Mining Weekly that the firms subsidiary, named First Uranium and headed by Jim Fisher, currently contains all of Buffelsfonteins uranium assets, whose only production constraint is the time it will take to fund and build a uranium plant. In November, Simmers announced that a private Canadian firm, First Uranium Corporation, had been created to acquire up to 49% of the new company from Simmers. It has entered into an agreement with Simmers to provide funding for a bankable feasibility study and also to fund the construction of the plant, subject to positive feasibility-study results, and will initially advance $3-million for a 30% interest and increase this to 49% by providing up to $25-million for the plant. By the second quarter of this year, Simmers expects to be advancing plans to build a gold plant, and should flotation tests prove positive, the plant could also incorporate uranium processing. Failing this, a new uranium plant will have to be constructed, with a lead time of six to nine months.Currently, a focus for the company is an ex-Wes- tern Areas and Harmony property (Randfontein 4 Shaft) that has been renamed Ezulwini. When the mining-rights application for Simmers 90%-owned Ezulwini company is approved, its gold and uranium assets will be held by Simmers, and not First Uranium, but First Uranium is cur- rently considering options for it to acquire Ezulwinis uranium resources. Historical data on this shaft, to be bought from Harmony pending a rights conversion, indicates that it has some 1,7-million tons of proved gold at 8,7 g/t. Total measured and indicated reserves come to 19,1-million tons at 6,5 g/t  figures that do not take into account the main shaft pillars, which could add a further 12,5-million tons at 6,04 g/t. Miller adds that there are also underground uranium resources, which the firm might obtain at a later stage. Currently, the firm is busy with a study that is examining the feasibility of mining the pillar shafts, and this should be completed in February. Once this has been completed this quarter, and the Department of Minerals and Energy (DME) awards the licence, mining can start. However, the firm would require about $50-million in capital to acquire equipment, refurbish the shaft, fix haulages and supply power. But this expense would also enable Ezulwini to gain access to some 35-million pounds of inferred high-grade uranium resources contained in the abandoned uranium-mine. Miller says that that the company is looking at various options and has not discounted the possibility of listing First Uranium offshore. Ezulwini stopped mining uranium in the 1990s, when the price bottomed. Simmers will be focusing on targeting the shaft, which will give it six years of mining, in the shaft pillar alone, as well as looking into a uranium and gold plant. It is likely that the uranium plant will be con-structed at Ezulwini, and not at Buffelsfontein, as the grade or uranium is higher at Ezulwini. The firm is looking at producing the Buffels-fontein uranium as a concentrate and the Ezulwini uranium as a whole treatment of the underground ore. Currently, there is only one uranium plant in the country and the technology that informed that plant has not changed. As such, Miller has not ruled out the possibility of outsourcing the services of the plant. Drilling results from the Buffeslfontein dumps should be available soon, says Miller. At Buffelsfontein, we have 290-million tons of surface material and 67-million tons of under- ground resource that is known to contain uranium. While the historical mineral-resource state- ments are no longer compliant with new require-ments governing mineral-reporting codes, it is estimated that the total uranium content at Buffelsfontein may be of the order of 68-million pounds. An audited SAMREC-compliant resource statement will be published shortly. According to Fisher, historical testwork at Buffelsfontein indicates that the extraction of gold, uranium and sulphur from flotation concentrates may be commercially viable. Buffelsfontein has a 250 000 t/m floatation plant, which could be recommissioned at a cost of $1-million. Additionally, a successful uranium operation at Buffelsfontein will also eliminate the rehabi-litation liability of the slimes dams, since we will be reprocessing and removing pyrite, resulting in a more benign tailings deposit, says Miller. The uranium at Buffelsfontein occurs within the same gold reef from which Anglogold Ashanti currently produces uranium. Published: 2006/01/27 Author: nicola mawson Portfolio: Senior Online Writer E-mail: newsdesk@engineeringnews.co.za Copyright © Creamer Media (Pty) Ltd ***************************************************************** 35 Creamer Media's Mining Weekly: Delivering the nuclear age Online, South African Mining News I find it a very exciting project! enthuses pebble-bed modular reactor (PBMR) demonstration power plant (DPP) project director Brent Hegger. I was invited to return to South Africa by PBMR (Pty) Ltds CEO, Jaco Kriek, to manage the PBMR DPP project, adds Hegger, a Canadian (married to a South African) who, in a distinguished career in project development and implementation, has worked in North and South America, South-East Asia, Russia, Mozambique and South Africa. (See Engineering News January 20, 2006.) This project is different from other major projects: normally, you either deliver a one-off  a unique plant or system, like a mass transport network or an aluminium smelter, which is tailored to a specific technology; expansions test the replication of the existing facility, he points out. Not with the PBMR, he affirms. The DPP is only the first step in developing this project; in further steps, our project team will be developing new installations and applications for both energy and process heat applications, he highlights. The DPP will be a single-module installation of South Africas safe fourth-generation nuclear power reactor. This technology is novel in that it will simply shut down, even in the absence of coolant and active control systems. But the single-module demonstration configu- ration will quickly be adapted to a variety of commercial applications based on flexible multi- module adaptations. We currently think that four-module PBMR groups will be optimal, and we have already ini-tiated a working group for multimodule reactor groups, reports Hegger. This working group will start work within the next three months, he reveals. On top of this, there are the numerous process heat applications for the PBMR, which need to be developed and, again, linking groups have been initiated, he states. And then there are further applications  desalination and the production of hydrogen, he adds. Worldwide, it looks as if there is a swing back to nuclear power, given fossil-fuel reserve depletion, price increases and security consider-ations, and the PBMR is a latest-generation design, he says. The PBMR is inherently safe and, like all the latest nuclear reactor designs, it needs less fuel than the preceding generations of reactors; further, unlike other designs, the PBMR doesnt need to shut down to refuel, he emphasises. South Africa is a very good place to deliver major projects, asserts Hegger. There is a very high level of expertise here, and there is economic stability and growth, he points out. The emergence of major projects in this country in recent years has begun to attract South African experts back home. And the PBMR is one of the projects that is attracting them home, he affirms. The PBMR company has a strong cadre of experts on this technology, some of whom have worked on it for at least a decade  our key focus is currently being applied to meeting all environmental and nuclear licensing requirements, he adds. Onto this technological expertise, we now add project-delivery expertise for the DPP; achieving this is essential to making the PBMR commercially viable, he affirms. To deliver a major project, you need to understand its scope, its specific requirements, and how its various aspects come together; you dont need to be an expert in that field, but you need to be a quick learner, have such experts around you, as we do here, he explains. My experience is quite wide  although in recent years Ive spent a lot of time on aluminium smelter projects, Ive also worked on information technology, transport and even military projects, elucidates Hegger. Published: 2006/01/27 Printer friendly: [View this article in a printer friendly format] B2B Coupon No: EN27-01-2006E79612 Author: Keith Campbell Portfolio: Engineering News/Mining WeeklyContributing Editor E-mail: newsdesk@engineeringnews.co.za Copyright © Creamer Media (Pty) Ltd ***************************************************************** 36 Guardian Unlimited: Nuclear Co. Plans Post-Leak Land Buyouts From the Associated Press [UP] Thursday January 26, 2006 3:33 AM BRACEVILLE, Ill. (AP) - A nuclear power plant is buying out one property owner and negotiating financial settlements with 14 others after elevated levels of a radioactive substance were discovered near the site of a 1998 pipeline valve break. Higher than normal tritium levels were found in groundwater near the site of the valve break in November. One onsite well at Exelon Corp.'s Braidwood Generating Plant, about 60 miles southwest of Chicago, showed levels more than 11 times higher than the federal limit for groundwater, according to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Tritium is commonly found in groundwater but is more concentrated in water used in nuclear reactors. State public health officials said environmental tests indicate there's no threat to nearby residents. Illinois Department of Public Health spokeswoman Melanie Arnold said tritium levels found in the drinking water are far below the federal limit. But officials of the Washington-based Nuclear Information &Resource Service claim Exelon and federal nuclear regulators have ``trivialized'' the impact of the tritium exposure to residents. The group cited studies that show long-term exposure to tritium - through drinking or bathing - can lead to cancer and birth defects. ``They could be sitting on a giant radioactive sponge,'' said Paul Gunter, director of the group's Reactor Watchdog Project. Recent environmental tests at more than 200 sites on plant property and on private land around the plant indicate there's no health or safety threat to the area, Exelon spokesman Craig Nesbit said. He said Tuesday that Exelon agreed to compensate the property owners because ``We don't want these people to suffer any harm for something we did.'' Exelon announced this week that it is offering free well tests to 28 property owners who live next to the 5-mile pipeline. The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency cited Exelon for two violations of the state's groundwater standards and given the company until Feb. 3 to file a report about the tritium levels. Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2006 ***************************************************************** 37 Boston Globe: Plymouth seeks $2m a year for Pilgrim?s nuclear waste - By Robert Knox, Globe Correspondent | January 26, 2006 PLYMOUTH -- State lawmakers representing the Plymouth area have filed legislation seeking $2 million a year from the owner of the Pilgrim nuclear power plant to compensate the town for having nuclear waste stored on-site. Representative Tom O'Brien, a Kingston Democrat, Representative Vinny deMacedo, a Plymouth Republican, and Senator Therese Murray, a Plymouth Democrat, filed the legislation at the request of the selectmen, who believe Plymouth deserves greater payment for the security costs and risks of storing nuclear waste. The bill they filed last week states that ''for the purpose of defraying the additional public safety costs" associated with ''the privilege" of storing waste at the Pilgrim nuclear power plant, the owner should pay a minimum assessment of $2 million a year. ''Fees are charged all the time for various privileges in Massachusetts," O'Brien said. Officials also want the town to get a share of the money the Pilgrim nuclear power plant's owner, Entergy Corp., pays into a federal fund for the eventual disposal of nuclear waste. ''We would love to have that payment come to the town of Plymouth," O'Brien said of the $5 million a year Entergy Corp. pays into the federal nuclear waste fund. Local lawmakers have asked US Senators Edward Kennedy and John Kerry to bring this request to federal officials in Washington. As Entergy seeks a 20-year renewal of its operator's license, town residents and local officials have grown increasingly critical of the plant's financial arrangement with the town. The risks of hosting a nuclear power plant with on-site nuclear waste storage have increased in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, according to industry critics, and that entitles the town to greater compensation -- in part to offset increased security costs. An Entergy spokesman disputed the notion that Pilgrim's presence in the community presents the town with additional costs. The state provides money for emergency planning, and Pilgrim has its own security force to protect the plant, spokesman David Tarantino said. ''We meet or exceed all federal [security] regulations," Tarantino said. ''That Plymouth needs to add police to protect the plant is hard for me to accept." Tarantino said the right place for the town to improve its financial arrangement with the plant is negotiations on payments in lieu of taxes.[ /] © Copyright 2006 Globe Newspaper Company. ***************************************************************** 38 Scotsman.com News: Call for 'reasoned' energy debate The Press Association" />Thu 26 Jan 2006 The Government's energy review is about more than nuclear power, although this remains an important part of current and future power supplies, MSPs have heard. Deputy enterprise minister Allan Wilson called for "a reasoned discussion" over energy supply and consumption after Conservatives demanded that new atomic power stations are not excluded from the debate. The Tory-led debate came on the day a draft report by the expert Committee on Radioactive Waste Management (CORWM) said there could be no early solution to the problem of nuclear waste. First Minister Jack McConnell has said Scotland must keep its energy options open but with his Lib Dem coalition partners stridently opposed to nuclear, the Executive's position is that it will not approve any new stations until the waste issue is resolved. Scots Tory environment spokesman Alex Johnstone accused the Labour-Lib Dem coalition of having an "ambiguous" position over the possibility of a new generation of nuclear power stations. However, Mr Wilson insisted the Executive's policy was to increase the proportion of energy generated from renewable sources, tackle climate change and fuel poverty and ensure security of supplies. He said: "Current and future security of energy supply for Scotland is dependent on supporting a diverse fuel mix - of which nuclear is undoubtedly an important part - and constant dialogue with our UK Government colleagues, regulators and the energy companies themselves. "We recognise that we must find solutions to our future energy needs that both improve the efficiency with which we use energy whilst reducing the environmental impact of essential generation." The Executive has set a target for 40% of Scotland's energy supply to come from renewables by 2020 - a four-fold increase on current levels of such generation. Mr Wilson pointed to the Executive's £3 million investment in Orkney's Marine Energy Centre, and its recent commitment to improve support to wave and tidal power generators through the Renewables Obligation Certificates scheme. He said the Executive was supporting efforts to boost energy efficiency, including £20 million funding specifically for improvements in the public sector. © Copyright Press Association Ltd 2006, All Rights Reserved. ***************************************************************** 39 WSJ.com: Bush Seeks to Jump-Start Nuclear Power [The Wall Street Journal Bush Seeks to Jump-Start Nuclear Power Proposed Test of New Waste-Reprocessing Methods Aims to Ease Concerns Over Storage By JOHN J. FIALKA Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL January 26, 2006; Page A4 WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration plans to announce a $250 million initiative to reprocess spent nuclear fuel, a first step toward reversing a 1970s policy that rejected reprocessing as too dangerous to pursue. The administration's decision to put the money into its fiscal 2007 budget to test new technologies is part of an effort to jump-start the nuclear-power industry at a time when energy prices are high and concerns about global warming make nuclear power plants more acceptable. According to nuclear industry officials and others briefed on the proposal in recent weeks, the program could be announced as early as next week in President Bush's State of the Union address. If the technology works, it could vastly reduce the amount of spent nuclear waste that would have to be buried in underground storage, such as at Nevada's Yucca Mountain, set to open after 2012. The initiative will also explore using one or more temporary, above-ground nuclear-waste storage sites to relieve the logjam that has left thousands of tons of nuclear waste stored around reactors, many located near big cities. Since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, Department of Energy experts have worried about the damage that could be caused by a terrorist attack on the spent fuel. The heart of the initiative is reprocessing technology called UREX+ being developed by Argonne National Laboratory in Illinois. It is a method of removing plutonium and other long-lived radioactive elements in spent nuclear fuel that makes the elements reusable in nuclear power plants, but difficult to use for making nuclear weapons. The process, according to its scientific backers, would also save the bulk of other elements in spent nuclear fuel, primarily uranium, to be reused or disposed of in facilities that don't require thousands of years of storage, such as the plant being prepared at Yucca Mountain. Phillip J. Finck, an Argonne official, told the House Science Committee last summer that UREX+ would reduce the nation's eventual need for more nuclear-waste storage by "a factor of more than 100." The technology involves burning plutonium and other long-lived byproducts in special "fast" reactors. However, Dr. Finck added: "The practicality of these schemes is not yet established and requires additional scientific and engineering research." The Bush proposal, tentatively called the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership, would also give U.S. vendors, such as General Electric Co., opportunities to sell nuclear-power reactors and nuclear fuel to developing nations. It would promote the export of simpler, smaller and less-costly reactors and nuclear fuel on the condition that the U.S. would take back the spent fuel for reprocessing. While a safe way to reprocess nuclear waste also would remove a licensing hurdle to new nuclear plants in the U.S., building nuclear plants here will remain a costly and lengthy process. The proposal is likely to renew a decades-old fight in Congress on U.S. nuclear-waste policy. "We're supportive of the concepts as a company and as an industry," said Christopher Crane, chief nuclear officer for Exelon Corp., which operates 17 nuclear reactors among the 103 running in the U.S. "We do agree that there is a good deal of unused energy in the fuel we have discharged from our reactors. We think it's positive that the U.S. Department of Energy and the administration want to look at ways to handle that." Nuclear-industry officials said that without reprocessing, new nuclear plants called for by President Bush in his 2001 energy policy may not be licensed. Yucca Mountain will reach its storage limit -- 70,000 tons -- with waste produced by 2010 from existing plants. The Department of Energy predicts that as many as eight more underground-storage sites may be needed by the end of the century if the current cycle for power plant fuel continues. Thomas B. Cochran, a nuclear physicist at the Natural Resources Defense Council, which promoted the earlier policy to ban nuclear reprocessing along with other environmental and arms control groups, called the new reprocessing technology "uneconomical, unreliable, unsafe and unworkable." He predicted the utility industry wouldn't support its long-term costs, particularly the "fast" reactors that transform spent fuel by bombarding it with neutrons -- powerful, subatomic particles -- that can further reduce the radioactive waste content. [[Nukes Graphic]] Ernest Muniz, a physicist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a former Clinton administration official at the Department of Energy, said he supports the renewed research and development of reprocessing, but predicts that it will require decades of research. Dr. Muniz said he also supports the idea of temporary above-ground waste-storage sites because it helps cool the heat-generating elements in the waste -- reducing a major complication for underground storage facilities. Some of the changes the administration is proposing, particularly those that affect Yucca Mountain, will require action by Congress. A wild card in that debate is Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada, who has led his state's battle to stop the project, which is 90 miles from Las Vegas. He has regarded reprocessing as an alternative to long-term storage, but may have some interest in supporting a process that reduces the amount of spent fuel stored at Yucca Mountain. The original reprocessing technique chopped up spent nuclear-fuel rods and dissolved them in acid, extracting plutonium in an almost pure form. It was derived in the 1950s from the U.S. nuclear-weapons program, which uses plutonium as the primary metal to make atomic warheads explode. Japan, Russia and France use variants of this process, called PUREX, for power-plant fuel recycling, but the U.S. stopped research on its use during the Carter administration. President Carter, a former nuclear engineer, and other officials were persuaded that separating pure plutonium and encouraging recycling around the world might encourage developing nations to use the plutonium to make bombs. The UREX+ process is designed to reduce this problem by extracting plutonium along with other heavy and highly radioactive elements that make it too hot to handle without advanced robotics to remove and deal with the material. Write to John J. Fialka at john.fialka@wsj.com ***************************************************************** 40 NUCLEAR 911 IMMINENT? Date: Thu, 26 Jan 2006 20:28:50 -0600 (CST) URGENT : NUCLEAR 911 IMMINENT http://groups.yahoo.com/group/911TruthAction/message/20672 More and more signs are pointing at a fake terror nuke attack against the US on or before Jan. 31, 2006 -- the first day of the nuclear drill to be conducted at Ft. Monroe / Charleston S.C. This is first-hand intelligence, and must be forwarded to all aware patriots. We must begin to assemble and call them to task. Bush is to give a State of the Union address on 1/31, and it will be murder on him with all the failures abroad and abuses at home. A nuclear 911 would put him back on top, and rivet the eyes of the nation on their King George, all asking for leadership during crisis. CLIP Another nuke exercise -- your next 9/11? (January 24, 2006) FEAR-MONGERING??? http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=viewArticle&code=MAZ20060124&a rticleId=1794 Catch this! Some fresh-brewed Homeland Insecurity published today on WorldNetDaily. The Department of Defense (DOD) has scheduled its second major, three-day exercise to combat nuclear terrorism, this time in the Charleston, South Caroline area. I don't know about you, but I didn't know Charleston had a nuclear terror problem, shades of Sept. 11, 2001, the day on which some six drills were going, enough to distract anybody from doing anything when the drills went real. (...) In fact, the real danger here is that an administration in danger of extinction itself for its wars, its financial bungling, its corruption, its catastrophic Katrina, its trillions in tax cuts for the rich and subsequent debt, its utterly inhumane cuts to social services, in short, its horrible five years . . . the real threat is that this administration will use this go-real nuclear holocaust to blame on Al Qaeda, and get itself off the hook and hanging platform, and elevate national terror into a national state of emergency, eliminating all democracy, with a call for martial law, under Der Bush & Company. CLIP ***************************************************************** 41 NarcoSphere: Words from a whistleblower on a slow train coming By Bill Conroy, Posted on Wed Jan 25th, 2006 at 11:41:06 PM EST First, a short introduction before we introduce the speaker…. Sibel Edmonds was fired from her job as an FBI translator after blowing the whistle on alleged espionage being carried out by a fellow FBI employee. She was prevented from pursuing a whistleblower retaliation lawsuit filed in 2002 (based on alleged violations of her civil rights) because of the state-secrets privilege claim invoked by the U.S. government. That claim essentially shut down her ability to present evidence in the case under the smokescreen that it would jeopardize national security. The U.S. Supreme court late last year declined to hear Edmond’s appeal in that case. She now has a separate lawsuitpending against the government in federal court in Washington, D.C. Edmondsis the founder and director of the National Security Whistleblowers Coalition (NSWBC),which includes more than 70 whistleblowers drawn from a host of U.S. agencies, including the CIA, Department of Homeland Security, FBI, Defense Intelligence Agency and NSA. Among NSWBC's members is Russ Tice,a former NSA intelligence analyst who helped to expose the Bush Administration’s illegal domestic spying program – and is now facing the wrath of the administration’s retaliation machine for that act of democracy. Edmonds sent Narco News the following opinion piece and asked that we post it for our readers. Illegal &Indiscriminate Spying Hurts Our National Security, Here is Why By Sibel Edmonds According to numerous reports and audits released by entities such as Inspector General Offices of agencies that deal with national security and various presidential commissions, today, more than four years after the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, almost all our national security related agencies are in disarray, riddled with incompetence, corruption, and in some cases criminal activities. While most of the real problems facing our national security today stem from gross mismanagement, inefficiency, incompetence and a lack of sensible policies and vigorous oversight, the Bush Administration insists upon blaming these deficiencies on a regrettable and dangerous lack of power in the executive branch. But the kind of power the Administration pursues is the kind of power that would vault the presidency to monarchical status and nullify the Bill of Rights. • According to the DOJ-IG Report on the FBI’s Foreign Language Program that was released in October 2004, “more than 89,000 hours of audio and 30,000 hours of audio in other Counterterrorism languages have not been reviewed. Additionally, over 370,000 hours of audio in languages associated with counterintelligence activities have not been reviewed.” • According to a report by the Commission on the Intelligence Capabilities of the United States Regarding WMD (Robb-Silberman Report), released in March 2005, in just the past 20 years the CIA, FBI, NSA, DIA, NRO, and the Departments of Defense, State, and Energy have all been penetrated by espionage. Secrets stolen include nuclear weapons data, U.S. cryptographic codes and procedures, identification of U.S. intelligence sources and methods (human and technical), and war plans. Indeed, it would be difficult to exaggerate the damage that foreign intelligence penetrations have caused. • According to the final report by the 9/11 Discourse Project released in December 2005, the commissioners gave the federal government mediocre and failing grades for its response to its 41 recommendations, and characterized some failures as "shocking." The commission cited huge remaining loopholes in aviation security, a politicized system of doling out billions of homeland security dollars, and a failure to give firefighters and other responders the radio spectrum they need to communicate during crises. • According to an audit released by the Department of Homeland Security in December 2005, nearly three years after it was formed, the immense DHS remains hampered by severe management and financial problems; problems that contributed to the flawed response to Hurricane Katrina. • In December 2005, a group of House Democrats issued a report alleging that the Department of Homeland Security had failed to follow through on 33 promised improvements to border security, infrastructure protection and other physical security projects. • According to an AP news article released on January 18, 2006, by Ted Bridis, the FBI missed neon-bright signs of espionage in the case of Bureau Intelligence Analyst Leandro Aragoncillo. He was arrested a few months ago. Despite several IG reports, congressional inquiries, and media reports on several other recent cases of alleged espionage activities, the bureau’s inability to secure even its own offices continues today. Here is an agency that is in charge of defending our national security and protecting our safety, but it has yet to prove it is capable of securing itself. What do the various reports mentioned above have in common? These reports &audits, whether conducted by the Inspector General offices of our federal agencies, Congress, or the presidential commissions, indicate that the weak state of our nation’s security today is a result of inefficient, incompetent and mismanaged government. How can any of the failures established by these reports be attributed to the lack of power to engage in massive communications intercepts of Americans? Based on these reports, how can one go about fixing our nation’s security problems by unlawfully gathering millions of discrete pieces of information from the citizens of our country, inundating our intelligence agencies with huge amounts of raw intelligence, and causing an insurmountable backlog? The NSA has overwhelmed the FBI with raw intelligence gathered at the price of our liberty, privacy, and due process. Information culled from electronic eavesdropping and intercepted Internet traffic by the NSA resulting from Bush’s illegal authorization of domestic surveillance turned into a flood, requiring hundreds of agents to check out thousands of tips each month. A New York Times story says that FBI officials repeatedly complained to the spy agency that the unfiltered information was swamping investigators. The Times also reported that almost all of the tips led to dead ends, and one former FBI official said: "We'd chase a number, find it's a schoolteacher with no indication they've ever been involved in international terrorism -- case closed." He added: "After you get a thousand numbers and not one is turning up anything, you get some frustration." Mr. President, please stop. You are damaging our national security and simultaneously destroying what makes us American in mind and soul; our Bill of Rights. Remember what you told us just a few days after 9/11: “The terrorists hate our way of life, and they want to take it away from us.’” Mr. President, they haven’t, you beat them to that result. Do you really want to fix our security problems? Do you really want to address and fix our vulnerabilities? Then here is a start for you; implement a three-phrase program, and we can guarantee that you’ll make our “national security” problems disappear: Government Accountability, Government Oversight, and Government Integrity. ***************************************************************** 42 [du-list] VA RAC FY 2006 Proposals Date: Thu, 26 Jan 2006 21:07:42 -0800 All, Was looking at Rac's website and found that their FY 2006 proposals for medical research into Gulf War Veteran's Illnesses, specifically EXCLUDES STRESS studies to be in their request for further medical research proposals. A great and meaningful first step. I've posted this to DSJF's homepage at www.dsjf.org or you can click on the link below. Best, Paul Lyons President, Desert Storm Justice Foundation, Inc. http://www.dsjf.org/VA%20RAC%20(%20Research%20Advisory%20Committee)/RAC%20Research_Recommendations_FY2006_RFP_Jan172006.pdf [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] To unsubscribe from this groups send a message to du-list-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com. In the body of the message type unsubscribe and send. ***************************************************************** 43 AP Wire: Tritium levels around Braidwood plant worry nuclear watchdog 01/25/2006 | Posted on Wed, Jan. 25, 2006 Associated Press BRACEVILLE, Ill. - A nuclear watchdog group said Wednesday that the owners of a Will County power plant have downplayed the threat posed by a radioactive leak, but state health officials said residents near the facility are safe. Exelon Corp. has said recent environmental tests at more than 200 sites on plant property and on private land around its Braidwood Generating Plant indicate elevated - but not dangerous - levels of tritium. The highest concentrations were discovered and first reported by the company in November, near the site of a 1998 pipeline valve break. Tritium is commonly found in ground water but is more concentrated in water used in nuclear reactors. Officials of the Washington-based Nuclear Information & Resource Service claim Exelon and federal nuclear regulators have "trivialized" the impact tritium exposure could have on people living near the plant. The group cited studies that show long-term exposure to tritium - through drinking or bathing - can lead to cancer and birth defects. "They could be sitting on a giant radioactive sponge," said Paul Gunter, director of the group's Reactor Watchdog Project. State public health officials said environmental test results indicate there's no immediate or long-term threat to residents near the plant. The agency said tritium levels found in drinking water are far below the federal limits. "At that level, there's no significant increased risk," said Illinois Department of Public Health spokeswoman Melanie Arnold. When told about the watchdog's concerns, Exelon spokesman Craig Nesbit said: "We think facts speak for themselves." A phone message left Wednesday with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission office in Lisle was not immediately returned. In November, higher than normal tritium levels were found near the site of the valve break, which allowed several million gallons of water being pumped from the plant to the Kankakee River to escape on plant property, about 60 miles southwest of Chicago. One well on Exelon's property showed tritium levels more than 11 times higher than the federal limit for ground water, according to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency has cited Exelon for two violations of the state's ground water standards and given the company until Feb. 3 to file a report. Nesbit said earlier this week the company has drilled 158 monitoring wells to determine how the tritium has spread. Exelon also this week told 28 property owners who live next to the 5-mile pipeline that it would test their wells for free. One property owner near the plant has sold his land to Exelon, the company said. It also has told nearby property owners that it will compensate them for any lost property value if they ever sell their land, Nesbit said. ***************************************************************** 44 Radio New Zealand: France defends nuclear test safety record amid fallout claim in new report Time:7:43 pm on 27 Jan [ width=] The French high commission in French Polynesia says the atmospheric nuclear weapons tests in the South Pacific were carried out amid continued concern for the protection of the population and those working on the test sites. The statement was issued in Papeete after local newspapers printed excerpts of a report by the territorial assembly which was produced following a six month investigation based on independent sources but without the co-operation of the French defence ministry. The report says nuclear bombs which exploded above Mururoa and Fangataufa in the 1960s and 1970s appear to have caused fallout in Tahiti, which is the territory's most populated island. The high commission says the French state has always shown its will to have an open dialogue and transparency but upholds the law concerning classified information. Last August, the French high commission and the opposition in the territory took court action in a bid to stop the assembly probe, claiming it lacked the statutory powers for such an investigation. Copyright © 2006 Radio New Zealand International ***************************************************************** 45 Earthjustice: Federal Atomic Safety Board to Hold Hearings on Controversial Irradiation Proposal in Hawai`i Environmental and Disaster Review of Airport Project Necessary January 25th, 2006 Contact Info: David Henkin, Earthjustice (808) 599-2436 David Paulson, Concerned Citizens of Honolulu (808) 372-1276 Honolulu, HI-- Yesterday, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s (NRC’s) Atomic Safety and Licensing Board granted Earthjustice’s petition, filed on October 3, 2005, for a hearing on a proposal to locate a nuclear irradiator at Honolulu International Airport. The petition was filed on behalf on behalf of the community group Concerned Citizens of Honolulu. The petitioners are concerned about the potential for accidents and natural disasters to cause radioactive releases from the facility. The board will hold a hearing to determine whether the NRC staff violated the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) when it refused to prepare an environmental impact statement or environmental assessment for the project. The board has not yet announced the hearing date. “It is great the board is going to hold the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s staff accountable for its refusal to conduct any environmental review for this project,” said Concerned Citizens member Bernie Young. “I may not be a nuclear physicist, but it’s only common sense to take a hard look at threats to the community’s safety and health before you let someone put a facility packed with radioactive material in the middle of urban Honolulu, near the ocean and military bases.” Concerned Citizens’ petition responded to an application by Pa‘ina Hawaii, LLC, to build and operate an irradiator next to the Reef Runway to treat fruit and vegetables for fruit flies. The facility would contain up to one million curies of Cobalt-60. Noting the potential “consequences of siting an irradiator on the ocean’s edge at the Honolulu Airport, subject to the risks of aircraft crashes, tsunamis, and hurricanes,” the board questioned the NRC staff’s failure to explain its refusal to perform any environmental review. At the hearing, Concerned Citizens will have the opportunity to present evidence that these risks triggered the NRC’s obligation to prepare a comprehensive environmental review of the proposal. “The board’s decision ensures that the serious threats the irradiator would pose to public health and safety and the environment will not be swept under the rug,” said Earthjustice attorney David Henkin. “The public deserves a thorough review of these threats, as well as a candid evaluation of alternate sites or technologies that could achieve the project’s goals with less risk. This is what the law requires and what we will continue to fight to secure.” NEPA requires each federal agency, including the NRC, that is considering approval of a project that might have a significant impact on the human environment to prepare either an environmental assessment or a more comprehensive environmental impact statement. The purpose of this review is to put on the table, for the deciding agency’s and the public’s view, a sufficiently detailed statement of environmental impacts and alternatives so as to permit informed decision-making. NEPA provides opportunities for the public to participate in the review process, to ensure the NRC does not overlook issues of concern to the community. *** pau *** Earthjustice is a non-profit, public-interest, environmental law firm. The Hawai‘i regional office opened in Honolulu in 1988 as the Sierra Club Legal Defense Fund, and has represented dozens of environmental, native Hawaiian, and community organizations. Earthjustice is the only non-profit environmental law firm in Hawai‘i and the Mid-Pacific, and does not charge clients for its services. Concerned Citizens of Honolulu is a grassroots community group created to ensure the people who live and work in Honolulu will be adequately protected from potential public health and safety and environmental impacts associated with Pa‘ina Hawaii’s proposed irradiator and to ensure that a thorough environmental review of the proposal – including consideration of alternate technologies and alternate locations that could achieve the project’s goals with less risk to the public and environment – is performed before any project approvals are issued. © 2006 ***************************************************************** 46 Morris Daily Herald: Tritium release worries nuclear watcher news@morrisdailyherald.com 1/26/2006 3:31:00 PM Says threat greater than being stated BRACEVILLE, Ill. (AP) — A nuclear watchdog group said Wednesday that the owners of a Will County power plant have downplayed the threat posed by a radioactive leak, but state health officials said residents near the facility are safe. Exelon Corp. has said recent environmental tests at more than 200 sites on plant property and on private land around its Braidwood Generating Plant indicate elevated — but not dangerous — levels of tritium. The highest concentrations were discovered and first reported by the company in November, near the site of a 1998 pipeline valve break. Tritium is commonly found in ground water but is more concentrated in water used in nuclear reactors. Officials of the Washington-based Nuclear Information &Resource Service claim Exelon and federal nuclear regulators have “trivialized” the impact tritium exposure could have on people living near the plant. The group cited studies that show long-term exposure to tritium — through drinking or bathing — can lead to cancer and birth defects. “They could be sitting on a giant radioactive sponge,” said Paul Gunter, director of the group’s Reactor Watchdog Pro-ject. State public health officials said environmental test results indicate there’s no immediate or long-term threat to residents near the plant. The agency said tritium levels found in drinking water are far below the federal limits. “At that level, there’s no significant increased risk,” said Illi-nois Department of Public Health spokeswoman Melanie Arnold. When told about the watchdog’s concerns, Exelon spokes-man Craig Nesbit said: “We think facts speak for themselves.” A phone message left Wednesday with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission office in Lisle was not immediately returned. In November, higher than normal tritium levels were found near the site of the valve break, which allowed several million gallons of water being pumped from the plant to the Kankakee River to escape on plant property, about 60 miles southwest of Chicago. One well on Exelon’s property showed tritium levels more than 11 times higher than the federal limit for ground water, according to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency has cited Exelon for two violations of the state’s ground water standards and given the company until Feb. 3 to file a report. Nesbit said earlier this week the company has drilled 158 monitoring wells to determine how the tritium has spread. Exelon also this week told 28 property owners who live next to the 5-mile pipeline that it would test their wells for free. One property owner near the plant has sold his land to Exelon, the company said. It also has told nearby property owners that it will compensate them for any lost property value if they ever sell their land, Nesbit said. Morris Daily Herald • 1804 N. Division St. • Morris, Illinois 60450 ***************************************************************** 47 Yggdrasil: The Report of the Investigative Commission on the Consequences of Nuclear Testing Makes France Face Its Responsibilties A project of Earth Island Institute Nuclear Issues From a Press Release, CDRPC, Lyon, January 26, 2006 The Investigative Commission on the Consequences of Aerial Nuclear Testing in French Polynesia between 1996 and 1974, established July 2005 by the French Polynesian Assembly, filed its report January 24, 2006, ten years after the last test, which was carried out in Fangataufa January 27, 1996. Below are the recommendations from the report. . . . PS The members of the Investigative Commission will present the results of their work February 21, 2006 during a colloquium at the National Assembly in Paris. For further information: CDRPC, tel: 33-4-78-36-93-03; cdrpc@obsarm.org Recommendations As it concludes its work, the Investigative Commission of the French Polynesian Assembly wishes to recall the limits that were set on it. Its mandate envisaged an analysis of the consequences only of the period of atmospheric nuclear tests, from 1966 to 1974. The Commission considers its contract fulfilled, although the consequences, still evident years later, have obliged it to take into account also the health, economic, and social realities of present-day Polynesia . Some may wonder why no chapter of this report is devoted to the Moruroa and Fangataufa atolls. This is not an oversight but is intended to point out that the nuclear tests carried out on these two Polynesian atolls have been, from the beginning in 1966 up to the present, forbidden to the investigation of elected Polynesian officials [[[that from the beginning of testing in 1966 up to the present, Polynesian officials have been forbidden to investigate the nuclear tests carried out on these two Polynesian atolls.]]] As we have reported in the chapter on the elected officials, the few who have gone to the sites at the invitation of the Armed Forces have had no means of checking or verifying the statements of their military hosts. For its part, the Investigative Commission has requested of the Ministry of Defense that a visit to the nuclear atolls be organized. We have had neither acknowledgment nor response from this ministry. In this situation, the Commission considered silence to be necessary. The recommendations of the Investigative Commission that are to be validated by the French Polynesian Assembly are addressed mainly to the government of the Country, which has established an organism to pursue this matter: the "Orientation Council for follow-up on the consequences of nuclear tests on the health of people and on the environment." It will be up to the government to accept and carry out the recommendations of the Commission. The Commission wishes, however, to make a prior recommendation that it considers necessary so that the Country may have more complete control of its own analysis of the consequences of the total program of nuclear tests. The Investigative Commission recommends that the Orientation Council carry out its own investigation into the consequences on health and on the environment of underground tests, which are far from negligible and which are a long-term concern. I. Sites to be cleaned up and rehabilitated The Investigative Commission went to the islands and atolls of Gambier, Tureia, and Hao. It found that the CEP, during the period of atmospheric tests, permanently disturbed the environment and the daily life of the people. Large areas remain to be rehabilitated and cleaned up, in particular on Hao, Tureia and Mangareva. The future of certain military buildings (shelters, blockhouses . . .) remains to be studied. Uncertainties remain as to the radiological condition of certain sites that one now knows may have been contaminated during atmospheric testing. The Investigative Commission proposes that complementary investigations of radioactivity be programmed, as the preliminary expert examination by the CRIIRAD recommends. I.1 The Investigative Commission proposes that the government of French Polynesia entrust to the "Orientation Council for follow-up on the consequences of nuclear tests" the responsibility for constituting a working group on "sites to be decontaminated and rehabilitated." The Investigative Commission proposes that the method used rely on two principles: transparency and dialog with the partners concerned, that is to say the private owners, municipalities, the Country and the State. As needed, a mediator will be designated to resolve disputed questions. II. Waste and contaminated materials The Commission has been informed by many sources (witnesses, documents, photographs . . .) about the discharge of contaminated materials in the ocean (or in lagoons). The transparency proclaimed by the Ministry of Defense and the application of the principal of precaution for future generations require that information on these discharges be communicated to the Country. II.1 The Investigative Commission recommends to the government of the Country that discussions with the State be entered into to put into effect the following measures: --An inventory of radioactive waste discarded in the ocean: nature of the waste, date of discharge, place of discharge --Cartography of the sites where Vulture ("Vautour") airplanes were discarded in the ocean in 1974 --Cartography of other discharge sites in the sea or lagoons The destination and the management of radioactive waste that could be recovered will be studied jointly by a State-Country working group. III. A radiological analysis laboratory for the Country The information collected by the Investigative Commission in regard to the radiological status of certain zones or atolls used for the nuclear testing program will necessitate that the sampling and analysis be carried out under the authority of the Country. The experience of the Investigative Commission has shown that the collaboration of similar services of the State (LESE for example) is not assured. III.1. The Investigative Commission recommends that a radiological analysis laboratory be created and put in the service of the Country. The laboratory project attached to these recommendations could serve as a starting point for its establishment. IV. Center for archives and the memory of the nuclear tests In the course of its work, the Investigative Commission ran into difficulty in obtaining the information and the numerous documents that relate to the nuclear tests carried out in the Country. The history of this period and its consequences for the future of the Country is the other hand greatly misunderstood by the Polynesians themselves and in particular by the young generations. IV.l The Investigative Commission recommends that there be created, in the framework of the institutions of the Country, an institute that is a center for archives and the memory of the nuclear tests and is at the disposal of the public. This institute could take on an international character by enlarging its subject to the nuclear tests carried out by the major powers, notably in the Pacific. This institute will be provided with buildings, personnel, and a budget. It will collect all the available documentation, written and audiovisual, on the nuclear tests. This institute will have the capability of presenting documents, expositions at the disposal of all Polynesians and also of tourists visiting the country. IV.2 The Investigative Commission recommends that an independent commission of historians be established for the study of the nuclear test period in Polynesia . IV. 3 The Investigative Commission recommends that the memory of all the Polynesians who have worked at the nuclear test sites since 1963 be preserved and especially of all those who have already died. For this purpose, the Investigative Commission asks mayors and families in the Country to make a list of all the former workers who have died and to communicate this information to the Orientation Council. The Investigative Commission approves of the project of a memorial on nuclear testing proposed by Moruroa e tatou and recommends that the government of the Country contribute to its realization. V. Medical Monitoring During its hearings and its visits to Mangareva, Tureia and Hao, the Investigative Commission was confronted with numerous health questions from the people to whom it spoke. The Investigative Commission recalls its "personal conviction" that the nuclear tests have affected public health throughout French Polynesia . V.1 The Investigative Commission recommends to the government of the Country that it establish a "unit for medical-social monitoring" of the populations that were "nearest" to the nuclear tests, former workers at Moruroa and their families, populations of the islands and atolls near to Moruroa . The composition and the tasks of that "unit for a socio-medical follow up" will be studied by the "Orientation Council." V. 2 The Investigative Commission recommends the financing of specific scientific studies concerning people and communities considered to be most affected by nuclear risks, notably populations of the islands and atolls "under the wind of the aerial tests" and former workers at Moruroa and their families. "Basic" studies on the follow up of these populations could be carried out with the help of the University in order to permit epidemiologists and researchers to build their research on serious sociological and anthropological bases. In this framework, the Investigative Commission recommends the creation of a DNA bank in Polynesia under the responsibility of the Blood Transfusion Center. V.3 The Investigative Commission recommends that scientific studies on illnesses considered to be induced by radioactivity be carried out and in particular that funding and personnel be given to the Country's Cancer Registry. V.4 The Investigative Commission recommends to the government of the Country that it encourage the State to place on the parliamentary agenda legislation that recognizes the "principal of presumption" according to the methods accepted by the Investigative Commission in the chapter on health. VI. Economic Development The thirty years of the CEP have not truly contributed to the sustainable development of French Polynesia . Heavy infrastructure was promised to the elected representatives of the Polynesians in return for the problems caused by the establishment of the CEP. These promises have not been kept. VI.1 The Investigative Commission recommends to the government that it enter into discussion with the State on the creation and financing of infrastructure that would give Polynesia the means for sustainable development, absolute priority being given to the highway crossing Tahiti . VI.2 The Investigative Commission recommends that the government enter into discussion with the Social Protection Office, the ministries concerned, and the association Moruroa e Tatou to resolve the possible economic damage suffered by former workers at Moruroa (annuities not taken into account in the calculation of pensions, recognition of professional illnesses . . . ). VII Relations with the State Ten years after the end of testing, the Investigative Commission believes that disputes between the State and the Country on the consequences of nuclear testing must be settled. For their part, elected officials and the government of the Country have put in place the means to constitute their own expertise on thirty years of nuclear testing, which remains to be exercised. VII.1 The Investigative Commission recommends to the government of the Country that it solicit the authorities of the State in order that an authority with equal representation on both sides may be established for dialog and discussion on the nuclear tests. VII.2 The Investigative Commission recommends to the government of the Country that it asks officials of the State to communicate all the reports on fallout from aerial tests during the 1966-1974 period. VII.3 The Investigative Commission recommends to the government of the Country that a renegotiation of the "development plan" in compensation for the nuclear tests be established to permit the financing of the recommendations of the Investigative Commission. VII.4 The Investigative Commission recommends to the government of the Country that it negotiate with the State the participation of experts and of people designated by the Country in the monitoring of the atolls of Moruroa and Fangataufa. The laboratory for radiological analysis created by the Country will be associated with the surveillance system at present managed only by the Ministry of Defense. VII. 5 The Investigative Commission recommends to the government of the Country that discussion with the State on the revision of the legal status of the atolls of Moruroa and Fangataufa be undertaken. Posted January 26, 2006 Yggdrasil is a project of Earth Island Institute P.O. Box 910476, Lexington, KY 40591-0476 ***************************************************************** 48 PE.com: Testing detects wider reach 11:17 PM PST on Wednesday, January 25, 2006 By DAVID DANELSKI / The Press-Enterprise Perchlorate in food 2000: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency greenhouse experiments show that lettuce can absorb perchlorate. April 2003: The Press-Enterprise and the Environmental Working Group independently test winter lettuce purchased in California grocery stores. Perchlorate is found in most samples. September 2003: Texas Tech University scientists find the chemical in cow's milk. November 2003: U.S. Department of Agriculture funds a study of perchlorate in lettuce grown with tainted Colorado River water. November 2004: U.S. Food and Drug Administration finds perchlorate in lettuce and milk samples taken from around the nation. February 2005: Texas Tech researchers find perchlorate in human breast milk. A rocket-fuel chemical that has contaminated Inland water supplies could be much more prevalent in food than previously believed, according to data gathered by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Agency scientists made the discovery unexpectedly, while evaluating a new method of testing for perchlorate in the human body. The researchers asked CDC employees in Atlanta to donate urine samples in order to screen a technique that the agency is now using in a major health study of perchlorate in thousands of Americans. The chemical, in sufficient amounts, interferes with thyroid function that regulates metabolism and, in fetuses and babies, brain and nerve development. The chemical is barely detectable in Atlanta's drinking water, but all 62 urine samples contained perchlorate in higher concentrations than those found in the water. One of the employees had more than 100 times the concentration in the city water. The researchers determined that the person's body contained a level slightly higher than the amount deemed safe by the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency. One of the goals of the current CDC study is to determine if such levels are affecting people. The researchers believe the source could be food. "The thing that surprised me the most was the prevalence of perchlorate in all urine samples when none was expected," said Ben Blount, a research chemist for the agency. He is scheduled to present his findings today at a water conference in Santa Clara. Milk and Lettuce Perchlorate can accumulate in certain plants eaten by people and livestock. It has been discovered in lettuce, grains and milk. The lower Colorado River, which provides irrigation water for one of the nation's most productive agricultural regions, is contaminated with the chemical leaching from a former perchlorate factory near Las Vegas. Regulators need to know how much perchlorate people are consuming in food so they can determine what concentration can safely be allowed in water, EPA officials have said. Using a National Academy of Sciences analysis of perchlorate research, the EPA set a safe dose for human consumption last year and is now weighing whether it should set a legal limit for the nation's drinking-water supplies. Knowing how much perchlorate comes from food is necessary to make that decision. If food is found to be a major source, regulators could call for tougher limits, forcing costly cleanups of water supplies. California and Massachusetts are developing state limits for the chemical in drinking water. California, which is more than two years behind a legislative deadline, was expected to propose a legal limit last year. State health officials are working on it, said Lea Brooks, a state Department of Health Services spokeswoman. Regulators and health officials are worried that the chemical, consumed in water and food, might be interfering with brain and nerve development of fetuses, babies and small children. In sufficient doses, it blocks the thyroid's ability to absorb iodide, which the gland needs to make the hormones that guide nerve development. The chemical is used in rocket fuel, bombs, munitions and fireworks, as well as matches and road flares. And it occurs naturally in some fertilizers. A salt, perchlorate mixes easily with water and has leached from defense industry factories and military facilities, contaminating some Inland groundwater supplies. Contamination Testing Widespread testing of the nation's food supplies has been moving slowly. In 1999, the U.S. Air Force agreed to test crops irrigated with Colorado River water, but it never followed through on the research, according to federal records. In 2003, separate tests commissioned by The Press-Enterprise and the Environmental Working Group, an advocacy organization, found perchlorate in lettuce purchased in California grocery stores that winter. Roughly 90 percent of the nation's winter lettuce is grown in the Coachella and Imperial valleys, using water from the Colorado River. The results were confirmed in tests done later by the federal Food and Drug Administration and Department of Agriculture. Testing CDC Employees All these efforts, however, have failed to draw a complete of picture of the chemical's presence in the American diet. Blount, working in collaboration with the FDA, hopes to fill that knowledge gap. He developed a urine test that gives researchers the ability to monitor how much perchlorate a person consumes in water, food and other potential sources such as cigarettes. To evaluate Blount's test, volunteers were asked to leave samples in restrooms at CDC offices in Atlanta, Blount said in a telephone interview. Atlanta's water has about one-fifth of one part perchlorate per billion parts of water. The lowest reading in the urine samples was three times that amount, and the mean was 17 times the level in the drinking water. Blount said few conclusions can be drawn from the preliminary results. He expects to get answers in the far more comprehensive study expected to be published later this year. Blount and his colleagues are testing 2,280 people chosen as representative of the U.S. population. Each was thoroughly interviewed and given a physical examine. Blood tests will show how their thyroid glands are functioning. 2006, The Press-Enterprise Company ***************************************************************** 49 PM: FRENCH POLYNESIA: N-Tests Done With "Permanent Concern" For Protecting People Pacific Islands: PINA and Pacific Thu: Jan 26, 2006 FRENCH POLYNESIA: Tahiti Subjected To Nuclear Test Fallout, Says Leaked Report Tahitipresse reports that the island of Tahiti was subjected to fallout from each of France's atmospheric nuclear tests 1,200 kms (720 miles) away more than 30 years ago, according to a French Polynesia Assembly report leaked to the local news media. Although the report by an Assembly committee of inquiry is not to be made public until the Assembly next meets on Feb. 9, the French State owned and operated RFO television station aired results of the report Tuesday night and Tahiti's two French daily newspapers presented with their versions of the report with front page headlines Wednesday. The media coverage reported the committee's claims that France minimized and even covered up the effects of the 41 atmospheric tests conducted between 1966 and 1974 at the Tuamotu atolls of Moruroa and Fangataufa 1,200 kms southeast of Papeete. France also conducted 140 underground nuclear explosions at the same sites between 1975 and 1991 and June 1995 to May 1996. Even before the leaked information made headlines, the inquiry committee report was already well on its way to becoming as controversial as the 30-year-old debate over what, if any, effects the French tests have had. That debate has mainly focused on the health of workers at the test sites as well as French Polynesia's population, which today is some 250,000. The inquiry committee's report required nearly six months of investigation, which involved interviews and visits to the southeastern Gambier Islands and Tureia, a small Tuamotu atoll near the Gambiers and only 115 kms 71.5 miles from Moruroa. Unutea Hirshon, a member of the Temaru government's majority coalition party in the Assembly, is chairman of the inquiry committee and head of the Assembly's Standing Committee. She also is a high-ranking member of French Polynesia President Oscar Temaru's independence political party that has used the French nuclear tests as one of many reasons why Tahiti should be an independent country instead of a French overseas territory. The news media's extracts of the inquiry committee's report and final conclusions claim, "it is not exaggerating to think that the (radioactive) fallout occurred on (the island of) Tahiti after each atmospheric test". One media report insisted on the size and movement of radioactive clouds following several atmospheric tests, such as the test named Aldebaran on July 2, 1966 and the test named Centaure on July 17, 1974. The inquiry committee report claims a link between the tests and number of cancer cases in French Polynesia, noting the study under way by the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research (INSERM), according to the media. The report recommends the creation of a new inquiry committee to investigate the underground French nuclear tests conducted after France halted its atmospheric tests in 1974, one newspaper reported. As a result of the actual committee's findings, the report also calls for a renegotiation of a higher economic development transfer from France than the current yearly amount of 18 billion French Pacific francs (US$189.5 million/€150.8 million), the same newspaper reported. This transfer directly into the French Polynesia budget is known by its French acronym, DGDE, which is France's yearly compensation for the customs taxes French Polynesia no longer receives from imported material connected with the French nuclear testing operation. Tahiti's other daily newspaper reported Wednesday that the report calls for the creation of an archives center involving the French nuclear tests, making all information available to the public. It also calls for the creation of a radiological analysis laboratory and a cell to conduct medical-social follow-ups among the people directly or indirectly affected by the nuclear tests, the same newspaper reported. The inquiry committee based a lot of its report on the work of Bruno Barillot, director of the Observatory of French Nuclear Weapons (CDRPC), and the Commission of Independent Research and Information on Radioactivity (CRIIRAD). The CRIIRAD laboratory took samples last October during a visit to the Gambier Islands. However, the Temaru government's inquiry committee did not have access to French government documents about the nuclear testing program because such documents are classified as defense secrets. Although the pro-France, autonomist party of former French Polynesia President Gaston Flosse has five members named to the inquiry committee, they have boycotted all meetings and work. When the committee was created last July, Flosse's party lost a legal challenge over its legitimacy. Last May, Flosse called for the French Polynesia Assembly to create an inquiry committee to clear the air over the controversy about whether French nuclear tests could have posed a danger to people living in the Gambier Islands. Flosse had previously argued that the question of nuclear tests was a French Defense Ministry matter. Pacific Magazine: - Sales Manager Florence Betham Tel: (808) 537-9500, Ext. 225 Fax: (808) 538-6041 - Editor Samantha Magick Tel: (61) 2 9571-1595 Cell: (61) 439-485-179 Communications, Inc. Founder: Bruce Jensen. Copyright 2002, 2003 PacificBasin Communications, Inc. Editorial, advertising offices at 1000 Bishop Street. Suite 405, Honolulu HI 96813. Telephone (808) 537-9500. Send all address changes to Pacific Magazine, P.O.Box 913, Honolulu HI 96808 or e-mail pmaddchange@pacificbasin.net Pacificmagazine.net Copyright 2002 - 2004 PacificBasin Communications Inc. For more information contact info@pacificbasin.net ***************************************************************** 50 AU ABC: Nuclear fallout in Tahiti: Independent report. 26/01/2006. ABC News Online An independent report has found that France's nuclear weapons tests in the South Pacific caused nuclear fallout on the popular tourist islands of Tahiti. The report has caused controversy in French Polynesia where the opposition boycotted the independent commission's work and took court action to try and stop it. The French defence ministry also refused to cooperate with the study, citing security reasons. The report, which will be presented to the territorial assembly next month, says that France tried to down play the effects of its nuclear testing in the area. -Radio NZ ***************************************************************** 51 canada.com: Nuclear risks underestimated: activitsts Ottawa Citizen Canadian Press Published: Thursday, January 26, 2006 TORONTO -- An environmental group says Ontario's power authority has underestimated the costs and risks of the province going more nuclear. The Ontario Clean Air Alliance also says the authority has under-valued options such as renewable power and energy conservation. Alliance chairman Jack Gibbons says the agency is banking on new nuclear plants getting built on budget and operating flawlessly once in operation. He says that has never happened in Ontario. Gibbons says an analysis of power authority's capital estimates found that natural gas would be a cheaper option. The province is considering building new nuclear power plants over the next decade to meet rising electricity demand as recommended by the power authority last month. Other organizations such as Greenpeace say the report, which recommends more than $70 billion worth of new power projects, should be subject to a full environmental review. © Canadian Press 2006 © 2006 CanWest Interactive, a division of CanWest ***************************************************************** 52 Vermont Guardian: Radiation calculations may pose 11th hour uprate hurdle for VY By Kathryn Casa | Vermont Guardian BRATTLEBORO Radiation from Vermont Yankee could exceed state standards by more than 50 percent once the plant is allowed to boost the amount of power it generates, according to the states chief radiation officer. If true, this finding would force plant operators either to reduce power or erect better shielding once the uprate occurs. It has also prompted the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to take a last-minute, second look at the way Vermont Yankee calculates its radiation emissions. Company officials hope for final uprate approval by Feb. 24. In a Jan. 23 letter, William Irwin, the state Health Departments radiological health chief, informed the Windham Regional Commission Executive Director Jim Matteau that, with a calculation margin of error of plus or minus 25 percent, after an uprate the true gamma radiation dose equivalent could range from roughly 18 to 31 millirem per year. The states annual dosage allowance the amount a person would absorb if she stood at the plants fence line 24 hours a day for one year is 20 millirem annually. That figure is stricter than the federal limit, which is 25 millirem. Matteau asked state officials for clarification about the radiation dosage in a Jan. 17 letter. His request came more than a year after Health Department measurements taken during the final quarter of 2004 showed the plant may have exceeded state limits by as much as 24 percent. The plants owner, Entergy, says the state measurements took into account background radiation, not solely what the reactor emits. Entergy says it released about 12 millirem of direct gamma radiation in 2004, rather than the 24.9 millirem detected on one of the states four monitors on the fence near the reactor. Because of the discrepancy between the state's and company's fence-line dose measurements last year, and given the prospect of a power uprate, we decided it would be prudent to determine if the calculational method used by Entergy is adequate and acceptable, NRC Spokesman Neil Sheehan wrote Thursday in an e-mail to the Vermont Guardian. Entergy bases its calculations on readings taken at the main steam line inside the plant. The state relies on 39 thermoluminescent dosimeters (TLDs) surrounding the Vernon reactor, including four on the plants fence. During the review its uprate application, Entergy received approval from the NRC to calculate its dose by multiplying the readings by .71 percent. Entergy officials maintain that reduction reflects more accurate radiation readings because they are less susceptible to variations in background radiation. The state, however, uses a one-to-one ratio in its readings. Sheehan said the discrepancy prompted the NRC to take a closer look at VYs calculations, but AREVA, the company that developed the calculation for VY, had still not supplied the NRC with the needed information. He said in conference call with Entergy and the NRC call on Wednesday the company agreed to submit the information by Feb. 1. If the calculational method cannot provide reasonable assurance that the federal limit of 25 millirems will be met, Entergy would need to use some other method to do so, such as TLDs. Our interest is ensuring that the plant is adhering to federal limits. One way or another, the company will need to be in conformance, he concluded. The projected increase could have implications for Entergys plans to operate the reactor at 120 percent of its original capacity. Entergy is currently awaiting state and federal approval of the uprate. The means to regain compliance are to reduce reactor power levels so the site boundary dose limit is not likely to be exceeded, or, if it undesirable [sic] to reduce reactor power, to apply engineering controls which would further shield off site properties to VYNPS gamma radiation, or to extend the VYNPS site boundary, Irwin wrote. Vermont Guardian PO Box 335 Winooski, VT 05404 PO Box 335, Winooski, VT 05404 Southern Vermont: 139 Main Street, Suite 702, Brattleboro, VT 05301 Contact: 802.861.4880 (ph) | 802.861.6388 (fax) | 877.231.5382 ©2005 Vermont Guardian | Visit us: www.vermontguardian.com This document can be located online: www.vermontguardian.com/local/012006/VYRadiation.shtml ***************************************************************** 53 [NukeNet] US Democracts Oppose Rokkasho Tests Date: Thu, 26 Jan 2006 21:07:44 -0800 NukeNet Anti-Nuclear Network (nukenet@energyjustice.net) http://home.kyodo.co.jp/modules/fstStory/index.php?storyid=226823 U.S. Democrats urge Japan to halt plan to reprocess spent nuke fuel WASHINGTON, Jan. 26 KYODO Six U.S. Democrats have urged Japan to suspend its plan to began a test operation to extract plutonium at a nuclear-waste reprocessing facility in the village of Rokkasho in Aomori Prefecture, Democratic congressional sources said Thursday. ''We firmly believe that the continued extraction of weapons-usable plutonium poses significant and unnecessary threats to international security and nonproliferation,'' the six Democrats said in a letter that they sent to Japanese Ambassador to the United States Ryozo Kato. Citizens' Nuclear Information Center 3F Kotobuki Bdg, 1-58-15, Higashi-Nakano, Nakano-ku, Tokyo 164-0003 Phone: 81-3-5330-9520 Fax: 81-3-5330-9530 http://cnic.jp/english/ cnic@nifty.com _______________________________________________________________________ Subscribe/Unsubscribe Here: http://www.energyjustice.net/nukenet/ Change your settings or access the archives at: http://energyjustice.net/mailman/listinfo/nukenet_energyjustice.net ***************************************************************** 54 [NukeNet] I TOLD YOU SO! SRS picked as reprocessing site! Date: Thu, 26 Jan 2006 15:19:26 -0800 NukeNet Anti-Nuclear Network (nukenet@energyjustice.net) Don't you just hate a "I TOLD YOU SO!" Here it is, from Energy & Environment Daily, Savannah River Site (SRS) picked as the site for reprocessing. See my long note to you on the 24th. Jeannine From: tomclements329@cs.com To: srs-action@yahoogroups.com Subject: [srs] SRS & reprocessing: article, 1/25 Date: Wed, 25 Jan 2006 12:08:13 EST apologies for double postings... TC Energy & Environment Daily January 25, 2006 DOE's Savannah River Site pegged for reprocessing program Mary O'Driscoll, E&E Daily senior reporter The Bush administration is expected to offer up the Energy Department's Savannah River Site in South Carolina as the home of a demonstration project for its ambitious spent nuclear fuel reprocessing program, nuclear industry sources said yesterday. The proposal is said to be part of the major Global Nuclear Energy Partnership waste package that will shortly make its way to Congress, where Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Pete Domenici (R-N.M.) has said he will be lead sponsor of the plan. Whether President Bush will make mention of it in his State of the Union address Tuesday remains unclear. The GNEP program now is in the latter stages of development at DOE, and no specific details about it are available. Faced with years of delay and an uncertain future for the controversial Yucca Mountain nuclear waste site in Nevada, the administration is now looking at alternatives. Nuclear industry sources familiar with the program say the department is focusing on a plan to pursue reprocessing at Savannah River under an as-yet untested but "advanced" process that proponents say will "recycle" spent nuclear fuel. The Savannah River Site near Aiken, S.C., is where thousands of tons of Cold War-era radioactive materials have been reprocessed and buried over the past 50 years, and where the National Nuclear Security Administration is building a plant to convert plutonium from surplus nuclear weapons into MOX fuel for use in nuclear power plants. Savannah River also is adjacent to the old Barnwell site, where in the 1970s the nuclear industry was planning a massive nuclear spent fuel reprocessing plant that eventually was halted by former President Jimmy Carter (D) out of nonproliferation fears and worries about excessive costs. The advanced reprocessing system envisioned by DOE is aimed at calming nonproliferation fears because it does not separate plutonium from spent fuel, which creates bomb-quality plutonium. Instead, the process uses advanced separation that allows for "recycling" of the fuel. Proponents note that recycling the uranium and plutonium contained within a metric ton of used fuel provides as much energy as at least 100,000 barrels of oil. That, they say, is key to an overall message of expanding U.S. fuel sources and enhancing independence for the nation's energy sector. Environmentalists call the process a "fig leaf" and say the material remains deadly and the process expensive and untested. They also contend that any such plan for Savannah River will require extensive environmental reviews, particularly as the site already is heavily contaminated and now in the process of a years-long cleanup. Nevertheless, industry insiders contend the reprocessing strategy could be key to the future of the nuclear industry, which fears that the anticipated resurgence of U.S. nuclear power could come to a grinding halt unless there is a place to put the nuclear waste now stored at utilities' reactor sites eight years after DOE was to have taken title to them. Nuclear utilities need the waste issue resolved in some manner before they can pursue construction and operating licenses for new plants that will produce yet more high-level waste, albeit at slower rates. But the apparent decision also is being read as a tacit acknowledgment that the Yucca Mountain repository, now being dug under a desert mountain range 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas, is beyond hope. Some nuclear lobbyists privately say Yucca could become a temporary storage facility for waste to be reprocessed, and they point out that funding for Yucca Mountain in fiscal year 2007 could stay flat, at the $450 million level it was funded at in FY '06, or could go even lower. "If you don't think this is the death knell for Yucca Mountain, you're wrong,"said Ed Lyman, of the Union of Concerned Scientists. "The most likely scenario is that this would end up being the new Yucca Mountain," he added. "You'll have all this high level waste, and nowhere for it to go." Indeed, although the Nuclear Energy Institute last week sent letters to members of Congress urging them to reject a proposal by Nevada Sens. Harry Reid (D) and John Ensign (R) allowing for on-site dry cask storage of the spent fuel and requiring DOE to take title to the waste, one source in the nuclear industry said that view is not held by all NEI members. And some nuclear utility executives privately say they would prefer that alternative to the current situation. No materials are available on the GNEP plan, but talk among industry insiders is that the White House will ask for as much as $200 million for fiscal year 2007, and the program will go beyond the reprocessing competition and research proposal envisioned by Congress in its fiscal year 2006 appropriations for the Energy Department. The appropriations bill provides $50 million for a competition among communities to volunteer to host a new reprocessing facility competition to determine if any communities or states will volunteer to host a recycling, or reprocessing, facility; $20 million would be given to four individual sites, at $5 million each, to demonstrate they can get through regulatory, legal and legislative hurdles to host reprocessing sites. The remaining $30 million would be used for research. The appropriation also includes $80 million to continue spent fuel reprocessing research under the Advanced Fuel Cycle Initiative. But it could come at a cost: that $200 million has to come from somewhere, and some insiders are saying it could result in a major cutback to the highly touted advanced nuclear reactor program that several nuclear utilities and construction companies are pursuing. ---------- YAHOO! GROUPS LINKS * Visit your group "srs-action" on the web. * * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: * srs-action-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com * * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service. ---------- _______________________________________________________________________ Subscribe/Unsubscribe Here: http://www.energyjustice.net/nukenet/ Change your settings or access the archives at: http://energyjustice.net/mailman/listinfo/nukenet_energyjustice.net ***************************************************************** 55 Metroland: Low Level Radioactive Waste team reports to Council : No need to double liner; better to improve overall system, says manager Jan 26, 2006 By Jennifer Stone CLARINGTON -- It is better to improve the overall system than to look at simply double-lining the storage facility for the low-level radioactive waste in the Port Granby area, says the organization charged with its long-term safe storage. Glenn Case, manager of projects and facilities development with the Low Level Radioactive Waste Management Office, told Clarington's General Purpose and Administration Committee Monday that using a double liner, as suggested by a number of groups, on the proposed engineered lined and capped storage mound would not provide enough additional safeguarding to make it worthwhile. Instead, he said, having a better overall system means enhanced safety. "I think there are some misperceptions regarding the liner," said Mr. Case, referring to the system as it is currently designed, with a multi-layer system with "layers (that) work together to isolate waste from the environment and provide redundancy." The proposed liner isn't like a pool liner, which would allow waste to leak out through a single hole, he explained. It's a much more technical design. "Through our work, we've determined there really is no technical benefit from adding a second liner," said Mr. Case, noting the system is expected to have a 99.95 per cent success rate with a single liner, or a 99.999 per cent success rate with a double liner, "so we can't justify it." Better, he said, "to enhance the overall facility instead of just looking at just one component." That's what's been done through use of a capillary drainage system, noted Mr. Case. The Low Level Radioactive Waste Management Office has, on behalf of the federal government, been looking at ways to deal with the 500,000 cubic metres of low-level radioactive waste, left over from operations at Eldorado Resources. The waste and some marginally contaminated soils were placed in the Port Granby Waste Management Facility on the Lake Ontario shoreline from 1955 to 1988. Contaminants from the waste are said to be leaching into both Lake Ontario and the area groundwater. The organization has come up with a preferred option to deal with the waste, which includes moving it across Lakeshore Road, and building an engineered, lined and capped storage mound. Next, in summer 2006, the draft environmental assessment study report is expected to be submitted to responsible authorities for review. After appropriate approvals and licenses are received, construction could begin by 2008. Copyright © Metroland, Durham Region Media Group. - All ***************************************************************** 56 Santa Fe New Mexican: DOE issues contract to track WIPP shipments Thu Jan 26, 2006 11:14 pm By ASSOCIATED PRESS CARLSBAD, N.M. (AP) - A Tennessee corporation has won a $2.9 million contract for tracking waste shipments to the Department of Energy's nuclear waste dump in southeastern New Mexico. The Net Gain Corp. has been awarded the contract to operate a vehicle tracking system required to track all shipments such as those that go to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad, Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., announced. The contract was awarded by the DOE's Office of Environmental Management. Privacy Policy / Terms of Use | ©2006, Santa Fe New Mexican, all rights reserved. Opinions expressed by readers do not necessarily reflect the views of the management and staff of the Santa Fe New Mexican. ***************************************************************** 57 BBC: Study warning over nuclear waste Last Updated: Thursday, 26 January 2006 [Nuclear waste pit] The disposal of nuclear waste is a long-term problem Opponents of nuclear power have seized on an initial report which indicates that a solution to managing radioactive waste may be some way off. The Committee on Radioactive Waste Management's final report will help the UK Government decide whether or not to support new nuclear power stations. The Scottish Green Party said the warning shows the scale of the problem. The Scottish Executive said there would be no more nuclear power stations until the waste issue has been resolved. The Committee on Radioactive Waste Management is due to deliver its conclusions in July. Dumping options However, the draft of its initial report states: "If ministers accept our recommendations, the UK's nuclear waste problem is not solved. "Having a strategy is a start. The real challenge follows." It is not clear whether this was a reference to the difficulty of siting a nuclear waste dump. However, the Greens have interpreted this as an admission that the problem cannot be resolved. It all depends on what Fir Minister Jack McConnell and the executive accept as a solution Louise Batchelor BBC Scotland environment correspondent First Minister Jack McConnell has pledged that the executive would not be prepared to consider progressing with nuclear power until the problem of nuclear waste was resolved. He said last year: "Until there's a solution to the problem of nuclear waste, I don't believe that we should be involved in further generation of nuclear power. "The solving of the issue of nuclear waste seems to me to be of paramount importance because that waste currently exists and needs to be dealt with." Options for disposal being considered by the committee are deep disposal, phased deep disposal where the waste is retrievable, shallow burial of short-lived waste and interim storage as a temporary management solution. Public acceptability BBC Scotland environment correspondent Louise Batchelor said: "Once the committee makes its recommendation, even supposing the government accept it and supposing it's for deep disposal, there's still the huge problem of public acceptability, finding a place to actually put it, going through the planning process and so on. "It all depends on what First Minister Jack McConnell and the executive accept as a solution." No solution for dealing wi nuclear waste means no more nuclear for Scotland Richard Lochhead SNP energy spokesman Green MSP Chris Ballance said: "The admission in this document reveals that Jack McConnell will never be able to justify a new nuclear reactor this side of the May 2007 election, and it exposes the arrant nonsense that proposals to manage the nuclear waste legacy could possibly be described as 'solving' the problem. "On top of the costs, dangers, risks and a failure to truly tackle climate change - nuclear power creates waste that is not going to be magicked away by the CoRWM report." Scottish National Party energy spokesman Richard Lochhead said: "No solution for dealing with nuclear waste means no more nuclear for Scotland. "Nuclear power is dirty, dangerous and unwanted in Scotland, and this report only shows that our objections to nuclear power are totally justified." ***************************************************************** 58 BBC: BNFL set to sell power plant arm Last Updated: Thursday, 26 January 2006 [Sellafield nuclear power plant in Cumbria] BNFL manages 11 nuclear power stations in the UK British Nuclear Fuels (BNFL) is expected to confirm on Thursday that it has sold nuclear power station builder Westinghouse to Toshiba. The Japanese conglomerate, which has been selected as the preferred bidder, is expected to be pay about $5bn (£2.8bn) for Westinghouse. State-owned BNFL has described the deal as a "win-win", benefiting employees and the UK taxpayer. Toshiba beat bids from General Electric and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. "Toshiba is a strong company with a long record of business success, and will ensure that the decades-long contributions of Westinghouse to the nuclear industry - and to the US and global economies - continue to grow," said BNFL's chief executive Mike Parker. Treasury windfall Westinghouse was bought by BNFL for $1.1bn in 1999. It employs 9,000 people and has annual sales of about $1.8bn. The Westinghouse sale will provide a windfall for the UK Treasury. But industry experts have expressed concern that such an asset is being sold off when the demand for new nuclear power stations is set to surge. More countries are looking at nuclear energy as they look to tackle rising fuel costs and cut carbon emissions. The UK government has just launched a three-month public consultation into the UK's future energy needs and has asked the Health and Safety Executive to examine the safety, cost and suitability of the country's existing nuclear power stations. State-owned BNFL operates four active UK power stations and seven that are being decommissioned. b ***************************************************************** 59 Las Vegas SUN: Trucks with low-level nuke material within safety levels Photo: Nuclear material Today: January 26, 2006 at 8:4:11 PST Trucks with low-level nuke material within safety levels By Mary Manning Las Vegas Sun Tests of trucks carrying low-level nuclear waste for burial at the Nevada Test Site found no violations of federal radiation exposure levels, state scientists have concluded. The Desert Research Institute, a nonprofit division of the Nevada System of Higher Education, earlier this month released the results of a study of radiation exposure from the shipments, an issue of concern to communities along the truck routes. Scientists screened 1,102 trucks, nearly half of all shipments, during the study period of February to December 2003. The tests were conducted at an area at the Test Site, 65 miles northwest of Las Vegas. Participation was voluntary. The study was unusual because it measured actual radiation, said David Shafer, executive director of the institute's Frank H. Rogers Center for Environmental Remediation and Monitoring. "Most studies of radiation exposure from truck transportation are based on calculations of potential exposure," Shafer said. "The study was designed to help answer the question, 'What do the trucks really measure?' " The researchers looked for gamma radiation that could have passed through the walls of waste containers. The monitoring equipment was placed roughly three feet from the trucks' sides at about the height of a man's chest. Tests on 70 percent of the trucks found no radiation levels above the amount naturally occurring in the environment, Shafer said. Of the remainder, "no trucks monitored came close to exceeding" the U.S. Transportation Department's standards, Shafer said. He acknowledged that for some people, even those trace readings "represent some type of risk." The National Nuclear Security Administration spent $235,000 over three years for the study, agency spokeswoman Kelly Snyder said. Since 1980, more than 27 million square feet of low-level nuclear waste has been shipped to the Test Site for shallow land burial. Most comes from sites run by the Energy and Defense departments. Low-level waste -- typically waste such as construction debris, soil or equipment that may have been tainted by radiation -- is not to be confused with the far more dangerous "high-level" waste, such as highly radioactive spent uranium rods from nuclear power plants. The proposed repository at Yucca Mountain would be a national repository for high-level waste. Low-level waste is not shipped through the Las Vegas Valley. The study should offer some comfort to wary residents in rural areas who have voiced concerns about low-level waste shipments over the years, Shafer said. Still, some residents may continue to worry, despite indications that the shipments are safe. "It's fair to say that a lot of the trucks have very low levels," he said. "But for some people, any exposure above background radiation is a risk." Mary Manning can be reached at 259-4065 or at manning@lasvegassun.com. All contents copyright 2005 Las Vegas SUN, Inc. ***************************************************************** 60 Herald: Nuclear waste blow to plan for reactors Web Issue 2451 January 26 2006 ROBBIE DINWOODIE, Chief Scottish Political Correspondent Plans for a new generation of nuclear power stations have been dealt a body blow by a committee of experts which said its report, due this summer, will not solve the problem of storing waste. The government has launched a review of energy policy and was expected to use the paper in July to give the green light for around 10 new plants across the UK. The Committee on Radio-active Waste Management (CoRWM), set up in 2003, will issue its final report recommending storage strategies in six months. But the experts have already expressed concerns about political pressure being applied to their work and have now stressed that their findings will not mean the issue is resolved. The committee has insisted the outline strategy on whether waste should be stored above ground or underground  with deposits sealed or made retrievable  is only the start of seeking a solution. The political dilemma is particularly acute in Scotland, where the partnership agreement which forms the basis of the Labour-LibDem coalition states: "We will not support the further development of nuclear power stations while waste management issues remain unresolved." Jack McConnell, first minister, has emphasised his executive would use its planning powers to veto any new nuclear stations in Scotland if the question of waste was not solved. CoRWM has been placing draft sections of its forthcoming report on the internet and has now added a draft conclusion: "If ministers accept our recommendations, the UK's nuclear waste problem is not solved. Having a strategy is a start. The real challenge follows." Professor Gordon Mackerron, who chairs the committee and is on record as expressing concern about political pressure, last night described the conclusion as a simple statement of fact, adding: "By definition, we are not policy makers, we are advisers. It is clearly the case that all options will not be implemented very quickly." He said discussions were under way as to whether the government would wish the committee members to extend their advisory role beyond publication of the final report. The draft chapters examining the alternatives of underground or above ground storage of waste have yet to be posted, but the committee has already decided to flag up the conclusion that these recommendations alone will not "solve" the issue. Instead, it envisages a lengthy, three-stage process of deciding on a storage method, setting out a clear implementation plan, and then  arguably the most difficult  resolving issues of public confidence. "The third and most challenging step is to implement the strategy, including identifying one or more 'host' communities", states a draft passage. "Success in completing the first two steps will make that task more achievable. The government and public will judge how far we have succeeded on the first one," it states. Of 12 potential underground disposal sites identified across the UK last year, five were in Scotland. CoRWM will identify storage methods and implementation strategies, but not specify sites. Duncan McLaren, of Friends of the Earth Scotland, said: "It should come as no surprise that the committee do not see their forthcoming report as offering a solution to the problem of nuclear waste. No country has yet devised a safe and economic long-term solution." He said any talk of a new generation of nuclear power stations was premature and misplaced, and called on ministers to respond to the UK energy review with a clear message that new nuclear build in Scotland remains unacceptable until the waste issue is resolved. He added: "The executive should warn Westminster it will strongly oppose any attempts to impose new nuclear power stations on Scotland." With MSPs preparing to debate a Conservative motion on energy policy today, Chris Ballance of the Greens said: "The admission in this document reveals that Jack McConnell will never be able to justify a new nuclear reactor this side of the May 2007 election, and it exposes the arrant nonsense that plans to manage the nuclear waste legacy could possibly be described as 'solving' the problem." He called on all pro-nuclear MPs to consider the reality of waste management and not continue to hide behind the idea that CoRWM would give a green light to nuclear power because a waste dump of one sort or another was proposed. Copyright © Newsquest (Herald & Times) Limited. All Rights Reserved ***************************************************************** 61 reviewjournal.com: Dust-up over Yucca document Jan. 26, 2006 DOE decision to withdraw item on whistle-blower from database draws protest By STEVE TETREAULT
STEPHENS WASHINGTON BUREAU WASHINGTON -- Attorneys for the state of Nevada are objecting to an Energy Department decision to withdraw a document related to a whistle-blower from a Yucca Mountain license database. Nevada lawyer Charles Fitzpatrick said it appeared the department might be trying to hide a damaging document, and he called for it to remain on the electronic network. A DOE spokesman said the department has nothing to hide. A government lawyer said the document has been deemed irrelevant and in a sharply worded letter said that Nevada officials were misreading the matter and blowing it out of proportion. The dispute, which surfaced in the last week, may have only limited impact because the document that is being challenged has already been made public, including in news articles the Review-Journal published in 2002 and 2003 on the whistle-blower, James Mattimoe. But the episode does provide a glimpse at clashes that attorneys are waging behind the scenes as they set the stage for upcoming Nuclear Regulatory Commission licensing hearings for the proposed Nevada nuclear waste repository. The Licensing Support Network, or LSN, is a key element in preparations for Yucca Mountain hearings. The Internet-accessible database is expected to contain more than 4 million documents generated by the Department of Energy, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the state of Nevada, and other interested parties. The database will serve as a shared library during Yucca licensing. Most of the material has been generated by the Department of Energy, which spent two decades analyzing the Nevada site for nuclear waste burial. The Energy Department has withdrawn roughly 65,000 documents from the databank after further reviews revealed coding errors or they were judged to not be germane to licensing. Most of the deletions have been noncontroversial. But Fitzpatrick called foul this month after Michael Shebelskie, a lawyer for DOE, asked the database administrator to remove, among other documents, reference to a 10-page document whose header indicated it was a Sept. 13, 2002 report concerning Mattimoe. The Labor Department on Sept. 13, 2002 issued a 10-page ruling critical of actions taken against Mattimoe, who was fired in August 2001 as a quality assurance supervisor by Yucca Mountain contractor Navarro Research and Engineering. Shebelskie, a lawyer with DOE's licensing law firm Hunton & Williams LLP, later confirmed the documents are the same. Fitzpatrick called on DOE in a Jan. 18 letter to leave the Mattimoe document on the database. "We are trying to make a point here that if this was something they decided was relevant, there is something wrong when they go back and decide it is not relevant," Fitzpatrick said in an interview. "It's the principle of the thing," Fitzpatrick said. "Are they pulling documents off not because they are irrelevant but because they are damaging." The Energy Department "is not trying to hide anything," spokesman Allen Benson said. "There are rules for placing documents and removing documents from the LSN and we are following the rules." Shebelskie said in a letter to Fitzpatrick on Wednesday that removal of the document "is appropriate" and that Nevada attorneys were mischaracterizing the matter. "The issue at hand is whether DOE is required to produce (the document) on the LSN, and the answer to that question is 'no,'" he said. "Your assertion that DOE 'seeks to entirely conceal this document' is unfounded, and you know it." The Labor Department in the 2002 report supported Mattimoe's claim he was fired for making allegations of wrongdoing in how officials were handling worker concerns about Yucca Mountain problems, including withholding evidence and attributing statements to people who were never interviewed by investigators. The report ordered Navarro to reinstate Mattimoe, expunge his personnel file and reimburse him for costs. Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal, 1997 - 2006 Stephens Media GroupPrivacy Statement ***************************************************************** 62 New Scientist: US may overturn nuclear fuel reprocessing ban [NewScientist.com] 18:27 26 January 2006 Signs that the US could be about to overturn a 30-year ban on nuclear fuel reprocessing have been greeted with alarm by environmentalists worried about the dangers of spreading plutonium around the world. Reports in US newspapers have suggested that the Bush administration is planning to reverse a policy introduced by Presidents Ford and Carter in 1976 and 1977. They promised that the US would not reprocess the spent fuel from nuclear reactors to extract plutonium because of the risk that it could be made into nuclear bombs. But now US Department of Energy officials are proposing a $250 million programme to restart reprocessing using a new technology known as UREX and developed by the Argonne National Laboratory in Illinois. This chemical separation process produces a mix of plutonium and uranium, which can be recycled to fuel reactors. "The implications are devastating," says Damon Moglen, from the Union of Concerned Scientists, an environmental lobby group in Washington DC. "This would legitimise the widespread separation and commercial use of plutonium that could be used in nuclear weapons." It would send the wrong message to potential proliferators like Iran and North Korea and encourage reprocessing in Russia, Moglen argues. "This is the worst possible thing to do," he told New Scientist. "It is a classic example of the US telling the world to do as we say, not as we do." Yucca Mountain Bush officials, however, say that the risk of countries diverting plutonium into bombs would be reduced if foreign spent fuel were reprocessed in the US. And they argue that the type of plutonium produced by the UREX process is harder to make into warheads. Reprocessing could also, officials claim, cut the amount of waste that would have to be disposed of at the proposed repository under Yucca Mountain in the Nevada desert. Without reprocessing, Yucca could quickly fill up with spent fuel, they say. Details of the administration's plan, known as the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership, are sketchy. Some reports suggest that it will be announced in President Bush's State of the Union address on 31 January, but others say it will not be finalised by then. "Quite horrific" Two senior US officials have recently toured Russia, Japan and other countries briefing governments about the plan, according to The Washington Post. The French reprocessing company, Areva, has also suggested that it might win reprocessing contracts from the US. Mark Fitzpatrick, a former US Department of State expert now with the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London, UK, accepts US assertions that the plan may make plutonium less available to terrorists. But it will also make it more difficult to persuade countries like Iran to forgo enrichment and reprocessing, he argues. Shaun Burnie from Greenpeace International is less diplomatic. "The emerging plan is quite horrific," he claims. "It will overturn a decades-old US policy and give the green light for global nuclear proliferation." [Printable version] [Email to a New Scientist magazine ***************************************************************** 63 GreenvilleOnline.com: Barrett tentatively backs nuke waste plan - (1/26/2006) The Greenville News 305 S. Main St. PO Box 1688 Greenville, SC 29602 Lawmaker favors reprocessing, but opposes new shipments to state STAFF WRITER palongi@greenvillenews.com U.S. Rep. Gresham Barrett says he will support a pilot project at Savannah River Site to reprocess radioactive waste into reactor fuel, as long as it doesn't turn the state into a "de facto national repository." Barrett told The Greenville News on Wednesday that if the project proceeds -- and he expects it will -- the state's nuclear waste should be reprocessed before the government ships any new waste to the state. "The only way I'd buy into a pilot project is if we did the waste that was already here," said the Republican from Westminster, who represents the 3rd Congressional District. "Don't send us all this other waste and tell us we're going to go into a direction that never happens. My fear is that South Carolina would turn into a de facto national repository." In the absence of a national repository, radioactive waste is stored at nuclear power plants across the nation, where critics say it's vulnerable to terrorist attacks. About 75,000 residents and some of the Upstate's most upscale communities sit within 10 miles of Lake Keowee's Oconee Nuclear Station. Critics say reprocessing is a gamble because it's too expensive, results in a product that could be used in a terrorist bomb and won't take care of all the waste. Barrett, whose district includes SRS and Oconee Nuclear Station, said he didn't know how much the pilot project would cost but believes reprocessing makes economic sense. His understanding of new technology is that byproducts couldn't be used in bombs. Even with reprocessing, the nation should continue to push forward with plans to store nuclear waste at a repository in Yucca Mountain, Nevada, Barrett said. The repository has become mired in a series of legal challenges, regulatory hurdles and funding cuts. Barrett said reprocessing would eliminate 95 percent of the waste and extend the repository's life by 100 years. Congress gave a $50 million boost to reprocessing late last year, while cutting funding for Yucca Mountain by $127 million, bringing the total for Yucca Mountain to $450 million. The pilot program would require a new plant and would focus on reprocessing commercial-grade waste. A separate program, now in the design stage, would turn defense waste into mixed-oxide fuel, which can also be used in reactors. Barrett said he hasn't had "concrete" discussions with the rest of the states' congressional delegation about the pilot project. Copyright 2005 The Greenville News. ***************************************************************** 64 Salt Lake Tribune: Guv gets support in waste dispute Article Last Updated: 01/26/2006 11:55:21 AM Power fight: Ex-governors say Huntsman should have the final say on the sites By Judy Fahys The Salt Lake Tribune "You want the governor to have the authority to administer the laws that are passed.", NORM BANGERTER, former governor Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. sees himself as the one person in Utah who can put the public will into action when it comes to radioactive waste. And that will, he maintains, can help him prevail over the Legislature's current efforts to take away his final say on waste sites. "There is more or less a consensus: It goes right to the heart of the state's sovereignty and its image," said the Republican governor, in his first public response to the legislative challenge. "I think the way the system is set up in this particular instance is appropriate in giving unilateral authority [over commercial landfills] to the governor." Huntsman isn't the only Utah leader opposing the Legislature's attempt to shrink his role in licensing - or refusing to license - commercial waste in the state. Two past governors have rallied to Huntsman's side in the power struggle that emerged after he announced his intention to reject Envirocare of Utah's plans to double its mile-square hazardous and radioactive waste facility. "The Legislature should not be involved in individual licensing because that is the executive's role.", OLENE WALKER, former governor "The Legislature should not be involved in individual licensing because that is the executive's role," said former Gov. Olene Walker, who spent two decades as a lawmaker and in the governor's office. But, she added, "The Legislature has every right to make policy." And Norm Bangerter, who was governor when the 16-year-old law now on the books was enacted, opposes the proposal that would allow lawmakers to override a gubernatorial veto of a new waste site - including radioactive and hazardous waste. He agreed with Walker that lawmakers should set the policies, then allow the state's chief executive administer those laws. "You want the governor to have the authority to administer the laws that are passed," said Bangerter, who served in the Capitol for two decades. To many, the public tussling over SB70, the legislative bill challenging Huntsman, reflects the endless power struggle between the Legislative and executive branches. It's part of the check-and-balance system at the heart of a democracy, at the local and federal levels, as well as in state government. "That creeps up all the time," said John Fortier, a research fellow with the conservative Washington think tank, the American Enterprise Institute. Legislatures "want to delegate, and yet they want to control the outcome of things." Sponsoring Sen. Howard Stephenson, R-Draper, says his SB70 is intended to restore a balance of power, giving lawmakers an override vote over governor's waste decisions, just like they enjoy on most other bills. His measure passed committee Monday and is headed for full Senate review. Under a commercial waste-site review process enacted in 1990, establishing or expanding commercial waste facilities requires approval from the local city or county, state environmental regulators, the Legislature and the governor. Stephenson's bill would change that process so that if a governor rejects a site, lawmakers can have an override vote, as they generally do with statutes. Did the 1990 Legislature give up its rightful place by not making provisions for a veto override? Or did Bangerter, by agreeing to let the Legislature have a vote, give up power that properly belongs in the executive's office? It's not clear. In several areas, the state has unusual review processes. For instance, the governor can enter into legal settlements and spend federal funds below a certain threshold without legislative approval. In the case of commercial waste sites, the thinking is that the decisions are so important - radioactive waste can be "hot" for millions of years - that decision-makers decided on an extra-tough review and political consensus. "It is not a five- or 10-year decision but a 5,000- or 10,000-year one," he said. "And you are talking about things that all Utahns hold near and dear." The dual-approval system apparently worked as political leaders reviewed - and approved - several commercial licenses under the current process - although none of those went to radioactive waste or toxic waste sites or expansions. Stephenson said he saw the need to restore the Legislature's "constitutional prerogative" after Huntsman said he would reject plans by Envirocare to double its waste site. "That's a good old political battle there, isn't it?" said Bangerter, adding that too often "legislators want to usurp the governor" and are willing to dilute the administrative power of the governor to do it. "Having sat on both sides," said the former House speaker and governor, "I would come down on the side of the governor." Tim Barney, senior vice president of Envirocare, declined to say whether his company wants to see the waste-review process change. Envirocare benefited from the law back in 1990 because the tough review process helped scare away potential competitors and has continued to do so for 18 years. "We have no comment on the Stephenson bill," said Barney. "We're not involved in it, and we have no comment at all." fahys@sltrib.com © Copyright 2006, The Salt Lake Tribune. ***************************************************************** 65 Boston Globe: Radiation in trash spurs order By Lisa Kocian, Globe Staff | January 26, 2006 Saying that a failure to screen for radioactive material is a threat to public health, the Holliston Board of Health ordered the shutdown of a local solid-waste transfer station on Monday. But a Casella Waste Systems official said the company is not subject to the order since it answers to the state, not the town. ''As far as I know, the state hasn't issued any order and that's our governing authority," said Joseph Fusco, vice president of Casella Waste. ''I can understand the concern and the reaction of the town, but my understanding is really our governing authority is the state on this issue." Casella notified town officials Friday that radiation had been detected in solid waste handled at the company's Washington Street transfer station, where trash is collected and then shipped out for recycling, disposal in a landfill, or incineration. The material had been processed in Holliston and sent to a disposal site in Wareham, where the radiation was detected, and then sent back to Holliston. Also Friday, the company disclosed that its main radiation counter was malfunctioning. Fusco, whose office is in Rutland, Vt., said Tuesday he didn't know whether the company was continuing to accept solid waste in Holliston. No company officials in Holliston were available for comment, but residents said they saw trucks going in and out Tuesday. According to the Board of Health shutdown order, company officials agreed that they would use a handheld radiation screening device until the main counter was repaired. But ''this screening was only done for a short while [Monday] and then discontinued," according to the board order. ''Accordingly, effective immediately, you shall prevent any and all vehicles containing solid waste from entering or leaving your facility until such time as you have prepared, for review and approval by the Board of Health, a written plan to assure that all vehicles are properly screened for radiation and dealt with in accordance with state and federal laws and regulations," stated the order, issued Monday night. Fusco denied that the company stopped using the handheld devices, and said that it was a matter of not having enough to go around. He said he expected the main stationary detector to be fixed by Tuesday or yesterday, and more handheld devices were being added as well. ''I believe going forward, whenever any Geiger counters are down, we will not accept waste. We are altering our procedures here," said Fusco. The source of the radioactive material was unknown early this week. ''We were satisfied after a lot of investigation Friday night that that particular load did not present a threat," said Town Administrator Paul LeBeau, who said the radiation level detected was low and not considered a danger. ''However, the fact that it got through, that their monitoring systems were not working, and they did not appear to have a backup plan is of concern." Casella officials told the town they believe their detection equipment stopped working as a result of power outages last week, said LeBeau. Casella has been the subject of intense scrutiny in the past several months because it is before the Planning Board seeking approval for an expansion. Citing fears of contaminants being carried into the water supply, some residents are pushing the board to crack down on the transfer station, arguing that it has been processing more waste than allowed. A Casella attorney has denied that there is any threat to water quality or that the company has been processing too much waste, saying the company is looking to make improvements. Town resident Andy Bell said the radiation disclosure is just the most recent in a long list of concerns with the transfer station. Lisa Kocian can be reached at 508-820-4231 or by email at lkocian@globe.com. [ /] © Copyright 2006 Globe Newspaper Company. ***************************************************************** 66 Scotsman.com News: No 'early nuclear waste solution' "The Press Association" />Thu 26 Jan 2006 The Greens and the SNP have stepped up pressure on the Executive after an expert report said there could be no early solution to the problem of nuclear waste. First Minister Jack McConnell has so far said there would be no new nuclear power stations in Scotland until the waste issue has been resolved. But he has been under pressure to go further, and an extract of a draft report by expert advisors to the government - the Committee on Radioactive Waste Management (CORWM) - was seized on by opponents of nuclear power. The extract said: "If ministers accept our recommendations, the UK's nuclear waste problem is not solved. Having a strategy is a start. The real challenge follows." The committee's report on waste storage strategies is expected in July. It is examining four options - temporary storage above or just below the surface; deep geological disposal up to 2km underground; a phased version of this in which the waste would be monitored and retrievable for hundreds of years; and burying waste with short-lived radioactivity just below the surface within engineered barriers. Green MSP Chris Ballance said: "The admission in this document reveals that Jack McConnell will never be able to justify a new nuclear reactor this side of the May 2007 election, and it exposes the arrant nonsense that proposals to manage the nuclear waste legacy could possibly be described as solving the problem. "On top of the costs, dangers, risks and a failure to truly tackle climate change, nuclear power creates waste that is not going to be magicked away by the CORWM report." And SNP MSP Richard Lochhead said: "Scottish ministers must now change their policy on nuclear to one of outright opposition. No solution for dealing with nuclear waste means no more nuclear for Scotland. "Nuclear power is dirty, dangerous and unwanted in Scotland, and this report only shows that our objections to nuclear power are totally justified." An Executive spokesman said: "The final report from the committee will be with us in the summer. That's when we will give their report detailed analysis." © Copyright Press Association Ltd 2006, All Rights Reserved. 2006 Scotsman.com| contact ***************************************************************** 67 Cape Cod Online: State ready to propose perchlorate standards (January 26, 2006) By AMANDA LEHMERT STAFF WRITER The state is poised to introduce drinking water and cleanup standards for perchlorate, which is flowing through the aquifer beneath the Massachusetts Military Reservation. The proposed regulations - which will dictate safe drinking standards and how much perchlorate must be cleaned up by polluters - could be ready in a few weeks, said Edmund Koletta, state Department of Environmental Protection spokesman. The latest estimate of when the regulations will be released for public comment comes after 12 months of promises from state environmental officials that the standards would soon be established. State environmental Commissioner Robert Gollege would not comment about the standards until after they are published, Koletta said. Perchlorate, found in explosives and fireworks, can disrupt the function of the thyroid gland, which regulates body functions and plays a role in the growth and development of children. Seven perchlorate plumes in the aquifer under the base have been blamed on military training and fireworks. The Cape's sole-source aquifer is the region's primary source of drinking water. Environmental regulators said drinking water and cleanup standards are necessary to guarantee groundwater is returned to a drinkable state. And a state standard is particularly important, since the federal Environmental Protection Agency's effort to set a standard has been bogged down by challenges from the Department of Defense. ''Clearly, the promulgation of a standard is the best thing for ensuring cleanup will happen,'' said Lynne Jennings of the EPA. ''Other than that, we are left up to the good will of the military, which is variable.'' It's been nearly five years since traces of perchlorate turned up in Bourne Water District wells. The district's wells haven't tested positive for perchlorate above one part per billion since 2003. The Army's Groundwater Study Program also found perchlorate in a private Bourne well and plumes on the west side of the base. In 2001, state environmental officials warned pregnant women and children not to drink perchlorate above one part per billion - an amount equal to a drop of water in an Olympic-sized pool. Golledge has openly advocated for a strict drinking water standard of one part per billion. Military officials have argued that the levels should be much higher - upward of 200 parts per billion. Last year, the Environmental Protection Agency found people could safely ingest perchlorate at 24.5 parts per billion. But the federal agency has yet to tell its regional offices - such as the one that covers the Upper Cape base - how that should affect environmental cleanup. Local Army and environmental officials said setting state standards will help them plan cleanup activities, such as how many wells will be used to pump and treat tainted groundwater and how long systems will operate. One interim groundwater treatment system is already treating one perchlorate plume and construction is under way for two more systems. But the final cleanup solutions must be based on legal standards. Amanda Lehmert can be reached at alehmert@capecodonline.com. (Published: January 26, 2006) www.capecodonline.com Copyright © 2006 Cape Cod Times. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 68 TownOnline.com: Spilled Casella waste safe By John Hilliard/ Metrowest Daily News Thursday, January 26, 2006 HOLLISTON - A Department of Public Health investigation concluded there was no radioactive material in a load of trash stored this weekend at Casella's transfer station. "If there was any, it could have decayed very quickly," said spokeswoman Donna Rheaume. The investigation was sparked after a load of garbage sent from the Holliston station tested positive for radioactive material at a Wareham disposal facility Friday. State public health officials were notified and ordered the load sent back to Holliston Friday while town officials were also told, said Town Administrator Paul LeBeau. LeBeau said an official at the Department of Homeland Security's Nuclear Incident Response Team said the radiation level from the garbage Friday - about 4.5 millirems per hour - was below the 15-millirem level required to take emergency action. According to the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission, low-level radioactive waste includes items contaminated with radioactive material or have been made radioactive from contact with neutron radiation. The material was stored over the weekend at Casella's operation until the Department of Public Health's test Monday afternoon. Casella officials blame the problem on faulty radiation detectors which were damaged in a power outage Thursday, said operations manager George Latini. "Those [detectors] are in the process of being fixed," he said. The appearance of radioactive waste is unlikely to win glowing praise among neighbors, some of whom bitterly oppose Casella's proposed expansion project because they fear it could threaten a nearby aquifer. Casella attorney Michael Healy said the incident will not change the company's proposed expansion, but improvements have to be made in the station's radiation detection equipment. "We have to find a way to fix it," said Healy. Local officials aren't pleased with the company's fix thus far. Board of Health Chairman Richard Maccagnano questioned why Casella workers never realized the radiation detectors failed Thursday. "I'm very concerned about it. I'm concerned about other material that could be at the facility," said Maccagnano, whose board will deal with the matter Feb. 6. John Hilliard can be reached at 508-626-4449 or jhilliar@cnc.com © Copyright by Community Newspaper Co. and Herald Media. No portion of BostonHerald.com or its content may be reproduced ***************************************************************** 69 DOE: Department Sponsors Free Rebuilding Workshop in Biloxi, MS for Hurricane Victims January 26, 2006 - Workshop will Feature Tips for Improving Home Energy Efficiency - WASHINGTON, DC  The United States Department of Energy (DOE) will sponsor a free, two-day home rebuilding workshop this weekend in Biloxi, Mississippi to offer hurricane-affected residents expert advice on using the latest energy efficiency products and techniques as they seek to rebuild their homes and communities. This workshop is the second of three in the Gulf Region. Last weekend approximately 2,500 homeowners and consumers visited the workshop outside New Orleans, Louisiana, each day. These workshops are raising awareness of how best to use the latest energy efficient products and techniques as homeowners rebuild in the aftermath of hurricanes Katrina and Rita, said Douglas L. Faulkner, Acting Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. In the long run, the techniques and products demonstrated during the workshop will help re-establish stronger, more energy-efficient communities. The Biloxi workshop will be held Saturday and Sunday, January 28 and 29, from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at the Imperial Palace in Biloxi, MS. The final workshop will be offered in Mobile, Alabama next weekend. Workshop attendees will receive hands-on instructions for improving home energy efficiency and durability when repairing storm-damaged roofs, ceilings, walls and floors, and when installing windows, doors and hurricane shutters. In effort to help homeowners make use of their training right away, the first 1000 people who attend the workshops will receive a mystery gift card worth $5-$1000 from Home Depot. The Home Depot will also donate discount coupons worth ten percent off customers purchases. DOE has partnered with Entergy New Orleans, The Home Depot, and the Partnership for Advancing Technology in Housing (PATH) to host these workshops. Workshops will run from 9:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. on the following days: * Jan. 28-29, 2006: Imperial Palace 850 Bayview Biloxi, MS * Feb. 4, 2006: Mobile Convention Center One South Water Street Mobile, AL For more details on these projects, please visit www.eere.energy.gov/buildings/. Media contact(s): Chris Kielich, 202/5865806 [ ] U.S. Department of Energy | 1000 Independence Ave., SW | Washington, DC 20585 1-800-dial-DOE | f/202-586-4403 | ***************************************************************** 70 islandpacket.com: DuPont no longer wants contract to run SRS islandpacket.com - The Island Packet Online Hilton Head Island - Bluffton, SC Thursday, January 26, 2006 Published Thursday, January 26, 2006 Add Comment AIKEN, S.C. (AP) - DuPont has decided to pull out of consideration for a contract to operate the Savannah River Site. Instead, the company, which operated the former nuclear weapons plant for nearly four decades starting in 1950, will concentrate on its core businesses, DuPont Chairman and CEO Charles O. Holliday Jr. said. The company made the announcement Wednesday, a day after reporting quarterly earnings that fell short of analysts estimates. The U.S. Department of Energy has split managing SRS into two contracts. One will cover just handling the nuclear waste at the nuclear plant, while the other contact will handle all other parts of operating and maintaining the site, like its laboratory and cleanup efforts. DuPont had announced in October it would partner with Fluor Daniel to compete for the operating contract at the former nuclear weapons site. Fluor Daniel is looking at forming another alliance to seek the contract, said Gary Coxon, the company's vice president for environmental and nuclear operations. Washington Savannah River Company currently runs the site, and it wants to have the contract that expires at the end of 2006 to be renewed. --- Information from: Aiken Standard, http://www.aikenstandard.com ***************************************************************** 71 Hanford News: DuPont no longer seeking Savannah River site bids This story was published Thursday, January 26th, 2006 By the Herald staff DuPont is dropping out of a plan to pursue bids for operations at the Department of Energy's Savannah River site in South Carolina in a strategic alliance with Fluor Daniel, a subsidiary of Fluor Corp., DuPont announced Wednesday. Fluor will be exploring new arrangements, Fluor Chief Executive Alan Boeckmann said in a prepared statement. Fluor Hanford is a prime contractor at the Hanford nuclear reservation. "We believe our strong core competencies in managing large, complex nuclear and environmental programs uniquely enable us to provide safe, cost-effective and secure operations at Savannah River," Boeckmann said. © 2006 Tri-City Herald. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 72 Hanford News: PNNL receives 'excellent' rating; lab's 8-year streak of 'outstanding' ratings from DOE comes to end This story was published Thursday, January 26th, 2006 By John Trumbo, Herald staff writer A motorized utility cart accident that caused a Battelle maintenance employee to break a leg is costing the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory $390,000 of its performance-driven pay for fiscal year 2005. The mishap when the employee slid off the cart's passenger seat on a turn in October 2004 dinged the Richland lab 5 percent of its potential $7.8 million in earnings from the Department of Energy. That accident, which was found to be preventable, is one of several concerns that resulted in an "excellent" rating from DOE for meeting expectations - breaking the lab's eight-year streak of "outstanding" ratings. Ohio-based Battelle earned 87 percent of the potential fee for a total of nearly $6.8 million. The company has operated the national science lab since 1965 under a contract with the DOE. This year, the lab received 3.3 points on a 4-point scale. "They just missed an outstanding," said Mike Talbot of DOE. "Although we've become accustomed to outstanding ratings, our excellent rating reflects a year of solid accomplishments and progress," said Greg Koller, spokesman for PNNL. "DOE did indicate our overall performance generally met or exceeded expectations in most areas, including the quality of our science and technology and our ability to meet national needs," Koller noted. The annual report card was released Wednesday by DOE's Pacific Northwest Site Office manager Paul Kruger to PNNL director Len Peters, giving outstanding ratings in two of the four areas that were evaluated: for quality of science and technology and for advancing DOE missions and national needs. "The quality of science is outstanding and continues to be that way," Talbot said. Battelle exceeded expectations in awards and recognition received by laboratory staff, inventions reports and patent applications. The laboratory also earned outstanding ratings from the offices of defense nuclear nonproliferation, energy efficiency and renewable energy, fossil energy, intelligence, counterintelligence and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. The Office of Science rated the lab as excellent, while the Office of Environmental Management gave a good rating. Environmental management officials were concerned about errors in data the lab prepared on the proposed shipment of radioactive wastes to Hanford for burial. PNNL discovered inconsistencies in a report last year as it was trying to address Washington state arguments in a federal lawsuit that the study's ground water analysis was inadequate. Kruger wrote in Wednesday's letter that this "had a large impact on the environmental program at Hanford." © 2006 Tri-City Herald. All rights reserved. ***************************************************************** 73 PRN: Steelworkers Union Applauds DuPont Pulling Out of Savannah River Site Project TITLE="http://www.steelworkers-usw.org"> PITTSBURGH, Jan. 26 /PRNewswire/ -- The United Steelworkers International Union (USW) today hailed the decision of DuPont Company to pull out from bidding on over $7 billion in contracts at the Savannah River Site near Aiken, South Carolina. The Union also took full credit for the decision. "We are pleased that DuPont has decided not to seek contracts at the Savannah River Site, and we are proud of our role in affecting this decision," said Joe Drexler of the USW Strategic Campaigns Department. "DuPont knew that the USW was fully prepared to make its deplorable record in operating the nuclear complex up until 1989 a major issue with the DOE, U.S. Congress, and the communities surrounding the site. We believe that DuPont had become a liability to Fluor, its partner, in trying to gain contracts at the SRS. Fluor will now have a much greater opportunity to seek contracts without the baggage of DuPont." The USW had written a letter to Department of Energy Secretary Samuel Bodmon opposing the award of any contracts to DuPont and was planning an effort to educate nearby communities about DuPont's deplorable record in operating the nuclear complex. The USW had written an information request to the DOE under the Freedom of Information Act and intended to use the findings from its study of DuPont's operational problems at the site to oppose any awarding of the contract to the company. The USW had made its efforts known through two widely-distributed press releases. "We were appalled because our preliminary research indicated that DuPont might be paid handsomely to clean up problems that it created. This was tantamount to paying a wrecking crew to rebuild your house after they had destroyed it by accident," added Drexler. "Our successful effort to push DuPont out of the bidding will hopefully lead to safer communities near the site and protect workers employed there." The USW represents 1,800 DuPont workers and 5,000 workers at nuclear weapons facilities, and is the largest industrial union in North America with 850,000 members. Contact: Joe Drexler, USW Strategic Campaigns, Cell Phone: (615) 594.2074 SOURCE United Steelworkers International Union Web Site: http://www.steelworkers-usw.org Copyright © 1996- PR Newswire Association LLC. All Rights Reserved. A United Business Mediacompany. ***************************************************************** 74 KVBC: Inside Nevada Test Site January 27, 2006 Their job is to keep nuclear weapons from getting into our country and now we're getting a rare look at what they do at the secretive Nevada Test Site. The historic nuclear facility, about an hour north of Las Vegas, is being used these days to test equipment that detects dangerous radioactive materials. It started with a direct order from President Bush last year. Worried about terrorists attacking us with nuclear weapons, he ordered Homeland Security to figure out the best ways to keep that from happening. The program is called the Domestic Nuclear Detection Office. They showed us how they're testing radioactive detectors to make sure they can find dangerous nuclear materials coming into the country. Workers set up real life scenarios such as driving a truck with plutonium on board through a mock border crossing. They make sure radioactive detectors can pick up the nuclear materials inside. Crews are also testing mobile radioactive detectors that fit inside backpacks. There are some detection devices already being used at border crossings and ports around the U.S., but they don't always do the job. Homeland Security is looking for an upgrade. Right now Homeland Security is building a brand new facility at the Nevada Test Site to run its radioactive detection equipment. That $33 million facility is set to open this time next year. Of course the Nevada Test Site is known for the hundreds of atmospheric nuclear tests done there starting in 1951. Full scale nuclear testing came to an end there in 1992. .gif"> All content © Copyright 2000 - 2006 WorldNow and KVBC. 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 non-profit research and educational purposes only. For more information go to: *****************************************************************